Several members of the team lent a hand at the Kiwanis Club KCK Bike rodeo at Schlitterbahn Water Park on May 19th. This is a pet project for Big D, and volunteers from the team helped fit 250 free bike helmets and did some basic repairs on bicycles free of charge.
Our racer/mechanics went to work pumping up tires, lubricating chains, and tightening brake cables and headsets. We helped give away free helmets, and showed each recipient the proper way to wear them. It’s important to understand proper fit, since a lot of kids wear their helmets too far back on their heads, leaving their foreheads exposed.
Look for Big D later this season at the Bike Rodeo in Shawnee, right in our own back yard.
Special thanks to Leslie Treas and Dave Chapman for the photos in this post.
Bill Mason, Donavon Hottman and Bill Wells traveled to Iowa City for a weekend of racing on May 5th and 6th.
Here’s a quick recap from Bill Mason:
Bill Wells, Donavon Hottman, Bill Mason road in the Old Capital Omnium in Iowa City, Iowa on May 5 and 6. Consisted of a morning 39 mile RR followed by an afternoon 13 mile TT on May 5 and then a .07 mile 20 lap afternoon Crit at the University of Iowa Campus on May 6. All three of us raced in 60+. This year was the 35th running year of the Crit.
RR course was a rolling hill loop in Amish country so had to dodge horse buggies and “road apples”. Wind was high going out and start confusion had us three trailing the field from the beginning. 40+, 50+, and 60+ all had the same scheduled start time but the actual start was to be slightly staggered. However several of our 60+ participants went with the 50+ group, so we chased most of the race.
Hottman, Mason and Wells in Iowa City
The TT was a single lap of the RR course. The Crit course had one 10 plus degree block long uphill which was a killer (had to do it 20 times). 40+ and above raced all together so quite a large field (65 or more).
The TT place points available for Omnium for some reason were less than half of those for RR and Crit places.
Our results were as follows:
RR
Hottman 4th
Mason 5th
Wells 6th
Donavon and I fought out the uphill sprint finish, but as usual he won out by a bike length.
Congrats to Bill, Bill and Donavon for great results!
The trio travels all around the region looking for competition throughout the season. Iowa City sounds like a great event with good payouts for the top riders. We may be sending an even larger team contingent to Iowa next year!
Since it’s inception, Big D has always had a relationship with Roger Harrison and Lanterne Rouge. Roger is a former racer, a promoter, photographer and the biggest advocate of cycling in the state of Kansas. He’s the guy with the bullhorn and the big red van at all the local races. We count on Roger to provide guidance for our team and as a partner, we are joining him in his promoter capacity in helping with the Lanterne Rouge Time Trial on April 28th.
Harrison at the last Vet Cross race in Leavenworth
Big D will be out there in Lowemont helping out with the race on the 28th, and so too will be Roger Harrison. If you see him, please thank him for all he does for cycling in Kansas. Racing in the sunflower state wouldn’t be the same without him.
Big D helped out again this year at Vet Cross, and helped make the event a big success. The course was difficult, with several challenging hills an technical sections, but the race drew great praise for it’s organization and quality competition.
The Big D team and sponsors were on display
Paul Fancher represented the team well in the open event, placing fourth. This the day after tearing it up at Grand Prix HPT in Topeka on Saturday. Ryan Rochford, in just his second cyclocross race, placed fifth in the cat.3/4 event. Rochford kept it competitive, hanging with the two leaders until late in the race. If Ryan continues in cyclocross the way he did on the road this season, he will be bumping heads with the open field in no time.
Rochford makes it look easy in the cat. 3-4 race
Making his cyclocross debut this time out was Big Dan Turner, who discovered some new challenges in this type of racing. Turner worked hard in his race, and made a respectful showing for Big D atop the team Specialized Crux.
Turner makes his way up the back slope
In his third CX race this season, Stephen Whalen placed seventh in the 45-49 race. Whales is becoming an experienced ‘cross rider and will be a force to be reckoned within his category the rest of the season and next. Whalen puts the pressure on
See more images of Vet Cross provided by Dan Ruettimann Photography here.
Another big weekend for Big D! Twan, Hincie, Chip and I traveled to St. Louis to participate in the Ronald McDonald House Charity timed 100 mile Fondo hosted by our teammate Todd Seabaugh. With over 300 participants signed-up, more then $200K in donations tallied, a fairly flat course and great food this ride looked like it was going to be alot of fun. Unfortunately, we have not had much luck with the weather in St. Louis the past couple of trips and this week end was no different. After arriving at the race course under very dark skies for a 6:40am start we were told by the race officials to seek cover immediately. Within 2 minutes we were deluged with 50mph winds and lots of rain. After the first storm passed the race officials decided to start the race 1 hour later (in the remaining drizzle). Nothing like trying to form a pace line in the rain! Not too mention the sand detours along the Mississippi river. But in the end our traveling contingent took care of business.
Hincie – 1st place 40-49 division
Twan – 2nd place 40-49 division
Chip – 2nd place 50+ division
Whaledoggey provided spotting help for the race chairman and insured the beer was kept at the optimal temperature during the day as the sun broke through and heated up the last 40 miles for our boys. All in all a very quick in and out trip. Many thanks again to our hosts, the Seabaugh’s who have an awesome home and Miss Emily’s pancakes, the best in the world! Also thanks to Twan for providing the team Expedition which also doubled as a great storm shelter. Looks like we will be adding more Big D riders to the roster from St. Louis in the near future and should plan on adding more St. Louis races to our calendar in 2012.
Official Website of the Big D Cycling Team Presented by Keen Wealth Advisors
