2013 Iceman- MYC Women 12-14

"One minute til go."  This was it.  I was getting ready to start my first full Iceman.  I was lined up ready to go.  I looked around and saw Summer, Hannah, and other girls that I race with, and also some people I didn't know.  I was cold and nervous. "Five seconds.......riders go!"

We took off and I decided to follow Summer since she is fast.  I stayed on her wheel the first couple of miles  so I wouldn't waste all my energy.  Another girl took off, but I didn't want to go to fast that early and use up all of my energy.

A mile or two into the two track we started catching some of the boys from the wave in front of us.  As we rode, we passed more of a variety of riders.  I wasn't cold anymore and was having fun.  I was looking forward to the singletrack, but there were lots of riders and they were going slow in those sections.  I wanted to pass but there wasn't an opportunity to get around them.  As soon as the trail opened up, I took off.

As I got closer to Williamsburg Road there were a lot of people cheering.  That was cool.  They even had an announcer.  I was happy to know I was over half way done and still felt good. The rest of the race went fast. Right after Anita's Hill I passed some teammates.  They cheered me on and I told them good job.  My favorite part was going through the campground towards the end.  There were lots of people and I knew I was almost done.

I finished in 2:47 and got third place.  After I crossed the finish line my mom came to tell me good job.  As we walked I thought I saw a box of donuts.  It turned out they were cookies, but that was okay because I was starving.  

This was a fun racing season.  I liked getting to see Claire at all of the road races and crits, and even a few off road stuff.  It was also nice seeing the Summer and other girls at mountain bike races. I'm looking forward to getting to see everyone back out at the races in the spring.

West Branch Road Race & Hanson Hills CPS Challenge

I tried something new this weekend - racing two hilly races I'd never done before back to back both on and off road.  That's what this team is all about...Real Women "Trying" new things to see how far we can grow!

Friday evening Matt and I drove up North to give the West Branch Road Race a try.  Four CAT 3 women were signed up, all wonderful women and tough competitors.  My goal was to keep the pace high and crank on the hills whenever possible to attempt to tire out the slim field.  A most excellent surprise awaited me at the starting line after my warm-up, my teammate in pink, Lori Hotchkin!  Seeing her made me smile knowing I wouldn't be the only RWT out there on the hills.  The USA Cycling officials gave us the option to reduce our race to one lap, but we all voted for the full two laps.  Lap one moved along at a healthy clip.  All five racers worked together, and we averaged a pace nearing 22mph, (much faster than our combined CAT 1/2/3 race at Frankenmuth's flat course last week).  There was a little rain halfway through, but not enough to deter our race pace.  At the end of lap one, Marie Dershem from Team Priority Health, pulled ahead of me halfway up the steep climb.  I dug deep and worked hard for two miles to chase her down.  I did not want to get sucked back into the field or lose Marie with her time-trialing skill.  Once I caught her, we decided to work together and did so at a fast pace for the remainder of the race.  The wind picked up as the temperature warmed, and we struggled against a long stretch of hilly road in a fierce headwind.  Taking shorter pulls made it a bit easier and having someone to work with helped immensely.  Once we got to the base of the ending climb, we were side by side - an appropriate position considering how we worked together in the second lap.  Marie out-climbed me in that final hill, and I ended up in second place.  It felt great, though, to know how hard I'd worked to catch her and to enjoy the feeling of a fast and competitive race!   2800 feet of climbing and 44 miles raced.

Then...Matt and I drove over to Grayling where we relaxed and anticipated a mountain-biking adventure, Hanson Hills.  We awoke to cold temperatures right around 50 degrees with mist and drizzle in the air.  It felt more like November than June, so I just pretended to gear up for Iceman instead of Hanson Hills!  There was a combined Elite/Expert field of 7 women.  After a ten mile warm-up to try to loosen up my tired legs, I hit the start line.  Kati Krikke from Freewheeler was ready and raring to go, along with Rachel Decker from Hagerty and Chelsea Strate from Einstein.  Mentally I was excited to race - I loved the idea of riding this new trail and racing some tough ladies.  Katie took off on the long hill in the first lap, and though I hung on up the climb, Rachel passed me and I dropped to third.  Immediately I could feel the lethargy in my legs from racing West Branch the day before.  Chelsea sat on my wheel for the first lap.  My legs felt like dead-weights whenever I upped the power on climbs or straights, and I was questioning my choice to try racing these two events back to back.  My entire second lap was ridden alone.  During that lap I seriously thought about bailing on the race - being out of contention and out on my own created a mental challenge; it felt more like the third lap of Lumberjack 100 than the second lap of a quick 33 mile race!  Coming through the start/finish with one lap to go, I saw Jack Kunnen take a picture of me in my misery, and I told him I was ready to call it.  He looked me in the eye and said, "They aren't far ahead of you at all!  Go get 'em!  You have one more lap in you!"  So...I clipped in and took off.  Sure enough, I caught and passed one lady racer and saw Chelsea ahead of me through the woods.  My legs finally began to loosen up, and the third lap was the best yet!  I came through the finish chute and took fourth place.  I would love to do this race again when I'm not fighting leg fatigue from racing the day before.  The trail flowed smoothly and the climbs were fun!  I logged another 2400 feet of climbing.

It was a successful weekend insofar as I pushed myself to try something new by racing back to back road and MTB races.  75 miles of racing on the road and trails with 5200 feet of climbing among the company of fantastic competitors and teammates was well worth the challenge.  In the end, it's the people who make this fun - Jack's encouragement in my low moment of racing, the smile on my face upon seeing Lori at the start line, hearing teammate Laura Korienek cheering and enjoying the challenge of the race with Marie.  Real Women both DO and TRY!  

Das Tour de Frankenmuth- Juniors 10-14

 Friday evening we arrived in Frankenmuth. Me and my family drove through the new part of the course. On race day we woke up early for the race. When I was ready to go I rode my bike down to the start. I did a quick warm up then went to the start, where I met up with my sister and Claire. I watched as all of the other groups go off, while I moved closer and closer to the starting line.

Junior Start- picture courtesy of Rich Kipke

 As they started to count down I got nervous then the race was on. Everyone was rushing ahead I was trying to get in the front group but they were moving too fast for me. I started falling back it seemed like I was alone when a group of girls came up riding behind me. I got in the middle of the group. We were moving at a pretty fast rate trying to catch up to the other group. Near the middle of the race, my sister attacked off the front of the group.  Just then, the Pro/1/2 men passed us.  Our group sped up, caught Kiersen and she dropped off the back.  One girl kept attacking off the front and our group started breaking apart.  

Mid-Race picture by Cristin Robb

Near the finish, we caught up to two boys.   The closer we got to the finish, the faster we went.  Everyone was riding very close together and at times it felt chaotic.  As we turned the last corner, the Cat 3 men were starting to pass us.    I raced down the hill with the men’s group passing within inches of me.  I couldn’t tell where anyone in my group was.  When I reached the bottom of the hill I took off sprinting as fast as I could.  Claire came next to me right at the finish and we had no idea who won.  It was so close and I was exhausted! 

Proof I was exhausted by Mark Hotchkin

Claire and I talked about how crazy the race finished.  When I went to junior rollout I asked the official who won and she said it was me!!  I was filled with joy. 

Podium pic by Scott Kroske

It was a fun day of racing with the other juniors and cheering on teammates and my family.  Loved the race, Drumstick the Chicken, and the jug of root beer that we used to make root beer floats all weekend:-)

The jug of root beer I won!  Picture by Kroske

                 By: Ellie K.

Ada Time Trials (aka Ada TT)

Well I joined Real Women Tri this year to learn more about biking so that I could do a 70.3 triathlon... who would have guessed there are so many different types of events on a bike!! Gravel races, road races, mountain bike races, criteriums, triathlons and now time trials. (Sarah Mac will be putting on a clinic on cyclocross races soon, so another type of race to learn!!Watch for that!!)

Time trials are very similar to the bike racing portion of the triathlon. So if you are thinking of doing a triathlon or two, this is a good competition to do. I would suggest that the Ada Time Trials are the perfect place to learn. The organizers are laid back and excellent teachers. There are many athletes at all levels from the bike with baskets and regular pedals to those killer Tour De France guys with pointy space age helmets and solid (no spokes) noisy wheels!

Ada TT are every Monday night with registration starting at 5:30 and the racing starting at 6:30. You register and it is smart to let them know that you are new to time trialing, as they let you go out at the beginning. They give you a number and a time you will start. You warm up a bit and then go to the starting line. At the starting line you line up by number. Last week I was #2 so I was the 2nd racer to go. Tonight I was 14. (Fast racers go later, as they do not take as long and the race people do not have to wait for them as they are speedy!!)

The clock starts and the first racer lines up. At 30 seconds the 1st racer goes. Then the next biker wheels to the line. At the line you get race ready by clipping in and getting your pedals where you like. You should be in a medium gear. The time keeper gives you the 5,4,3,2,1 and go. There is a person holding you up as you are clipped in and at go, they give you a nice push. You are off and pedaling! This TT is 15 miles and is relatively flat. You pedal down Grand River Drive for 7.5 miles and you pedal back. Easy as pie!!!! Not!! You try to go at top speed the whole way. Of course fast people pass you on  your left. The only rule is you cannot draft, (similar to triathlons). When you get to the turn around you look for cars and cross the road and begin the journey back. At the finish line you yell out your number to the timer and they will adjust your time for the staggered start. (Your actual time will be a 5th graders story problem....excellent opportunities for family math!!)

Why do it?
1) The Ada Time Trials are every Monday (except Memorial Monday) throughout the summer. You pay one fee $25.00 (which is to join the Rapid Wheelman) and you get to race every Monday. So it is reasonable!

2) You get to see your improvement. The organizers keep all of your statistics on their website and you get to see how good you are getting. I hear there is even a prize at the end of the summer for most improved biker! And they do graphs on your improvements etc. Very Cool!

3) Each week you get points. Yes EVERYONE gets points. The slowest person (with baskets and regular pedals) who finishes with the slowest time gets 5 points. The next slowest (who removed their baskets from the previous week ;) gets 10 points, and the next slowest gets 15 etc all the way up to the fastest biker. So if you come out and give it a shot you get points. You could accumulate points while those very fast Tour de France people sit at home.... Hey you could pass them by if you pedal and they do not show!! Points collect through out the season. Prizes are given at the end of the season.

4) You can meet new biking people and support other PINK who are out there riding. You can see the speed of the pink when Sarah RAH! zooms by, and Angie with her very cool space age aero helmet zips past, and Sarah Mac in her Pink Skin Suit  pushes with an awesome time to the finish!! It is great fun.

5) You can get training miles in and have fun at the same time.

6) AND A VERY COOL THING: If you are planning to be in the GRTri (June 9th), this time trial course is on the GRTri route. So you can practice for the triathlon and race at the same time!! A Great Deal!!

Plan to get there early as the traffic in Ada is very slow. The website is: http://www.rapidwheelmen.com/time-trials.html

I really hope that many of you come out and try this! I would love to see you all there! If I can do it, you all can certainly do it even better!

Go Pink!

Respectfully Submitted:
Gail

Queens Day Crit

What a victory for PINK today at the Queens Day Criterium. It was massive PINK everywhere!

Cat 4 Ladies were very well represented:
Sara Merritt
Sarah (Mac) McIntrye
Donna Borgman
Heather Frank
Shellie Raisanen
Gail Ranville
Cheryl Havens was signed up but could not make it today... She was sorely missed!

Cat 4 ladies went off at 10:00 for an approximately 30 minute race. There were 19 in the field vieing and competing for prize money 6 places deep. Pink had one seasoned veteran, Sara Merritt, while the rest of us were entirely new to the sport of criteriuming (a new sport and a new word as well!) Yes luckily some of us had made it to the clinic the day before, but for the most part we were New Critters and learning as we went. The 8 corner course was a doozy, but we all got lots of experience and started to feel comfortable approaching the curves, getting the inner pedal up and leaning into it. We all survived marvelously well without a crash or incident to remark on. Sara Merritt finished in the lead pack, but just out of the money. We all were behind her, but no pink finished last. We all loved it and I dare say we are hooked!

Cat 1, 2, 3 ladies all raced together at 11:10. This field featured 12 competitive athletes with money going to the to the top 10 finishers. We had 6 competent, awesome, strong pink girls at the line including:
Jane VanHof (lovingly referred to as biker Jane)
Sarah Williams (familiar to many as Rah! not sure the exclamation point is attached but it should be)
Lori Hotchkin (known as the focused fighter on wheels... not really but she could be)
Heather Kubiak
Tammy Moran
Laura Korienek

This race was strategic with several in the field noting how many RWT women had entered the race!! With 6 riders we were in the majority and were called to take the lead. (After the race Lori confirmed she felt that the town had put on a great event and she wanted the Cat 1,2,3 women's race to show all of the spectators an exciting event, so she made a concerted effort to attack and pull and add excitement. If I may say so myself, it was a great race!!)  The RWT team got out and pulled and lead much of the time. Jane, Sarah and Lori pulled many of the laps. Lori was out there in the lead to win a prem as she dug down and attacked to hit the line first winning a mid-race prize. Nice job Lori! It was an exciting race and Pink had many money winners with Biker Jane on the podium winning not only money, but half of a wooden shoe trophy as well. Everyone did well and represented our Real Woman Team with awesome poise, composure, and  strength.

WE WERE FIERCE! (Thanks Brandy....)

The afternoon was spent reviewing the races, discussing strategy for the next crit and watching the Men race on. It should be noted that there were several Junior Real Women represented. Both Ellie and Kierson also won a wooden shoe! I hope that the excitement of Maddie, Kierson and Ellie's race (is that right????) will be captured by them in a separate blog. We love reading their re-caps!

Saturday Kent ISD Crit Clinic and races

Disclaimer.... I am a novice, beginner.... and you read this blog at your own risk....

Several RWT have suggested the Saturday Kent ISD Criterium Clinic and Races, and this past Saturday was the first of the series that I could make. It was the 3rd of 4 and I thought it was fabulous, so I am blogging to encourage anyone who is the slightest bit interested in EVER doing a Criterium race to get out to the last clinic next Saturday.

Why GO?
1) It is free! You only have to pay the $10.00 day license that the Biking Federation of Biking People collect. (I am not sure who they are, but they collect it and I paid it....There must be a reason...)

2) It was extremely helpful, even getting set up. We all got a number and were taught how to pin it on under our arm pit and sideways....you really need to make friends to get the thing on right....which is good. Donna Borgman and Danielle Nye were there and we all helped each other. Who would have guessed that you don't use the pin holes and you use about 8 pins... but this is just one helpful tip that you learn.

3) They had a 12-15 minute shpeel on all of the nuances of the criterium race. You could ask questions and all questions were answered. The talk included easy stuff, like how to start... as well as technical stuff, like "holding your line" which is following the person closely in front of you and not swerving around causing mass pandemonium, crashes and death. (I especially found this helpful.) On this note, they did also cover crashes: if you do end up in a crash, you take the shortest route to the pit area and the pit people help you and you get a free lap. In the pit you get to sop the blood off of you and get back in where you left off, without being far behind. (I thought this was nice, but hoped to never have to be sopping off any blood.)

4) After learning the details with the kind speech, we all went to the line and they counted off a start 4,3,2,1 go. We all went. There were 3 guys who were from a blue team who rode around with us (14 of us, guys and girls who were at the clinic.) The blue guys answered questions we had while we were criteriumming away....like how to follow, how to take a curve, when to sprint, how to put your inner foot up while taking a curve etc.They were great! We did 3 laps around the course. Nothing like hands on training.... and did I mention free...

5) Lastly why you should do it... You got a water bottle and a coupon for BW3.

I know that you fellow triathletes are out there swimming, biking and running... but you should not miss this opportunity. (I ran my 8 miles before the clinic and ended up with a nice 8 miles on the bike at the clinic!) Fit it in if you can.

Yankee Springs Time Trial- Women 11-14/Middle School

Today was the first race of the MMBA series.  When I arrived at Yankee Springs it was pretty early in the morning.  For most of the day I sat around watching the races.  Quickly the time came around for me to race.  I did a short little preride before I lined up.  When I got to the start I mingled with some of the people in my age group.  The line quickly urged forward.  When I got closer to the start I got really nervous, because I was worried my little sister would pass me.  The person in charge told me to go and I took off pedaling as fast as I could.  Early on there were many people I passed.  Every once in a while, my dad would give me helpful pointers on which part of the trail to pick.  The climbs were difficult followed by technical down hills.  Multiple times I found myself struggling on turns and bumps.  Right before the matted hill Jack caught up to me.  After the top of the matted hill he passed me, but I stayed behind him.  After a few miles I passed him again.  I knew it was getting close to the finish when I started to climb Ol' Piney.  At that point, my legs were so tired I could barely feel them.  I got into the last section and worked as hard as I could. Shortly after I sprinted out of the woods and onto the final stretch.

  I was so happy because of everyone cheering me on.  After I finished, I was out of breath and tired. I waited around for my sister to finish and then went to see the results.  I got 2nd!!  I was so happy with my time too.  I beat my last year's time by over 20 minutes!  When I stood up on the podium, I felt like I couldn't stop smiling:-)

                                                Ellie K.

Ellie 2nd & Kiersen 4th

Mountaineer Pi Run

Race Report (Pi 5K)

Yesterday my mom, Ellie and I went to Byron Center for the Mountaineer Pi 5Krun. When we got there it was cold but the sun was coming up. We were a little late because all of the other people from my school were already there. My sister and I headed in the building to get our numbers. When we got out all of the other “Trail Dawgs” were warming up but we caught most of them. Then we stretched and headed to the start line.  My cousin and I lined up close to the front but not directly in front. When he blew the horn we sprinted down the hill and around the first corner. We caught a lot of people in the first long stretch. Our strategies were to stride down the down hills and hammer it up the up hills. When we turned into the subdivision my cousin was starting to get ahead of me and it seems like every time I caught her she would leave me. We turned onto a different street that had runners going both ways. When we caught two girls from my school and passed them. One of them wouldn’t give up easy and caught us. The three of us were together until we turned at the two mile mark. I was staying with the girl pretty well but we dropped my cousin about half way through that stretch. When we turned on to the second to last road we picked up the pace. I stuck with the girl through the downhill but she dropped me on our way back up. A little bit after she left my cousin caught me. On our way up the very last hill where the finish line was I could tell my cousin was hurting. We sprinted up the last hill and I got her by two seconds. The other girl ended up beating me by nineteen seconds. I ended up getting first place in my age group, so did my mom. .

My time was 27:55, which was faster than I ran at Gazelle Girl last weekend. In the end we all got FREE PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!      
Kiersen K.

Lowell 50, Gravel road race: 28 mile and 50 mile course (April 6 and Oct 26, 2013)

Go PINK!

Many of you asked how the Lowell 50 went…. here is a recap. Hope it is not too wordy… but it would be a great fall race for many pink to do when we are all in GREAT shape! (This is the race that PINK dominated the overall podium last fall with biker Jane, and sisters Lori and Kathy…and they are on the podium on the home page of the race still!!!) ~ Fall race is October 26th btw.

WELL Angie and I DID  IT!!  Angie has an injury and I had written to the race director and we had permission to drop to the 28 mile race if she was still hurting. Angie had said that she was feeling ok but the weather was iffy… so we had not made up our minds on which race we would do this morning.  I got there and we had to go to our age group folder and sign a waiver. I got pretty excited to find only one other girl in my folder!! WOW I thought…. all I have to do is get out there, do it and wa la I am on the podium… Unless of course 2 other 50 plus ladies showed up for late registration which would knock me off the podium…. unless I pedaled up a storm of course. So while I was waiting for Angie and her husband Joe to get there and I looked in her age group book  40-50 …. WOW Low. Behold. she was the only one in the book! It would take 3 late registrants in that age group to knock her off the podium! I called her on her cell and said "We are SOOOO doing the 50 mile race!!!! There were all sorts of girls in the 28 mile race. Hey hardware is hardware!!

The weather report was snow and rain last night and possibly into this morning. But we really lucked out with a kinda cold 42ish day but no precipitation. The WIND was another thing. It was BEASTLY! At times we literally almost got blown over. There were a bunch of hills in the 1st half but when we were out in the farm land flats for the second half, the wind whipped us like we were kites! Luckily Angie is a very tough cookie (who I started referring to as Iron Angie) and she stayed with me. We  picked up another guy (named George ). He drafted for us for many miles. I tried to pull but could not keep the pace. At times we were only going 7-11 mph with the stinking wind.

Well with 5 miles to go, Geo dropped us, and then I fell off Angie's pace and then more hills started. I know that a 50 mile course will measure a bit longer than 50 miles, but when 51 showed up on my computer and plus a few more hills …. I was not smiling. Then I figured well I really don't have much choice but to press on. I mean I could not exactly hop off the bike and say "hey I only signed up for a 50 miler"  I guess I should have thought WOW, extra miles and all for one low price! (But no, I was not saying that!) I could see Angie in the distance and that kept me going. And all I could say was ditto when mile 52 rolled around! Needless to say the hills and the wind kept coming. (I pictured getting my permanent magic marker out when I got home and marking up the water bottles they had given us… changing the Lowell 50 to a Lowell 52 with my marker…) I am not sure if the race ended at 52 or 53 but it ended. And I was happy when I saw at least one other biker behind me!

We both made the podium for our age group… and Masters for that matter!  Merry  VanderLinnen from Flying Rino beat both Angie and I. 

We did the ride in about 3:52. With the wind this one was one tough mama…. but no snow and no rain. That was good. A special thanks to Danielle, who was out there cheering us on and taking photos. She was supporting her husband who was in the race as well. And last but not least Joe O'Brien (Angie's husband who calls himself Man of Real Women Tri) was sooooo supportive. Thanks Joe!

Overall, a good pink day! See you all out there in Oct...