April saw some excellent results on the road and the dirt, with the Chica-Ds continuing to dominate and add to their racing resumes. Let’s get to it:
Veteran racer Paul Fancher placed third in the Bone Bender 3-hour MTB Odyssey at Clinton Lake in Lawrence. He faced some tough competition from several out-of-state rider on the challenging course and represented the team well.
The Velo-Tek GP returned with a good turnout for the three-stage event; a short TT hill climb and criterium on Saturday, followed by a road race at Perry lake on Sunday. Rochelle Schleicher dominated from the start, never relinquishing her lead gained on the gut-wrenching Wells Overlook climb on the morning of day one. Rochelle has been improving her crit skills over the past year and continues to excell in the mid to long distances on the road. Rocky is in the hunt to win KBAR this year. Lynn Wilson was in a three way fight in the Cat 3 women’s competition and just missed out on a first place overall on the last day, while husband Kurt finished fifth overall in a deep Cat 4 field.
The following week at the Big D co-sponsored Bruce Edwards TT, the team was well represented and grabbed some points toward the overall in the KBAT overall competition. Conditions were breezy and many riders struggled over the deceptively difficult rolling 10K course. Schleicher walked away with an easy win in the women’s 50+, while teammate Susan Ruettimann grabbed top spot in the W 40+.
Other highlights:
Jim Clevenger – 3rd; 50+
Joe Kleidosty – 5th; Shawn Knight – 7th, Cat 4
Bill Mason – 2nd; Donavon Hottman – 3rd; Frank Quinlan – 4th; Bill Wells -5th, 60+
Lynn Wilson – 3rd, W 1,2,3
Bree Ginden – 2nd; Danielle Lansford – 3rd, W Cat 4
Kitty Gomer – 3rd W 40+
Finally, in the epic Joseph Sheehan Road Race on April 28, Chica Ds Schleicher and Wilson walked away with victories on the hilly 52 mile course. Both ladies are set up well for KBAR wins with these results.
The Cat 4 men were not so lucky. Joe Kleidosty, who was in the lead group with Kurt Wilson the whole day, went down on the final climb to the finish, “We started attacking the hill finish and rider in front of me basically slowed down and I plowed into him. Scraped my left side and banged my bike up.” said Special K. “I picked myself and the bike up to get across the finish with my bike on my shoulder!” Both riders finished a bit farther down the list as a result. Other Big D riders had better luck:
Paul Fancher – 3rd; Jim Clevenger – 9th, 50+
Paul Aldegeur – 6th; 40+
Hottman – 6th; Mason – 8th; Wells – 10th, 60+