Cyclocross season kicked off in earnest this weekend, with three big racing days from Friday through Sunday.
Big D’s two cross masters, Randy Martin and Paul Fancher, put in great efforts for the team at the Manion’s Cross and Buffalo Bill races. Martin had three top-ten finishes and Fancher came in just shy of winning in his race on Sunday.
Fancher pushes to podium finish in the Master 50+ race
Fancher worked hard through a crowded, combined field to a second-place finish in the Masters 50+ on Sunday at Manion’s in Wyandotte County. Martin got fifth in the Masters 50+ on Saturday, and ninth in the single-speed event on the tricky, hilly course. Martin was battling a stomach bug all week and he said it caught up with him for the weekend’s racing.
On Friday at the Buffalo Bill race in Leavenworth, Martin competed in the Masters 35+ race, and came away with a strong eighth-place finish. “Dam the first weekend was not the best, but I plan to be in better shape and faster this weekend for the Boss Cross,” said Martin.
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.
Shawn Knight biding his time in the pack
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.
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.
Knight is known for his formidable sprint
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.
The whole race was pretty uneventful until lap 4. We knew there were two guys off the front and I asked Shawn if he wanted them back. He told me we might as well reel them in since we had favorable winds and some time to recover after the catch. I headed to the front and drove the pace for a little while and brought both guys back. I heard later that people on the back of the race were barely hanging on or getting dropped while I was on the front pulling things back. That was nice to hear! After we were all back together, Shawn and I just stayed close to the front. Ryan Kelley, the omnium leader, put in a couple of attacks but I held his wheel pretty easily.
Finally all that was left was a right hand turn, a few miles of rollers with a feed station, then a left hand turn and about 3 miles to the finish into the wind. We made the left hand turn that would lead us to the finish and Ryan Kelley attacked. I was on his wheel easily and Shawn was also right there. Again we all sat up and rode easy, resigned to the fact that we were destined for a field sprint.
As we rode toward the finish, you could feel things start to get a bit more tense. There was a bit of shoulder bumping and the pace was slow, but kept slowly creeping up. Shawn was not protected at that moment so I moved around a rider to position myself for the sprint lead-out. Ryan Kelley had 3 or 4 teammates, who we assumed would lead him out, but they never assembled at the front of the race in the end. As we passed the 1k to go banner, somebody began making a little move on the left side of the field. It wasn’t a very big or strong move, but I was worried we could get boxed in if too many people came around on the left…so I just pegged it right there and began the lead-out. I felt great as I started the move but every second that went by, my legs were screaming more and more. We passed the 200m banner and I flicked my wrist to tell Shawn to go. I was toast. I sat up and Shawn flew around me for the sprint. As I looked around, I realized there was hardly anybody around us. It was me, Shawn right on my wheel, and Robert Englert just dangling a couple meters off of Shawn’s wheel. After that, there was a huge gap to the rest of the field. I was hurting and took too long to consider my options but eventually popped out of the saddle and tried to lay down a sprint. I got passed by 2 more guys before I crossed the line but wasn’t too worried about that as Shawn easily crossed the line first. Ryan Kelley was nowhere near us (he told us later he cramped as soon as he tried to go with us) and we had the omnium in the bag.
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.
Hottman keeps it real
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.
Shawn Knight was one of the few riders in the Cat 4 crit who remained upright for his race. In a rain-soaked event which saw crashes on every lap, Knight managed a seventh place finish while teammate Ryan Rochford had a lot of misfortune but stayed in until the end. Ryan’s report:
It was rainy….really rainy. The course was a totally wet, 8-turn crit with painted road markings and brick crosswalks all over the place. Other than that, the road conditions were quite good. I started in the back as I rolled up to the line after the other 60-something guys. Whistle blew and I got out of the saddle and worked my way to the front as quickly as possible. Heading into turn 4, I was sitting in the first third of the pack and feeling fine until the guy right in front of me slid out and in my attempt to avoid him, I did the same thing, along with a few other people behind me. The crash was right in front of SRAM neutral support and I got up, collected my glasses and bottle and slammed my saddle back to center, checked the other parts of my bike and waited out my free lap.
The group came around again and off I went to rejoin the group. At this point I’d really lost my nuts in the corners and was nervous. 5 corners later, I went down again. This time I went down on my own and considered ending my race right there. Instead, I got up, adjusted the messed up parts of my bike and rode to neutral support to wait for another neutral lap. Accelerated into the group again and began taking the corners incredibly tentatively. At this point, it seemed that the whole group was realizing how sketchy things were and everybody was taking the corners at a reasonable speed. I was allowing small gaps to go in the corners and would close them up on the straights. I was feeling extremely strong so I wasn’t worried about letting small gaps go.
Rochford at the front, with Knight on third wheel
With 3 laps to go, I was working on positioning myself at the front of the field. I was sitting between 3rd and 10th place and felt great. The rain had just let up and there were actually a few dry patches on the course. There were literally crashes every lap though so it was still sketchy. The pace slowed with 2 to go and one guy attacked and got a good jump on the group with about 1 and a half to go. I got out of the saddle and sprinted up to him figuring I’d either break away from the group and go with him to battle for the win or I’d just bring the group back to him. I got a small gap on the field when I caught him but it wasn’t big enough to try to keep. I also didn’t want to have to push it on any of the corners so I was mostly interested in a field sprint, not a kilo attack or breakaway for the win.
1 to go and everything is together, I’m sitting 3rd wheel. I didn’t want to be that close to the front but it was what it was. The pace was high and the corners were scaring the hell out of me. Coming into the last corner, one guy had gone a bit off the front and it looked like he probably had the win. I’m sitting 3rd wheel still and we’re rounding the final corner when BOOM!!, the rear tire of the guy in front of me exploded. I took a line as far inside as I could in the wet conditions and had a clear path inside of his sliding body. Then, he spun as he slid and his bike stuck out in the road, right in the line I was riding. Down I went. Went into the last corner in 3rd, finished 22nd.
I’m 100% sure I was going to take at least 2nd, probably couldn’t have gotten first but who knows. I was extremely fresh and my legs were great. I was going to lay down a massive sprint and I could just tell nobody would be able to come around me. Now I’m laying here with Tegaderm covering all kinds of road rash and sore as hell. I dented the seatstay on my CAAD9 and bent both shifter paddles. The rear derailleur is scraped up pretty good and the hangar was bent. My saddle is torn up pretty bad and my brand new bar tape is trashed. I was going to take the sprint for a $150 payout but instead got nothing. I absolutely despise wet crits. After our race everything dried out and the other groups raced a fast, dry course.
In a window of dry weather, the Big D’s Swiss-German contingent of Chip Zimmer and Dan Ruettimann kept things honest in the Cat 5’s with a 14th and 17th place respectively. “Chip did a lot of work early on chasing down a break by a Colavita rider.” said Ruettimann. “He was really working hard and positioned himself well for the finish. Great result considering all the work he did.”
Ruettimann near the front in the Cat 5 crit
In the road races, three Big D cat 5’s placed in the top 20; Lee Wafford, Dan Turner and John Taton.
Special thanks to Roger Harrison of Lanterne Rouge for providing the top image for this post. See the rest of his images on his Flickr site.
Tim Lightenberg had a fourth-place finish on day two of the Tour of Kansas City Cat 3 race. Tim rode a stellar race, conserving his energy and setting himself up well for the sprint. “With three corners to go, I attacked and opened a small gap. I sprinted like I stole something. Ended up in 4th place to go with my seventh place from last night.” Said Lightenberg. Tim also got 13th on Sunday.
Lightenberg works his way through the crowd.
Kurt Wilson and Dan Ruettimann both had strong fifth-place finishes on day three. Wilson in the Cat 4 race and Ruettimann in the Cat 5.
Wilson stayed in a five-man break the final few laps and the group was playing cat and mouse with one to go. Kurt got stuck leading a big chunk with two laps to go, but was set up well on the final. “I just didn’t have the legs to hold on for the sprint” said Wilson. He lost contact coming around the final turn but finished right behind the top finishers.
In the Cat 5 race on Sunday, Ruettimann got into the break from the get-go and kept himself there, taking advantage of two big Chamois Butt’r riders. “A gap was created after a little contact in one of the turns. Everyone behind that scuffle got a little bit antsy, and a dozen of us split early on,” said Ruettimann. “We were shedding riders with every lap until there were six of us with two laps to go. I know my heart rate was pegged on that last lap and I lost contact as the hammer came down around the back stretch. Felt pretty good with a fifth to add to my sixth place on Friday, and tenth on Saturday.”
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