Race Local

2016 Maybury Time Trial
We consider this one of our home courses and we represented strong on this hot and humid Sunday afternoon. 

Expert Men 30-39 (17 total)
RJ Meske - 2nd
Steve Poirier - 5th

Jeremy Norris - 6th

Expert Men 40-49 (20 total)

Jeremy Daum - 4th
Scott Walter - 9th
Brian Miller - 15th (without front brake pads!)

2016 Addison Oaks Fall Classicl
This course is tight, twisty, fast and FUN! Sign me up for next year!

Expert Men 30-39 (15 total)
Jeremy Norris - 4th
Steve Poirier - 6th

Brandon Thielen - 7th

Expert Men 40-49 (21 total)

Brian Miller - 4th
Scott Walter - 13th
Jeremy Daum - DNF :(

Sport Men 50-59 (31 total)

Jack Lee - 8th
Steve Wickham - 11th

Beginner Men 40-49 (22 total)

Jeremy Craig - 7th

Sometimes, we swim. Other times, we run. From time to time, we do both!

We've got some pretty amazing athletes on our team. Check out what Dave Krenk and Bruce Geffen did this summer. 

Steelhead Half Ironman
On August 14th, Dave Krenk finished 47th out of 417 at his first half ironman event. Congrats Dave!

Mighty Mac Swim
Have you ever wanted to swim across the Mackinac Straits? Me neither. But Bruce Geffen did! Here's a write up from his experience this past weekend:

It was a bit of a challenge. There was about 2' chop from the South we were swimming against. Current wasn't too bad going from W to E. Water temp was an excellent 69 degrees, perfect for a full wetsuit, or even a sleeveless one. I was expecting about 5-5.5 hours. On a calm day, in the 4 hr range. Surprised myself finishing in 3:28:08. 34 went into the water, 30 came out. 1 had a medical, 1 quit, and 2 were DQ'd for violating the Exclusion Zone. Not sure how that happened with support boats guiding helping to make sure that didn't happen. Somewhere between the S Tower and S Caisson, the waves calmed down a bit and I was able to really swim and cruise well. Had a support boat right with me all the way from there to the end. I was third from last out of the water, but no matter, I did it! First place was Chris Thompson, Olympian, World Record Holder, U of M Water Polo standout, and Open Water Swim trainer to the Navy Seals. Most everyone was a Collegiate Swimmer or something like that. He won a 20k check! So did the first woman to cross the finish line. She is a professional triathlete from Arizona. Great times!

White Kits + Red Mud = Battle Scars

2016 Ore to Shore
When we revealed the 2016 kits, the first thing everyone said was "that's not gonna work out so well at Ore to Shore." I saw it as an opportunity, a blank canvas if you will, for battle scars. Race tails. War stories. Anyway, on to the race...

We started making the annual pilgrimage to Marquette in 2010 and honestly, this was probably the toughest O2S we've raced to date. The rain may have tamed the sand, but it also filled the mud bogs higher, made the roots more slick, and greased the rocks just enough to make things interesting. Despite all of that, we put down some record finishing times!

Hard Rock
Jeremy Daum - 2:41:31
Brian Miller - 2:48:29
Steve Poirier - 2:49:38
Jon Roobol - 2:51:15
Greg Giles - 2:52:40
Scott Walter - 2:52:41
RJ Meske - 2:57:54
Jeff Poirier - 3:04:07 (Mr. Flat Tire returns)
Jack Lee - 3:05:36
Chris Molnar - 3:07:05
Bruce Slowey - 3:20:05
Steve Wickham - 3:26:44

Shore Rock
Brendan Giles - 58:43
Jodie Giles - 1:12:40

Jr. Rock
Anna Giles - 22:15

Ride Bikes. Check. Drink Beer. Check. Win. Check!

2016 Tree Farm Relay
We entered 6 teams this year, (24 riders!) and put down some serious results... and beer. Sunny skies turned gray and the air got cool as the storms rolled in, but that didn't stop our expert team RJ and the Dadbods from starting out hot! Brandon Thielen and RJ Meske were relentless on the competition. By the time the torrential rains moved in, they had the team out in front by a minute! Sketchy conditions and monsoon like rainfall leveled the playing field a bit and after a couple of lead (and bike) changes the results were in. RJ and the Dadbods took first place out of 27 teams in Advanced Men.

Not to be overlooked was the repeat performance of our coed team Smells Like Team Spirit, who took first place out of 6 teams in Advanced Coed!

JTree Bike Chicks took 4 out of 5 in Sport Women
Gears N' Beers took 12 out of 27 in Advanced Men (bonus points for only having 3 riders)
JTree Geriatric came in 17 out of 27 in Advanced Men
JTree #2 (come on guys....) took 25 out of 50 in Sport Men

It was a tough day, and everyone busted A$5 out there in the mud and rain and eventually, sun, heat and humidity. A huge shout out to our main squeeze, Wheels in Motion for getting our gear back in order after the race. Brake pads, shift cables/housing and everything in between.

Also, thanks to Chelsea Ale House for hooking us up with libations for the day, because without them, we wouldn't have that check mark next to 'drink beer'.

And that energy has got to come from somewhere - that somewhere is Infinit Nutrition and Honey Stinger. With Infinit, we just keep going and going. And Honey Stinger is like a nectar from the gods... but it's really just from bees. Mmmmm.

2016 Mid-Season Race Update

Here's a brief recap of races we've put our stamp on so far this year:

2016 Fat Bike Series
We sent riders to all 5 races this winter. Competition was tough but we put down some good results - and had fun doing it!






Waterloo Grit and Gravel Road Race
Several racers took on the inaugural edition of this race and a couple of us even ended up on the podium! Scott Walters took 4th in his age group racing the 100K, Anderw Sics picked up a 1st place finish, RJ Meske landed 3rd and Brandon Thielen finished 4th in their age group in the 50K.

Barry Roubaix
We sent close to 30 racers to BR this year - maybe it was the weather, maybe it was us... but we crushed it out there! Tons of personal bests - and in the team competition we took 4th overall!













Mohican 100K
MIki Razo took 7th overall! SWEET!

Team JTree 2016 update.
We've been so busy riding bikes that we forgot to update our blog! We'd like to welcome a couple new sponsors this year:

Honey Stinger is helping us ride strong with their great line of all natural products. Organic honey waffles. 'Nuff said.

Kali Protectives is keeping our brains safe with their kick-ass helmets.

Chelsea Alehouse hydrates us AFTER the ride.

Stay tuned, we'll be back with race updates in the future. Woo!

Team JTree rider Jon Roobol gives us the scoop on his race from earlier this month!

Michigan Mountain Mayhem Gravel Grinder – 45 Mile
October 3, 2015

After a long summer learning how to ride a bike with drop bars again, I was finally able to ride my new Trek Boone 9 in a timed setting (that wasn't Strava), and I had great weather and a fun course to do it on. The Gravel Grinder is in its second year and this is my first first time racing it. The turnout was fairly small, but the group start kept the roll-out engaging. The start to this race was unlike any I had done before. As a mountain biker, most races that I do are races of attrition; the first guy sets a hard pace and everyone holds his wheel as long as they can or until they think they have the legs to go around and stay ahead. This rollout was an easy 15-16 mph for the first 4-5 miles, on paved roads. Yes it was into the wind and yes having a tight group to draft in was nice, but it was excruciating to go that slow on a cross bike on paved roads. Chitchat in the group had many of us voicing our consideration to get out front and drive the pace. Well, I finally did.

As I came around the leader, I wasn't going much faster than the group, and I had it in my mind the leader would grab my wheel and the pace would pick up. Next thing I know, I look back and I have a 50 yard gap on the field. Well, shit...What do I do now? After hanging out on my own for a few miles, a few riders fortunately also decided they had had enough of the pace and joined me out front. We drove the pace and established a gap, but after the first of the big climbs all but one of us was back in the group.

I sat near the front until the next climb, glad to had shelter from the wind for a bit. And then the climb came. This is a 2 mile climb with an elevation gain of 500 ft. As you approach, the road is straight, and right in front of you is a scar through the forest of a 2-track logging road that looks like it goes straight up the hill at about a 30% grade. The guys that had done the race last year took the opportunity to tell the new guys that we go straight up that 2-track. Jackasses. Fortunately the road took a right-hand bend and we stayed on pavement. Not that it was all that much better. The leaders launched an explosive attack a mile into the climb and I jumped out and did what I could to stay near the front. Small groups formed and dissolved as we continued the climb before reformed as we crested the top and started into the rough roads that started to lead back toward the finish line.

It was mostly downhill now and the pace picked up. I was well back from the leaders at this point but still sitting well somewhere near 10th. The race took us down logging roads at this point but it felt like singletrack as you had to use the entire road to avoid sandpits, sticks and mud. More than once I had to jump of the bike and push or carry it through sand that was too deep to ride through. I found myself alone when the road opened up again, but I was able to catch limpets of the group in front of me when the road straightened out. I put my head down and pushed to try to close the gap …. and soon regretted it as a woman in an SUV pulled up beside me and told me I missed a turn at the top of a hill a mile back :(

Around I went and picked up the course again after watching rider after rider make the turn I had missed while I climbed back up the hill. Adrenaline does interesting things to the body, and I'm quite sure I had pints of it coursing through my body by this point. It was an all out effort for the last several miles as I did what I could to pass as many riders as I could.

I finished the race exhausted and on the verge of cramping, yet giddy and excited at the same time. What a fun race! The course was fun and challenging, my Boone performed great, y Infinit nutrition was dialed in, and the competition kept me on my toes. I ended up in 17th overall and 3rdin my age group and ready to come back again next year.