Bendix Woods

The first race of the NIMBA series was held Sunday at Bendix Woods. This mountain bike trail is in New Carlisle, Indiana. It is approximately 6.5 miles of twisting trails. Although the largest visible hill is on the pavement crossing, I swear the majority of trail is deceptively on inclines! We were both racing sport so we had two laps to do. 

[caption id="attachment_1017" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Dwight Denisiuk and April Parrish[/caption]

We arrived a good hour before the race and it was 40 degrees, dark rain clouds and windy. Little did I know, it would be sunny and 60 when we finished. I dressed as if I was doing the Iceman wearing my normal team kit, under armor, coat, long pants etc…I was still shivering! I quickly recognized my competition; she was warming up on the side trails as I was warming up in the jeep.

Before my 10:20 start time, I forced myself to spin those legs getting about two miles in. I was still freezing so did not opt to take any layers off. This was a time trial race. At the start I was very intimidated by the girl who was taking off behind me, she was doing jumping jacks, full of energy and singing along to the music. Considering the fact that I have only been exercising my brain and possibly had 50 miles on my wheels the past 3 months…I was regretting the beating she was about to deliver. I took off not knowing where the other girls were but thought this girl was taking off 30 seconds behind me. By mid lap, the sun came out and I was overheating. I unzipped it all but could not pull coat off with the camel back strapped to me. At this point, I was    wishing I wore those arm warmers, which would have been easy to slip down. While I was riding, I was trying to figure out how far back the girl was. I picked locations and counted the seconds that I would see someone hit it, but didn’t at all the first lap. I assumed I was in the lead so when I dropped my gu packet, I quickly stopped to pick it up. At that time, I should have taken off a layer but did not want to waste that much time. I eventually heard her on trail, I knew she wasn’t far behind, I tried to take off my gloves while riding and slip them in the pocket. Sadly, I dropped one and weighed my options, a $45 Pearl Izumi glove, or a $25 race.  I stopped and picked up the glove. It was not long after, she caught me! Any other time I would have fought for it but I was toasted/roasted/depleted… I told her how awesome she was and allowed her easy access to pass. At the end of it all, there were only three girls preregistered for the Sport class. I came in second.

           

                   Here is Dwight going through the rock garden like a pro...  and then there is me, doing the rookie move looking down.

Oh and about Dwight…his start time was just 15 minutes before mine  and when I reached the above rock section, he was actually on the the return trail next to me! At the start he had concerns about not changing the gearing on his single speed, but already seeing him there, I knew he made it work! He came in first place, beating his competition by 1:02! Unlike me, he was still full of energy and actually wanted to ride the course again before we went home!

[caption id="attachment_1035" align="alignnone" width="300"] Take notice...I won 2nd place but he won 1st![/caption]

                                                                                        And as you can imagine...

[caption id="attachment_1036" align="aligncenter" width="300"] He rubbed in his first place ALL THE WAY HOME!!![/caption]

 

 

Girls on the Run 5K Support ~ Matt Wright

I helped lead the Girls on the Run practice 5K Tuesday, May 20th at Endeavor Charter Academy! The coaches had planned a route through the surrounding neighborhood using chalk and signs. Tim Hubbard and I helped the girls stay on pace and on course. What a great program!

Willow Time Trial 2014 ~ Matt Wright

This was my very first time trial event and my first race of the year. The temperature was mild, about 55 degrees and very windy. Sustained wind speed was 15 MPH with 25 MPH gusts. The course was 20K. 6 loops around the Willow Metro Park. It seemed as though the wind was against you on 3/4 of each loop. I managed to complete the course in 37:41.4 with an average speed of 21 MPH which put me in 19th of 24 in the CAT 5 Men. It was a good experience and a good training session for my upcoming events this summer.

31st Seahorse Challenge Sprint Aquabike Race Report

It was a perfect day for racing here in Climax this morning! The air temp was about 60 degrees at the start. The water temp was 67. I raced the Sprint Aquabike division which means I had to swim 500 meters and then bike 20 kilometers. I was able to get right in the front of all the sprint athletes at the start of the swim, I always try to do that to avoid getting caught up in the slower swimmers. I felt pretty good throughout the entire swim and my time was 9:18. I then raced up the hill on foot to get my bike from transition.

The bike course was very hilly, but the wind was very light (about 4 MPH). My average speed on the bike was 20.5 MPH. I finished first….because no one else was doing that particular event. It was great to see so many other WSI team mates there, plenty of awards for the team! Everyone did awesome!

by Matt Wright

2014 Sodus River Road Time Trial race report:

It was a cool and sunny morning in Sodus for the event. Temperature was about 53 F. at 9:15 just before my start time. The event was small, but well organized. The course was very smooth with only a few small climbs to deal with. It was an “out and back” as well, which was nice since you could sort-of see where you stood with the competition before the turn around. The wind was light early and picked up to about 9 MPH out of the South West. It helped because the course took you mainly south first, then north to finish. I used a normal road bike with clip on aero bars and placed 9th out of 9 in Cat 5 men. Average speed for the 20K was: 21.56 with a time of 34:34.4. If I had taken off the aero bars and ridden the “Eddie Merckx” class I would have placed about 4th. Maybe next year…. One added bonus was a free pint glass just for participation! A nice event that I would highly recommend.
Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors!!

By Matt Wright

A Big Day of Birds By Bike

Having recently completed a Barry County Big Green Year in 2013, this year I needed a new challenge combining my two passions of cycling and birding. I decided to cram it all into one day with the goal of seeing or hearing as many birds as possible in Barry County. Riding for reasons bigger than myself, this time I would be riding for charity...

Being a new father, it's important to me that my daughter grows up seeing healthy living and being outside and active as normal. I decided to ride for the Barry County YMCA and their Play60 program (getting kids outside daily for at least 60min). My goal was to raise $1000 and tally a bird list of at least 100 species.

The day began at 2am and without getting on the bike, bird #1 was in the bag. The endangered Henslow's Sparrow was doing what they do best, calling at night. You may ask why a person would get on the bike at 2am... NIGHT BIRDS!!! What a morning it was. I tallied 50 birds by the time the sun showed itself through the trees including Barred Owl, Eastern Screech Owl, Great-horned Owl, Sedge Wren and the illusive Eastern Whip-poor-whil.

At sunrise, a few local birders met up with me for a nice long hike through great habitat and by the time I left, my list was over 70. A lull in bird activity coupled with a nutrition problem early afternoon made for a rough couple hours but #100 came around 2pm in the form of a Red-breasted Nuthatch.  This bird should be in the UP right now and for some reason decided to stay just long enough.  With #100 in the bag, that was the encouragement I needed to continue on.  I got past my nutrition barrier and a random nesting colony of Bank Swallows presented itself. At that point, the numbers starting going up again. By the time I reached Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, my family was already there grilling some brats which really hit the spot. Lillian loves birds but she may like swinging even more!

I made it home at 8:30pm which meant I was on the road 18.5 hours, rode 106 miles, hiked 5 miles, kayaked 1 mile, tallied 116 birds total (which is a Barry County record, bike or no bike), burned over 4000 calories and climbed over 4000 vertical feet.  Needless to say, I slept well that night!!

Most importantly, I surpassed my charity goal of $1000 and have brought in over $1400. Thanks for all who donated. I'm even hopeful by the time my donation site closes; I'll have raised over $1500.  If you would still like to donate, please visit www.active.com/donate/joshhaas by May 31st.

-Josh Haas

Du-what? Another Seahorse Race Report

Today I competed in my first duathlon. 3.3 mile run, 20k bike, 3.3 mile run. The weather was beautiful and temperature perfect, although those competing in the triathlon may have thought differently with the water temps being a whopping 67 degrees.

My theme today was slow and steady. I was doing this for me and no one else, I was my only competition. Within the first 10 minutes of the start I needed to remind myself of just that. I know my limits, I know my strengths and there was no way I was keeping up with the rest of the runners in the duathlon. Mind you, there were only about 12 of us so the field was small.

My biggest fear going into this new challenge for me was being last, I did NOT want to be last. I know, it doesn't matter because I'm out there doing it, but last.........

I was so incredibly nervous about the bike portion that my typical first mile nerves were present for the entire first run! And what a run it was! The Seahorse advertises the run as a fun course that keeps you going and having fun. Sure, if you consider crawling up steep hills, dodging roots, crossing moving bridges and climbing flights of stairs fun. In all honesty it did help the run fly by but the nature of the course was definitely challenging. Every turn I took there was a race director in a golf cart or the lead biker in front of me probably making sure I hadn't passed out in the woods or gotten lost, because I was the last of the duathletes still running. I'd like to consider them my own personal escorts because I am THAT AWESOME!

As I ran into the bike corral I noticed about 3 bikes left in there which either meant there were 3 people behind me from the triathlon or three people already done with their bike and heading out on their run. I'd like to think it was the first option. Again, my fear is being dead last. And now for the moment of truth, exiting the transition area and clipping into my pedals in PUBLIC. I did it, without falling! Woohoo! That set the bike portion off to a great start!

The first few miles were a breeze. I could catch my breath, get a drink and ......Lord Almighty, look at that hill! The "rolling hills" or as I would like to refer to the second half of the bike course, the never ending hill, was a challenge. I passed 5 cyclists. Yes, I counted every single one only because I couldn't count the number of cyclists that passed me. Not only did they pass me uphill like I was standing still, but they were on their second loop of the course doing the Olympic distance triathlon! On a side note, I am humbled, grateful and encouraged beyond belief at the fact that almost every single one of them encouraged me to keep going with a "good job" or a "keep it up". All of them amazing athletes both physically and personally! It's the little things that keep us going sometimes and they definitely helped.

Nerve racking moment number two: dismounting. Slowing down, unclipping and running the bike back into transition area. I escaped embarrassment completely today. Zero falling, tripping or sprawling out flat on my face!

I knew the last run would be a grueling one because I had just done it. Déjà Vu in full effect as I was running through the swampy trail with nothing but the sounds of my breathing and the boisterous bullfrog, crawling up the hill in the woods, and heading over the river and through the woods. (No, I did not end at Grandma's house.)

I finished. Dead last in the duathlon, but there were still triathletes behind me in the course so no one knew the difference. Shhh!

There was a great presence there by my WSI cycling teammates. Many of them walking away with medals in hand. Imagine my surprise when my name was called at the awards. 3rd place. Only because there were only 3 females in the "Heifer" category. No, they do not really have a heifer category. I lovingly refer to it as that. In multi sport events when you are over a certain weight the men are called Clydesdales. I could never remember the name of the category for women (which I now know is Athena). I have jokingly always referred to it as the heifer category. So there it is, 3rd place, by default, which I have also already been told I need to stop referring to it as that and just claim my 3rd place. Again, just keeping things in perspective. Did I work hard for it? Sure. But I have to keep it real: real slow and real steady. That's how I roll (and run).

~Nikki


Update: Apparently I was 3rd in my age group, not Athena. My surprise at even receiving an award blocked my ability to hear what it was for. Ha.