The 2014 KBAR competition was filled with highs and lows for the Big D Cycling team. The good definitely outweighed the bad, though, with the Men’s Master team securing first place in the 2014 KBAT competition.

Prior to the start of the KBAR series, Jim Clevenger took a serious spill at one of the Spring Fling criterium races in Lawrence. Bill Smith was able to capture first place in his category in that race series, while Jim was subsequently able to work his way back to good form to contribute to the KBAT competition efforts ~ an example of the good outweighing the bad.

Dan Ruettimann crashed near the finish of the Salina Road Race in May, along with Greg Vaught, but they were both able to get back on their bikes (Dan with a broken ankle) to finish the race, earning Keen Wealth points for the team. Big D Cycling came close to capturing the 2014 Keen Wealth Cup with a solid 2nd place finish, less than 200 points out of 1st place.

Nigel Vaught and Peter Whalen participated in several road race events in 2014, showing good promise in the Juniors division. Nigel earned 1st place in his Juniors Male 9-14 KBAR category and developed well as a racer throughout the season.  It will be exciting to see how our junior racers progress over the years.

Another exciting thing to watch was the great teamwork on display in the Masters Men 65+ category. Donavon Hottman and Bill Wells worked well with Frank Quinlan in the last several races to help Quinlan secure 3rd place in his respective KBAR category. Bill Mason showed great strength and resolve in competing at the Walnut Time Trial in June, as well ~ he is a true inspiration to our team in 2014.

We were sorry to see Josie Measures skip across the pond back to England, but it was a pleasure to watch Amy VanNieuwenhuyse progress as a competitive cyclist, where she secured 2nd place in the Masters Women 40-49 category.

We also saw Paul Fancher complete his first full Dirty Kanza, whilst Tim Herre kicked up enough dust to improve his time handily from his 2013 accomplishment.

In all, we had eight racers podium in the 2014 KBAR Competition: Nigel Vaught, 1st place – Juniors Male 9-14; Amy VanNieuwenhuyse, 2nd place – Masters Women 40-49; Roberta Dierks, 3rd place – Masters Women 60+; Joe Kleidosty, 2nd place – Masters Men 40-49; Jim Clevenger, 2nd place – Masters Men 50-59; Greg Vaught, 3rd place – Masters Men 50-59; Donavon Hottman, 2nd place – Masters Men 65+; and Frank Quinlan, 3rd place – Masters Men 65+.  In many instances, it took team efforts to secure these results, showing the great breadth of talent we have in Big D Cycling.

Alas, autumn is here, as temperatures will continue to drop and leaves will start to change colors and fall to the ground ~ cyclocross season is here! Stay tuned for occasional posts to detail Big D Cycling’s cyclocross exploits, led by Jim Clevenger.

Many thanks to our title sponsor Keen Wealth Advisors. They are not only a generous sponsor to our team, but they are also instrumental in keeping Juniors race fees low, encouraging more young racers to experience different cycling disciplines.

Thanks to Dan Ruettimann Photography for the group photo taken during the Cathedral Criterium races (above) and for also taking pictures of our team at various events throughout the season.