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DNF versus DFL Demons

West Branch Road Race is hard enough (1500 feet of climbing per lap) without the wind being mixed in.  Add low temperatures (High 40s at start time) and rain and you have a combination that makes the primary pre-race discussion in the pits about; leg warmers or no, hat, no hat?  Warming up means sitting in your car as long as you can and hope that your muscles will not penalize you for putting them into the wind and rain before the first attack.  I pre-rode this course with some friends from Wolverine Sports Club and we did 3 laps.  My back was still tender from all the climbing from the ride 3 weeks prior.  If not for a ‘pact’ to do the race between me Danny and Derrick after our Wednesday night team ride, I would not have even set the alarm to drive all the way to West Branch in the rain.  But, loyalty is loyalty…so we death marched our way north.

It is always great to have team mates at a race, on a cold rainy windy nasty day, it is even better  to have some moral support.  We ignored the weather, donned our team kits and proceeded to the start.  In the first turn, we all communicated very well, there were 56 pre-registered, but who knows how many idiots like me actually showed up.  The wind was off to our left and I kept tucked in behind some very strong cyclists for the first 12 miles of the first lap.  Danny was possessed as he was on Wednesday night and was out front for a great deal of the rollers.  I made a mistake and stayed on the windward side of the echelon and when they turned up the tempo, I had no legs.  I knew that the race was over for me with about 5 miles left in the first lap!  Three other riders worked with me in the wind, but by the time we made the turn to the first time up the climb, the pack was gone.

I rolled up the monster hill after the first lap and had the opportunity to call it a day.  After all, I was done, I could not even see the lead pack any more.  But, I committed to have Danny’s “6.”  If he had a mechanical or something, I would give him whatever he needed to get back in the race.  I also remember a team mate telling me (commanding me) that you never ever ever leave a race unless you are hurt, have a mechanical or are pulled.  I fought these demons because I was all alone in the wind and had no one to work with.

I was closing in on a couple Cat 4s who were shelled out the back like me, but when the Cat 5s went by, two of them jumped on the group (an illegal move and when I protested to the follow car, the officials pulled them off, but they were too far ahead and were connected together now and I was, alas, all alone.)

Unfortunately, when you are riding by yourself in a race (it has happened to me way too often) you have time to think.  I committed myself to burning calories in my final lap and ‘being there for Danny’ in case he needed me.  Well, Danny was there for me at the last few yards of the climb to the finish and I know I did not have as good a day as Danny did (we still have not seen results), but I know this, I did not DNF.

Jack Miner.

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Addison Oaks Stage Race

Hard earned, but not widely contested.

I love the mountain bike stage races that are done by Tailwind. You have 3 different disciplines, Time Trial, Short Track and Cross Country. Saturday was the TT and Short Track at Addison Oaks , there was a small field for our group of 50 to 59 year old racers but I was able to eek out a psychological win in the short track by taking 3rd place in my age group.  I used my cross bike and it handled the extreme turns very well.  The turns did not affect me, but I stuffed my pedal into the hill on an off camber turn and, although I was in 3rd place of the entire ‘sport’ group, went to the back of the pack in seconds.  It is only a 15 minute race, so it is a lung burning, leg cramp-fest, a fall is fatal.   So, like I said, a 3rd place finish for our age group was a nice win.

In the morning we had the Time Trial and I ended up 4th of 4 in our age group there.  Even though the number of racers in my age group was low, these stage races are double points races and set the tone for the leaders for the rest of  the season.  As such…finishing 4th is strategically valuable…even if there were only 5 or six of us out there this weekend.

Final tally, 4th place TT, 3rd Place Short Track, 5th place in today’s extremely hot 3 lap cross country race…overall I should walk away with a 4th place double points win for WSI-Team Active.

 

Jack Miner.

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Cone-Azalia Classic – “No pain, no gain?” More like, “No gain, all pain!”

So my decision to race Cone-Azalia had me in Milan, MI on a sunny but windy Sunday morning. For the uninitiated Cone-Azalia is a part rough pavement, part dirt road, all wind exposed box of madness. The weather was overcast as I left Battle Creek, but as I passed Jackson a dark curtain pulled back to reveal a beautiful spring day. On arrival I found out Google’s GPS was not having a good day. Ironically there were four bike laden cars that all arrived at the same old industrial building. I led the convoy into a gas station to get directions and we were soon at registration.

A shorter than I would have liked warm up followed. The wind was high and the course exposed. All my pre-race intel told me the first of the three ten mile laps were typically frantic. There were over three hundred participants this year, a record for the race. We would be starting at two minute intervals by category. The start was fast, I found my place riding fourth or fifth wheel and was able to hold station for the first two laps. The race is known for is flats and true to form, a couple of riders flatted in the group not long after we hit the dirt for the first time.

The first lap was unrelentingly fast with no opportunity whatsoever to recuperate. Thankfully we had a couple of minutes to relax a little before turning back onto the dirt and crosswinds at the beginning of the second lap. As soon as we crossed the railway tracks and hit the dirt the first real attacks came. They were chased down quickly and status quo resumed. More attacks followed, most coming in the corners as we switched from pavement to dirt and back. No one could get away though, and approximately one third of the field took the bell together.

As we made the first turn onto the gravel on the third lap I made a mistake and lost my place at the front of the group, unfortunately this was right as a flurry of hard attacks came. I dug deep and held on. I was afraid the group would split so had to take some wind to get back near the front. I knew that I had to recover as much as possible but at this point it wasn’t going to happen. The attacks kept coming and after another turn I found myself 25 yards off the back of the group. Now it was a pure TT. I got stuck in no man’s land just off the back of the group for the next couple of miles. The two guys on my wheel were unwilling (although I’d like to think they were unable) to come around and help. Eventually we rounded to last corner to the finish stretch. It was mile and a half run directly into a headwind. I never let up but the lead group finally slipped away. My consolation prize was winning a token sprint against those finishing with me.

I was tired but happy with my performance as I always am when I give everything I have in a race. It was great experience for me. There was talk of a big crash somewhere on the course but thankfully I didn’t see it. The racing was pretty hair-raising in places so I wasn’t surprised. When I left the provisional results weren’t posted and are still not up online. I’m hoping I was in the 10-15th place range but it was all about experience and effort for me today.

Neil Jenney

 

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Barry-Roubaix and Child Birth

The hills in the Barry Roubaix are like child birth, the skies were overcast but not raining and  the day before, rain came down in buckets so all of the sand was nearly hard packed.

 

The gravel road route this year was a mile longer and included a devious little tract of sandy madness along Shaw Lake road.  David had a chance to pre-ride it and updated us with the appropriate expectations…it was hard.  It was also quite frustrating because riders would just get off of their bikes without trying to ride it and caused big back ups.  But that is racing.

 

Well in advance of reaching Shaw Lake road though, was the beginning that went off without a hitch for Jim Gallagher and me.  We rode around a crash at the mouth of the park that looked nasty, but then you never stop to see those or you get to be part of them!  Jim and I were going to work together, but we lost each other in the beginning, and I never saw him again.  I suspect we could have trimmed 5 minutes off of our times if we worked together as we both suffered by ourselves for the 36 miles.

 

The hills were hard, but this winter’s training and our recent training rides in the hills in Atlanta paid big dividends.  That plus having my dad at the aid stations to cheer me on made it a new personal best with 10 minutes cut off of last years shorter race.  (My dad is my good luck charm).

 

It was great to see a bunch of Team Active WSI jerseys at the race.  Thanks to Charles for bringing the team tent and setting it up for us to hang around before and after the race.  My final time was 2 hours and 18 minutes and, like I said, a new personal best for me.  I finished 57 out of 119 , Men 44 to 49 years old.

 

Training works!  (Losing 12 pounds did not hurt either….)  Gonna do both even more.

 

Great to see everyone at the first big race of the year.  GO TAR-WSI!

 

Jack Miner

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Spring Training

For two years now, I have joined team mates in Atlanta area for some spring training. For those of you familiar with the area, you know that the hills have a demonic attribute to seemingly go up, and up, and up. We even discuss the fact that the laws of physics dictate that you must get as much ‘up miles’ as ‘down miles’ if you start and stop at the same spot….it just does not seem to be that way.

I like spring training because it is a wake up call for my body that I need to get ready for the impending race season. I also like it because it is a little bit of a fantasy camp, we ride, and rest, and eat well. Had I planned it better, we would have had a massage or two and some core work-outs to top off the ideal training. Next year, our plans are to include more mountain training in the smokies and include more and more core and flexibility training.

We rode about 2 hours on Thursday morning to shake off the 13 hour drive on Wednesday night.  Nothing over the top, but enough to remember that the hills are something that cannot be replicated.  (Even though the temperatures in Michigan were about the same as Atlanta, the hills are unlike anything I have been on.)  After a nice meal and a nap, we hammered out a significant 2 and a half hour ride.  The miles are not as important as the time…there needs to be a conversion table for Atlanta miles to ‘flat miles’.  On Friday, we had a nice 2 hour effort in the morning and another 2  hour effort on Friday night.  We treated out hosts to a big meal and a bigger margarita and prepared for our return on Saturday.

On saturday morning, we put in an hour and a half ‘recovery ride’ to spin out some lactic acid before our 13 hour return trip to Michigan.  We donned our compression socks and shorts and hoped that people would not beat the crap out of us in the rest areas for wearing support hose in public!

We are all excited to don our new Team Active Powered by WSI team kits and get the race season started. In the mean time, more training, a little recovery and some rest.

Next up, Barry Roubaix!