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.