Leo Simbaqueva was in fifth place in the Masters Cat 4/5 group after the time trial and criterium stages, 22 seconds back from first place. He was frustrated with his performance in the criterium on Saturday and knew he had his work cut out for him on the hilly, 29-mile road race course near Perry, Kansas.

With beautiful temperatures and light winds sweeping across Lake Perry, Leo “Quintana” Simbaqueva displayed just how he earned his nickname. He climbed like a Colombian, finishing third in the road race, just two seconds back from the top two finishers. He earned a four-second time bonus and finished 45 seconds ahead of fourth place and almost three minutes ahead of the chase group. He earned a third place spot on the general classification podium with his road race performance.

Shawn Knight showcased his criterium skills, winning the prime sprint and the final sprint. His performances over the three-stage race weekend earned him a fifth place finish in the Masters Cat 4/5 group.

Kurt Wilson and Paul Aldeguer put down great times and results across all three disciplines in this stage race. Each finished in the cash, placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Masters Cat 1/2/3 field. Jim Clevenger, still recovering from his accident at Spring Fling, earned a top 10 finish and is looking forward to the upcoming KBAR events.

Noah Collins put down a very respectable result in the time trial, but he and Joe Kleidosty were caught in and behind a crash in the criterium stage, losing valuable time in the process. Due to a technicality, Collins did not get a free lap in the criterium, which pushed him out of general classification contention. All was not lost. Kleidosty put in some domestique work for Collins in the road race, in hopes of putting him in position for a stage win. Collins finished 13th in the road race in a tough field, just 11 seconds back from the top finisher.

You can see the overall general classification results at KCA’s website.

In another part of Kansas, Tyler Staples competed at the CGSC Triathlon at Fort Leavenworth on Saturday, May 3. The race consisted of a 200-yard indoor swim, a 12.6-mile bike route, and a 2.7-mile run. Staples overcame some difficulties in the swim portion of the race, finishing third of 17 in his age group (Men’s 30-39) and eighth of 112 overall.

Big D Cycling and Keen Wealth Advisors could not have asked for better weather this weekend … or better results!

Even with the forecast for severe storms, Big D cyclists showed up and raced in several categories, including Men’s Cat 4, Men’s Master 40+, Men’s Master 50+, Men’s Master 65+, and Women’s Master 50+. You can see all race results at the KCA website! Considering the forecast, this was a great turnout, yielding another good result for our title sponsor, Keen Wealth Advisors.

In the Men’s Master 40+ race, good team tactics, proper positioning and powerful efforts were able to keep the larger teams of 360 Racing and Oklahoma City Velo Club in check during several attacks made by those teams. The race started out at a quick pace over challenging, rolling hills, with a lead group that formed within seven miles, containing Paul Aldeguer, Kurt Wilson, and Joe Kleidosty. Wilson countered the initial attacks and even attempted to get into a break, but he could not get with the correct group of cyclists to make anything hold.

After the peloton turned north, the speeds increased. Eventually, two racers from OKC Velo Club and 360 Racing got away. Wilson had put in a lot of work up to that point, and he indicated he needed help countering the attacks. Kleidosty took that as his cue to wake up, and he shot up the right side at a critical point in the race, just before a 5% average gradient climb, to bridge up to the breakaway.

Aldeguer saw that as an opportunity to make his move to get with the breakaway. He shot up the climb, whilst earning a Strava KOM on that climb segment, indicating the high pedigree of his climbing ability. He joined the lead group of two riders, while Kleidosty slowed down considerably during the climb, in hopes that Aldeguer could stay away for a podium finish. Since 360 Racing and OKC Velo Club had racers in the breakaway, they were not doing any work at that point, as well.

By the time the racers reached the feed zone, Aldeguer and his breakaway buddies were no longer in sight. The chase group, which was not really chasing, was dealing with gusty cross winds before the turn to the south onto Highway 7. Everyone knew headwinds were in store for the latter half of the race.

After turning to the south, an OKC Velo Club racer shot off the front. Wilson turned to Kleidosty and asked him if he wanted to chase this one down. Kleidosty responded and gutted it out in the headwinds to catch the OKC Velo Club racer. They started working together and eventually made contact with Aldeguer and the other two racers in the lead group. Kleidosty and Aldeguer were the only Masters 40+ racers in the successful breakaway of five racers, earning first and second in that category.

Thanks again to Greg Vaught for hauling the trailer to the races.

It was almost looking like a repeat of the weather conditions that Big D experienced at Bazaar just a couple of weeks ago. As luck would have it, the rain scooted off just south of us, and the Big D team just had to navigate the TT course, while battling some gusty winds.

Donavon Hottman had the highest podium finish, getting first place in the Men’s 65+ category. Bill Jennings was right behind with a 2nd place finish. Jennings mentioned this was the first time he was able to beat David Wamsley, so congratulations on that positive experience and show of improvement!

Doug Young and Greg Vaught earned some valuable KBAR points in the Men’s Master 50+ category. Thanks to Greg again for his efforts in hauling the trailer and other equipment.

Joe Kleidosty placed 2nd in the Master 40+ category.

Bree Ginden, Amy VanNieuwenhuyse, Josie Measures, and Roberta Dierks represented the Big D Women’s team with strong placements in their respective categories.

One of the more exciting highlights of the day was Nigel Vaught’s 2nd place finish in the Juniors 9 – 13 age category. Peter Whalen was not far behind, with a 4th place finish. Greg had the pleasure of escorting his son around the course during the race. Nigel did not get his shoe laces tucked in properly, and they became stuck in his chain. He handled the situation like a pro, avoided a mishap, and still earned a silver medal! Congratulations to our Juniors! Thanks to Keen Wealth Advisors for sponsoring the junior entry fees.

Heading into the 2014 road season, Bill Smith wanted to do well at the Spring Fling criterium races. Kurt Wilson also was intent to see if his downtown airport training would produce results at the 19th Annual Spring Fling series in Lawrence, KS.

Indeed, Smith and Wilson took advantage of the team tactics and efforts put out by Shawn Knight, Dan Ruettimann, Joe Kleidosty, Greg Vaught and Jim Clevenger. It was a team effort, but it also took Bill and Wilson recognizing the opportunities given to them and putting their training and skills to good use to capitalize on those opportunities!

In short, Smith wrapped up first place going into the final weekend of racing. Wilson was tied for third. In the final weekend of racing, Clevenger was involved in a serious crash, but he is on the mend and plans to be competing at the Velotek Gran Prix Cycling Classic in early May. With good team tactics and a strong effort by Wilson, he was able to secure third place in this tough category of criterium racing.

A double podium result for Big D Cycling and Keen Wealth Advisors. Great job, Bill and Kurt!

Special thanks to Lindsey Meyers for use of her image. See more of her great pics on the Revolution Racing Facebook Page.

Special thanks to Roger Harrison of Lanterne Rouge for providing the feature image for this post. See more of his images on his Flickr site.

First and foremost, I must give kudos to all of those who attended and participated at Bazaar today: Sam, Doug, Alex, and Steve in Cat 5; Greg and myself (Masters 50, Masters 40); and Donovan, Bill Wells, Bill Mason (wheel truck driver), and Frank (Masters 60 and Masters 65). We knew there was a good chance of challenging weather conditions, but I don’t think any of us were prepared for what we encountered. You represented Big D Cycling and our title sponsor, Keen Wealth Advisors, very well.

For this post, I’ll give you my perspective of what happened. In the weather department, the high topped 79 degrees at the start of the race. We had stiff headwinds going south. At one point in the race, I was going 7 mph! After the first turnaround, the cold front literally passed through the course. We experienced 47 mph wind gusts, and the temperature dropped approximately 25 degrees in a matter of minutes, along with cold rain. Some competitors experienced hail! In addition to this, the wind direction changed during the race. The sustained winds from the south were around 31 mph (all weather statistics confirmed at www.weatherunderground.com). When the cold front passed through, the winds changed from the south to the north, giving some competitors headwinds from both directions with no opportunity to enjoy a tailwind!

In my race, I went off with Greg, as the Masters 40+ and Masters 50+ started together. The 360 Racing team was well represented in these categories, and they utilized their numbers to launch several attacks into the south headwind. There was little concern that someone would slip away into the headwind, but I shut down a couple attacks to test my legs and make sure no one escaped. As we approached the first turnaround, I moved to the front and glanced back and saw that Greg was right behind me, so I picked up the pace a bit to ensure we were not swarmed. We both made the first turnaround in the front. I’m not sure what Greg did, but I turned it up from there, with average speeds around 37 mph. My top speed was 47 mph!

After the turnaround, Jay Hawkins, from OKC Velo Club, and Stephen Songer, Doug Obershaw and William Peters, of 360 Racing, joined me in the breakaway. At those high speeds, I hesitated or made the mistake of not fighting to stay on back of that train (that was the race, right there). I was dropped, and I could not get back up to them! I always try to learn from each race, so I definitely learned an important lesson there. All of this was occurring as we could see the storm front coming in from the Northwest.

I eventually ended up in a chase group, working together to close the gap on the lead group. We approached the finish line for the shorter races (not our race). A couple guys started picking up the pace, so I thought they were just attacking. After we crossed that finish line, I kept going and yelled at them to say that was not the finish line. Then, a truck pulled up beside me to tell me our race was shortened due to the weather conditions. What? I’ve never been so frustrated or disappointed – not after what I just had to experience. After the results were posted, I was able to protest the results. Those that placed third, fourth and fifth in my race were given a share of third place (and KBAR points), since we were never notified that the race was being shortened. I did not like protesting the results, but it was a fair resolution to an unfortunate circumstance.

Alex Brizuela took first place in the Category 5 race. He rode down with me and Greg, and we explained to him that he should not do any work, until he was in position to do a successful attack or a sprint for the win. Alex seems very receptive to listening and instruction, because, as I was blazing north, I peered over and saw he was dead last in the Cat 5 group. It appeared he was also messing with his phone (while racing). We later learned he was trying to take a picture …

I’m going to submit a request to Joe Fox to upgrade Alex to Category 4. If Alex wants to take pictures, he will need to do this while he is not racing!

A special thanks to Greg Vaught for taking the time to haul the trailer down to Bazaar. It provided some much needed refuge from the elements so we could change quickly and stop the shivering!