Criterium Udpate from Devin

The following update comes to us from Devin, our very own Cat 5 Criterium State Champion. He raced this past weekend in Grand Rapids and did great!

Greetings Team Active Racers and fans,

It was a beautiful day in Grand Rapids for the 2nd Annual Priority Health Grand Cycling Classic. Last year, I missed the inaugural event because I was in Florida for my father's quadruple bypass surgery. This year, as I was warming up around the course, none other than the Battle Creek Bicycle Club's Wayne White showed up. It was good to see Wayne and after talking some, I continued my warm up. The course itself contained several stretches of brick pavement, a la Roubaix, although not as bad. During the race, though, it was rather disconcerting to have tires skip over pavement. At around 10:20 am, we gathered at the start to hear a short speech from the Grand Rapids mayor (who was wearing a green sprinter's jersey), and a rousing rendition of the national anthem by a local a capella group (Brian Clissold would have enjoyed it), and then we were off. Like the Ada Crit, the 4s and 5s were running together, with prizes paid out to 10 places.

The race was scheduled for 35 minutes, and the first ten minutes were hectic as the racers sorted themselves out. I was almost taken out on the third lap by someone coming in on me in turn 1. Fortunately, I handled the bike well enough to keep us both upright, and I tried to stay more to the front, although there was a lot of yo-yo effect. In the fourth lap, there was what sounded like a pretty nasty crash in the little chicane section near Van Andel arena, and again, I was lucky enough to be up front. There were 4 or 5 primes, and I actually led a lap, but no one ever got away; we all sat up after each prime, and clumped up again. I could occasionally hear Wayne cheering me on, and I can't tell you how much it means to have some support from the sidelines. Fast forward to 6 laps to go and the positioning started. Since I was able to catch my breath each lap, I was feeling pretty good.

With 2 laps to go, there were some serious separations in the making, and I accelerated to be at or near the front. Coming into the final lap, I felt I could at least make a top ten finish. We wound it up with 200 meters to go, and although I was not at the front, I did accelerate past a couple of riders to claim the 10th spot and a share of the cash prizes paid out in the Cat 4 races.

My lovely Polar cyclocomputer/heart rate monitor purchased from one of our sponsors, Team Active, indicated a HR average of 178 and a 23 mph average speed. All in all, a good day at the races.

While we were waiting for the official results, Wayne and I visited the Hopcat, a local watering hole, and I can say, if you are ever in Grand Rapids, it is worth the trip. Wayne also took several pics which I believe he will post on the Battle Creek Bicycle Club web site.
Well, that is it for my 2008 official racing season. Next Saturday, I'll compete in the Cereal City Corporate Cup 10-mile time predict sponsored by Team Active, and then on Sunday, I hope to see EVERYBODY out for the Cereal City Century. Until then, ride safe and ride strong.

Devin

Another State Champion - Congrats Josh!

I got the following update from Josh last night and sounds like his first year of mountain bike racing is turning out just as he planned. With his win on Sunday at Stony Creek, he secured the 2008 Tailwinds XC MTB Series and USAC Michigan State Championships for Sport Men 19-29! Below is the recap from Josh. With just a handful more races to go, he's still got a few races yet this year, but for his first year of mountain bike racing has accomplished quite a bit thus far. Great job, Josh. We're all very proud of you!

From Josh...

Today I raced the last race in the Tailwind XC MTB series at Stony Creek Metropark. It's been hard to train with the addition of fall classes to my schedule, but I still managed to come out swingin. I got 1st place, and in addition became the 2008 Tailwind XC MTB Series Champion and 2008 USAC Michigan State Champion for Sport Men 19-29.

Out of the 8 total races, I participated in 7. My results were as follows: 1st, 4th, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 1st. I am very excited about my accomplishments so far, but the hardest part of my season is yet to come. I have 4 races left, with each successive race becoming exponentially more important than the last. The first two races coming up are Addison Oaks and Pando. These are a part of the MMBA CPS series. These are important because I am in a close battle with 2nd place. The third race on my list is the Boyne State Championship Race. I'm not sure why they call it the "state championship" but I'm racing it anyway. Finally, to top off the season I will be competing in the Ice Man Cometh race in November, and from what I've been told this tends to be an icing on the cake race, which separates the men from the boys. I hope to continue my first year success in the races to come to add to this amazing first year MTB experience. Thanks again to all my sponsors, and friends who have helped me so much this year. I couldn't have done this well without all of the support.

Josh

Help Fight Childhood Cancer

Fifteen year old Team Active Racer, Mark Sherman, is competing in the 2008 Cereal City Century this year, but completing the event is only one of his goals. He's riding to help raise awareness (and money) for childhood cancer and needs your support. Specifically, Mark is raising money to support the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation and has raised over $1,000 so far, but he's still a ways away from his $10,000 goal.

Mark participated in his first mountain bike race last year and raised over $1,400 to support the CNCF and joined Team Active Racing in 2008. As you may have read in a recent post on this site, he just completed his first 12-hour road cycling event in Illinois, completing 195 miles and setting the course record for 25 and under male category. So, the 100 mile CCC should be a "walk in the park" for him, but raising money is the big challenge.

Mark joins me in fund raising through Pedaling with a Purpose and helping to support the CNCF. Together, with Mark's help, PWAP has raised over $23,000 to support this worthy cause and is deserving of your support. Even if you can only afford a small amount, please show your support by making a contribution of any amount. You can check out his site for more information and can make a debit/credit card contribution online. The donation is tax deductible and goes directly to the CNCF.

Please join me in supporting Mark and helping to fight this deadly disease. Mark is an amazing kid and a true inspiration to all of us on Team Active Racing. What you may not know, is that Mark is actually a survivor of this deadly disease. Stricken as an infant, he was given only a 15% chance of survival. But thanks to medical miracles (and I'm sure his positive attitude), he's with us today and taking steps to make a difference (and tearing up the road on his bike at the same time). I think we can all learn a lesson from Mark and I consider it an honor to consider him my friend.

Donate Online Now: http://www.activegiving.com/donate/mshearman2008

Thanks for your consideration,
Cap'n Cook

Another BIG weekend...

Well, the weekend started off with Alicia (my wife) and me headed up north to Houghton Lake for the 3-day holiday weekend to hear parent's home. About 5 miles from our destination, I saw some bikers riding with flags off the back of their bikes (not even thinking about the DALMAC tour that goes from Lansing to Mackinaw City). Much to my surprise, the lead rider in the group was wearing a Team Active Racing jersey! We slowed down and found out it was Daryn riding with one of his buddies, finishing the second leg of their journey from Midland to Houghton Lake. Had it not been for the "team colors" on his back, we would have drove right past. I haven't heard how he did, but 70 miles per day is a walk in the park for Daryn, so I'm sure he did great and hope he had fun.

This weekend we had a couple of riders set some pretty amazing accomplishments. Matt completed his first Ironman triathlon event down in Louisville and Kathy and Mark competed in a 12-hour road cycling event in Illinois (and both set course records for their divisions). Below is Matt's recap of the event for your reading pleasure. Incidentally, Kathy rode 217 miles, setting the course record for overall female and Mark put in 195 miles, also snagging course record in the 25 and under category! Great job team...

Ironman Louisville Update - By Matt Wright

Team,

It was a hot and sunny day in Kentucky but I managed to complete my first Ironman. It was a time trial start jumping off the Tumbleweeds boat dock...the guy behind me jumped in on top of me and nearly dislocated my right shoulder... I shrugged it off and proceeded to swim the 2.4 miles in 1:14:07. Then it was off to the VERY hilly 112 miles of beautiful Kentucky countryside. I managed to maintain 18.28 MPH on the bike course for a 6:07:42 split. The first half of the marathon was quite brutal for me, but, as I passed by the finish line for the first loop of the course, I saw the end in sight and managed to pick up my pace for the second half to finish with a 4:56:52 marathon. My overall time was 12:29:54 and I was 86 of 342 in my age group.

Thanks to everyone that has encouraged me and especially to Team
Active and the Race Team sponsors!

Matt Wright

Now that September has arrived, you're probably like me and wondering where the summer went. Time to start charging up the lights to extend the riding day and get out and do some night riding. I'm looking forward to trying out my new Nite Rider lighting system that I picked up from Team Active a bit ago. There's nothing quite like riding a mountain bike trail at night with lights. Makes it an entirely different experience, for sure.

Until next time...
Cap'n Cook