Stony Uncursed

Lots happened today so we'll just go in the order in which they appeared:

A-Train was to go off a little after 10am against a stacked field of Lako, Osgood, Cerget, Dub9 and a few others he recognized as fast.  But he was feeling fresh and ready to rumble.  Start mid pack at his pace and work his way up as the laps go by, that's how he works.  After lap 1 of the 4 lap race he was right where he wanted to be with Simon Bailey.  To start lap 2 he overtook Simon in the single track and was charging ahead to find Dub9.  He caught a glimpse of him on the following 2 track and put the hammer down to try and close the gap before the next single track section.  Plus he had seen Osgood on a switchback and knew he was close.  But on the two track chase something on his bike started to make a clicking noise and his chain was skipping a bit.  By the time he got to the next section of single track Simon and the train he was with caught Aryn.  Not 400 meters into the next section A-Train's chain broke and went flying off his bike.  He raced to pick it up, got his tools out to fix it and had it back on in minutes.  He then went in pursuit mode to catch Simon only to have it happen no more than a half a mile later.  With no spare master links left and frankly not enough healthy chain length left to run his 1x9 set up he decided to call it a day.  And so his last Tailwind XC race ended with a 3 mile walk with a broken chain in his left hand and a bike in his right.  Later he was asked his feelings about the finish, "Well, at least Dub9 didn't beat me because I never finished.  Now he's going to have to wait all winter to have another crack at it"

The Diesel was to start next around 1:00pm.  He knew he had his work cut out for him as his 6' 3" 29er riding nemesis Karl Emmerich would be there.  These two have been battling all season.  Today though it wasn't for points as the series had already been decided.  Today was for bragging rights.  Which some times is more important.  Going through the Roller Coaster section on lap #2 of the 3 lap race, Brian was only 15 seconds behind Karl.  They played yo yo for a while though as Karl would hammer away on the two track and then Diesel would reel him in once they got back into the trees.  On lap #3 the race was really heating up.  Karl said afterwards he was getting excited about it coming down to a sprint finish because of how close the two were.  But then it happened.....Karl suffered a puncture on his rear wheel.  Upon seeing this, the smoke from the pipes went black and Brian went into Turbo Diesel mode.  Karl was able to finish the race but Brian had created to much of a gap and he never caught back up.  So the Diesel rolled in for his 4th win of the season and once back to the team camp was greeted with a Bell's beer from his favorite fan Abigail.  the Diesel was later heard stating, "I'm glad it didn't come down to a sprint.  Karl's legs are like 4 feet long."

Starting not to far behind Diesel was Mike "Cannonball" Keysaer.  After a summer of nothing but work he was finally able to make it out to his first race as a Motor Clubber....altho he wore his X-Box 360 jersey.  Yeah, lots of compliments on that one.  It had been 2 years since he last raced and had only been on his bike 4 times this summer.  He had been running on and off to help keep the shorts from getting tight but he knows running isn't riding so he'd be suffering.  Baby steps though.  He just needed to get back out there.  So he was to do 2 laps and his only goal was to not come in last.  Mission accomplished!  "Cheese" as he is also known as, rode a clean race, finished and never crashed.  His final quote for the day, "Sure I'll have a beer, only because I have know Aryn for 30 years and can't remember the last time I saw him drinking one."

Last to go off were our the two 4 cylinders on the team, Ashton "Chicken Bone" Pongratz and Zak "Kung Fu" Keysaer.  These two go back a ways and have even gone to camp together.  Ash is known for being 9 yrs old and schoolin' his dad at basketball in the back yard.  Also, last time fishing with his mom he pulled in a 14" small mouth all by himself.  Zak, well he is fresh off earning his black belt the weekend before.....so the Motor Club rewrote the 10 year old's contract to add Crowd Control to his list of responsibilities.  Yes, I said 10 yrs old.

A-Train was to trail behind Ash and Zak in the 10 and Under race in the event something happened.  Altho, everyone in the team tent was more worried about Aryn given his recent sting of bad luck on the trail.  Bone and Fu had a rough outing.  Ash took a spill early on when he miscalculated a log pile and went down hard to the ground.  He walked it off but beat up his elbow really bad which required a good cleaning and 3 bandages from the Bike Patrol.  Zak, while slowing down to check on Ashton got rear ended by another kid causing him to get tangled up.  Knocked his derailluer out of alignment and also hurt his shifting thumb.  Battered, bruised and bandaged the pair kicked on determined to get through the race.  However, the Sport wave had lapped them sooner than planned and they had to do a lot of stopping to let the faster riders through.  So half way through the course they Bike Patrol redirected them as the traffic was thick. This turned out to be god for them as they got to ride some uninterrupted single track for a bit before makeing the home stretch on the two track.  They both had fun though and were already talking about their next race, Addison Oaks.

Now, picture time!

Diesel raced in the Orange MOTOR jersey so no podium shot in the 'podium only' jersey

Upper left is the First Place medal for the day and the massive paper weight one is for his second place overall in the Tailwind USAC series for his class Sport Men 40-44.  Not bad for an old guy huh?  Congratz to big fella and beer was consumed, yes even by A-Train, to celebrate 'The Year of the Diesel'

One thing Diesel requested to have on the record:

"I race a 26" full suspension all year.  It's all in the MOTOR!"

(((Big ups going out to Jon Wlodarczak for his solid second place finish in Expert Men's 30-39.  That was crazy and we want some of that Cucumber Juice.  Also ups go out to John Osgood and Brad Lako for theor solid 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the overall series fr Expert 30-39.  Solid season from both riders!)))

Maybury....where it all started.  Back in 2004 there was no Diesel and A-Train.  It was just Brian and Aryn.  Two co-workers, one fast and one super slow.  Back then the trail was only 4.5 miles long and Brian had to wait at the top of every climb for Aryn.  It would take them almost an hour to get around the trail.  Aryn was sporting a 189 pound frame with flat pedals, t-shirt, board shorts, cotton white socks and aquafina bottles.  Pan and zoom to the typical 'new guy.'  Brian had all the bells a whistles.  A cool bike, clipless shoes and peals, Camelbak, Smith Optic glasses, Fox breathable clothing....he looked the part and could back it up on the trail.

Fast forward to 2012.  The 'super slow guy' is 20 pounds lighter and riding the rear wheel of the fast guy....constantly pushing the pace from behind.  He got himself all the bike bling and hence looks the part.  The 'fast guy' now laughs at what they considered fast back in 2004.  Both riders have turned into racers and every year seem to push further and further to that edge of 'how fast can one really get through this trail?'

Maybury is now 2 miles longer.  But the race is 3 miles longer than the normal trail.  Some extra single track was added along with some extra hill climbs and false flats along the pavement to wear the legs down.  A-Train prefers the 2 lap time trials as he doesn't consider himself a sprinter, that's Diesel's job.  As always though Aryn was to go off first.  The 'slow guy' has been in the Expert Class for 4 year now and is always excited about racing at the place where it all started.  At 9:09:30 it was go time and Aryn went off from the line by himself which is normal in a Time Trail format.  One racer every 30 seconds.  His first lap was clean.  He was loving how his hardtail just drove up the climbs wasting little effort even in the larger gears.  Tire pressure was right on as the rubber never broke free as he continuously pushed the pace.  As he came around he saw just over 41 minutes on his computer.  He needed to be a little quicker on lap two. He got a little jolt of extra energy hearing his three kids cheer for him as he went around to start lap two.

On lap two the pace was definitely faster as he heard a bike closing in on him.  It was Don of Cross Country Cycle.  A-Train had no choice but to let him by but wasn't about to be dropped so he hugged his rear wheel as long as he could.  He wasn't in A-Train's class but he was a good rabbit to have out in front to push the pace.  As Aryn crossed the line at 1:21:55 he was very happy with the negative split and his overall time.  About 20 seconds longer than last years time but the course was about 20 seconds longer per lap.

But to his dismay, his time was only good enough for 4th place.  Another top 3 podium had eluded him.  Looking across the entire Expert Category he had posted a great time but there seemed to be a few 'really fast' guys who showed up today.  He walked away happy with his race effort but of course a little bummed as this would be the first time he went home empty handed from Maybury.

Shortly after finishing, A-Train raced over to see Diesel at the starting line.  He promptly warned him about the sharp left on the first climb as it was the only sketchy turn on the course.  Other than that he should be good to go full throttle.  So at 10:30 and some change Diesel went chugging away into the woods.  Many of his loyal fans showed up to cheer him on as they knew they would be in for a treat.

Diesel's pit crew helping in the paddock..

One lap time trials are pretty uneventful as they are over very quick.  Being a home course for Diesel he was able to pass cleanly and without issue when he needed to.  He came through the finish chute strong but said after his legs felt the last single track climb so he knew he had given his all.  He raved about how ideal the conditions were and took full advantage of the Racing Ralph's ability to hug corners but to also motor up the hills due to the low rolling resistance center knobs.

But when we say TT's are over quick we mean 39:12 quick!  For the second MMBA CPS race in a row Diesel won his class and also set the fastest time of the day in the entire Sport Category.  This finish was years in the making, dating back to 2007.  Back then Aryn and Brian both raced Sport and were at the top of their respected classes.  It rained the entire race and conditions were horrible.  Diesel was in his prime though, arguably as fast as he is now but lost to a one time racer Eric L who used to race Expert but showed up that day in Sport to see where his fitness was leading into some fall races.  Since then Brian has had some rough years on and off the bike but with 2012 being The Year of the Diesel we knew his chance of standing atop of that box was very high.

Wining Pontiac earlier this year was a big win.  Ruby was big as well but neither of those meant as much to him as his home course Maybury.

So a big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Brian "The Diesel" McCabe for 'The Win' he has been chasing for years.

Brian Time Trialing through Maybury at speed.

With two more battles coming up at Stony and Addison in the next 4 weeks, A-Train said he is glad to step aside and out of the lime light just to watch and see what The Diesel will do.

The Hidden Gem: Ruby Trail Project

The arrival of Diesel and A-Train marked the Motor Club's first visit to Ruby Campground.  Both riders had raced there before but under a different coat of arms.  The weather was looking good and so was the trail.  Oceans of rain had fallen across lower Michigan the night before but some how it had all missed Ruby.  It was a sign of a good day to come.  Our boys were some of the first racers to show up for the day.  They pitched the team tent next to the Sandbaggers so they were surrounded by ample company.

At 9:00am Diesel and A-Train were ready for some pre riding as A-Train was to go off at 10am.  But at 9:05, the rain came.  WTF?  they waited a few minutes but the rain only got worse.  Aryn wanted to take Brian out to show him the new sections as it would be hard to pre ride between races.  So they suited up and went out in the rain.  By 9:45 it was still raining and by 9:50 a riders meeting was called.  The turn out was very low.  Only 2 people in A-Train's class showed up for the day.  So for overall finish he would go off with all the Experts and Elites under 40 yrs old.  Okay......I guess.

So as the race started, it was still raining, A-Train was using a reserved pace.  He remembered 4 year ago what it was like to race Ruby in the rain.  It was like 2008 all over again.  Not even 10 minutes into the race there were a series of 2 bridges that had to be crossed.  Wet bridges.  Here's A-Train's take on the events that followed:  "I was following the RBS rider close and as we went over the table top bridge he went down hard because it was so slick.  I some how managed to get around him without crashing myself.  But the effort was lost because I had a bad line going onto the next bridge and like rubber tires on ice I went down really hard, shoulder first, to the earth.  I laid on the ground for a minute wondering why I was putting myself through this again.  I told myself after 2008 I wouldn't race this course in wet conditions again and here I was doing it again.  So I got up, soft pedaled for a few minutes to get myself back to the road and called it a day.  My first DNF in 7 years of racing."

On lap 4 of what was Aryn's race the rain stopped and the sun came out.  By the time Diesel was to start the course was drying out and getting tacky instead of slippery.  Perfect!  That's exactly what Diesel needed to exploit his strengths on the tight, twisty and hilly course.  No long open flats on this course.  It's like it was designed for him.  After tanking on his last lap the day before Diesel was more reserved at the start and went into the woods in 4th place instead of 1st.  He wanted to pace himself and keep his splits even.  Aryn chased Brian around the course to give him updates where ever he could on field position and gaps.  He also was there at every lap to hand him bottles and said he looked solid at every split with zero kinks in his armor.

When Diesel came in through the finish he looked fresh enough to go out for another 3 laps.  A-Train had him at what he thought was a solid second place but it turns out the person who finished in front of him was from a younger age group that started before him.  His number plate didn't make sense but this meant that Diesel had won his class and not only that, he set the fastest time in the Sport Category for the day!!!  Add another podium to The Year of the Diesel.

(Sorry, this team of two is a little behind on downloading our pictures)

Taken the Wagons out West

The 7th race in the USAC Tailwind Series was the Murray Lake XC located in Brighton.  This is a fun flowing course that for most of the time can seem like a road race.  It is not as wide and open as ILRA but the avg pace for the race is high as the single track flows well and is not technical.  But aside from the small dirt road section for the lead in and lap around it's pretty much all single wide single track.

Like many other races this year Aryn and Brian met up early in the A.M. around 8:30 to set up the team's staging area.  Fellow race enthusiasts Dub9, Lakomoto and JTP provided early morning entertainment as there was a mix of trash talk and down playing going on until the first set of riders went off at 10AM.  Horsing around before races is just part of the fun during race days.

A-Train joined Dub9 on the pavement for a nice warm up before the race.  Shortly he lined up with his class and saw a few faces he didn't recognize from previous races.  He had just got back into the country (from Canada) the day before and it had been 6 days since he had been on a bike.  It was to be in the 90's again so his goal was to try and get decent field position before going into the single track and go from there.  Great plan huh?

Well by the time the single track started Aryn was 10th in line and already failed to meet his only goal he set for himself for the day.  However, as the race went on he managed to pick off a few people and work with fellow rider Simon Bailey to gain ground on the podium spots.  On the final lap, lap 4, A-Train put an attack on Simon that put him in a podium position.  He was able to make the pass when Simon over cooked a turn and had to put a foot down to correct.  However, 4 miles later A-Train's legs would not be able to sustain the pace and he started to cramp around the 2 hour mark.  Simon wasn't far behind and took advantage of the situation and tried to build a gap on Aryn.  After a mile though, Aryn recovered and set off on another attack to catch Simon but was running out of miles to do it.  A-Train came out of the single track about 4 seconds behind Simon but as Simon started his sprint Aryn could not muster up enough power to match his intensity.  In the end the A-Train came through the finish 11 seconds behind Simon.....11 seconds from another podium finish.  He was very satisfied with his race though and looking back said there is nothing he could have done to go any faster.  He left is all out there.

The frequent podium person on the team, Diesel, was set and ready to go at 1:00pm.  His goal, as always, is to go for the win.  Lap 1 he bolted off to get himself good field position and it worked.  When he was 3/4 of the way through his first lap though of the 3 lap race, he realized he might be pushing to hard of a pace so he left off the throttle a bit.  A-Train said his form still looked good as he came around for a bottle and was sure he'd be able to hold that first place spot.  However, as the race went on the heat index went up.  All the afternoon classes were starting to suffer.  As Diesel and many other riders came around to start their final lap  you could see the heat was taking its toll on everyone.  Diesel's pace had slowed but he was still putting up a good fight.

He had dropped down to 3rd place and P4 was not far behind.  But the guy in P2 was in sight at the turn so the A-Train yelled to Diesel that he needed to stay with that guy.  The Diesel stated to smoke a bit to much though and while he never caught up to P2 he was never caught by P4 so he came around through the finish in a solid 3rd place.  After the race Brian told Aryn the guy who was in front of him was none other than Rob Mitzel, an old friend and rival of the Diesel's.  Back in 2007, Diesel and Mitzel fought every weekend for podium spots.  Brian and Aryn were glad to see him back out there tearing it up.

Next up, Ruby XC.

Operation: HELLCATS

Unlike the success of the MOTOR Club's first official race last season the kick off the their side project, HELLCATS, did not share in the same blissful launch all had hoped.  The 'all' consisted of only 4 people but to those four this conjunction of racers expect a lot of themselves therefore placing high expectations amongst the team.  Although you never know who is going to show up at a race the team went in with a 'Win or Bust' mentality.

This culmination consisted of 4 racers from three different teams.  So it was agreed upon that all four should be united under one flag.  But not the flag of an existing team.  A new formation of Twin Six, the HELLCATS.  Jeremy Daum from Team Trail's Edge, Jon Wlodarczak of Einstein Racing and also Brian McCabe and Aryn Pongratz of the MOTOR Club.  In 2011 this formation was strong enough to finish 2nd place overall in the Men's Advanced 80 mile division at the Tree Farm Relay.  So in 2012 with all four members being faster, the water was starting to boil over with anticipation.

But with anticipation come drama.  A few weeks before the race Jeremy's carbon Cannondale Flash frame had cracked.  Cannondale was out of the carbon Flash frames so his warranty frame would be a 2013 carbon flash.  However, they would not be ready until September.  So he had to settle with an aluminum frame replacement in the mean time.  Jon, the most improved rider from the year before, had just started a new job and had his riding time cut weeks leading into the race.  Last, rain.  The morning of the race the trail was very damp, slick in many corners due to the rain the night before.  It would dry up for later laps but the first few would be tricky for sure.  Pre riding was done to recon some of the harder hit areas and a game plan was set in place.

Lap 1 - As always Jeremy 'The Dozer' Daum got the team off to a great Le Mans style start.  He was first into the woods and came out second place, less than a minute out of the lead.  He reported the slick spots to Jon and Aryn but Brian had to go out without the scouting report as there is not time to chat when the hand off is made.

Lap 2 - Brian, being the Diesel he has been all year, put himself in gear and was able to hold the team's field position through his lap.  His knowledge of the course helped him keep the gap to the first place team and also the team in third behind him.

Lap 3 - Jon, JDub9 as he is known to his groupies, went out for what would be only his third time ever riding this trail.  He held his own well but the team in third sent out a rocket and made up some ground on him.  He was able to hold onto second place though and held a split equal to Jeremy and Brian's.

Lap 4 - The Sport traffic began.  This part of the race has always been the A-Train's job.  The responsibility of lap 4 includes much passing and all the advanced teams would have to do the same.  Upon what looked to be a clean pass at about the 4 mile mark of the course, the passie lost control of his bike and in order to avoid a nasty crash with another rider the passer, Aryn, had to go off the trail.  Things went downhill fast....right into a tree.  Handlebar twisted sideways, brake lever rotated under the bar, chain guide slipped over and chain free of the chain guide.  The tools came out and with the help from a passing rider Aryn was back in action but lost nearly 5 mins and 3 places in the ovrall.  He was able to ride his way back into 4th place but now the Hellcats were ~6 minutes off the lead.

Lap 5 - Jeremy had it set that he was going to split 2 mins faster thatn his first lap and gain the team some ground.  He ended up going a full minute faster this lap and gained a position back but the team still stood ~5 mins from the lead however were back in a podium position of 3rd place.

Lap 6 - Like Jeremy, Brian's next split was over a minute faster than his previous lap.  He had put some time on the rider behind him but catching those in front was a bigger task.  He held his time gap to them but with only two laps to go it seemed the crash was going to coast them the win.

Lap 7 - Jon went out like a bullet fired from a gun.  He was in a tough position as the Hellcats knew that Mark Parmelee from Cycletherapy was about to launch behind him and no racer there was safe.  Jon had a 2 minute lead on Mark but they all knew he is one of the fastest guys around and 2 minutes would not be enough with 2 laps to go.....not even with one to go.

Lap 8 - Jon came to hand off to Aryn and as expected was passed by Mark P.  That put the Hellcats back in 4th place.  Jon did everything he could to not let Mark get a huge lead on him after being passed.  Dub9 rode a remarkable lap coming around with the fastest split for the day for the team.  The A-Train was sent out onto the tracks but our Hellcats knew it would take a mechanical from another team to make up ground on the 3 teams ahead of them and no one likes to win that way.  Aryn still gave it his all though and even said he was starting to catch Mark.  That is until Mark realized Aryn was in pursuit.  It only took one look and what was a visual on Mark turned into a cloud of trail dust and he put the hammer down to make sure he would not be caught.  Aryn had let off the gas at mile 9 of 10 knowing his 4th place was secure and the dream of catching Mark was just a dream.

In the end our band of merry racers walked away 4th out of 17 teams and ~ 5 minutes out from the lead after 80 miles of racing.  Without the crash they knew they would have been in the thick of the fight for the win but really we will never know.  In 2007 Brian and Aryn teamed up with others to take second in Sport Men's.  In 2008 Brian, Aryn, Jeremy and another friend teamed up to take first in Advanced Co-ed.  In 2011 Brian, Aryn, Jeremy and Jon took 2nd in Advanced Men's.  This marks the first time in 4 races here that the core of this team has not finished on the podium.  Will this fester over the off season and come back in 2013 to fight for the podium again....or will they show up in 2013 wearing costumes, race Sport and start drinking at 8am?

Congrats to the "One Ring" riders, the Superhounds and also Cycletherapy for well fought podium finishes.