When the big storms blast out of the Rockies and sweep across the plains of Kansas, nothing can stop them but the rugged racers who hit back. That would be the strong men and women who race cyclocross. After the stormy weekend, those racers could cruise through the toughest Paris-Roubaix. Snow, ice, frozen mud and deep frozen ruts greeted the racers at the Cyclocross National Championships in Kansas City, Kansas on Saturday, December 15th. Tons of racers crashed, fell down and piled up. I managed to stay upright for the most part. That's me in second position in the picture. It was even tougher than it appeared. The afternoon races had the snow storm so it affected the masters dude field. All in all, it was an EPIC Day! I raced the 50-54 Class and got lapped by Ned Overend... He was close enough that I could have pushed him over... Tons of complaints from the competitors about the course conditions and tons of racers who dropped out. Not me though... Hey, I'm from Minnesota! It was definitely the toughest conditions I've ever raced in. Snow came down the whole time while we raced! We're tougher than the Belgians! Anyway, the officials pulled people after they got lapped. Ned lapped everyone in the 60-64 and 65+ category so those guys got pulled and had to race again on Sunday... Tom Bengel was in my race too but he was in the 55-59 group. Tom got bounced around so much that he had to drop out... It wasn't racing according to him. Did I mention I got 36th! Only 44 guys finished the race though. Future Loon Rob Belz was 83rd in the 40-44 race but a lot more guys finished so he didn't do too bad. The highlight of Saturday was Bjorn Selander winning the U23 Race against Jamie Driscoll and Danny Summerhill. He outsprinted Driscoll at the line! The Minnesota and Wisconsin peeps present were ecstatic! Among them, Dag Selander, Paul Schoening, Paul Thoreson, Linda Sonne, John and Carol Thompson, Linda Sone, Dan Casper, Cory Coogan, Dan and Dave Meyer, Hollywood, Tommy, Rob and I. The second highlight of the day was the fab party at Sunflower Bikes in Lawrence, Kansas. We got pics with Steve Tilford and Ned Overend. Score! Tons of racers, mechanics, bike reps and wannabes were there.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Storm Front Cross Nationals
When the big storms blast out of the Rockies and sweep across the plains of Kansas, nothing can stop them but the rugged racers who hit back. That would be the strong men and women who race cyclocross. After the stormy weekend, those racers could cruise through the toughest Paris-Roubaix. Snow, ice, frozen mud and deep frozen ruts greeted the racers at the Cyclocross National Championships in Kansas City, Kansas on Saturday, December 15th. Tons of racers crashed, fell down and piled up. I managed to stay upright for the most part. That's me in second position in the picture. It was even tougher than it appeared. The afternoon races had the snow storm so it affected the masters dude field. All in all, it was an EPIC Day! I raced the 50-54 Class and got lapped by Ned Overend... He was close enough that I could have pushed him over... Tons of complaints from the competitors about the course conditions and tons of racers who dropped out. Not me though... Hey, I'm from Minnesota! It was definitely the toughest conditions I've ever raced in. Snow came down the whole time while we raced! We're tougher than the Belgians! Anyway, the officials pulled people after they got lapped. Ned lapped everyone in the 60-64 and 65+ category so those guys got pulled and had to race again on Sunday... Tom Bengel was in my race too but he was in the 55-59 group. Tom got bounced around so much that he had to drop out... It wasn't racing according to him. Did I mention I got 36th! Only 44 guys finished the race though. Future Loon Rob Belz was 83rd in the 40-44 race but a lot more guys finished so he didn't do too bad. The highlight of Saturday was Bjorn Selander winning the U23 Race against Jamie Driscoll and Danny Summerhill. He outsprinted Driscoll at the line! The Minnesota and Wisconsin peeps present were ecstatic! Among them, Dag Selander, Paul Schoening, Paul Thoreson, Linda Sonne, John and Carol Thompson, Linda Sone, Dan Casper, Cory Coogan, Dan and Dave Meyer, Hollywood, Tommy, Rob and I. The second highlight of the day was the fab party at Sunflower Bikes in Lawrence, Kansas. We got pics with Steve Tilford and Ned Overend. Score! Tons of racers, mechanics, bike reps and wannabes were there.
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