While Melting Mann signaled the end of winter, Barry-Roubaix means it’s time to bring on Spring! On Saturday, March 28th, thousands of cyclists lined the streets of Hastings, Michigan as far as the eye could see. Conditions leading up to the race favored cyclists; with hard packed roads and no mud or ice. The temperature, a brisk 13 degrees at the start, was a friendly reminder that you never can quite predict the end of March weather in Michigan.
Dreams of personal bests, podium finishes and just plain finishing filled WSI racers’ minds. For Katie Bridges, this was her first Barry-Roubaix experience, and Devin Winton and Kathy Roche-Wallace opted to tackle the challenge on a single speed. For Kathy, completing the 62 mile challenge on an old Bontrager single speed, even to her, sounded crazy and stirred up pre-race jitters. She was comforted by the words of her father (and biggest fan) who passed away last year: My darling daughter, stay on top of your pedals. Devin struggled mentally to stay engaged but was determined to keep up in the single speed category with riders half his age. In his “old age” he is quite pleased with 15th.
As the race carried on, riders were taunted by the infamous climbs of the three sisters, and the last hill that quickly reminded riders, such as 220 lb. Eric Cook, of the power of gravity. Minor problems such as rocks in cassettes and frozen water bottles were the biggest challenges of the day for most. Great conditions had many cyclists opting for road bikes. This decision proved to be rewarding for some, helping David Goff secure a spot on the podium coming in 2nd in his AG. For Charles Elder, however, the race was cut short just under 4 miles. After changing one flat, he hopped back on only to discover the front tire was flat as well. Fellow racer, and WSI alumni, Jack Miner, passed by and left a tube but it turned out to not be a fit. While Charles flatted on the course, some were lucky enough to make it home first before discovering a flat.
Barry-Roubaix is a spring cycling must for riders and spectators alike. It is a well run, great all around event and a great way to kick off the 2015 cycling season! Special thanks to Jack Miner for securing the team an awesome squatting ground and tent set-up, and April and JJ for playing the role of “team photographer” for the day.
For more photos from the event LIKE our Facebook page.
Check out below to see how WSI riders faired this year:
It was a brisk 30 degrees on the morning of March 8th as racers lined up for the Melting Mann: A Race Through No Mann’s Land. The course, whose main attraction is Mann Rd., consisted of conditions ranging from dirt roads iced completely over to frozen rutted mud that would grab your tire in an instant. As the temps began to warm up and the course got well-used the frozen mud turned into the real deal, speckling racers with dirty faces and muddy behinds. WSI was well represented at the event taking home several podium finishes. Overall, it was a great event, and riders are looking forward to next year’s challenges in the Melting Mann.
David Goff placed second in his AG for the 22.7 mile course.
David Goff Sr. placed 4th in his AG for the 32 mile course.
Peggy Haas was the first female finisher on the 22 mile course with a respectable time of 1:32 (and that was all done on about an hour and a half of sleep).
Kellie Kramer placed 4th overall in women and 1st in her AG on the 32 mile course with a time of 2:09:08
Dwight Denisiuk raced the 32 mile course in the single speed division with a time of 2:14:21
The Circus made the trip to Ypsilanti for stop #3 in the Michigan Fat Bike Series at Rolling Hills. I lined up for the 45 minute B Race with the intention of starting slow and working my way through the field. The first lap was faster than anticipated on the group split quickly. I kept the chase group in site for the first couple of laps, but the leading 4 were gone and stayed gone. The course was a mix of wide open turns and steady climbs. My 5 inch Surly Tires (thanks to Team Active) kept the rubber side down on the icy turns. I kept the effort high on the dicey course for 6 two mile laps and finished 6th
out of 12. After a 30 minute rest, it was time for the Duo Open race with my friend Brian. We are pursuing the point series championship and needed to snag some points after missing stop #2 at Pando. We alternated hot laps for 90 minutes on the melting and muddy course and finished 4th on the day, keeping us in the lead for the overall point series.
#4: Even die hard mountain bike racers need to dial in their running skills every now again. 2 weekends ago (sorry for the late report) I lined up for the “not so frosty” Frostbite 5K in Vicksburg. Top Priority Goal: Enjoy chilli at the post race part. Second priority: Personal Record. The uphill mass start got the heart pumping early and I kept the effort high for a 23:11 finish time, 10 seconds faster than my fastest 5K from a couple of years ago and 1 spot away from the podium.
#5: The latest stop on the Michigan Fat Bike Tour was Addison Oaks County Park. A few miles from the home of Kid Rock, Addison Oaks has a web of well-groomed and fast flowing fat bike trails. 18 degrees at the start line, only 4 points separated the top three Duo Open teams. Our competition made the trip to Marquette for the Polar Roll and Brian and took advantage with a 2nd place finish. Next stop: Pando Winter Sports Park in Rockford Michigan.
Team Active represents all that is good in cycling. First time cyclists arrive with their old bikes at the Team Active store for a Monday night ride wearing running shorts and tennis shoes and are welcomed to a group ride by friendly cycling enthusiasts. Everyone wearing a WSI/Team Active jersey shares tips for keeping up, staying warm, and improving performance. These are things that I rarely see shared with strangers on other rides (and I have ridden with several groups nationwide.) I was one of those first time cyclists in 2007 and Team Active made me feel at home and showed me that, with proper training, anyone can safely race!
I am 52 years old and as the years go by, it is more and more important that I spend time doing things that represent my personal values. It is not that I am worried about what kind of legacy I would leave (I suspect those thoughts will start to enter my mind when I consider retirement—which I do not expect to do until I am 90!), rather, it is looking at what I value and wanting to do those things better and better. To me, this means trying to find time to carve out of the week for family, spending a little more time at the office to prep for the next day’s meetings, giving back, and doing things that I know my WSI/Team Active teammates do every day. I know my they do these things everyday, because that is what drew me to Team Active and WSI/Team Active Racing nearly 9 years ago. In the last 5 years of racing, I have finished 8th in the Iceman, 3rd in my age group 3 times in the Tailwind MTB Race Series and have ‘flown the Team Active Flag’ several times from the podium. I did countless CX, MTB, Road and Criterium races but over the last 2 years, those trips to the podium have become less and less frequent…and this bothers me.
As you all know, the race does not show people how good you are, the race is a demonstration of the training and discipline you were able to adhere to during the time between races. Looking at my performances, it is clear that I need to change something, because I value the lifestyle and healthy living that bike racing represents. Eating a bag of chips and sitting on the couch 5 days a week does not represent lifestyles of the majority of high performing cyclists. (Those of you who can eat whatever you want, train on the ‘nice days’ and show up to finish in the top 10 make me jealous….you know who you are!) I also need training buddies who expect to meet me at a certain time and a certain place to ride, because I will show up to ride if you expect to see me. That is was Team Active provided for me for many years.
The word training has, no doubt, been a theme in this final WSI/Team Active race report. It has indeed been the thing on my mind nearly all season. It Is not that I have not had time to train, it is that I did not take the time to find people to ride with between races, and as such, I did not train nearly as much as I know was necessary this race season. Training was certainly on my mind prior to the start of that icy rainy November day. I went into the 2014 Iceman MTB Race knowing that I would suffer on the hills and feel that the finish line would never come—and would hope to hang on in the snow and rain for less than 3 hours to get the final race off the books AND raise $3,000 for the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Prophetically, I put my chain brush in my jersey and cast aside my glasses, knowing that mud and sand was my enemy—I lined up for my wave, clipped in and started to spin.
Worst. Race. Ever.
That is what a friend and fellow racer texted me after the race. Miserable, was what I said to my dad at least 10 times while I was shivering into dry clothes from the tent. I had actually expected that the muddy conditions might have been an equalizer for my lack of training. What I had not counted on was the fact that I had exactly the wrong tires on my bike. The Kenda’s that I have been training on with my full suspension bike would have been perfect, but I had not even though about changing tires on my Super Fly that I was using during the race…big mistake. Our wave ‘13’ departed in the rain at 9:36 am and entered the course without incident. The sand was a bit loose, but typical for being that far back in the Iceman (over 1,000 participants were already on course by the time I hit the woods.) But as soon as we hit the single track, the sand changed to mud and I immediately realized that the tires I had might just as well have been racing slicks.
First tight turn and I went straight into a tree. I had no control of my bike. So I slowed down, but I would start to speed up again or drop down a hill and again go straight into the woods. I fell a half dozen times, wrapped a sapling in my cassette which caused some significant drive train issues for the last half of the race. I hit a tree so hard that I bruised the heel of my left hand as I tried to fend off the tree. I figured I was done when I could not keep my chain on my the drive train, but I stopped twice and spent several minutes brushing the sand out of my chain, finessed the cassette to a bigger gear and was able to muscle up the shorter hills. The sand finally cleared and I was able to spin up the more notorious hills like Anita’s Hill.
Presenting the $4,000 in donations raised this year to the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center.
Miserable. I watched the timer on my Garmin go past 2 hours and was still a long way from the finish, I knew this would be one of the slowest Iceman finishes I would ever post. In the back of my mind were two things; I was raising money for the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center and I was not going to DNF. I hate the feeling of DNFs and to DNF in my last race wearing the WSI jersey would be the worst! So I pressed on. My finishing time was 3:32! Horribly slow. I cannot blame it all on the equipment, clearly my training was not up to par, but I am a pretty cautious rider and going into the woods several times would have slowed me down even if I was at the peak of my fitness. Regardless, the race was over. The season was over. I retired my WSI/Team Active jersey after raising $4,000 for the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center knowing that I gave everything I had on that miserable day.
And now, I am sad to say that it is time for me to find a local team of people to train with here in Ann Arbor area so I can leave work and be on the trail within a half hour or so…peer pressure is the key for my training. Team Active’s awesome sponsorship through Mike Wood and the team coaches (former coach) Angela, Danny, and our huge sponsor/coach Eric and WSI have meant a lot to me and I know I will see you all at the races next season—hopefully I will be fitter and faster. Go WSI/Team Active Forever!
The X100 Michigan’s Ultimate Mountain Bike Xventure, starts and finishes at Ranch Rudolf near Traverse City Michigan. The race is either 100 miles or 50 miles. Thank goodness I was smart enough to do the 5o miler! The both races (50 and 100 milers) are mostly twisting single track that wind in and out of the country gravel roads, two tracks and fire roads. The trail takes you through the most beautiful terrain Michigan has to offer: deep woods and steep hills around lakes, streams and ponds. The trail was very challenging and long. Aid stations were set up every 10 miles which seemed like forever!
I had been training on gravel roads and had not been training that much for technology and twisty. So this race was very challenging to me. Also I don’t think my body had recovered well enough from O2S 2 weeks before. I think I am make excesses for my slow time! I will try to do this race again next year just to improve this slow time!
I have raised $200.00 for Patti Pals Relay for Life in Richland Michigan. Patti lost her life to breast cancer serveral years ago. All of us know someone who has or who had cancer. Cancer is a scary disease and we need to find a cure for it.
Jana Turpin
time: 5:45 pace 8:68 ranked 2nd in age group and 5th in women
enge on an old Bontrager single speed, even to her, sounded crazy and stirred up pre-race jitters. She was comforted by the words of her father (and biggest fan) who passed away last year: My darling daughter, stay on top of your pedals. Devin struggled mentally to stay engaged but was determined to keep up in the single speed category with riders half his age. In his “old age” he is quite pleased with 15th.
challenges of the day for most. Great conditions had many cyclists opting for road bikes. This decision proved to be rewarding for some, helping David Goff secure a spot on the podium coming in 2nd in his AG. For Charles Elder, however, the race was cut short just under 4 miles. After changing one flat, he hopped back on only to discover the front tire was flat as well. Fellow racer, and WSI alumni, Jack Miner, passed by and left a t
ube but it turned out to not be a fit. While Charles flatted on the course, some were lucky enough to make it home first before discovering a flat.
