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The First Lord of the Springs – A Great First-Year Race

Dwight’s Report…

I was joined by fellow WSI Cycling racer, Laura Stuchell, for the first Lord Of The Springs with me yesterday. It’s a great new race, but they do have a couple bugs to work out for next year (including a big ‘ole bottleneck at the start). But other than that, it was a great mix of Barry Roubaix gravel road racing and Yankee Springs singletrack. I raced fast but not aggressive, as they really promoted this race for new racers as well.

I got in line a little late…

The race started at 10:00 am, so I was surprised to see the folks that wanted to do well lined up before 9 o’clock! Of course, I didn’t get in line until 9:45. That being said, I got stuck in a bottleneck unlike any other I’ve been in before. Likely caused me several minutes off my time as the congestion cleared out, but overall I thought this was a great race that has a future.

I finished 7th in the single speed class with a time of 1 hour 53 minutes for 26 miles.


At the starting line
At the starting line

More Cowbell
More cowbells!

Julie icing her wounds.
Julie icing her wounds.

See you at the Lowell 50 in October!
~Dwight

Laura’s Report…

The Lord of the Springs Trail/Gravel bike race was a nice race for its first year. As with most first-year races, there are some areas for improvement such as a wave start rather than mass start and/or a longer thin out loop stand out as two changes that I hope they make for next year. The bottleneck going into the trail was a real bummer…. A lot of hurry up and wait.

What I really liked about this race was the challenge of going from trail to gravel and back to trail. I’m very new to trail riding (actually new to gravel racing too!) but like the change of focus this race required in going from trail to gravel and back to trail.

The conditions were great; a little warm but plenty dry. I wasn’t at all sure what to expect on this ride but ended up 5th out of 10 in my age group; which I’m happy with for my first Yankee Trail ride/race.  My favorite part of the race was the Barry gravel and hills (the support/traffic control was good)… I’d say my least favorite was the Bassett Lake Rd sand pit hill, but it was a challenge that brought a new dimension to the race for me.

I’ll definitely keep this one on my to-do list for 2018! Next up Lowell and Iceman!!!

~Laura

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A Collection of “Bubba’s” Race Reports…

BTR Criterium

Bubba BTR CriteriumI decided that the BTR Criterium in Kalamazoo was going to be my first ever bike race. It was an absolutely amazing experience! For being relatively new to cycling I hadn’t put much thought into bike racing until Maggie (my very supportive girlfriend) encouraged me to try bike racing.

I was somewhat nervous going into the race, but overall I was very excited. Scott Bridges was really generous in offering tips and tricks to doing well in my first bike race. He told me to try and stay at the front and see if I had anything left for the sprint. I did stay mostly in the front for most of the race until the bell lap came around. Unfortunately, I made a rookie mistake and found myself in the lead position a little too early. Overall, it was a great experience, and bike racing is definitely something I will continue to pursue.

~Bubba Continue reading “A Collection of “Bubba’s” Race Reports…”

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Who Says Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend? Triathlons Are!

Katie Bridges Girls Best Friend TriOn Saturday, August 12 I raced the Girls Best Friend Triathlon in Vicksburg. This race is special to me because it was my first multi sport race, and it got me hooked on triathlons and cycling. I’ve raced the du, the sprint, and Olympic distance events, but the Olympic is my favorite. This race is also a great beginner race, and the excitement of the ladies is inspiring.

The swim was 77 degrees, barely wetsuit legal. I opted to go without my wetsuit, and the swim went fine but I felt slow. Continue reading “Who Says Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend? Triathlons Are!”

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Cereal City Triathlon

From left to right, top row: Josh Haas, Danny Wolin, Neil Jenney, Holly McKee, Charles Elder, Brandon VanOosten Front row: Maggie Wood, Nikki Elder

On Saturday, July 29, WSI had a great presence at the Cereal City Triathlon in Battle Creek. In it’s 5th year, this event is on home territory. The WSI team took it head on with several podium finishes with overall male, Brandon V, and overall female, Maggie W.

~Dan W~

This was the second time I have done this event and as usual, the Cereal City Athletics folks had it dialed in.  I did the sprint duathlon again which was a 3K and 5K run with a 20K bike.  With all of these races, I really work hard to have a clean race I can be happy with.  Were my transitions clean, were my run times good and was my ride comfortable and fast:).  I was aiming for a sub 1 hour event but due to a slightly slower bike I was over the hour mark.  Overall, I was very happy with the win and my teammate Josh got second which was awesome.  CCA really does a nice job with their events – great volunteers and a very nice post race set up including some very unique awards.

~Nikki~

Being behind the scenes since 4:30 am for the event didn’t seem to take its toll until after I finished and sat down. I enjoyed every second of the event despite the prerace jitters when I heard women were stating first (I have a HUGE past with water, panic attacks and not being able to handle people swimming around me). However, I am happy to report the swim went incredibly smooth and was actually the first triathlon swim where I was able to keep my head in the game and not have to rely on any alternative strokes despite being trampled by the faster male swimmers. Coming out of the water, I was ecstatic heading to T1 and hopping on the bike. I put out a solid ride. I was determined to not let Charles pass me. I caught a glimpse of him near the turn around at the out and back course and couldn’t quite hold him off. Mind you, in any real race situation I would NEVER stand a chance, but his aero-bar fatty isn’t quite his usual race bike. Despite catching me, he couldn’t pull away and we went in to T2 neck-in-neck. The run is always the part where the struggle bus hits. It is currently my weakest of the 3. I held consistent (not fast, but consistent) with a finish time several minutes better than last year. I placed #1 in Athena by technicality (I was THE only woman registered as Athena). I credit my great race and the amazing atmosphere to the over 70 people that joined Cereal City Athletics in triathlon training groups this season.

~Charles~

I am not in a race mindset currently but couldn’t pass up participating on the Cereal City Triathlon. I decided to have a little fun with this event and ride my Trek Farley. I even decked it out with aerobars. I got a lot of laughs, comments and questions about that one, for sure! My morning started at 4:30 am with event set up and my day wasn’t over when I crossed the finish line. Along the course I passed several people who were determined to NOT let me pass them and consequently had a few choice words for me….all in good spirit though. I chased Nikki down, caught her shortly after the turn around, drafted off of her for a bit and pulled ahead, but not by much. I could not shake her after pushing so hard on the fatty for the first half of the ride. My run was solid. I did not expect a podium finish and I did not get one. This season I had helped coach a group in the Cereal City Triathlon training program and it was great seeing all of those athletes on the course setting new PRs and some of them completing their first triathlon. It is a great community to be a part of!

~Josh~

The Cereal City Duathlon was my first multi-sport race after a knee injury derailed my race season last year.  I’m still rebuilding my base and getting my speed back but really enjoyed this du as it felt really good to get back to it.  My run and bike times were pretty much right where I thought they’d be and I raced well.  While a few runners were well ahead of me on the first leg, including teammate Danny, my strategy turned to gaining as much time on the bike over the runners before going into the final run.  I was able to put several minutes ahead of many of them and finished 2nd overall, which turned out to be great knowing Danny finished 1st.  It was a great day for WSI and as always, the event was one of the best around thanks to Cereal City Athletics and all the great volunteers.  Can’t wait for new year!

~Holly~

It was a great day to Tri! Air was cool. Water was warm. Sun came out. Humidity was low. Friends all around. The Cereal City Triathlon is like family every year. It’s our hometown event and Cereal City Athletics always puts on a great event. The course was well marked and the volunteers were rock stars encouraging and keeping us safe along the way. I was fortunate to coach newer triathletes, with WSI member Katie Bridges and Laurie Oleska, as part of the Cereal City Triathlon Training program this year. I love the out and back of the bike and run in this event because triathletes are always so encouraging of each other. Because of my Mom’s Run This Town (MRTT), Cereal City Athletics Adventure Club and WSI connections it felt like I knew everyone on the course with added to the enjoyment of the event. My swim felt like a struggle but I made it out of the water and to the bike where I was able to set my sights on the riders in front of me and pick a couple off along the way. As part of the Cereal City Athletics Triathlon Training I was able to hear Rob Lillie (Lillie Inspired) discuss the transition from bike to run and give us some tips for easing the process. As I left transition for the run I employed one of his tips and had one of my best runs in a long time – even after a swim and a bike! I felt good coming into the finish and was pleased to end up with a 3rd place age group podium finish. It was like icing on the cake

And that’s a wrap.

 

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Ore 2 Shore 2017

This weekend I finished my 4th Ore 2 Shore.  I traveled to the Superior state with Bill, AKA Skittles, AKA Star Boy, AKA the head wrench at the Trek Store of Battle Creek.  He taught me some valuable #VanLife lessons from Galesburg to Marquette.  We are not talking about the romanticized conversions of vintage volkswagon Van Life.  We are talking about mid 2000s, heated synthetic leather seat with automatic doors #vanlife.

We comfortable crossed the bridge into a rain soaked and cloudy better than everyone upper peninsula.  The rain continued during our voyage and made for unique race day trail conditions.
The 48 mile point to point race was a mix of sand, dust and knee deep mud “puddles.”  I watched one brave soul completely submerge his bike and body in a murky “puddle” and radically accepted that I would shoulder the bike moving forward.
 
I kept things full throttle and my bike was tolerant of the conditions.  With ten miles to go I lost my number plate and came through the line around 3 hours and 29 minutes.  I rounded up to three hours and thirty minutes with the race officials and called it good.
It was not the result I had hoped for but I am very happy with the effort.
Next up for the Traveling Circus is chasing Michigan Gravel Series Points September 10 and Competing in the Fort Custer Xterra September 30.
Stay Tuned.
Dan