Monday, October 24, 2005

Cannonsburg XC --- Rockford MI

The last MTB race in MI before the finale ICEMAN. The morning temps where a balmy 30 deg. Great race temps for a fun ski hill race. Cannonsburg has added more single track from the past few years (Alger/Founders racing team put a lot of time on the single track---THANKS). The course is a fun, tight and fast course. The sand was a factor in this race bogging racers down or directing them into the woods.
Bells racer Jason Lummis awoke early Sunday morning with the Flavor of Bells Obern still on his tongue (Poto SSWC where the day before and Jason indulged himself with cup after cup of the sweet nector of OBERON) and headed to Grand rapids. The Elite field wasn't large maybe 10.
Russ Tiles shot to the front followed by Scott "Stewy" Stewart and the rest followed as Jason tried to get going. By the end of the first of 6 laps Jason had caught up to Russ and Stewy who where playing cat and mouse. The pace would increase and everyone would hold on. After 2 more laps the beer wore off and Jason started to suffer has Todd F. caught on to the lead group. Stewy attacked up the ski hill and dropped Todd and Jason. Leaving just Russ and Stew to battle it out for the win. Jason attacked Todd and pulled away on the last 2 laps. Stewy bobbled on a steep loose single track climb and Russ buried it to the finishing barely holding Stewy off for the win. Jason cruised the last lap finishing well ahead of Todd F. and Craig Gietzen rolled in 5th.
Results:http://www.funpromotions.com/10-23-05.htm
Next MTB race is ICEMAN
Cyclocross this weekend in Ann Arbor at Vets Park and the week after Iceman is Dexters Hudson Mills CX races.
Live Life Unfiltered and enjoy......

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Xterra U.S. National Championships

BELLS TEAM Memeber Jim James turns in a report from his adventures in Xterra: Great Podium finish JIM !!!!!!!

Xterra U.S. National Championships (Lake Tahoe, NV)
Bell’s Beer mountain bike off-road triathlon specialist, Jim James, lined up against 350 of the countries finest athletes to contest the national championships. The “invitation only” event was held on the shores of Lake Tahoe at Incline Village, Nevada.
The race started with a 1 mile swim in very cold 57-degree water, with 4-foot waves. Next was the 20 mile bike leg which started with a 2,000-foot accent away from Lake Tahoe. After riding the world famous Flume Trail, racers got a few minutes to relax on the 40 mph fire road descent. The 6 mile run was on a mostly flat course, but due to the numerous log and creek crossings, it certainly wasn’t a place for PRs.
The results, once again, the Bell’s Beer jersey was on the podium. Jim earned a third place finish in the 40-44 age group championships. A fine finish for the current North Central USA regional, and national point series champion!
The next stop for Bell’s Beer off-road triathlon specialist is the World Championships in Maui, Hawaii USA. The CBS network will televise this event on Superbowl Sunday! Look for that Bell’s Beer jersey!

Sunday, October 09, 2005

SUNSET on the SEASON PARTY

Annual Post-Iceman Race Bell's Beer Mountain Bike Team Sunset on the Season Party!
Where: The Big Eazy, 1796 Garfield, Traverse City
When: Sat. November 5th, After the Iceman Awards, Approx. 8:30-9pm to close
Why: Celebration of the close of the mountain bike racing season, beer, social interaction, beer, bike swag, beer, Bell's swag, beer.
Who: All mountain bikers and their families (over 21 y.o.) invited! Noteworthy: Due to continued growth of the Sunset on the Season Party, this year, we are again jumping to a facility that can accomodate a bigger crowd. The Big Eazy holds 400 folks -- eazy. Doorprizes and giveaways courtesy of Trek Bicycles, Two Wheel Tango and Bell's. Brand new, new design Bell's cycling caps free to the first 100 in the door. Again this year, one random attendee will win a honorary spot on the 2006 Bell's Beer Mountain Bike Team, including a 2006 Bell's Team Jersey and a Pro-Deal on a 2006 Trek bicycle of the winner's choice. This year's music provided by Eddie Shaw and The Wolfgang, one of Chicago's premier up-tempo Blues bands and the original backup band to the legendary Howlin' Wolf. Complete selection of Kalamazoo Brewing Company (Bell's Beer) offerings on tap and in the bottle. Be one of the first to try some of Larry Bell's new "Five Wheats" series.

BELLS take 3 State Titles at Boyne XC State Championships

BELLS TEAM members John Meyers, Mike Simonson, Jim James, Jason Lummis and Dan Kotwicki showed at the MI State Championships at Boyne Mt. Voted best course in MI for like 10 yrs, this race was deep with talent. The BELLS TEAM took 3 1st place awards today The Simonster 1st in Elite (2nd straight State Title), DanK. 1st in Expert 30-39 (2nd staright Title) and Jim James 1st in Expert 40-49 (2nd straight title).

In the Elite race Mike " Simonster" Simonson took the lead from the start and rode everyone from his wheel with a solo victory in 2:04. John Meyers raced well and finished a great 4th place followed by a sick (and shouldn't have raced) Jason Lummis in 8th place. The course was in great shape and about 9.5 miles long. Elites and Experts all did 3 laps respectively. The temps for the start hovered just above 40, the fall leaves just starting to turn. Added to the perfect course and race for all. Thanks to Brent Walk of FUN PROMOTIONS INC for another great race season (www.funpromtions.com)
Results:http://www.funpromotions.com/10-09-05.htm
Here is the SIMONSTERS view of the race:
Oct. 9th Rise and shine at 7:00AM to a frosty windsheild and temps down in the 20's!?!? It was definately the annual state championships at Boyne Mt. After a cold and brisk warm-up to the top of the golf cart path, it was time to head to start line for today's punishment. The plan was to go ballistic off the start line and catch everyone off gaurd which worked perfectly. I snuck around my team mate John Meyers to snag the wholeshot going into the woods. I had a little gap until Russ Tiles and Tom Archer came roaring up and passed me on the first long climb. We rode together for a little while and I managed to pull away again. I made my way onto the paved golf cart path climb and I could see Russ back about 50 yards. Sure enough he bridged on the bottom of the climb. Rolling into the second pitch of the path, I downshifted and gapped Russ once again. He marked my move, but I took one more hard pull at the top of the climb and looked back to notice I had a sizable gap. I burried the rest of the lap, then kind of went on auto-pilot for the second lap. Near the end of the second lap, I could see Russ bridging again at the base of the last descent. That's when I knew I had to ride a hard last lap to fend him off. I burried it through the last lap and finished to take win. The Trek fuel 110 worked great and it was really nice to be able to lock out both the front and rear suspension with a flip of the thumb on that long paved climb. ----Thanks Mike
2 more MTB races left in Michigan--- Cannonsburg (funpromotions) and the Grand Finale ICEMAN....
Keep the rubber side down and put it down---- Bells Beer MTB Team