Team Chica-D showed up in force for the KS TT Championships in Walnut and three Big D riders were crowned state champions!

Bill Mason continued to show who’s boss and won gold in his age group, third overall in Masters 60+.

The ladies field was dominated by pink, and their results were fantastic. Two gold medal winners; Rochelle Schleicher and Susan Ruettimann. Abby Gomer won the Cat4 bronze, and Lynn Wilson got second place in the Cat4 race. Kitty Gomer also came and scored points to help with the Masters KBAT competition.

The wind was stiff out of the south and picked up as the day went on. After our Chica-D ladies finished one by one, they cheered for each other 200 meters from the finish, and also gave vocal support to all the other competitors. It really is inspiring to see the camaraderie the women have and how they support each other and work together. They are a solid team that has made a huge impact in their first year of racing; which prompted one of the ladies from another team to ask, “So, did you guys just come out of nowhere?”

The veterans on the team continued to rack up great results in their qualifiers for the Senior Olympics. Bill Mason, Roberta Dierks, Bill Jennings, and Bill Wells all collected hardware in Missouri recently, while Chip Zimmer was the one Big D bright spot at Tulsa Tough.

Here is Mason’s recap of the events at the Missouri Senior State Games:

The four races included a 40K Road Race followed by a 5K Time Trial on Saturday; and a 20K Road Race followed by a 10K Time Trial on Sunday. There were competitors from several States other than Missouri, including Illinois, Kentucky, Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas just to name a few. In Bill Wells and my 65-69 age category, the 3rd place 2011 Nationals winner participated in the field of ten riders. So competition was strong.

Everyone is trying to qualify for the 2013 Nationals in Cleveland, Ohio and the Missouri Games being one of the early scheduled ones the age fields were larger than in an off year.

Results were as follows:

Roberta Dierks – 60-64
40k Road Race – Gold
5K Time Trial – Gold
20K Road Race – Gold
10K Time Trial – Gold

Roberta is of course now qualified for the 2013 Nationals. Big D Women continue to rule.

Bill Jennings – 70-74
40k Road Race – Silver
5K Time Trial – Silver

Bill J. was unable to ride Sunday’s races; but with his two Silvers in now qualified for the 2013 Nationals.

Don’t think Bill J. plans to stop racing here as he just invested several thousand bucks in a new Carbon Bike from one of our sponsors, Bike Source. Also got new Aero bars and I think plans to get a Time Trial Helmet. Appears he has caught the passion to race.

Bill Wells – 64-69
40k Road Race – Bronze in a bunch finish
5K Time Trial – 7th
20K Road Race – 4th – Just missed Bronze by half a wheel in a bunch finish
10K Time Trial – 7th – Had a rear wheel problem

Bill W. is developing as a strong sprinter as is evidenced by several of his recent road race results. Great to see him being competitive in the bunch sprints.

Bill Mason – 64-69
40k Road Race – 5th
5K Time Trial – Gold
20K Road Race – 5th
10K Time Trial – Silver

My large size continues to plague me in a bunch sprint, so I spend time at the front trying to set a fast pace to try and drop as many as I can to reduce number in the bunch sprint and also, because TT’s follow, to take a little out of the others.

Had my best 5K Time Trial ever, 6 min 36 sec (28.2 mph), but at that only beat the 2011 Nationals guy by 1 sec. First three finishers were separated by only 5 sec. He got me in the 10K Time Trial by 9 sec. First three finishers only separated by 21 sec.

Chip Zimmer has been improving steadily throughout the season and shows real promise in his final few races as a Cat 5. Several Big D riders enjoyed the racing and festivities at Tulsa Tough, but Zimmer had the best finish with a sixth place and a prime win!

Here is his account:

There were 30 starters for an 8:40am race- first race of the day so the crowd was only just gathering.

As for Cry Baby Hill, the hill itself is not an issue, it is the monotony of repetition that gets you. The crowd on the other hand is awesome, and pulls you through each time.
We had 7 Big D riders attend and race this event and I think we all agreed we would definitely do it next year.

Tulsa also served as a scouting trip to do some research on hosting a major national-level event. Big D is looking to model their hosted races on events like Tulsa Tough.

Lynn Wilson took on a domestique role at Olsburg, but found herself in postion for a good result in the women’s Cat 4’s, while Ryan Kelley survived a grueling 75-mile contest to win the bunch sprint in the Men’s 3’s.

Kelley and teammates Paul Fancher, Shawn Knight and Kurt Wilson created a strong group in the Cat 3 race, and worked together to keep their top riders fresh. This field stayed pretty tight after the first climb up the Carnaham, when three riders got away. Big D was content to let the rest of the field chase, and the group stuck together until the final rise to the finish when Kelley made his move. At 200m he had a sizable lead on the rest of the field, and cruised to a fourth place finish. An awesome result for this new Cat 3 rider! Fancher and Knight both craked the top ten with a seventh and eight place respectively.

In the women’s Cat 4’s, Lynn Wilson came across state lines to give her Sunflower State teammates a hand. “My goal was to help Rochelle and Susan, since I am not a Kansas resident. At least if not placing, then to score some points for the Big D women,” said Wilson. The field stayed together until the hills on the backside. Rochelle Schleicher battled for KOM, but got edged out by Alaina Beckwith (VeloTek). The feild fell apart, but the three Big D ladies were able to regroup with the rest of the leaders. It came down to a sprint, with Lynn in third, Rochelle in fifth, and Susan Ruettimann finishing strong in sixth! “I was totally stoked to have both my teammates with me up to the end!” said Wilson.

In the Mens’s Cat 5’s the field broke apart with about three miles to go. Stephen Whalen went with the attack, but blew up on the last few hills. John Taton was able to bridge to a small group and held it together to finish in fifth place. Rafael Frontaura and Twan Winkelmolen both finished in the top ten.

Special thanks again to Roger Harrison for the allowing us to use his images (bottom two) in this post. See more of his images on his Flickr site here.

Bill Mason continued his TT dominance in the Jesse Blancarte Time Trial, while teammate Rochelle Schleicher also took first place in the women’s master 50+. Big D had ten riders in the top four, and the women’s team was the best represented of all the competitors. It was a relatively flat course, but the wind was hot out of the south, which made things painful heading for the finish line.

Team Results:

Donavon Hottman, third, Masters 60+
Bill Mason, first, Masters 65+
Bill Wells, third, Master 65+
Shawn Knight, fourth, Cat3
Susan Ruettimann, second, Women Masters 40+
Rochelle Schleicher, first, Women Masters 50+
Leslie Treas, third, Women Masters 50+
Roberta Dierks, sixth, Women Masters 50+
Cathy Goodger, seventh, Women Masters 50+
Abby Gomer, second, Women Cat4
Cathy Wood, third, Women Cat4
Bree Ginden, fourth, Women Cat4
Mendy Jarman, fifth, Women Cat4
Cindy Brock, sixth, Women Cat4

More images of our team competing here.

A few riders made the trek west for the MMCT Salina 2-Day, with a road race on Saturday, and a downtown criterium race held on Sunday.

Lynn and Kurt Wilson, along with Chip Zimmer, were there Saturday for the road race, which Lynn described as hotter, windier and longer than Bazaar (a typically very windy race).

In a combined women’s field, Lynn held her own, as usual. “The first 20 miles was into a head wind and mostly flat. We managed to drop four women before the turn to head west with a cross wind. Coming out of the turn (Shawn Marelli from Santa Fe) took off. Alaina Beckwith (VeloTek) and I were able to stay with her and ended up dropping one more rider. It was the three of us for a while and then we hit the tailwind and Shawn was able to drop Alaina and me,” said Lynn. The two of them worked together until the end, but our Chica-D got edged out and finished third. With this placing, Lynn added to her commanding lead in the Cat4 KBAR standings.

Kurt’s finish was not without controversy in the Cat 4/5 men’s race, with a photo-finish for third. Kurt felt like he had it, but the finish was very close. “About 10 miles left to go, there was a group of eight of us that got away from the field. It was a hard time trying to get everyone to work together, but we managed to stay away from the main field. As the miles ticked off, our group decreased to four. It came down to a sprint between me and Jeremy Smith (In-a-Tub) for 3rd with a bike throw at the finish. Was not sure who got 3rd or 4th. It was that close. I ended up with 4th overall,” said Kurt.

On Sunday, Susan Ruettimann continued stacking up KBAR points in the women’s Masters race. It was a small, but feisty field, and things got interesting beginning with the prime sprint, which was taken by Glenda Taylor (Free State). “Glenda took off with Ann Michael (VeloTek) after the prime, and I was riding by myself in third,” said Ruettimann. “I kept waiting for Wendy (Guilbeau – Local Cycling) to catch me, but after a while I just decided to go get Ann.” There was no catching Taylor, who had a commanding lead, but Ruettimann and Michael worked together during the second half of the race, until the last couple of turns, when Ruettimann began to unleash her powerful sprint. She left Michael at the last turn and had about six bike lengths on her at the finish. This was Susan’s first podium in a crit and first cash payday. She also claimed bragging rates over husband Dan, who only managed to finish ninth in his Cat4/5 men’s race earlier in the day.

Kudos to the podium winners and to CZ, who was the only Big D rider to compete both days. He came up a little short on Sunday in the crit, admitting being a little gassed after a hard effort the day before.