Racing the sunset in barry county with friends and teammates.
WSI Gravel Adventure
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Dan’s Endoman Promotion’s Founders Peak 2 Peak Mountain Bike Race Report
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WSI Knobby Tread aficionados Dan Frayer and Jeff Cachero took a road trip this weekend to throw down at Endoman Promotion’s Founders Peak 2 Peak Mountain Bike race. Looped up, down and around Thomsonville’s Crystal Mountain Ski Resort, the 12 mile loop provides everything a dirt bag mountain biker loves.
Flat trails, quick turns, teeth rattling slick roots and one ball buster of a climb. We are talking bleeding out your eyes, ears popping from pressure switch back climb.
While standing in line with 30+ fat bikers I watched Jeff’s group be counted down from ten seconds, and like being shot out of a cannon I watched his WSI jersey disappear into the woods. The start looked painfully fast so I made sure I scooted up real close to the timing mat before gunning it for the hole shot.
The announcer (Grand Rapids Single Speed Legend Jeff Jacobi) called “ten seconds to start” and the next thing I know I was raging third wheel into a tight sandy turn hearing only the deafening sound of 4 inch knobby tires around me and the sound of my own near death asthma attack wheezing.
Two laps at 12 miles each was on the menu for today’s pay to play excursion. My neighbor and training partner Nick and I worked together for the first lap sitting third and fourth keeping the top guys in site. My plan was to deliver him to the base of the big climb and I would hang on if I could.
Lap 2 was faster without all the traffic. I lost Nick up the big hill but he was still in the crosshairs as I was now sitting fourth, with the third place guy picking all the good lines for me. He had a beard so I trusted his judgement.
I held the wheel to the base of the hill with Nick long gone battling for the top spot. The 5th place fat biker came from out of nowhere making a move up the hill and the guy in front of me giving chase. My gas tank was empty and I could not match it. Now sitting 5th, I was alone to work my way up the kill hill. When I came around a blind corner I heard the announcer say “We have a fat tire race on our hands” and I saw the 3rd and 4th place riders cresting the hill and dropping into the single track descent to the finish. I dropped two gears and stood up giving it what I had left which wasn’t much.
“Focus, No mistakes, focus, no mistakes, focus” was what I said to myself as I decided to take some risks on the decent hoping to pull the two riders back. As I railed around a sweeping turn I came up on the 4th place rider wrapped up in some trees on the side of the trail. I made my way around his wreckage and didn’t touch the brakes again until the finish line. 4th place finish, with my neighbor on the podium in 2nd and Jeff finishing 10th in the Sport category.
A Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale never tasted so Good.
A great day of racing with special thanks given to WSI Cycling, The Trek Store of Battle Creek and Velocity USA.
~Dan
More adventures from Scott and Kevin
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BTR/Maple Hills Road Race
Scott
The 2016 edition on the BTR criteruim featured a wide-open circuit; there was hardly any reason to use the brakes. This favored the riders with a high-speed finish. I did the category 3/4 followed by the category 4/5. A strong field of 45 racers lined up for the category 3/4 race. The pace was fast, among the top 5 riders. The backstretch of the course was a strong headwind. I was stuck on the front, pulling the entire field. I was okay with it at first. Better to be on the front than 40 wheels back, I thought. Here it is. I was in the race. I fought for a top 5 position going into the final corner, but the majority of the field passed me. In a matter of a few seconds my race went from possibly one of the best results of the year, to a 33rd place finish.
There was nothing special about the category 4/5 race. The pace was slower; throughout the race I studied and observed traffic patterns, to know where to be in the pack at what time so that I was in a good position for the finish. By the final lap I tried to set up in the spot I wanted to be. It didn’t work. I was boxed in the whole last half of the lap. I got 10th place. For who what there and how the race was I was not happy with the result.
The next day was Maple Hills Race for the Wishes. This was one of the races I was looking forward to the most out of my whole season. The course featured a 17.5 mile circuit with hard punchy hills in the first half and ended with some fast decants, we would hit 42 miles per hour on one occasion. The first lap of the 52-mile race was relaxed. It was nice to get into a rhythm for a few hours instead of trying to hold the wheel at max heart rate in a silly crit. on the second lap of three, coming down a large hill witch followed a left turn, at high speed and close proximity it was sketchy. Almost though the turn someone crossed wheels a few wheels ahead of me and was going down. The trajectory of the rider scraping his skin on the pavement was headed for my front wheel. I did my best to miss him, but his head fell on the left leg and I might have ran over him face. It felt like my whole back wheel moved over a foot. On the last lap of the race as we creased the main hills I attacked and tried to bridge up the guy up the road. After a few minutes of that I was reeled back in. coming into the fishing corners I did my best to get to the front. We made the last turn just over 500 meters to go all together. The field lined up across the road for a bunch sprint. Only a few seconds separated the first position and 40th. I managed to get a 17th place finish out of the sketchy sprint finish. I was okay with that.
Kevin
I decided not to race at BTR this year and save my energy for the Cat 4/5 Maple Hills Road Race. My Crit racing has not going well, so I wanted to be fresh for the 52 miles of rolling roads around Lawton.
The race started off sketchy, the pace was surging with riders fighting for position. On the first big climb I heard a crash behind me, luckily I was ahead of it. The next few miles where spent fighting to stay up towards the front. The pace was fast but consistent and I settled in for a long morning ride. A few miles from completing our first lap of three we descended into a left hand corner I was on the right side towards the back when a couple of riders went down. I had to go into the ditch to avoid hitting
Kevin
I decided not to race at BTR this year and save my energy for the Cat 4/5 Maple Hills Road Race. My Crit racing has not going well, so I wanted to be fresh for the 52 miles of rolling roads around Lawton.
The race started off sketchy, the pace was surging with riders fighting for position. On the first big climb I heard a crash behind me, luckily I was ahead of it. The next few miles where spent fighting to stay up towards the front. The pace was fast but consistent and I settled in for a long morning ride. A few miles from completing our first lap of three we descended into a left hand corner I was on the right side towards the back when a couple of riders went down. I had to go into the ditch to avoid hitting anyone. By the time I got back on the road the lead group was pulling away and I had to chase.
I chased the leaders into town but could not catch back on and abandoned the race after one lap. A disappointing result to say the least, I should not have let myself to get that far back in the peloton after fighting to get a good spot. It was a rookie mistake that I should not have made. I was probably lucky to miss the crashes and come home with all my skin.
Next year I will come back smarter and maybe a little faster.
Waterloo lived up to it’s name.
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When I first started racing triathlons a number of years ago, I came across this wilderness race, and put in on a to-do for my future, when I felt ready. A truly unique race featuring trail running, lake crossings and road biking, the Battle of Waterloo is a ten-stage triathlon held every other year in Waterloo Recreation Area near Jackson. Turns out, 2016 was the year I was going to make it happen (ready, or not).
When I first started racing triathlons a number of years ago, I came across this wilderness race, and put in on a to-do for my future, when I felt ready. A truly unique race featuring trail running, lake crossings and road biking, the Battle of Waterloo is a ten-stage triathlon held every other year in Waterloo Recreation Area near Jackson. Turns out, 2016 was the year I was going to make it happen (ready, or not).About 150 athletes lined up for the 7:30 start. As soon as the horn sounded and we were off, so came the rain. Leg 1 was a short trail run, followed by a quick transition to Leg 2 on the bike. All running and swimming gear stowed in my pack, I pedaled out of the park for 20+ miles. The non-water legs were hilly! Waterloo is a beautiful park, the woods were thick and green and the highway was very, very wet.
Our 2nd transition area was on Clear Lake, and thus began the swim-run x3. A swim buoy held my running shoes and running backpack while swimming, the backpack held my buoy and goggles while running. The rain really came down during the first swim, and it was a unique experience swimming as raindrops pierced the water’s surface. The run legs were mixed single track and two-track roads linking the lakes. Mill Lake, was particularly “wild” with weeds. It was during this swim I heard thunder rolling above – I took that as the “get-going” signal! I was lucky enough to get to the beach and was allowed to proceed to the run, while other athletes had to wait out the weather to swim.
The storm passed during my run, and I never was delayed for the weather. The rain, however, was there to stay for the duration. Another lake crossing and run, and I was back at the T2 area and so very happy to see my bike! A six mile spin and another quick run (Leg 10) and I finished my goal from many years ago, the Battle of Waterloo.
~Katie
The Xterra that wasn’t….
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This may be the shortest race report ever…..
Dan Frayer set out to put his hard training efforts to the test at the Ionia Xterra on July 24th. Clouds rolled in along with lightening and storms. The event was cancelled and Dan was hopped up on caffeine with no place to go, which left him feeling like a caged bull. Better luck next time! At least he remembered to get some pre-race shots for the blog. 
