March Madness

And so it begins, March is here and so is the start of the racing season in Michigan! Not to let a racing opportunity slip by, members of Mom & Pop Racing have already been tearing up early season events!

On March 13th Christine took to the streets of Ann Arbor, MI and competed in the Shamrocks and Shenanigans 5K race. Picking up where she left off last season she rocked the course with a personal best, finishing in 27:14. Christine finished 12th out of 83 in her age class.

Also on March 13th, Brad took to the pool, treadmill, and spinning bike at the Lifetime Fitness in Canton, MI, competing in an indoor triathlon. Appearing in his first event as a member of Mom & Pop Racing, Brad did not disappoint! He finished 13th overall and 7th in the Open Male category. Brad also finished with the third best run overall.



Wendy on the podium!


March 26th was a cold day in mid Michigan but Wendy warmed it up with a total thrashing of the Women’s 35 mile Single Speed class at the third annual Barry Roubaix- Killer Gravel Road Race. Wendy completed the course in 2:10:13 taking the win, six minutes in front of her nearest opponent. Wendy finished 6th overall in the women’s 35 miler.

With March comes the AASTS, a four race criterium “training” series held in Ann Arbor. So early Sunday, March 27th, John and Seth showed u p to test out their winter fitness. I must say that both showed up and preformed well after this never ending Michigan winter. John raced the “C” race which was his very first road race. John held on in the pack and worked his into the top third in the last lap, finishing solidly around 15th out of 38 racers. Seth competed in the “B” race. After letting a two man break get away, Seth attacked and two others followed. Seth and the two others worked together and reeled in the break with about 5 laps left. The now five man break continued to work together and spread their lead over the pack to more than 40 second. It was a three person sprint to the line and Seth was just edged out for second place, finishing third.

 

March has been a great month for Mom & Pop Racing, two podiums and three solid finishes!!!

We would like to thank our sponsors and family who support our competitive habits!!! Thanks to our Moms and Pops, as well as the Original Gravity Brewing Company, The Zilke Vegetable Farm, Sweet Bikes, Moon Winks Café, TSS Photography, and Midwest Wheelsmith!!!!

Hopefully spring will show up soon! We’ll see you at the races!!!

Race Across the Sky- Fundraiser for Michigan Youth Cycling

Join us at Sweet Bikes on Friday, April 22, 2011 and see 'Race Across the Sky' The story of the 2010 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race.

Movie star and local rider Tom Lining will give a talk about his experiences at the Leadville 100.

This event is a fundraiser for the Michigan Youth Cycling Program. Michigan Youth Cycling is a Michigan 501 © (3) Non-Profit Corporation, the mission of which is to promote physical activity among youth and families through sports, mainly competitive cycling.

Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door. Reserve your tickets by calling Sweet Bikes - 248-403-8049.

Tickets include movie showing, light snacks, beer and soda as well as two raffle tickets.

Sponsored by:

Sweet Bikes
Michigan Youth Cycling
Mom & Pop Racing
Original Gravity Brewing
Louis Garneau
Twin Six
Tifosi

Support Our Sponsors- Best of Ann Arbor Contest

Both MoonWinks Cafe and the Original Gravity Brewing Company are competing in the Best of Ann Arbor Contest held by AnnArbor.com. You can help us support them by clicking the links below and voting for MoonWinks Cafe as the Best Coffee House (voting ends February 26th. I apologize for the short notice as I just found out about the contest last night) and the Original Gravity as the Best Brewery (voting starts February 27th).

http://www.annarbor.com/bestof/contests/coffeehouse/

http://www.annarbor.com/bestof/contests/brewery/

Both of these fine establishments fully support grassroots mountain biking in Michigan. So let's show them our support!

Spring is just around the corner (not that you can tell by looking out your window), which means so is the racing and riding season! Remember to be a great trail steward and advocate and stay off the trails until the spring thaw has completed it's cycle. The back roads are a great place to get in that early season base mileage!

See you at the races!

2011 Team Roster

Announcing the 2011 Mom & Pop Racing roster:

Team Racers:

Jeffrey Carek- Clydesdale MTB/ Trail Running
Jimmie Colflesh- Expert MTB/ CAT 4- Road
Melissa Mabry- Expert MTB/ CAT 4- Road
John Conlin- Sport MTB
Emma Kate Conlin- Beginner MTB/ Junior- Road
Todd Blumerick- Single Speed MTB
Wendy Zamzow- Single Speed MTB/ Ultra Runner
John Wojtala- Expert MTB
Seth Kleinglass- Sport MTB/ CAT 1- Road
William Caruso- CAT 4- Road/ Triathlon
Dave Freeman- Sport MTB

Associate Riders/ Racers/ Support:

Christine Carek- CAT 5- Road/ Trail Running
Mary J. Carek- Support
Sarah Conlin- Road/ Trail Running
Ryan Masters- Beginner MTB
Emily Kleinglass- Road Riding/ Support
Mike McCusker- Road Riding/ MTB

We believe that we have assembled an excellent group of family and friends to race with this year and are looking forward to the beginning of the season.

Look for us at a race near you and feel free to stop by and say hi.

Check out our team kit brought to us by Canari Custom Cycle Wear.

2011 Sponsors- Thanks for all the support!

We are happy to announce our 2011 sponsors.... (drum roll please)..... Original Gravity Brewing Company, the Zilke Vegetable Farm, Midwest Wheelsmith, Sweet Bikes, TSS Photography, and Moon Winks Cafe..... and our family supporters (Moms, Dads, Grandmas, Aunts, and Uncles).... Thanks for the support... We'll see you at the races!!!!

Please support our sponsors, as they are all local businesses! Click the logo on the right to visit thier websites!

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.