CFT Cycling Team Tuesday Night Ride

Most things we do in life we do because we have to, they are a means to an end; go to school so I can get a job, get a job so I can get a house. But what compels us to do something which is physically very hard and requires many hours of commitment to do well and for which there is no real purpose? Last night we faced this question head on.

It may have been the worst ride of the year and it may have been the best.

If you stayed away with the distinct purpose of not getting rained on, you made a great decision. But for those of us who came (and I believe we had 14) it was universally agreed ‘we would not have wanted to miss it for anything!’ True, there was no ‘end in itself,’ no real purpose. It was dark, wet, uncomfortable, slippery, hard and fast but somehow as we looked forward to see water spitting up from the tires in front of us ten feet in the air, sunk down on the drops, struggling to see, physically at our limit, drooling, sweating and soaking wet a rush of adrenaline that you cannot get while studying the great thinkers of antiquity or resolving an issue at work engulfed us and we realized we don’t do this because there is a diploma or paycheck waiting for us at the end we would do this shit even if it was bad for us.

A special callout to Joe Kennedy, he heard about TNR a long time ago, but was just compelled two weeks ago to actually show for the first time. Joe has power and speed and is not afraid to but his face in the wind and suffer. So I asked him, are you sorry you waited until now? You know the answer. Welcome to TNR Joe Kennedy. You are one of the brotherhood now, no turning back.

Anthony from Tennessee joined us again last night, wish we saw more of you Anthony! Brad, Cary, Alan were all very animated last night and I kind of lost track but it seems they took most of the prizes.

It was probably the last run at the full course of the year. Sun sets 7:15 next Tuesday. We will still start at 5:45 but will abbreviate the ride somewhat to get back by about 7:30.

It’s hard to imagine how in late September we could have had a better night for riding, the skies were brilliant blue and the temps were in the mid 70’s with no wind to speak of.

Many of the TNR regulars were again MIA, some maybe turning the page on cycling for the year, but that didn’t slow down the momentum of TNR, we had twenty riders. Alex had some mystery object in his tire which created at least 3 flats but we endured despite being on a tight schedule due to lack of daylight. Joe Kennedy joined us for the first time, welcome to TNR.
Alan Finder was back after focusing on a full Ironman in Wisconsin in which he placed 12^th in his age group, it could have been better but his leg starting barking at him in the run. Greg was back after focusing on mountain biking this summer.

And Kevin Gamper joined us, Kevin has a rep agency and calls on tall the bike shops in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. For next week we plan to again start at 5:45 PM, with no flats we will be fine. Until then…

Time to turn our attention from the road to the dirt.

Every time I get on my bike I rediscover my childlike passion for cycling and remember the days as a young boy when ten buddies would somehow know where and when to show up with no form of communication like cell phones or text messaging to meet, explore, race and discover on our bikes.

In many ways the out & back is every bit as important as the race itself, but having done them means we will be ready.

And as a champion once said:

“If you want to win races sometimes you have to ride in bad weather”

Well, we can’t promise good weather, but we can promise a great time, see you all at Timber Ridge on Saturday.

Link to Timber Ridge HERE

Webbcorp

The Time Trial starts at the corner of Barry & Loudsbury Roads at 6:00 PM.

Ride to the TT Options:
A. 5:15 - Hannah Community Center, East Lansing
B. 5:30 - Meridian Road Park, Meridian Road between Grand River and Haslett Roads

HERE is a link to the course from Garmin

HERE is a link to the Time Trial Blog

From Cody Brown:

Every fall the greatest cyclists Ingham County has ever known gather to battle not only the elements, the roads, and other riders, but their own massive hangovers incurred the night before. On the hallowed roads of Mid-Michigan, where it all goes down, it will be determined who will wear the crown of 2011 World Champion of Ingham County. This year, with the 2010 winner Calves Johansen out of attendance, the door will be open for anyone to take the glory.

We will roll out from the Pavilion at 10am and ride an unpredetermined route for an undetermined distance (~four hours?) at very slow speeds (a.k.a. let's-all-be-friends pace). By the way, this is neither a real race nor a training ride--all are invited and encouraged to join us.

From Greg Christian:

Although geographical separation* prevents my participation in the fifth annual WOrld CHampionships of INgham COunty (WOCHINCO VI), I should like to take a bit of time to highlight the characteristics of this ride, its history, and its importance to the cycling club at Michigan State University. Most historians believe the first edition of WOCHINCO was held in the fall of 2007, though there is some evidence it may have actually begun in 2006. The ride was the brainchild of Mrs. Joseph Hartley and Bartholomew Carlson. Inspired by photographs of their favorite professional cyclists goofing off during off-season rides, the creators envisioned a local ride that shared many of the same characteristics. Surely, they thought, these pro cycling rides must involve sprinting for various landmarks along the route in addition to the antics caught on film, such as riders squirting each other with water bottles or making erotic poses with vegetables. Thus WOCHINCO was born, with the sprints forming an integral part of its character. Nearly everything about WOCHINCO---the distance, starting time, date, route, participants, scoring system, and so on---is in constant flux, always changing from year to year and, within a given year, subject to change at any moment, even during the ride. However, one thing is always constant - the sprints. WOCHINCO simply would not be WOCHINCO without a multitude of sprints for various objects - cracks in the road, stop ahead signs, mailboxes, imaginary points visible only to one rider, and much more.

In many ways, WOCHINCO is a ride of paradoxes. The sprints are fiercely contested, except perhaps for the secret sprints whose location is known only to a single rider, yet no one seems to care about their outcome (or at the very least, no one will admit to caring about the outcome). Despite this, excessive celebration, often involving the taunting of others, is common after a sprint win, and likewise, defeated riders often show great signs of outward frustration, for example shouting expletives and banging their handlebars with great force. The winner of WOCHINCO is determined in a way that no earthly being fully understands. Generally, it involves some combination of points accumulated in sprints during the ride and victory in the all-important Farm Lane stop ahead sign sprint on College Road that signals the end of competition. However, the scoring system changes from year to year, may change during a single year's event, and may even be different for different competitors.

This can lead to a variety of outcomes, such as a single uncontested winner, multiple winners, no winner at all, any combination of the aforementioned, and perhaps others.

Given the abstract and ever-changing nature of WOCHINCO, I am hesitant to continue further with my description. Instead, I shall call upon the annals of history and share with you some passages from the only two surviving WOCHINCO ride decriptions (WOCHINCO III, 2008 and WOCHINCO V, 2010):

"Unlike, most other races, there are no set fields, set distances, set course, prizes (other than pride, fame, and honor, of which there is more than any other known race), official start time, official end time, or official scoring. In addition, riders are allowed, and indeed encouraged, to compete in only parts of WOCHINCO if their schedule or fitness require it."

"Like the British legal system it [WOCHINCO] lacks a formal written set of rules and instead relies on common law to determine acceptable practices."

"Prior planning of the route is strictly forbidden."

"Alternative formats for the sprints are often used, such as stealth sprints where a rider tries not to alert anyone else of the impending competition until the last possible moment, fully secret sprints where only the winner even knows the sprint happened, or sprints between only a small subsection of the ride."

"Despite the long length, there are generally numerous intermediate sprints, the location of which are determined anywhere from 1 to 500 feet before it is reached by the first rider."

"There will be many, many intermediate sprints which may be announced anywhere from 0 to 100+ miles before the finishing point of the sprint."

"Sprinting for township signs is for Cat 5s, so don't do it (no offense intended to those who are actually Cat 5s)."

I hope that this electronic mail has given you all some insight into the nature of WOCHINCO and has encouraged everyone to participate.

Furthermore, please keep in mind that WOCHINCO is a living, organic, changing event, and that you, dear reader, have the ability to shape the event simply by attending and contributing to its history and its customs. As a final note, I would like to confirm a rumor which has been circulating about this year's edition of WOCHINCO, namely that one of the WOCHINCO creators, Mr. Bart Carlson, will be attending. To my knowledge, this rumor is absolutely true, and you all must take me at my word when I say that this makes it an edition you surely do not want to miss.

Every fall the greatest cyclists Ingham County has ever known gather to battle not only the elements, the roads, and other riders, but their own massive hangovers incurred the night before. On the hallowed roads of Mid-Michigan, where it all goes down, it will be determined who will wear the crown of 2011 World Champion of Ingham County. This year, with the 2010 winner Calves Johansen out of attendance, the door will be open for anyone to take the glory.

We will roll out from the Pavilion at 10am and ride an un-predetermined route for an undetermined distance (~four hours?) at very slow speeds (a.k.a. let's-all-be-friends pace). By the way, this is neither a real race nor a training ride--all are invited and encouraged to join us.

Rides this week:
1. TNR 9/20/11 5:45 PM, forecast sunny and 73! Note new time 15 minutes earlier due to sunset at 7:41 PM.
2. Thursday Time Trial 6:00 PM, or ride from Hannah at 5:15 PM to the TT.
3. Iceman Out & Back Saturday Timber Ridge 9:00 AM, click here for Garmin file This ride is an annual rite of passage that leads up to the Iceman Commeth Challenge. We ride from Timber Ridge where the race ends to Kalkaska, where the race starts, then run the course back to Timber Ridge. Any questions, contact me.

Despite 67% of the members of "Crash Pad" MIA as well as Ralph, Mike, Cary and some others missing we still rolled with twenty last night under an interesting sky and among some interesting people. Jay, who works for the Department of Homeland Security joined us again, good to have you back Jay as well as Anthony Williams all the way from Tennessee. Anthony has ridden with us before, he is an engineering consultant here on BIZNES who heard about us from our friends at Velocipede. But Anthony travelled far less than last night's long distance traveler Jose all the way from Honduras. Jose is studying at MSU and has an interesting family, in fact his uncle was the Minister of Finance for the Country. Zak-Man-Doo decided since there's no more racing he would turn TNR into a knock down, drag out, slug fest by taking three sprints including the Mason Line!

Contemplating moving the ride up to 5:45 starting next week, get with me if that is an issue. We need to start on time and hope for no flats this time of year. Final decision coming soon.

Well, that's all for me boys, but here's a night in pictures to leave you with (Click to enlarge any photo).

For those of you looking to do something with all that fitness, Cyclo Cross Races In Lansing, September 25th and November 19th. Click HERE for link to flyer.

A Federal Agent with the US Department of Homeland Security imbedded himself on TNR last night. According to unnamed high level State Department sources the agent was investigating multiple alleged incidences where members from the TNR Tribe were ‘inflicting undue pain and suffering’ and performing attack ‘which could indicate a pattern of terrorism’ on others of the TNR Tribe. So if you are planning any insurgent attacks on TNR look out for Jay who rode a LiteSpeed with carbon Zipp’s before you unleash your fury.

In a lighter incident, Kate, who is from the area but now lives in sunny San Diego, California, joined our ride and despite our inability to show kindness and compassion for others regardless of gender was not only able to make the ride but wash dishing out some pain herself. They say San Diego has the smallest fluctuation in air temperature of anywhere in the US other than Hawaii, this has allowed Kate to ‘ride lot’s’ as Merckx put it and therefore ride with us, nice work Kate, thanks for coming to visit.

Craig Newell was on a tear last night winning at least 3 of six sprints. He hunted down none other than Brian Crosby on the Annis sprint who attacked off the front only to see Craig bridge and counter for the win. Craig, find a race will ya!

As many of you know we have been discussing the creation of a team in Lansing. Mike Williams has provided us with some quantitative data showing what the TNR riders did, and from this we can see what is possible if instead of just riding together we created a team with a goal and purpose. Here it is. The riders that come to TNR have 20 wins in 2011 so far! 61 top 5’s! 103 top 10’s! Out of 156 race starts 13% of the time one of our riders won the race, 40% of the time we were in the top 5 and a whopping 66% we were in the top 10! Wow, this is truly incredible, more to follow.

Remember the Time Trial Hill Climb Series starts tonight! See below post.

Not even Spartification, nor the pending doom of a storm could dampen the spirits or the numbers on TNR. It was flesh and bone, eyes of glass, heart of stone hard core from the gun to the end.

Once again Eric Snider earned his man card on TNR. Don’t let the mild mannered look fool you, he is a bike assassin. Not only did he log Ninety-Two F#%King miles on Tuesday but he took 2nd on the Annis sprint and won the Kinneville sprint… get out of town!

My power meter started to smoke about 400 yards from the Mason finish but I got word that the Professor, Cary “Grant” Roseth took it. Banky tried to roll away and after keeping it all together for the first 30 miles it got spread out like dropping a bag of marbles on a street in San Francisco, sorry, bygones. Leslie came out and brought some friends, I hope you guys still like us, it was not personal, it’s our business to make people suffer.

Thursday Time Trial is starting back up, meet at the corner of Barry & Lounsbury Roads at 6:30, or meet at Hannah at 6:00 PM to ride out to the TT. Here is a file of the location. Click here for map of TT.