By Chris Gottwald, Team OAM Now Cyclist Want to know what it’s really like to race a Criterium at the Pro / Cat I level? You might be surprised! After 24 years of racing in the elite ranks, one of the most popular questions is what is like to perform at this level? The reality is that there are several different types of riders, each one with a different experience. One of the more amusing parts of my career is that I am a very different breed and, as such, I have to ride a very different type of race than other riders. First off, I am small. How small? About 135 lbs on a HEAVY day and about 5’9”
By JoAnn Cranson, Team OAM Now Cyclist Tackling a century ride can be daunting to a cyclist. While base miles under your belt are key, if you know how to draft, the 100 miles go by a lot more easily. I signed up for the Grand Rapids “100 Grand Bicycle Tour” on June 6th. This tour had options for 17, 35, 65 and 105 miles. I wanted to ride with my Team OAM Now teammates and noticed I was going to be the only woman to ride the 105 miles with them. Even though I don’t have the same power or speed as the men, I knew it was “all about the draft”. I believed I could stay with them
By Roxane Kippen, Team OAM Now Triathlete Hold on a minute, isn’t triathlon just three disciplines? Yes swim, bike and run take up the majority of the race, but there are these precious seconds, or for some, minutes where you have to wiggle out of your wetsuit and put on a bike helmet (T1) and change from bike shoes to run shoes (T2). While time spent in the transition area may not be long, how wisely you use that time could be the difference between being on the podium or wishing you were. With triathlon, there are usually a few “I could have been faster if I had only: sighted better in the swim so I wasn’t weaving all over the
By Elaine Sheikh, Team OAM Now Triathlete My time over winter break was spent training hard. I returned to school, excited to continue and prepare for my first “A” race of the year – USAT Collegiate Club Nationals in Clemson, South Carolina at the end of April. I was going to race the draft-legal sprint and the Olympic triathlon. However, only three days into the semester, I noticed a strange pinching sensation in my pelvis. As an athlete, I’m accustomed to shutting out physical discomfort. Disaster struck when I was out on a run and began to experience unbearable pain shooting through my pelvis with every footfall. By the time I hobbled back to my house, I couldn’t even lift
By Roxane Kippen, Team OAM Now Triathlete When forward progress on a bicycle is stopped by anything other than the brakes, it is likely that things won’t end well. Mountain biking presents endless possibilities for halting forward movement on a bike such as rocks, roots and, of course, trees. Wet roots and ultimately a tree, came into play for me at the USA Triathlon Offroad National Championships in Pelham, Alabama on May 16. I had committed to racing the USAT Offroad Nationals back in November. This race was also the XTERRA Southeast Regional Championships, which was a qualifier for the XTERRA World Championships, and one I’d been wanted to do for years. The day after Iceman, I went out for
By Todd Anthes, Team OAM Now Triathlete The Bear Lake Triathlon in North Muskegon is the final exam for the Grand Haven High School triathlon class. Wow. I wish they had classes like that when I was in high school. Maybe then I would be a better swimmer. It’s great to see athletes get started on the tri in high school, and this is a great race. The past week of cold temps did not seem to affect Bear Lake very much. In fact, the conditions were perfect. A light breeze, some cloud cover and an air temp pretty close to the 67 degree water temp, greeted the athletes. The olympic swim start was uneventful. The water was perfect and
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