No, I’m not talking about what to wear before one heads off to work in the mornings or for a Saturday night date. I am talking about what to wear for a bike race when the start time is 8am and it is chilly.

Everyone has their proffered clothing. Even this can be a fine line between wearing to much and over heating or not wearing enough and freezing during a ride. Then you start thinking, will I be able to safely and easily take a certain item of clothing off during the race?

Arm warmers are fairly easy. Pull them down to your wrist, rip them off and stuff them in your back pocket.

A wind breaker vest not so bad but after saying that I almost got one caught up in my rear wheel one time. I could hear the zipper rattling around in the spokes. I lucked out that time.

Knee warmers are a totally different situation. Stripping off these things takes a little practice and even then it isn’t easy especially during a race. So personally, if I start a race with them on, I leave them on. I might get a little warm by the end but it is better to be safe than sorry.

The list goes on. Gloves, hats, shoes covers and even your favorite base layer shirt that you have had for 10+ years is always a factor when figuring out what to and what not to wear.  In the end it all comes down to comfort for each individual rider.

Later and see you at the races early Saturday morning Frankenmuth,

Michael -  TPH 45+

As I head in to the last few weeks of final prep for my attempt to break the 100 mile World Record on July 5th I have been spending a little more time playing in what looks like a 333 meter cereal bowl – The Major Taylor Velodrome!  Every week starting in late April thru September some of the fastest racing in the country is happening there.  Wednesday nights are known as elite rider training that includes the typical motor pacing warm up (30 lap crescendo), paired sprints followed by a points race behind the motor at 27 MPH. 

Upon arrival I met up with a man by the name or George Geier that is probably most credited for getting me in to road and more importantly track racing at age 11 after trying BMX for the 4 years previous.  George is no slouch as he was on the national track team way back in 1978 just as he was completing med school at IU.  It was my pleasure as he asked if I would pair up with him in the sprints but to an innocent on looker it looked more like Mutt and Jeff.  I am 135 on a heavy day and George, well lets just say his legs look like tree trunks topped off with bulging blue veins that look more like the lines representing an interstate on a Rand Mc Nally road atlas!!!

So here’s the deal.  The motor rides the pole lane (The area between the black measured distance line at the bottom of the track and the red line that is approximately 2 feet higher up the track) as the pairs ride above the blue line (top half of the track).  Each pair dives down the embankment to accelerate up to the motor while accelerating the next three laps until the riders blow up and sprint to the line.  Each pair gets 3 runs / sprints behind the motor.  If your really up for more hurt you shout “UP” to the driver on the motor letting him know you want more hurt (speed).  George asked if I would take the follow (2nd) position behind him on the motor first and third (last) runs as the rider in the back usually has less draft and more work.  It had been close to 20 years since George and I rode together on the track way back in the days of when the great Nelson Vails and Roger Young were regulars.  I remembered quickly though why George was on the National Team as on lap 1 of round 1 he shouted “UP” and I thought “uh oh this is gonna hurt”!.  We crossed the line 3 laps later at 37 MPH.  2nd round was my turn in spot 1 right behind the motor and I could not wait to drill it.  We dove down together, sucked in behind the motor I got a small as I could because I had a 210 pound dragster right on my 6 (okay pilot talk).  Of course you know what’s next…yep…I shouted “UP” as the driver and good friend Nate Schickel smiled at me in the rear view mirror on lap 1.  Guess what…I love speed so on lap 2 I could not resist another shout of “UP” even as I was already red lined.  It was AWESOME as my great friend and I hung on to cross the line on lap 3 at 41MPH with one of the fastest laps of the night.  Sprint 3 was George in spot 1 and just as he yelled “UP” the effort caught up with him as I respectfully came around high to get back on the motor while he gracefully admitted that his 62 year old legs just are not as fast as they used to be.  Still an incredible, humble and amazing man after 40 + years of racing!  I can only pray for that longevity…

The grand finale was a 42 lap points race with points every 6 laps.  The motor would go steady at 27MPH on the blue line (half way up the track) allowing riders to either spin behind the motor or attempt to go off the front down in the pole lane.  I was not really supposed to go too hard but telling me not to go all out is like telling Mario Andretti to drive the speed limit!  After a few laps sitting in groups began to go off the from the sprints which is a perfect opportunity for a little guy like me to tag along and throw a punch right after the sprint lap.  It works a lot for me and tonight was no exception.  Just as we got in a few “Bell” (Sprint) laps it was time to give it a try.  Sure enough, I followed the 200 pound dragsters to the line and just as they crossed the line maxed out I threw a right hook up high on the track followed by a left jab down low to the pole lane (using the bank as a down hill to accelerate) and slipped off the front.  I continued to push while dreaming of July 5th…the night of my World Record attempt.  A few laps later I found myself gaining that Ohhhhhh sooo precious lap on the field.  A whopping 333.33 meters!  Just gotta do 487 more of them is 30 seconds or less.  Or 48 pedal revolutions per lap on a 90 inch gear OR 23,424 revolutions in less that 4 hours and 29 seconds OR 96 RPM for 240 minutes!   Who is counting?  See you in INDY!  Thanks for reading…

I rode alone for a year and a half before I had the courage to ride in a group. In a two week period back in 2009 I came across two totally different groups and I learned a great deal from both in a very short period of time. The first was a local neighborhood group that called themselves “Temple of the Spoken Wheel”. They met early Saturday and Sunday mornings , which was when I liked to ride. A long ride for me had been 30 miles, these folks were doing 50! They taught me how to ride in a pace line and take my turn pulling at the front. Because of what I learned from them, I eventually became stronger, faster and out grew them. Next came the Wolverine Sports Club. This organization dates back to the early 1900′s and has a very storied past, including Olympians and professional cyclists who have competed in the Tour de France. Riding with the Wolverines pushed me even further and I was awarded Most Improved Cyclist in 2011.

Riding in these groups allowed me to be the social butterfly that I am. I met a lot of people and formed some wonderful friendships. Last year I decided to put together a ride of my own with select individuals of my caliber. We ride on Monday nights from Ferndale to Belle Isle in the Detroit River and back. It’s about 40 miles  and when most are “recovering” we’re hammering. The goal of the ride to is to push each other to their limits, but maintaining a cohesive pelaton. In the late winter/early spring of last year there were three of us, we now have an average size group of around fifteen with a couple of women sprinkled in for flavor. This isn’t my favorite ride because I created it, it’s my favorite because of the comaderie of the people that exist within it.

Do you want to take your riding to the next level? My belief is that it can only be done within a group. There are so many to choose from in metropolitan area’s, get out there and find one. Be polite, ask if you can ride in the pack and then take your turn at the front. I promise you’ll meet some amazing people and life long friends.

Arles L. Kimrey Jr.

Andrew Florian, Cam Timmer, Scott Hoffner and Daniel Yankus decided to take some early-season form to a very competitive weekend of racing.

Winona Lake Road Race-

We thought it best to try and get ourselves in a break. It was bound to happen, just a matter of when. The team spent the first lap countering many moves and produced a power file resembles a saw blade. After that first lap,  a relaxed moment in the field led to a significant crash that took out Cam with an injury. We spent the next 2 laps continuing our goal of getting into the break. That resulted in being exhausted by the time the real action separated the field. Scott manage to setup a chase group and was later joined by myself. This move eventually was caught. Trying to make the best of the situation I joined another chase group, and Scott played off this move by going with the break that followed it once we were caught. Scott ended up 2nd in the chase group, while I floated off the front with a few miles to go. I was caught on the finishing stretch. Andrew exhausted from earlier efforts enjoyed some good race miles.

Scott Hoffner-16th

Daniel Yankus-26th

Andrew Florain-28th

Winona Lake Crit

The crit featured an very short 1 min loop that was very spectator friendly. It gave the crowd a 90 degree corner with a sharp short decline through it. Only Scott and I stuck around which proved to be a good experience for both of us. We both put in solid attacks and stayed near the front of the 75 man field. (That’s a lot of guys!) A late attack by myself even got a shout out from the announcer. With 4 to go, we positioned ourselves in the Top 10 but a remixing with 2 to go pushed us near the middle. In the field sprint we each finished strong knowing a little more experience is need by the two of us for these large talented fields.

Scott Hoffner – 16th

Daniel Yankus – 18th

Each of these equals exactly 2,000 calories. And now, thanks to a fast-paced, fun-to-watch YouTube video, you can discover how many Big Macs or bacon slices or even beers add up 2,000 calories.

The bad news: Three orders of large French Fries from McDonald’s total 2,000 calories.

The good news: Knowledge is power! Have a carrot instead. (60 carrots = 2,000 calories.)

The Howard hill hustle in itself is a good workout.  It is a 5K course which starts with its first half mile all up hill (~90 vertical ft).  The remainder of the course is flat with a little downhill.  But to make a killer tri workout you need to add something else into the mix.  I added a pre 5K bike ride.  I did about 8 miles before the starting line.  I did the normal postrace recovery food, hung around for awards and my daughter’s first 1K fun run.  Then I rode the bike home and to make it a double brick, I added another 0.5 mile run afterword too.   2 bricks in one day….Pretty killer tri work!

Howard Hill Hustle Route = http://www.endomondo.com/routes/192107654

It seems like we hear a lot about kids that won’t get off the couch, not so here!  There were about 1300 kids with their parents ready to run and enjoy the beautiful weather.

It was a honor to be able to ride around the track and wave to all the kids in the stands that were getting ready to do the fun run.  As we did the first leadout of the runners, the kids all had big grins on there faces as we pedaled in front of them.

Hats off to the business sponsors like Fifth Third Bank, Priority Health, and many others along with all the volunteers that help encourage these kids to be active and outside! It was so cute when one little girl of about 10 years old skipped by and said “Priority Health is my insurance company, so can I ride your bike?”  I just smiled.

As we got ready to lead out the 5K race all the kids were watching us and I got this idea to have the volunteer offer to take a picture with us up-close and personal with the kids.  Once he announced this with the megahorn we were surrounded, see picture below.  There were so many kids wanting to be by us they did a couple of pictures with different kids surrounding us. There were parents taking pictures, and some people videoing. The kids were asking us questions about our bikes and racing.  They thought it was really cool to just touch our bikes, we felt like rock stars!

What a honor it was to be a representative for Priority Health to the kids.

For quite a few years now, the Team Active/WSI team out of Battle Creek has provided bike patrol/lead out assistance to the Oaklawn Classic Run in Marshall with a 10k, 5k and 1 mile fun run and most of those years, I have been a part of the patrol and lead outs.  This year, with my transition to Priority green, I knew that while many new opportunities awaited, I was going to miss a few old ones.   And yet, while sitting at dinner after our normal wednesday night ride last week, my friend asked me what time I was going to be at his house on Saturday morning.  A little confused, I gently reminded him that I wear green now, not black.  And his reply was “So? You will get a little teasing, but we’ll see you Saturday.” 

I stand out in the crowd!

What a cool run!  I love watching the runners, they are amazing and so tough!  We led out all three runs starting with the 10k.  The 5k is the largest and with most of the people around the start/finish, I was indeed teased by the announcer (also a TA/WSI rider and the team’s sponsor) but he also gave a great promo shout out to Priority Health! 

The 1 mile fun run!

Adorable little camera hound!

               It was great to be able to still participate in such a wonderful event and get to represent my new team, keeping the runners safe and sound and cheering them on, even if I did get teased for looking a little out of place in green instead of black.   But hey, what are friends for, right?  

One of these is not like the others…