This is the time of year TMS is always curious as to what fellow friend sceners, do to keep the fire burning during old man winters anger. TMS's favorite beer Buddy Jason Lummis gave us his week...

My Mondays, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays.I'll start with my 5:30am wake up call "Daddy, DAD, Daddy". Up and making breakfast for my boy and myself.Play with my son till around 7:30am, then my wife leaves for work taking the boy to pre-school/daycare.I pack my lunch/clothes into my back pack and head off to work by bicycle around 8:30-9am. The commute ranges from 18 to 25 miles 1 way. Depends on if the dirt roads are good or not.I work 8-9hrs at Great Lakes Cycle and Fitness. I work 11am-8pm.Then commute home 18-25 miles.

Wash and repeat.

Nice...

click on it

click on it

New product announcement

I know y'all asking yourself whats this Fool T doin back so soon. Well I ain't here to talk shop, rather I'm here to talk product, You it owe to yourself to keep your eyes peeled for some of my new grip that's hittin the store shelves in the months to come. Its quality merchandise that can be had at finer retail establishments around the metro Midwest area.
Next time your out and about watch for items like this Handy key chain flash light, this shit comes in handy when fumbling for stuff late at night when your eyes ain't adjusted like some of those evil suckers who are used to Rollin around in dimly lit areas. Its inexpensive enough, made from some kind of durable plastic material included is 1 MRT Power battery tougher than any of the outdated stuff hanging next to it....and its use full for every member of the family
Thanks and stay tuned for more quality shit from Me T.

MEAT

Michigan racers Kacey Manderfield and Theresa Cliff-Ryan are currently SMACK in the MIDDLE of racing the Rotterdam 6-day track race, in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Both Theresa and Kacey are originally members of the Wolverine Sports Club. Kacey is a member of the Wolverine Sports Club and got her start in racing at the International Velodrome at Bloomer Park in Rochester, Michigan and was originally coached by Dale Hughes.

Here's a dutch article on the pair:
http://bf-one.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1099:kacey-manderfield&catid=65:column-van-&Itemid=96

Read below the press release and Kacey's report from the first couple of days:

PRESS RELEASE

January 3, 2010
Contact: kacey manderfield
Email: Ka.manderfield@gmail.com

ROTTERDAM READY !!!!

Michigan natives and Madison duo Theresa Cliff-Ryan and Kacey Manderfield will be the only US pairing taking on the predominantly European field of racers at the Rotterdam 6 Day – January 7-12, 2010. With roots in the Midwest they are sure to be ready for the winter weather in the Netherlands, but the focus targets what they will do on the wood boards of the indoor Velodrome.

One of Cliff-Ryan’s first Madison races was done with Manderfield on the Velodrome at BloomerPark in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Since, they have ridden together both on the Michigan track and also at the ValleyPreferredCycling Center in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. With the addition of being teammates on the Verducci/Breakaway road squad for two years, the pair has a good feel for racing together. Cliff-Ryan is quick to joke with Manderfield; “Even with the difference in height we really work well together in the Madison,” and Manderfield will smile with agreement; “I think we make a solid Madison team.”

Manderfield, one of the more experienced female riders in the 'madison' has spent a large portion of this winter preparing for Rotterdam, in Los Angeles, and is excited about racing Holland's premier Six Day. Meanwhile, Cliff-Ryan has been busy producing some World Cup results with a podium for Bronze in the Scratch Race at the Melbourne World Cup, in Australia.

Verducci/Breakaway is the Philadelphia based sponsor who will be supporting the team for the event. After securing a team slot for Rotterdam, Verducci contacted Manderfield with a request to re-unite with Cliff-Ryan. Manderfield was;

“Thrilled with the opportunity to ride a 6 Day and excited to ride with Theresa.” The pair will ride Verducci/Breakaway shorts and a stars and stripes themed jersey provided by Dutch Sponsors, Media Markt.

To follow the Rotterdam 6 Day some links have been listed below for your
use. Manderfield will also make an effort to keep little updates coming through her Twitter account – kmanderz

Links:

Rotterdam site – video

http://www.zesdaagserotterdam.nl/

Rotterdam site – program (in German)
http://www.zesdaagserotterdam.nl/index.cfm?site_id=10

CyclingNews:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/6-daagse-van-rotterdam-6d2




PRE-RACE BUILD UP!!!

An Account of Rotterdam 6 Day 2010...

After only a few days spent at 'home' in Pennsylvania it was time to pack the bags once again. Off to the Netherlands to race at the Rotterdam 6 Day! The new PARLEE track bike was packed into a normal looking suitcase with one of the race wheels and then it was just the wheel case and a backpack to hit the road with. Hats off to Alitalia Airline who is still allowing two checked bags free for international flights – first time in a long time getting through with no bag charges. Everything was running smoothly until the flight out of Newark left 1hr late – with only 1:15 layover in Rome it was going to be close if even possible. Sure enough there was no way to make the connecting flight so 1hr layover quickly turned into just over 3hrs. I still have a very hard time understanding why people feel the need to run, rush, push and shove to get in line for boarding a plane with assigned seats – hurry! hurry! be the first one to clam your tiny seat and squeeze into the medal tube – just so hard to understand. Although it can be rather entertaining watching a bunch of Italians scramble around.

All considered the landing in Amsterdam was smooth and all my luggage came through. The blackberry SIM card was being rejected, which resulted in paying 3euros for 15minutes of net access to obtain phone numbers and then experimenting with the pay phones – all instructions in Dutch! Lucky the contact in Amsterdam turned out to be a very nice American, John, from Ohio. He
obviously spoke very true English and it took a whopping 30-45 seconds on the phone before we were joking around. John is part of management at the Amsterdam velodrome and he kindly picked me up and took me straight to the track in time to make evening open riding session.

Open Riding Session: The Amsterdam track is an indoor 225meter wood track. Without exaggeration there were easily 50+ riders on the track at any given time, ranging from around 9 years old to those in their 50's. At first this atmosphere caused a bit of anxiety in my gut as this same set up in the States would be a sure recipe for disaster. However, it was soon clear everyone was completely comfortable and moved in a smooth fluid manner – only seen from those who have spent a lot of time on and around bikes. It served as a clear reminder of the cultural difference seen in the Netherlands as compared to the States. Everyone here rides a bike just to get around on a daily basis. There are bike paths everywhere and it does not matter if it is below zero degrees Celsius – they just put on layers and pedal their bike!

The New PARLEE: Is amazing! The bike is so nimble and responsive it took me a few laps to adjust to that feeling – realizing my previous bike was more of a 'tank' than originally thought. I'm very happy with it and can not wait to get its first race under the belt!

Following track session John drove Dean Tracy (fellow American here to compete in the sprints) and myself to the race hotel in Rotterdam. Another new friend, Charlotte, came with us too as she will be one of the drivers for the events and she needed to pick up her vehicle from the Ahoy Velodrome (Rotterdam 6 Day event venue). We all stopped at the Ahoy Velodrome and got to meet some of the race staff and take a peek at the velodrome – the infield pieces still be constructed and the velodrome being painted with sponsor names and logos. The network of lighting rigs hanging from the ceiling are impressive and the massive disco ball in the middle is a sure sign of the party atmosphere soon to come! Leaving with even more anticipation of what is to come it was time to go get settled at the hotel and get a much needed and desired shower after more than 24 hours of travel and a short ride at the velodrome.

The next day came quickly (one day till racing) and the morning is consumed with the organization of the 'bag dump' from the previous night, breakfast, roller session to spin the legs, some yoga, organizing logistical issues and little down time before Theresa Cliff-Ryan (my 6 Day partner) and Phil (our event manager) arrive. A travel delay worth noting – Phil had a lady pass out in the middle of their flight and then a cat got loose once they had landed and the airline would not allow anyone off the plane until the cat was captured! What a story! In any case it was not going to be time conducive for us to make the Amsterdam afternoon training time, which was a blessing as we later learned Amsterdam had a winter wonderland evening and Charlotte – a local – reported her 12mile drive home from work taking over 3 hours!

Currently we are settled at the hotel and it is time to head out the door to the races! This is gonna rock!

Best,

kacey

yea, we stole this, so what? KACEY N co. FUCKIN ROCKS!!!!!!

thanks MBRA!

REVISED REVISED REVISEDes you reach a point in your life, a cross road, a intersection, or exit ramp.... when you got to ask yourself why? Why I'm I here, why do I do this, why do i like this, or that. WHY WHY WHY? etc... its enough if you think too much about it will drive you mad. Or maybe its just us...some people never ask themselves anything, they just assume its what shall, will be. Maybe its just TMS but this past month and the upcoming couple, always puts us into a introspective mind set, about ourselves and our scene. some of these questions come to our mind while others we hear from friends and strangers. some make sense and some dont.....feel free to throw your 2 cents in or not.

why is 2 company and 3 is a crowd, that is unless your in bed?

why do people limit themselves?

why does it take so long to build fitness, and so quick to lose it?

why are so many people so disrespectfull ?

why cant people be themselves, and stop fronting?

why does tms keep floggin this post?

why do some put limits on there riding?

why do some do the same shit day in, day out?

why do people insist in changing other people?

why do some people require so much work?

why are some people unreachable?

why do people drop excuses at the start line?

why doesnt TMS put other sceners in its blog role?

why did tms change the name of the blog title last year?

why did TMS have a month last year with nothing but Black people as its images?

why im i addicted to soo many things?

Why is everything soo expensive?

why cant i handle the cold weather?

why are some people more arrogant than confident?

why do some riders clothing have to match?

why cant i hold a straight line?

why does everything have to be soo complicated?

why are some people stuck in a certain time period of there life?

why do some people lack discipline?

why do i hear voices in my head?

why im I quick to start and slow to finish?

why do I crash all the time?

why are some people so complex?

why im i tough to love, but easy to hate?

why im I easly missed?

why do some people get good, only to quit?

why dont MTB'ers wear skinsuits?

why can mtb'er race in sleeveless jerseys, but roadies cant?

why do riders ride half wheel?

why im slow to start, but quick to finish?

why do we need greater travel suspension forks every year?

why do some people lack personality?

why are some cycling clubs friendlier than others?

why cant you argue with some people?

why do some people only stay on the cycling bandwagon for a short time?

why don't many people have a sense of humor?

why cant i pull the right plugs?

why do some perfer to ride alone?

why do some riders have more arrogance than skill?

why are some humans constantly giving advice?

why cant people learn to shut there mouth more often?

why do some people question everything i do?

why are some people so simple minded?

why are people always searching for answers?

Why cant i get faster?

why don't bike shops support the race scene more?

why did TMS stop doing interviews?

why do people ride fixies?

why is Queen Anne so HOT?

why are people so unhappy?

why cant i stop eating?

why do we have the same cross venues year in year out?

why did the MTB race turnouts drop?

why cant i get may ass out of bed?

why cant i sprint?

why do people sandbag?

why cant there be more road races?

why do i kick myself in the teeth all the time

why cant we get another course like TDL?

why cant anyone beat WIZ?

why is Jeff Weinert Nick named the LIL PONY?

why cant i stop playing War Craft?

why cant I hold form from AAVC through labor day?

why doesn't tailwind do Paul Bunyan races any longer?

why didn't we see Don DC Cameron last fall?

why did Foshag stop racing cross?

why does the State Time Trial always have to be at Hines park?

why cant i get the hook up at my local shop?

why do i continue to take peoples shit ?

why does Steve Balogh wear arm guards?

why are some people just plain assholes 24/7?

why do many racers have overblown ego's

why did tailwind build those big Orange steps?

why do i gossip?

why Does Jon Card wear those pearls?

why does robert herriam have so many bikes?

why Cant tailwind and Kisscross get on the same page ?

why isn't there any younger riders coming into the scene?

why cant you bunny hop the barriers in Michigan cross?

why are tubular tires so expensive?

why is everyone talking about 29er mountain bikes?

why does Jon Card wear those silly glasses?

why are there so many Bissell riders?

why do i do the things i do?

why do some riders change teams every year?

why cant i get motivated?

why dont have more MTB races like ORE to SHORE?

why aren't there more time trials?

why does everyone have some form of addiction?

why cant live on junk food?

why isn't pot legal?

why do i need sleep?

why cant i live on beer and wine?

why cant i get my kids to ride bikes?

why cant i climb?

why cant I train more?

why do i have homosexual friends?

why do i complain all the time?

why did Racheal Steele stop racing?

why dont people like MR T?

why don't we have more stage races in Michigan?

why do all the roads suck in Michigan?

why do i make so many fucking mistakes?

why don't more people race cross?

why doesn't Tailwind pay out for the masters?

why is the MMBA board so judgemental?

why doesn't Bells beer sponsor a road team?

why hasn't Mike simonson ever won a tailwind cross race?

why does Simon Bailey run flat bars on a cross bike?

why doesn't Specialized promote road racing in Michigan?

why do my knees hurt?

why do we not have a state wide MTb series?

why is tms anon?

why do we not have UCI cross race in Michigan any longer?

why is racing at Waterford hill so important?

why is does someone reply DOPAGE on tms, for every post?

why don't they race on Thursday nights in Windsor any longer?

why do the Wolverines change there clothing colors every year?

why cant i ride in muddy conditions?

why do they only pay 3 deep at the time trials?

why do people like to be lied to?

why im a lousy crit racer?

why did Bikesport close?

why do some guys only do club races?

why don't any of the Saturn of Toledo riders race any longer?

why do i make excuses all the time?

why do i lie to strangers?

why do they call Rob Foshag The Evil Dude?

why don't we have any night time crits?

why does TMS always post women with guns?

why do people twitter

why don't we have some new MTB venues

why don't people like change?

why cant people take constructive criticism?

why doe's this blog exist?

why do riders that suck still ride $7k bikes?

why does TMS do the MEAT post?

why dont we have a tour of Michigan any longer?

why didnt any of the bells beer guys race cross in 09?

why does rich stark wear orange mittens?

why do i come to this blog?

why..why ??