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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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Seahorse Triathlon – Swim, bike, run and relaxing fun

It was finally time for triathlon season to start and shake off the rust of the winter. I’m taking a lower key approach to racing triathlons this year and my late decision to sign up for the Seahorse triathlon reflects that different mindset. Even with the late sign up, there was still time for the weather forecast to change from 80’s to mid-90’s, I had to be prepared for a hot one. There was great representation from the team at the race with the relay team, RJ and myself plus more non competing others giving us all great support – thanks Micheal and great photos – thanks Stephanie.

A quick warm up swim revealed I was feeling relaxed and ready to go. The water was pleasant without being too warm at 72F so I went with the full wetsuit. I stayed relaxed and focussed despite someone who was trying to draft me constantly grabbing my feet through the whole swim. Other than my drafting partner the water wasn’t too crowded and I was able to get around the two laps efficiently which was my main aim. I clocked a steady 30:57 for the 1500m. I had a hiccup in the first transition when my wetsuit decided to adhere to my right ankle. Doesn’t matter how many times you rehearse, these things happen. I must have lost close to a minute by the time I had untangled myself.

The bike course was smooth and fast with just one longer incline and a short section of rough pavement that had to be negotiated on each of the two laps. Dan riding his relay leg blew past me at about 10K giving encouragement as he went. I settled in and rode a fairly conservative leg averaging 21.2mph for the 40K. My second transition thankfully went exactly to plan and I was in and out in 41 seconds.

The run was interesting, a mix of pavement, grass and wooded trails. I felt like I was running one of the faster Dances With Dirt legs for a while. The run course was another two lap affair made up of multiple intertwining loops. I’m sure I saw RJ eight times out on the course! I started out at 7:30 pace and was able to maintain for the first few miles. The humidity started to build and eventually my legs that had felt strong to that point faded in the last ten minutes. My family came out to cheer me on at the finish which always makes for a great ending to any race.

My finish time of 2:36:50 was in the ballpark of what I was expecting from myself today. It was respectable enough and would even have won my age group last year. Unfortunately there were a lot of faster people out there today and I was only 6th in age group and 37th out of 101 overall but no complaints. All in all I came away satisfied with my performance, shook off the rust for a new season and have a good marker for races to come this year. Now it’s time to really go to work.

See Dan’s post below for photos.

– Neil Jenney

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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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Sunday Race in the Industrial Park (2)

The 3rd race of the AAVC Spring Training Series was today and my son joined the C race again. He did a great job, it was 25 minutes plus 2 laps and in the final 5 minutes, once again, carnage occurred. According to my son, it looked like a cyclist touched the wheel of a racer and went down, taking at least 6 others with her. It was ugly and a couple cyclists remained on the deck for several minutes….all are okay.
My race was was the B race and you may remember that I held on for dear life in this race working with another cyclist just to finish. My goal this week was to ride with the front of the pack for at least the first 20 minutes and then see what I could do. At the end of 20 minutes and having stayed at the front of the group, I felt surprisingly strong. For the next 15 minutes, I just paced the group and watched-out for any wacky line changes.  My boss was in the race too (bonus for getting excused to go for long rides during the work day!) and came up next to me in the last 2 laps and said, “it’s go time”. I followed him and continued to follow along with the increased pace until the end, finishing in about the top 15. I may actually feel comfortable hanging in the front during the Milford Criterium if this keeps up!  Go TAR Cycling and WSI!

Jack Miner