The Bridges Family Gull Lake Triathlon Report

This weekend was the Gull Lake Triathlon and WSI Cycling had several racers at the event. The Bridges family not only participated, but had a great showing!

Kevin Bridges

I raced the Olympic distance at Gull Lake, had a very good race finishing 2ND in my age group. The swim was great, nice warm and clear water. The bike was a rolling ride in Barry County on fairly good roads at least better than we’re used to. The new Aero wheels I got this week worked wonderfully, I averaged over 20 mph, a first for me. Thanks Team Active! The run was hillier than I thought but I managed to get through it with a respectful run time. I was able to fix the mistakes I made at Seahorse earlier this season so I’m very pleased with my race.

 

Katie Bridges

Why do I do these? Misery can be so much fun, I guess. I also did the Olympic distance triathlon, and also came in 2nd in my age group. This course is beautiful; the lake is crystal-clear, the bike and run are rolling hills. The weather was fine, warm and 70s as we started out, heating up to the low 80s by the end. I’ve never been a fan of running in the 80s, but I guess after complaining about a cold winter, what can I say? Today’s goal was to work moderately keeping the heat in mind, and focus on the nutrition part. I did fine there. The swim just seems to take me FOREVER!! I just kept those buoys in my sight and worked toward them one by one.

By the time I got to my bike, I was so thankful to have some time to ride. The bike is my favorite part, and the rollercoaster hills were fun to play around on. Then I remembered… I need to have SOME legs left to run. The run was fine, but feels so slow after the bike! I like the out-and-back run, as I was able to see some of my WSI teammates, friends and family members finish up their race, cheering and giving High 5s. Gull Lake is a great race, I really enjoyed it as a first-timer, and I would recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a great local race.

Scott Bridges

Gull lake triathlon was my first Olympic distance triathlon. The swim was very nice, but was a struggle at times, I had a very slow swim, with a lot of ground to make up I headed onto the bike. The bike course is great, with smooth roads and some hills made it interesting. With just averaging under 19 miles per hour, I felt great and saving something for the run, which is where I felt even better. Finishing strong and got 1st in my age group.

Marie Bridges

Gull Lake Triathlon was a great race. I did the sprint triathlon and finished in first in my age group and was the 7th women overall. The swim was nice and clear and seemed pretty short. The bike was great- only a few small hills and only like 10 miles. I was able to go pretty fast. The run was a 5k and relatively flat and on pavement. I started slow then got faster as the run went on. I wasn’t able to see the finish line very well coming up to it, but I soon saw it and sprinted the finish. Pretty good food at the end, and another great race.

Up date last 2 races back to back 24hr.National Challenge Road Bike and Lumberjack 100 Mtn. Bike

The plan for this season's racing and training is with the intent of competing in RAAM 2015.  Each one of these races on its own is grueling, and done within five days, fits perfectly into a training program for RAAM.  I was the only WSI team member at the 24hr and yes; it was lonely at 3am. There were other teams  grouped up and I felt their energy as they whizzed by. Part of me was a little jealous, but deep down my defiant side  was deeply motivated to keep going.  The Lumberjack is a tough course, but so much fun because other WSI team members were there competing.  There were also team members and fans at the event supporting racers Eric Cook, Dan Frayer, and Jack Miner. What a difference in motivation between the 2 races!   I used my intrinsic desire to succeed solo aginst the world at the 24hr and my love for comraderie and shared suffering with friends at the Lumberjack.

Kathy Roche-Wallace

State TT Championship in June

Josh Haas here; the 2014 State Time Trial Championship brought some good talent to a hilly, technical course in late June.  With three turnarounds and a short 16 miles ridden, it was an odd route that catered to the more technical riders.  It was certainly a learning experience for me and I felt I rode well given where my fitness level is currently. 

I missed the podium by 57 seconds and I placed 4th in my division.  I was happy with my performance and believe the hilly course did play to some of my strengths.  Pre-riding the course the night before was also very useful.  WSI was also represented by Danny Wolin and the time trial master podiumed with a 3rd place finish in his division.

I'm looking forward to next year.  The goal is to come in stronger and faster than ever with a podium finish.

-Josh

Rollin' on race days

[caption id="attachment_1219" align="alignright" width="150"] Carson, Charles, Tony, Dwight, and Travis[/caption]
Summer marks a busy season for WSI cyclists. Of course there are races almost every weekend. In addition, WSI loves to support the local community by volunteering at races. The past 2 weekends they have had the pleasure of leading out for both the Cereal City Classic on June 14th and the Cheetah Chase on June 21st.


The Cereal City Classic, an annual race held during Battle Creek's Longest Breakfast Table Festival, is hosted by one of our great sponsors, the Battle Creek YMCA. They reported over 650 racers this year participating in both the 5k and 10k events. Racers even had the pleasure of meeting Tony the Tiger, himself.


[caption id="attachment_1217" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dwight, April, Angela, Mike I., and J.J. at the Cheetah Chase[/caption]The Cheetah Chase is a unique 5k through Binder Park Zoo. The course is a challenging run for racers, winding through the zoo and making use of it's many terrains. Definitely not a course for the road bikes. This year the Cheetah Chase boasted over 1,500 runners for the 5k event.

Maumee Bay Triathlon Toledo Ohio

[caption id="attachment_1207" align="alignright" width="225"] Shayne Thomas at HFP Maumee Bay Triathlon Toledo Ohio 2014[/caption]

Shayne Thomas here...I'm glad to report that I have done the second race in the HFP Fit Family Series-Maumee Bay Triathlon at the awesome state park of the same name near Toledo Ohio.  Once again doing the sprint triathlon in the age group-fat, old, & ugly.  It was the second time that I placed third in the over 40 over 200lbs.  I was generally satisfied with my times.  I came out of the swim with my buddy and fellow Clydesdale Mark.  We talked about how good a pizza sounded right then as we trotted up to the transition.  Toledo is table top flat.  The only challenge on the bike is wind.  There was a bit, but, not as bad as it has been in the past.  The brutal run is also flat, but, is run in zero shade.  I thought a Guinness sounded pretty good and would quench my thirst, but, realized it would take a special person to drink one during a triathlon.

I literally grabbed my metal and my time slip and trotted off to gather my stuff from the transition.  As quickly as possible I needed to be in Mansfield, Ohio for the Miss Ohio parade to drive my daughter's float.  She is the reigning Miss Mansfield's Outstanding Teen.  www.shaylathomas.com.  I got a lot of questions about why I had my weight and age on my calves, unfortunately, they started to cramp halfway through the parade!!

Shayne

Addison Oaks and Top 10 DFL signs

First few turns reminded me about the course and also why it is so important to pre-ride the course (which I didn’t).  I was hanging with the front guys, lost them half way through the first lap and then just blewup half way throughthe second lap.  I had a headache so bad that I was straining my eyes to focus on the down hills.  One of the guys in my group fell here and broke his helmet. He is okay, but a reminder as to why we wear helmets and why I needed to focus so intently on the course—nearly impossible with my head pounding.  I will save you the effort.  I finished 8/9 and the only guy I beat was in the med tent getting looked at with his broken helmet.

Top 10 Signs that You are finishing DFL (Dead Last) in your group (some of these I made up, some really happened to me today.)

1. The water hand up station is closed prior to your last lap.


2. When you finish, the photographers have already uploaded their pictures for purchase.


3. The results are posted before you finish (this actually happened today).


4. They ask you if anyone else is on the course when you finish.


5. The race organizers wonder how many course flags you picked up on your way in.


6. Neil  Sharphorne claps and says, “way to go old timer”!


7. The leaves have changed and they ask if you want a hunter's safety vest for your last lap.


8. Your Gel Shots shelf life expires while you are riding.


9. The team sponsors change during the race.


10. 10. The end of winter party starts just as you cross the finish line.

I hate Addison Oaks....maybe next year.

 

Spring Into Action 10k

[caption id="attachment_1190" align="alignright" width="225"] Check out my shirt![/caption]

I decided the Wednesday of race week to sign-up for the 10k race.  It was my forst 10k running race and with the goal of an Olympic triathlon distance this summer it was a perfect time to see where my pace and endurance levels were at.

The morning of the race was chilly but turned out to be great once we started running.  The course is fast and perfect for setting PR's.  It was great to see the team there leading us out onto the course.  Just prior to the start I was able to take a picture of the team volunteer's and thank them for coming out and volunterring their time.

The start of the race was on the Lakeview HS track.  We went 3/4 of the way around the track before heading off onto the strret.  As a tech consultant, I have been trained to plan "go-live's" and I treat race days in the same manner.  Pre-race checklist, estimate race time based on training times, etc.  For this race, I was planning on a 9 min mile pace.  In order to help me stay on pace, I set a 10k workout on my Garmin 910 to keep a pace between 9:00 and 9:05.  From the start of the race my watch was alarming to let me know i was heading out too fast.  I was at an 8:23 pace as i was leaving the track to head out on the road and managed to start slowing my pace.

As i made my way around the course, I was hoping I was not annoying other runners with my watch alarm.  I was maintaining a a faster pace than what i had set but I was feeling comfortable and strong in the run and made it a challenge to stay under the targets I had set in the watch.  As we made our way back to the HS, I got a photo opp from Nikki Elder (Thank you) and got encouragement from our team of riders.

As it turned out, I finished second in my age group.  I missed the award ceremony because it was opening day for Avery's LYA team.  It was a pleasant surprise to receive a medal in the mail about a week after the event.  My kids thought it was pretty cool!

Male 35 to 39

                                                                                              Total  
    Place    Name                              City              Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Pace  
       1    Eric Greene                       Battle Creek  MI      159   39        2          46:15      7:28/M
       2    Robby Robertson                   Battle Creek  MI      116   37       18          53:53      8:41/M

Double Time Tri

I was anxious to see how my off-season training was going to pay off this year. 2014 officially marks my 3rd year in the world of triathlon. To-date, I have only attempted sprint distance, but with help of Adam D, Mike W. and RJ, I am aiming at an Oly this summer. Having never used a wetsuit, I decided to bypass Seahorse and "tri" the Double Time, trusting the water temps would be warm enough to go sans wetsuit.

As any team member with children will attest, finding time to train can be a challenge.  I made a conscious decision to dial back some of the early morning workouts this winter (i.e. Masters Swimming) and concentrated on biking and run training.  For me, I could easily hit the treadmill and rollers at home after the kids had been put to bed and it fit around my dynamic work schedule.  With that said, I was a little worried about my swim time heading into the event…not from the standpoint of finishing the swim, but from a pace perspective.  Pre-race, I had jitters fluttering through my head like “Please let me swim in a straight line.  Remember to pick your head up and sight the buoy.  Remember coach said to picture your arm reaching over a barrel and let your hand drop 6” under the water before starting your pull, etc.”  As you can imagine, I was glad when the horn finally went off and all of my nerves and jittery thoughts went flying out of my head!  I found my pace where I felt I was not fighting the water and my energy level was comfortable.

Once out of the water, it was a jog to the transition area making sure to avoid rocks with my tender bare feet.  First transition of the year was a little clumsy as I could not, for the life of me, get my jersey on.  After a quick check for shoes, helmet and sunglasses (post jersey debacle) I was off.

My goal was to avg at least 20mph on the bike.  That quickly went out the window as my Garmin 910 was only displaying my overall time in the multisport mode so I decided to just go by feel but lucked out finding another rider to pace/race with.  The roads were surprisingly smooth so it was easy to get into a good cadence.  I dropped into the aero bars and began playing a game of “leap frog” with the other rider.  Each time we leapt passed each other one of us would shout something positive to the other which was fun!   While we were not racing under USAT rules, I still purposefully avoided drafting 1) because I thought it would be good practice for any USAT sanctioned races this season and 2) in my mind it seemed more like “fair play” to avoid the draft in a race.  We caught a few riders on our way around the course (again I tried to say something encouraging as we passed by...probably a Pavlovian response I have picked up from Trizelle training).  I had to keep a mental check not to drop into heavier gears as I knew I would have nothing left for the run if I did.

A quick check of my overall time on the way in from the bike and at 45 mins, I realized I was not going to make my goal time I had set for myself.  Once I was off the bike, my legs were feeling heavy but I tried to keep my biking partner in my sites for as long as I could.  In my mind, I was sure I was running a 10 min/mi pace.  Just when I started wondering where the turn-around was, I got a mental break when a road raging motorist started honking his horn and yelling at all of the runners on the course with expletives and in no-uncertain-terms, to get off the road.  To be honest, it was nice to think about something other than how tired my legs were getting.  As I neared the finish, a quick glance at my watch gave me the inspiration to pick up the pace.  I finished in 1:12 which was a PR by at least one minute.

 

Post-race, I got to explain the jersey to Cara Smith from Trikats.  She had seen the jersey’s at events but my team training kicked in and I explained what WSI stood for and and snuck the jersey into a Trikat team photo.  Turns out, I knew my bike course pacer.  It was Scott Miller from Agility Physical Therapy (turns out we had done the same sort of thing at the Cereal City Tri last year).  My race time breakdown is pictured below.

Goff Family Winter / Spring Race Reports 2014

Melting Mann March 9^th 28/14 mile Gravel Road Race

Dilan and I started the race year out on a very cold day in March at the Melting Mann race.  I did the 28 mile loop and finished 6^th of about 25 guys or so in my bracket. Dilan dominated the youth field and beat most of the adults on the 14 mile course.

[caption id="attachment_1132" align="alignright" width="225"] Dilan Melting Mann 2014[/caption]

Barry Roubaix March 22^nd 36 mile Gravel Road Race

Not nearly as cold as the Melting Mann but still a very chilly morning in Hastings, me and about 20 other teammates gathered for the first major race of the season.  I finished mid pack in my age bracket with a time of 2:25 about 12 minutes slower than last year.  The lack of training on defiantly showed up at this race.  Overall our team also finished mid pack with a team avg. time of 2:17.  Grat Job Guys!

Lowell 50 Spring April 5^th 32 Mile Gravel Road Race

Perfect race temps, course was a little soft and lots of wind in some areas making another tough day on the bike.  Had severe legs cramps at the half way point actually had to get off my bike and walk a bit.  This is first anything like this has ever happened to me still not sure what happened.  I was able to get back on the bike changed up my pedal stroke and finished the race finishing 4^th in my age group.  This is 3^rd or 4^th time in row I have got fourth one of these days I will make that podium.  Maybe I should try a cycle cross bike next time.

Fort Custer Stampede May 4^th

[caption id="attachment_1133" align="alignright" width="300"] Dilan Stampede 2014[/caption]

This year I stepped up to Expert Class for the added mileage and early start times so I could be around when my kids take off.  Not sure it was the right thing to do or not, was hoping to finish mid pack but that did not quite work out as planned.  Anyways I spent a lot of time training with Dilan this spring and getting him ready for the season.  He had very impressive race finishing 2^nd out of 13 kids in the 11 – 14 year old class.  Jacob my youngest at 6 years old wanted to do the big boys race, which is a full 9-10 mile loop.  I rode along with him and a few other kids and helped them navigate their way through course.  Good times!

Yankee Springs May 18^th

Again I raced expert big mistake they added 2.5 miles to each lap this year making for even more climbing, however I did beat a few more people here than at the Stampede.  The added mileage did not slow down Dilan he took 3^rd place this year and beat his last year’s time by nearly 5 minutes.  Due to the added mileage and the amount of climbing at Yankee Jacob opted for the kids race, from what I hear he dominated that race as well.

 

[caption id="attachment_1135" align="alignleft" width="225"] Jacob Yankee Springs 2014[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1134" align="alignright" width="225"] Dilan Yankee Springs[/caption]

Potato Creek~ more like Baked Potato with creek on the side...

Dwight and I raced Potato Creek on Sunday 06/01/2014. It is one of our favorite mountain bike trails. (Potato Creek is located in North Liberty, IN. about 12 miles southwest of South Bend) It is fast flowing single-track with about 8 miles of fun whoop-di-doos and rock gardens. It also flows through open fields and has some fast, sandy corners that can be challenging! I love it because there really is not any climbing!

We arrived a good hour and a half early to cheer on Cylone and warm up. During our warm up Dwight couldn't resist the concrete drainage ditch on the down hill and needless to say he had a couple scrapes starting the race.

[caption id="attachment_1151" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dwight per-race scrapes...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1152" align="alignright" width="361"] April Parrish and Dwight Denisiuk
My pre-race jitters...[/caption]

We raced sport class so we had 2 laps, approximately 16 miles with temperatures in the 80’s. Believe me,  you felt every degree when we hit the open field and there was just sun and sand!

I did my usual mingling before the race but was disheartened that one of the girls who I raced against at Bendix seemed to completely snub me when I said "hi." Maybe she didn't hear me or was having a bad day, but oh well, I guess I was there to race and not chit-chat (besides, that got me a little fired up and eager to hit the trail). There were only four of us racing Sport women, the official category has ages from 0-99, but out of us girls, we were 19-40 yrs. I was the oldest and these chicks all had 29-inch tires! Out of the girls, I had my eye on who I thought would be the strongest rider, so my strategy was to let her lead and hopefully wear her out or try and keep up!

We took off as a pack through winding, grass fields before we hit the single-track. To my surprise, there was more screeching of brakes through the downhill than what I would have expected with the caliber or women that were racing that day, but oh well. Entering the single-track I was sitting in third place. I knew the racer in front of me and she made the first move and asked to pass the lead rider. I chimed up to make that two passing! Well the leader got over to let one of us through, but that was not me! Her bike came back on the trail and ended up cutting me off. I asked her three more times to pass, finally I said, “I need to pass! You might be stronger on the hills but I have better technical skills.”

We reached a sandy climb enough for both of us to go through and of course everyone knows you do not take the middle of a sandy climb right? Well… she went up the middle and I called, “on your left” she reared to the left. I was forced to the left, just skimming a tree stump. I have never been so fired up during a race before, so that really got me going!

[caption id="attachment_1161" align="alignleft" width="300"] YAY! This race I remembered to look ahead while going through the rock garden ~ improvement![/caption]

 

A little while later I saw the winner and gave her a shout out that she was awesome and rocking the trail. I counted 15 second from her spot but that must have fueled her, because I didn’t see or hear her again! I came in second but excited to report… I beat the next closest rider by 8 minutes! I guess in this case, my little tires were helpful on the corners.

~ April Parrish

[caption id="attachment_1154" align="alignright" width="270"] April Parrish~ 2nd place[/caption]

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1153" align="alignright" width="301"] Dwight Denisiuk ~ rocking his kilt on the podium...[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dwight had a great race as well; he came in 2nd place single speed. It is hard to beat the locals, but we give them what we got!

[caption id="attachment_1160" align="alignnone" width="300"] SHADAZY! I forgot there was a rock garden!!!!![/caption]

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/wsicycling

 

Deer Creek Triathlon-Mount Sterling, Ohio

June 1, 2014
First triathlon of the season! It was a perfect race day at Deer Creek State Park which is located between Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. HFP Racing-FIT Family Series kicked off today. If you haven't checked out any of their races I would certainly encourage you to give them a tri (pun). www.hfpracing.com
I have been doing their events for 20 years. Shannon Kurek and his team put on first rate events. The races are well organized, predictable, and affordable. HFP offers a wide variety of events that help grow the sport and make multi sport accessible to everyone. Importantly, they have mastered traffic flow which minimizes interference between racers of different abilities.

Deer Creek's signature feature is the dam run, you literally run down and back across the dam and levies. It offers a spectacular view of the lake on one side and cyclist on the road struggling up a climb on the other.

I don't typically like to race with the skinny Clydesdales. HFP has a cut off at a mere 200 pounds. That is bantam weight in my circle of meat eaters. Nonetheless, I am forever grateful that age groups exist so that we can all enjoy racing without be an elite. A third place finish in the Clydesdale age group was a nice reward for racing hard today. Overall there were around 600 participants mostly from the Cincinnati/Dayton corridor and the Greater Columbus area.

Shayne Thomas
WSI Cycling
Tiffin, Ohio

[caption id="attachment_1140" align="alignright" width="225"] Shayne Thomas-Deer Creek Triathlon[/caption]