Author: Nikki Elder

It’s Spring, almost summer. On any given weekend there are numerous WSI athletes out there riding, running, swimming, or all of the above. These past couple of weekends have proven to be busy with athletes scattered across Michigan competing in multiple events.

On May 30th, Matt Gaffner competed in the Conquer the Village Mountain Bike Race in the beautiful Traverse City Michigan. Sporting his WSI riding gear and the typical goofy face, he took 6th in his AG for the sport class.

Also competing that weekend were Matt Wright, Charles Elder, Danny Wolin and Katie Bridges at the Seahorse Triathlon. Katie participated in the swim portion only, working on her swimming strategy and coming off of an injury. Danny took part in the duathlon, Matt in the aqua bike and Charles in the Olympic distance Triathlon. Each member had a different reason for being out there, a different goal, and each had accomplished results they were looking for.

Danny:

“Last year was the first year I raced Seahorse as a duathlon – previously I had done the tri relay.  I won last year and this year I wanted to mainly beat my time from last year.  Work on the transition times and have a solid ride.  There were two guys who were fast runners and from the gun, they took off.  I know better than to try and keep up with fast runners so I just ran my own race and tried to keep them from getting too far ahead.  I was about 1.30 behind them in the transition but caught the first one at the 10K bike mark and the second one about 5k later.  I figured I would try and build as much as a buffer as I could by the second run.  I saw the second runner coming in as I was leaving transition and figured it would be a matter of time before he came around – but he was going to have to work for it.  the second run started slow – first half mile always sucks.  I kept going and asked if anyone was behind me but he never was there.  As I came out of the last stretch of woods and he was not there, I figured I had it.  I ended up winning by a minute and a half.  I spoke with him afterwards and he said he was surprised how tricky the run was and also said since he could not see me it was hard to catch me.  So, in the end I beat my time from last year and won again – really an added bonus.  We had some great support on the course from WSI family members which was great.  All in all a good day out.”

Matt:

“It was a perfect day for racing at Coldbrook park in Kalamazoo county yesterday. Morning temperature was in the mid 50s and the high was forecasted low 70s. I raced in the sprint men Aquabike division. Mine was the last swim wave and it started at 8:33. Couldn’t seem to get comfortable in the water during this race. I kept having to slow down and catch my breath. I still managed to swim 500 yards in less than 10 minutes. After a quick transition, I was on the bike and pushing hard. This course offered a lot of hills but I maintained 19.5 MPH for the 20 K ride. I finished in just under an hour, winning my division. Unfortunately I had no competition to compare myself to.”

Charles:

“Choosing the Olympic distance for this event was a way to prepare for my upcoming Half Ironman in July. The swim was going to be the most challenging for me and it was my first time racing in a wetsuit. Transitions were quick and smooth even with the wetsuit addition. With the swim out of the way I let me brain and body do what it knew best: ride. The ride was to be expected with an average of 19.4 mph. The run was challenging, but this course always is. I had a lot of WSI support along the way. I finished in 3:10:11.”

Several WSI riders participated in Saturday’s Tour de Frankenmuth. Overall, it sounds like it was a great day for racing, and a beautiful place to race! Check out the riders’ full reports below:

Devin

The Tour de Frankenmuth kicks off the 2015 road racing season. This 40 mile race through the countryside around the Bavarian village of Frankenmuth has been a staple in the Michigan road racing scene for many, many years. Consisting of two laps of a 20 mile circuit, there are no real hills or technical sections that could be used tactically to form a breakaway.

The Cat 4 race had a field of around 40 riders, with some food team representation, so the potential certainly was there for team tactics in the race. However, true to Cat 4 form, all of the 5 breakaway attempts were covered by the peloton, including the one I launched with 6 miles to go. Prior to that, the race had been relatively uneventful. Except for the crash about 30 miles in. A rider to the left and one bike ahead looked back over his right shoulder and while his eyes were off the road in front of him, his wheel touched the one in front and he went down rather hard. Only one or two others went down. Remember to keep eyes ahead during the race.
With about 2 miles to go, and just prior to the penultimate turn, I maneuvered to the front for safety, and led the peloton up the final hill before the final turn to the finish. With speeds accelerating to almost 40 mph, it was difficult to hang on.

The only redeeming fact was that the difference between first and forty-first was less than one minute.
Pack finish within a minute of the winner with no crashes or mechanicals? I’ll take it.

Scott

The 2015 Tour de Frankenmuth was my first road race. I did the junior category; a 20-mile flat race around the countryside of Frankenmuth. After last year’s attempt at a road race, and the expert advice of my good teammates Devin and Danny, I knew how to race a bike, finally. With ten miles to go I first started to work, supporting an ally I established earlier, fighting cross winds, and battling head winds. With 2k to go there were three of us. With some fresh legs and a good plan I was confident I was going to win, and with less than 1k, I attacked, and won. Big thanks to Devin Winton for teaching me all the tricks to winning a race, and to Bill at Team Active for making sure my race machine was ready.

Kevin

The race started out slow, around 19 mph, I started thinking I might have a good chance with these guys, until 5 miles in when a solo break away took off. The rest of the day was spent chasing this guy around rural Frankenmuth. At 32 miles, 8 miles to go, I dropped off the back of a small chase group and finished 14^th. I finished better than last year, but there is still room to improve. Maybe a new set of wheels would help.

Rose

This race is flat, beautiful, and gives you a chance to see all kinds of different racers. Despite being windy, this race deserves some credit: it’s well set-up and has a huge amount of support from volunteers and police officers. I don’t take racing as seriously as the rest of my family but can have a lot of fun just by seeing any smiling WSI faces. This was my first official road race (before trying in road racing I tried mountain biking, triathlon, and duathlon). There’s really not another feeling that compares to it being you, your bike, and smooth road. Seriously, you don’t feel road like this in Calhoun County. This race was worth waking up at 4:30 and riding in a car (even if you’re like me and you can’t sleep in cars or you’re the driver of the car). The community seemed open to the racers. Being the only 15-16 year old girl, it’s not difficult to guess where I ended up finishing, and where I intend to race next year.