Tuesday Night Ride #32 - A fine farewell

The sun has set on our season, but what a season it was. We’ve taken a ride on life support and turned it into a living and breathing force. We have nearly 80 members on our site, have had 7,000 visits to it and had 32 total rides.But it’s definitely lights out now, but not before the last ride of the year which we had to move to Wednesday due to hurricane force winds on Tuesday. Wednesday was not much more tame with steady 30 MPH winds and gusts into the 50s, what the what? The numbers were probably down due to the change of day and wind, but again the quality of the ride was, well… as good as it gets. Loren, Sam, Mustafa, Steve, Brian, Banky, Webbcorp, Rick, Craig and Mark ventured south and endured a brutal crosswind, but heading east was a pure prize. The sun was shining, what little is left in a late fall afternoon day in Michigan and the temps were warm. Once we got to Meridian Oberle was whining about heading further east and I was dishing it back that we should, but I have to admit he was right. Heading west on 36 represented not only the last five miles of the ride, but the last five miles of the season and the last chance to rip it up before it all came to an end. Brian got a gap and held it into Mason to take the last sprint of the year. We start back up March 15th, seems like a long time from now, but worth the wait. Between now and then we will try to keep the site alive by posting local rides. Dirt road rides are on the docket for me and Brian and everyone is welcome. Also, weekend rides. And, Rick wants to get everyone on cross country skis! Good luck to everyone who is doing Iceman, I will try to give an update when it’s all over. Sayonara, Webbcorp

Tuesday Night Ride Summary October 19th, 2010

RIDE NOTE: If you are interested in riding in the AM with Doug, Wade and others contact Doug to get on the email list at dpd366@live.com

Try to guess the last question I heard as we were all saying goodbyes in near darkness after the thirty-first Tuesday Night Ride of the season?

"We're riding next week right?" Are you serious? "Hell Yes! We can pull off a 20 mile ride, we got plenty of daylight."

Well, I suppose we do and weather permitting I suppose we will!

Of course for those that came (fifteen of you) we know why we ended in near darkness; first we got a late start (we have lost this luxury) and second we had two flats and had to learn how to put a wheel into a rear entry dropout bike. Now I just read in Velo News that all Storck's are rear entry dropout bikes and that if you know how it's easy, well I didn't. I felt like an eight month old dim witted child trying to solve Rubik's Cube, and looked like even worse. I think Ron White said it best, "You can't fix stupid."

So if we go next week, we have got to start ON TIME, hope for no flats and ride only about 20 to 25 miles.

As for the ride... Matt Prygoski, aka "The Polish Punisher" showed up last night. Now if you do not know Matt I can tell you simply that his acceleration is as impressive as I have seen. Honestly I do not know how he does it. Well it wasn't just Matt, we pushed hard going south with a strong crosswind, no one was interested in slowing down just because somewhere near the 60th parallel bears are readying themselves for hibernation, no, no! Let's pummel ourselves because it's the only way we know to derive happiness. But everyone is strong so we all stayed together and it really was fun.

More to follow on the subject of next week, for now I'll allow myself a moment of reflection on the most enjoyable season of cycling I've ever experienced.

TNR Summary 10/12/10

We took off fifteen strong with temperatures flirting with seventy and not feeling at all like mid October. Images can be as powerful as words, if you weren't there last night, here's a graphic insight into one of the best rides of the year.

Banky taking a rest at the rear heading into the Tunnel of Trees
Strung out at nearly 30 leaning hard into the checane
Too busy climbing to notice the 100 foot tall Evergreen staring down on us




Doug (above) and Loren checking out the aftermath of the bounty that's been taken while the sun is sinking like a ship

Brian, or Mr. Crosby now (I think that's the title for a married man, congrats) and Steve enjoying the ride.

Will there be a 31? The answer is yes! See you next week. Webbcorp

Tuesday Night Ride Summary October 5th, 2010

The land of plenty. Plenty of riding that is, 29 TNR's to be exact. We changed the program somewhat last night with a higher overall pace and slightly less attacking. It was a more civil scene, kind of like Ali versus Frazier instead of cage fighting. We set a rotating pace line from the start and cut out about 4 miles from the normal course. Emily, Banky, Steve, Craig, Blaine, Wade, Doug, Loren, Mustapha, Ralph, Jeff & Nikita were all riding strong and loving the great weather and outstanding scenery.Despite those wanting to enjoy the scenery it didn't stop others from wanting to attack on Annis Hill, here Doug, Wade and Blaine shed the herd and create a gap going toward the first sprint while Emily, Ralph, Eric and Loren set out in case after Nikita who is in the gap. Blaine took the first sprint and in fact had a field day last night with some good top end speed. Nice work Blaine. Not long after the bypass we headed into the tunnel of trees, fall colors are starting to show, but it will still be a while before they light up the sky. Based on how strung out we were heading through the tunnel of trees it doesn't seem like anyone was interested in a fall color tour, not on this night. Well we got back and there was still plenty of daylight, enough that we all decided to carry on, so hope for good weather next week and we will continue this song and dance, it's a big one, the Big Three O, 30 rides that is, amazing.

TNR planned for 10/5/10 @ 5:30 PM

We are abbreviating the course (see link below) and starting at 5:30, hope to see you all tomorrow

TNR Summary 9/29/10

With the sun shining and the temperature at 72 we headed out for our 28th ride of the season last night, numbers we down but the quality of the ride was high. I heard 5 people showed up last night to a cancelled ride, wow, we have come a long way. We started with 13: Emily, Rob, Loren, Todd, Banky, Alex, Brad, Rexico, Jeff, Webbcorp, Kemp, Cody & Ralph. Woaa! Wait! Cody? That can't be right, Cody Brown is going to Chiropractic College in Atlanta, Georgia? But it is right, Cody came from Atlanta to do the Tuesday Night Ride!After some pleasantries and losing Loren to a broken spoke we got down to business. Hard attacks up Annis Hill cleared a break of five. Ralph attacked, then Todd, then Jeff, hot damn! Going into the second sprint we saw the turn of speed Cody had when he left, he still has it, as he blew by everyone for W.Heading toward Catholic Church Road (above) the herd is ready to light it up for the 4th sprint, it was that way all night.After some... Hmmmm... adjustments we pushed forward toward the tunnel of trees and some top end speeds before rolling into Mason. Webbcorp attacked out of the group, but in the end Ralph pulled it back as we approached the Mason City Limit sign, I'm not sure who won that sprint because my head was resting on my handlebar as I was catching my breathHaving laid the law down on the road Cody and Todd took time for a photo op in front of the Mason Courthouse. What a night boys (and girl, I don't think Emily missed but 1 of 28).Happy Trails Cody, hope to see you back again soon.

Game on for Wednesday Night @ 5:30 9/29/2010

Game on for Wednesday Night @ 5:30 9/29/2010
Every one of these might be the last. First and foremost we face the problem of a lack of daylight and secondly falling temperatures. Well we are in luck today, we have both. Twilight is 7:55 PM and at ride time it's supposed to be sunny and about 70 degrees. Pay yourself first, get out and ride with your brothers from other mothers.

Tuesday Night Ride Summary September 21, 2010

We all suffer from one of two pains, the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons. With that in mind we pushed on deeper into the season than ever before on TNR, no regrets... pain, but no regrets. Bike racers have a high tolerance for pain, but even within our finite, somewhat warped sect, some of us stand out, as if TNR is not painful enough, Loren scheduled a root canal 3 hours before the ride. I'm not a tooth scientist, but it seems to me that having the intricate recesses of your mouth drilled and then taking your heart rate to 180 for two hours has got to hurt, you are born again hard Loren. Eric Sneider joined us from St. Paul Minnesota, we had a two man break in Ann Arbor 6 years ago, have not seen him since, great to have you on our ride Eric. The Boyne City Bomber took the KOM on 36, nice work.
If your wondering how fast it was last night, below is our motor pacer, that is none other than Fast Freddie Anderson. He traded his bike saddle on this night for a Yamaha R1 which can do the quarter mile faster than an Enzo Ferrari. NO ONE has any interest in giving up on the season, when asked all hands were in the air, so we soldier on next week. We have got to be turning pedals at 5:30 PM though, but if we do, there should be no problems with daylight. Webbcorp, OUT!

Ronde Van Stoney

If you have not had enough racing yet this year don't forget the Ronde Van Stoney www.rondevanstony.com this Saturday. This should be a great race!

TNR Summary 9/14/10

And so the cycle goes on, the life of a bike racer, your either chasing or being chased. We continued this song and dance for the 26th time this year. We started with 19 riders and many new faces, Daytona (sorry forgot your name my brother), Joe Law, and to add a national flavor Tony from beautiful Blountville Tennessee. The ride was fast and hard, and why not blow ourselves apart, what are we saving it for? The skies gave us some teardrops at the end of the night, sadness over seeing a season winding down, serious, not a cloud in the sky & a dozen rain drops.

We all came to the realization that time is not on our side, to that end we are moving the start time next week to 5:30, we are not giving up. We have a half year in by now, and we can roll on. Don't forget the TT Thursday to keep those legs turning over. Ride on! Webbcorp

TNR MBRA Points update

Well, it's been a long and successful season for many of us on Tuesday Night Ride. The strength of our ride has made us all stronger. Some of us have thrown ourselves into racing on the weekend and I wanted to recognize some of you:

MBRA points champions:
* Leslie Gaines women category 3

* Webbcorp men's 45+
Other points highlights
* Emily Flynn 2nd overall womens category 3
* Ben Cox 3rd overall category 4

* Loren Simons 4th overall men's 55+

* Fast Freddie Anderson 7th overall 55+
* Randall Rodd 10th overall category 3

Also, for some reason they do not tabulate points for category 5, but if they did I have to believe Craig Newell would have won. Craig won the Cherry Roubaix road race, placed 3rd at the EGR State Championship criterium, 2nd place at the Maillot Jaune road race, 4th at the BTR criterium, 2nd at the Mount Pleasant road race, 11th at West Branch road race & (crap my hands getting sore from typing) 6th at the Kensington road race. Those boys did not want to see Craig at the start line. Congrats on a great season to Craig and to everyone who threw their hat into the ring at the MBRA races.

TNR Summary 9/7/10

We had some light winds last night, no sorry wrong night, the winds were out of the west at 30+ MPH which made last nights' ride one of the most difficult of the year.


Couple that with TNR alumnus Alan Antonuk (above) and Adam York (below) showing up for the ride and you had the makings for the perfect storm, and I was told I did not help matters... bygones.

Steve was back out from Boyne City and Blaine and lot's of newcomers including Daphne and Alex from MSU (it was a tough night last night guys don't give up on us and thanks for coming).

Daylight is going to start to be an issue because we chose to live at the 44th parallel and its September, please let me know if starting the ride next week is a problem at 5:45, LET ME KNOW. If it's an issue for too many we might try one more at 6:00 PM.

Tuesday Night Ride Preview - School is Back in Session

First, we made it over to Trophy's DE Grumpy crit today. Fast Freddie pulled out 2nd place, my only regret was not pulling back the Canadian so he could have gotten the W. Nice work Fast Freddie.

School is back in session and tomorrow we are all going to learn some very valuable lessons. What lessons? Tomorrows lessons will be on the physical attributes of your crucifixion on the bike. Your Professors for tomorrow will be Dr. Crosby. He has a PhD in attacking and his dissertation was on the brain shutting down during track sprints. Also, we have some visiting professors from Ann Arbor. First we have Dr. Alan Antonuk who is a Professor of the synergism between the Body and the Bike. Dr. Antonuk will be demonstrating how to tear muscle fibers while trying to sprint at speeds reaching 38 MPH. And finally we have Professor Adam York. The distinguished Dr. York has a PhD in kicking ass and taking names, and roll call is at 6:00 PM.

As mentioned earlier every mug that shows face tomorrow gets a free Panchero's Burrito compliments of Steve, NO! NOT Steve this time! Compliments of Rick Oberle!

Word on the street is we might hit 40 tomorrow. What do I mean 40? Riders and MPH both!

So Come On! Get your bad self down to College and Cedar.

Double Potowatami lap, Webbcorp, Crosby & No. 7.

Garmin Double Potowatami lap file here - Details


I learned some things today and confirmed some other things I already knew. First what I learned. Turns out Dr. Michael Clayton Kemp was issued the 7th NORBA license ever. Yes Mike raced off-road professionally before he became a milk scientist. I also learned that Potowatami will chew you up and spit you out on a rigid bike, and no a 29r does not help AT ALL! So on to what I already knew. Brian Crosby is fast and his speed does not diminish when he travels off-road.

Final Night in The August Sprint Series

Cooler than a Budweiser on ice, hotter than the rolling dice, wilder than a drunken fight, we all fried tonight! Ok, I stole that, but it fits, last night was as fast and hard as any ride we have had this year. We started with 19 riders, there was some kind of Spartifornification thing going on at MSU which was not a good reason to miss the ride but many did, they will pay for it next week. Two new faces in the herd; Blaine who is up to go to MSU and rides for Wolverine & Steve from Boyne City, thanks for joining us men, join the blog! Steve made the ride, nice work, that alone is not easy and Blaine even got into the points on his first night, great work.

Congrats to Brian Crosby for winning the August Sprint Series sponsored by Capital Fund Title. Brian and Jen will be headed up to Bellaire to recreate and drink Huma Lupa Licious at Short's Brewery this month. Finishing off the podium for the series was Craig and then Jeff. We had 19 different people in the points for the series, that is really a testament to the strength of our group.

For the night, I managed to eek out a W on one night of the series, but I think Brian may have just felt sorry for me like seeing a dog with only three legs or something.

Steve, thanks, it has really hurt, but been a lot of fun.

Remember the Hill Climb TT series starting Thursday (Hover over LABELS below for link to course)

The fifth and final round

It's been a busy week, so right to it.

Racing: Many Tuesday Night Ride alums were at Cherry Roubaix this past weekend in Traverse City. I might miss someone but this much I know. Emily Flynn won the Cat 3 criterium, wow! Craig Newell won the Cat 5 mens race on a hard and hot course in an uphill field sprint! And finally I won the masters race, good weekend for people named Craig.

TNR: Tomorrow is the fifth and final in the August Sprint series. Everyone is salty and feeling hardcore so it should be fast and frenetic. The winner of tomorrow's sprints will get a $40 gift certificate to Bravo Italiano Italian restaurant in Eastwood Towne Center. And as an extra added incentive Brian, Alan, Todd and Rhone are out of the running for the certificate so you can win but you have to be there.

Sprinting advice from a pro: sprinting is 50% instinct, 25% patience, 15% acceleration, and 10% top speed, this information might help you tomorrow!

Time Trial series: The final results for the series are posted, 29 people participated, what a great series. Too bad it's over but this Thursday marks the start of the new "Hill Climb Thursday", more to come.

Tuesday Ride 8/24/10

I was as ornery as a Taliban insurgent being forced to listen to Afternoon Delight last night. Then I realized something… I was ornery because we could not get away, and we tried! Believe me, we tried! and we could not get away! See chart at bottom of blog if you still do not believe me. So why? Because! Because! Everyone is rolling so fast right now, it would not have been possible to roll, scratch, claw or cheat your way off the front of that herd. So don’t waste those race legs, get up to Traverse City this weekend and annihilate some mothers at the Criterium and Road Race. Back to last night… we made two corrections which changed some outcomes last night. First, sprint 3 was tighter than a sumo wrestler trying to squeeze into a Smart Car so we decided to award the “W” to Jeff Chapin. Second, because of the change to sprint 3 Rhone ended up with 2nd overall & since Brian already won a weekly prize Rhone will take home the $40 gift certificate to Dusty’s Cellar compliments of Capital Fund Title and our benevolent philanthropists Steve and Stacey. Nice work Jeff and Rhone. It’s not mathematically impossible to beat Brian at this point but it is realistically impossible, Jeff you still have an outside shot.

We had our very own roving photographer present for most of last night’s ride and we should have photo’s of the podium and sprints coming soon. For now, here are some shots from last week.

Administrivia: Daylight is getting shorter, we need to start on time next week. We were asked to not relieve ourselves in the parking lot, it’s a logical request, we have enough stops to work these 'comfort' breaks.

-Zach, after having a rough night on his first trip to TNR last week, was ripping peoples legs of this week, nice work Zach.
-Brian went to a big track event in Minnesota where over twenty teams competed. Do I need to tell you who won? Ok, 2nd place was over four laps behind them and 3rd was... well... let's call it Uzbekistan behind! Nice work Brian.
-Craig Newell took 3rd at the State Championships this past weekend, I saw the finish, he was the strongest, but went a little early and still only two could come around him.

Don’t forget to make it out to the TT Thursday, this will be the last one before venue’s are changed to the hill climb TT which I do not plan to miss as it will be great training for Iceman.

Thursday Time Trial Series Ice Cream and Country Club

The great weather was not a deterrent last night as we saw ten people line up for the fifth round in the TT series. More than bragging rights were on the line as our local "Bike Philanthropist" Steve Smith put up a reward for anyone who could break the course record and Ice Cream for the top 5! Well a new course record was set and will probably last a week until Rhone, Alan, Brian, Todd and a list of others decide enough is enough and show us how it's really done. Twenty-Six different riders have come out to try the TT series so far, can we shoot to get this to forty? Good Goal, come on! Starting in September (September! Yikes! summer is gone?) Doug is moving the TT to a new venue, the course will include a hill repeat that will be great training for mountain bike season, more to come.

Also, Doug has set up a site for the TT, check it out. http://weeklyttseries.blogspot.com/

Tuesday Night Ride Summary August 17, 2010

Holy Humanities! The recipe last night was equal parts fun and pain, put it in a mixer and spit it out on the fly. We had seven people in the points last night for the 3rd installment of the August Sprint Series sponsored by Capital Fund Title Services. Todd Davidson took home a $40 gift certificate for Stillwater Grill by winning two of the six sprints and placing in three others, nice work! Webbcorp & Jeff Chapin tied for first loser to finish the podium. The entire night was, well... just fast. The competition has changed the complexion of our ride in ways no one anticipated. We are all stronger for it, thanks Steve! Brian took the night off but on the strength of the first two installments of the series still leads the overall followed by Webbcorp, then Jeff, 23, 21 & 18 respectively.

Tyler & Emily had a rough night on 8/10 but they were back in the saddle last night. Tony reappeared after a long absence along with Cary. And, we had two new faces in David and Zach from the MSU Triathlon Team. Zach, nice work toughing it out. David, strong riding my brother.

TT series: Don't forget the time Time Trial series tomorrow. The top 5 times this week will get a gift certificate to Maggie Moos and if a new course record is set that person will get dinner for two at the Lansing Country Club thanks to Steve Smith and 808 Lake Lansing LLC. Steve what are you some kind of bike philanthropist? Cheese and rice!

Rito Reminder: Don't forget, every lovin mother that shows face on 9/7, even the sinners, wheel suckers & Arizona graduates, get a gift certificate for a FREE burrito at Panchero's. Try to tell Rick Oberle thanks if you see him, here is a picture of Rick from his younger days.

Good evening ladies, see you tomorrow.