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Mud, Sweat then Stampede

Mud, Sweat then Stampede

First of all, congratulations to all the WSI-TAR cyclists who finished high in the standings today. It was great to see the team colors on the podium! Second, the mechanics shirts are awesome…not sure if you all had the same impression I had when we were all swarming around the tent with our mechanics shirts…it looked really cool.

Not sure how smart of an idea it was to try to compete at both the Mud, Sweat and Beers and the Stampede, but both races were personally important to me. MSB has become a favorite with some of the guys who originally got me into cycling and the Stampede obviously being very important to WSI-TAR.

The MSB is a fun race with quite a few sponsors (some nice swag when you check in) and Right Brain brewing at the finish. Just like down here, there was a TON of rain that fell during the week, making some think that the course would be firmed up. In the pre-ride, it was clear that the sand just got really loose and washed down the hills. It was a nice 50 ish degrees in the morning where the race starts at the base of Mt Holiday in Traverse City. The course winds through a subdivision and then dumps on the VASA for most of the race and then returns back to the subdivision and a down hill finish on one of the ski hills. It is about 22 miles and they added a significant single track this year (a lot like parts of the Stampede today). At the start, I had problems breathing. I was told that the pollen up there was really bad, but no one else had a problem with it, and Eric Wallace mentioned that it might be athletically-induced asthma…I am not sure what caused the problem, but consider it a complement that Eric thought I was an athlete! I calmed myself down enough to get into a decent pace after about 5 miles, but most of the group I started with was long gone. I picked up the pace a bit and passed several racers, but found myself still-clipped in after crashing in the woods three times. No big injuries, just cost me time. In the single track, I got stuck behind the Tandems (they were doing an awesome job maneuvering the switch backs) and a large plug of cyclists formed behind them. We cleared out, I worked together with a couple guys who clearly knew the lines to take and managed to finish in 1:48 which was good enough for 16/48.

The Stampede was a completely different race for me. Since so many of us raced it, I’ll skip the traditional recap of the course and jump right to the fear I had that I was not going to be able to breathe! I decided to take it a little easy and see how my body reacted and then go from there. I felt very good after about 7 miles passed and decided to try to redeem myself for having such a slow start. It was working, I was making all of the turns I was challenged by in the trenches (I think is what we call that area). I am certain my time for the second lap would be a few minutes faster than the first. 2 miles from the finish, I was going way too fast at a turn and lost my traction in the gravel. (Producing some very ugly cuts and bruises and ripping my shorts a tad (first time the weather was warm enough for me to wear them this year.) I finished the Stampede at 16th—just like the MSB but in this case the field was much smaller 23 guys, so relatively much poorer performance.

Thanks to Groat for cooking and making me laugh and good to see Jim Gallagher helping as always….life is good after the races are over.

See you all soon. Great job everyone!
Jack Miner

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Yankee Springs Time Trial Video

Ok, so be warned the music is a bit “techno”, but one of the guys on the team did a great job capturing some of the racing highlights from this year’s Yankee Springs Mountain Bike Time Trial. Thanks Caleb for the great video and your editing skills! The music makes me want to go out and jump something on my mountain bike!

~Eric

P.S. Those of you interested in more mountain bike fun, be sure to stop out to this years Custer Stampede at Fort Custer Recreation Area this Sunday, May 6th. The event promises to be a lot of fun and WSI Cycling will have racers in all the categories, plus we’ll be grillin’ out and would love to see you at the race.

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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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Willow Time Trial

So today was the Willow TT near the Detroit Airport. A race I do every year and a good early season TT to test the legs. Two weeks after Fisk Knob and I had been a little sick for a week or so. The weather was very chilly in the low 40s with a chance of rain (luckily it held off). I was very unmotivated to go this morning due to the weather. But, Devin picked me up and Jack and his son were there (Jack was our pit “mule”:)) so off I went – one we got there I got motivated.

Had a good warmup and cranked out the 13.3 miles in 31.06. One of my faster times there for an average of around 26 (25.77). Good enough only for 5th this year which while frustrating since I was on the podium last year – still a decent rest. The legs are feeling pretty good and I am on the way to hopefully slaying the race that is my nemesis in June (State TT). We shall see. Thanks to Mike for letting us borrow the van and Devin for driving. Great showing by Jack Jr in his first TT and Devin on his “standard” bike. A good day out.

Cheers

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Goff Family Yankee Springs TT Race Report

My race day began at 11:30 with the little kid’s race that my youngest son Jacob participated in.  They rode about a ½ mile section of the 2 mile loop near the main trail head.  He thought it was pretty cool and enjoyed going down the 4 – 6” drop offs with his dad alongside holding him up and pushing when the training wheels got hung up.  All the kids received a plaque and they all thought they were the bomb the rest of the day.

My race started around 12:30 in the sport class. I started off like I always do, until I found my pace. By the halfway point I had passed about 10 or so people and had only been passed by 2 guys. So I knew I was doing pretty well at this point. I kept waiting for my WSI teammate to come push me along, he started 40 seconds behind me but never caught up. I ended up getting pushed by somebody else the last 4 miles or so, until he made it by me when my calves cramped up a bit. I was able to somehow put together a pretty good sprint at the end and come in with a time of 55 minutes. I finished 15th out of 32 in 30-35 sport class. Anytime time I can get in the top 50% of my class I am a very happy man.

I got back to the start line 2 minutes before my oldest son Dilan took off for his race. He competed in the 10 and younger class which is one full 10 mile lap just like the big boys raced. I replaced my water bottle and took off again to follow my son around the course. This was only his second time at Yankee and he was pretty nervous about the whole thing. He ended up doing just fine though. He got to pass several of the older kids in the 11-14 class then we eventually caught up to and passed some of the beginners in the adult classes. He thought that was pretty cool. He fell a couple of times, had to take a couple of quick breathers and had to walk maybe 3 of the larger hills. Other than that he did quite well and I was very proud of what he accomplished. It will not be long before he is out doing me. He took 2nd place out of 6 riders with a time of 86 minutes.

Special thanks to Mike and Charles for the refreshments after the races. Hope to see everybody at the Stampede on Sunday.

~David Goff