The team got together recently with representatives from our major sponsor, Keen Wealth Advisors for an easy all-team ride. It was a chance for all team members, new and veterans, to have a fun, easy-paced ride, and get to know our sponsor better.
CEO, William T Keen and Managing Director, Matt Wilson joined us and had great things to say about our success this year. We look forward to continuing this partnership for years to come.
Big D helped again with the Shawnee Bike Rodeo hosted by the Shawnee Rotary Club. This free event allowed the public to get their bikes safety inspected, and were checked off on a obstacle course. Riders were got a crash course on rules of the road and got fitted for a new helmet. Big D Cycling, sponsored by Keen Wealth Advisors, fitted more than 350 helmets for grade school-aged children this year. This was the third year Big D has been involved in this event.
Keen Wealth Advisors and Founder/CEO William T Keen are proud to be part of this event through their sponsorship of the team.
Look for Big D at more charity events next season.
Cyclocross is in full swing and Ryan Kelley put the Big D stamp on the start of the season in a big way, with two high placings at Dogfish Cross in Hermann, Missouri. Not one to take the easy route, Kelley decided to make his racing a little more interesting, entering on a single-speed while the rest of the competition relied on a full complement of gearing. Here is his report:
So this year for CX I just planned to do it for a little off-season motivation, and decided to do single speed for the year. I prereged about a month ago, so I had a good starting position. Since it was my first time at SSCX I had no idea what kind of gearing to pick. My acceleration off the line was bad since I was running a 42×17 gearing. The course was flat and had a small technical section. The first day went really bad for me. I spent about 15 minutes practicing mounting and dismounting the Thursday before the race so I lost a ton of time on every remount. On top of it right off the bat someone crashed in front of me and I went right over him and got my bike tangled up with his, and a lap later I went down when I was pushing it too hard in a turn. Finally, after a lot of fighting, I moved up to 4th place and was in a battle for third. We were going into the triple section of low barriers when I was dismounting and I crashed, but was right back up and able to keep fighting for third place. I had trouble getting clipped back in, which caused a little gap to open, I spent the next straight away and caught back up with third place before the stairs. I passed third place and he stuck to my wheel. When we got to the sand pit he came around me and was in front getting out of the pit. Due to my SS gearing I couldn’t accelerate as fast as him so he was able to keep a second or two gap the last 200 yards or so until the finish line. I was happy with 4th considering how bad my remounting was, all of the crashes I was involved in and since I was on a SS.
The second day went much better for me from the start. I still had the same poor acceleration from being on a SS and was about 10th going through the first set of barriers. On the second lap coming up to the barriers somehow my chain dropped on my singlespeed. On top of it my chain got sucked up into my bottom bracket area and I went from 4th place down to 15th. I rode out of my skin the next few laps and got back up to third place. We stayed together for about half a lap and I attacked him on the flat before the giant 60+ stair climb, I could see 2nd place in front of me but there just wasn’t enough of the race left to get back to him so I rode to conserve my podium finish. I ended up third for the race and second overall for the weekend. Was a nice change!
So I decided to go back to gears because I think it really held me back, but it did make the racing a lot of fun since it was just pedal as hard as you can all the time! But I took a lot away from the weekend and will really be practicing my basics before I race again this weekend.
Ryan wasn’t the only Big D rider competing in Hermann. In Saturday’s open race, James Summers placed 23rd in a very competitive field.
Special thanks to St. Louis photographer Dan Singer, who gave permission for use of the above image. See more of his incredible work here: dansingerphotography.com
Some late results from the Sedalia Historic District Criterium, which was held August 25 and was plagued by rain for the early races.
“I was expecting a lot of no-shows for the 4/5 race, since we had all day, and there weren’t a lot of pre-registered riders,” said Dan Ruettimann, who rode the first race of the day. Just when we were thinking there was a break in the weather, it would start pouring again.” There were rivers of water flowing across the course in places, and turn three was basically a little pond, and turn four was sketchy, with wet bricks through the crosswalk. There were about 35 riders who showed up and rode in awful conditions. Ruettimann stayed safe in an incredibly fast race, but got shed by the main pack with about ten to go and held on for 12th place.
By the time the 3/4 race started, the road was almost completely free of water and 50 riders were ready to get going on a dry course. Average speed was pushing 28 mph, and Ryan Kelley was mixing it up in the front of the group. “I bet all my cards on a break forming because of those two technical corners on the backside, and everytime we got a break started, everybody was like “whew I made the break now I can take a rest.” Then by the time it was seven laps to go, I fell back below 15th place and it was just sprint, brake for corner, and sprint again and I just didn’t have anything left in my gas tank to keep that effort going. so once I got gapped off when Mesa started their leadout, I DNF’d and decided to save it for tomorrow,” said Kelley, who was working as hard as anyone. Kurt Wilson found a comfortable spot in the field and finished in 20th, while Ruettimann held on long enough to get placed in 37th – 5th for Cat 4.
Lynn Wilson moved up to Cat 3 shortly before her women’s open race and was doing fine until the last lap when she made the rookie mistake of leading the pack for half a lap. She vowed to never do that again, and finished in eighth place.
At the State Age Group Championships in Pittsburg and Arma, Team Chica-D had spectacular results with three gold medals and one silver. Susan Ruettimann also scored way more points than she needed to and became Kansas Best All-Around rider (40+) for 2012!
Ruettimann went into the weekend needing to get a second place and a third in the crit and road race in order to hold on to her lead over Ann Michael of VeloTek. She got second overall in the crit, which was first place in 40+. “I had some breathing room after the crit, so that took a lot of pressure off for the road race,” said Ruettimann. Rochelle Schleicher was just behind her teammate in third place, which was good for gold in the Masters 50+. Susan’s husband, Dan, was there shouting encouragement and instructions during the race. “We were like little monkeys,” said Schleicher, “whatever he said, we just did.” At one point DanR was yelling “Make them work!” and the Mercy rider who was in the lead at the time was like, “We ARE working!” Rochelle had to explain to her that DanR meant make VeloTek work.
It turned out that coming up the hill, and into the final turn, Rochelle and Susan were in perfect position, and passed a couple riders who were running out of steam. Susan was on Rochelle’s wheel just trying to hold on when her teammate seemed to slow down slightly. “I started to think that I could win this, so I just went for it,” said Ruettimann. Lindsay Lorenz ran away with the overall early, while the race for KBAR points sorted out behind her. Susan was second overall behind Lorenz, but tops in the field sprint, with Schleicher right behind. Lorenz, Ruettimann, and Schleicher went one-two-three and each earned gold in their respective age groups.
In the Women’s Cat4 race, Lynn Wilson had a job ahead of her trying to overcome her nemesis, Alaina Beckwith in a race stacked with VeloTek riders. It came down to a sprint between Lynn, Beckwith, and Ruth Sawkins out of Joplin. “I just couldn’t get switched into the right gear coming down the stretch,” said Wilson, who got edged out at the line.
In other crits, Ryan Kelley and Kurt Wilson came down to support their BFFs while getting in a little racing. Kelley placed 13th in the Cat 3/4 race, and Kurt got 23rd in a big Masters 30+ group.
The Chica-D’s goal on Sunday was to help Lynn move up in KBAR since she still had a chance to get first place if all the cards fell into place. Also, the team wanted to move up in the Team standings, and could potentially move into third with some good numbers. Cathy Goodger (12th) and Cathy Wood (10th) came down to ride their first road races, and to score points to help with the women’s team standings. In a combined women’s field, all the ladies in pink came together to help Lynn try to get a win. The pace was not too crazy on the first lap and everyone pretty much stayed together until the turnaround on the second lap. The riders from 360 Sports were taking their share of work, but Ruettimann and Schleicher went into super-domestique roles and pushed hard toward the final hill. “Susan scares me,” said Wilson of her teammate, “That girl is strong. I was having trouble staying on her wheel!” Wilson held on for third in the Cat4 race. Ruettimann got sixth overall in the 30+ but silver in her age group. Schleicher second overall, but scored a state championship hat trick, having placed first in the 50+ Time Trial, Criterium and Road Race!
Lynn Wilson was by far the most prolific of all the Big D riders this year, having entered a lot of tough races in and out of KBAR, and always placing high. She reflected on the season-long KBAR competition: “I didn’t come into the racing season looking to win the KBAR race or even knowing what it was. I could not ask for better teammates. I may not have won the KBAR series, but getting 2nd overall was more than I set out to do this year!”
See more photos from Pittsburg and Arma here.