News & Tweets

Great event. A pot hole kept my want to finish with the main, but loved it. Awsome ride and even better people. Thanks to everyone and a big ty to Steve Samms for getting the food.

They worked me today. At mhr for 75% of the ride. I couldn't pay for a better workout. Thank you to Jeff and Pio. Stats on my Facebook.

As if a Pugsley isn't heavy and slow enough on its own, there's nothing like an extra ten pounds to contribute to the the beast's sapless sluggishness.  My ride down the Slippery Elm Trail turned from snow to slush at about the halfway point, and the sloppiness was evident by ride's end.  Click photo to enlarge.

The Ride by Kevin West: The sun comes up, wind is quiet, the ride is soon, I'm not fully awake, start the coffee, get the gear put out in waiting, you hear the beep, the dark water of a habitual beginning is ready, poor the cup, relax, getting stoked in translation (the paper, the news, the dog, the wife) distracted, I'm back... I'm riding today, with Toledo's fastest, the "elite", my friends, my drug dealers of adrenalin, epinephrine, and fear. I am dressed and ready. The warm up, pedal strokes of a forgotten heart rate so the legs feel the current. Veins are ready for an O2 at max, the heart knows the "road" ahead, and is ready. 30 riders meet to start the stress of, the push, the pain, and the worthless reward to the end, to which most all hold to an utmost value, at the end. A few miles hold great conversation, one rider pulls out, the game begins, heat rate goes from 130 to 155, excitement and anticipation are the cause of 20 of them... You slip in to hide from the wind, "where is the big guy???" you think to yourself, you sprint to find him... life is good... he blocks like a train, heart rate is down (for now), the mind takes over to prepare, where is this guy, and that guy??? (to make the sprint), stress... cant find... I see one or two, plan my assault, one mile from the sprint, feel good, pace is raced, threshold, what threshold?, screw it, tuck in, get pushed, fight..., back in, "my race", hands grip the gel'd carbon bars of extension, your hands become stems, stems become forks, forks to wheels, and you are the road. You feel 10 riders who feel you, they listen, as you do, for the changing of the next gear, you and all in it, hear the shift, hamstrings trade roles with quads, watts are put to the test and Vo2 is waiting to max, tucked in behind the first loser (of the sprint) he went to early, great blocker tho, save some, vroom vroom vroom of a "masher" is on your six, pull out, surprise him, you have the jump, the sign is 500 meters, 200 meters, he is at your shoulder, 100 meters, neck and neck, the sign, I lunge, one half a wheel takes the sprint, "who got it?" , "you did", "are you sure?" yes he states... "good run" he says. "The ride has just begun..."

The 2012 season is fast approaching and I have a pretty full schedule planned for 2012.  Below are the USAC races that I am planning on attending for 2012.  This is just a tentative schedule and there may be a couple of races that I have prioritized low, that I may skip to focus on a higher priority race or just simply get more training in, especially the earlier races.  I think Mark Sobb and Mike Peiffer will also be going to as many of these as they can fit into their schedule's.  It would be cool to get more Wheelmen to join us, as it is always nice to have some other strong guys to work with. I will be starting the season as a Cat 3, Mike a 4, and Mark a 5, I think we are all hoping for a great season, so this may change as the season progresses.  I am taking care of my travel arrangements and Mike and/or Mark will be fitting into those arrangements whenever possible.  Feel free to send me an email if you are interested in a particular race as I may have room in the van and/or hotel room and if not we can at least all hook up at the event. Most of these races are on the Michigan Bike Racing Association MRBA website, if not I have the location in parenthesis. 

April 15- AAVC Spring Training

April 22-AAVC Spring Training

April 28-Willow TT

May 6-Con Azalia

May 26-Tour of Frankenmuth

June 2 & 3-West Branch Road Race & Criterium

June 8-10-Mount Pleasant Stage Race

June 30-Hyde Park Criterium (Hyde Park, Ohio)

July 1-Grandview Criterium (Grandview, Ohio)

July 13-15-Tour of the Valley Stage Race (Youngstown, Ohio)

July 28-USA Pro National Criterium

July 29-Milford Criterium

August 5-Hines Park TT

August 11 & 12-Cherry Roubaix

August 25-Sylvania Classic

September 2-Via Italia (Windsor, Ontario)

September 3-Debates-Devos ProAm

 

Registration for Lumberjack 100 opens on Saturday, March 3rd at noon, and it closed the same day.  If you are registered for the race, then please include your name on the Club's event registration list.  Click to do so. This way members may see who else is planning on racing, and then joint travel arrangements can be made. Registration info can be found here.

Registration for 1012 Iceman opened on Thursday, March 1 at 10:00am and was closed by 4:14pm.  You can read about the registration process here.