RacenLog

Welcome to 2008! This is the start of an exciting new year for the Rapid Wheelmen Racing Team. We’ve already gotten to a great start putting together a great team. Meet them:

Joel Bierling (Captain) Jeff Festian Dave Staublin Jeff Scofield Nick Christensen John Kowalczyk Josh Duggan Scott Walburn Dave George Mark Bailey Brian Krause Thomas McGovern

There are perks (free stuff!) to joining the Race Team. Anyone of any age and ability who wants to race their bicycle at any discipline (road, cyclocross, mountain biking, etc..) is free to join. Join or find out more by calling me at 616-633-8601, join our YahooGroup at RWRace@YahooGroups.com, or email me at race@rapidwheelmen.com.

For previous issues of the RacenLog visit: http://www.bierling.net/racenlog.htm

Versluis Snowcross — Kisscross Cyclocross Series (January 26, 2008)

RTRs: Joel Bierling (A’s 13^th), Dave George (A’s 8^th), Jeff Festian (B’s 5^th), Jeff Scofield (B’s 8^th), Brian Krause (B's 17^th)

The 2008 Snowcross was my first experience racing in the snow. Last year, from what I heard, it should have been called the Mudcross but this year it was true to its name with lots of snow and lots of cold to go with it. With all the snow, I really wasn’t sure whether I should ride my cross bike or my mountain bike and I had planned on taking both, but I was running late in getting to the race so I just grabbed my cross bike. I was also pretty concerned with staying warm so I bundled myself up pretty well and before the race tried to get my fingers warm by holding my hands in front of some sort of high powered portable heater at the race. I actually had my hands inside some thin warmers which I was holding in front of the heater and after a few moments noticed an odd smell. I inspected my hand and noticed that I had melted the finger tips right off my hand warmers. And my hands were still cold!

The cold really wasn’t so bad once the race got going. I was still cold mind you, and really didn’t warm up until the second to last lap, but the main thing I discovered was that I should have brought my mountain bike. It wasn’t so much the snow that was giving me trouble, it was the bumps. I didn’t feel like I could really put much power into the pedals because I was just vibrating myself to death. I was also concerned about crashing and managed to avoid that until the last lap. Ouch! But not too much worse for the wear, I hopped back on the bike and finished the race.

The after race party was a blast. There were a ton of great people hanging out and a ton of food and drink.