Mountain Biking – Page 7 – WSI Cycling Team

November 23, 2014

Pedaling Away Cancer -Ore To Shore Race Report

Race report and fundraising for Ore to Shore Moutain Bike Race: It was August 9th in Negaunee Michigan. The morning air was fresh and brisk. I had signed up for the 48 miles of hills and sand and I was questioning why did I do that??? I really would like to be hanging out at the camper now instead of riding this route. There were a lot of bikers that looked fast and mean and lean! oh well it was what it was!

The O2S (Ore To Shore) race is a point to point race that starts in Negaunee (Hard Rock 48 miles) and finishes in Marquette. The Soft Rock (26miles) starts in Ishpening and also finishes in Marquette. The course passes underground mining ores and runs along the Dead River and along Lake Superior shoreline. It is a beautiful wooded wilderness course and very much a great ride.

The gun went off and we started. The route was a two track for most of the way, but it was a very dusty, iron ore red dust. My lungs started to hurt within a mile. I knew this was going to be a long 48 miles. I followed RJ and DeAnn on the Tandem for a few miles til the left me behind a few slower riders that I could not get around. I needed to find someone to draft off of quickly. Then I felt someone drafting on me. I looked behind and it was two guys sucking my back tire. I told them fine but we would need to take turns. Well that didn’t last, when it was my turn to draft – then left me. Who said a race was fair. oh well.

About the first 26 miles of this race is tough, a lot of rocks hills, and sand pits not anything that is real technology but you need a lot of legs and lungs. The last 20 so seems to be easier (or maybe it was I thinking it was down hill). There was still a lot of sand, but didn’t seem to be hug hills or any single track.

Overall this is a great race. I am planning on doing this race again next year and spending the whole week after the race in Marquete and Cooper Harbor area Mtn biking.

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.

time: 3:53:17 Pace 12.35 finished Overall 499th, of 680. 41st out of 70 women 3rd female 50-54 age group

Jana Turpin

November 20, 2014November 23, 2014

Race Report for MudMan (I mean IceMan)

Yes the was Mudman this year. My bike did her job well this year…no issues. A non bike ride ask me what made my bike so much better than others and why did I not have issues with my chain? I said it was just luck why I didn’t have issues. It was not my time to have issues on this race. There will be another race that I will have a flat or a broken chain or another mechanical.

Iceman this year was a mess. Wet, muddy, and just pure old cold – just a mess to be out in it. When it was done (which seems like it took ever!) I wanted to be done and get out of my wet clothes – no pictures, no waiting on anyone, no beer, nothing I wanted just warmth and dryness now!!!

Before the race I had to mentally talk myself into racing. My husband had already said he didnot want to ride and half way thru race stopped to help someone and bailed out of race.

However, within 2 or 3 miles into the race I warmed up and thought the mud was fun. I was just worred my chain was not going to make it. I had 1.9″ wide tires on and thought they were not going to be good in the mud. But I don’t think any tire width was good. There were fat tires wiping all around me. The conditions were slippery for everyone. I was use to riding on those tires and felt good-I just set back and went hard.

Once I reached the logging road it was a deep mud pit (I started in wave 19). I crashed at the top of road – got wet and got passed by about 7 guys which made me see how slow I was going! I guess they were glad I moved out of their way.

The roads seemed so slow with the mud and wet sand. We road the trail Oct 17 and it was so much faster. During race I never got into my big gear not due to chain but tired, heavy legs. My legs could not handle the load they were burning on fire with pain from the load. I could not put the big gear felt like I was going so slow. When I saw that I still had 10 kilos to go and reach my time from last year – I was sick. Really had to get my head around! I had eaten everything I had on me and everthing they handed me at the aid stations (that included all the sand and mud from my gloves) I didn’ t have any energy.

Time:3:28 (somewhere around there)

6th place in my age group out of 28

Jana Turpin

September 25, 2014September 25, 2014

Harvesting Time Outside

If you are anything like me, I took a friend’s advice (who started cycling the same time I did and has surpassed me since then) by getting outside before work for a run—any run, just run and enjoy the morning.

I did, slower run, but the stars were bursting and, aside from a skunk who wanted to show me the exit to the woods, it was one of those painless deeply cathartic exercises that makes you happy and ready to face the day. Thanks Doug for the advice. Even though I will not be able to get on my bike again today (early morning start and late evening work dinner), I harvested some outdoor time before ‘old man winter’ forced me into solitary winter interval training.

There is about a month left before the Iceman Cometh Mountain Bike Race, and the culmination of fund raising for the MADC Family Support. Check out the website. If you have a family caregiver who would like a retreat, there are events starting as early as October 6. Spread the word! http://alzheimers.med.umich.edu/live-well/

September 22, 2014

Last day of Summer

Everyone has a day where, at the end of work, the gravitational pull of the couch and a bag of potato chips is very strong. Today was one of those countless days for me. Thankfully, I know that the only way to combat that demon is to prepare in advance…putting my bike and all of my gear in the car is half the battle, the other half is making the trip to the trailhead before I get home. On the way home tonight, I was going to stop at Island Lake for a quick loop before the autumnal equinox darkened the woods. Instead, I went to a place that I have heard of many times, but never tried-The Tree Farm in Novi.

I got there about 5:30pm and put my WSI/Team Active knicker and long sleeved shirt on, seemed a tad cool for me. As I went to the trailhead, I ran into a guy who was just getting ready to roll as well. Since I have never ridden the trail before I asked him where the trailhead was, he said that he was on his way and was happy to show me. He was riding a Niner, full rigid, single speed–I knew I would not be waiting for him! I asked his name and he said in a British accent Paul. I immediately wonder if he knows Gary, the other British guy I ride with (what a silly thought it was, but it was my thought, none-the-less, so I say nothing.) Bad thing about accents on the bike, if someone warns you about a long drop off a log jam and you cannot understand them, chances are you will find out the hard way what they were saying–I did, spectacular crash off the top of a log jam in the first 5 minutes of the ride.

After that, it was just a nice flowing pace on a semi-technical course through the woods in southeast Michigan. I made a new fried (which is always the way these impromptu exploratory rides seem to be) and had a nice training ride on the last day of summer 2014. Not too much longer to the Iceman. There will be a lot of miles and crashes between now and then.

Don’t forget to check out the fund raising that is the focus of the Iceman race for me. We are over 1/3 the way to our goal to raise $3,000 for Alzheimer Family Support at the University of Michigan. See you on the trails!

Jack Miner

http://www.active.com/donate/AlzheimerFamSupport

July 26, 2014

May-hem and Destruction

A month long race report for Charles Elder

The grieving process takes time, and until now I have not been ready to relive the race that severely injured my beloved two wheeled ride.

My race season began in early May at the Fort Custer Stampede on May 4. After the harsh winter we had and little riding opportunities, I am sure I was not the only one feeling unprepared for this race. My wave took off at a faster than normal pace heading into the single track. I knew at that moment I was in trouble. Overall, it was an uneventful race (on my part), finishing middle of the pack in the sport class.

Amidst traveling for work the following week, I came across a Wednesday night race series where I was in North Carolina. Every Wednesday night mountain bikers met in different locations of Greensboro for the Racing in the Woods summer race series. New trails, new riders, new sights: why not? I raced sport class on a whole new hilly terrain. It was a constant course of down hill, up hill, corner, and repeat. The climbing made it hard to gain any type of momentum. I finished dead last. Looking at the results, the sport class riders which I raced, were posting the same lap times as the elite riders. No wonder I was feeling slow. Regardless, it was still a fun way to spend a Wednesday night while on the road. Definitely beat sitting in the hotel. (Side note: the trail system and mountain biking trails are amazing, and easily accessible through almost anywhere in the city. If you are ever near or in Greensboro, I highly suggest checking some out.)

In just a couple of short weeks it was time once again to hit familiar trials and race Yankee Springs TT. My recollection of this race is about vividly in my memory and as I think about it I still get choked up, or rather feel like choking someone. The start felt great and I was able to catch about 10 riders within the first 2 miles. Finally, I was in my groove. Around mile 4 I got a little too familiar with the terrain when I flew over my handlebars at a corner. Pick it up and keep on going. I was riding solid while struggling on the up hills. With about 3 miles left, a pink jersey rider flew past me and became my “rabbit”. With the finish line in sight I saw my “rabbit” only 6 bike lengths ahead with one rider in between us. I gave it all I had on the last corner and the flat and pushed forward. I flew up next to him ready to pass reaching 22 mph and my “rabbit” did not want to be passed. It gave the spectators quite a show when I flew over the handle bars off of the course a remarkable distance. The response told me it didn’t look good, and there was definitely some amazement that I was uninjured. My bike, however, didn’t make it out as easily. I ran my bike, with its wobbling bent front wheel, across the finish. Not the fastest, not the slowest, but I finished. Then I had to make the phone call home and break the bad news. My wife always tells me to not hurt the bike. “You’re insured, the bike is not” she says. Well, sorry to disappoint this time, but the bike took the brunt of the fall and it will never be the same again.

I ended my month of May with a Christmas gift. My wife and I were registered to run the Seahorse Duathlon on May 25th at Coldbrook Park. Luckily, this was not a race that required my mountain bike. Coming into this race I do not think I had even ran six miles, total, for the entire year so I was not expecting much. The run was challenging mixed with trail, paved and unpaved road and even some stairs. There were only 12 participants in the duathlon. I was happy to see that I was the third fastest on the bike portion overall (especially considering the beast, Danny Wolin, was number 1). I was 1st in my age group, as well as the only one in my age group. The highlight of this race was seeing so many other WSI teammates on the course and after.

May was eventful, to say the least. My mountain bike has been repaired and put back together. It’s rideable, but not the same. My custom Project 321 red rims no longer match. Still grieving (a.k.a. pouting). *insert sad face*

Race report written for Charles Elder by Nikki Elder (give credit where credit is due).