THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM FOR MAYHEM

The 10th Annual Tree Farm Relay.  Soooo much I could write about for this one.  First and foremost, I would like to say thank you to ESI GRIPS and TWIN SIX for coming up huge and sending us some great stuff to give to the race promoters.  You guys help make this event and also make us look good at the same time.  A big serious thank you from the MLMBC!

Next, well.....the MLMBC scattered themselves over three team and made a good show of the day.  Dub, Diesel and A-Train raced Advanced Co-ed with their pal-gal U-Dawg.  Block and Soze picked up a couple newly acquired America Citizens, Steve and Rachel, and raced Sport Co-Ed....and yes those were their non American names before they became US Citizens.  SuperSky and Uncle rode into town down from due north with two of their cohorts and also raced Sport Coed.  3 teams, 12 racers and 6 of them MLMBC crew members.  That's a solid turnout.

Results, Diesel's team hung on on Advanced Coed for a third place finish.  Block and Supersky's team put on a great show.  Was awesome to roll with such a large crew.

Enough talk, time for pictures!!!

BTT ANDY, Because he knows his gang signs!

A little Diesel Vascularity to start the morning

A-Train putting his LUAF to the test

UNCLE getting it done!

U-DAWG knowing what's what

Retro DUBS

POWDER DUBS in the pink skirt

BLOCK doin' what BLOCK does

The Teams brought all the METAL kits to the big dance!

SOZE slaying tires

SUPERSKY!

CITIZEN STEVE 

The MLMBC's ELECTRIC MAYHEM with their third place finish

RACHEL, BLOCK, SOZE and CITIZEN STEVE

Where's the DIESEL pix you ask?  Well, saved the best for last.  

The Golden Hammer has come back  home!

For more pix of the day, here are two great websites:

Michael Faulk..aka Drunk Mike

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4gLB6eG9lO-fm14Tjk0WUNiX1pQcmdnWGo1OFl2b1Rmb0hwX0dJb0p2Tjh4UEVvVlZzTEk&usp=drive_web

Bob Bruce

https://bobbrucephotography.smugmug.com/Novi-Tree-Farm-2015/Nove-Tree-Farm/i-qXp9m9K

Thanks again to our sponsors, TEAM TREE FARM, the Motor City Mountain Bike Assoc, The HoDaddy's, Hella Bellas, Cycletherapy, and many other countless individuals like Mike Faulk and Nick Razo who made this event happen again!!!!

Can't wait til next year

THREE WHEEL MOTION

People often ask me, "Hey Chief President Managing Editor and all around good looking guy, what happens when Soze and Block go out to race and the 4 Stooges don't show?"  To that I reply, "That's a great question which I have no knowledge of because I am one of the Stooges not there....morons."

However, I have often wondered about their relationship and have viewed them in my mind like Azn and Farmtruck from Street Outlaws.  The young Soze as Azn, the energetic young guy with antics and Block as Farmtruck, the older fella who does all the driving but is the overly cautious one.  On the show street Outlaws, these two can often be found out and about in the long bed '70 Chevy Longbed trying to stay out of trouble while making trouble when Big Chief and the race crew are out talking smack and racing for bragging rights.

So, let's dive into the secret world of Block and Soze and what they do while Big Chief and the guys are away:  Lucky for us, we have some answers.  Block and Soze took it upon themselves to capture the events of their last race together with a great write up and some good pictures.

First let's start with the write up they sent me.  I had to ask for it a few times but they did manage to come up with a great review.  Go to this site, turn up your volume and click play.

https://www.freesound.org/people/CGEffex/sounds/97788/

Next, let's see some pix from the day.

Above we see Block pulling up to park before the race.  It's obvious Soze drove the team van.

Here we see Block and Soze all shinny and clean standing with their bike.

Soze warming up his legs or his getting ready to use his laser eye beams?

Post race selfie....Block unaware that Soze is about to use his laser eye beams again.

THESE TWO ARE NOTHING LIKE AZN AND FARMTRUCK FROM STREET OUTLAWS!

Okay, Soze actually told me via text how his race went.  He went of fast with the leaders and was able to hang for half the lap but then faded from lack of fitness.  But he said he got his first taste of what it takes to hang with the big dogs in his class.  He also said he's not sure if he has ever ridden the first half of that course so fast before.  Happy with the day but of course would have liked to finish a little higher in the standings....don't we all.

As for Block, no idea what he was doing all day besides standing next to his bike and smiling at the cameras.  

See, more smiling.  You thought I was kidding.

Block did manage 6th in his class.  One place out of medal contention.  Finishing a couple seconds behind the guy in front of him in this picture.  Maybe less smiling, more racing next time huh?  

So there you have it.  The recap of Azn and Farmtruck, er uh, Soze and Block's day out at Island Lake for the Second Annual Island Lake Induction Tailwind Race.  

This weekend Youngblood will be tackling the 8 Hours of Ithica and then on July 25th, the crew heads out to the 10th Annual Tree Farm Relay.  Be afraid, be very afraid.

THESE ARE THE DAZE OF OUR LIVES

It's July and we haven't had a single race recap posted on here yet.  Shame, shame, shame......but, just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean the team hasn't been racing.  Well the team has, but I haven't.  But hey, I'm just the editor...and a bad one at that.  Get what you pay for.

Let's see, for the 2015 season I believe the team has competed in four different 100 mile races.  I wasn't at any of them so I can't tell you what they were like, however, Dub9 could.  He actually resurrected his only Angry Bees Blog and recapped a couple of the races himself.  So, lets do this race by race shall we?  Just a couple quick comments, some pix and a slap on the back side for an "thatta boy!"

I believe the first race of the season for the team was NUE's Cuhutta 100 some where near the Tennessee/Kentucky border.  Dub9 and Block made the drive down introduce the NUE to the MLMBC and see what this NUE series was all about.  100 miles on a course neither one of them had ridden before?  How hard could it be?  I'll let Angry Jonny tell ya:

http://jonw9.blogspot.com/2015/05/cohutta-100-rain-and-shine.html?_sm_au_=iVVJJ6Skr60fZHNH

Next up, Youngblood and his 100 miles of Hanson Hills in upper lower Michigan.  He was supposed to write me a short recap of his day...but never did.  So all I really required to say is he went there, won the 30-39 age group solo, got his medal, a slap on the ass and then left.  However, that scruffy little face is so adorable I just want to squeeze his cheeks and tell him "Whut a good widdle job you did Youngbloodly-Poo."  That sounds gross though so I'll keep that to myself.

We move next to the race no one wants to go back to....ever.  The Mohican 100 located some where in that sad state of Ohio.  The teams second try at an NUE race. Dub9 did the 100 mile race on his SS (with his new Lauf fork) while Diesel and Block did the Metric 100 which was 60 some odd miles that I am not educated enough to properly math out without googling it.  How'd the guys do?  Well, let's let Dub's recap the day's events for us:

http://jonw9.blogspot.com/2015/06/to-hell-and-back-mohican-100.html?_sm_au_=iVVJJ6Skr60fZHNH

He's so nice isn't he?  Let's see, what was after that.....ah yes, the Lumberjack 100.  The only NUE race held in Michigan.  I'd love to tell you all about this course but I have never raced it and constantly get made fun of for not doing it.  Dub9, Diesel, Youngblood and Block went north to compete in this and everyone finished in the allowed time.  Youngblood, Dub9 and Diesel all finished within a half an hour of each other while Block made sure so one got left behind who started the race.  Look for a recap to be written soon by Dub9 once he gets to the point where he forgot half the days events.  In the mean time, here is a cool aerial of the start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfqBV6Il2U4

Coming up this weekend, Block and Soze will be racing in the USAC Tailwinds ILRA XC....that's a lot of capital letters.  The weekend after that Youngblood and A-Train will be heading over to Ithica to tackle an 8 Hour solo event.  THEN the end of the month marks the 10th Anniversary of the Tree Farm Relay!  The whole te1m, with the exception of Youngblood, will be out in attendance for that once.

And since I am back to racing again the recaps should come more often.  As we pass the half way mark of 2015, I just want to take a moment to say thank you again to our family supporters, fans, trail fairies, race promoters, psychiatrists, our parole officers, therapist, and all the cops who don't pull us over for doing 5mph over the speed limit or in some cases 6mph and of course our sponsors....Twin Six, ESI Grips, Carborocket and Loaded Precision!  You have all helped make this season successful so far.

LOOKING BEYOND WHAT YOU SEE

It's quite possible some teammates of mine will be surprised this write up is not going to be about them and their recent race of the Cuhutta 100.  However, I feel this is an important one for all the racers and sponsors out there in the cycling community.

As a racerboy I have been guilty of losing sight of the joys of just riding a bike.  Our kind gets so caught up in training and racing that we sometimes forget that it is supposed to be fun.  You train, train, train all off season to get faster then all of a sudden you learn you have to take a month off for bilateral hernia surgery in March.  March is supposed to be Base 2.  Going to have to reboot and start over in April.  Then when you are on your way back to the bike finally, you find your 6 year old daughter needs to have her kidney removed.  First it was scheduled for June but after a 4 day weekend in the hospital it is moved to May.  You are not mad at not being able to ride or train, you are just upset about the hand your family has been dealt.  It drains the whole family and you are ready to throw in the towel and sell all your bikes.  

Doesn't matter what the teammates say, you are slow...again and realize in the past 10 years of racing it's impossible to be fast for two years in a row.  It's possible that the up and down roller coaster of training is over and you are ready to get off the ride.  You think maybe it's time to polish off the old bowling ball and get the average back over 200.  Or maybe finally buy that project CJ8 Scrambler you always wanted and spend your hours wrenching in the garage rather than in the basement on the trainer.

Then packages comes in the mail for your kids from the Twin Six Family. I didn't order this stuff.  I didn't even tell them directly what was going on.  Just FB'ed some details out to let family and close friends know what was going on.

First and most important, my kids...well any kid, love presents. My daughter Ciara carried that pink water bottle around with her all weekend.  It's very important for us to keep her hydrated and that bottle could not have come at a better time because of the hot and humid weekend we had.  She got so many compliments on it when we were at Ash and Abi's track meet on Saturday.  The more compliments she got the more she drank out of it.  

Second.  Stickers go a loooong way with kids as do awesome t-shirts.  Having Twin Six stuff like dad is awesome.  In fact Ashton has confiscated my black T6 thermal for track season as he likes using it for warm ups during meets.  Now they have more of their own Twin Six swag to wear.

Last, seeing this type of support from a sponsor took my mind well beyond training and racing.  It reminded me of the friendships I have made and community I have been a part of from just riding my bikes.  I spent a lot of time this weekend reflecting after all this.  Reminding me that my family is also a part of the METAL family and by your actions you showed that it is really a family.  You guys have by far set the standard of bringing friendship, family and pedaling bikes together. 

So many thanks yous to Twin Six for the care packages they sent my kids and also for saving the soul of this cyclist.  The feeling I had on my Saturday morning road ride was one I haven't had in a long time.  The headwind and sunrise off the water never looked and felt so nice and all I could think of after was what I should pour into my T6 flask for later in the day.

Of all the advise I have given to others over the years along with some that has been given to me, the best two words that have always been right in front of me are now clear and understood.....

Forever Forward

MLMBC The Off Season, Episode 3

It's been two months since the last episode of MLMBC The Off Season and frankly no one remembers where we left off....no even the editors.  So to hell with the story line we had going back in January.  time to come up with something else to keep our followers entertained.

No one really cares to read about sweaty, smelly men riding their bikes in their basements so we'll skip over that.

Race season hasn't started for the boys yet so there's nothing to talk about there.

.......... the snow is gone.

..........

Okay, maybe we should wrap that story we were covering back in January.  So:

After trekking north for some time through the cold and snow, the rented dog sleds finally came to a stop at the Alaskan Lodge where it was rumored Block had been hiding out during the fishing trip.  Still tired, still cold, still hungry and still pissed off they had to extend this stupid trip to collect Block the team was escorted up to the Lodge.

The Manager of the Lodge was happy to see them and the guys quickly found out why.  Some one had to be responsible for paying for the damage that had been done by the Block Party held their weeks earlier.  Figuring they could cover the cost between the 5 of them the group asked how much it would cost.  Can't be that much to cover a messy hotel room in the middle of nowheresville Aslaka.  The Manager then said, "Well, let me show you.  Would be easier to explain the numbers associated with the areas involved."

AREAS!?!?

Here's some snap shots that were taken for insurance purposes:

Said A-Train, "He is in so much trouble when we get home."

Youngblood, "If he's alive when we find him I am going to beat him."

Dubs, "If he's alive I am going to strangle him. Then I am going to clone him and then strangle his clones........"

Diesel, "Let me call my wife."

Tune in next week (hopefully) to see how the boys talk their way out of this one.

MLMBC The Off Season, Episode 2

The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was......holding it's own.

If you have been following, last week's episode of The Off Season sent the team packing and heading to the greeat white north for some crab fishing.  Team Bonding?  Strength building?  Mental Focus?  A good time?  If I know these guys it was probably a no for all four of those.  As you can see from the picture above, the boys learned the hard way that crab fishing is not a sport, it's about survival.  This is what a normal morning looked like on the deck of their vessel:

And that was on the way to breakfast.  Most days the boys could be seen like this, working the traps and lines:

Well, every guy except Mitch.  Normally at around 11AM Aryn would come up from the haul

And say he found Mitch asleep...again...with the crabs....

Jon on the other hand, was a workhorse the whole time, but he did miss his cat.  So much that he brought a stuffed one with him so he'd feel more at home.

Brian was mostly quiet the entire time.  Mostly because he lost a bet with the Captain and had to pick up a crab from the deck using only his teeth.  As you can see he was successful in doing so but shortly after this photo the crab attacked him and Brian had to have his mouth wired shut for the remainder of the trip.

Over the course of the first couple days it was believed by the team and ship's crew that Ken was the craziest of the bunch.  He seemed to have grown a full beard in a matter of hours and was jumping in and out of the frigid water catching crab wearing only his boots and pants and shouting, "I don't need any nets or cages...ARGGGHHHHH!"

However, at meal time on the third day a photo surfaced of a man jumping off the boat as they shoved off from port.

It was later determined that it was Ken who jumped ship at the port yelling, "See ya suckers!" and the old balding shirtless man was actually a stowaway that had been living on the ship year round since 1962.

As the tired crew made berth late in the week, the whereabouts of Block were still unknown.  As they were tying up they overheard a rumor going around on the pier about some crazy party that happened at a local ski lodge up in the hills.

Tired, cranky and smelling of the sea, the four members of the tiem set off in search of Block.  Why had he abandoned them?  Was he at the ski lodge?  They thought he liked fishing?  Tune in next week as the team makes the voyage to the ski lodge to uncover what happened and to see if Block was there.