Registration season

Funny how the next 2 weeks will define a lot of what my bike season looks like even though right now it's 24 degrees, there's fresh snow on the ground, and the only riding I'm doing today is a spin class at the Sports Club. But we're well into event registration season.

Registration for Iceman and Lumberjack 100 open on  March 1st and 2nd (and both sell out in minutes) for events in June and November. I'm hoping to get into Iceman, if I don't I'll try to pick up a transfer as people drop out later in the season. Lumberjack, I don't know... I have to admit 100 miles on a mountain bike in June (or any time) is pretty intimidating, so if I don't get in I'll just go out and support the Greyhounds and maybe do a bandit lap (33 miles, no problem) to check out the course for next year.

DALMAC and Peak2Peak opened their registration this week, for events in September and October. Those don't fill up as fast -  currently only 14 signed up for Peak2Peak, including me and Ann. This will be my 4th Peak2Peak - it's a fun race even in the bad weather we had last year, although last year's expert/elite riders might disagree since their race got shortened due to bad weather.

Derek and I have successfully registered for our 4th DALMAC. A nice ride, except for the one day every year when it's cold and wet.

And I'm doing something I've never done before on a bike - raising money. I'll be registering for the Komen Ride for the Cure as soon as there's a Greyhounds team registered with them to sign up with. That's really goiung out on a limb for me - ride 100 miles, no problem. Raise $500? Not really in my comfort zone. But I'll give it a try, and it's a good cause so it shouldn't be too difficult.

August is shaping up to be pretty busy - Komen on 8/3, Maybury TT on 8/17, X100 on 8/24, DALMAC starts on 8/29 in Lansing and ends on 9/1 in Mackinaw City.

Rebooting the blog, what the !@#& am I getting myself into?

I'm rebooting this blog - I joined RACING GREYHOUNDS for this season, so I should be doing interesting races and training rides this year. I've done quite a few races, but this year I'm planning on training for them so maybe I'll have better results.

For example, last weekend I did the Worst Day of the Year Ride in Ann Arbor. It really wasn't the worst day of the year for riding, but it was cold and windy. Lots of Greyhound teammates there, so peer pressure was a definite factor in getting me out on the bike on a day where I would have stayed inside and brewed beer or something in the past.

Two races are already confirmed on the calendar - Barry-Roubaix on March 23 and X100 on August 24. Barry-Roubaix is 36 miles on dirt roads with some singletrack - probably a good route for the Trek 7.5FX Disc. I'm quite sure I can ride the 36 miles - maybe not very fast, but I'll finish.

X100 is a 100 mile, solo, mountain bike race using NCT in the Traverse City/Kalkaska area. Sounds like it uses some of the Iceman route. This one I really don't know about - the longest MTB race I've done so far is the Stoney Creek Sweat Miser Marathon last July, and I ended up dropping out of that after about 30 miles... it was really hot and humid, and I wasn't the only one to DNF, but 30 miles isn't anywhere near 100 and August isn't likely to be much cooler than July.

There are some other races tentatively on the calendar - Peak 2 Peak, Stoney Creek 6 Hour, Lumberjack 100 (if I get in), Iceman again, if I get in), Tree Farm Relay, and a few others. And Derek and I will be doing DALMAC again - 4 days, 320 miles from Lansing to Mackinaw should really seem like a vacation after X100.

It's going to be an interesting year...