May 2014 – Page 3 – WSI Cycling Team

May 26, 2014

Bridges Family Race Report – Seahorse Challenge

Seahorse Challenge May 25, while Marie raced the duathlon and Scotty the Sprint Tri.

The Olympic distances athletes went out first, and I did not see Kevin or Scotty until the finish line. The water temperature was just fine. I really had some struggles at the beginning. In my head I was thinking, “how do I do this again?” At one point I realized my wetsuit was making breathing difficult, and as soon as I fixed that, things went a little better. Two loops around and I felt more than ready to head to my bike. Goodbye water!

The bike course was hillier than I thought. It was downhill at first and I was able to push it a bit to shore up my sense of self-respect after that swim. The hills came later and I really had to pay for that earlier speed! I found Marie on my first lap, and passed her. The roads were quite smooth and my ride was pretty nice. In one particularly rough/hilly spot, R.J. from Team Active was perched on the side of the road to assist anyone who might need it. Luckily, my trusty Synapse got me through. Two loops around and I arrived back into the park. Time to run!

The run course cut through woods, swamps, campgrounds and fields. Michigan was really turning up the heat by that time, and I looked around me and thought, “finally it’s summer!” The run was very well supported and I took advantage of EVERY water/HEED station. The run finishes with a run up a set of stairs… I was ready to be done!!

The highlight of my race was seeing my daughter Marie at the finish line, along with my great teammates and friends Nikki, Charles, Danny and Matthew. Third place in my age group, I’ll take it. Not bad for my first tri of ’14.

Scotty: Its finally triathlon season, I did the sprint distance. Swim was good came out of the water 16th, spotted all my buoys perfectly, time to bike. I was flying past a lot of people with carbon fiber time trail bikes, averaged about 21 miles per hour and hade the 8th fastest time, and felt very good. The run was a nice mix of pavement and trail. Ran a 24 minute 5k and 6th fastest on the run. Finished 8th overall with a 1:14 time. Finished first in my age group, ready for Gull Lake Tri.

Kevin: Seahorse Triathlon holds a very special place in my heart, it was my first triathlon a few years ago. This year I did the Olympic distance, previously I’ve done the Sprint race.

The water was much warmer than I thought it would be, at the start of the swim I got kicked and had my goggles knocked out of place. Normally this isn’t a big deal but today I had a hard time getting back into a rhythm, after about 300 meters I got it together and finished the swim without any problems.

The bike went very well my Speed Concept performed flawlessly, I do need to work on the engine though. The run course at Seahorse has a little of everything pavement, dirt, and trail. It was nice to see other teammates on the run and encourage each other. I didn’t finish with a medal, but had a solid performance to build on going to Gull Lake.

Marie: I did the Seahorse Duathlon. It was a beautiful day and it was a great race for me. I’m a 16-year-old girl so I’m normally one of the only ones in my age group, which I was. There were very few of us anyway. We went out on pavement and the running course was on pavement for the first mile, then we went on a trail. It got spongy for a little bit, but most if the trail is dry. It goes back on the pavement. Both of the runs are 5k.

The bike was my favorite part. The first part is mostly downhill and I could get really fast. I got up to 28 mph once, which is really fast for me. It was a nice day, no wind, very minimal traffic on the road, which I appreciate. The bike course goes through beautiful southern Michigan farmland.

I was the 3rd overall female and I made an awesome friend who was the first overall female in the duathlon, and I hope to see her in many more races as the summer goes on. It was a great race, and I hope to do it for years to come.

May 25, 2014

Yankee Springs TT Race Report

Hey Internet Peeps,

Sorry about the delayed race report, some great things take time. Numbers first! I placed 13 with a time of 59 minutes and some change. I really just wanted to finish sub 1 hour and I did by the hair of my chin.

That out of the way, I have to say you couldn’t have asked for a better cycling day. The trail had dried up and was perfect. The climbs were not as daunting as last year, so I guess all that running over the winter worked for something. I had a small tussle and rubbed elbows trying to pass, but no crashes. Charles on the other hand…

We had a great team presence there with a ton of riders representing. For the future I’d look at getting a spot on team row, we had a campsite but it was farther back.

All in all, it was a great race and I did way better than last year. Looking forward to more punishment.

-Caleb Andrews

May 25, 2014

The Bridges Family Members Continue Their Racing Efforts

WSI Cycling’s “cycling family” – The Bridges – have been busy these past couple of weekends. In addition to the two following race reports featuring their exploits on trail and road, you can expect at least one more report on their most recent triathlon, the Seahorse. Scott’s doing the sprint distance, Marie is racing the duathlon and mom and dad (Katie and Kevin) racing the Olympic distance triathlon. Can’t wait for the results!

Yankee Springs Time Trial – Sunday, May 18, 2014

Yankee TT 2014 was almost a repeat of Custer Stampede; Scotty was first in his age group with a 1:03, Marie second. Kevin was 18th racing in the Sport class for the first time, turning in a 1:03. Katie was 13th. Scott’s time was about 20 seconds faster than the old man’s (daddy might need a new bike). Although the trail was fast and the racing fun, I think hanging out with the family and friends at the finish line was the best part of the day. Hopefully next year’s race will be held on a day as nice as this year, but moved to April. The Bridges don’t have any more mountain bike races on our schedule for this year, but we might try to squeeze in one more race, if we can find the time. Triathlon season is starting soon it’s going to be a busy summer.

~The Bridges Family

Tour de Frankenmuth – Saturday, May 24, 2014

The Tour de Frankenmuth 2014 was Scott and my (Kevin, the dad) first road race. Scott raced as a junior that was one 20-mile lap. I raced Cat 5 over 35, which was two laps. The first lap was uneventful, at every turn the peloton would slow then everyone would sprint back into a group. The farther back in the pack you are the harder it is to catch back up. I managed to stay with the peloton until the last left-hand turn where the road widened out the group spread out and picked up the paced, I tried to stay with them, but all I could do was keep them in sight to the finish line. Riding in a large group was very intense. I averaged 22 mph with a top speed of 34 mph and finished in 41st place. I want to go back next year to see how much I can improve.

Scott’s race started with about 15 riders, at the starting line the starter lady said that if there was any swearing you will be disqualified (this may be an issue) but all the riders agreed not to snitch. After the first turn the group narrowed down to about eight riders. In a single file line taking turns pulling, they cruised at about 22 mph. Every two mile there would be one rider drop off the breakaway, until there was five of them, things were calm for about five miles. Then as he got back into position after a pull, took a drink and a deep breath, the person third in line crashed, Scott and the rider in front of him managed to miss him. After they regrouped, there was four of them, knowing the top three got on the podium, he tried to lose at least one rider, but it did not happen. He finished fourth with a 59 second gap between Scott and the winner.

~Kevin Bridges

May 15, 2014

Barry Roubaix – Race Report

Yes, it has been several months since this exciting, fun race, but work and life has been a little busy (we all have those challenges!). In my mind it is better late than not at all – kind a like a wedding gift – give the gift before the first year anniversary and you are fine. Anyway getting to my race report, this was so much fun. I rode a tandem with RJ Mullenix and it was a blast. Not sure if it was RJ that made it so much fun or riding a tandem (probably RJ). We trained almost every week for this race. Not only was it was my first time riding a tandem, we trained in the snow. The first day riding with RJ on the tandem, we rode in 6 inch of snow. We rode only 12 miles in 2.5 hours! It was the most fun I had ever had playing in the snow!

As race time got closer, I felt like we were ready as a team and me as a rider. At the starting line we were in the back and we tried to make it up to the front before we started but ended up still too far back when the gun sounded. I think if we had of gotten at the front of the line when the gun went off we maybe up closer in places. We did not get passed by any other tandem and we had passed a few tandems, so we were thinking we would be closer to 2nd or 3rd spot. The course was great! Temperature was prefect! The whole race was a great time. However, we finished 6th out of 12th – still middle of the pack. But we did finish and we had fun. Total time was 2 hours 23mins

May 8, 2014

The Bridges Family Represent WSI Cycling (Well) at Fort Custer Stampede

One of the cool parts about our team this year is that we have all levels of riders participating. One such example of this variety is the Bridges family. Mom, dad and the kids are all enjoying their time on the bike and even got on the podium this past weekend at the Fort Custer Stampede. Below are the race reports from mom and dad, as well as Scott, the oldest son. Great report “Team Bridges” and way to represent. Be sure to check out WSI Cycling’s Facebook page for more photos of the Bridges family in action!

Scott Bridges’ Race Report – First Place Win!!!

After checking the weather and seeing who’s registered for the past week. The day has arrived. This year I was racing in the 15-18 age group so there was no playing around. After talking to some of the guys at the line and looking at their bikes, I knew my work was cut out for me. They feel comfortable in there niners, while I can hardly fit in one. As we took off hauling butt, I gained the lead, took the sharp turn and went down the hill into the trail and I caught some traffic by the time I got around it, a fella in a yellow and red cross county cycles jersey caught up to me. But that did not last for long. As I got to the rough switchbacks on the green trail there was a big pile up. Once I got through that I looked below and saw a yellow and red jersey. The second half of the race was mellower, finished with my first career win. Looking forward to yankee tt next on the schedule.

Katie and Kevin’s Race Report – The Rest of the Bridges Family

The Custer Stampede was good to the Bridges family this year, Scott and Marie took first place in their age groups. Mom (Katie) and Dad (Kevin) did not bleed on their new WSI/Team Active race kits. Rose did not race as she’s recovering from a foot injury acquired in Track.

All told it was a great day to be in the woods and out of the wind. With Yankee TT postponed the Stampede was the first mountain bike race for us this spring making an already long winter seem to drag on even longer. Now the racing has started it feels like summer is here. Next we race at Yankee hopefully Marie and Scott can continue their winning streak.

We might need to buy Scott a larger helmet if he wins again, he’s pretty happy with his race and Marie as usual is very mellow about the whole ordeal.

Ps. This is Katie checking in, I had a great ride in the woods and saw a huge blue racer… not the kind on a bike!
The Bridges Family