OldsCOOL

Did I get your attention? If you feel MANipulated, please read on.

We have a 13.4mi Strava course on our MUP around the bay. Every year I ride it with intensity just to maintain my top 10 standing. Yes, we have fun. I check the course every day expecting to get knocked out of "the 10". The other day I watched my name drop to 12 because of a new record being set.....by a woman. After some searching, I find that she is in her 50's.

Check this out:

OldsCOOL

I really need to lose 15Lbs to seriously place in that group. Training: check. Bike: check. Only one dynamic needs to be factored. Yup, by next spring I have to be in the 160's.

bruce19

Back in the day I had a T-shirt that said "Support Women's Track....Date a fast woman." A few comments were made.

Biker395 

There are a LOT of 50+ women that can and do kick my sorry arse.

jyl

Clearly you need to find that fast woman and draft her.

OldsCOOL

Make no mistake, she kicks all sorry arses up here. We get crazy strong riders but never did I see a 50+ female put in a ride like this. The 13.4 has one long grade, several false flats that are demanding and countless drives with two major intersections that will slow or stop you at any given time.

linnefaulk

Twenty years ago I rode with a woman in her 60s. She said she was going to go easy because she was just getting over a cold. It was all I could do to keep up with her. I went home and died.

OldsCOOL

Not sure I could keep up. There is a sprint section 3/4mi in length where I place well and she is 3mph faster. Crazy thing is, she probably didnt have a clue that sprint was there or she would have killed us all.

I'm 15th with a dedicated "huffin/puffin" shot at it, she is 4th:

Allegheny Jet

That name rang a bell. I checked the results from last fall's Iceman Cometh MTB race in Taverse City MI and see that she is the fastest female of all groups other than the open Pro's. She even beat the open single speed women's race. There must be over 600 female racers in the event. This is her AG result. I must confess that I finished at 2:21.00 in the same race. I don't get why there are so many riders from Traverse City. In every age group both male and female there are podium finishers in the race that attracts over 4,500 racers. A check of Traverse City shows around 10,000 residents. It must be a local requirement that everyone trains every Tuesday evening.

CLASS: Women 50-54
Place No. Name City Sta Teamname Dockery Williams Time
===== ===== ====================== ============== === ==================== ======== ======== =======
1 4384 Laura Webb Traverse City MI WEBBCORP 33:01 1:16:55 2:06:00
2 891 Patricia Devost Brighton MI 32:41 1:17:33 2:10:15
3 1188 Alexandra Akemann Northville MI 34:12 1:21:18 2:15:26
4 1144 Marilyn Kamp Traverse City MI 33:59 1:21:27 2:15:40
5 1363 Barb Beauregard Traverse City MI 34:18 1:22:32 2:17:46
6 1561 Brenda Carlson Grayling MI 34:22 1:22:58 2:19:12
7 4668 Tracy McNeilly Dearborn MI RACING GREYHOUNDS 36:00 1:28:22 2:25:45
8 1771 Heather McNamara Brighton MI CYCLETHERAPY- MI/CYC 35:49 1:26:25 2:26:51
9 1855 Sandra Dunn Traverse City MI 38:17 1:31:12 2:30:53
10 4378 Mary Hayes Petoskey MI 38:17 1:33:14 2:33:21
11 1888 Shirlee Finch Alma MI 39:14 1:36:22 2:38:31
12 2243 Laurie Gustafson Brighton MI 39:19 1:35:29 2:39:46
13 4035 Beverley Duthie Dearborn MI 38:43 1:35:46 2:41:43
14 4493 Jana Turpin Delton MI 40:18 1:39:48 2:46:50
15 1879 Heather Kubiak Jenison MI REAL WOMEN TRI 39:03 1:36:14 2:47:09
16 3767 Carolyn Calcutt Comstock Park MI 41:30 1:40:35 2:47:25
17 2119 Joni Sommerville Traverse City MI MCLAIN RACE TEAM 40:34 1:39:00 2:47:48
18 4385 Susan Staffan Harbor Springs MI 39:30 1:40:13 2:51:12
19 1833 Kathy Bradbury Brighton MI 41:01 1:42:56 2:51:24
20 4643 Jennifer MacKenzie Villa Park IL 40:04 1:39:54 2:52:02
21 4422 Brenda Looman Holt MI TEAM TROLL 42:14 1:43:53 2:55:28
22 4383 Patricia Thornburg Athens MI 40:54 1:42:45 2:55:37
23 4062 Kelly Fisher Mattawan MI 40:07 1:42:53 2:57:32
24 3814 Amelia Hasenohrl Traverse City MI 41:36 1:46:06 2:58:34
25 4374 Mary Carboneau Traverse City MI 39:33 1:40:53 2:59:22
26 4377 Elizabeth Entile Nashville IN THE BICYCLE STATION 40:34 1:43:17 3:03:31
27 4750 Lori Armstrong Portage MI 42:58 1:47:29 3:03:39
28 4597 Mary Daugherty Brighton MI 44:29 1:54:05 3:04:15
29 4757 Veronica Schaner Hickory Corner MI 42:25 1:49:10 3:05:23
30 4816 Landi Heller Royal Oak MI 46:25 1:54:00 3:14:39
31 4606 Kelly Doescher Metamora MI 50:33 2:03:02 3:21:46
32 4756 Heather Langille Davisburg MI 48:31 2:04:26 3:27:58
33 4773 Tracey Westerman Traverse City MI 49:16 2:04:52 3:32:06
34 4381 Shelly Irwin Grand Rapids MI 46:31 2:01:57 3:34:07
35 4379 Barbara Hodge Suttons Bay MI 50:40 2:13:11 3:44:25
36 4861 Kim Hecksel Lansing MI 49:09 2:12:09 3:49:35
37 4899 Carole MacLean Davisburg MI 55:58 2:33:42 4:32:58
38 2888 Karen Wood Wawrsaw IN 1:17:33 3:37:13 5:44:31

RideMyWheel

My grandmother was from Cheboygan and lived in Kalkaska for a while. I still have a lot of family there that I barely know, but as I recall they were really nice people.

I loved it up there and would love to go back someday, but seriously, you guys get two seasons--winter and July, right? How do you train for races like that when you're stuck inside most of the year?

OldsCOOL

We do have 2 seasons....winter is here and winter is coming.

You can only progress so far each season when it takes a solid month to get into condition. I get out the first week in March, usually. When April arrives we can get snow but not for long...and routine is in place by May. In winter we bore ourselves into semi-comatose condition on the trainer.

Yes, people are very friendly here. Kalkaska is about 45min from here. (Boyne City)

OldsCOOL

Some areas up here are biking centers. TC is one of them. Ours is another. Boyne City has incredibly hardcore "tree knockers" and roadies. Boyne City has a pop. of 3700 and growing, very progessive. Petoskey is likewise by not on par with Boyne in my opinion.

fietsbob

Others who made them selves famed.

British: Beryl Burton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

French Jeannie Longo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RPK79

Looking at #3 there I'd say they were riding in a paceline. How many of these are on the same day?

Allegheny Jet

The Iceman starts in Kalkaska and ends at the Timber Ridge Resort in Traverse City. I open and close my racing season in MI. In early March I race the Barry Roubaix billed as the "killer gravel road race" then end the season with the Iceman Cometh that is about 31 miles of jeep road and single track on sandy soil. At this years Barry Roubaix I recall racing past lakes with ice fishermen on them. I would love to visit upper Michigan in the warm month just to see how nice it is. I did race last weekend in Rochester Hills on the Velodrome and my Garmin said that it was 102 degrees on the track.

OldsCOOL

Shhhhhh, be very very quiet.

No pacelines, though I am tempted to grab a friend and ride into The Ten.

OldsCOOL

I've been in Marquette when it was 95F.

garysol1 

Interesting data about Traverse City especially when Laura who is a Clevelander is listed as being from Traverse........ Unless there are 2 super fast midwest ladies named Laura Webb

Road Fan

Oldscool, what lake or bay? I've ridden around the TC area kind of a lot when my wife taught at Interlochen, but not much near Boyne.

OldsCOOL

On Little Traverse Bay. That Strava course runs the 13mi stretch from Charlevoix to Petoskey on the Little Traverse Wheelway. The path winds around the bay with stunning views and ending in Harbor Springs.

OldsCOOL

When I searched facebook it looks like we have some mutual friends from high school days. Laura is from my hometown of Petoskey, Mi. She is a "She-Ra", in a very real sense. Unbelieveable.

garysol1 

I guess maybe there are 2 super fast Laura Webbs out there...

OldsCOOL

God help us....

garysol1 

https://www.facebook.com/laurawebbphoto?fref=ts

OldsCOOL

Not the same but quite a coincidence.