It’s Spring, almost summer. On any given weekend there are numerous WSI athletes out there riding, running, swimming, or all of the above. These past couple of weekends have proven to be busy with athletes scattered across Michigan competing in multiple events.
On May 30th, Matt Gaffner competed in the Conquer the Village Mountain Bike Race in the beautiful Traverse City Michigan. Sporting his WSI riding gear and the typical goofy face, he took 6th in his AG for the sport class.
Also competing that weekend were Matt Wright, Charles Elder, Danny Wolin and Katie Bridges at the Seahorse Triathlon. Katie participated in the swim portion only, working on her swimming strategy and coming off of an injury. Danny took part in the duathlon, Matt in the aqua bike and Charles in the Olympic distance Triathlon. Each member had a different reason for being out there, a different goal, and each had accomplished results they were looking for.
Danny:
“Last year was the first year I raced Seahorse as a duathlon – previously I had done the tri relay. I won last year and this year I wanted to mainly beat my time from last year. Work on the transition times and have a solid
ride. There were two guys who were fast runners and from the gun, they took off. I know better than to try and keep up with fast runners so I just ran my own race and tried to keep them from getting too far ahead. I was about 1.30 behind them in the transition but caught the first one at the 10K bike mark and the second one about 5k later. I figured I would try and build as much as a buffer as I could by the second run. I saw the second runner coming in as I was leaving transition and figured it would be a matter of time before he came around – but he was going to have to work for it. the second run started slow – first half mile always sucks. I kept going and asked if anyone was behind me but he never was there. As I came out of the last 
stretch of woods and he was not there, I figured I had it. I ended up winning by a minute and a half. I spoke with him afterwards and he said he was surprised how tricky the run was and also said since he could not see me it was hard to catch me. So, in the end I beat my time from last year and won again – really an added bonus. We had some great support on the course from WSI family members which was great. All in all a good day out.”
Matt:
“It was a perfect day for racing at Coldbrook park in Kalamazoo county yesterday. Morning temperature was in the mid 50s and the high was forecasted low 70s. I raced in the sprint men Aquabike division. Mine was the last swim wave and it started at 8:33. Couldn’t seem to get comfortable in the water during this race. I kept having to slow down and catch my breath. I still managed to swim 500 yards in less than 10 minutes. After a quick transition, I was on the bike and pushing hard. This course offered a lot of hills but I maintained 19.5 MPH for th
e 20 K ride. I finished in just under an hour, winning my division. Unfortunately I had no competition to compare myself to.”
Charles:
“Choosing the Olympic distance for this event was a way to prepare for my upcoming Half Ironman in July. The swim was going to be the most challenging for me and it was my first time racing in a wetsuit. Transitions were quick and smooth even with the wetsuit addition. With the swim out of the way I let me brain and body do what it knew best: ride. The ride was to be expected with an average of 19.4 mph. The run was challenging, but this course always is. I had a lot of WSI support along the way. I finished in 3:10:11.”
