Top 10

Criterium Photo compliments of Candisnaps.com

Jordan scored a pair of top 10 finishes in both the 15-16 Junior Boys Criterium and Road Race. 8th in the Criterium, and 10th in the Road Race.

The temperature during the Crit was a muggy 95deg with 80 starters on a rectangular course. The Chipotle Development team was very dominant in the race. In particular, Chipotle's Danny Parks was very aggressive, launching several attacks, including the final winning move, winning solo. Jordan took charge late in the race, chasing down a 2-person break with Parks and Logan Owen. Jordan finished a strong 7th in the field sprint, giving him 8th place.

The temperature during the road race was in the 80's, contested over 3 laps of a 15 mile rolling course. The race stayed together for the first lap, then Jordan and Logan Owen started attacking. There were at least 3 big crashes, one of which took out one of the race favorites Phillip O'Donnell. Jordan was lucky to avoid all of them. Rudy Peterson broke away solo to a 2 minute gap with 1 lap to go. The field caught Rudy, and then another rider, Jake Silverberg, made the winning move with a couple miles to go. He soloed into the finish, a few seconds in front of the field. Jordan finished 9th in the field sprint, giving him 10th place.

I'm so proud of Jordan and all the racers competing here in Augusta. These are a great bunch of kids, and it's great to see the maturity they have, and the respect they give each other, at such a young age. Congrats to everyone!

Jordan Cullen 2nd in the Junior 15-16 Nationals Time Trial

(L-R: 5th - Michael Dessau, 3rd - Danny Parks, 1st - Jonathon Schilling, 2nd - Jordan Cullen, 4th - Phillip O'Donnell)

Jordan rode his way to a silver medal today in the 15-16 USA Cycling Nationals Time Trial. His average speed was 28.3mph over the 19Km course. Jonathon Schilling was the winner, 9 seconds faster than Jordan. 3rd place Daniel Parks was less than 2 seconds behind Jordan.

The weather was very unpredictable today. It was 95 degrees as we drove up to the course, when a front moved in, the temp dropped 20deg, and it started pouring. Jordan was last to start in his group, and it was 77deg, dry, and calm. It started raining while he was on course, and the wind picked up too. He considers himself lucky, as he slid on the wet road at the turn around, just saving it.

The last few kids to start (riders start alone, every 30 secs), were seeded such that they were the fastest of the bunch. The only exception was Logan Owen, who sat on the hot seat of race leader, starting 3rd out of over 80 15-16 yr old boys. In fact, it was 5 of the last 6 riders to start that pushed Logan all the way from the hot seat, to his final position of 6th place.

The starting order for the last 6 was:
Daniel Parks
Phillip O'Donnell
Michael Dessau
Curtis White
Jonathon Schilling
Jordan Cullen

Their finish order was:
1. Jonathan Schilling
2. Jordan Cullen
3. Daniel Parks
4. Phillip O'Donnell
5. Michael Dessau

A huge congrats to all the riders today. These kids work so hard, and sacrifice a lot. Each one of them is a winner in my book!

Sizzling in Georgia

We hit the road bound for Augusta, GA for USA Cycling Junior Nationals this past Saturday morning, after a successful Grad Party for Maren Friday night. The original plan was for Adam Bergman and Lisha Herold to go with, but Adam bailed on us, leaving us a party of 3.

Stopped overnight in Nashville, TN. Amazingly, we stopped in Atlanta for a bite to eat, and ran into Mario Macaruso, from MN, who was headed the opposite direction. What are the odds?

Arrived in Augusta at 4PM, and it was 101degF. We rode from our hotel up to the TT course and back with Sarah Huang. Monday, we did recon on the TT course, and today we did recon on the RR and crit courses. It is hot, but not that bad when your riding, just when you stop.

The TT course starts on the South Carolina side of a large Dam and heads west into Georgia on a rolling, tree lined course. The pavement is smooth, and the road will be closed for the TT. Very nice!

The Road Race course is on the Fort Gordon military base. It is a 15 mile scenic loop with rolling climbs. Pavement is pretty good, and I assume the road will be closed on race day. This course definitely gets an "A".

The crit course is downtown, in a typical rectangular clockwise layout. Should be fun to race, and watch.

We do miss the bike friendly town of Bend, OR this year. Even though the courses here are grade "A", the riding around town is very bad. Lots of traffic, stop lights, and no bike lanes. Makes me realize how awesome those roundabouts were in Bend.

Jordan and Lisha race the TT on Thursday, Crit on Friday, and Road Race on Sunday. Good luck to both!

We are staying at the Staybridge Suites. Our room is awesome, with a kitchenette, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 3 flat screen TV's. We have yet to eat out since we got here.

Countdown to US Jr Nationals

Jordan continues to be on a hot streak. His dominance in the Cat 3's at the NSC Velodrome prompted Bob Williams to upgrade him to a Cat 2. Last Thursday Night Lights was his first Cat 1/2 track omnium, where he placed 2nd in the miss-and-out, 5th in the point-a-lap, and 1st in the 10mi Scratch race. In fact, he lapped the entire field solo in the scratch race. Way to go Jordan!

This past weekend was low key, with no racing on the schedule.

Last night was the 2nd State Fair Crit. It was pouring during the Cat 1/2/3 race, so turnout was light. 33 crazy racers started the race, and Flanders had strong representation. Jordan attacked with 5 of 30 laps complete, and got away solo for the remainder of the race. He was out of sight most of the race, but the field closed in during the final laps. Jordan rolled across the line in victory just feet in front of the hard charging field, led by Will Mayavski, and Tim Mulrooney. Flanders did an excellent job of covering the front of the field during Jordan's break. Jordan is rewarding his teammates with the 4 Rock Bottom Brewery Growlers from all the ninja primes he won.

Tonight is Farm Dog TT #2, then we head to Augusta, GA on Saturday with Adam Bergman and Lisha Herold. All 3 of them are racing at nationals, with me there for support. Their first event in the Time-trial which is on Thursday, 6/24.

I do want to give a shout out to the local cycling community for all their support for Jordan. He is inspired by all of you, and we really appreciate all your positive feedback.

Jordan Cullen is WI State Road Race Cat 1/2 Champion at 15!

Jordan's expression says it all

Jordan took, by far, his biggest victory ever Sunday, winning the Cat 1/2 WI State Road Race. He broke away solo on the last of 10 laps to win by several seconds over Tristan Schouten of ISCorp.

Our weekend started with the MN State TT in St. Peter, MN on Saturday. Jordan rode his fastest ever 20K in a time of 26:16, averaging 28mph. That alone was worth celebrating!

After the drubbing the MN Cat 1/2's took at the Durand Road Race earlier this year, Jordan was ready to be "ISCorp'ed" in the Cat 1/2 WI State RR. He was up to the challenge. The course is a 10 laps on a 6.5mi hilly loop, with 400ft of climbing per lap.

ISCorp was 6 strong, with Great Dane Velo, KS Energy/Team WI, and Wheel & Sprocket fielding strong teams as well. Jordan was flying solo, and with junior gears to boot. Right from the gun, the 2010 WI State RR champ, Kip Spaude goes in a 3 man break with Dan Ajer of GDVC, and a KS Energy/Team WI rider. This is the same thing that happened last year, and it was the winning move.

Jordan stayed patient, while various chasers kept the break at around 1 minute for much of the race. Lap 7 saw 3 more riders bridge to the break, making them 6 strong. The 9th lap proved to be very decisive, as the break was caught by a small group of chasers at the base of the finish climb, leading into the bell lap.

Tristan attacked the group on the climb, and only Jordan could follow him. The two punched it over the top, and never looked back. The 2 leaders rode hard, and worked together to successfully seal the fate of the chasers.

On the backside, Jordan attacked on the final climb, and opened a gap. He ride his heart out, and stormed to a solo victory. Tristan charged in a few seconds later. The sprint for third followed another few seconds later. Congrats to everyone on a great race!

A heartfelt thanks to Flanders Cycles, Ridley Bikes, HED Wheels, Lazer Sport, and Coach Gordy Paulson for all their support. Jordan couldn't have done it without you!

Jay Richards SkinnySki Interview with Jordan

Jordan talks to Jay Richards about his first MTB race ever, the Freewheel Frolic.

Farm Dog #1 - Flanders Domination

Farm Dog #1 was dominated by Flanders riders, with a total of 5 category wins, including the fastest overall times in both the Men and Women's divisions. Well done team!

Nick Kimpton - Men Open Winner
Jordan Cullen - Junior Winner
Jim Cullen - Masters 35+ Winner
Teresa Moriarty - Women Open Winner
Teresa Moriarty - Women Stock Winner

Fastest Overall Times:
Nick Kimpton - 18:06
Jordan Cullen - 18:16
John Shishilla - 18:31
Jim Cullen - 18:54
Jeff Lombardo - 18:59

Melon City and Quad Cities Crit Recap

I finally got back in the saddle for the Masters races at Melon City and Quad Cities Crits over Memorial Day Weekend. A nasty thunderstorm resulted in a 2 hour delay, plus a wet race at the Melon City Crit. My legs were not really there, but I managed an 8th place to win my entry fee back. Dan Casper soloed to an impressive win in that race. Congrats Dan!

The Quad Cities Crit was hot and windy. I went from the gun, taking another rider with me for 6 laps or so. Teammate Woell made the winning break after that, and I tail gunned the rest of the race, with one final attack with 2 to go, which didn't stick. Woell finished 4th.

Jordan race Pro/1/2's both days. He was riding near the front all race at the Melon City Crit, including making a late race breakaway. He was gunning for a top 10 finish, only to have his dreams dashed when a rider in front of him touched wheels on the downhill at 40mph, causing a big pile up which brought Jordan down. Luckily, he landed in the grass, and was not injured, but his bike had enough damage to force him to borrow a bike for Monday.

Pete Davis of ISCorp, was generous enough to load Jordan his bike for the Pro/1/2 race at Quad Cities. Because of his last row start, plus less than stellar legs, by the time he made it to the front of the group, the winning break of 20 riders was gone. He tried to bridge, but didn't make it. He hung in there, and finished 27th, just 2 spots out of the money. Well done Jordan, and a big thanks to Pete Davis!