Several Big D veterans and new riders turned in great performances at the Perry Road Race series and Spring Fling series in Lawrence.

Rochelle Schleicher took first overall in the Masters 40+ at Perry and followed up with second overall in the Spring Fling. Schleicher admitted that crits are not her thing, but she did amazingly well considering she was out-numbered and riding against a stacked Velo-Tek team.

Joe Kleidosty placed first overall in the Cat 5 Spring Fling to go with his outstanding results at Perry (second overall). “Special K” has been progressing nicely this early season and has made the jump to the Cat 4’s. Once other teams figure out who this guy is, they will be gunning for him!

Lynn Wilson grabbed second place in both series, and is looking strong in both disciplines. She has her eye on a Cat 3 KBAR this year.

Other riders turning in great overall performances at Perry:

Danielle Lansford, second overall (Cat 4)
Josephine Measures, fourth overall (40+)
Donavon Hottman, second overall (60+)

The fourth races of the Spring Fling series were held Saturday despite some threatening weather, which dumped eight inches of snow on the area. The Big D women continued their success in the crit series at Clinton Lake in Lawrence.

Lynn Wilson rode the 4/5 race with the men and was able to hang on and lead a lap towards the end. In her Cat 3 women’s race, Wilson got a little help from her teammate Rochelle Schleicher. “There were only two of us and five Velotek riders.  The first lap, I made a jump and VT countered.  Rochelle then made another jump and again VT went.  Second lap in, I made a jump after the first turn and got a gap.  VT chased but could not get me.  My AWESOME TEAMMATE Rochelle, managed to get to the front and slow the pace down.  With that, I was able to win the race by half of a lap on the field!” said Wilson, who has been dominant in the series this year. Schleicher held on for fourth and then followed up with a second place in the 4’s. Schleicher had high praise for her teammate. “The truth is she rode eight really hard laps all by herself.  It is her strong riding that gained a half lap on the field.  I consider myself still pretty new at these cat and mouse games.  Lynn’s awesome ride and finish were very inspirational,” said Schleicher.

In Men’s racing, Kurt Wilson and Paul Aldegeur continue to show up each week and compete at a high level. And Joe Kleidosty had a great Cat 5 race with a first-place finish. He timed his sprint just right on the course, which was getting more slippery by the minute. “Special-K” has been the team’s most active racer so far this road season, competing in two Flings and a Perry race each weekend in miserable conditions.

Spring Fling concludes this Saturday. It is expected to be windy but with the temperature around 60 degrees. Not sure how the racers will be able to adjust to conditions that are actually tolerable!

In early-season racing, the team has been doing very well. Team Chica-D is continuing their dominance in the women’s ranks and the men are keeping it real, with some veterans placing, and a few new faces mixing it up.

Rochelle Schleicher leads the Perry RR series with one race to go. She has swept her masters races so far, and barring disaster, will come out on top for the series. Lynn Wilson took the top spot in Perry #1, but by skipping week 2, has set up a showdown with Santa Fe’s Shawn Morelli for Perry #3. Weather kept a lot of riders away for the second race of the series, and some peeps took advantage of a thinned-out field. “The weather was difficult (for Perry #2), said Schleicher. It was hard to figure out where the wind was coming from. There was a headwind going across the dam, but after you made the turn it felt like it was swirling around on the bottom.”

New Big D rider Joe Kleidosty improved on his performance from week one, with a 4th place finish in the Cat 5’s. Conditions were probably the worst on Sunday for that race, with freezing rain and the lowest temps of the day. Also new to the team are Danielle Lansford and Josie Measures. Lansford rode to a top finish in week 2, to go along with her 4th from the first week. She can grab the overall with a podium placing in the final. Measures got a podium spot in the first women’s masters race. We are very excited to see what these two ladies can accomplish in the remaining race of the series, and the rest of the season.

Paul Aldegeur grabbed a podium spot, with a 3rd place in the 40+ men’s race at Perry #2. Donavon Hottman is sitting in a good spot with a 2nd in week two ,to go along with his 4th from week one.

At Spring Fling, it was a similar story for the women in pink! Wilson has been placing high in her races, and Schleicher is right on the bubble for shot at the overall. Spring Fling continues this weekend, with racing on Saturday. The Perry series concludes on Sunday.

The team held its annual awards dinner at the Point Annex in Westport recently.  It’s our time to get together and relive the highlights from the previous season, and to recognize those athletes who turned in great performances throughout the year.  We also connected with many of our sponsors, and thanked them for their support.

Keen Wealth Advisors was in attendance and re-committed to Big D and to cycling in general.  Keen Wealth Advisors will be donating funds to the KCA to help purchase updated finish line camera gear, and will be presenting the Keen Wealth Cup for the overall KBAT team starting in 2013!  Special thanks to Bill Keen, CRPC®, Founder/CEO and the rest of the staff at Keen Wealth Advisors for your continued support of Big D, and cycling in the region.

The award for the most outstanding rider went to Lynn Wilson, for her sheer volume of racing and excellent results.  She competed in 28 races and finished on the podium in most of them.  Only her husband, Kurt, competed in more road races.

Rochell Schleicher was recognized as best team rider for her contributions to her teammates and for her outstanding results during the season. Schleicher won three state championships, and was a regular on the podium in important races. She was also recognized for her great results at the World Triathlon Championships in Las Vegas, where she placed seventh in her age group!

In the Most Improved Rider category, it was Susan Ruettimann taking honors for coming out of nowhere to grab the KBAR Masters 40+. In her first year of racing, Ruettimann went from a recreational fitness rider to a dominant force in regional women’s racing. Her savvy strategizing and determination kept her in the lead for points all season.

Among other awards, Bill Mason was recognized for bouncing back from a crash that left him with a titanium plate holding his collar bone together. Kurt Wilson won for the most racing, and Shawn Knight won the dubious rainbow jersey for his dominance at Tuesday Night Worlds.

Bill Keen of Keen Wealth Advisors also announced support for a race in 2013. This race is in development and will most likely be a late season criterium in the Kansas City area.

Look for Big D riders in their Bolle sunglasses again this season. Dwayne Baldwin of Bolle also let the team know that they would be there protecting Big D eyes while helping us look stylish!

We are all looking forward to even greater accomplishments in 2013! For more images of our festivities, click here.

It’s really starting to feel like CX season as the weather gets a little bit more chilly. Saturday’s conditions at the 360 Cup in Lawrence were overcast and brisk and Ryan Kelley continued his top-performing ways with a fourth place in the single-speed event, despite a crash early in the race. He would go on to match that placing the next day in the same race.

Paul Aldeguer got a ninth place on day one in the 40+ race and a tenth on day two. In other first-day racing, Randy Martin got 12th in the 50+ race, while Bill Jennings got third in the 60+.