Sunday, July 31, 2011

Busy Sunday!

It was nice seeing the riders and racers at the Milford House last night and it was also a great time to hang out with everyone from the shop!   Today we had the Milford Crit race, our regular Sunday road ride from Walled Lake and a impromptu group ride from Waterford to Milford to watch the races.    Thanks everyone from coming out for the rides and for stopping by the Cycletherapy tent at the race.    So, how did the race go for us?    Well we wanted to have more riders but, due to injuries and the race categories filling up quickly we only had one rider.   

Mr. Mark P. was representing Cycletherapy - Specialized at the races with his Crux Cyclocross bike.   Early in the race Mark took the lead and held that lead until 21 minutes left then he settled into the pack of riders.   Coming up on one lap to go Mark bolted to the front and carried the pack until the final climb.   On that final climb he encounter some intense competition leaving him to finish about mid pack.  

It was a great event!  And nice to see all levels of riders out on the course.   We even saw some Mountain Bikes on the course in the CAT 5 group!     So congrats to all the racers, promoters and sponsors for a great race on a perfect sunny day!

Picture to come soon!    Next up, a little trek up north to Big M.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Wednesday Group Ride in Walled Lake

We had our first Wednesday group ride from the Walled Lake Cycletherapy store!

As the time got close to 7:00 pm riders started showing up for the Mountain Bike group ride from the Walled Lake store to the Tree Farm course. We had about seven riders who dared to brave the rain.
As we started our ride, we got a few strange looks from people in passing cars but, little did they know that the rain felt kind of refreshing after the weeks of heat. After the short two mile paved section to the park we entered into the single track and that is where the fun started. We had the entire trail for our own use.

While riding in the trees the heavy rain was diminished by the tree canopy. We had a nice slow pace going and for the first time in months I actually was able to just look around and enjoy the forest. The rain could be heard hitting the leaves and there was a cool green glow from the rain reflecting the light off the leaves. The ground and the trees had a dark look which amplified the green color above even more. The ride, the scenery made the event perfect.  

After 90 minutes of riding we ended up back at the shop soaked but, not cold or exhausted. 

Thanks Jen for organizing the ride and not letting us back out.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Tree Farm Relay

Every year, we look forward to this fun race.   This year was no exception.   We arrived early to setup the Cycletherapy-Specialized village and get ready for the race.    Most of the early part of the day we had a chance of thunderstorms but nothing developed, leaving the course fast and dry!!


Our lead out rider in the four person relay was Mark P. who killed the lap times and quickly put us into 2nd or 3rd. At that time we did not know because the start was a little bit of a rush! Next was Dave Z, then Derek H and finally me. But things got a little out of order. We where told that our rider Derek had broken his collar bone. After we found out that he was OK I took off to make up the lap and our time. During that lap my heart rate was averaging 170 bpm, a tad higher than I would have liked. The lap felt great and I came into the finish, only to be stopped by Mark P before the finish line. It turned out the rider who broke his colar bone was NOT Derek but another friend (who is also OK now) and that my lap would not count! I was kinda disappointed because that time was my best ever! Eventually, we all finished our laps and ended the race in third, missing second by ten seconds. Not bad but, we will do better next time! Next on the list is Big M. Always a great race venue.






Friday, July 22, 2011

Newest Team Member

Hello Everyone,    I would like to welcome Tom Lining to the Cycletherapy-Specialized racing team.   Tom was one of the original founders of the team and now he is back.   We look forward to racing, riding and working with Tom at the various clinics through the year!

Welcome Tom!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Catching up

Wow, has time gone buy fast!   

Racing every weekend the team has had some really great moments.   Half way through the season three of our riders are in the top 5 in point standings and another two are in the top 10 of their group within USAC!  

Lake Orion High School race series was a great time for many of us to race during the week.   Three of our riders took overall podium spots in that series!

But, during this time we have had a little curse on our team.   Several riders have wrecked, taking them out of the road bike series and the same thing on the mountain bike series.   Of the seven riders in the mountain bike group almost half have had wrecks that have forced them to stop riding for a few weeks.

With all the injuries it is nice to have a few weeks off before we start racing again!