Lumberjack 100

We headed up to Wellston, MI on Friday morning hoping to get a spot along the neutral zone to place our tent for the 100 mile race the next day.  We arrived around 1:30 and pulled up next to a motorhome with Floria plates.  It turns out it was Drew Edsall's vehicle.  We waited about 30 minutes before Wendy and Todd to showed up.  Our original spot we had selected was taken so we moved slightly down the course and under a big tree.  I was happy to be there so I could remain in the shade the majority of the race.  We put everything other than food and bikes under the tent.

Jimmie, Wendy and Todd got suited up and went for a pre-ride of some of the course.  I decided to walk from Big M to our hotel that sits along M55 about 4 miles from Big M.  During my walk I received a phone call from work about a phone problem and while I talked management through the problem a deer ran across Udell Hills rd right in front of me. 

The alarm went off early and Jimmie got up to eat his breakfast.  He figured on eating more than usual so he could go into the race not feeling hungry.  I had some coffee and oatmeal showered and got ready to leave around 5:45 am.  We arrived and moved all the rest of the stuff we needed to under the tent.  Jimmie hung out in the van for a while to rest his eyes while I talked to Wendy and Todd as they prepared to race.  It's funny how much we racers have to go to the bathroom before races.  The lines just kept getting longer for the port-a-john's as the start of the race got closer.  Eventually Jimmie, Todd , Wendy and Andy Erickson (Beat The Train) headed to the start line which is a ways down Udell Hills Rd.  This gives opportunity for a neutral roll out. 

I hung out around the last bend before the racers get ported onto the sandy trail awaiting the arrival of the racers.  We didn't hear anything and the only indication the racers were on their way was the Subaru pace that came through the parking lot first.  Soon after that a large group of racers showed up, the fast ones in the front of course, and then everyone got funneled into some sandy widened single track.  So what we saw was a pretty good amount of racers clipping along at race pace and then we heard lots of breaking.  Some people were at a crawl as they entered this spot.  Didn't look like a race.

I decided around 7:15 it was time for my exercise.  I headed out to Udell Hills rd and walked to M55 and back.  It was much quieter than Fridays walk.  In fact is was kind of eerie.  I kept thinking I was going to see a bear or deer or something else run across in front of me.  All I heard were birds and the buzzing of mosquitoes around my head.  There was a sh!t ton of mosquitoes at Big M.  I made sure to be back before 9:00 so I could be there when Jimmie come through on his first lap.

Jimmie came through right around the 2:30 mark.  He looked fresh and ready for his next lap.  He stopped handed me his camelback, I handed him the full one and he grabbed some fig newtons in a sandwich baggy and he was off.  I filled up his camelback and got another baggy of fig newtons ready for his next round through.  Wendy and Todd showed up about 30 minutes later.  I helped fill their camelbacks and try to help out in whatever way I could.  They hung out for about 10 minutes eating 1/2 a sandwich and some fruit.  Andy Erickson showed up about 15 minutes after Wendy and Todd and he took some time too.  He ate some 1/2 sandwiches and filled his camelback and more sandwiches for the race.  He lost both of his bottles during the first lap. 

I chilled out for a bit and listened to the people in the BK Training Systems tent talk.  They had racers like Christian Tanguy to support so it was interesting to see how these super fast guys support teams handled everything.  It was also interesting to watch their racers go through.  Tanguy has it down.  He goes through and they just hold out his filled camelback and he hooks it with his left arm while dropping the used one and he's off.  It was a mixed bunch but all in all their racers had good attitudes as they came through.  I think that's important when you race these 100 milers.

About 2:30 hours later Jimmie came through completing his 2nd lap and it was just like the 1st one except I handed him bottles this time.  He still looked good - just really dirty.  Wendy and Todd came through together and did pretty much the same thing.  They ate some food, drank some water, peed and took off.  Andy E arrived and decided he needed to sit down for a few minutes.  I warned him that typically when people sit down at this race that's it.  He assured me that he wasn't done.  He just needed to rest his legs for a few.  He did get back up and get some food and water before he headed out to complete his last lap. 

I really wanted to take a nap at some point in time but before I knew it the time was a little after 7 hours and based on Jimmie's 2 lap times he was on par for a 7:30 finish time.  I meandered over to the finish line and waited.  Jimmie came through at 7:35 improving his time from 2011 by 30 minutes.  He was ecstatic.  He took off to ride around and I checked his status.  He ended up in 6th barely getting beat out for a podium finish by several seconds. Wendy got 1st in the womens SS division.

I talked to Chad Aiello and Bruce Anderson from the Racing Greyhounds for a few minutes.  Chad did two laps but had the misfortune of breaking a shifter and wasn't able to finish the race.  Bruce broke his chain on lap 2 and walked a bit before someone gave him a link to fix his chain.  He decided to not continue with the race.  I walked over to the tent and Jimmie was sitting on a chair with his feet up chilling out.  He really wanted to head back to the hotel and shower so we did.  We made it back just as Wendy and Todd were completing their race.  They finished together and both had times a tad under 9 hours - not bad for their 1st 100 mile mtb race. 



6th Jimmie Colflesh  Mens SS                             finish time 7:35:20
23rd Todd Blumerick  Mens SS                           finish time 8:50:51
1st Wendy Zamzow-Blumerick Womens SS       finish time 8:50:51
46th Andrew Erickson Mens Open                      finish time 10:44:57

This picture sums up how dirty some of the racers were.  Joe's beard looks a little stiff...

Addison Oaks XC

Had I not had my little over the handlebars incident over Memorial Day weekend, we both would have raced at the Stony Marathon.  Although we were both registered for the Mountain Mayhem this past weekend, we had to stick around town due to my inability to comfortably ride in or drive a vehicle.  I had a little set back last Tuesday when the already broken clavicle bone decided to move and I woke up at 5am in agonizing pain followed by sweat and nausea.  I missed all that fun broken bone pain stuff due to the concussion.  Anyhow...this would be Jimmie's first tailwind race of the year.

Jimmie and I arrived at Addison Oaks, one of my favorite trails in MI, around 8:45.  I slowly walked with him to the bathrooms and registration booth and back to the vehicle while he got ready to race.  We talked about racing and training and all that good stuff while he got ready.  Eventually he headed out to do some warming up while I wandered over to the start/finish area.  Since Jimmie is now in the expert 40 - 49 category this year the competition has changed.  I believe some of the regular winners in this category are Mike Wissink and Don Cameron.  Shawn Schaffert is also kicking butt this year.  Jimmie was lined up in the front next to Shawn.  They took off and the group headed over the bridge and out of sight.  While I waited to see how things were going for Jimmie after the first lap, I talked to Mary Ann and Jen who were there supporting their racing men from KLM.  The guys came through and it was still a tight knit group of about 6 racers including Jimmie.  After the second lap Wissink was in the front less than a minute in front of Jimmie.  That's pretty much how it stayed for the rest of the race for Wissink and Jimmie.  Shawn dropped out of the race.  It looked like he crashed and got hurt.  I saw Christian Tanguy come through his final lap with a face full of blood.  Glad to see Ronald Catlin take the win in the men's elite race.  He and Simonson had a fun to watch sprint to the finish ending. 

Jimmie had a great race and finished 2nd.  He was happy with how the race went and is lookinig forward to Lumberjack this weekend. 

The cement hurts...

Jimmie and I headed out for a ride Saturday morning.  It was suppose to be a typical ride down to Northville and back with an added TT on the latter half of Hines.  We had friends coming over to spend the night.  I was looking forward to having company.  I had planned on finishing the ride and heading to the store to get new chair covers and a fire pit for some evening outside hangout time.  Things didn't go as I planned.  I woke up in the ER on Saturday afternoon throwing up as some Dr. I'd never seen before was asking me questions.  I noticed Jimmie there still in his jersey with some jeans on.  I was confused.  I woke up in my room and again wasn't sure what had happened.  Lots of Drs in and out of my room asking me questions about my vision.  Apparently I had quite the shiner on my right eye.  I had broken a bone above my right eye, broke my left clavicle ( again) and injured much of the right side of my body.  I kept trying to figure out what happened as I drifted in and out of consciousness.  I know I saw my parents at different parts of the day but I couldn't tell you when.  I know I kept asking Jimmie what happened.  He kept telling me the same thing.  We hadn't even made it to Newburgh Rd when he heard me sliding across the pavement behind him.  We didn't have a cell phone on us so after he made sure I was conscious he high tailed it back to the house to get the van to drive me to the hospital.  When he got back I had been loaded into an ambulance and they were checking over me.  They told Jimmie they were going to take me to Botsford hospital because it's the only hospital in the area with a trauma unit.  That's right apparently I was a trauma case. 

Maybe it was the black eye or the bleeding from my nose or the repetitive asking of the same questions.  Regardless this memorial day weekend was going to be the worst I somewhat remember.  Sunday I was again in and out of it all day with the added bonus of vomiting many times throughout the day.  I wanted to go home but I couldn't even sit up without feeling super dizzy.  I hate throwing up.  It makes me want to cry every time.  It's an awful feeling.  Fortunately I couldn't eat anything - no appetite due to nausea and head injury.  I threw up breakfast on Saturday and didn't eat all day Sunday.  You never get sleep at night in hospitals.  They wake you up several times throughout the night to take your vitals and of course I had the added bonus of heparin shots in the belly so I don't get a blood clot.  Jimmie stayed super late on Saturday, basically until the nurse made him leave.  I could tell he was worried.  Monday eventually arrived and I was more than ready to get out of the hospital.  I wanted badly to take a shower.  I felt like a dirty grease bomb.  After the umpteen Dr showed up to ask me the same round of questions I was cleared to go home. 

My sister, Layla and Lambros showed up later on Monday with some food.  They were at the hospital on Sunday and probably at the time where I was most awake. It's amazing how much family helps out when you don't even ask them for it.  We talked to them for a while and eventually they left.  I was finally home and cleaned up and ready for bed.  Jimmie and I watched some Fringe and eventually went to bed. 

Jimmie stayed home with me on Tuesday while I made appointments and just tried to feel normal. 

Since the whole crash hoopla happened I've been thinking a lot about everything in life.  I may be ready to make some big changes soon or maybe I'm ready to hop on the trainer and continue with my training...only time will tell. 

I'm grateful to have all the wonderful family and friends in my life but mostly I'm unbelievably lucky to have Jimmie.

Tandemania and trail skills

We've had a tandem 26" mtb in the house for a few years now.  Over time Jimmie has been slowly acquiring the parts to put the bike together.  We decided to try out the tandem after a personalized trail skills clinic we had at ILRA.  I believe this was the same day as the Willow Run TT.

We rode our race bikes through much of the trail at ILRA before we stopped toward the beginning of the short loop to go over some skill related drills.  There are some really fun short downhills with corners on the short loop that we figured would be the best spot for me to get my learn on.  Jimmie demonstrated how I should ride the course at that spot.  I went to the top of the hill and came barrelling down it to try to repeat what he showed me.  Actually it worked.  I thought about what he said and applied it.  Now I can see how people fly through corners as fast as they do. 

After we finished our trail ride we got the tandem out of the van and took it out on its maiden voyage.  Holy crap is that a weird experience.  I rode as the stoker and all I can say is there is a sh!t ton of flex and you really can't see what's going on ahead of you.  It's also something to try and get a feel for the spinning and timing.  I was laughing a ton and having a lot of fun, but I was also kind of getting freaked out about going downhill on this thing.  As we headed over spring mill pond and crossed the creek the rear tire totally exploded.  It turns out it the Fire XC Pro tire was in pretty bad condition and we didn't notice.  As we were stopped we ran into Gabby Bruno from Dark Horse who was doing her usual fast paced ride through ILRA.  We chatted for a while and then she rode off to get more trail riding on.  It was nice to catch up with her.  We put a tube in the rear tire, CO2'd it up and headed back to the trail head via the road.

I've since talked to Seth about how we now have a tandem.  He said we should all meet up at The Poto (it gets an article because it is such a bad a$$ trail) to ride together.  Uh not so sure about that idea as of yet.  Jimmie and I take very different lines on that trail and I think I would scream with him at the front. 

ILRA XC

I had originally planned on racing the 6 hours of stony on Saturday May 11th.  I woke up that morning and just couldn't fight the urge to race the tailwind racing XC race at ILRA.  That place is like a giant reminiscence of times past when I began riding in 1997 on my blue aluminum Nishiki.  Years ago on one of my many rides out at ILRA I saw tailwind racing signage.  I tossed around the idea of racing then, but was too intimidated.  I couldn't even tell you what year that was.  My understanding is that it's been years since anyone has been allowed to have hold a mtb race at ILRA.

I pulled up close to the Sweet Bikes tent where Seth and Emily were hanging out.  They both thought I showed up to the wrong race and I told them I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to race at ILRA.  I registered, reluctantly, for the elite/pro category and headed back to the van to get geared up.  Seth was making last minute bike setup changes and warming up with me here and there. 

We both decided to get in our waves for the start.  It was cold and rained a little that morning.  I think it was in the mid 40's for our start.  I wore knickers and a short sleeved jersey.  I was shivering so much waiting for our start that a nice man in front of us offered to let me wear his jacket.  I thanked him and explained to him that I prefer to be cold at the start than comfortable.  Comfortable means I'll probably over heat - a little lesson learned from iceman. 

It seemed like it took forever for our wave to lineup to start.  It was on the gas from 1.  Sue and Erin were in the front from the start.  I hung on till about the first climb and never saw them again.  At this time I figured I was in 4th since another Canadian racer was ahead of me.  Abby Owsley pulled us through quite a bit of the 1st lap.  We finally caught the other Canadian, Melanie Bernier, atop the climb next to the road where you see the smiley face.  I was happy to catch her.  The three of us rode together through the completion of the 1st lap and all the way to the sprint finish that I didn't participate in.  I can say I had the most fun I've ever had racing that day.  I've never actually rode with other competition the entire race.  I can only hope for more racing like that in the near future. 

Emily Kleinglass raced and ended up in second.  It's always fun to watch new racers really enjoy themselves.  She seemed to really have a good time. 

I got to meet Cru Simpson, Scott and Chrissie Simpson's baby boy.  Chrissie picked out the name for their son not knowing anything about the movie Rad Racing, a film about BMX bike racing, and the main characters name Cru Jones.  Needless to say Scott, a very enthusiastic BMXer, was happy with the name. 

Willow Run TT

Seth Kleinglass, owner of Sweet Bikes in Canton, has an accomplished background in road racing.  This year the Willow Run TT was one on his radar.  Kim Canales enthusiam pushed the Blumericks and ourselves out there as well.  Most of us registered for the classic bike category since we don't own and are not interested in owning really, really expensive aerodynamic super light carbon road bikes. 

I've raced a few road races here and there and I personally enjoyed myself.  I've just noticed one thing about road racing more with the men than the women.  There seems to be a "my bike is better than your bike" fest going on.  When someone pulls up and they're sporting a pimped out Pinarello on their BMW you kind of think somethings to yourself.  Let's just say there was some serious money in TT bikes out there that day. 

 

It was a little cool in the morning so I dressed warmer than I probably should have.  My start was good I just missed the 1st turn and had to slam on the brakes and lost a little time there.  As I went around for what felt like the 10th time I realized how hot I felt and how my heart rate was about 10 beats per minutes higher than it should be.  Wendy eventually passed me and went on to win the race in our category.  I ended up in second.  That was a surprise.  I was getting use to 5th places by this time. 

Jimmie Colflesh ended up in 2nd in his category as well.  He just keeps getting faster.  Seth Kleinglass ended up in 10th and only 2 minutes behind 1st place. 

Jeff Carek showed up via his cross bike to support us while we raced. 

Finish Times:

Todd Blumerick 35:41.39
Kim Canales 35:46.89
Jimmie Colflesh 32:44.16
Melissa Colflesh 38:54.80
John Conlin 38:09.34
Seth Kleinglass 32:31.00
Bradley Williams 36:09.74
Wendy Zamzow-Blumerick 36:06.80

All pictures are from detroit spoke. 

Lowell 50

Wendy really wanted to race the Lowell 50 and Todd really wanted to race the Amish Country Roubaix in Ohio.  It was decided that we ladies would venture to Battle Creek, MI to stay at Wendy's parents house to race the Lowell 50 the next day while Jimmie and Todd would head south to the Mohican area to race. 

When I first looked at the weather that was supposedly going to happen for the Lowell 50, I was pretty happy since it looked like it may be fairly nice for the 50 miler.  Wendy and I were in the kitchen at her parents house looking at the weather on our phones.  Holy crap 20 to 30 mile winds and temps in the 30's and 40's.  I was not happy to read that at all.  Regardless we still ventured up to Lowell, MI Saturday morning and barely made it to the start of the race.  In fact we had to push through the group of starters because apparently we missed the start for the 50 miler.  I hung in Wendy's draft through a little bit of the first few miles until we hit the first climb.  I watched Wendy climb up and over that hill as I struggled to make my cross bike move over the loose gravely climb.  After that it was literally 45 miles of a suffer fest for me.  I barely had anyone to work with since; I was on my own.  Again I had front brake rubbing issues but this time with the cross bike.  I tried several times to get that thing to stop rubbing to no avail.  I just dealt with it.  About an hour into the race it felt like my hands were on fire, so I stopped and removed my gloves.  That made a huge difference.  Of course at that time I thought I maybe had 2 hours tops left of the race.  I was way off on that estimate.  Since we had 20 plus mile an hour winds with wind gusts for much of the course I realized quickly that I was going to have a hard time getting to the 1/2 way point at even 15 miles per hour.  I got so frustrated at one point I was swearing out loud at the wind and wishing I had signed up for the 28 mile race.  Finally other women racers came up from behind me and they were working together along the flats - actually I would say the taller woman in the FRCC jersey was working for the other woman who just seemed to stay in her draft.  I latched onto their train and was grateful to catch a break for a while.  I slowly began to feel better and decided to take a pull.  I must have been a little too fast for the FRCC woman or she just didn't care because she dropped off the back.  I then had the hanger on-er lady who I swear was having lunch while I pulled for what seemed like forever.  Eventually I slowed up so she would have to take a pull.  I hung on for a while but eventually her pace was too much for me and I found myself alone once again.  Much of the race after that was a blur until a lady on a MTB started gaining on me.  I suddenly was on some sort of personal mission to not get passed by the MTB racer.  I dug deep and pushed and fortunately held her off to the finish.  I was cooked.  I guess it was good training...I think. 

Wendy opened a can of whoop a$$ on the course and once again came in 1st.  She loves those gravel grinders.