2008 Tree Farm Relay This Saturday!

We are pleased to announce the 3rd Annual Tree Farm Relay Event at Lakeshore Park in Novi, presented by the MMBA, Team Tree Farm and Dark Horse Racing. This is the same format as our successful 2006 and 2007 race! The course features lots of hills, passing zones and fun! This is a perfect race for the beginner looking to see what team / endurance racing is all about and for experienced racers looking to test their skills against rival teams. If you want to try an endurance race, but aren’t ready for the distance, this is the perfect event for you to see what the team racing concept is all about.

More info here..

Kerry Races to a Podium Finish at the Stony Creek Time Trial

Kerry is back! After a long spring of training for the Lumberjack 100 and some well-deserved time off afterwards, Kerry hit the Stony Creek Time Trial on July 27 and raced to a 3rd Place finish out of 8 women in her class (Sport Women 25-39).

Way to go, Kerry!!!!

Shirlee Takes Top Honors at 6-hours of Ithaca!

Shirlee Finch outlapped all the women in her class to win Fun Promotions' 6 Hours of Ithaca on July 26, 2008 by completing 14 laps! Well done, Shirlee -- hope you didnt get too dizzy out there!

Janet Wins Again at the Boyne Marathon!

Here's her race report:

'BOYNE....just hearing it intimidates me.. I awoke at 3:30am the morning of the rac e to the sound of rain. Crap. Boyne is difficult enough without being wet and muddy too. As luck would have it, the weatherman was wrong, and it had hardly rained at Boyne. It started out cloudy, but the sun came out, the wind picked up a bit and it was a beautiful day for a race. I really wanted to just finish this, as last year I had DNF'd. The course was in great condition, rooty, rather technical and big climbs as usual. I got passed once by another girl in my class. I stayed right with her, and then she had what appeared to be a nasty crash right in front of me. She got up, was OK, so I was on my way and did not see her or any other women after that. My goal was to finish in under 4 hours and I did 3:53. So I accomplished 3 things - I finished, I won and I was under my goal time. Apparently Boyne is not as intimidating as it sounds '

Congrats, Janet -- and Happy Birthday, too!!!!

Happy Birthday USA!!!

Hope everyone enjoys a weekend off racing and has a 4th of July holiday with lots of fun bike rides, bbqs and beer!!!!

Lumberjack 100 Race Report

After a great night of sleep at the historic Wellston Inn, I started my day at 5am with a wonderful breakfast courtesy of my Paula Deen Breakfast Sandwich Maker. Everyone should have one of these. It poaches an egg and warms up a sausage patty or ham slices while cooking your toast. Everything is done in less than five minutes. Amazing!

We began loading up the car, and a Bald-Faced Hornet promptly flew into our cabin. When it landed on the wall, I tried to sneak up on it with a rolled up magazine, and recoiled in horror as the tiny head swivelled around and glared at me. Did you know they could do that?! I was useless after that, and Tony bravely trapped it in his Lumberjack pint glass and let it go several hundred feet away. We began loading up the car again, only to find the same or another hornet in the room again. Tony did his glass trick again, and we headed to the venue around 6am. We made several trips lugging supplies to our tent in the feed zone. There were four of us sharing an EZ-Up and it was amazing to me how much stuff we all had. Looking back, I'd say I could've easily fit everything that I actually used into one milk crate. But you never know what you'll need, right?

The race started, and for those of us whose goal was simply to finish, the mood was cheerful. In fact, for most of the first lap I was chatting with different people. The second lap I picked up the pace a little but was still having plenty of fun. I was drinking 40-70 oz of Cytomax on every lap, plus I had a flask of Hammer gel in my pocket. I still haven't learned to get it out of there while riding, though. I would probably use it a lot more if I didn't have to actually stop and get off my bike every time I wanted some.

We had Paula and Scott as our pit crew and they did a fantastic job. I had a mental checklist of things to do in between laps. Paula refilled my Camelbak while Scott lubed my chain and I popped Endurolytes and chowed down PowerBars for a little fat and protein. After my second lap and pit break I was feeling really good about things till Paula abruptly announced, "It's time to go." I was kind of flustered after that, and her words kept haunting me for the whole third lap. Sure enough, when I pulled into the chute everyone was yelling to keep going, that I had just made the cutoff. I asked if I had time to stop at my tent and get more water and was told NO. Luckily some nice ladies at the end of the feed zone filled up my Camelbak as the race official was walking up to tape off the course! So, I never got to try out my new super-endurance food of choice: cheese and potato pierogies... *sigh*

I was trudging up the first big climb when fellow Dark Horse teamie Lynn joined me. She had just made the cutoff too, and only had one half-filled water bottle left. She traded me a Gu and some Endurolytes for some Ibuprofen and a couple of Clif Blocks, and we headed out, praying that they would keep the feed station open for us. That fourth lap just about killed me.. I've gradually figured out through the course of training for Lumberjack that my bike frame is too small for me, and climbing while seated was giving me a lot of knee pain. At the same time, I didn't have enough energy to stand on the long hills, and when I gave up and walked I was getting horrible cramps just above my ankle.

We came up on the feed station halfway through the course and found them still there waiting for us, with a fantastic array of food and endurance products. I told them they were best and most wonderful people in the world, and helped myself to some Twizzlers and Coke. It's kinda funny how I've been trying for the past month to perfect a way of quickly rendering fizzy Coke flat, yet when presented with the choice of a warm semi-flat one and an ice-cold fizzy one, I gulped the cold one with no hesitation and no regrets.

The last ten miles seemed to go on forever. I kept thinking that last big hill was just around the corner, but then it wasn't. There were additional hills that I didn't even remember.. somebody must've added them in between laps. The pinkie fingers of both my hands were completely numb. At one point I thought I saw an Indian in full headdress out of the corner of my eye. Crazy! Then I was finally rocketing down the last hill, laughing out loud because I was so happy to be finished.



-Andrea

Janet Wins at Hanson Hills XC!

From Janet:

After a 2nd place start, I kept the class leader in my sights the first 3 miles of the 1st lap, then got RIGHT on her wheel for the next 4 miles to make her really think about me being behind her. Then on a hill that widened out, I passed her and she never caught up.


WAY TO GO, JANET!