Copper Harbor and Eagle Harbor are about as far north as you can get in Michigan. It is the setting of Run the Keweenaw, a set of three trail races which challenge, amaze and inspire. The trail runners among us spent quality time dodging roots, rocks and (occasionally) water to test our inner mountain goat. Kevin accomplished the series, finishing with a beauty of a blister and a smile. The kids and I ran the hill climb (really BIG hill) and the Copper Harbor Trail 12k. The kids and I scored some age group places, with coffee beans, handmade soap and bug lotion as our awards. I’m sure I’ll use that bug stuff up here soon! It was an awesome weekend, the RD Mike was awesome and I can’t wait to run these trails again.
What a Way to Ring in the New Year…
So Sara and I finished off the year with a 5k in Detroit on New Year’s Eve. The race was on Belle Isle which always provides cold and windy conditions. Not a lot to talk about a 5k race other than run and run fast. We finished together in 22:50. Sara finished 2nd in her age group and I took 12th in mine.
On January 4th we started the new year with a 50k at Yankee Springs “The Yankee Springs Winter Challenge”. We couldn’t have asked for better conditions for a winter challenge. The wind was mild and the sky beautiful blue with bright sunshine. Footing was tough and the hills were just as bad. We had to do two 25k loops of a combination of the mountain bike trail and the Chief Noonday trail. After our two loops and nearly 7hrs of running we reached the finish. Sara placed 5th in the women’s division with a finishing time of 6hrs, 23min. I took 3rd in my age group with a finishing time of 6hrs, 55mins. What a great way to start off the new year and looking forward to even more races in 2014!
~Chuck
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.
Lumberjack 2013 – Ten and a Half Hours of Fun
Ok, so maybe not “all” of the 10 hours and 32 minutes that it took me to complete the 2013 Lumberjack 100 can be described as “fun.” But I can say my return to Michigan’s first 100 mile mountain bike race (there are others now) went even better than I expected. This update is a bit late, given that the race was June 15th, but at least I’m getting this posted before the calendar flips over to July!
Friday night I traveled to my teammate Jack’s cabin nearby the event just west of Cadillac, MI and met Charles (also on the team) and one of Jack’s good friends from Ann Arbor, Kyle. While the cabin has had some improvements since my last Lumberjack (several years ago), I was pleased to see the record player was still going strong. Nothing like classic KISS to get you in the mood for 100 miles of mountain biking!
Race day came early and we were up and around by 5 am. It was a bit chilly in the morning, but the temps were expected to get into the 70s by late morning. While I showed up at the line with a sleeveless base-layer and arm warmers, I’d shed them half way through my second (of three) 33.3 mile laps. The start rolled out with just under a mile of paved road to get the blood pumping. Hoots and hollers filled the crowd as we funneled into the parking lot and through the rows of onlookers cheering us on. Then, the trail got REAL narrow and we went from riding 6-10 riders across to single file, which slowed things down considerably. It was slow going for the first 5 -7 miles, with people over-reacting to braking ahed of them, sticks on the trail causing issues (one guy caught one in his back wheel right in front of me and I barely missed his crash) and a constant dust cloud that kept me coughing well after the pack spread out.
Jack and I rode together for most of the first lap, which was nice to have some company. The trail was in great shape with some new sections added since I raced this the last time. A few years ago they changed the format to three 33.3 mile loops. The last time I raced it was four 25 mile loops and I will admit I liked this format better. Much of what was added included gravel two-track and other sections that gave your body a bit of a break instead of constant singletrack. There still was a LOT of climbing, with some of the hills simply un-ridable, forcing racers to get off and push their bikes up the hill. By the time I was on my third lap, even some of the hills I rode on the first lap seemed easier to walk up (or at least that’s what my legs were telling me).
Coming in after my first lap I felt pretty good. I’m riding a new bike this year, switching to 29″ wheels and also front-only suspension. Prior years I was on a more traditional 26″ wheeled full-suspension, so I was anxious to see how a hardtail would treat me after 100 miles. My Trek Superfly SL Pro did a great job and I felt very comfortable on it, even finding after 100 miles that my back did NOT hurt (which was not the case with my last race). Heading out on lap #2, I was able to push it a bit and it was nice to ride the beginning part of the course at regular speed (unlike the first lap). At the mid-point I stopped at the aid station and this is where I made what would become a bad tactical decision. The volunteers cheered as you arrived and were very helpful, offering drinks and food to help keep you going. One of them said “How about a BP&J with Fritos? Everyone’s been raving about them and they give you a nice sweet and salty snack.” Why not, I thought. At the rate I was burning calories I figured it couldn’t hurt and who doesn’t like PB&Js and Fritos… About five miles later, I realized my gut didn’t care for my food options and started to revolt. The remaining miles of my second lap were pretty difficult, because in addition to my gastro-revolt, the leg cramps started and I was beginning to crave ice cold Gatorade (but didn’t have any in my cooler at the pit).
When I came in after lap #2, I was able to bum a bottle of Gatorade off another team (YUM!) and that really helped. My stomach issues started to feel better and I was ready to take off for my third and final lap. It was at that moment I looked back to find the three leaders coming across the finish line. After 100 miles of racing, I was amazed to see all three of them coming across the finish line within ONE second of each other! As impressive as that was, I had to get back to reality and accept the fact that I had another 33.3 miles to go. So off I went…
On my last lap I didn’t set any land speed records, as I had to stop several times to tend to my leg cramps. But when I was riding (and not huffing it up the hills) I felt pretty good. The bike was handling well, my back felt good and I knew that I’d be finishing the race. If you’ve ever rode the trail, you may recall coming in the final part of the loop you catch a glimpse of the parking lot, which is the sign that you’re just about done. As with years past, the sight of the cars off in the distance caused an instant smile to come across my face. I had done it, and after coming across the line, realized that I did it in “record time” (well, for me at least). It’s hard to compare “apples to apples” since this was 3 x 33.3 miles and prior races were 4 x 25 miles, but I’m going with it!
Now, my training focus is shifting to triathlons for the remainder of the year and I’ve strapped on the running shoes again and hitting the pavement. I’ve got two Olympic triathlons coming up (one in Cadillac and another in Ludington) before my 70.3 distance triathlon at Cedar Point in September. I’ll still find time to get in some mountain biking, however, as I’ve found that to be a great cross training workout and should help me with my biking and overall power. I’m also looking forward to getting back on the track with my good friend (and RAAM stud) Kathy.
3,000 Miles… 12 States… One Amazing Woman.
On behalf of the entire WSI Cycling Team, I’m excited and proud to introduce you to one of our most amazing teammates, Kathy Roche-Wallace. I’ve known Kathy for years, in fact she was even one of my “groomsmen” when my Alicia and I got married over 15 years ago. She’s completed Ironman™ triathlons, tripple “Iron-distance” triathlons, multi-day adventure races, ultra-distance runs, 12-hour mountain bike races and in 2011 was the first 50+ woman to complete the solo Race Across America. During her 2011 RAAM event, she even won the Queen of the Mountains award for summiting the major mountain passes faster than any other woman. Despite all this, she’s going back to RAAM again this year to do even better.
When you hear these accomplishments, one may assume all she does is ride, run and workout but that’s not true. While she certainly does train more than most, she’s got a “real job” with the local fitness center, a wife, mother to six children and a proud grandmother. Yes, I said grandmother and this “granny” will ride circles around you (I know first-hand because it’s happened to me!). I think that’s one of the special things about Kathy. While she did get official sponsorship as a professional cyclist in the 90s, she’s been racing and competing “for the fun of it” for well over a decade and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
Coming up next month, Kathy will throw her leg over her Cannondale and start her second 3,000 journey across the country in her second RAAM event. She’s got a great crew to help take her across the United States (and have been there for the past several months on training rides and team meetings). Unless you’re part of that elite crew, you’re not going to be able to physically travel with Kathy for those 12 days in June. But, you CAN offer your support and help to ease the financial burden, as well as support charity at the same time.
At Kathy’s RAAM 2013 contribution page (http://bit.ly/raam2013) you can make a donation with a credit or debit card directly online. There’s instructions on how to send a check if that’s a preferred payment method. Either way, your support will help to ease the financial burden of competing in an event of this magnitude. Plus funds received beyond expenses will be donated to charity.
Kathy starts RAAM on June 11th in Oceanside, CA and updates will be shared on her Facebook page, GoKathyGo. If you’ve not visited and become a Fan yet, stop by and click the LIKE button. The crew will be posting photos, videos and updates from the road so you can keep tabs on Kathy’s progress. Her goal this year is to compete the race in under 12 days and I’m excited that Alicia and I will be there in Annapolis, MD this year when she comes across the line.
Eric
P.S. Join me this week on Wednesday, May 29th when Kathy joins me on my weekly webinar show, Free Webinar Wednesdays. The show starts at 1 pm Eastern and we’ll be talking all about RAAM and the many things that make Kathy so special.