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

And they're off.....

Last Night WSI Team Active Racing got together to kick off  planning for the 2014 Season.  Eric Cook was nice enough to host at his house and, since I was driving from out of town, I convinced him to go for a ride in advance of the team meeting.

That may not have been the best idea.  Dwight  joined us and is (for some reason) at mid season form and Eric is, well what Eric always is...a machine.  I was a bit late for our departure time after making some much needed purchases at Team Active, although I was dressed and ready to go, my bike still needed to get prepped and I wanted to put toe warmers in my boots and hand warmers in my gloves.  Not sure what the temperature was, I remember seeing about 20 degrees.  While I was prepping my gear, I told Eric and Dwight that I needed about 5 minutes.  Dwight said "Okay, you get all ready, then we will start spinning and warm up on our way to the 'Dump'."  I thought he meant, we would have time to warm up, not that we would get on the bike and proceed to ride at 22 mph right out of the driveway!  I got warm, but not much of a warm up.

We met Kathy at an intersection about a mile from the entrance to the Dump.  It was too cold to socialize too much, but very good to see her.  I had not seen her since she returned from RAAM.  The Dump is a great technical morass of cement, tar and tile and, if you go down, something gets scratched or broken.

Last time I rode the Dump was 3 years ago, that was in the middle of the summer and I was much more comfortable handling my bike than this ride when the ground was frozen and I was cold.  Nobody fell, though I did do some sight seeing a couple times, but all in all a great ride through the woods.  On the way home, Dwight pulled and I locked on to his wheel as if my life depended on it.

My feet were so frozen, that they were numb, and (you know the feeling) I wanted to cry they hurt so bad when they started to thaw out.  But then we went to Crazy Horse for some pizza and a beer...then all was good.

All got much better when I saw the team that I started riding with 5 years ago.  Mike, Eric, Kathy, Dan, Danny, Hannah, Devin, Chuck, Charles, Dave, Dave Sr., Eric, Cameron, Dwight, April, Keith, JJ, Groat, Josh, (and I probably forgot a couple guys), have all been around since I started riding.  (JJ brought his daughter with him, it was great to meet her too.)

There is something about the internal fight you have with yourself while you are putting out a big effort (or fighting the elements) and then get together with friends who do the same thing.  It is a fraternity and sorority and a family.  It was great to see everyone, go for a ride and talk about all of the great things coming for 2014.  I value our friendship and look forward to an awesome 2014.  For those who could not make it, we missed you.

Go WSI/Team Active Racing.  Jack.

WSI-Team Active Cycling Leads Out 2013 Dig ‘Em Dash

This weekend found me “uncharacteristically available” Saturday morning and actually home for the weekend. That meant I was able to help out at this year’s Dig ‘Em Dash, a 5k run located in downtown Battle Creek. This was the third and final event in the Cereal City Stampede, a series of races in Battle Creek to get people be active and get out in the community. Similar to when the team helps with “bike patrol” for the Oaklawn Hospitality Classic, team members ride the course and help to ensure the runners’ safety by helping at busy intersections with traffic control, watching for injured runners and offering words of encouragement to the racers.

The weather was just about as perfect as it could have been, cool to run and sunny. While I’m not that much of a runner, I know that running in cool temps is a whole lot better than blazing hot weather. While the likelihood of that happening this time of year was minimal, it could have been cold and rainy (like it was the next day), so Mother Nature smiled upon the race organizers for sure.

To help kick things off the Kellogg’s characters all made an appearance (since the event started right in front of their world headquarters, it only made sense). We got some nice “high fives” during our roll-up for the event and it was nice the announcer made several mentions of the team throughout the morning.

Towards the end of the event (there were runners and walkers) a couple of ladies finishing the walk were just about ready to make the final turn to the finish and gave a “woot” to me when I rode by. I get it… It’s not every day you see grown men riding their bikes around in spandex and shaved legs. Much to their surprise, I “wooted” back and turned around to come back and give them their own personal “biker escort” to the finish. I could tell when I turned around on my bike that was not what they were expecting, so of course I had some fun with the situation. Turns out they both worked at the Federal Center in Battle Creek and a bunch of them had come out to do the event. Exactly what the Cereal City Stampede wanted people to do!

While many of the reports you’ll read on this blog involve team members competing for medals, this is one of those events we do just because it’s a good thing. No awards or podium finishes… just supporting the community and being part of the event. I’m sure the weather had a lot to do with the great turnout for the event, but it was great to see so many people up early on a Saturday doing something fitness related.

After the Dash was over we all headed back to Brownstone for some coffee (thanks Dutch and Team Active for treating!) and then I got to continue my day of riding at Fort Custer with Dwight. We did the Red and Green loops and since I’ve not ridden out there much this year, some of the trail was new to me, so I had a blast. Dave and his kids were just finishing up when we came in, so we got to hang out with them a bit before packing up and heading home.

Great event, great weather, great friends and a great way to spend a Saturday…

Silver at the Lumberman Olympic Triathlon in Cadillac - Woot!

After spending all my racing season “on a bike” and doing some mountain bike and cyclocross/dirt road races, this weekend I completed my first of three triathlons for the season. Saturday was the Lumberman Olympic in Cadillac, MI and was the second year competing in this event. As with all 3 Disciplines run events, it was very well organized an early registrants even got a nice sleeveless 3D cycling jersey. It was also pretty cool that one of my college buddies from Alma came up from Hastings to join me. Rob has not been doing triathlons for more than a couple of years (at most) and was coming off the Half Ironman in Muncie, IN just a couple of weeks prior. Even though he said he’d never do another one that distance, like everyone that does a race that distance it takes a while to get over the initial “shock” and decide that it’s something you actually will want to do again. Doing the Olympic was a nice “cool down” for him and after the fact, we both agreed that running 13.1 miles was something neither of us would have wanted to do today.

As with last year, the night before there was a lot of rain in the area, making everyone wonder if the race would even take place. Mother Nature stopped the rain, but about fifteen minutes prior to the start fog rolled in across Lake Cadillac and standing on the shore you couldn’t even see the first marker in the water. Obviously the organizers were not about to let us in the water for safety reasons, so we waited for the fog to lift and started about 45 minutes later.

The temps were in the 60s at start, making the 74 degree water the warmest place on the course. After spending so much time on the bike, it was apparent about 15 minutes into my swim that I better spend a bit more time in the water before my “half” 70.3 mile race in September! I came out of the water in the last half of my group, but was confident that I’d be able to make up some time on the bike.

Transition went quickly and I was off and pedaling for the next 26 miles. It was an out and back route and most of the way to the turnaround it seemed like I was fighting a headwind most of the way. One of my friends, Shirley, passed me on the swim and I saw her leave just before me in transition, so my first goal was to catch her, which I did. However, she hung on (not drafting, of course, because that’s not legal) and stayed within sight of me exchanging “banter” along the way.

I hit the turnaround and was nice to feel the wind at my back for a change. There were a few hills at the mid-point, but I made quick work of them and passed several other riders, especially coming down the back side. With the tailwind I was carrying 27-28 mph on some of the flat sections, which I knew would help me with some extra “time buffer” when I got to the run.

Coming into the transition for the run I was able to quickly rack my bike, switch to my running shoes and toss on my hat before heading out for the last hour (or more) on the course. Typically an Olympic has a 10k for the run, which is 6.2 miles, but we were running around Lake Cadillac and that meant a 7 mile run was ahead. My legs didn’t feel too bad given that I had not done much ride-then-run work this year. I was expecting my legs to feel like I was running in cement shoes, but fortunately that was not the case.

The first three miles were uneventful and some of the faster runners (who I had passed on the bike) were getting their payback and passed me. I kept an eye on their “size” given that I registered for the Clydesdale category (racers 200 lbs. or greater) and fortunately all the runners were “skinny dudes” so I was comfortable that I was in the lead for my division. Right around mile four Shirley came by tailing a fellow Clydesdale. They both were carrying a bit faster pace than me, but I knew if I wanted to keep my position I had better jump on and follow for as long as I could. We ran together for the next mile or so and was at my max for most of the time. I can honestly say that had I not been following them my pace would have been slower, so the motivation was nice.

Just about around mile six I started to catch a second wind and picked up the pace. By now Shirley had gapped us, but I was hanging on and the two “big guys” were clip-clopping along together. When I made my move and tried to build a gap he didn’t have the steam to keep up and I pulled ahead. Then, just about a half mile later another fellow Clyde came around me carrying a pretty good pace and I couldn’t hang on and he ended up finishing just about a minute ahead of me, taking first and leaving me with second and a nice sliver medal to bring home to Alicia.



Looking back at my performance I was pleased overall with my results. Had I raced in my age group (40-45) I would have taken third and overall was in the top 20 males for the Olympic. I was proud that my bike split was the ninth fastest of the entire field, but it’s evident that I’ve got some work to do with my swim, and especially the run. Had I been able to carry a faster pace on the run I easily could have won my division. But in the end I’m just grateful that this “old body” is able to still get out there and complete an event like this in one piece (and still be able to walk the next day).

Next race is in August, where I’ll be headed to Ludington for the Lighthouse Olympic triathlon. That’s always a good weekend since my grandparents live in Pentwater and we make a weekend event out of it. It’s also a great course and I’ll be returning as the “defending Clydesdale champion” (if there is such a title). Then, it’s back to Cedar Point for the Rev3 half in September for my 70.3 of the year (plus, some roller coasters).

Keep the rubber side down...
Eric

P.S. A special thanks to my good friend Donna, who luckily was at her cabin in Cadillac and had an extra race belt for me to use Saturday. She raced the Racine, WI half the weekend prior, so she was not racing this weekend. But that didn't keep her from coming down at at 7 am to meet me. Thanks Donna, you rock!

Brighton Rec Repeat

Brighton Rec Repeat – July 13th, 2013 – Howell, Michigan – Brighton Recreation Area

After the Bloomer Park Daze race, I found out that I was leading the Tailwind Racing series in the Sport SS class.  At the beginning of the race season, I was only planning on participating in the MMBA Championship Points Series, but the scheduling of the Tailwind races made it convenient to compete in that series as well.  The only real scheduling conflict between them was on Saturday, when there were races at Boyne (MMBA) and Brighton.  I was in 2nd in the MMBA series prior to Saturday, and Eric Wolting, who is leading that series, had a pretty big lead.  So instead of trying to gain points in the MMBA CPS, I opted to defend my Tailwind points lead.

Having never ridden Brighton before, I did a bit of quick online recon which showed only about 200 feet of climbing per 6.5 mile race lap.  Based on that, I decided to run 38 x 18, which is what I usually run at the Fort, which has a similar amount of elevation.  At the park I ran into the usual east side crowd, but it was a relatively small field of just 6 participants.  We lined up around 1 p.m. with temperatures in the mid-80's, and hit the course.

I was first off the line and into the woods leading Tim Fargo and Nate Layle.  Tim and I dropped Nate after a mile or so, and after passing a few other riders from other classes, I dropped Tim about 2.5 miles into the first lap.  From this point in the race, I just kept my pace up to try to ensure I wouldn't be caught.  The Expert/Elite SS lap times were around 27-29 minutes, and I wanted to keep mine under 30.  I completed my first lap in just about 29 minutes, and on my way back into the woods, I saw Tim and Nate coming out to finish their first lap - this meant that I had at least a minute on them.  I tried to keep my pace consistent throughout my second and third laps, and apart from a brief moment of panic during my third lap when I thought Tim was close behind me, I managed to do so.  I also made the choice to have a GU pack at the beginning of my third lap to try and prevent the fading I'd been experiencing, which I believe helped quite a bit.  I finished in just over 1:30 for my second win on the season.



 

There are two more races in the Tailwind series, and four more in the MMBA CPS.  My goal is to protect my Tailwind series lead, and to finish in the top 3 in the MMBA series.  I'm going to keep my training intensity high, and possibly add in some running to increase my endurance.  We'll see how it shakes out! - Adam Cefai

Bloomer Park Daze

Bloomer Park Daze – June 30th, 2013 – Rochester Hills, Michigan – Bloomer Park

I'll try to keep this one short.  So: we're on the east side visiting family again, and I decided to race. Based on basically nothing but my own hubris, I changed up my gearing to 36x17, which ended up being a slight mistake.  Bloomer Park has a lot of technical switchbacks and tough, punchy climbs, along with a decent amount of roots.  And not much flat.  I would have been better off with 2:1, maybe a bit lighter.  The east side had a lot of rain the week prior, so there were some pretty muddy sections as well.  It's a 6-mile loop, and the Sport SS class was doing 3 laps.



I hadn't ridden Bloomer Park before, so my plan for the first lap was to stay on the leader's wheel to get a handle on the course.  And then I remembered I hate riding behind people in a race situation.  I was 2nd into the woods and, as usual, we got caught up in traffic from the age groups starting before us.  After about 3 miles of tight singletrack and some strategic passing of slower riders from other groups, the course opened up a bit and I passed the SS rider in front of me.  For the remainder of the 1st lap and the entire 2nd lap, I led two other singlespeeders around the course.  I tried to keep the pace quick in order to drop them, but they didn't seem to have any trouble staying on my wheel.  I tried not to think about that.  During the 3rd lap the traffic cleared up a bit, and on one particularly long climb about 2 miles in, I decided to drop the hammer to see if I could put some distance between us.  I believe it worked for a bit, but they caught me again shortly when we came into another section of switchbacks.  With about 2 miles to go, we got to the water crossing/mud pit that was  followed immediately by a 3' steep root ledge and a long-ish gravel climb.  On our previous trips through this section I was able to unclip one foot to kind of hop up the ledge (which was unrideable due to the mud), clip back in quickly, and start up the climb.  On this occasion I messed that procedure up, and the gents behind me were able to make a pass.  When I tried to go after them, I realized my legs were toast.  I had made two mistakes: my gearing was just a bit too heavy, and I shouldn't have tried to drop them on the long climb early in the 3rd lap.  As I finished the last two miles, I glanced behind a few times to see if any other SS riders were around, but I was well clear.  I cruised in for 3rd place in the Sport SS class with a time of 1:27:18, which was also 4th overall.

Another Collection of Race Reports - From Present to Past

Stony Creek Marathon – May 26^th, 2013 – Shelby Township, Michigan – Stony Creek Metropark

The Stony Creek Marathon was another race I decided to do without much forethought.  Held at Stony Creek Metropark near Rochester the Sunday before Memorial Day, it’s a marathon format which means that the shortest distance (for the beginners) is 30 miles.  The sport class rides 40, and the elite/expert classes ride 50.  Jess and I had plans to be in town for a family event on Monday, and I took advantage of free time on Saturday and Sunday to pre-ride and race.

I had never ridden at Stony Creek, so I went out on Saturday night for an easy pre-ride.  Tailwind Racing had marked the course by the time I got there, and it was a great combination of fast two-track and a couple long-ish sections of singletrack.  I still had my heavy 34 x 14 gear on my bike from Island Lake, and decided to lighten it up just a bit to 33 x 14 for the race.  There were only a couple longer climbs, and I figured that there was enough two-track to warrant a big gear.  However, I hadn’t done a race longer than 30 miles, so I was a bit concerned with my fitness, and since I run a rigid fork, I was a bit worried about how my arms would hold up through 4 laps of some rather rough singletrack.

I got to the park about an hour before race time, and lo and behold, ran into Jack Miner.  I registered, and Jack and I tooled around for a quick warm-up.  At the start, I encountered the usual east side sport singlespeed crew – Tim Fargo, Fabrice Portes, Brandon Karbum, and a few other riders for a field about 8 deep.  Again, I was running the heaviest gear out of the bunch, and I was keenly aware of the risk that my legs would burn out.  We hit the trail right around 10:15 a.m.

During the first lap, we encountered a lot of traffic from the classes that had started ahead of us.  I had the lead at the beginning of the lap, but Tim passed me in the 2nd section of singletrack and made a great tactical pass of some slower riders from another class that left the rest of us stuck for a bit.  Approaching the end of each lap was about 2 miles of two-track, and although Tim had pulled away in the singletrack section, I caught and passed him before the end of the first lap.  I pushed my pace pretty hard during the 2nd lap, and knew I was putting some distance between myself and the rest of the field – my 2nd lap was only about 20 seconds slower than my first.  During my 3rd lap, I began to feel my legs fading a bit, but about 2 minutes into my 4th lap, I saw that I had a pretty sizeable lead over Fabrice, as he was just finishing his 3rd lap (part of the course overlapped, and you would pass those heading in as you were heading out).  I tried to keep my cadence up on the two-track sections to maintain that lead, but my legs were getting heavier and heavier.  I had brought a few energy gel packs with me, but I don’t think I was timing my consumption properly, and was starting to feel pretty sapped.  I finally made it out of the last singletrack section onto the home stretch of two-track.  Right before the final climb, I took a look behind me and saw Fabrice about 200 yards back.  Shit.  I tried to pick up my pace, but all I could do was just stay ahead of him until we got to the final turns before the finish.  They had set it up so that you came out of the woods and kind of did a serpentine thing around their barriers before the finish.  On the second-to-last turn, Fabrice cut on the inside and got in front of me.  On the last turn (which was about 50 feet from the finish), he blocked me on the inside.  For 40 miles, we finished at 3:08.43.9 and 3:08:44.8 – less than a second difference.

Although I was slightly disappointed in myself for fading so much during my last lap (my lap times were 45, 45, 47, and 49), I had a great time racing and was very happy with a 2^nd place finish in my longest race yet.  And, while I consider Fabrice my nemesis (I’m kidding, he’s probably the nicest person on earth), it’s always good to have someone that can push you to perform beyond your expectations.

Island Lake Induction – May 11^th, 2013 – Brighton, Michigan – Island Lake Recreation Area

Island Lake Induction is a Tailwind series race held on the east side of the state at Island Lake Recreation Area.  Jess and I were in town for Mother’s Day, and although I hadn’t planned on participating in this race, I decided to go for it.

I rode Island Lake infrequently when I lived in the Detroit area, so I chose to do some recon the night before.  I rode a nice easy lap of the yellow route and found it to be very quick, with not too many climbs.  Based on that, I opted for a 34 x 14 gearing, which is the heaviest I’ve had on my bike.  The sport singlespeed class was only doing one lap of the 13 mile course, and I figured I could power through that gear for the distance.

I arrived at the venue about an hour before my scheduled start, registered, and ran into Jack Miner.  He and I rode around for a bit of a warm-up, and I made my way to the starting line.  I recognized a number of riders from Pontiac Lake who had done well there, namely Tim Fargo, Fabrice Portes, and Matt Fill.  As is common at the start of singlespeed races, we discussed what gear ratios we were running, and I learned that I was running the heaviest by far.  Uh oh.  Anyhow, we were given the green light, and we were off.

I decided at the start that I wasn’t going to get stuck at the back of the pack, so I tried to take the holeshot into the singletrack.  I was passed by Fabrice and Matt on a downhill section, and we made our way into the woods in that order.  Pretty quickly we ran into the tail end of the class that had started ahead of us, which caused some problems.  On a rather quick, tight climb, one of the geared riders got a little caught up – Fabrice and Matt were able to get around him, but I lost all my momentum and had to unclip and try to scooter my bike up a portion of the climb.  I believe I also was swearing quite a bit (not at anyone in particular, just at the situation).  During this nonsense, I was passed by another SS rider (Brandon Karbum) who had completely gotten off of his bike and was carrying it cyclocross-style.  Fortunately, the trail opened up a bit soon after and I caught and passed Brandon.  At this point, Fabrice and Matt were nowhere to be seen, and I figured I wasn’t going to be able to challenge for 1st or 2nd.  I kept my pace up, and passed quite a few other riders from other classes over the next 8 miles or so.  Incredibly, around mile 11, I saw Matt and Fabrice.  They had gotten caught up in a rather long train of riders on a section of singletrack where passing was not possible.  As the trail opened up a bit, I passed a few geared riders and ended up within striking distance.

The end of the course at Island Lake was about a half-mile of sand/gravel two-track going uphill for a straight sprint finish.  I passed Matt at the beginning of the two-track, which left Fabrice about 100 yards ahead of me.  Then I started absolutely hammering.  Fabrice hadn’t seen me since the beginning of the race, and he had no idea I was coming.  By the time I passed him I had built up my momentum quite a bit, and pushed my pace as hard as I could all the way to the finish.  Because I was running a heavier gear and was carrying speed, he could not make up the distance after I passed, and I crossed the line about 2 seconds ahead of him for my first ever win.  I’m going to try and do that more often.

Custer Stampede – May 5^th, 2013 – Augusta, Michigan – Fort Custer Recreation Area

I consider Fort Custer my home trail.  Although I started mountain biking on the east side of the state and rode recreationally while living in East Lansing, riding at the Fort really established my love of the sport.  After a series of knee injuries and surgeries (the last in December of 2010), and not wanting to risk any more joint damage from sports with a lot of lateral movement, I turned to mountain biking as my go-to activity for exercise.  I got back into riding in the fall of 2011 after my knee had properly healed, bought a nice 29’er in the spring of 2012, and had planned on making the 2012 Stampede my first ever race.  However, work got in the way, and I wasn’t able to start racing until the end of that summer.  The fact that I didn’t get to participate in last year’s race made my anticipation for this year that much greater.

There were two race routes this year:  one for the expert/elite class combining the red and green trails, and one for the sport/beginner riders using mainly green with just a couple sections of red.  I ride at the Fort frequently, and usually prefer riding the red loop – however, to prep for this race, I went out and hammered green as many times as I could during the two weeks before the race.  The green loop isn’t very difficult, but there are some technical-ish climbs where practice really pays off.  For gearing, I decided to run 34 x 16, which is what I was most comfortable with at the Fort, and I opted to run my dedicated race wheelset, which has Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.25’s mounted tubeless on Stan’s Crest rims.

I arrived at the Fort about an hour and a half prior to my start time, chatted with my team members, visited the team tent where Jana Turpin and April Parrish were preparing food on behalf of WSI/Team Active for the race participants, and started to warm up.  Going into this race, I knew that Dwight Denisiuk and I would have a good chance of doing well in the sport singlespeed class.  Dwight is an experienced racer and overall fast [EXPLETIVE DELETED], and I wasn’t about to get trounced by interlopers on my trail.  However, we were going to have some tough competition: Eric Wolting had won the Yankee TT by nearly a full minute; Jeff Gilbert of Cross Country Cycle had placed 2nd in the 2012 MMBA CPS; and Byrne Johnson (a Battle Creek local) had placed 2nd here in 2012.

We lined up, and despite his pre-race declarations regarding hanging back to follow the leaders, Eric Wolting took the holeshot off the start.  For the first 4 miles it was Eric, Dwight, Jeff, Byrne, and myself.  About halfway through the Amusement Park (which was running backwards for the race), Eric’s rear wheel basically just fell off his bike.  He had been pushing a pretty intense pace, and if it weren’t for his mechanical, I feel like he would have been on the podium.  The four of us passed Eric and continued on into the remainder of the green loop.  After about another mile, Byrne started to fade and I passed him, which left Jeff, Dwight and myself.  A couple more miles went by, and Dwight started to fade a bit, so I took a pass.  At this point, Jeff was starting to pull away.  At the end of the first lap, someone yelled that Jeff was about 20 seconds ahead of me – that seemed manageable, but as it turned out, he was able to maintain his pace during the 2nd lap, whereas I began feeling my legs go around mile 15.  At that point, Dwight caught up with me.  He stayed on my wheel for a few miles as I struggled to keep my cadence up, and going into the final half-mile before the finish, he took a pass on a paved section.  He was running a bigger gear and there was no way I could keep pace with him there.  We finished about 14 seconds apart for 2nd and 3rd, with Jeff finishing about a minute ahead of us.

I was definitely happy with my performance on the day for my 2^nd podium finish of the year, and excited for my WSI/Team Active teammates who generally had fantastic results in their respective categories.  Along with that, I was grateful to finally be able to race at my home trail, and to spend the day with my teammates and family.



Pontiac Lake Classic – April 28^th, 2013 – Waterford, Michigan – Pontiac Lake Recreation Area

I had no plans of doing this race, which was a Tailwind series event at Pontiac Lake Recreation Area.  My wife and I are originally from the Detroit area, and we were going to be in town visiting parents/in-laws this particular weekend.  As it turns out, I also had to be in Troy the Wednesday before the race, which allowed me to ride the course in advance.  Since I always bring my bike with me when we visit family, I figured I might as well race.

I ran the same setup that I used for Yankee – 34 x 18 and Kenda Karma 2.2’s.  It was raining on race day, and Pontiac has a few tough climbs, and a lot of rocks, roots, and (when it’s wet) mud.  From what I’ve been told, this race is usually a time trial, but they were running it in a standard XC format this year.  I met up with Jack Miner (another eastsider) prior to the race, and we did our best to stay out of the cold drizzle in the tent he had graciously set up as we got ready.

The sport singlespeed class was 11 deep, and I recognized a few names from the Yankee TT.  Anyhow, the start came, and we were off.  A group of 3 or 4 riders absolutely bolted from the start, and I never saw them again.  I traded places with a few of the other guys throughout the race, but I never felt good enough to make a respectable effort.  I hadn’t warmed up because of the rain, and my legs were feeling heavy.  Along with that, Pontiac is an unfamiliar course to me, and I was really tentative on the technical sections.  The gent that finished right behind me fell about six thousand times, which was something I was desperately trying to avoid.  I finished the 10-ish mile course in 50:48, which was good for 7^th place.  It was also a 5 minute improvement over the last time I had ridden Pontiac, so I was relatively happy with that.  And at least I wasn’t at home sitting on the couch.

Yankee Time Trial – April 21^st, 2013 – Yankee Springs Township, Michigan – Yankee Springs Recreation Area

Although it’s only about 40 minutes from Kalamazoo, I had only ridden Yankee Springs once prior to this year.  It’s a great trail, with some rough climbs, lots of roots, and sections with excellent flow.  The second time I rode there was early this spring with David Goff, Cindy Gippert, and Chuck Brenner;  that was a ice-covered, slow, painful slog that made me want to put my bike in a dumpster.  I wasn’t going to let the trail beat me, so I made the drive to ride there five more times in preparation for the race.  This prep helped me figure out which gear ratio I needed to run, the best lines through the roots, where I could build momentum prior to the climbs, and which tires to use on race day.

For gearing, I ran 34x18 due to the amount of climbing on the course.  In retrospect I could have probably run a slightly taller gear, but as this was the first real MTB race of the season, I didn’t want to push my luck.  I used my backup wheelset for this race, which has Kenda Karma 2.2’s mounted tubeless – Yankee can be pretty sandy, and I didn’t want to chance washing out in the corners.

Also, I had forgotten that the starting times at this race were determined by when you signed up, and I was one of the first people to register last fall, so I was scheduled to start 3^rd with the sport group.  It was a pleasant surprise, as dealing with traffic during a time trial can be very frustrating.

So: I warmed up on the 2-mile loop about 30 minutes prior to my start, had an energy gel pack, and made my way to the starting line.  The weather was great, I felt adequately prepared, and I was off.  I had rested my legs for the two days prior to the race, but they still felt pretty heavy for most of my ride.  Not reassuring.  I tried to fight through that and focus on nailing my lines and hammering up the climbs.  I was passed by one or two other riders during my race, but neither of them was singlespeed.  I also stayed upright the entire time.  Bonus!  I finished, and checked my time on my watch – roughly 54 minutes.

As my teammates finished and we discussed our times, I realized that I might have done well for my class.  The organizers started to post the results, which is a tense waiting game as someone from your class could have started 30 minutes behind you, and you can get bumped further and further down the list.  When I first checked, I was in 1st, and only one other SS Sport rider had finished.  I did not believe that would hold.  After 20 minutes, I checked the results again, and I was in 3rd.  And amazingly, that’s where I stayed, with an official time of 53:55.4.  I really did not have any expectations for this race, and I was extremely happy to make the podium.  Although I had placed third in my class at the Lowell 50 last fall, this was my first podium finish for a real MTB race against a full field of some great singlespeed riders.

The Lowell 50 – April 6^th, 2013 – Lowell, Michigan

The Lowell 50 is a gravel road race held twice a year in the spring and fall with a decently challenging course offered in 50 and 28 mile distances.  I had participated last fall in the 28 mile singlespeed class as a warm-up for Iceman, and I really enjoyed the low-key atmosphere and the race route.  I again signed up for the 28 mile SS class, and met David Goff and Eric Kane at Fallasburg County Park, which serves as an excellent start/finish venue for the race.

Based on a conversation I had with the winner of the 36 mile singlespeed category at Barry-Roubaix, I decided to run 38c Bontrager CX0 cross tires and a tall-ish gear ratio (34 x 14) for this race.  Although it was a heavier gear than I ran last fall, I felt the skinnier tires and my fitness would be able to compensate.  This ended up being true for most of the race.

The weather at the start was sub-40 degrees, and the wind gradually increased to what felt like a hurricane.  Now, I have zero experience road racing, and really have no clue how to ride in a pack.  Along with that, I can’t keep up with geared riders on flat sections or downhills, where they can switch into the big ring and crank away.  So, I end up riding alone for long sections of these gravel road races.  I would normally be fine with that, but the wind seemed to have a personal vendetta against me.  I felt fast and strong for about the first 20 miles, and then I felt terrible.  There was no gradual decline – it was immediate.  Everything felt uphill.  The heavier gear and the wind completely killed my legs, and I was very grateful to finish.  I ended up at 1:44:28, which was (barely) faster than my time last fall, and good for 6^th place in my category.

I then enjoyed several complimentary donuts.  Seriously, free donuts at this race.

Barry-Roubaix – March 23^rd, 2013 – Hastings, Michigan

This race did not end well.  Sorry for spoiling the end at the beginning.

I was very much looking forward to my first race with my WSI/Team Active teammates - I felt like I was in decent shape, I had a new bike (2013 Spot Rocker SS), and I really wanted to start the season on a positive note.  I had ridden most of the race route with Dwight Denisiuk, Charles Elder, David Goff, and Cindy Gippert a few weeks before, and I felt confident in my gear selection for the 36 mile singlespeed class.  As it turns out, confidence played a negligible role in my result, and I learned it’s probably best to forget your expectations before a race.

The weather leading up to the race was relatively cold, and the gravel roads were still partially frozen on race day.  Due in part to the weather, I had a slow start, with my legs feeling heavy and my lungs not operating efficiently.  I started to warm up a bit around mile 5, and began passing a number of other riders as I found my pace.

Around mile 8, I came down a hill onto a flat section, and my front wheel slid laterally into an icy rut on the road.  I fell hard onto my left side, and the person behind me ran over my bike with theirs.  I was a bit bloodied, but I could have continued – however, the sidewall on my front tire was completely torn open, and my chainring was badly bent.   As I was not carrying a spare chainring or tire (what an oversight, right?), my day was done.  I hiked about a mile with my bike to a crossroad, and got a ride back into Hastings.

Clearly not the way I wanted to start my season, but I tried my best to only sulk about it for the remainder of that day, and reminded myself that there were plenty more races on the year.

- Adam Cefai

Snowshoe Fun in Northern Michigan

The Big Foot Boogie snowshoe race at Timber Ridge in Traverse City this weekend was Jana Turpin's first race of the year as a new WSI/Team Active racing member. She did the 5k as I did the 10k. We were hoping for a lot of fresh snow on Saturday as the weather forecast was predicting. To our disappointment, no fresh powder or even cold weather. The temp at the start was mid 30's and rising and a snow depth of 4-5 inch's at the deepest.

[caption id="attachment_535" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Not much snow, but still a good time outdoors![/caption]

As the gun went off there was a flurry of snowshoes and snow flying like a human snow blower was rolling through the park. With in the first mile the field stretched out and some overly ambitious runners had dropped back. I could still see the leaders and started counting how many were in front of me finding myself in the top 25 I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be able to hold my pace and position hoping for an ae group win.

After making a few passes and the first of two loops on the course I started to lose my pace and slow a bit. Getting passed by two runners around the 7k mark I regrouped and made a charge to catch them within the last 1k and fell just short by under a minute, finishing 19th over all and 2nd in my age group. Good start to the new year.

[caption id="attachment_536" align="alignnone" width="500"] Awards for our hard work.[/caption]

~Chuck Brenner

Spending Some Quality Time With Kids...

Recently, WSI/Team Active Racing racer Kathy Roche-Wallace (www.GoKathyGo.com)  spent the morning at Wattles Elementary School in Battle Creek talking to 1st -4th graders at their Career Day. Kathy talked about being an athlete and her past adventures, including the RAMM (Race Across America), triathlons and adventure races. While the kids certainly thought she was one of the "coolest" guests of the day, she took the opportunity to reinforce the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.



Kathy talked about the benefits of exercise and eating a healthy diet, especially important today with childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes on the rise. "Three's no way I could compete in the events I do if I didn't take care of my body, eat right and get lots of rest," she told the students. "Whether you like to ride your bicycle, play soccer or just take the family dog for a walk, being active is important to staying healthy."

This year Kathy will be returning to RAMM to defend her title and is one of only a few females registered for the solo event later this June. Starting in California, the route travels across the country over 3,000 miles ending in Maryland and should take her less than 12 days.

Cyclocross Fun in Kalamazoo - No Chain, Some Pain...

Today I expanded my cycling resume to officially include "cyclocross racing" to the list. While I've owned a cyclocross bike for several years, up until today most of what I've used it for has been riding the spring roads here in Michigan (which makes me much more confident with all the potholes).  Besides, what other sport can you do where prizes include six-packs of beer and everyone (who's of age, of course) can grab a cold one after racing?!

[caption id="attachment_516" align="alignright" width="300"] Style points for the multi-colored handlebar tape.[/caption]

I did the Kisscross Masters "B" race at Markin Glenn Park in Kalamazoo, which means I had 45 minutes of racing ahead of me. I initially thought about doing the "C" race for 30 minutes, but for the $25 entry fee, figured I'd at leasts get another 15 minutes of exercise. We took off at noon with a good group of other racers. I had done a couple of pre-race laps to get a handle on the course and true to cyclocross races, there were two sections on the course which required a dismount. The first section involved three foot-high barriers and with some tips from Andy at Team Active the week before, was able to negotiate them without any problems. It's amazing how much easier it is to dismount and then run with your bike when you actually un-clip from your pedals!

The second area that required a dismount (and run) was just after a section that took riders along the water's edge (yes, that means SAND!), and while riding parallel to the water was not much of a challenge, headed back up to the course involved 10-15 feet of wet and soft sand - impossible to ride. Even the "A" racers all walked up this section. More about the sand later.

Each of the laps was about 1.25 miles, but as is the case with cyclocross you race for a set amount of time, so the number of laps you end up doing really depend on how fast the leaders are riding. At 30 minutes (which is the time of the "C" race - and the race I was planning on doing, until I got there and signed up) I was glad that I had 15 minutes left (and not the full "A" race of 60 minutes).

[caption id="attachment_515" align="alignright" width="300"] Kinda hard to go very fast when you don't have a chain![/caption]

Completing my final lap, I successfully managed to run over the three barriers, climb the big hill at the back of the loop, successfully navigated "the ditch" and had one more trip to the beach before crossing the line. I made the hairpin turn to the left and headed into the sand, and while each of my previous entrances were smooth, this time I caught a deep rut left by another bike and it got me off track. The sudden stop caused my chain to come off, get wrapped up in my rear cog and then I heard the SNAP!

Crap, I broke my chain but the good news was that I had made it to the home stretch. This (of course) was also the most populated spectator section, so when everyone realized why I was carrying my bike and running the rest of the couse, the cowbells and cheers seemed to continue to increase. I got passed by several other riders, but at this point it didn't really matter. I just wanted to finish, and that mission was accomplished.

[caption id="attachment_514" align="alignright" width="300"] Toasting the beach that took my chain on the last lap.[/caption]

As I enjoyed my "post-race" beer and watched the "A" group race, I couldn't help but think about my first mountain bike race, which must have been 1989 or 1990. Similar to my finish today, I suffered a mechanical at the end of the race, but unlike today, figured that if my bike was broke I was done. But, luckily I had a buddy yell "RUN, you're almost there" and ended up finishing my first mountain bike race carrying my bike.

Since then I've lost count of how many mountain bike races I've done, but that one finish always sticks in my mind. Today's no exception and what a great way to kick off my cyclocross efforts.

~Eric Cook

ICEMAN 2012

As the largest single day mountain bike race in the country, the ICEMAN is as much an event as it is a race.  Preparing for it is like the excitement of a year-end race party while being anxious about more than 4,000 cyclists in a race.  For me, it was hard not to complain in October about being sick and not being able to train the way I knew I should, but there are so many guys who are fighting so much tougher illnesses and broken bones, I opted to just keep it to myself (and my loving wife who tolerates me).

Pre-riding the last third of the race has become a key part of this race preparation.  The race organizers seem to find pleasure in having a “pseudo” finish with a mile or two left or crazy choke points in the chute that make things interesting after having turned yourself inside out for a couple hours.  On Friday, I rode from Williamsburg road to the finish and found each of Anita’s Hill and Cassies Cliff to be manageable if I stayed off the oak leaves.  There was no traction in the oak leaves in the middle of the 20 percent grade at the top of Anita’s Hill (good lesson for Saturday).  My dad was helping me by dragging me around the county as I did the obligatory package pick up, pre-race prep and other things that make me hard to be around.  But all was good, an easy Friday Prep, the Fuel EX was running great, full suspension (which is not necessary for this race) was topped off and ocked out…I was ready for a fitful night’s sleep.

Listening to the radio on Saturday on the way to Kalkaska, the radio guy said there was 1 ½”  of snow on the ground in Acme, right in the 30 mile path of our ride between Kalkaska and Traverse City.  I recalled a previous ICEMAN where the trail conditions transitioned from an ice rink in Kalkaska to wheel grabbing mud in Timber Ridge, turned out that the finishing conditions were going to be replicated this year.

The race started well, I moved up from mid-front to front 10 after the first hard left turn which guides us out to the trail between the middle school and the Hockey Arena.  Wanting to keep my heart rate well below threshold for the first half of the race (with training well below what it should have been, I wanted to pace myself for the last half of the race) but still wanting to be in position to stay away from the guys who cannot handle the sand well in the first couple of hills, I stayed toward the front.

Guys who clearly were over-confident or under-experienced, went into the oak leaves to pass and were falling down regularly.  In the first 10 miles, I heard more than a half dozen guys go down behind me and maybe the same number fell in front of me.  I actually rode over the back tire of a guy who fell in front of me on some single track.  I was feeling good going into Williamsburg road hill, my dad with his customary goose call rooting me on and good friend Patrick and Cristen yelling at me to get my “fat ass up the hill”.  It made me laugh, and I felt good with about 17 k to go.

My goal was to average 20 minute 5 mile ‘sections’, the first was 18, the second well over 20 and the third was also over 20 minutes.  I was starting to feel the affects of not having put in big efforts in October.  After passing Williamsburg road, it was a different race.  Tactically, I had handled the race exactly how I wanted, and was taking advantage of the big descents that accompany the climbs.  I am not sure what happened during one of the descents, I suspect that I just kicked up a lot of mud into my drive train and I ended up losing access to my small ring and half of my middle ring, climbing became an impossible task.

Anyone who has ridden these hills knows that it is much easier on your legs to spin up in your granny gear than to run up off of your bike…your quads, calves and ham strings just scream when you are off the bike.  Spinning up was no longer an option for me, the chain just wrapped around the middle ring every time I tried to call for the small ring…SUCKED!

I was much more upset about the training that lead up to the race than the race itself, I feel like I handled the course well and, except for being at a full stop between 24 and 26 k (off the bike stopped!  Though I had heard of this, it had never happened to me before…miserable).  After the race, I found that my rear derailleur was bent, I have no idea how it happened, but it compounded the gritty drive train issues, for sure.  At the finish, there was nothing left of me—at all.  By the time I found my dad and my change of clothes, I was feeling sick to my stomach, something that took 45 minutes to go away.

The race was a very hard effort for me and I was very disappointed in my results, it turns out, however, that my results were on par with what they were last year.  I finished 30 out of 92 with a time just over 2:30 (10 minutes slower than last year.)

It is a great sport, I finish this ‘last race’ every year and by the time the beer is gone, I am looking forward to next year’s races and training over the winter.  Thanks as always to Team Active and WSI for sponsoring the team—it was great to see a bunch of TAR Teamies at the finish.  Have a good winter…see you at the end of winter party.

Jack Miner

Stampede Race Photos

I have a lot of photos for everyone - here are a few.[gallery]

Barry Roubaix Photos

Here are some shots of the Barry Roubaix Race this past weekend. Neil, sorry for the blurry shot of you - was not expecting you to shoot by[gallery link="file"]

~Danny Wolin