The Motor Club Has Gone International

Yup, you read that right.   We are not just all about mph and Easter Standard Time anymore.  Kilometers, the metric system, driving on the left side of the road and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp will be common conversation now.  The Motor Club has spawn across the globe. Junji Nadano joins The Motor Club from Hiroshima, Japan. We are very excited to have him as part of our Club. Brian and I know Junji-san from his 3 year work venture in the United States at our sister company, Nishikawa Engineering of America. While he was here in the States he did not ride bikes. But within the past 2 years in Japan he has become obsessed with building his own bikes and riding them like crazy. Here is a picture of Junji-san after a 200km ride near Hiroshima.   (check out the Stans Alpha wheelset!)

　

　

His other bikes include a custom built Kona hardtail that he likes to use for Trails:

. . . .and Trials:

　

Here is an old picture of Junji-san when he was here in the states....living LARGE!

 And another picture of him having a Brew with the Diesel:

　

Again, we love the idea of having Junji-san in The Motor Club and look forward to hearing all about his adventures from the other side of the Earth!!  Welcome to The Motor Club Junji-san!!!!!!

　

　((Junji-san after group ride with a few other fellow Nishikawa Rubber employees who Brian and I have worked along side, Spike-san is second from left in the Wheels-in-Motion jersey, Junji-san is in the middle and Matsuura-san is second from right.  Maybe some day we will see more of this group donning the Motor Jersey.))

Birchfield TIme Trial

43 degrees the car thermometer read when A-Train left his house at 6:30am to pick up The Diesel.  This is what it read by the time they pulled up to park at the race:

Say what!?  Neither one them had expected that.  It was October 2nd and there was frost everywhere.  October in Michigan can be chilly but this is like end of November weather.  But hey, they made the 1.5 hour drive to Lansing.  Might as well race.  They spent a few minutes talking it up with a couple locals in the parking lot about the course as neither one of them had ridden at Birchfield before.  After they went to register and set up base camp.

After setting up the tent they thawed out by the bon fire for a few and then had their last solid foods before the race.  As the race drew near they met up with Trail's Edge rider Steve Vigneau and he loaned Brian some shoe covers and Aryn a skull cap.  Much needed in this weather.  After getting suited up they did some warming up on the bikes with Steve and went to check out the starting hill and the last half mile or so of the race to see how it would unfold.  The course was about 11 miles long, so they were told.  It was to have a mix of technical single track, rocks, roots, log piles, bridges, un-broken-in fields and plenty of short rollers.

It is unusual to see Brian and Aryn racing this late in the season.  However, a good friend of The Motor Club sent an invite and since he was putting the race on The Club had to oblige.  After all Jon Dub 9 came down state to race with The Motor Club in the Tree Farm Relay back in July.  Not only is he a fellow Twin 6 rider, he also helped The Motor Club pick up that second place in Men's Advanced.  He wasn't racing at all today tho because he was busy being the Big Man on Campus.  He spent all week marking the course, rerouting, putting up tape, pin flags and blowing the trail clear for race day.  And he still made time to stop by The Club tent to chat it up....

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The Diesel came with a goal of cracking into the top 50% of the Men's A race which consisted of the fastest group of racers.  He put the hammer down and picked up a Top 10 finish in Men's A with a time of 58:13.  He finished 9th out of 22 registers racers.  He approved of the course and definitely wants tocome back next year.  And if The Diesel approves, it's a solid trail with good technical single track.  Said The Diesel, "I really liked how the roots were snaked in the direction of the trail rather than across it side to side.  Made riding them more of a challenge.  You don't see that often."

A-Train's goal for the day was to crack the top five, even though only the top three got hardware.  He left it all out there and managed to bring home the win in the Men's A Division.  He paced it out with a time of 51:13, finishing 33 seconds ahead of second place.  He found the single track to be fun and challenging but said in a later interview, "I normally take the open field sections to spin in big gears, recover and attack but that back field was so fresh I couldn't wait to be back in the single track to regain some rhythm."

After the race it was back to the multiple layers of clothes to stay warm and chat with the locals some more.  The bon fire was a great addition as we spent most of our off time there hanging out and talking to everyone about thier races and the cool raffle prizes.  The Diesel actually won a new pump while the A-Train took home some new Oury grips.

In the end The Motor Club had a great time and rode away with some great results.  Got a chance to meet some new people and ran into a couple people we haven't seen in a while.  Looking forward to returning next year.  Thanks to Jon Dub 9 and all the other MMBA Mid State Chapter Members for making this race happen.

Look for A-Train to give a full race report including trail detail in the coming days @ http://pongorantz.blogspot.com/

Maybury with a side of Farmington please

The Club's day started early in Farmington with Becky, Brian and Jim running the local 5K.  While Brian and Jim were there to take it seriously, Becky being the marathon runner was there for the amusement of watching the two boys go at it for the 3.2 miles.  Look serious don't they?

While Becky did her run in 34:37 and placed 7th in her age group, the Brothers Grimm finihsed there's in 29:57 and 31:14 with the longer legged one having the advantage.  Shortly after the race Brian was in his Xterra and on his way to Novi for the Maybury Time Trail.

Upon reaching the team tent he found his number plate and zip ties waiting for him, courtesy of the fellow rider Aryn, who was out on the course already dualing it out with the Experts in the 30-39 Class.  Aryn did his two laps fast enough to grab a 3rd place out of 18 with the time of 1:21:27.  Good friends of The Motor Club, Jeremy Daum and Brad Lako, had great results as well with Jeremy clinching a 5th place with a time of 1:21:58 (0.7 seconds away from 4th) and Brad gapping Aryn by 45 seconds to take 2nd. 

Next out was the smooth talkin' and jive walkin' Jon Wlodarczak, another friend of The Motor Club.  He planned to do the single lap Geared Sport 30-34 and then go back out for more in the single lap Expert/Elite Single Speed.  Deciding not to take advantage of the perfect weather and perfect course conditions he took 6th in both of his classes, 42:51 in geard and 41:42 on the SS.  Personally I think it's because he wore his black glasses instead of the fast white ones.  (In his defense, Jon went to Ruby on the next day and cleaned house in Sport Men 30-39 Geared and took 1st place...waiting to hear what glasses he was wearing)

In-between Jon's two races, Brian "The Diesel" Mccabe was sent off to do his duty.  Before the race he was briefed by Aryn to eliminate any surprises...altho Brian seemed more intereted in the girl with the camera rather than the points of interest Aryn was giving out.

Brian and Aryn know this course very well but a couple things were added and because Brian's start time got messed up he was going to have to do a lot of passing now that he was starting at the end of the entire Sport Class instead of in his age group wave.  None the less Brain skilled it like he always does and rolled in a  44:18 in his Sport 40-45 class to make the Top 10 appearance.

The Big Deal of the day though was John Bannon.  The Big Fella rocked a 3rd place in the kid's race!

 Not bad for his first race ever.  Kid's got natural talent.  How do I know?  Because right after the race he started telling us how he lost 1st place because he over cooked the last turn and was passed by two other riders.  To be that young and already learning what it takes.....reminds me of my Asthon.  He does the same thing.  Unfortunately Ashton was busy on vacation in Canada bass fishing with my wife and missed the race. 

Overall a solid day at the races for The Club and it's closest Allies.  Great job to everyone! 

What was observed:

1 - This is Jim's second showing to a race and both times he spent more time on a bike then off of one.  Only a matter of time before he is at the starting line. 

2 - Peanut Butter Puffins are becoming increasingly more popular.

3 - Twice in the past month I have heard Brian talk about purchasing a road bike.

The Club's first race result

Date: 11-0723

Location: Lakeshore PArk

Event: Tree Farm Relay
Result: 2nd out of 11 teams, Advanced Men's Class

Riders: Dozer, Diesel, Dubs and A-Train

Recap: A-Train

14 months in the making. It was 6:30am, my car was packed and I was on my way to race. I wasn't going to believe it until I was actually on the course. I arrived at the park about 7:15, not to long after Jon. He had already pitched his tent and was lounging in his chair like a racer who could look the part. After a short good morning I proceeded to pitch a bigger tent to show him who was running the show. After all, I had my image to look out for. As we sat and talked to Jay the Hammer, Brian and Jeremy eventually showed up and we went to finalize our registration. Jon said he would take his bike and go home if we didn't use a pink lay so we amused him and went with pink.

As the start of the race neared Jeremy went through his preps to make sure he would be good for his two laps. The plan was for all of us to do 2 consecutive laps but have a rider ready in case some one blew up or had mechanical issues. Jeremy was to go first, Jon to follow, Brian and then me. Sounded like a great plan considering Advanced Men, our division, started at 9am and Sport started at 11am. So Jeremy lined up at the top of the hill with the rest of the Advanced teams for the LeMans start. Gun went off and down the hill Jeremy went to his bike. He was second man into the woods breaking his streak of 5 years in a row of being first man in. No problem though, he's always going 110%. Plus this is an Endurace Relay that would go on for 80 miles equaling 8 laps.

Lap 1 - While Dozer was out pacing with the starters Brian and I prepped Jon on the course. He had never raced here before so he was getting a crash course. We weren't sure if Jeremy would do 1 or 2 laps so Jon starting getting ready to go in case Jeremy wanted to exchange. We figured Jeremy would be coming through between 43-45 mins and our jaws hit the ground when the first rider lapped through at 38 minutes!!! Next rider came thru with a low 40 and the third was just over 41. Man it's going to be a tough day. Then all of a sudden Jeremy and his Carbon Cannondale Flash 29 came out of the woods and signaled for a switch. He made the hand off to Jon at 42:30 and looked completely exhausted. "Man those guys were fast." was the first thing out of his mouth. He had to pull in because he drained his reserves chasing the leaders trying to keep up close to the top 3 podium spots.

Lap 2 - While Dubs and his GF Superfly SS were out we had a team huddle about changing strategy. All the teams seemed to be switching riders after one lap and this Endurance relay was quickly turning into a Time Trial-fest of who could run the fastest single lap. Jon was prepared for 2 laps but like Jeremy had to ride his lap in the red as to not lose ground on the 3 guys ahead of him. No problem tho, Brian was ready for the hand off when Dubs came around. I figure anything 45 mins and under would be a solid lap from Jon on his first trip around the course and he delivered no problem. He had one small scuffle with a hairpin turn but, "Everyone falls the first time" on that turn.

Lap 3 - As the Diesel and his Santa Cruz Blur went hauling off into the trail I discussed our new strategy with Jon after he caught his breath. We were still sitting in fourth after 20 miles and I started to ponder about how we could pull off a podium. There were some serious fast guys out there, lots of CAT 1's and a handful of Elites and now we only had 40 minutes until the 60-some Sport teams were dumped onto the course. Then it hit me that I was going out next and I needed to start getting ready for my lap. It had been 14 months since I had the nervousness pre race jitters....triple checking to make sure I had everything and my bike was ready to go. Down to the exchange area I went to wait for the Diesel to lap around.

Lap 4 - Here comes Brian and there I go on the Kona Hei Hei 2-9 Deluxe. I get the lay and off I go....I am racing. Damn it felt good, but no time to enjoy that moment. Other teams had thrown down some serious lap times and we were down into fifth. Now the Sport group of 60 some team had just entered the trail a few minutes before me so I was mentally preparing for log jams. My first surprise tho was when I came across an Bike Patrol and a few others tending to a fallen rider. It was the Greyhound I had been chatting with at the exchange. He look pretty beat up like he endoed at high speed. As I walked my bike past the scene I offered my assistance but they said they had it all under control so I mounted back up and went back on the chase. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.......34, 35, 37...or was that 36...ah hell who cares. I was passing and dropping the back of the pack Sport riders like it was going out of style. For the most part everyone was cool and the passes were clean but I was wondering why I picked to go 4th. My heart rate was thru the roof as I would sprint between packs of riders and then pass the group in one fell swoop only to Sprint to another. It was my duty to clear the path so Jeremy and Jon could have less congestion on their laps.

Lap 5 - I came around at 43:40 which surprised me two ways. One, I knew I was moving quickly between packs of riders but not that quick. Two, that's the fastest race loop I had ever completed at this race over the years. With Jeremy in traffic now I knew another 42 min lap may not happen but he's a solid rider and knows the trail well so any passes he would have to make would be clean and quick. Plus Brian had fixed his front derailluer issue so his 39t would be working now. As I came back from checking the standing at the live timing feed I heard Brian asking Jon if he could do lap 6. I saw no issue with it and neither did Jon.

Lap 6 - Dozer pulled off another great lap with a 44 in traffic and made the hand off to the Diesel. Brian was out and truckin' for his second loop which was lap 6 for the team. The Diesel said after his first loop he was having a hard time digging today but I know plenty of people who'd give their right arm for a time like Brian can do even on a bad day. Again my brain floated into how could we pull off a podium position. Last I looked we were more than 3 minutes down from 3rd and it was getting hotter outside. Forecast called for 90's again that day but the top 5 teams in our class had experienced riders today so I didn't expect any bonking. I didn't have any pep talk ready for Jon for his last lap other than try to stay upright this time. I knew Jon's lap would be quality since he had been around the course once now and knew what to expect in some more technical sections.

Lap 7 - As expected, Brian came thru with another solid lap. He had kept the gap to the team behind us while not losing any ground to the team in front of us. We were still a couple minutes out of a podium spot and you never know if teams are saving their fast riders for the last laps or if they front loaded the race. Time will tell. As I started to get ready I was of course getting nervous again. Nature of racing for me. It helped to have Brian spinning the infield with me while I warmed up. And then even Jeremy came down to ride with me. Made me feel good to have the team around me. They pep talked me and Jeremy reassured me that Jon was going to pull out an awesome lap to set us up for the podium. I had plenty of confidence in Jon's racing ability. If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked him to race with us. The infield of the exchanged started to grow in numbers as the other teams had their anchors out. Jeremy came back and told me "that dude over there rider 300+ miles a week!".... f@@k..... Just as I did my last sprint warm up Jon came zipping out of the woods and Jeremy signaled to me to get my @ss back to the exchange because Jon was charging fast.

Lap 8 - I fully expected Cycletherapy to come around before Jon but Dubs had taken care of business and gained us a position. Hot Damn!  I had saw the team ahead of us go around and make their last exchange and he had about a minute and 15 seconds on me, if not less. I was in full chase mode. Close enough to have a visual and that was all I wanted. Jon is awesome, I thought to myself.  I mean after all he is the Expert/Elite SS Class Leader of the overall in MMBA.  That's why we wanted him on the team so bad.  After finding out Dawn couldn't make it and we'd have to race Men's Advanced I had to come up with someone who was wicked fast.  Someone who feeds on pressure and doesn't flinch in the face of challenge.  "Who could I get with such experience and poise?" I asked myself a few weeks ago.  I needed some one fast but some one under the radar.  A hired gun.  Some one who could show up looking the part but also back it up on the course.  Walk the walk, talk the talk......"Jon Wlodarczak!" I said out loud to the heavens.  He can overcome this feat.  So nervously I sent him a message on facebook. I wasn't sure he'd acknowledge me given his status in the scene and me being an outsider, out of the scene for a few years.  After hours of waiting, hoping he'd at least let me down easy, I got a reply and it said, "Yes, I will race on your team.  Celebrate and be joyous."  As I kept on the chase I felt truely gifted that The Awesomeness was on our team.  After all, he had brought us to the edge of the podium and now it was my turn to deliver.  The Awesomeness had set me up for a test and I must pass.  Then I thought to myself what I had told Brian right before I got the exchange from Jon, "There is no spoon." I charged hard but kept focus. I was gaining with every short climb and tight turn. Figure I would overtake him by the crater. But then it hit me....oh sh!t....that 300+ mile dude is going to hunt me like a blood hound. I didn't shift but my cadence increased as did my heart rate. I was not about to be caught. Not here. Not at the Tree Farm. There was still a bit a traffic to deal with but I was starting to get visuals of the Orange jersey behind me at some switchbacks. I knew I had a good half mile or better on him but I needed to turn it up even more. This I where I entered a level of racing I had never been to before. I was now gaining rapidly on the white jersey I was chasing and holding steady to the orange one behind me.

As I caught the white jersey I told him Cycletherapy was coming and coming fast and if we worked together we could keep him behind us. But I got that look like he was losing his legs. So I said, "Then you need to let me through." So I passed him earlier than I planned to but now the race was on to hold my position. As I flew out of the crater I knew what I had to do. I need to beat him to the trenches. He was now gaining ground on me but not as much as I thought. But the two track was coming up. At 300+ miles a week he is going to gain on me on the two track. I dug deep, I went to places in my pain cave that I didn't know existed. I can't let him make up to much ground on the two track. Need to beat him to the trenches. The two track seemed to last forever even tho I was hauling @ss and overtaking Sport riders like they were standing still. "The trenches" I said to myself again. "Get there first." As I got close I caught the orange jersey in a switchback. God damn is he closing fast. But I entered the trenches like the woods were on fire behind me. I had did it. I made it there first, but the race wasn't over yet. I had to work the trenches like an ace because he was close and I could hear his bike. I needed to keep this small gap I had because if he catches me here I cannot out sprint this guy to the finish. I f-in went into Luke Skywalker mode and buzzed the trenches cleaner and faster than ever before.

As I came out of the woods and climbed the last hill to the finishing stretch of field I knew I had a great chance of pulling this off. I was in so much pain and my stomach was in my throat. "Almost there!" I told myself. I saw Brian, Jeremy and Jon in the infield yelling at me and cheering me on. It gave me that last bit of kick to hammer the stretch to the finish. When I went to take the last turn to go under the arches I looked back to see the orange jersey 10 seconds behind me. I coasted thru the arches with a small fist pump and nearly collapsed.

The team came over and about bum rushed me. It felt great. We secured third place. But when I had told the guys I had passed the white jersey, Jon was like, "You did what? Hold up." Minutes later he came sprinting back to tell us we had finished 2nd, not third. The whole time I was working to pass the white jersey to put us up in third when it actually put us up into second. Holy crap, we took second. Jon told me how he kept the white jersey in sight himself on his lap but how the orange jersey had blew up and he passed him and hammered away to put time on him. Jon had increased our lead over the orange jersey by 2 mins and 15 seconds after making up over a minute deficit on him. Do the math and the guy chasing me made up 2 mins and 5 seconds on me in 10 miles and I did a 42:43 lap. Who the hell was he anyway? (Mark Parmalee that's who!)

So first place killed us by 8 minutes but the next three positions on the final grid were only separated by 66 seconds.....over an 80 mile race that lasted nearly 6 hours. The Motor Club now has their first race results posted and we couldn't be happier. Yes, winning is always a plus but considering the competition for this race, a well earned second place is worth writing home about. Great job to the team that fought the battle out there today. This finish was a team effort. Took all four of us to make it the 80 miles.  Great job guys!!!

Race Results: http://www.raceservices.com/11/treefarm/072311_am.txt

Pix (this post was long enough without them) https://picasaweb.google.com/pongomoto/2011TreeFarmRelay#

A-Train and The Diesel make progress

Didn't think I would be doing so well after 10 days off he bike.  Sticking to the race season diet I avoided gaining weight through that period. Yesterday morning before work I hopped on the road bike for a 20 miles to spin out the cob webs. Well the weather was perfect and I couldn't resist putting the hammer down.  20 miles at 19.6mph including my warm up....not bad.

Enter today's ride with The Diesel.  Location: Tree Fram.  It was his idea for me to lead out the first lap and off we went.  Man did I suck.  To much air in the tires for the conditons and I couldn't negotiate a turn to save my life.  Well after complaining the entire lap about how bad I was riding and almost hitting a dozen or more trees I was surprised to see us come in a hair under 49 minutes.  Damn.....really?  Cool.

Before lap two I stopped to let some air out of both of my tires, figure I dropped 4-5 psi out of each tire.  Brian insisted I lead out again.  What a huge difference a little less air pressure made.  All of a sudden the bike was cornering on rails and the A-Train was at full steam.  I pushed it hard but made sure to keep Diesel in the rear view mirror to pull him around.  However, having him behind me on the trail always makes me nervous because at any point in time he can roll up on me in the tight sections and start bump drafting me.  In the end I came thru at 48:30 and he came in 50 seconds later.  Awesome!

Third lap was nothing to write home about.  We did it for the extra miles and sort of a cool down.  Was a 52 or 53 something.  We spent most of that lap talking while riding and not worrying about the clock.

After was a quick chat about the old racing days and a run in with the Andy and Eddie from MTB For Life/Soul Cycles.  Good guys and fun team to ride with.

sunday, monday rides

sunday @ Highland.  though i first arrived at the trailhead and forgot my helmet!!!  %$#@  can u believe that!?  but, undaunted, i traveled home, picked up my helmet, and returned to complete the task.   rode the Blur.   pace was perfect(abit on the slow side), but ABCD loops completed with not an ounce of energy/strength to spare.    trail in great shape...always is.   love the fact that very few people ride it....unike Island Lake which is a parking lot on nice weekend days.   Highland is by far my favorite trail.   it's an absolute rush.

monday @ tree farm.   just to shake the legs loose from sundays ride.   the giant this time....it rode very very well!  flawless actually.  trail in great shape.   no where near a Highland, but since only a mile away, cant beat that.

Spinning the skinnies

Ride Report: G.P.'s and Detroit

Rider: A-Train

First road ride in the new digs

Motoring down the smoothest stretch of road around, with a solid tailwind I might add

Braking for the Canadians on Belle Isle

According to Goole Maps this pier is in Canadian waters....no Passport was required

Ride back home is going to be brutal in that headwind

Not a bad start to my Father's Day.  Home at 9:20 AM for breakfast with the family

ILRA Proving Grounds

Ride report: ILRA on 6-15-11

Rider: A-Train

Looped thru Island Lake yesterday after work but before the rain. This was my first real test since building this bike last fall to where I was finally in good enough shape to put the bike thru the proper test.  5 laps total yesterday at ILRA for 36 miles. Started with the yellow and then did a blue, yellow, blue and one last yellow.....(equaling 3 yellows and 2 blues) total time with no stops ( I packed everything I needed for the ride) 2:28:36.  And as always I lapped through the parking lot after every loop....no blue to yellow shortcuts.

My first 30 miles of 2 yellows and 2 blues rivaled my fastest time when I race Expert back in 2008. My fastest recorded time for 2 yellows and 2 blues in 2008 was 2:01:33 and I crossed the parking lot yesterday at 2:02:58 and kept the hammer down as I went for my third yellow.

Maybe it's my road legs or maybe it's the larger wheels but I was hauling the flatter sections, even thru the twists and turns. The bike also carried more momentum down the shorts hills before the next climbs. Trail chatter there from small bumps is really reduced on the larger wheel thus making it less effort to keep the big wheels turning. I feel my riding and shifting were very clean as I only remember checking up on 2 turns where I was braking to late once I realized I was going to fast for the next turn.  As many times as I have been around there in the past some of those corners still sneak up on me when the sand gets soft.

My weakness tho was climbing, as the ride went on the burning increased. This is of course normal but in the past I was always a strong climber so I tended to not suffer on the climbs. By the end of my 30 miles (2nd blue) I was starting to feel the climbs in my legs. As I and decided to press on and tackle my third yellow the climbs were really starting to wear on me. The two way sand climb at the beginning sent my heart rate thru the roof and gave me my first inclination of fatigue starting in my legs. I had serious thoughts about going out for one more blue as I was finishing the 3rd yellow but it was starting to rain and I think if I would have went I would have either bonked eventually or become more sloppy with my handling. I believe stopping at that point was the right choice.  Training is going good but the 3 hour mark seems to be my ceiling at race pace.

Last, traffic on the trail was it's usual. Had to pass and wait for an average amount of people. I started with the yellow because a group of 12 had just entered the blue as I was mounting my bike and I didn't want to have to worry about passing them. Ends up starting on the yellow made for a better 'pit' strategy. Like I said I never stopped the entire ride but the section of the blue trail that runs along side the railroad tracks was where I was able to pop a mini clif bar and swap bottles from my rear pockets to my cage. The timing was perfect on both blue loops. From now I plan to always start with the yellow.

This ride result gives me confidence going into the Stony Marathon that is just over two weeks away. Still plan to race CAT 2 (SPORT) due to the 3 Hour ceiling I have.  The race will go over 3 hours in regular conditions but I know I can gut out anything over that.  CAT 1 (Expert) at over 4 hours tho is out of my league even below race pace.  I just haven't had the training time to prepare for that distance.  At my peak in 2008 that race took me 4.5 hours (5th place poium) and for that one I had double the Base miles on my legs leading into it.  After a long time away from racing I think it would be silly to jump back in the deep end and risk injury or an early burn out when I finally have some endurance and strenght built back up.

That's a braaaap!!!!

Aryn

Ah, the smell of Spring air.  The green colors every where. The sweat in your eyes from the heart pounding efforts.  The bugs in your teeth from the road.  The aching of the elbows, creaking of the knees.  The dirt up your nose from trail riding on the back wheel of the guy in front of you....and best of all that smell of your cars interior after leaving your cycling shoes in it over night with the windows closed.  Yes, it's what we have all been waiting for.

And with all that brings a new season and a different Team look.  But wait, not a TEAM but a CLUB.  You read that right, C..L..U..B.....CLUB.  No not the type Bam Bam uses but a group of friends who have been riding and racing together for years and have relaxed in their efforts to be stupid fast in order to soak up some of the things they missed when all they focused on was keeping their eyes on the dirt trail 15 feet in front of them.  Gone are the days of lung busting races between the trees and up the hills.  Welcomed are the days ahead of more endurace relays and bbq's in the pits.  Well okay, there will still be lung busting solo races but not as often as in the past.

The best thing about going CLUB instead of TEAM is that just like Team, there is no "I" in CLUB and we don't sound so formal or threatening.    So keep an eye out for us at the local races.  We plan to show our skulls at more races this year than in the past.  And yes, the Twin Six Motor Jersey will be the unofficial "Official Club Jersey" with the already granted permission of Twin Six.

So here is your memo that there is a new Club coming to a race near you.  We've been slow getting it altogether and getting ourselves out to the races but we'll be there soon.  First up, the Fort Custer TT.

******May I present, ""The Motor Club""******

"The motor. In the simplest terms, it's a device that creates motion."