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Sunday June 10, 2012 I raced the Ft. Custer Mt. Bike TT. I saw quite a few WSI/TAR people and it looked like great race results from the team. I raced Sport Single Speed and finished 2nd in that catagory. The weather was hot (about 90 F) and the trail was dry and not super fast. Attached are the results. Notice all the WSI/TAR people. Good job all.
Custers-RevengeTT Results – 2012
Keith Wilkinson
Several Teammates and I competed in the Dr. TK Lawless TT on Sunday. The weather and trail conditions could not have been better for us. Around 65° mostly Sunny and dry, very different than what the road team encounter on Saturday. I entered the sport class 30 – 39, which was one 10 mile loop around the park. For the first time in my racing career I beat 5 other guys and took the podium with a first place finish with a time of 48 minutes. Unfortunately I was out on the course with my son during the award ceremony, but climbed the podium a little later to take fame. I have only rode ½ of this course one time last year and have not been back since. So I was in total shock when they told me that I had won. It’s a fun tight and twisty course with just a few short straightaways. I can wait to come back next year and do it again.
My son Dilan also competed in the race. He has never ever been there and he still opted out of the 10 – 12 year old short 1 mile race and competed in Beginner 19 and under class, where he was by far the youngest. As you can imagine he finished last but still had a very impressive time of 71 minutes.
David Goff
West Branch Road Race is hard enough (1500 feet of climbing per lap) without the wind being mixed in. Add low temperatures (High 40s at start time) and rain and you have a combination that makes the primary pre-race discussion in the pits about; leg warmers or no, hat, no hat? Warming up means sitting in your car as long as you can and hope that your muscles will not penalize you for putting them into the wind and rain before the first attack. I pre-rode this course with some friends from Wolverine Sports Club and we did 3 laps. My back was still tender from all the climbing from the ride 3 weeks prior. If not for a ‘pact’ to do the race between me Danny and Derrick after our Wednesday night team ride, I would not have even set the alarm to drive all the way to West Branch in the rain. But, loyalty is loyalty…so we death marched our way north.
It is always great to have team mates at a race, on a cold rainy windy nasty day, it is even better to have some moral support. We ignored the weather, donned our team kits and proceeded to the start. In the first turn, we all communicated very well, there were 56 pre-registered, but who knows how many idiots like me actually showed up. The wind was off to our left and I kept tucked in behind some very strong cyclists for the first 12 miles of the first lap. Danny was possessed as he was on Wednesday night and was out front for a great deal of the rollers. I made a mistake and stayed on the windward side of the echelon and when they turned up the tempo, I had no legs. I knew that the race was over for me with about 5 miles left in the first lap! Three other riders worked with me in the wind, but by the time we made the turn to the first time up the climb, the pack was gone.
I rolled up the monster hill after the first lap and had the opportunity to call it a day. After all, I was done, I could not even see the lead pack any more. But, I committed to have Danny’s “6.” If he had a mechanical or something, I would give him whatever he needed to get back in the race. I also remember a team mate telling me (commanding me) that you never ever ever leave a race unless you are hurt, have a mechanical or are pulled. I fought these demons because I was all alone in the wind and had no one to work with.
I was closing in on a couple Cat 4s who were shelled out the back like me, but when the Cat 5s went by, two of them jumped on the group (an illegal move and when I protested to the follow car, the officials pulled them off, but they were too far ahead and were connected together now and I was, alas, all alone.)
Unfortunately, when you are riding by yourself in a race (it has happened to me way too often) you have time to think. I committed myself to burning calories in my final lap and ‘being there for Danny’ in case he needed me. Well, Danny was there for me at the last few yards of the climb to the finish and I know I did not have as good a day as Danny did (we still have not seen results), but I know this, I did not DNF.
Jack Miner.
Another good showing from the WSI/TA Racing group at the Seahorse tri. Neil and RJ both rode the Olympic distance (RJ placed 3rd). Chuck, Sara and I did the relay again and kept the tradition alive by winning again – all with good times. Our competition cheated again and we still won:).
I love the mountain bike stage races that are done by Tailwind. You have 3 different disciplines, Time Trial, Short Track and Cross Country. Saturday was the TT and Short Track at Addison Oaks , there was a small field for our group of 50 to 59 year old racers but I was able to eek out a psychological win in the short track by taking 3rd place in my age group. I used my cross bike and it handled the extreme turns very well. The turns did not affect me, but I stuffed my pedal into the hill on an off camber turn and, although I was in 3rd place of the entire ‘sport’ group, went to the back of the pack in seconds. It is only a 15 minute race, so it is a lung burning, leg cramp-fest, a fall is fatal. So, like I said, a 3rd place finish for our age group was a nice win.
In the morning we had the Time Trial and I ended up 4th of 4 in our age group there. Even though the number of racers in my age group was low, these stage races are double points races and set the tone for the leaders for the rest of the season. As such…finishing 4th is strategically valuable…even if there were only 5 or six of us out there this weekend.
Final tally, 4th place TT, 3rd Place Short Track, 5th place in today’s extremely hot 3 lap cross country race…overall I should walk away with a 4th place double points win for WSI-Team Active.
Jack Miner.