Iceman Cometh

Last weekend marked the unofficial end to mountain bike racing in Michigan with the 21st annual Iceman Cometh Challenge. Mom and Pop Racing showed up in Traverse City in full force. We trickled into TC starting on Thursday evening with everyone showing up by late afternoon on Friday. I must say that waking up to several inches of snow on the ground Friday morning was a tad bit nerve racking. But just as the weatherman predicted the snow stopped and the sun came out, paving the way for another excellent weekend.



Todd, Wendy, Jeff, John, and Emma Kate got together on Friday afternoon to conduct a little course recon. We all rode out about three miles from the finish line and rode the course back in order to dial in the new finish area.


Later Friday night we all met at Peepeo’s Tavern for a pre-race dinner and to sort out start line logistics. I must say that Peepeo’s was a great recommendation by Todd and will more than likely become our place of choice for pre- Iceman dinners from here on out.


Saturday morning arrived along with some super cold temps. We all met at the school house (our Iceman HQ) and caravanned to Kalkaska for the start. Once at the start we pretty much spent our time trying to get our clothing choices figured out. For some of us this was easy as our other clothes were 27 miles away and not readily accessible (oh well).


We all took off in our respective waves, with Emma Kate leading the way next up was Jimmie, then Jeff and Melissa took to the course. John followed with Todd and Wendy ending the day for Mom and Pop racing in wave 32.


Everyone pretty much agreed that the course was fast in areas and slow in others but overall was pretty good considering it warmed up and turned much of the single track to mud the consistency of peanut butter.


Mom and Pop made had an excellent showing with Jimmie pounding out a first place finish in the Men’s 37 category. Wendy took second in the Women’s Single Speed class. Todd pedaled his way to 34th in the Men’s under 39 Single Speed group. Jeff finished 37th in the over 40 Clydesdale class. Emma Kate, Melissa, Ryan, and Katherine each took 7th place in Women’s MYC 12-18, Women’ 30-34, Slush Cup Men 10 and under, and Slush Cup Women 10 and under. While I’m giving props to our racers I need to thank my mom for cooking, my wife for shuttling me around and cooking, and Sarah for helping move kids around, they are a huge part of our racing effort.


All in all it was a great showing by our little team. Everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great time.


After we watched and cheered the pro race on at the finish it was off to the School House to prepare the rest of the food and beverages for the after party. Roughly 40 of our friends showed up and shared in a pasta dinner and home made chicken noodle soup. We shared stories about our individual races over some ice cold Original Gravity Amber and IPA. We even talked about next season and began plans for filling out our 2011 roster.


Once again it was a great ending to a great race and an even greater season.


Again, I want to thank Brad at the Original Gravity Brewing Company, Tom and Vicki at the Zilke Vegetable Farm, Jimmie at Midwest Wheelsmith and our “Moms and Pops” for all of their support, without them Mom and Pop racing would not exist.

Watch for our 2011 roster and sponsor announcements in the near future!!!

6 and 12 Hours of Addison Oaks


Jeff, Jimmie, Todd, and Wendy all decided to show up and put on the Mom and Pop colors for the final Fun Promotions Endurance Race of 2010.

Todd and Wendy raced as a two person advance team (both of them on single speeds, no less) in the 12 hour event, while Jeff and Jimmie battled it out in the 6 hour solo event.

Jimmie handily won the 39 and under men’s solo race by completing 12 laps for a total of 82.5 miles. His closest competitor was two laps down.

Jeff, having never raced a solo endurance event, had his eye on completing eight laps for a total of 55 miles. He accomplished his goal and ended up 8th in the men’s over 40 race.

Todd and Wendy raced a fantastic race for twelve solid hours and finished in third place. They completed 22 laps and were edged out of second by two men on geared bikes by a only thirty seconds. Todd summed it up best when he said, “it was an epic battle.”

Pando Cross Country Race

The whole Mom and Pop Racing team showed up and took on all comers at the Pando Cross Country race held in Rockford, MI.

Wendy raced her first solo mountain bike race and entered in the sport women’s 30 and over category. She chose to race on her single speed and still finished 13 minutes ahead of the second place women. Next year she’ll race in the expert class if no women’s single speed class is offered.

Jimmie again raced like he has all season and finished in second place in the Expert Men’s 30-39 category.

Todd raced his first solo mountain bike race in many years. Although it may have his first cross country race in a while he pulled out all the stops and finished in third in the Men’s Advanced Single Speed race.

John raced in the Sport Men’s 40-49 category and finished a respectable 14th. John’s been on and off the bike this year and is still riding hard.

Jeff raced the Sport Clydesdale Race and finished in 7th place. He’s now gearing up for the Iceman Cometh in November.

Here's what we've been up to

It’s been almost a month and a half since I updated the adventures, exploits and races of Mom and Pop Racing so here goes:


Saturday July 24, 2010:


Team Tree Farm Relay

Jeff, Wendy, John and Jimmie lined up in the in the Advanced Co- Ed Class for an 80 mile relay. The day started at 6:00 am with the drive out to the Tree Farm in a light sprinkle (after the previous night’s monsoons the sprinkle was a welcome change).

It rained a little bit prior to the race start at 9:00vam. Jeff went out first for Mom and Pop completing his two laps back to back, leaving us sitting in sixth place at 1 hour and 53 minutes. The course was slick from the rain leaving the bridges treacherous.

Next up Wendy took her turn on the course. All I can say is, boy did she rock it. She completed her first lap in 47 minutes and fell a few minutes behind with a second lap time of 50 minutes. Keep in mind that she pulled theses times this in a torrential downpour, riding a single speed on a course that she had never ridden. Way to go! When she came in for the handoff we could barely recognize her because of all the mud covering her. Wendy’s times moved us up to fifth place.

John took the handoff from Wendy and started making up even more time on the course. John is really tearing it up at this point in the season as he put another beat down on Jeff finishing his two laps, on what he referred to as peanut butter, in 52 and 57 minutes respectively. John’s times left us still sitting in fifth place but had shaved enough time off the leaders to put us into striking distance for a podium spot.

Next up was Jimmie, he anchored the team with a two of the fastest lap times of the day at 43 minutes and some change for each lap. Talk about consistent! Both of those times came after racing the Maillot Jaune road race in Fenton, MI earlier in the day (more on that below). Jimmies laps moved us into third place and on to the podium by 39 seconds.

We’d like to thank Brad at the Original Gravity Brewing Company (www.ogbrewing.com) the supplied for the team. We shared the keg with many of the racers and they all agreed that it was one of the finest micro brews they have tasted in a long time.

We also have to thank Tom and Vicki of the Zilke Vegtable Farm (www.zilkevegtablefarm.com) for the great support and vegetables that went into the salsa that we had at our compound.

Next up is a 5k trail running race in Dexter, MI for Christine and a possibly the 8 Hours of Bloomer in Rochester Hills for our cyclists. Both races are on July 31st.


Maillot Jaune

Jimmie and Melissa ventured out to Fenton, MI for the Maillot Jaune road race before heading to the Tree Farm Relay. When he showed up at the Tree Farm, Jimmie shared that he finished a solid 5th and on the podium at the Maillot Jaune and that Melissa finished 3rd in her class. The course was slick from all the rain and as with road racing in the rain it caused a pretty good crash in Jimmie’s group, taking out 7 or 8 riders.


Saturday, June 12, 2010

Flirt with Dirt 5k Trail Race

Christine entered her first running race and did not disappoint finishing 7th out of 25. After this race it’s apparent that she has been bitten by the trail running bug, when we got home she began looking for her next race and did not find just one but several to compete in before summer ends.

I must give her two thumbs up for her training efforts leading up to this race and for her performance during the race!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

MMBA Northern Chapter HCP Summer Solstice Ride

This is not a “race” or a “ride” but an adventure and this year Todd and Wendy “weathered” the adventure completing the IMBA Epic 50 mile ride, on single speeds. Todd said that the weather was bad, rain and cool temperatures eventually gave way to sunnier skies which aided them in completing the days ride. They took a couple of growlers from the OG up to share and spread the word of Brad’s fantastic brews.

Tour de Cure- Brighton, Michigan

On June 5th I participated in my third American Diabetes Tour de Cure. This year I opted for the 25 mile road ride as the day was filled with other obligations. The ride was pretty uneventful other than I followed the cue sheet (not the map) and the road markings which pretty much did not correspond to the map. This resulted in an eight mile trip out of my way and off the beaten path. This also meant that I would not complete my ride with enough time to make it to my son’s final travel soccer game.
Being the creative person I am, I decided to back track to the Brighton Recreation area and pick up the Murray lake single track and ride that instead of the road. This worked out well as I finished on time with a total of 22 miles, some of which was on the dirt. A win, win in my book.

I’d like to thank the following people for their generous donations and support in my fundraising efforts:

Mom
My son, nieces and nephew
Uncle Dave
Cousins Bridgette and John
Kathy Wyatt
Judi Swidan
Todd Blumerick
Stacy Kearney
Martha Osbourne
Benjamin Pinette
Laura Santoro
Peter Rahotina
Pam Hamilton
The Brewer’s
Herb Schroeder
Rick Carek
My Beautiful Wife

Again THANKS to all of you for your support!!!!!

Waterford Thursday Night Worlds

Kudos to Jimmie for his finishes in the Waterford Thursday Night Worlds Road Racing Series. I didn’t even know that he was representing on the road racing circuit but low and behold he was out there tearing it up on the skinny tires to. I don’t have a race report but I do have results:


May 5th- 10th “B” race

May 20th- 15th “B” race

June 3rd- 3rd “B” race


Jimmie just keeps the wheels rolling!!!

Bloomer and Beyond

The weekend of May 29th had Jeff at Bloomer and Jimmie racing in Wisco-land. Jimmie faired well, while Jeff didn’t.

According to Jimmie it was hotter than Hades in Wisco. The heat along with the long drive up for the Big Ring Classic took its toll on him and Melissa. Jimmie told me that the heat was draining and that hydration played an important part in this race. Even after the long drive he managed to pull out a 5th place finish in the elite men’s 30-39 category. Jimmie’s been tearing it up and is ramping up for the Lumberjack 100 in June.

Jeff showed up at Bloomer for the local Tailwind Series. After a 15 mile warm up ride with his wife, Christine, on the Paint Creek Trail, he was ready to take on the Sport Clydesdales. The race started out with no hitches. Jeff was sitting tight in second place until some guy crashed out in the switchbacks in front of him. At that point he hit a root and burped his front tire. After a quick fill and dropping to third place, Jeff came through after the first lap grabbed a great hand up from Christine and started out for lap two of the three lap race.

That’s where it all went to hell. Right after the sledding hill Jeff realized that he had blown up his rear hub, essentially turning it into a fixie, and had to pull out for a DNF. That’s bike racing for you.

Jeff did get to hang out with some of his old teammates from the PrecisionMTB.com team, so all was not lost!

Next up Todd and Wendy are heading up to the MMBA Northern Chapter Summer Solstice Ride while Jeff will be at the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure in Brighton.

May 15th Racing- All Over the State

Saturday May 15th was a busy day for Mom & Pop Racing. Jeff John lined up in Chelsea, MI for the 1st annual (hopefully) Heart and Sole 13.4 mile bike race. The Heart and Sole Race was held in conjunction with a 5 and 10k running race to benefit the Grace Clinic at the Chelsea Hospital. The course was touted as being held on gravel roads with a couple of hills, well I can attest to the gravel roads and the “couple” of hills, because obviously my nearly three week hiatus from the bike took its toll on me.

The race started on the hospital grounds and worked its way north through downtown Chelsea and then onto the gravel and dirt roads north and east of town. I went out fast with the front of the group, hoping to hang onto former teammates Tom Sterling and Lee Shaw’s wheels. That was a great plan until the railroad tracks downtown. This is where I blew up (lack of riding/ training) and started to fall apart both physically and mentally. Well about a mile later John rolls up behind me and yells for me jump his wheel. I yelled back for him to keep going and I’d find my way to the finish. All I could think was “wheel hell, I need a tow truck”. That’s the last I saw of John until the finish line. The rest of my race was a battle to survive. So much so that I thought I was hallucinating when an older woman on a hybrid outfitted with a kick stand and fenders passed me like I was standing still. I realized that she wasn’t a figment of my imagination when I heard her yell out, “On your left” as she went by like I was standing still. I guess I better get back on the bike and work to get my early season fitness back. John had a great race and blew my doors off by nearly 5 minutes. Great job, John!

Later that day I got an update from Jimmie who had gone out to Stoney Creek Metro Park for the 12 hours of Stoney Creek Race. Jimmie and Melissa (PrecisionMTB.com) tore it up again with Jimmie pulling in a solid effort and finishing fourth overall. Jimmie is killing it in his second season back on the racing scene after a short layoff. Melissa finished 3rd in the women’s class in the six hour race. Great job to both of you!

While the rest of us were racing Todd and Wendy were hanging out at the Hare Racer in Adrian. They were there routing on Wendy’s son who race din the kids race.

Once again thanks to our sponsors, Original Gravity Brewing Company, Zilke Vegetable Farm, and Midwest Wheelsmith for their support. Without them, Mom & Pop Racing would still be a pipe dream! Oh, Yeah, big thanks to the moms and pops who stepped up also!!

Mud, Sweat, and Beers

A little late on the race update but anyway, this race was a lot of fun. Me, Melissa and Adam Wheeler choose to do the 20mile race. They started all skill levels at the same time, the three of us lined up together about two rows back from the front. The start gun went off and it was a bit of a free for all, I nearly got pinched by two riders. Once we hit the first climb things began to settle down and thin out. After that it was a lot of rolling terrain with some fast two track down hills as well as some paved road sections through the neighborhood behind Mt. Holiday. This course was hard and fun at the same time, you had to be on the gas the whole time. For those of us that have been racing for a while, Mt Holiday use to be the finish for Iceman as well as the gathering place for the awards. It definitely brought back memories. It was a great day, I finished 12th, Melissa took 4th in her first expert race and Adam took 5th in the single speed expert.

Pontiac Lake Time Trial

Despite the gloomy weather Jimmie made a game day decision to roll out to Pontiac Lake and shoot it out in the expert men's 30-39 class.His decision paid off big time as he rolled in taking a third at his first race of the year. Not to shabby for a guy rehabbing an injury. We're looking at Jimmie kicking some serious rear end this year. Kuddos to Melissa for a first place in her women's sport category. These two are tearing up the Michigan racing scene.

Barry-Roubaix race report

John and I showed up to the Barry-Roubaix, Killer Gravel Road Race on Saturday, March 27th early in the morning. The air was cold and the wind was blowing making getting ready for the race all that much harder. After a quick trip to registration to grab our bib numbers and swag, we were off to get our new V-Gear kit on.

I must say so far I’m impressed with V-Gear, the kit looks and fits awesome. You can see us coming a hundred miles away. Just the look I was going for. After kitting up, we were off to warm up, yeah right, it was so freaking cold out that warming up was impossible.

I had a small mishap at work on Wednesday and screwed up my elbow, so instead of suffering for the day, I dropped down and did the short race. I vowed that if I won by more than 5 minutes, I’d drop out and give up the title. As you’ll read later that wasn’t even going to be an issue.

After a short delay, we were off, all 600+ of us, a mass neutral rolling start for about 2 miles. In theory this is great idea but as the train gets rolling, you soon realize that many folks have never ridden in a pack like this and had a hard time holding a line. I had to make a move around these guys for my safety. John and I were together for the first mile or two and then I lost him in the pack. I found out later that he was about and eighth of a mile behind me the whole race.

Any how, as we entered onto the first gravel road I realized that my early move was not good enough as I was caught behind a group of riders not prepared for the rocky loose climb on Sager Rd. Two guys went down right in front of me but I was able to avert disaster, dismount, and ran up the climb. Once remounted I realized that there where really only two lines on Sager Rd. the far left and far right, of which several people obviously couldn’t figure out because they tried the loose sand down the center.

After leaving Sager Rd. the race was pretty uneventful for me, other than I realized on Sager that my front derailuer wouldn’t shift onto the small chain ring. In order to shift I had to shift down, push the chain over with my heel and pull the left pedal up, thus moving the chain onto the small ring. What a pain in the arse, but that was easier than trying to fix it during the race. What ever works!

My GPS unit went dead at about the 15 mile mark, so from that point on I had no idea how much further I had to go or my pace. Whatever, neither piece of information was really that important.

On the pavement back to the finish, I picked up a female racer and chatted with her, trading pulls. I figured that she had to be at the front of her class. We caught a few people toward the end and as we entered the state park she called out a racer about 50 yards behind us. I sat up a little and started to put on the gas. She called him out 20 yards back and told her, lets go. I poured on the gas and she stayed on my wheel to the finish. I wish I could have thanked her. Turns out, that guy was in my class and I had been trading places with him for about the last 10 miles.

I finished in 1:41 and some change for and 8th place finish. As I was sitting at the line I turned around and John crossed the finish about 45 seconds behind me, coming in 10th.

We hung out for the raffle and awards. I ended up winning a 6er of Founders ale and a bottle of T9 chain lube. Steve Balogh, one the Photogs at the race, rode up with me and hooked me up with another 4er of Founders. Add in the free pint glass and water bottle and I came away with about 5 bucks out of my pocket for the race.

I need to thank my wife for her support in my crazy endeavors. I also need to say thanks to my son, Drew, for being a great kid and supporting me in my racing. He was a great help in making sure I was ready.

Thanks to Rick Plite for putting on a great race.

Thanks to our sponsors, Original Gravity Brewing Company, Zilke Vegetable Farm and Midwest Wheel Smith for their support.

See ya at the next race!

Our kit is in

After a couple of weeks our new team kit is here. Verge did us solid by rushing the order so that those of us racing Barry-Roubaix would have our kit to wear. As soon as I get a pic or two of it I'll post them up.

Look for the Kermit green jersey's with the heart tattoo and ask if we have any Original Gravity beer to share. Chances are we will!!!

Thanks again to all of our sponsors who came through to make this happen this year!!!!

Look for us at the following races/ cycling events, with more confirmations on the way:

Barry- Roubaix
Lumber Jack 100
Pontiac Lake Time Trial
Yankee Springs Time Trial
American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure
Team Tree Farm Relay
Maybury Time Trial
Alzheimer's Association Mind Over Matter Bicycle Tour
Mad Anthony Cyclocross
Iceman Cometh

See ya on the trails!!!!

Mom & Pop Racing

Team G to G Racing has undergone a face lift. Yes, already. After careful consideration and several anonymous sponsors stepping forward, Team G to G Racing will be racing under the moniker "Mom & Pop Racing". We believe this name better supports our mission to support locally owned and operated businesses.

Along with the face lift comes the "tattoo" style logo and brighter colors. You'll definetly see us coming and going!

Team roster has been finalized for 2010

Team G to G Racing consists of the following racers:

Jeff Carek- Sport Clydesdale
Jimmie Colflesh- Expert Men
Todd Blumerick- Mens Singlespeed
Wendy Zamzow- Womens Singlespeed
John Conlin- Beginner Men

We are looking forward to an excellent season in 2010.

Stop by and say hi at the races.

See you on the trails in 2010.