The team competed in several events on Sunday at the Froze Toes road races in Columbia MO.  The Big D “Keen Green” was out in force and really worked well together as a team!  Read on to learn more. We have a few great race reports to share.

Our numbers were biggest in the Cat 5 event with ten.  We had 5 riders in the top ten. Here’s the report from John Taton who finished 2nd:

“As the race started with the tail wind, the pace was fast as expected. About 7 miles into in, 2 riders tried to break and I went with them just to see if the field would react, which they did. Quickly we let up and set back in the pack. After turning into the wind heading south, Shawn, I and one other rider put in an effort to try to get away. Looking back, we could see the field single-file which meant they were chasing us into the head wind so we let up, and set in to start thinking about the finish. Turning west with 5 miles left, the pace was high, and hard to get a draft unless you wanted to ride in the ditch. Out of the 30-man field, the finishing group was quite a bit smaller. Not sure how many. Half way up the hill to the finish line is when everyone started their accelerations. To get the good draft to slingshot someone in the sprint, you really needed to be on the right side of them. With a good lead out from Shawn, I was able to pull a 4th place finish. (Thanks Shawn!) Overall, it was a fun race. Looking forward to the next one!”

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Kurt’s wife, Lynn competed in the women’s Cat 4 in her first ever road race for the Big D women’s team.  She had a great showing for team “Chica-D” with a 7th place, in a race where the wind tore the field apart:

 

“This was my first road race and was not sure what to expect.  The women’s Cat 1,2,3, & 4 all started together with a group of about 20.  Kurt and I discussed before the race how it might be a little spicy going out with the tail wind.  And it was!  I found myself caught behind a couple of slower riders and noticed the pack riding away (rookie mistake) and bridged back to the main pack.  The pack was still together, minus a few riders that were dropped due to the fast pace early on, as we started heading south into the wind.  Things stayed pretty calm with a few failed breaks until 4 women got away with about 6 miles left to go.  I missed the break and tried to chase them down but was not able to bridge in the stout wind.  My last 5 miles was basically a time trial into the wind to the finish.  There was no pack sprint in the women’s field just staggered finishes.  I’m happy with my finish and learned a lot from this race and look forward to taking what I have learned and experienced into the next race.  Thanks everyone for the support and I will see you at the first Perry Dam Race!”

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Ryan Rochford was the only Big D competitor in the Cat 3/4 race, so he enlisted some help from his friend, James Summers, aka “Skittles” for a great result:

“I was in the 30ish mile 3/4 race because I wasn’t in the mood to ride 60 miles in the ridiculous wind today.  The race started in a different location this year, providing more of a “hilltop” finish.  I stopped at McDonalds for some pre-race fuel and showed up to register with about 40 minutes until the race started.  Luckily I had enough time to realize that my powertap hub was acting funky so Shawn helped me throw another wheel on right before the start of the race.  The race started to the West with a short neutral section.  As soon as we turned North, it was on…and so was the tailwind.  We were comfortably cruising near 30mph, just getting our chit chat on.  A few people put in some digs, yours truly included, but nothing that was going to break the group apart.  I ended up rotating at the front with a few other guys for a while and then realized that was a dumb idea so I wised up and drifted back about 10 spots to relax.  Things stayed pretty calm as we turned East, since the Southwesterly wind was still providing a nice tailwind.

As soon as we turned South, things started getting interesting.  I’ll preface this with a conversation I had with James “Skittles” Summers in the car on the way to the race.  We decided that ideally, one of us would end up off the front in a small breakaway and the other would not chase immediately (if too many guys go, the whole group goes).  The other guy would wait patiently until the gap grew fairly large and then put in a big effort to bridge up to the breakaway and hopefully not bring many people with him.

Back to the actual race.  We turn south and shortly after, Skittles goes off the front with two other guys.  I dutifully waited near the front of the peloton to let the gap grow big enough to discourage people from bridging, but not so big that I couldn’t bridge it myself.  Now, keep in mind the wind is howling, mostly in our faces, at 20mph gusting up in the 30’s.  I let the gap grow, and when it looked about right, I decided it was time to get myself up there.  Unfortunately for me, one of the guys in the break had a teammate sitting right in front of me in the peloton, happily blocking.  Next to him was a rather large fellow, who seemed to have no intention of moving.  On the other side was a not so large guy, but big enough to take up the remainder of the road and not let me through.  I’m 2nd row, and can’t get out!  Sh*t!!!  I was poking my front wheel into any gap I could find, trying to wedge my way through.  Finally, after about 2 or 3 minutes, I was able to get my wheel in between the big dude, and the blocking teammate enough that they had to let me squeeze between them or we’d all crash.  As soon as they gave me my space, I gunned it hard enough to keep any stragglers from grabbing my wheel, but not so hard that I’d blow up halfway across the abyss I had to cross to the break.  I put my head down and pedaled.  I’d check my heart rate occasionally to make sure I was keeping things under control.  When I saw 195bpm, I backed off a little.  I was about 3/4 of the way to the break and didn’t want to blow up now.  I gritted my teeth, kept low, and finally latched onto the breakaway.  Skittles looked back and saw me and we both knew our plan was working to perfection.  We were in a break of 4 guys and, to my surprise, we all started working together like we were best friends.

After a couple of minutes of working together, we had two more guys join the breakaway, making a solid 6-man break with a good chance of sticking.  When I was rotating around the back, I’d glance back down the road and could see that nobody else was attempting to bridge.  So, this was our little circle of pain for the next 45 minutes.  We rotated the paceline fairly well, and I continually glanced at my computer to see how many more miles of this torture were left to go.  We made the final right hand turn to the West, marking 6 miles left in the race.  The wind was a little less brutal in this direction, but still not exactly pleasurable.  There were a few hills we all climbed steadily, but nobody made any moves yet.  As the miles went on, our friendships began to fade.  We talked to and praised each other less and now we just eyeballed each other to see who was looking strong or twitchy.  The paceline stopped rotating smoothly.  We had a big enough gap on the rest of the field that they weren’t a factor anymore.

I knew the finish was approaching pretty quickly so I stopped working for the most part.  I sat on the wheel of the tallest guy in the group, trying to rest as much as possible for the inevitable sprint.  We passed the 1k to go sign and I was sitting 3rd wheel, Skittles sitting 5th.  I was trying to figure out how I was going to shift as quietly as possible and get a jump on everybody.  With about 500m to go, I shifted 2 gears as quick as I could and popped out of the saddle, gunning it as hard as I could to get a gap.  I flew by the guys in front of me and knew I had them beat.  Behind me were 3 other guys chasing me down and I just needed to keep my power up for a few hundred more meters and I’d have the race won.  Yeah, it’s easy to talk about, but doing it is another thing.  I could hear somebody gaining on me pretty quickly and got passed with about 200m to go.  I shifted to a harder gear and pushed it as hard as I could.  I looked back and could see one more guy coming pretty hard.  I shifted another gear and gave it whatever was left in my legs and the guy chasing me sat up.  I couldn’t catch the guy in front of me and crossed the line in 2nd.  Skittles ended up 4th.  I’m pretty happy with my fitness at this point in the season, but I guess I’m gonna need some more sprint intervals to get my sprint where it needs to be.”

 

 

Four medals for Big D riders at the Kansas Criterium and Road Championships on a hot weekend of racing.

Shawn Knight continued the success he’s been having all season, with a silver medal in the Cat 4 criterium, and a third place finish in the road race.

In the Cat 5 criterium, Big D riders definitely had the feeling they were being “marked.” Shouts of “Watch the green jersey” came from other teams throughout the race, and they were the team everyone was keying on. Dan Ruettimann kept the pace high and neutralized anybody’s hopes for a breakaway. “I had ridden the Masters 30-49 race that morning, so I was familiar with the course, I got clipped in clean and realized I had a gap right from the start, so I kept the pressure on. I knew the field would be nervous on the technical course, especially if the pressure was on, so I just kept hammering,” said Ruettimann. Ron Marney and Micah Whorton were able to sit in the pack and watch their teammate trade attacks with the others until they began setting up in the final laps. In the end, Marney just got nipped at the line, but still came in for the bronze. Micah was right behind him in fourth, Ruettimann came in 8th, and Chip Zimmer finished strong with a top ten.

Donavon Hottman, the team’s most reliable rider, got third overall in the Masters 60+ for Kansas gold.

In the Cat 5 road race, the team was well-represented, but lost one of it’s best hopes with a mishap on the final turn. John Taton rolled a tire and recieved a DNF for his efforts, but surely would have improved on his podium finish from the Sunflower Games. Great results nonetheless, with four top-twenty riders: Shawn Hawkins in 9th, Whorton in 11th, Marney in 18th, and Twan Winkelmolen in 19th. Chip Zimmer, Dan Turner, and Jon Webber also put in strong efforts.

See more images of Shawn in the Cat 4 crit here.

The team had some great success at the Sunflower State Games in Topeka. With several podium finishes, and an Omnium winner in the Cat 4’s!

Shawn Knight placed well (3rd) in his TT on Friday. On Saturday, he and teammate Ryan Rochford worked their crit with eyes on a top Omnium placing for Knight. Ryan worked hard chasing down breaks and keeping Shawn out of trouble and it paid off with a second place for Knight. Rochford held on for 10th.

In Sunday’s Cat 4 road race the weather didn’t help create a blistering pace. It was 100° and the pace was slow. Here is a report form Rochford:

In the Cat 4 Road Race, it was Shawn and me trying make sure Shawn got the omnium win. Since I was working for Shawn, I spent the day doing things that I usually do my best to avoid in road races. I deliberately put myself in the wind, on the front, chased down breakaway attempts, and whatever else was needed to make sure we were in a good position to try to win.

We would later find out that a rider had gone off the front on the 2nd of 4 laps for the solo win so Shawn ended up 2nd on the day and I was 6th, but Shawn still took the omnium so we didn’t really care.

In the 40+ Cat 5 crit, Ron Marney placed second, with John Taton close behind in third. Dan Ruettimann played the role of domestique and took the lion’s share of pulling in order to keep Ron and John out of the wind. “I knew I didn’t have much of a sprint so I wanted to keep my teammates fresh during the race and save them some work for the finish.” With two corners to go Marney flew off the front and had a good gap, but Tulsa rider Erik Parkey gave chase, along with Taton. Parkey nipped Marney at the line, and Taton came in third postion. Marney said later that he probably should have waited a little longer to make his move.

In that group’s road race, the pace was pretty slow, with a 21mph+ average. Nobody wanted to make a move. The open Cat5’s and the Cat5 40+ started with about a minute gap between them, but quickly amassed into one group. With the yellow line rule in effect, it made it difficult to move anywhere in the pack with riders spread out across the road. The other races going on at the same time made things confusing, and with about 4 miles to go, one rider in the group got off the front. Nobody from the 40+’s was near the front, so nobody gave chase. By the time anyone noticed him they were passing the last turn and he must have been taken for a straggler in one of the other races. They were racing for second place even though they didn’t know it at the time. The threat came from crit winner Parkey, who moved up close to the front. Lee Wafford was on his wheel, Marney was up there, and Ruettimann and Taton were right behind ready to go with him. Things got a bit faster with 1K to go and Parkey made his move at about 200m. Ruettimann was on his wheel a stuck with him as long as he could, with Taton behind. As Ruettimann faded Taton came around and passed Parkey. The two were neck and neck, but Parkey just barely beat Taton to the line, “I threw the bike at the end, but I might have had him with one or two more pedal strokes.” said Taton. So it was Taton in third, Wafford fourth, Marney fifth and Ruettiman hanging on for eighth.

In the open Cat 5’s, Owen Gurwell took fourth place and Chip Zimmer got 14th. Chip also got 11th place in his crit the day before.

In other racing, Tim Lightenberg placed fourth the Cat 3 crit, and Donavon Hottman came in third in the 60+ masters. In the Time Trails Donavon placed second, and he finished fourth in the road race.

Images provided by Dan Ruettimann Photography. See more of the Sunflower State Games images here.