Team Xcedrin

Team Xcedrin started out innocently enough, as much as two 40 year old men can be. The teams name evolved from the fact that we are part of an older generation of riders that often requires medication before, during and after our track events. Mike always has a bottle of Excedrin on hand for all of us to use so the name was born.

The Team:

The team started as Mike Mellen, Jack Deck, Craig Pennington and George Benes who came together as a result of track days with Team Pro-Motion. Mike, Jack and George have been members for many years and were coaches for Team Pro-Motion. Craig is a long time friend of Mike’s and has an incredible skill with fixing almost anything, especially Jack’s bikes. He also has a few track days under his belt.    

The history of Team Xcedrin:

Mike and George started riding with each other on the track during the many track days with Team Pro-Motion. George started out chasing down Mike and being the great teacher that Mike is, he was always willing to play along. Jack also enjoyed Mike’s teaching skills as he moved from the beginner to the intermediate and on to the advanced group before becoming a coach as well. By the 2003 and during the 2004 season it became a regular occurrence that Mike and George would end up in finding each other on the track. 2005 brought on a new season and Mike and George picked up right where they left off in years past. Epic battles, sneak attacks and just plan fun ensued and they pushed each others riding to new levels. At times they were running for our own MotoGP victories. Each time ending with nothing but smiles and laughter, like most 40 years old kids would do, ok not most but that’s not important. In 2004 Jack became a member of the team and one of the first victims of both Mike and George. Jack is a great guy and will give you the shirt off his back or a pair of fluffy socks. Jack’s riding has come a long way in a short period of time and is a welcome addition to the team. Mike and George have toyed with Jack on the track while he was on his old F2.  Now that Jack has bought a 2005 Yamaha R6, Mike and George are just waiting for him to join them in their epic battles. Jack is the first ever Team Pro-Motion GP Moto champion, which is no small feat. Just don’t call him “Just Jack”. In 2005 the team added Craig and Kevin, long time friends of Mike’s, to the team. Kevin is a very good rider and Craig is new comer to track days. Craig started out on his FZR1000 tank and recently bought Jack’s much lighter F2, which is a good move on his part.

The Team’s Slogan:

 “Chasing the carrot, whoever that may be.” came to life one day in 2005 on the Patriot course at VIR. George happened to be on the track and happened to find a fellow coach and friend Kenny Roberts who was just off in the distance. Kenny is a very good rider and even on his single cylinder KTM was always one of the faster coaches with Team Pro-Motion. On this day George happen to notice that Kenny was not pulling away from him, as Kenny usually does. This lit the fuse in George and the familiar phrase of “game on” rang in his head. Mike happened to be standing on pit road at this time and quickly realized it was “game on” for George and the unsuspecting Kenny. Within a few laps George caught his long time friend Kenny and made the pass. It took some doing however Kenny was not going down with out a fight. A few passes and re-passes later George was on his way. Later on pit road Mike and George were recapping the session with ear to ear grins. George stated that Kenny was the just a big carrot to him and the phrase “chasing the carrot” was spoken. Later that night at dinner Mike and George realized that the phrase “Chasing the carrot” summed up what they had been doing since 2003. A side note: Kenny is a good friend and all around good guy and since he was the inspiration for the phrase that defines the team he became an instant member of the team whether he likes it or not. On this day George was able to pass Kenny but there were many days before that Kenny has schooled George. 

A glimpse inside Team Xcedrin:

Team Xcedrin’s antics started many years ago when Mike and George started pulling sneak attacks on each other. This would leave both of them either screaming or laughing in their helmets. The screaming stuff you wouldn’t want to repeat in public. We’ll never forget the time Mike and Glen were riding together at CMP and George pulled out in front of both of them and baited them in, only to take off and on both of them, leaving Mike screaming in his helmet while trying to get Glen to go faster or get out of the way so George doesn’t get away. In Glen’s defense he did not know realize he was mixed in an epic Mike vs George battle. Stories of George cruising around and looking back and seeing Mike closing fast are just as common. Jack often has been involved in the action along with Mike and George, sometimes knowingly but most times unknowingly. Jack tried to play the carrot at VIR and unfortunately crashed his brand new R6 at close to 70 mph. The team, being the well oiled machine that it is, with artisan Craig leading the repairs, had Jack’s bike fixed and good as new in time for the last track event of 2005 at CMP.   

Lastly:

With our age and wisdom, we realized that you’re either “chasing the carrot” or you’re the “carrot” for someone else to chase. Either way it is our way of having fun and we sure are good at it. Someday we’ll grow up but we’re having too much fun to stop now. 

Thanks go out to all the fellow coaches and riders for great times both on and off the track. A special thanks to all our families that allow us to take the time to do this.