As the Founders Brewing Co. Peak to Peak mountain bike race fast approaches, we thought it would be fun to look back at the inaugural Peak To Peak race back in 2006.  26 inch wheels were all the rage (the only option available), and everyone had a triple ring crank set.  That’s right, THREE chain rings up front.  Total entries for the race were 116 back then and now this race has become one of the biggest in Michigan.  We’ve poked around in the results and made some random observations. You can find those results still up on the Interwebs.  

The pro women’s race was won by Kelli Emmet with 2nd place going to Brinn Pope, and 3rd going to Kathleen Stanley.  Kelli Emmet also won the Iceman Cometh Challenge in 2006, with Brinn Pope coming in 8th.  The men’s pro race saw Jimmi McMurray taking the gold with Dan Jansen coming in 2nd and Derek Prechtl coming in 3rd.  Dan Jansen went on to a 7th place finish at the 2006 Iceman, Jimmy McMurray came in 15th, and Derek Prechtl came in 30th. 

The most notable result for me was seeing one of my BFF Mark Mueller participating and finishing the race on a friggin single speed a few months after having life-saving open heart surgery.  If you’ve ever had an Aorta Ale from Short’s, Mark is the inspiration.  Side note, I also rode with Mark once and he said his leg hurt a bit, X-rays later showed he fractured his leg the night before.  While continuing to scroll through I also noticed Dan Hofstra winning his age group in expert as he does just about every year.  Dan’s had a better run than the New England Patriots.  Dan edged out Geoff Paine for the win, but the real battle between those two is who is the nicer guy.     

What also jumps out from these result is seeing Ron Sanborn and Jack Kline’s results.  Both winning their sport age groups of course.  It’s interesting to see that even those two legends rode sport early on.  Ron went on to get 2nd in the pro field the following year because that’s how Ron Sanborn did things.     

Kolo TC fam will probably notice the men’s 20-29 field.  Alex Pina edged out Jason Whittaker and Nate St. Onge for the win.  I believe Alex was on his full suspension Specialized FSR which came in at around 78 pounds.  It’s fun to look at the other categories and see a lot of familiar faces, most of whom are still out there riding.  Jeff Zeller, Scott Howard, David Best, Jimmy Mckenna, Bryan Buysse, Jason Borchert, Chris Remy, Vince Mack, Todd Zrimac and Todd Vigland were there thirteen years ago and are still out there pedaling today.  I didn’t know a lot of these guys in 2006, but eventually met most of them through cycling.  Come to think of it, almost every friend I have in TC was met via two wheels.  

Kudos to the 116 riders who supported Endoman the first year of this race and helped build it up to the epic event that it is today.  If you volunteered or cheered, kudos to you as well.  I wasn’t there in 2006, and Wes and Cody were in high school.  Here’s a picture of them doing something with a pumpkin.

 I was able to find a pic of the bike I was riding in 2006, enjoy.  It’s a Trek 6000 that cost $600 and I couldn’t believe I was paying that much for a bike.  What were you doing in 2006?  Let’s see a pic of your sweet bike if you can find one.  Pics from the race would be awesome as well.

Let’s hope for a sunny day in the low 60s for 14th annual Founders Peak to Peak race on Saturday, October 19th.  Online registration is open, so get yourself signed up.

Tim Bottrell is a rider for kolo t.c., a father, husband, aspiring chemist, ferret whisperer and unicorn enthusiast. You can follow his rides on Strava.