The second set of races at the 'Thunderdrome' were held on April 30, 2011. The Thunderdrome is the mostly reclaimed velodrome at Dorais park, at the corner of Mound and Outer Drive. Most of the races held were for various types of motorcycles (and one go-cart race), and some bicycle races. I had heard about the first event last year, but it occurred the day after my leg injury, so I did not race or attend. This month I've been able to race my cyclocross bike and my IGH Raleigh, so I was intrigued about the possibility of a fixed gear race, which Thunderdrome offered. Plus there looked to be decent prizes, though I wasn't thinking too hard in that direction. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of doing a fixed gear race, even with not ever riding in a velodrome, seemed like a good introduction. So I registered online, got Saturday morning set up, doing a shortened BTT with the family and then getting over to the park around 11 am. JimS had read my post on the BERC list and was also intrigued enough that he met me over there after his run in Birmingham (nothing like a 15 mile run to get warmed up for some cycling).
He registered for the mountain bike race, and I checked in for the CycleHawkNYC Messenger Class race, as the fixed gear race was called. For good reason--CyclehawkNYC was offering the winner an all expenses paid trip to New York for the national level Messenger Class race. The winner there moves onto to the International championship in Poland. In any event, we were in position to race, just a matter of finding out, or as the case was, waiting until our respective races were announced. There was no set schedule...
I don't recall exactly which class of motorcycle they started out with, but the first cycling race was the geared bikes race. I think this one had 5-6 partcipants. The race was short, 5 laps, and was over in a matter of minutes. More motorcycle races... then the mountain bike race. The mountain bike race may have been the single longest distance event of the day, as it used ~3/4 of the velodrome, and then a course through the field up to the hill in the park (which was surprisingly big for Detroit), then down and back to the velodrome. The racers did two laps in the park, and 1.75 'laps' of the track. The long grassy climb looked tough--Jim and I scouted the course, and the grass was long and the soil still quite soggy. Jim was able to slog through despite the conditions and his stout single speed gearing, and came out with a second place finish Nice job Jim!
Jim hung around for a while longer, but it was coming rapidly apparent the fixed gear race would be last because of the more extensive prizes. He had another event going on and had to take off around 3 pm. He did get to see one of the 'off the cuff' races. The organizer punctuated the day with two what seemed to be impromptu races for cash prizes. The first was a running race, top prize of $150 going to the winner of a one lap running race, the second was a 'mini-triathalon' which consisted of doing three cycling laps, 1.25 running laps, and then slogging through a giant puddle/pond in the infield for the finish. Jim was tempted on the running race, but was not keen on running in his cycling shoes; I thought about the second one, but was not keen running in my cycling shoes or getting all wet before my race. The winner of the mini-triathalon walked away with $200... It was a good thing that Jim didn't do the running the race, the organizer threw in another twist, and ended up giving the top prizes to the bottom three finishers; he was all enthralled with this fellow who casually strolled around the track smoking a cigarillo (and finishing last). He loved this and gave that guy the $150.00.
After the mountain bike race and Jim leaving, more waiting, though there was plenty of sights to take in. The motorbike racing was interesting and very fast for some of the classes. The largest motorbike class was the mopeds, which had three heats and then a final race. Someone crashed during the final, and the race was called off by agreement. The other aspect of the day is it never got quite as warm as predicted. The day stayed cloudy and in the mid-50s, rather than cloudy and the mid-60s. So I was never warm, and never did run to my car to get a coat, not wanting to miss the start of my race. So I was usually a bit chilled despite my light full sleeve base layer. Finally the Messenger Class race was next, and things happened pretty quick.
All of the races used a Le Mans start, where the bikes would be held at the top of the middle of the track, and the racers would stand at the bottom and run up to their bike/motorbike to start. Our bikes were lined up, all eight of us racers were lined up at the bottom, and the organizer was asking us how many laps we wanted to to. I suggested seven, but the number determined was 5. After basically standing around for 5 hours, the race was starting... The start went fine, I ran up and mounted without set backs and was able to be close to the middle of the pack right from the start. For the first three laps I gradually advanced, and on the fourth lap made a move on the SE corner to catch the group of the three leaders. I hung with them for most of a lap, but this time at the SE corner the three in front made their move and the gap between them and me got a lot bigger. I pedaled for all I was worth, at least hoping to hang onto fourth place, which is where I ended up finishing. I forgot to turn off my Garmin right away, doing a cool down lap with it still recording. Total distance was 1.25 miles or so in 3:49, including the cool down lap. So the actual race was about a mile and around 3 minutes...
As an added bonus, prizes went four deep, and I scored a set of Velocity Deep V rims, the Benny Gold special edition. The organizer also gave out Continental tires and tubes, and I also got a pair socks. Having a good time at the race and walking away with some goods made the afternoon of waiting much more tolerable. If I go again in the fall, I will definitely consider registering for more than one cycling race, suggested to the promoter to offer a multi-race discount with a 'triple crown prize' for riders who compete in all races. Riders in each race will earn points depending on their finish, and rider(s) with the most points win some extra prizes, or they get to compete in a fourth event, or something along those lines.
All in all a fun day.
Photo links:
photos I took
Messenger Race
Very extensive gallery, taken by the photographer of the Messenger race:
Chris Cunnington Thunderdrome photos
Friday, May 6, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Bare Bones Bike-O Meet Adventure Race
On Saturday 4/16/11 I participated in a new type of race in my experience, an 'orienteering' or Adventure bicycle race. The basic premise was figuring out and riding a course to collect punches from 34 check points scattered throughout the Hines Park/Middle Rouge River valley, with a four hour time limit. Checkpoints ranged from the intersection of Hines and 7-Mile, down to the south side trails a bit east of Nankin Mills. All in all a good distance to cover, plus the whole getting off your bike (at almost every checkpoint) and finding the marker and punch. And sometimes, with my inexperience, this took a lot of time.
My formal result was 4th place (out of 19 people), collecting 25 punches of the 34 available, in 3:56 or so out of the 4 hours alloted. Two fellows collected all 34 punches and finished the course in 3:24. Nice work!! They rode cyclocross bikes, which was very much the best choice bicycle for the task. I chose my IGH Raleigh, considering there would be very muddy areas and the ongoing possibility for rain showers. I have to admit I was hoping for more pocket trails, and I did get a fair amount of single track riding in, but most of the milage was on Hines, paved roads, or gravel roads. So the RRR was a bit of a disadvantage there.
On the other hand I didn't have a lot of expectations of my finish result, I was looking at this as a learning experience, and it lived up to its bill... I had no qualms about my 4th place finish, and will certainly analzye my performance for shortcomings and mistakes. With the bike I had, I have my doubts that I would been able to finish the course, but I think I could have collected around 30 punches. Being effective finding the punches is where I lost my most time, and this is the area I will focus my analysis on.
1. Not minding the clues. The 13th checkpoint was not a punch, but a 'tag' and that was literal, as it was a piece of graffiti in one of the river tunnels underneath the railroad tracks. This was mentioned in the pre-race briefing, and explicit in the clue, but I was in the mind set of finding the marker/punch, and by the time I remembered to look at the clues I felt I had spent enough time, and after a brief search, moved on to the next station. Checking the map and clue before searching for each checkpoint makes a difference.
2. Not using map cues. Two more points I had trouble with were 25 and 26. 25 ended up being an easy one, but I didn't think to look along the power lines (clearly marked in the map), and spent quite a bit of time looking fruitlessly before moving on (found 25 on the way back to Plymouth). I spent some time looking for 26, and at my initial vantage point knew it was a river crossing, but not liking that idea. After moving on to 27, realized that 26 could be accessed on the trail leading west from point 27.
3. Not using the maps to regulate flow. Related to the 25 & 26 error was where I went from CP 24. If I had stayed on the south side of the river from 24, would have easly gone to 26 and then 27, and picked up 25 on the way back, which is what I did anyway. I ended up missing CP 28, but if I had stayed on the south side/gravel road, I would gotten the punch, with less time spent.
4. My GPS device got dislodged from the wrist strap. I noticed it at CP 17, so went back to CP 16 to look for it. I did find it, but that also cost me some time.
Beyond these mistakes, I did have the advantage of being pretty familiar with Hines, and after studying the map and checkpoints, I decided to head south initially, and hope I had enough time to get some of the checkpoints north of the start. Considering the trouble I had finding the checkpoints, seems like developing a strategy to find them is one of the most important aspects to plan (that is, have some sort of formal process to expand the search area. I would often go over areas I had been through before).
Overall I really enjoyed myself, and (most of the time) liked the exploration aspect of the race. Definitely saw some areas of Hines I have never explored, and got in a mile or two of actual trail riding. The other racers that I encountered were generally pretty cool, and the race was conducted with a clear set of rules and in a timely fashion. I had been hoping to ride to the start, but the weather and deciding to swap out my rear tire had me driving over.
This was the second annual race, so I hope to attend the third annual next year and find some improvements, and get a few extra miles riding to the start. If you live in the SE MI area and want to try out something a bit different from the usual 'hammer out the trail' race, consider this one.
 |
| The maps given out for the race. |
On the other hand I didn't have a lot of expectations of my finish result, I was looking at this as a learning experience, and it lived up to its bill... I had no qualms about my 4th place finish, and will certainly analzye my performance for shortcomings and mistakes. With the bike I had, I have my doubts that I would been able to finish the course, but I think I could have collected around 30 punches. Being effective finding the punches is where I lost my most time, and this is the area I will focus my analysis on.
1. Not minding the clues. The 13th checkpoint was not a punch, but a 'tag' and that was literal, as it was a piece of graffiti in one of the river tunnels underneath the railroad tracks. This was mentioned in the pre-race briefing, and explicit in the clue, but I was in the mind set of finding the marker/punch, and by the time I remembered to look at the clues I felt I had spent enough time, and after a brief search, moved on to the next station. Checking the map and clue before searching for each checkpoint makes a difference.
2. Not using map cues. Two more points I had trouble with were 25 and 26. 25 ended up being an easy one, but I didn't think to look along the power lines (clearly marked in the map), and spent quite a bit of time looking fruitlessly before moving on (found 25 on the way back to Plymouth). I spent some time looking for 26, and at my initial vantage point knew it was a river crossing, but not liking that idea. After moving on to 27, realized that 26 could be accessed on the trail leading west from point 27.
3. Not using the maps to regulate flow. Related to the 25 & 26 error was where I went from CP 24. If I had stayed on the south side of the river from 24, would have easly gone to 26 and then 27, and picked up 25 on the way back, which is what I did anyway. I ended up missing CP 28, but if I had stayed on the south side/gravel road, I would gotten the punch, with less time spent.
4. My GPS device got dislodged from the wrist strap. I noticed it at CP 17, so went back to CP 16 to look for it. I did find it, but that also cost me some time.
 |
| My Kenda SB8 kept me rolling. |
Beyond these mistakes, I did have the advantage of being pretty familiar with Hines, and after studying the map and checkpoints, I decided to head south initially, and hope I had enough time to get some of the checkpoints north of the start. Considering the trouble I had finding the checkpoints, seems like developing a strategy to find them is one of the most important aspects to plan (that is, have some sort of formal process to expand the search area. I would often go over areas I had been through before).
Overall I really enjoyed myself, and (most of the time) liked the exploration aspect of the race. Definitely saw some areas of Hines I have never explored, and got in a mile or two of actual trail riding. The other racers that I encountered were generally pretty cool, and the race was conducted with a clear set of rules and in a timely fashion. I had been hoping to ride to the start, but the weather and deciding to swap out my rear tire had me driving over.
 |
| Definitely a bit muddy in some of the areas. |
This was the second annual race, so I hope to attend the third annual next year and find some improvements, and get a few extra miles riding to the start. If you live in the SE MI area and want to try out something a bit different from the usual 'hammer out the trail' race, consider this one.
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