Getting the year set up right is key. Well, one of the keys. There are many keys. Lets get into what they are.
This year will surely look different than years past. Clearly 2024 was not the best. Well, it was a decent year, other than the surgeries. And it lacked in riding. But overall the year was ok. Highs and lows.
So far January has been ok. My training is where it needs to be a week into the new year. Win. Keep eating right and I should see more fitness gains this month. Developing better routines.
February will be more of the same. Just keep riding. Keys here are to build endurance, build strength, and keep eating right. I should see a steady weight loss again this month. Continued development of routines and positive habits.
March means more outdoor riding with continued ramping of miles. I will be riding with Tom more around Allegan. I plan to hit Yankee and Barry Roubaix as regimented training. The race season is nearly here.
April, lets get it started.
Barry Roubaix
First off, I had to skip 2024. Secondly, my 2023 was cut short for a few reasons. I was out of shape, and it was HOT that year. So I bailed out. I believe I have grown mentally stronger since that event. I have learned to like climbing more. I still don't love it, but I am learning and growing stronger. I am currently on the wait list, but I plan to train as if I am in. I am on the list for the 66 Mile Thriller event. I hope I get in, because I was only 33ish miles in the last time before I tanked. I want to have a solid ride on this event. It will be a great way to kick off my season.
Yankee Springs Time Trial
A short 2 weeks later is the Yankee Time trial. I have steep goals for this event, personal goals anyway. Sounds like the course will run in the counter clockwise direction so its more familiar to me. However, in the month or so leading up to this event I do plan on being at Yankee a lot. I need to get tough mountain bike miles in to get my body ready for the season. Fun course. Fun event. Perfect kick off to the mountain bike offroad series.
Things get quiet in May. I only have 1 event. This will be a continued month of building endurance. A lot of Yankee and more Barry Roubaix miles are a perfect mx. The event I have is early in the month.
Fort Custer Stampede
One of my favorite courses for sure. I know it like the back of my hand, so it gives me a bit of that home course advantage. Because its early in May, and only a few weeks after Yankee, I will still be building. This will be a good test of my mtb endurance at speed. While the race is only 16 miles, I want to push hard for the whole race. Custer is a great place to ride hard and fast because its not technical and its pretty flat. After this event I just need to build endurance and work on climbing.
June is where things get really crazy. As it stands right now I have an event every weekend in June. 5 weekends in a row of racing. One of these might get moved, but if not....gonna be a busy month. It will be a huge month regardless. On top of a busy schedule...its my birthday month too! ha. So, lets see whats on tap....
Island Lake Challenge
I cannot tell you for certain when I did this race last, but it has been a while! I remember liking the course, in bits and pieces. This is the first weekend in June, so a great way to kick off the month. A relatively flat 18 miles of XC style racing. Not exactly the way to start tapering for LJ. ha!
Maybury XC
Another one that has been a minute since I have done it. I think last time I raced at Maybury it was still a Time Trial. Should be a fun course. Another 19 miles of fairly flat riding. Just more technical than Island Lake (if I remember right). This race is scheduled for 2nd weekend in June, but its likely that it will be moved to another date. More to come here.
Luton Park Time Trial
A race I have never done, it is still a relatively new event. I love riding at Luton so this should be another fun ride. 2 solid laps of the course will offer plenty of variety of trail with all the climbing in the second half of each lap. Again, not a long ride and not a lot of climbing. Should be a fun event charging full speed around a super fun course! This is the weekend before Lumberjack.
Lumberjack 100
It is time. This is the A race on the schedule. Last time I was here I broke a frame and had to walk out of the woods. Now I have a new whip and I plan to be in better shape. There are some format changes this year (4 laps instead of 3) as a throwback to the old days. I guess this is the 20th year for the event. I can't wait, as I have some redemption to achieve here.
Coast 2 Coast gravel grinder
Pump the brakes, I am only doing the 100. Only...100. lol. This is a fairly flat gravel century the weekend after Lumberjack 100. What in the hell am I thinking here. I am thinking that I had a race credit to use and I used it. lol. From what I have heard this is a fun event. Last year was super rainy. My buddy Tom actually won cylde in the 200 mile version. So I trust him to help me train and be ready for these back to back centuries.
My schedule pretty much falls off after this. I will need some recovery after June. The Holland 100 does fall in July, but not sure I will be up for a 3rd century in 2025. We will see on that one.
August is welcomed with a single gravel event.
Fast Fitty
Not really sure what it is about this event, but I just like it. Dale (and his team) do such a great job that I just keep coming back. This is a flatter 50 miles of gravel that should be a breeze after June. I should be recovered and ready to rock again when its time to let the gravel fly.
September has a race in Traverse City, but I am 50/50 on that event. I will see how I am feeling when that gets closer. Also, Maybury might land sometime this month. Kind of a wild card month.
October brings on the fall colors and what will be my final event of the year. There are so many good events that I might sneak in the Peak 2 Peak or the Lowell classic. We shall see how things are going when the time comes. I do plan to do Custers last stand as the MORC finale.
Custer's Last Stand TT
In 2024 I drug my fat bike over to Custer to do some course marking for Dale. I was just back into riding again and knew I couldn't do any damage racing. As this is another close race, and because I love custer, I will be there racing this time. Another 2 laps to finish out the year and see where I land in the points series.
The point series you ask? I am glad you did. There is a new mountain bike series back! What was once the MMBA CPS is now a Michigan Off-Road Championship series. I am stoked. While I love gravel, I just haven't been competitive enough to sign up for a series. The MORC series has 8 offerings for 2025.
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| Stolen from MORC facebook page (please don't sue me) This is a nice mix of cross country and time trails just like the old days. At the moment I plan on 6 of the races. Addison is out for sure in 2025 because that is the same weekend as C2C. Not even going to ponder that. The other question mark is the Traverse City Trails event. I will take a look at points and my fitness to see how I stand. If I believe I can leverage my standings I will think about racing. If not, the finale at Custer will have to do! The Maybury race is still a wild card here too. But with the series taking the best 5 finishes for points, that event will be helpful. So there you go.....that is my plan for the season. With all of the choices of events I could easily race every weekend from the end of March through the end of September. I love to ride, but I also love my relationship and plan to grow that as well. ha! While June is busy, I will still be doing long recovery rides after the races. I will post up and would love people to join me for rides. I will post about the rides coming up in the next couple of months too. Lets all get fitter and faster in 2025!!! |
