Jerseys and Race Results (Including Cohutta 100 & Trans Iowa Updte)

Good news... our jerseys are finally here and the Team got to ride in our new "colors" this weekend at the Willow Run Time Trial. While I didn't race the TT this weekend, I did take time after my ride on Saturday to "model" the new jerseys. So far the feedback from the Team members has been very good and the consensus is is the design turned out very good. One thing I know for sure is that we'll certainly get on the jersey design and lining up sponsors for 2009 much earlier, but we've got a full season of racing ahead of us before worrying about that (and a lot of great sponsors that are supporting us for 2008).

The front of the jerseys features Team Active and Battle Creek Sports Promotion. The side panels feature BC Ventures. The arms/shoulders feature Pedaling with a Purpose, The Andersons, Fastenal and AutoCam.

(Easy on the "bum" jokes...) The back of the jerseys features the remaining sponsors: Oaklawn Hospital, Johnson System, Inc., Advil, Great Harvest Bread Company and the Battle Creek Bicycle Club.

Willow Run TT
The team represented very well at the Willow Run TT this past Saturday, despite windy conditions and cool temps. Below are the results. Additionally, one of our tri-teammates (Matt Wright) took 11th out of 59 in his age group at the National City Half Marathon in Kalamazoo. Just goes to show you that cross training is alive and well on the Team!

3rd: Danny and Kathy (tandem)

11th: Jonah Curtis
35th: Jack Miner
37th: Micheal Shong

5th: Angela Bowers

3rd: Nate Leininger (junior)
4th: Mark Sherman (junior)
5th: Jacob Wolin (junior)

Bloomer Mountain Bike Race
Sport racer Josh Radi continued his great first-season race efforts and provided the following summary of Sunday's race. So far he has a 1st and 2nd place finish to his credit, but racing is an unpredictable sport and sometimes things are just beyond your control. Good job on being persistent and you'll be ready for Fort Custer this week!

"Today I raced sport 19-29. There were 8 racers total in my class. Today, well, just wan't my day. I have to admit I'm a little superstitious, and when I saw my number was 1134, which inversed spells hell, I assumed today would not be good. Anyway, on the first straight away, I was in second place and as I shifted from the front middle ring to the front big ring, my chain completely popped off. So as the people from my class and the people from the 20-35 age group passed me, I was finally able to get it back on.

Then within a few turns I had passed the 20-35 guys and was on the rear tire of 3rd and 2nd place in my class. I tried to pass 2 times while using the "on your right" technique, but after repeated failures by the arrogant rider in front of me I just tried to pass even when I knew he wouldn't give me room, and I ended up eating tree bark. After this, I didn't really have a chance to catch them however I maintained my 4th place position, and beat their lap times by over a minute on the last lap.

Overall I was happy that I wasn't seriously injured, and well, my front forks got tweaked a little bit, but nothing the Team Active Mechanics can't fix (I hope). So thats my news for the weekend. I'm pumped to be at Fort Custer next weekend, and I hope to see all of you there."

Cohutta 100
Dan Frayer completed the Cohutta 100 race last weekend (April 19th), a stop on the National Endurance Mountain Bike Series. For a complete report, visit Dan's blog and check out the pictures and recap. Great job Dan. Rumor has it he's shooting for a top-15 finish in this series...

Trans Iowa Race Update - Joe Wins Again!!!!!
Joe Kucharski returned to the great state of Iowa to defend his 2007 Single Speed championship in the 300+ mile, self-supported mountain bike race called Trans Iowa. Visit the official website at http://www.transiowa.blogspot.com for audio updates from Guitar Ted. Conditions were terrible, with mudslides, trees across the road, etc... making this year one of the toughest races ever. The race started with 55 participants and only five riders finished, as the race directors elected to cut the race "short" at just over 240 miles. Stiff winds with speeds in the 8 MPH range (even some were actually blown off their bikes) made for a very tough event. We're proud of you Joe and look forward to your update after you get some sleep!

Coming up next weekend is the Fort Custer Stampede Mountain Bike Race and several Team members will be racing. Stop out May 4th to watch the fun and be sure to swing by the team tent and say hello.

Ride on...
Eric

Pontiac Lake, Kruse Crit, Infiterra Spring Fury & Yankee Springs

Greetings race fans... Team Active Racing has had a few good couple of weekends of racing. Josh Radi took first place in his first mountain bike race at Pontiac Lake. In an e-mail, Josh recapped his event:

"I started my race at 11:30 and when I started it was snowing. So the entire course had this like 2 inch film of slick mud which made everyone's time suffer, but I am excited to go back. There were alot of hills (up and down) which made it interesting. I think this course could be really fast when its dry because there are so many fast technical sections. So, I would have to give this track a 5 out of 10 when its wet, but my guess is its a 9 out of 10 when its dry."

Rookie Mark Sherman took second at the Kruse Crit in Angola, IN for his first criterium race in the junior category. Great Job Mark! Also, we had two racers participate in the Infiterra Spring Fury adventure race at Yankee Springs last weekend. Jennifer Blank participted on a mixed team of four and took first in their classification, 12th overall in a field of over 80 teams! Additionally, Jack Miner raced the solo category and recapped his event below:

"It was a very cold and long day, but I completed my "reminder that I do not know how to read a map event" adventure race--The Spring Fury in Yankee Springs. I was in the top 5 after 6 hours of racing for the first time because the real elite racers missed a turn and got lost. I gambled that I could forgo a couple control points and make it up in the orienteering but spent an hour circling a turn on the north country trail when the map actually indicated a creek...I dropped in the standings significantly but I am very happy that Advil is a sponsor."

Finally, today we had a handful of racers participate in the Yankee Springs mountain bike race with Josh continuing his good results with a 2nd place finish. Mike Groat and Jim Gallagher raced the Expert category, placing 6th and 21st respectively. Keith Wilkinson raced Sport and finished 11th and speedster Daryn Franks moved up to Elite for his first race of the season and placed a respectable 17th among some stiff competition.

Up next is the Willow Run Time Trial next weekend (the 29th) and then Fort Custer Stampede on the 4th of May. If you are going to be anywhere close to Battle Creek on the 4th, be sure to stop out and visit. We'll have a tent up and may even be cooking up some yummy food for our post-race celebration.

Go Team Active Racing!
"Captain" Cook...

Fisk Knob Time Trial Results

On Sunday, March 30th, Team Active Racing made it's 2008 debut with an appearance at the Fisk Knob Time Trial. The day was quite a bit colder than last year's event and the final stretch before the big hill (it IS called a Knob for a reason) was into a cold headwind. Combine the race conditions with less than ideal training weather for the early part of the season and it's safe to say we're glad to have this one behind us.

Despite the weather, team members placed very well and below are the times and placements.

Here are the team results:

Daryn. 7th. Ave. 21.92
Jonah 9th 20.63
Josh 10th 17.56
Danny. 11th. Average 20.67
Jim. 13th 19.10

The next race on the schedule is Pontiac Lake Mountain Time Trial, and we'll have several racers at this event as well. Good luck to the crew and check back for race results soon...

Fisk Knob Photos.

Jonah putting the hammer down. Hard to believe this guy bench presses like 850 pounds (ok, not really but he looks like it).


Hey Jim, why aren't you smiling?


Danny sporting some winter "fuzz". Bet if he was clean shaven it could have got him another .5 mph... what do you think?


OMG, is that Daryn on something other than a mountain bike. Guess he's pretty fast on the road and the dirt. Double whammy...

Welcome to Team Active Racing

Greetings and welcome to the Blog for Team Active Racing, south-west Michigan's premiere cycling team. It's our intent to provide information on Team news, events and happenings throughout the racing season.