Here are some pictures for Mathiessen Mountain madness which should have been called “Mathiessen mud madness”
I placed 3rd in Expert
Aubrey also took third in sport women
Melinda was close by with forth,
Aaron
Jay and Martin set out for Ohio to race at the 21st incarnation of Calvin’s challenge. Jay signed up for the 12 hour, Martin (having recently run a Marathon) settled for the 101 mile time trial. It was a dark and stormy night before the race, but the weather settled down to an overcast 60s on race morning. Jay mass-started at 7:30 with a group of nearly 200 racers, the time trial followed at 8:45 with a racer off every 30 seconds.
Jay found someone to work with in the same age group. Andy turned out to pull well into the wind, but then disaster struck Andy: 3 flats in a row, costing over 20 minutes. After some more pulling Jay eventually smoked his ride-mate and took off to get the bronze in the 40-44 age group with 234 miles. The overall 12 hour upright winner, Kurt Searvogel, set a new course record of 269 miles.
Martin was pedaling away until his own version of disaster struck: the armrest of the right aerobar broke off, leaving two uncomfortable bolts poking out of the base bar. After about 50 miles, all tolerable arm positions were exhausted, and the rest of the ride had to be on the brake wings of the aerobar. Nonetheless, Martin clocked in at 4:41 after 101 miles, winning second place in the TT. The winner put in a time of 4:23, even beating a 4:27 in the HPV (fairing-enclosed human powered vehicles) category!
A solid day of racing in Ohio, with temperatures and humidity only moderately bad in the afternoon. The organizers joke that “the weather is always perfect at Calvin’s,” and this time, it really was. After stuffing themselves with shredded meat BBQ sandwiches included in the race fee, Jay and Martin drove home in what seemed like 4 hours, but only took 3 hours.
Cheers,
Martin
Race report for the Pioneer Tri
Petersburg is a cozy little town north of Springfield, very hilly by Champaign standards. The annual Pioneer Tri is a 300 yard swim, 13 mile bike ride, and 5 kilometer run - a one hour intense effort. Aubrey and Martin headed west for this warm-up race, one of the first in the spring. Aubrey sliced through the swim and run to transition in 4:04 (the swim was probably ~3:45!), the fifth fastest of the day, kept the heat up on the bike at 20 mph in wind and over hills, and kept the legs rolling for a 23:59 run off the bike. The run and bike went well despite having crippled an ankle while winning a trail running race two weeks previous, and having not run since. She finished in 1:08:14, second in the 25-29 age group. To see if he could PR again over last year’s 1:02:36 despite advancing decrepitude, Martin adopted a novel strategy: he lost 6 lb. of fat just before the race (we know that sounds scary). It worked! Bike, swim and run were all faster, with almost 20 seconds/mile gain over last year on the hilly run. Martin finished more thanr 2-1/2 minutes faster than last year, 6th in a field of 149, 1st in the 45-49 age group. The 40 year old overall winner ripped through the course in under 56 minutes. Overall, there was stronger competition this year than in past years at this race. Missed you Scott, the weather was perfect!
Martin Gruebele
Great Day for racing, 75 racers showed up for the Inaugural Patriot CX race.
More photos here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/_epon_/sets/72157627650022172/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonepicts/sets/72157627650448124/