Thunderdrome 4/30/11

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 

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.

The maps given out for the race.

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.

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.        

Holiday 2010 vacation, part3: Missoula

After three nights in Marquette, woke up early on 12/29 and caught my flight to Detroit for the journey to Missoula, the first leg of three flights.  A big thanks to Carmen for using her miles to get the ticket... Despite a delay in Detroit and a waning snowstorm in Missoula, my trip was uneventful, and I arrived in town about on time.  Craig was a bit late picking me up, understandable with 15" of fresh snow at Snowbowl.  It continued to snow as we made our way to Craig's house, with a few detours along the way (beer, REI, a rack store in town, pizza and beer, then one more beer at the Kettlehouse brewery). 

Observation Deck at Minneapolis airport

At Craig's house, waiting for Will, we shoveled the foot of snow off of the driveway, kept snowing the entire time.  Things were looking good for Thursday.  Will arrived and helped finish up the shoveling, we took a short soak in the hot tub and then off to bed.

Snowbowl was reporting 11" of snow, and we got up there reasonably early, but was still a 45 minute wait to get on the lift.  Snowbowl had as good of conditions as I've ever seen it... cold day with temp at the top of -3.  I had a decent day of skiing, with a finisher run through the trees of the parking lot run.  But with my leg injury limiting my activity, I was not in as good of shape as I would have liked, and my feet and calves were definitely not used to wearing the ski boots.  The Atomic boards were a big help though, and was still a great day to get out.

Next day was bitterly cold, along with no fresh snow... we decided on a day of hot springing and a new years evening buffet dinner at the Lochsa Lodge.  More in the next installment.

2010 Holiday vacation, part2: Marquette

Late afternoon on 12/26 we packed up the vehicle and drove the hour or so north to Marquette to visit Carmen's parents, and her sister Amy, who had flown in from California with her son Sean for the holiday.   We had Christmas dinner shortly after arriving and then did the whole present thing.  Drew got a Tonka fire truck, which he loved (I got a new jacket from the in laws :) ).

Dave, my father in law, had to work the next two days, so didn't see much of him.  Usually he and I get out XC skiing, but I was on my own this time... got up to Blueberry Ridge pathway Monday and Tuesday, conditions were great.  Amy, Carmen and I got out for dinner on Monday night and otherwise spent a lot of time with the kids.   Time was short in Marquette, my flight sequence to Missoula started early Wednesday morning.  Got a few pictures of the lower harbor and the old lighthouse.  Also, should have a more extensive post on Marquette trails forthcoming.  On to Missoula and the skiing beat down.

End of 2010 vacation, part1: Escanaba

With 2010 drawing to a close, out annual holiday travels are upon us.  I managed another trip to Montana (where I am now), but first the family and I traveled to the upper peninsula to visit family over the holiday.  First stop was Escanaba to visit with my brothers and grandma Erickson.  It was an eat and drinkathon, punctuated by presents, chasing the kids around and taking a couple of walks along the waterfront. 

One of the best features of Esky (as it is locally known) is an amazing waterfront park, which includes a small island with great beaches and a marina.  Seems like if has become tradition for my brothers and I to walk around the park, got in two walks, one on 12/26 in the morning, a beautiful (but cold day)... pictures are from that walk.

The bay was still not frozen completely over, and with the wind there was water movement.  At the mouth of the marina, the wind and chunks of ice in the water combined to make a beautiful chiming and 'tinking' noises as the ice pieces bumped into each other.  On to Marquette in the next installment.

OW!

Part 1:
I've had some other posts in mind for the blog, but circumstances have intervened... Had a mishap while riding in Ann Arbor this evening.  Going down a hill trail on the north side of the river, came upon some steps made of railroad ties, secured by rebar pounded in the front.  Was slowing down to dismount and walk down (was steep and curving), when I lost my balance and my leg happened to land on some rebar sticking up past the step... the result is above. 

On the plus side it is basically a flesh wound, and while painful, should be fine.  Think it was 15 stitches.  Hadn't been sure of my plans tomorrow, looks like I am out for a few days at least.


Part 2:
Thinking about the accident some more, I fell on my right side, still clipped in... my leg scraped across the rebar piece in a downhill direction... when it hit the soft tissue went from scrape to laceration.  It didn't hurt a huge amount after all motion stopped, it had been more of a bright stinging sensation.  After I extricated myself from the rebar, it was pretty easy to tell it was a serious injury.  I was in the area of the Ann Arbor downhill trails, which are across the Huron River from the U of M hospital, so I rode my bike up to the emergency room.  There was bleeding, but it wasn't gushing...

My shoe had some splatter.  

There was an Ann Arbor Public Safety officer in the entrance of the emergency room directing the human traffic, he asked my business and I pointed at my leg, he let out some exclamation and immediately got a wheel chair for me.  He also retrieved my seat bag which had my driver's licence in it, and also made sure my bike was taken  care of, thanks Officer!!  After actually getting into the treatment area, things did take some time to develop, but generally speaking things happened pretty quickly.  They took 2 x-rays to make sure no large debris was stuck in the large part of the wound.  After that I waited again, then they used a water gun and 2 liters of saline to clean the wound.  Then the stitches and a tetanus shot.

No contest in an encounter with rebar.  

I was definitely satisfied with the care I received, considering how busy the place was, but on the other hand my injury also needed to be taken care of sooner than later.  Not the outcome I was looking for on a relatively casual Ann Arbor trail exploration ride, but also could have been much worse.  Hopefully can get out for a ride this week and do the Mad Anthony CX race on 10/23.

Actually, looks like 16 stitches.  

Part 3:
I went back to the crash site on Monday 10/18 and took some pictures.  It was pretty easy to tell which piece or rebar I landed on.  One detail I missed is the steps were logs rather than railroad ties, wooden steps either way.

Rebar my leg landed on.

Crash rebar compared to another random piece or rebar in the same area.
Note the dark color on the crash rebar...

Too much rebar above the step...

Not sure a high speed crash would have been anymore favorable... I was basically at a standstill when I lost my balance and fell over.  My lower leg just happened to score a direct hit on that piece of rebar (the start of the scrape is literally in the middle of my leg).  Just one of those weird things.  A few more pics to wrap this up...

I fell on the left side of the step immediately above the angled step.

Steps below crash area.

U of M hospital.  Across the river from the area where I got hurt.  

BTT 091810 post2

Good ride today, though we tended to get a bit bogged down during the stops.  Certainly wasn't my fastest ride, with pulling Ava on the tag along.  We ended up skipping Elmwood, and instead took Heidelberg to Gratiot and the Eastern Market.  City wasn't as busy today compared to last Saturday. 
  
The family and I cut the ride a bit short, taking a shortcut on Belle Isle, and we cut out quite a bit of Cass & 2nd.  Went back to the Fort and drove over go Los Galanes.  Pozole soup was great!  Thanks for the idea Don.