MN Master 35+ Open Mid-Season Review

Race	Winner	Team
Durand Road Race	Greg Goblirsch	Loon State Cyclists
Ken Woods Road Race	Gordy Paulson	Planet Bike
Excelsior Criterium	Pete Hanna	Bianchi Grand Performance
Marty Road Race	Jim Cullen	Loon State Cyclists
South Range Road Race	Brian Haas	Alberto's Sport
Lakewoods Road Race	Brian Haas	Alberto's Sport
Cloquet Criterium	Jay Henderson	Silver Cycling
Duluth Classic Stage Race GC	Charlie Jacobs	GrandStay Hotels
Richmond Roller Road Race	Bryan Joas	Chippewa Valley Cycling Club
Birchwood Road Race	Pete Hanna	Grand Performance
GrandStay Criterium	Pete Maxwell	G.S.Circo Azzuro

It's been a great season in the Masters 35+ Open category. Lots of great competition, and fun racing. Here is my take on the season thus far.

Best Newcomer Award:

Pete Hanna

Dale Sedgwick

This one is easy. Pete Hanna turning 35 this year, with Dale Sedgwick as his wingman has given the field a new dimension. Hanna is still winning Cat 1/2 races, and when he opts to race masters, everyone knows he's the one to watch.

Most Improved Award:

Chad Christenson

I'm giving the nod to Chad Christenson. He won the Masters 4/5 ROY last year. This year, he has definitely taken his racing to the next level. He has improved on his already strong TT performance, and is finishing consistantly well in the Road Races and Crits.

"That Sucks" Award:
A crash at this years Stillwater Cat 2/3 Crit ended the season for both Charlie Jacobs and Jim Parker. What's worse was it was no fault of their own, but another rider crashing out in front of them. Losing 2 of the strongest masters riders at the same time definitely sucks.

Most Noticeable Absences:
With Scott Flanders sidelined, and Alex Dobbertin switching to GSCA, the Flanders team has been noticeably absent in the Masters Open ranks. Birchwood has also disappeared, but resurfaced as G.S. Circo Azzurro. Mr. Consistancy, Paul Rennert, has been sidelined by health issues for the season, but watch for him to make a strong comeback in 2009.

Give Those Ladies Some Applause

Super Mom

Super Daughter

Carla and Maren spent the entire day marshaling corners at the GrandStay Crit. From 8:45AM-6:00PM, they faithfully made racing safe for everyone. Jordan pitched in for most of the day as well. Corner Marshalls are the unsung heroes of bike racing. Many, Many thanks!

Triple Teamed at the Grandstay Crit

Very fun racing at the St. Cloud Crit. Only 18 of us in the Masters 35+ Open, but all fast guys. I was sans teammates, so I spent all of the race guarding the front, and covering attacks. John Bagley was back in the field, and attacked constantly. My tactic worked for about 40 of the 50 minutes.

Ray Coyle and Pete Maxwell got a gap late in the race, and Muyres went for the bridge. I worked to close them down for a couple laps, and got what I thought was close enough, and sat up. Unfortunately, with GrandStay, GSCA, and Silver represented up front, there were few left to chase, and none took the opportunity (in particular GP?).

We shut down, and let the front 3 ride away. Very sad. I set up for the field sprint, but got swarmed on the backside in the final lap. I ended up 5th in the field sprint, 8th overall.

Pete Maxwell jumped the front 2 on the last lap, and soloed in for the win. Coyle was 2nd, then Muyres. Woller took the field sprint. Nice rides boys.

I asked Jordan what he thought about my race. He said he wasn't looking for me during the race, but Pete Maxwell instead. He said he wanted Pete to win, and sure enough he did. I guess it pays to make friends with Jordan.

Jordan decided to ride hard tempo in his race, and tow all the juniors around until the final lap where they all jumped him and left him for dead. He still won the younger juniors, since all that were left in the end were older juniors.

The Big Boys Prevail at Birchwood

Strung out at the finish

Compliments of Emily

4 times up Nason Hill

The Square Lake course is supposed to be a climber's course right? Not this year, thanks to strongman Dale Sedgwick. Dale closed down a huge gap that Coyle and Maxwell gained on the last climb, setting up Pete Hanna for the win. The top 3 are all guys who weigh 190+lbs.

We ended up with nice weather, minus a very quick shower, and threatening skies. The first lap was pretty subdued, with a couple guys getting a gap on the backside. I bridged across, but didn't empty the tank too much, knowing the field would reel us back in on the climb. Hanna won the hill prime for the coffee, and then we regrouped.

The 2nd and 3rd laps were more of the same. Johnson attacked several times solo, and others tried as well, but there was too much horsepower in the field for anything to stick. It was obvious the last lap was going to be tough, especially the final climb.

On the backside of the final lap, Johnson and Sedgwick got away. The field chased hard led by Jim Bell, Matt Muyres, and the GSCA crew. They held their gap into the base of the climb, but not by much.

At the base of the climb, Ray Coyle and Pete Maxwell attacked hard, bridged to Johnson and Sedgwick, and then went through them. When the front of the field reached them, Hanna asked if Sedgwick still had enough to get Maxwell and Coyle back. Somehow, Dale dug deep, and pulled 8 of us over the top of the climb, down the hill, and made contact with the front 2 just after the left turn to the finish. Dang!

Sedgwick peeled off after his superhuman effort, leaving 10 of us to contest the finish, with Ed Alpasa there to continue to help Hanna. I sat 5th wheel behind Johnson ready for the sprint to open up. Hanna jumped early, and caught us a bit off guard. Johnson jumped through a hold that closed on me, forcing me to regroup and switch to the opposite side. I was sitting 6th after the switch, and I could see Hanna leading, followed by Johnson, then Muyres. I was able to get over Muyres, but not Hanna and Johnson. Awesome racing, especially the last lap.

Jordan won the Juniors U15, including the hill prime. See his blog for a recap of his race.

New blog in Town

Check it.

Close but no cigar

The Badger State Games Time Trial Results are finally posted. My performance wasn't as bad as I thought. I ended up 6th overall. However, I got beat out of 1st in my age class by 4 seconds, and beat by Gordy by 1 second. Ouch. It really hurts when it's that close.

Jordan won the Juniors by close to 4 minutes over the 6 miles course. Must be those TIME shoes.

Badger State Games

Jordan and I went down to Madison for the 4th weekend in a row to participate in the Bager State Games. There was as Time Trial at 8AM, then a road race at 1PM. The course was a rolling 6 mile loop, with 3 "noticeable" hills. The NW wind made for a cross-headwind on the finish leg.

The distance for Juniors Under 14 was 1 lap for both events. Adults did 2 laps for the TT, and 5 laps for the Road Race. They wouldn't let Jordan do the longer distances due to his age.

Jordan started the TT 1 minute in front of me, and it took me more the 3 miles to catch him. He said he felt much better after taking the last 2 days off. More rest is still in the plan for him next week.

I had an off day in the TT. My legs and motor were definitely fatigued from racing this past Tues, Wed, Thurs. My average HR was 10 beats less than normal, and I went as hard as I could. I guess now I need some rest.

No results to posted for the TT (yet), since they didn't use chip timing, and the camera they used missed most of the numbers on the riders. Riders doing 2 laps also made it confusing.

The road race was stacked with Brones Bike Shop guys. I knew they would amp up the pace right away, so I made sure I was up front at the start. Sure enough, Lance Niles and Jim Moore drilled the pace after the first turn. They went so hard, they shredded the entire field. Only Gordy Paulson, Myself, and Mike Bobusch were able to make the split. By the time we finished the 1st lap, the 5 of us had a sizable lead, with everyone taking strong pulls.

With 3 of the 5 being Brones riders, Gordy and I would have our hands full. On the backside of the 2nd lap, Lance attacked and took Gordy with him. Now it was me and 2 Brones guys. I tried an attack on one of the hills to try and split them, but it wasn't to be. We decided to cooperate (until the last lap) at a tempo which would keep us away from the chasing pack, without closing in on Lance and Gordy. Moore and I pulled regularly, with Bobusch sitting out once and a while.

On the final lap, Bobusch was able to get away, leaving just Moore and me. With plenty of time on the chase group, we engaged in a friendly chat the rest of the way in, as I sat on his wheel. He still made me work hard for the sprint. He jumped early from way out, but I was ready, and he backed it down. From there, he remained patient, and jumped hard from about 200m out. It was slightly downhill, and I was able to get his wheel, and come around him to take 4th. Lance was able to beat Gordy in the sprint, so Brones went 1,3,5,6(Mark Brone),7(Todd Kinart). A dominant performance. They are a great bunch of guys, and it was fun racing with them.

There were about 10 juniors to start the road race with Jordan. They started just behind the women, about 3 minutes after us. Jordan worked he way through the women, and attacked solo. He rode so fast, he ended up picking his way through our stragglers and just about caught our main field. He said his lap time was almost 1 minute faster than his TT. I guess he was pretty motivated to catch the group, given he wasn't allowed to race with them.

Never Say Never

Jordan had been begging me to watch Thursday night track racing. Carla graciously offered to drive him up to meet me at work, which is right by the track. My original plan was to go for a road ride prior to the racing, but Jordan informed me that Carla said she wouldn't be upset if I raced. That was all the excuse I needed.

It was all Madisons for the Cat 1/2's. They let me race Cat 3's, even though I'm still a Cat 2 on the track. The last time I had done a mass start race on the track was 2001. 7 years later, it was just as hard as I remember. There is a distinctive lung burn you get at the track that I never get racing on the road.

I was able to get one of the GT rental bikes to work for me. Doug Register was kind enough to loan me a 48T chainring so I could ride my familiar 48x14 = 92.5 inch gear. The Cat 3's had 3 races, 15 lap scratch, Miss and Out, and 50 lap points.

The 15 lap scratch was a bit of a shock to my system. I ended up working to close a gap to a lead group of 4, and when we caught them, the pack swarmed and I got boxed in. Strongmen Joe Johnson and Timmer capitalized and easily took 1st and 2nd.

I'm not a fan of the Miss and Out, so I decided to ride the front as long as I could to stay out of the hijinx in the back. I lasted about half the race, then popped and sat up. Timmer sat on the back the whole race, and kept sprinting over the top each elimination lap. That's a tough way to ride that race, but he succeeded in making it to the last 2, with Joe Johnson taking the win.

The 50 lap points race was just what I needed. Coming up on the first points sprint, Joe Johnson jumped, and I got his wheel. I missed out on the points, but then kept rolling, and took Joe and Dan Shuller with me. The field strung out behind, and only Timmer and Pramann were able to join us. We shared pulls, but then we started picking up lapped riders, and our group grew. Joe and Timmer were marking each other, and I just did my best to keep the tempo going.

With 3 to go, I attacked from the front, and pulled a gap with a couple other riders including Alex Atherton. Alex led out the sprint with 1 to go, and I followed him in for a LSC 1-2 on the final sprint.

I ended up 3rd in the Points race, and since Joe and Timmer gobbled up most of the rest of the points, I ended up 3rd in the ominium as well.

Watching the rest of the racing was a blast as well. The 7 madison teams were fun to watch, with the duo of Crosby/Dubay dominating the night. The womens field was a lot larger than I remember from the past. Casper did his first racing on the track in the Cat 4/5's with Frye and the boys. He made an awesome move in the Miss and Out, gapping the entire field, and soling to the win. Frye had an awesome move in the final scratch race, jumping everyone from behind, and soling in for the win. Fun races to watch.

Don't worry Carla. I don't plan to start racing the track regularly. I'm busy enough with the road calendar.

Results Posted

Fast night at the Dog

I surprised myself with another PR at Black Dog this week. My time was 14:35. My average cadence was 96, compared to my typical 91. Avg HR was the same at 171bpm. Obviously, less volume, more intensity is working this year. I can tell that in order to continue to improve, I need to get back up to speed quicker after the turn around.

Carla and I also set a new PR on the Tandem of 16:04. Charlie and Sherry smoked us in 15:20, but we are happy with our continued improvement.

Jordan's tired legs rode a reasonable fast time of 16:52. He will take a majority of the next week and a half off. He needs the rest, and he's earned it.

Painman also set a new PR of 15:43. Jake Mittelstaedt also PR'ed in 19:15. Nice work fellas.

Timmer was back in fine form, after skipping the last Dog. He had is fastest time of the year, and won the night in 14:26. Those legs are coming around.

Fastest Times of Dog #4:
Timmer - 14:26
Jimmer - 14:35
Casper - 14:45
Rick Christiansen - 15:11
Greg Kostik - 15:15
Brian Abery - 15:17
Brent Binkowski - 15:22
Jey Carlson - 15:23
Mark Dykes - 15:25

No need to post results photos since Russ is now the fastest results poster in town. Black Dog #4 Results

What's Up Dog?

Our beloved Golden Retriever, Gulliver, has been acting very strange lately.

We have never fed him from the dinner table, or given him "people" food. He gets a strict diet of "Dog" food. As a result, he's not much of a beggar, which is nice. As a bonus, he doesn't normally jump on counters and steal food either.

However, couple weeks ago, he snatched a bag with a couple of doughnuts off the couch, as well as a Hostess Apple pie from my workout bag, and chowed them down, paper and all. No ill effects, but we were a bit stunned.

He has always had this habit of carrying gloves and socks around, but he normally doesn't chew on them. We just find them all over the house. Well, last week, he got a hold of one of my cycling gloves, and shredded it. He ate some of it as well, and has been throwing it up, and pooping it out since.

He's also been getting more freaked out by Thunderstorms, and cowers in the basement.

We're not sure why his behavior is changing so dramatically, but we've decided to give him more attention in the form of walks, etc. Not ready for the Dog Whisperer quite yet.

Final State Fair Affair - Jordan Needs Some Rest

The whole family came down again to watch the State Fair Crit Tuesday night.

Jordan and I warmed up with Woller and Zimmerman. Woell slid out in the sand during his warm-up, but looked OK. I started up front again, but didn't go quite as hard off the line. Bjorn Selander animated the pace from the start. I spent a couple laps towards the front, but then drifted slowly to the back. I just wasn't in the race mentally, and just sat at the back.

Sure enough a move went off the front during a prime lap, then another. There was a lead group of 5, followed by another chase group of around 8, then the rest of the field. P-slim was in the second group, and I continued to sit at the back as the field chased. I did make one attack, joined by Casper and Tamminen, but we only lasted about a lap. I went to the back again, and sat in the rest of the race. Unfortunately, P-slim popped off the back of the 2nd group, and came back to us.

Patty Cakes took the win, followed by Bergman, and Timmer.

The Cat5/Juniors race had a huge field, stacked with a lot of Cat 5's. Jordan got a bad start, and got gapped early. He ended up in a small chase group, and didn't look like his normal self. He said he wasn't able to go hard when he wanted. He's clearly fatigued, and in need of rest. Black Dog is up tomorrow, then he's going to take a break for a week or so. You've earned it Jordan.

95th Percentile Maren

Maren had an amazingly successful freshman year in high school.

Class Rank: 18 of 398
GPA: 11.935 of 12.0

Obviously she bounced back nicely from her bout with Pneumonia in January. We are so proud of her.

Dad's Day in Stillwater

Coming into the "Corner"

Jordan and I rode up to Stillwater this morning, and met the girls there. What a perfect day. A pro bike race nearby home, nice weather, and Father's day to boot. I had decided to do the amateur Cat 2/3 race. I had never raced the course before, so I figured it was about time.

About 50 of us lined up, but we had to sit around forever waiting for them to clear the course. If there is any course where you need a warm-up, this is it. Oh well. I started on the front line, and by the top of the hill, I was just about the last rider. I sat at the back on the first lap, and then went though a few riders the 2nd time up the climb. I was definitely slow up the climb, but recovered quickly over the top, and was able to move through riders on the top side.

A few laps in, I was on the front down the hill, and carried WAY to much speed into the final corner. I used the curb to stay upright, did a tightrope walk along the barriers, and sprinted out clean. It was so close, but it happened so fast, I just kept going like it was no big deal. Others were not as fortunate as I was. Goblirsh went down late in the race in the same corner, and Charlie Jacobs and Jim Parker crashed there in the final lap. Goblirsh appeared to be OK, but Jacobs and Parker both got an ambulance ride. What a bummer.

I had a good last few laps, and ended up finishing 24th. Not impressive, but it was strangely fun. P-slim rocked, and finished a close 2nd. He lead into the final climb in his big ring, but then bogged down, and Dave passed him halfway up. Way to go Patrick!

Watching both pro races was awesome. They didn't seem to have any trouble with the corner. I guess that's why they're pros. It was the perfect Father's Day. Thanks Carla, Maren, and Jordan.

WI State Criterium Champion (times 2)

2008 Quadruple WI State Champion

(L-R) Jordan, Madden, Kohli, Davis, Huang, and Bogardus

Our 3rd weekend in a row in Eastern Wisconsin proved very fruitful. Jordan's first race was the Juniors under 15. Great competition, with Pete Davis, and Mitch Bogardus (2nd and 3rd in last week's State RR), and Kohli and Madden, the 2 MI juniors who Jordan raced against at the Duluth Classic.

The race was hot from the start, and after the first lap, there were 6 at the front (pictured above). A prime lap narrowed it to a group of 4 (Kohli, Madden, Davis, and Jordan). With 2 to go, Madden attacked and got a gap, leaving Jordan to chase. Jordan closed most of the gap by the final corner, but Madden was able to hold on for the win. Kohli got past Jordan too. Madden and Kohli showed good teamwork, and it payed off in a 1-2 finish. Jordan was 3rd, but 1st from WI giving him the State Crit Championship for Juniors 13-14. That made it 3 for 3 in the TT, RR, and Crit. Well done Jordan.

Next up was the Juniors 15-18 (juniors are allowed to race up in age). Turn-out was lite due to several older juniors being at a race in Kentucky. 3 older juniors got away early, but kept surging and slowing. Eventually, Kohli attacked the chase group to bridge with a few laps to go. Amazingly, it all came together as they got the bell. Jordan finished a strong 6th place. The best part was Jordan was the first WI rider in the 15-16, giving him a 2nd state championship for the day. WOW!

Jordan was done racing at 11AM, and my race wasn't until after 4PM. So, just like the last 2 weekends, I opted out, and we left early. We actually got home right about when my race would have started. We then proceeded to take the boat out on the river for the first time this summer. Now that was a good time. Looking forward to Stillwater tomorrow.

NVGP St. Paul Crit

Jordan, Carla, and I braved the wet weather, and watched the St. Paul Crit last night. The heavy rain subsided for most of both the women's and men's races, but the roads were very wet and slick. They ran counter-clockwise this year, and the finishing straight was greatly narrowed compared to last year.

In the women's race, it was all Kristin Armstrong, lapping the field solo, and then pulling them home. Big props to Theresa Moriarty, Linda Sone, and Shana Sturla for staying in the field, while many riders were getting dropped and pulled. Sone was particularly impressive, with a terrible starting position all the way at the back. She managed to move all the way to the front of the main field. Cam and Paula B rode tough too.

Both fields had particular trouble with turn number 3. A few riders slid out in that corner during the women's race. During the men's race, riders slid out almost every lap. At first, it looked like a manhole in the corner was the problem, but they were sliding out before it. There looked like there was a buildup of oil from the lead and follow motorcycles. Luckily, the pace in that corner was slowed by the uphill grade, and everyone was able to remount and continue.

Later in the men's race, a motorcycle crashed in one of the corners, forcing them to stop the race. When they asked the field if they wanted to continue or cancel the stage, most declined, and they called it a night.

When they called the race, Eric Marcotte was the only local left in the front chase group (2 riders were off the front). Eric had started almost dead last, and picked his way through the field, similar to Sone. A second chase group did contain several of the local elites. Nice work guys, and good luck at the rest of the stages.

State Fair Affair #2

Jordan wins a Ninja Prime! Way Cool.

Awesome weather for the 2nd State Fair Affair. The whole family, plus friends was there to watch. The Wollers are back in town, and Jay showed a fresh pair of wheels in the Cat 1/2/3 race.

The Cat 1/2/3 race was up first. I got stuck in the back at last weeks race, and found it hard to move up. This week, I lined up on the front, and kicked it off the start. I kicked a bit too hard, and ended up gapping the field for a lap or so. Carla said the kids were asking what I was doing? She replied, "blowing himself up".

I felt much better this week. GP had almost effortless control of the race. I chased a few moves, then would rest. Eventually, a strong group formed off the front with 3 GP, Bergman, and Timmer. Myself, and several others gave chase, but they looked like they were gone. Amazingly, the chase was strong enough to bring everything back together with a few laps to go. GP setup their train, and finished 1-2-3-4. Nicely done.

The Juniors/Cat 5 race was up next. Jordan was coming off 2 races this weekend, plus a 3 hour hill ride Monday. I knew he would be tired. He led the field across the line after the first lap and scored a ninja prime. After that, he wasn't his normal self. He stayed in the pack, but it was obvious the last 3 days had taken their toll on his legs. He was disappointed after the race, but the Growler cheered him up.

We stuck around to watch the Cat 3/4 race. Eric Carter was on the front for nearly the entire race. I think he won 3 growlers. Unfortunately, there was a crash near the front of the group just at they were about to get the bell. Sadly, Frye went down, and got a good dose of road rash. His bike took a beating too.

Wisconsin State Road Race Champion

2008 WI State Road Race Juniors 13-14 Podium:

3rd - Mitchell Bogardus, 1st Jordan Cullen, 2nd - Pete Davis (not pictured)

After the MN State TT on Saturday, Jordan and I drove to Gordy and Diane's for Sunday's WI State Road Race. We came through some nasty weather to get there, but everyone got there safe.

Both Jordan and Diane's races started at 8:30AM, so another early morning start for us. The weather forecast was for Thunderstorms and rain most of the day. It did rain a bit, but by the start, it stopped raining, and the roads were just wet.

The 6.5mi course rolls a lot, with a 50mph downhill, and a steep, short climb (500m long, 12% grade) just before the finish. The U15 juniors only did 2 laps, and the racing started right away. There were about 15 riders in the group. By the 2nd turn, they were down to 3 (Jordan, Pete, and Mitch). They stayed together for the rest of the race. At the base of the final climb, Mitch jumped, but Jordan and Pete were ready. Jordan took the front just before the crest, kicked it over the top, and sprinted in for the win. A heartfelt congratulations to all 3, as they each rode a tough, smart race.

It's been great getting to know the kids and their parents at the WI races. They are very approachable and friendly.

I myself opted out of racing again. It wasn't hard to convince myself to skip it, even if it meant driving 600mi so Jordan could do a 13mi race. We left just after the start of my race, and a nasty thunderstorm moved in, lightning and all. I guess I made the right decision.

Diane - Killing it on top of the climb.
She won her race in a tight finishing sprint!

Our gracious hosts - Diane and Gordy

MN State TT Results

As expected, Ian Stanford took his 3rd consecutive MN State TT Title. Lance Niles was runner up, with newcomer Jonathan Toftoy beating Dan Casper by just 4 seconds to make the podium. Toftoy is a tri-guy from the Chicago area, who recently moved to the twin cities, and is bursting onto the TT scene. Word is he's attending Chiropractic school, following the footsteps of another local fastie.

Both Jordan and I had a great day. The rain dumped on St. Peter at about 7:45AM, but then it cleared up, and the roads were just wet by the start. The winds were very favorable. Light head-cross wind on the way out. Fast cross-tail wind on the way back. Fast times for most people.

Jordan broke the 30min barrier in the 20K, posting a 29:49 to win the Juniors U15. I rode my fastest true 40K ever, posting a 54:30. It was over a minute faster than last week (extrapolating last week to a full 40K). My time was the 11th fastest of the day, and 2nd in the Masters 40-44. Both Jordan and I were very happy with our performances.

Distance: 24.81mi (~40K)
Averages: 27.3mph, 91rpm, 171bpm

4 PR's at Black Dog

1. Jordan dropped another 3 seconds from 2 weeks ago, to ride a 16:16.
2. I dropped 1 second off my PR from last August, to ride a 14:47.
3. Carla and I dropped 15 seconds, on the Tandem, from week #1, to ride a 16:05.
4. New dad, Painman rode his new TT machine to a PR time of 16:12.

Conditions were very similar to 2 weeks ago. Virtually no wind, but a little warmer. Painman started 30 secs in front of Jordan, and I started 30 seconds after Jordan. Once again, it took me until half way between the powerplant and the turnaround to catch Jordan. I didn't catch Painman until after the powerplant on the way back. They both rode awesome, and finished just 4 seconds apart. Painman was pretty happy to hold Jordan off, knowing it may be the last time. Carla and I were happy to beat both of them on the Tandem, even if it took 2 of us.

The plots below speak volumes about my current fitness. It is very clear, that my reduction in training volume is paying dividends. I'm able to reach and sustain a HR that is around 5bpm above my historic normal.

Solo Effort - Averages: 27.5mph, 172bpm, 92rpm

Tandem Effort: Averages: 25.3mph, 168bpm

Fastest times at Blackdog #3:
Dan Casper - 14:28
Jonathan Toftoy - 14:38
Jimmer - 14:47
Dan Swanson - 15:01
John Shishilla - 15:08
Derrick Lewis - 15:09
Greg Kostik - 15:16
Dave Bucholz - 15:21
Matt Stein - 15:30
Alec Kloss - 15:10

MIA: Timmer, Red Lantern, Waataja, Mittelstaedts, Gaines, Sone, Ray.

Wisco Weekend Results Posted

WI State TT Results. Actual 40K distance = 39.01K. Speed calculated based on 40K. All 20K times are 1minute fast. Actual 20K distance = 19.32K. Speed calculated based on 20K.

Sussex Crit Results.

State Fair Crit

Photo compliments of Ray

We had planned to skip the first State Fair Crit, in favor of Black Dog on Wednesday. Well, we showed up anyway, and it was great. The rain held off, and it was way cool to race at the fairgrounds. It was my first time racing there. The course was fast, with an L-shape, clean corners, and good pavement. From the S/F, you can see a lot of the course, and easily watch the racing develop.

As a departure from the norm, the Cat 1/2/3 race was the 2nd event, rather than the last. 60+ riders lined up, and it was insane fast right from the start. It took me several laps to work my way up from the back to the front. I took a couple long pulls, and found it fairly easy to recover from the efforts near the front. Then, about 30 minutes in, a group of 3 got a solid gap. GP, Grandstay, and GSCA were represented, limiting the chase to Flanders, and a few others.

I moved up through the S/F, and attempted to bridge the gap. I gapped the field, but didn't get very close to the break, and pretty much blew-up. I went to the back of the field, as the chase heated up. The pace was just high enough were I wasn't quite recovered, and after 3 laps of suffering, I reluctantly gave up the ghost. Just after I sat up, I looked up, and the field had caught the break, and sat up too. Dang, that's how it goes sometimes. No regrets.

GP had their leadout train in front for the last couple laps, and executed to perfection. There intention was to setup Paul Ellis for the win, but Hanna ended up winning, with Ellis 2nd. Teammate P-slim hung tough, and scored 10th. Nice work.

Jordan raced right after me, in the combined Cat 5/Juniors field. They had 30+ riders, including a dozen or so juniors, mostly from MNJRC. Colton Barrett took of right at the start, and pulled a large gap. Jordan was up front quite a bit chasing, and eventually, they brought back Colton. Jordan stayed vigilant at the front, as the field looked like a slinky, stretching, and regrouping several times.

On the final few laps, a group of 5, including Jordan were barely clear of the rest of the field. It more or less came back together during the final lap, and Jordan sprinted to 6th place overall, 2nd in the Juniors. He scored a cool custom medal for his effort.

Props to Cat6 for bringing back an awesome venue.

Sussex Crit

Up at the crack of dawn again for another race on Sunday. The race was in Sussex, just outside Milwaukee in a business park. Wide open course, like Opus, with a similar finishing hill. They even scored KOM laps which was kind of cool.

Turnout was a bit light due to a MTB race in Wausau. Jordan's main competition was the same as at the State TT. Everyone stayed together for a lap, until Pete Davis attacked and drew Jordan, Lionel Rocheleau away. Those 3 stayed together, and Jordan won the first KOM sprint. Jordan also won the 2nd KOM sprint, and in the process, they dropped Rocheleau. The 2 stayed together, and sprinted it out for the finish. Jordan rode a really smart race, and was able to score the win. Congrats Jordo.

Immediately following the younger juniors, Jordan, Davis, and Rocheleau raced with the older juniors. I warned Jordan at the start that they would probably go hard right away, but to just dig deep and hang on, and they will back off soon enough. The field was stacked with Baraboo Sharks and IS Corp who are mostly Cat 3's, and strong ones at that. Sure enough, Jordan said they were going over 30mph on the backside of the course most of the time. He was able to stay with the pack, and finish. Nicely done.

I myself decided to skip racing, in favor of rest, and getting home early.

Jordan and I owe Gordy and Diane big time. Not only did they put us up for 2 nights, but they even made us dinner Saturday night. They had their granddaughter all weekend, and she was a hoot. Thanks so much for the hospitality guys.