Pursuits

Got up to the track for the Wednesday Timed Events last night. No fixed gear bike, so I rode my road bike. The key to doing a good pursuit on a road bike is to pick a gear, and ride it. Shifting just screws up your rhythm which is critical in a pursuit. I opted to do a 2K and 3K. The events were run 1-up rather than pursuit style, since they could only manage 1 timing strip. Conditions were less than ideal, with a brisk ESE wind.

2km pursuit:
Chose the 54x15, or 96 inch gear. I made the common mistake of going out too hard, and the gear was on the small side for me. I rode a 2:37 for an avg speed of 28.5mph.

3km pursuit:
Decided to move up to the 54x14, or 103 inch gear. That's a large gear for a pursuit. I started more sensibly, and held a fairly steady rhythm throughout. I rode a 3:52 for an avg speed of 28.9mph.

While waiting to ride at the track, most people ride their trainers while they chat away. Carla was with me too. I must have been on the trainer for nearly 2 hours.

Colton Barrett is National Champion.

Local junior racer, Colton Barrett, won a National Championship in the Match Sprint. Congrats Colton! He also made the podium in the Points race, finishing 4th. Junior Track Nationals were held July 2-5 in Los Angeles, CA.

Northfield Recap

Jordan in the Cat 4's

Jordan won the juniors 10-14, and finished 8th in the Cat 4/5's. Northfield was Jordan's very first race ever (2006). He said they were banging shoulders quite a bit in the Cat 4/5 race, and the light rain didn't help things either. It came down to a field sprint of about 30 riders, which was new to Jordan, so great experience. He got a little taste of field sprints at quad cities this year, but it's still pretty foreign to him.

I did the Masters 35+ and Cat 1/2 races. In the Masters, I planned to ride in support of teammates Scott Flanders and Jay Woller. All 3 of us got into breaks that never stuck, but Scott and Dan Casper got in a 2 separate breaks that stayed away for several laps each. In the end in came down to a field sprint, taken by Scott Flanders, helped by a strong last lap pull on the front from Casper, who finished 3rd himself. Koeneman was 3rd. A huge congrats to Scott for scoring the win in a very tough race.

Only 1 of my teammates started the Cat 1/2 race with me (Yorgos). I tail gunned most of the race with a couple exceptions where I moved clear once for a prime, and bridged up to a break that contained Casper and Brabbit. Casper and Yorgos got away late in the race, and looked like they might pull it off, but they were caught on the hill in the last lap. Dan Swanson won the field sprint, followed by Tony Olson, then Ian Stanford.

I took a look at my Garmin data from the race, and both the Masters 35+ and Cat 1/2 races clicked off about the same lap times. Average speed around 26mph for both races.

Northfield Crit Results

Stories of the day:
Dan Swanson bagged his first Northfield crit win since 2006.
Dan Casper was hands down, most aggressive rider, in both the Masters 35+ and Cat 1/2.
The Flanders ladies took it up a notch from last week, taking the top 5 spots in the women's open race.
Hollywood is by far, the best announcer around.
Jake Boyce and Milltown Cycles put on a class event.

Diane Ostenso National Criterium Champion

Way to go Diane! Gordy finished a close 2nd in the Men 55-59.

Locals at Masters Nationals TT

Dan Casper finishing.

Gerry Finken came within 0.4secs of a national championship, finishing runner up in the Men 50-54 Time Trial. Ian Stanford was also a runner-up in the Men 35-39. Gordy Paulson and wife, Diane Ostenso both made the podium, each finishing 5th in their 55-59 categories. Charlie Townsend and Sherry Berde-Townsend finished 3rd in the 90-99 Mixed Tandem division.

Local Results:
25.8Km:
Ian Stanford - 2nd, 35-39 - 30:02
Dan Casper - 7th, 40-44 - 31:01
James Parker - 16th, 45-49 - 31:56
Mark Brone - 15th, 40-44 - 32:03
Tim Mulrooney - 20th, 40-44 - 32:36
Dale Sedgewick - 23rd, 40-44 - 32:49
Gordy Paulson - 5th, 55-59 - 32:49
Mike Suntgen - 19th, 30-34 - 33:02
Todd Kinart - 28th, 40-44 - 33:20
Townsend/Berde - 2nd, Tandem 90-99 - 33:32

20Km:
Gary Brone - 6th, 65-69 - 31:29
Diane Ostenso - 5th, 55-59 - 33:23

Click here for results.

Black Dog #5

120 starters at Black Dog #5. Conditions were on the cool side with a moderate NNE wind which made for a tough return leg. Many of the fasties are at Masters Nationals.

Fastest Times:
Jonathan Toftoy - 14:27
Nick Vetter - 14:40
Jim Cullen - 14:49
Jeremy Sartain - 14:56
Greg Kostik - 14:58
Jordan Cullen - 15:04
Drew Toftoy - 15:06

St Cloud Times - MN State Crit Coverage

Photo credit:jwachter@stcloudtimes.com

Great local press coverage of the MN State Critierium Presented by GrandStay.

Congrats Dan Casper - Masters Nationals Runner-up

Congrats to Dan Casper finishing runner-up in the Masters National 40-44 Road Race.

Excerpt from USACycling.org:
"Just over 100 riders took to the line in the 40-44 men’s road race making it the largest field of the competition. Mid-way through the 10-lap affair four riders, Roger Aspholm (Haworth, N.J./Westwood Velo), Nico Toutenhoofd (Boulder, Colo./Excelsports.com), David Harward (South Jordan, Utah/Porcupine-Specialized Racing) and David Henderson (Columbia, Mo.) were able to gain time on the field. As the contest moved into the final laps, a small group of chasers formed including Craig Romer (St. Helena, Calif./Team Specialized Racing), Stephen Spanbauer (Louisville, Ky./Calistoga Racing), Stephen Ferretti (Crestline, Calif./Sho-air-Sonace) and Daniel Casper (Northfield, Minn./Grandstay Hotels). They began slowly closing the gap but were unable to catch the leaders until some confusion ensued with the front group missing the turn into the finish. Tootenhoofd and Harward were able to quickly get turned around, but the chase group was surging. In the kick to the line Romer, Casper and Ferretti grabbed the medals in one of the event’s most interesting finishes. An officials’ jury was quickly formed and after thorough investigation, the results were deemed to stand as each rider crossed the line."

Get well Erik Dahl

Erik Dahl looks like he might make it in this shot, but not quite. Broken Radius of the wrist. Lance lost quite a bit of skin too. Heal fast guys.