Canada's Spring Cycling Classic!

The alarm was set, but I didn’t need it. Woke up about 4:10am already racing in my head and my wheels were turning. Got on my wrinkly khaki pants I had on from the night before and loaded my bike and gear in my truck. I was traveling with 3 other team mates and we had to cram gear for all unknown weather, nutrition, bikes, helmets, and more. Crazy and kinda silly the amount of things we take to a race… anyways a few stops and we were off to cross the Blue Water Bridge into Ontario, Canada for a quick 2hr 30min drive to the start of the 19th Annual Paris to Ancaster Race. Paris Ancaster Web

I had only seen some pictures and watched a few videos on the terrain so I was going blind into the race. I’ve done this with other races in the past and I wasn’t nervous of the unknown at all. This was a “C-race” for me and I wanted to just take it all in. The atmosphere of this event is like no other. The rain started about an hour before the gun went off and Mother Nature let her spring wrath of cold pouring rain come out today. I think she wanted everyone to know she was alive and doing well!

I started farther back in Wave 1 and stayed there for about the first 10-12 miles into the race loop. The pace was fast and furious and the course is interesting to say the least. Gravel Roads, Paved Roads, Single Track, Rail Trail, Double Track, Farmers Fields, Ditches, Hills, Run Ups, Pastures, Private Driveways and Front Yards! The Police, Volunteers and Community really come out for this event. They stood at every turn in the rain and cheered everyone on… thank you!


photo credit: Shaun Welch

After about mile 20-21ish, I started to feel the legs get a little squishy. The sticky deep mud zapped the energy at an alarming rate making the hills to follow tough for me to climb. I noticed my average pace dropped 2-3 miles per hour on the flats and I had to chew on the grit in my mouth to maintain. Up until this I was with a solid group of riders at about the same fitness level as me this early in the year. The group of 15 dropped to about 8 or so and I continued to lead this group through all the single track and they pulled on the gravel. A few miles in we dropped to about 5 guys and rode the best we could. One rider in the pack said with a gasping breath “Keep up the good work in the single track, you’re gonna kill the mud shoots”. Again not knowing the course I didn’t fully know what the mud shoots were. Well, a few miles down the road I found out… WOWZERS. The mud shoots are some of the wildest down hills I have ever ridden and the rain and previous race traffic had taken its toll on them. It took everything I had to keep the bike upright and ride them. I saw many; many riders get on foot and trot down. I took the opportunity to ride out slow and controlled and see if I could gain a few on them on the exits. It worked to my advantage! After a few more twisty gravel turns, and some double track I found myself at the bottom of Mineral Springs Road looking up to what appeared to be a MOUNTAIN in my eyes. Considering I had just raced 37 miles and only had a half mile to go I was spent! People line the hill, music is playing and you can hear the finish line roars. I wanted to stay on the bike so bad at this point because I knew the finish was at the top. I started in a decent gear and my legs had a different plan… NO. I had to get off the bike and walk/run for about 100ft and get the knots out of my huge quads ;) People kept chanting ride, ride, ride… and back on the bike I went to dig deeper than I have in a long time and ride it out to the top. A slow 4-6mph climb and what felt like my eyes bleeding was probably a few tears of sweat and joy as I saw the finish line. I let a few last heavy cadence spins rip and called it a day.

All in all I was excited to do the event and ended up sitting 106th out of almost 400 racers in my A.G. My unofficial time was 2:35ish and change.

Very happy to have a few teammates travel with me and I congratulate them on the day. John Osgood, Pat Tomlinson and Jason Schneider…Nice work fellas! Also, a big shout out to all the Michiganders who made the voyage. Some stellar finishes to them!

What Makes You Tic?

Is it that first event of the season, those early morning swims, how about those long Sunday runs in the cold snow during February?

For me it’s just the simple act of looking forward to attempting an event and doing my best. I get excited thinking about lining up next to my pals and ripping through the woods on the single track. The camaraderie, the challenge, and the finish! Oh, a cold beer and a few laughs really enhance this as well!

Over the years I have come to realize that being an active person with a goal of finishing a weekend event has been a bit of a life saver for me. I’m sure this resonates with others as well. The day to day stress of society and the pressures we put on ourselves is ridiculous. Taking all things into consideration at the end of the day, I have realized that I will never be a pro athlete, nor do I want to for that matter. Things happen in everyone’s life for a reason. I’ve been blessed with a great wife and two healthy children. My day to day career is challenging and my overall look at life… I’m a happy regular Joe, Living The Dream!

SCHEDULE - Boom, Bam, Blazin’ for Twenty Twelve:
March 24th Barry Roubaix Gravel
April 15th Paris to Ancaster
April 29th Pontiac Lake Time Trial
May 12th Community Mental Health 5k
May 20th Last Standing Xterra Tri
June 17th Brighton Torn Shirt Xterra Tri
July 7th Stony MTB Marathon
July 13-15 Great Lakes Relay Running
July 21 Versilles Indiana Xterra Tri
Aug. 5 Ruby XC
Aug. 19th Ruby 50miler
Aug 26th Stony XC
Sept. 8th Ithaca CX Race
Sept. 22nd Xterra Tri National Championships-Utah
Nov 3rd Ice Man

Getting Uncomfortable!

Sometimes it has to happen. We must try new things out of the everyday rut just to feel the "LIFE" around us. The past 8 weeks I have made a great effort to do this.

Mentally, this has been exhausting. Physically, this has been the best thing I have done since the early 90's on my Track & Field team in college. At first it started out as my regular New Year’s Resolution "get fit" routine that I seem to get so pumped up for annually only to let myself down about 3-4 weeks into the program.

This year seems so different. The goals I have set are realistic and I think that is making the off season training more enjoyable. A few of those goals are getting a set schedule in place, and planning new events for 2012 that I have never competed in before.

Swimming, spinning on the bike, running, even some basic circuit core workouts are keeping me busy 6 days per week. In addition to a handful of mtbing events, I'm going to chase some points in the Mid-West Xterra Tri scene this summer... that's right, off-road triathlons!

I've wanted to attempt the off-road tri events for years now. Well, after 4 decades of wanting to do something... I'm going to do something!

The Finish Line!

Much more to learn from this than just another story of an athletic event or team.

My dear friend and the founder of Beat The Train - Andy Staub inspired me to share...thank you!

C’mon Man… 5th overall!!!!

Whoooraaahh, good times, ah… good times. Sure there are loads of fun events coming up this fall, but all in all, the fat tire season is over for me. I do plan to race the Ice Man in November with my TSB pals, but for now I’m considering the season officially closed.

In the past few months I chased points for the Michigan USAC MTB Series and ended up doing okay for never placing higher than 4th at any event. I haven’t concentrated on any one series in a few years and wanted to commit this season. I decided in January to do the XC series and hone in on my skill-set. I took 5th overall in the Expert 40-49 division out of 44 competitors. I’m very happy with the end results given all the outside things in life that distracted me from doing any better. Life is good!!!

What’s on the agenda now… on to a few CX events and lacing up the running shoes for some fall laughs and a few cold brews!