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Pontiac Lake Time Trial

I had the opportunity to race with JJ today. What a great guy! We warmed up together riding around the parking lot at the lake and got to know each other more. (Best part of bike racing are the friends you make.) JJ and I both left just a little before 11:45 on a time trial effort that would take us one lap around Pontiac Lake’s hills.
It was a beautiful morning (especially after being very cold the day before at the Willow Time Trial.) The big difference between the MTB time trial and Willow Time Trial is that there are hills thrown into the mix on MTB time trials (which in my mind are the equivalent to an attack on the pack of a road race). Our time trial covered about 10 miles and at the Sport level is only one lap. On a good day, Pontiac Lake can be done leisurely in about an hour. In a time trial, you have to be in around 45 minutes, 40 if you want to be in the money.
I fear my competition may be a little tougher this year than the first year that I did the Tail Wind MTB series. I pushed it hard enough to almost bite it into the woods a few times (my best indication that I am ‘on the edge’), but still fell short of the ‘wooden podium’ by 3 places. Finished 6th place….not sure what the times are of the guys who beat me…will have to find out online tomorrow. A great beginning to the MTB racing season.
Hope to see you all at the Stampede next weekend. I will be racing in Traverse City on Saturday, then down for some fun in the Fort on Sunday.

Jack Miner.

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Sunday Race in the Industrial Park (2)

The 3rd race of the AAVC Spring Training Series was today and my son joined the C race again. He did a great job, it was 25 minutes plus 2 laps and in the final 5 minutes, once again, carnage occurred. According to my son, it looked like a cyclist touched the wheel of a racer and went down, taking at least 6 others with her. It was ugly and a couple cyclists remained on the deck for several minutes….all are okay.
My race was was the B race and you may remember that I held on for dear life in this race working with another cyclist just to finish. My goal this week was to ride with the front of the pack for at least the first 20 minutes and then see what I could do. At the end of 20 minutes and having stayed at the front of the group, I felt surprisingly strong. For the next 15 minutes, I just paced the group and watched-out for any wacky line changes.  My boss was in the race too (bonus for getting excused to go for long rides during the work day!) and came up next to me in the last 2 laps and said, “it’s go time”. I followed him and continued to follow along with the increased pace until the end, finishing in about the top 15. I may actually feel comfortable hanging in the front during the Milford Criterium if this keeps up!  Go TAR Cycling and WSI!

Jack Miner

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Waterford Hills Spring Fling

A wonderful day in Waterford Michigan. Was cold at sunrise, but by the time the B race started, it was a nice 50ish degrees. For those who have not raced Waterford Hills, it is a motor sports race course of 1.5 miles with a couple of short hills and several interesting turns. The most challenging part are the cracks in the cement that can suck in your front tire and put you on the deck quickly if you panic…(so don’t panic!).

I am not a great road racer, but it makes me stronger, so I continue to get punished. I am trying to shake off the Lantern Rouge honor that was bestowed on me in 2011.

There were about 60 racers for the B race and, as with any road race, it is a race of attrition (physically and emotionally). I usually get completely freaked out by the knuckle heads who crash, but today, they all crashed behind me, so, although I heard several bikes hit the cement, I did not see them…made it easier on me.

Our race was 50 minutes plus 2 laps and featured some of the stronger riders from this area (Ann Arbor Velo Club, Flying Rhinos (race sponsors) and Team O2 were well represented.) I know some of these guys and was happy to be on the wheel of some guys I trusted and trained with.
I was very conservative for the first 40 minutes and tried to preserve as much energy as I could. When they posted 10 minutes left, I worked my way up to the first 10 racers. I could tell, they were willing to put me on the front, but I was not interested in falling for that fatal opportunity. As usual, it is significantly easier to be at the front of one of these races…I always forget that it is much smoother at the front.

With 2 laps to go, the front sat up and waited for someone to take the lead, but the group bunched up and no one bit. On the last lap, there was a nice steady push to the finish line and in the last 300 meters, a full on group sprint ensued. I was passed in the last 50 meters by a few guys but was happy to have finished in the top 3rd of this race. All is good…happy Easter and Passover. Jack Miner.

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Spring Training

For two years now, I have joined team mates in Atlanta area for some spring training. For those of you familiar with the area, you know that the hills have a demonic attribute to seemingly go up, and up, and up. We even discuss the fact that the laws of physics dictate that you must get as much ‘up miles’ as ‘down miles’ if you start and stop at the same spot….it just does not seem to be that way.

I like spring training because it is a wake up call for my body that I need to get ready for the impending race season. I also like it because it is a little bit of a fantasy camp, we ride, and rest, and eat well. Had I planned it better, we would have had a massage or two and some core work-outs to top off the ideal training. Next year, our plans are to include more mountain training in the smokies and include more and more core and flexibility training.

We rode about 2 hours on Thursday morning to shake off the 13 hour drive on Wednesday night.  Nothing over the top, but enough to remember that the hills are something that cannot be replicated.  (Even though the temperatures in Michigan were about the same as Atlanta, the hills are unlike anything I have been on.)  After a nice meal and a nap, we hammered out a significant 2 and a half hour ride.  The miles are not as important as the time…there needs to be a conversion table for Atlanta miles to ‘flat miles’.  On Friday, we had a nice 2 hour effort in the morning and another 2  hour effort on Friday night.  We treated out hosts to a big meal and a bigger margarita and prepared for our return on Saturday.

On saturday morning, we put in an hour and a half ‘recovery ride’ to spin out some lactic acid before our 13 hour return trip to Michigan.  We donned our compression socks and shorts and hoped that people would not beat the crap out of us in the rest areas for wearing support hose in public!

We are all excited to don our new Team Active Powered by WSI team kits and get the race season started. In the mean time, more training, a little recovery and some rest.

Next up, Barry Roubaix!