With April closing out Big D has been active in racing across the state line.

Ryan Rochford competed in the Tour of St. Louis Carondelicious Circuit Race on April 16 and placed 4th in the Cat. 4 event. Awesome by any measure, but truly fantastic since he is still a Cat. 5 rider! (Not for long). “Felt really strong but my positioning wasn’t quite right at the end. Temps were in the low 40’s and it was windy and spitting a little rain on us here and there so a pretty miserable race with an average speed of 23.9mph, said Rochford.

Ryan stuck around for the crit the next day and ended up 9th! “I went off the front with about 5 to go and held that for 3 laps then got caught (damn headwinds),” said Rochford. Ryan floated back the the group, but found himself in some traffic that almost took him out before the finish. “I gave a pretty good sprint and flew by a lot of people, but started too far back and had to make up too much ground. A guy basically fell over me a few meters from the end, and I had to sit up and hold him up.” Ryan is ever-modest about his results, but he understands that in order to win, you have to be willing to lose!

Four Big D riders took on the challenging Tour of Herman Road Race. This difficult course winds through the steep, hilly terrain around Herman, MIssouri, and is not for the faint of heart. Chip Zimmer, Kurt Wilson, Antoine Winkelmolen, and self-described non hill-climber, Stephen Whalen, were all up to the task. Wilson placed 9th in the Cat. 4/5 race, with Twan and Whales close behind in 15th and 17th. Zimmer came in strong in the middle of the pack. Had this race been separated by category, Wilson would have been third, Twan 5th, Whales 6th, and Zimmer would have been 13th! Really excellent performance as a team.

Special thanks to photographer Dan Singer for use of his image for this post.
See more of his spectacular racing images at www.dansingerphotography.com.

Two Big D racers came away with podium finishes in Sunday’s Bazaar Road race. On a day when the race seemed to have a bipolar personality, Casey Coffman and Stephen Whalen finished second and third in their races.

In the Masters 50+ race, Coffman and the rest of the field fought a fierce wind heading south on the hilly course. Speeds hovered around 10-12 mph into a sustained 25mph+ headwind, until the turnaround, where things really opened up. Heading north, the riders approached speeds of 50mph and continued north past the finishing line to the turnaround in Cottonwood Falls. Coffman was among two giants of regional cycling; Wheatland’s Kris Tilford, and 360’s Bill Anderson, who pushed back into the wind and up a brutal Flint Hills climb towards the finish.

In the Category 5 event. Stephen Whalen came up with a third place finish, with the help of Antoine Winkelmolen, who finished fouth in his first race since a skiing accident in Decmber. Big D was well-represented in the Cat 5’s. Chip Zimmer and Shawn Hawkins both had top-ten finishes.

In the Cat. 4/5 race, Kurt Wilson placed 5th, Tim Lightenberg had a strong showing with a 6th place, and Ryan Rochford finished 9th. Donavon Hottman also came in 5th in his Masters 60+ race.

Big D riders improved on their performances from last weekend, with even better results in the Spring Fling and the Perry Road Race Series.

Knight makes his way through traffic on the climb

Shawn Knight placed 3rd in the Masters 40+ race at Perry, while Ron Marney had a strong showing with 6th in the same event. Donavon Hottman improved to 2nd in his 60+ race on a chilly Sunday morning of racing.

Marney holds his own on a difficult course

In the Cat. 4 race at Perry, was Tim Lightenberg in 11th place, up four places form last week.

On Saturday, Ryan Rochford continued his domination of the Spring Fling Cat 5 event in Lawrence. Look for Rochford to crush the competition, as this event continues through March.

The Whale closes in on two unsuspecting riders

Also making an appearance on Sunday, was “Splash” the whale from the Whale Spout Car Wash in Shawnee KS. Several riders narrowly escaped being chased down by this friendly, but insatiable beast. Although he does prefer sushi and beer to gristly bike racers. With his hunger going unsatisfied, Splash is sure to make more appearances at future races!

Photos by Dan Ruettimann Photography. See more images from the Perry Road Race Cat. 5 and Masters events from March 13th here.

The team did well over the weekend, with four top-ten finishes in the Perry Road Race Series!

New team member Ryan Rochford placed 5th in the Cat. 5 event, this a day after his strong finish in the Spring Fling criterium series. Rochford is currently in second place on points for that event, which continues this weekend.

Rochford on the first climb

Also working hard at Perry Dam was Shawn Knight, who placed 6th in the Masters 40+ race, an awesome showing in a very competitive field on a demanding circuit.
Rafael Frontaura came in 8th in his Masters 50+ race. And Donovan Hottman finished strong with a 3rd place in Masters 60+.

In his first racing weekend for Big D was Tim Lightenberg, who tore it up in the sprints and placed 16th in the Cat 4 race. Lee Wafford also placed well in his Cat. 5 race with a top-20 finish.

Lightenberg making it happen in green

Look for Big D as these two race series continue.

Thanks to Roger Harrison of Lanterne Rouge for providing these photos. See the rest of his images on his Flickr site.