Willow Time Trial Race Report: Haas, Winton & Wolin

Josh: Time trialing (TT) is not for everyone but for Danny and I, riding at or near lactic threshhold and suffering as long as possible is an adrenaline rush we love. Willow would be the first of the season TT for several of us and WSI Team Active Cycling had great representation. Devin Winton, Danny Wolin, Matt Wright, and myself all raced.  Willow is a 2.22mi loop that is repeated 6 times equaling 13.32mi.  While the weather man said it wouldn't be windy, Willow Metropark must have been left off his report because HOLY WINDS!!! Strong side winds around the 3rd curve were hellish on deep dish wheels but we all pushed through the winds safely. At Willow, it's important to know where you are at all times so you enter the finish chute on the correct lap. All four of us did just that  and all posted great times. For me, my goal was to finish in under 35min and I posted an even 34min time. That worked out to a 23.5mph average which I was very pleased with for a race in April. The next TT for me will be the State Time Trial Championships June 22. I'll be picturing Rocky training in Siberia whilst doing my interval work throughout the next month. :)

Devin: Willow has always been a good indicator if my winter training. The only thing constant about Willow is the weather: it is never consistent. Some years, it is sunny and 70, while other years it may be blustery and 40. As long as I am within a couple of minutes of previous years, I figure my off season training has been effective.

2014 was windy. Very windy. Riding Cat 4, I started just ahead of my teammate Danny Wolin. With a strong northwest wind, it was wind in your face at the start and finish of the six lap race. Riding "blind," i.e. without hr monitor or computer, I had no idea what my speed was. By the middle of the first lap I settled into a pace I knew I could sustain and began to suffer. A TT is just a matter of how much and how intense the suffering can be endured.

Well, after 6 laps I finished about where I expected; time consistent with prior years and all in all a fun outing with teammates Danny Wolin, Josh Haas, and Matt Wright.

Thanks to Team Active, WSI, and our other sponsors.

Danny: It was a very nice, windy day to race the Willow TT and also very nice to see Josh, Matt and Devin race as well. While the training was a bit behind due to the winter I felt very good and the intervals paid off. I ended up with second place (again) to the same guy as last year but I was very happy with the result as it was the fastest time and average speed I have had there (26 mph) and 30.35.

-Josh Haas, Devin Winton & Danny Wolin

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