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Back in the Race

I am back home sipping on a beer and noshing on some potato chips, my side hurts and I am the happiest guy in Michigan.  I was racing again today.

My new Trek  Superfly put 25 year old legs under me (those are younger legs for me, for those of you who are in your 20s), I was pushing the limits, had more power, and was low and flowing in the turns.  It was great, I was racing the sport class 50 to 59 Custer Stampede and I knew where the leaders were, was nagging at the guy in front of me and was pretty sure we were about 5th place.  After the start, there were some guys who needed to be passed and were done so unceremoniously (felt kind of bad for the guys getting yelled at, but the front 5 were hitting it pretty hard).  We gapped the rest of the group by the time we hit the camel backs and needed to get around some less experienced racers who were doing a good job making their way around at a slower pace.

By the time we were in Granny’s Garden, the slower riders were standing on the hills and letting us by (probably educated by the groups in front of us) but the guy in front of me had been gapped enough that I could no longer see the leaders in front of him.  Seriously, this hard tail did everything I asked it to and had no problem climbing, turning, weaving—just a great bike (and made up for engine issues!).

As we made our way around the lake, a guy (who was not racing) stopped in the middle of a climb and caused me to stop and start to walk around the turn (where the monument is at the top of the hill).  At that point, my buddy Neil Sharphorn came by and I pushed his 70-plus year old back side so he could stay ahead of the other guys behind him (pretty sure that would not qualify as an illegal assist if he is a god!)

We were working our way around the pines and I noticed that my front brake was a lot more sensitive than my back brake and figured I would have Skittles take a look at it when we got back to Team Active.  It turned out that it was not the front break that was too sensitive, it was that the back brake was losing pressure.  I attacked the guy in front of me on a downhill and when we reached the bottom and started to turn, all I had was front brake and I did an end-o.  Knocked the wind out of me and hurt my ribs badly enough that I could not take deep breaths on the ascents.

Screw-it, I knew I could still climb and hit the flats hard, I would just have to take the downhills easy since my back brake hydraulics were completely disconnected.  I got passed by EVERYONE.  As it turned out, I got 14/23 and was happy to be racing again.  Mike (our new team EMT) said ‘cowboy up and grow a pair’!  Actually he did not, but he told me I only had bruised ribs if anything at all.

GREAT frigging day on the course.

Jack Miner, WSI Team Active RACER.

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Tailwind MTB Series Race #1 Pontiac Lake

the morning of the first of a series of rides by a group called Tail-Wind Racing and we have 8 races during the summer on all sorts of different mountain bike courses through the state of Michigan.  This will be the 5th year of my doing this series and I made some great friends over the years in this series.

In the last 5 years of racing, I have tried many disciplines; Mountain Bike, Road, Criteriums, CycloCross, Time Trial, I was even put on the track on a ‘fixie’ here in eastern Michigan once….all disciplines are a lot of fun in different ways, but I have concluded that the one I like the best is MTB.  So I have committed to this MTB racing series and it is off to the trail head at Pontiac Lake for the first MTB race of the season.  Temperature is low 40s and the sun is trying hard to take a stand (no rain—thank you!).

Showed up at the state park and ran into Gary S. (an independent rider) and Edwin H. (rides with  Wolverine) both of whom are solid riders and consistently kick my butt on any given day.  The legendary (70 plus year old) Neil Sharphorne rides by, stops to say hi and tell us about his trip to California and doing the SeaOtter (sounds like a blast).  I walk to the race organizers’ bus to pay for the season and get my number for my bike.  Great to see everyone has wintered well.

The group lines up for the 2 lap 18 mile race , happy to get the ride underway since it is so cold and there is a brisk wind in the open field-encouraging us to get into the woods where we belong.  It is 1pm, we launch.  Criteriums teach you a lot about being in a group of type-A’s and keeping your cool, jostling for position and a couple riders cutting in front of my front wheel are all part of the race.  There were a group of 5 of us who worked at a good pace up the first few hills, toward the back of the course, where it gets more wide open and more downhill, I was getting gapped.  At about mile 7 of the first lap, Gary went by me-always the gentleman with his British accent.  “Keep it up” he says.

I finished the first lap in just under 55 minutes and alone.  On the second lap, I started to work the front third of the course knowing that it would be easy to blow up on the first few hills.  On the back half of the course, I knew that if I wanted to podium at all this year, I needed to get used to- and get good at- the downhill flow of these courses…so I opened it up as much as I dare.  I was pushing it hard, not 100 percent on the edge (but then I am getting older) and with about 4 miles left in our last lap, I had reeled in Gary.  (Admittedly, he had done the rust shaker the day before, or I would never have caught him.)  I was happy to see that my second efforts paid a small dividend before the race was over.

My second and final lap was 57 minutes and I finished 10th out of 12, so not a great top ten finish.  But this series is an interesting format in that it is all about accumulating points. Racers will come and go, we will have ‘cycling snipers’ parachute in and walk away with all top three finishes on their home track, and then never see them again, so it is good to race the whole series.  I raced today on my ‘old’ full suspension FuelEX even though my Superfly is ‘tied up in the barn’ just waiting to go get some!  I am looking forward to being confident enough to let the hard tail do its work….soon.  Trek is a great bike, the engine is the operator’s role.  Go WSI Team Active!

Jack Miner

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Notre Dame Cycling Classic – Race Report

Should be noted this was a collegiate race, but I wore my WSI stuff. Had no idea that was unsavory/against the rules, showed up and the USA Cycling guy asked me if I had anything else to wear. I didn’t so he let me race anyway like a true first world anarchist.

I’ve done a few crits but this was my first road race. It should be noted that I probably logged less than 200 miles indoors this winter due to this thing called “running” (training for a marathon). When a few of my friends asked me to go, I was reluctant but caved. It turned out to be blast! I ended up making the beginner mistake of riding with the breakaway and pushing as hard as I could go for the first 1/3 of the race, then dying and falling back. I got passed many times to count.

I finished 21st out of 32nd and every second hurt, but its what my legs needed. The gods of cycling frowned on my running choices.

In regards to the course, it was pretty flat with only 400ish feet of climbing. It was pretty rough through many sections of the road, and a pothole the size of a small lake was located after a turn. Saw a guy eat it, wasn’t pretty. It was really windy, which meant you could pull for a solid 40mph then drop down to 18-19 when you turned a corner.

All in all it was a great race and a fun time! Looking forward to this season!

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Taking Advantage of the Snow (and my Snowshoes)

Race #3 of the year was a 5k snowshoe run in Rockford this past Saturday. During the mass start I was able to avoid a runner’s crash and burn taking down 3-4 other runners giving me an opening for 3rd. I was able to stay strong in 3rd place, only giving way to a few snowshoe less runners. Why they started with the snowshoe race I’ll never know??????

Keeping my pace until the finish I was able to capture 1st in my division and 3rd overall with a time of 31:10. Not blazing fast but a solid finish for being on Snowshoes.

chuck-snowshoe-3

-Chuck

 

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Bigfoot Boogie Snowshoe Race

It was a beautiful day in Traverse City, MI on January 17, 2014.  Weather was a little overcast with temps in lower 20, no wind and lots of snow.  Snow is important when you want to use your snowshoes!  But running in your snowshoes in heavy snow is a big challenge.  The race started at 9am and we all were ready.  The key (besides training) is know how to dress.

This year is our 3rd year of running the Bigfoot Boogie.  It is a lot of fun if you like cold, lots of people on a single track and lots of snow.  The Bigfoot Boogie is a 5k or 10k race in snowshoes around the Vasa Trail at Timber Ridge.  The 10k is a two loop.  The trail is on the groomed Vasa trail but most is thru the woods on single track.  If you want to pass someone there is effect of running in deep snow.

I started the race too far in the back of the pack.  Note to myself when people are lining up be sure to be lining up in the correct place.  We all had to move over to the start line (which was marked Finish line).  When moving over I moved back too far.  I should not be so nice and become passive aggressive, but didn’t want to look too pushy.  Anyway, I thought once we start I can pass most people since the Vasa Trail was wide enough.  But I think others had that same idea and I was not able to get around poeple before we started the single trail.  The snow was deep and not packed at all.  I had been running in our hayfield and it was not packed or groomed.  There were a lot of snow drifts in our field and at the time of training I was very upset that I had to run thru those.  But as I was running the race I felt comfortable, but not as fast as I wanted….I just couldn’t get around those people.  When I did pass, I had to go outside the trail which was about a foot deep and that took a lot of my energy.  So I did my best….waited til I had a chance to pass on the Vasa Trail.

I did the first loop with lots of people around me or infront of me…but then on my second loop it was just me, the snow and the time clock!  I keep thinking I must be last I must push on.  I ran the whole thing but the big hill…yes I had to walk up it.  But most of the people who were in front of me were walking also.  They were the last of the 5kers and they moved to the side and cheered me on.  That really helped me focus back on the trail and made me run again.  I wished I had done better.  Don’t we all say that once we finish – well I know I say that.  I wish I had done one more training run, one more leg press!  one more bike ride – I have a real job and a family that takes time away from this excerise stuff.  Oh well it is what it is!  I did it and I finished.  No I didn’t get the big Big Foot man but I did finish 2nd in my age group and finished in the 58% in womens and 68% over all.  I got a cup full of chocolate candy and husband that said GOOD JOB I am proud of you!

Here is Chuck Brenner and me before the race started.

bigfoot2014 Chuck B and me

Jana Turpin