Gopher Wheelmen Cycling Club

From: Lee Penn
Date: Jul 23, 2007 9:46 AM

It was a beautiful, although windy, day for a road race, and it was my first
road race in about three or four years. They combined the women’s fields,
so our total was over 20, although I’m not sure of the exact number.

The start was strange as we rolled off with the masters 50+ but were not
allowed to actually ride with them. They started with a nice modest pace,
which probably did me a big favor cuz I was feeling feisty although not
spectacular (probably around 85-90% that morning - woman stuff).

Birchwood was a HUGE presence. They launched off a few small attacks at the
beginning, which Sherry, Linda Sone, and I covered. Jeannette (b-wood) took
a flier, and Sherry, Linda, and I slowly reeled her back in. Then, Katy
(b-wood) took a flier, and no one responded right away. Sherry attacked a
short while after… caught on the climb. Then I took off right after the
climb, but not too hard. I was caught. But then Camilla (b-wood) and I
were on the front only to find, about two-three minutes later, that we had a
reasonable gap going. We both looked at each other - quite surprised… and
went. We worked really well together - especially going into the wind.
Then, we got to the climb, and my “minus 10-15%” took over, and I got
dropped on the climb. After I crested, I just went into time trial mode and
focussed on keeping my effort high. I checked behind me, thinking that the
group would probably catch me, but the group never did. I finished about
one minute behind Cam, and she finished about 1.5 minutes behind Katy.
Overall, I gave 100% of what I had available that morning, and I had a great
time. It was a super fun race for me, and it was especially fun to have no
flats, no near crashes… and a good result! Hooray!

I think I get a gift cert. to a bike shop - Sherry - what kind of gu do you
like? I think I’ll buy us some bike food.

Lee

From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Jul 30, 2007 10:09 AM

Day 2

Green Bay, or rather Village of Howard “crit”

25/30+ starters

Today was REALLY hot. Course consisted of 2 interesting turns (1, 2),
a 90 degree turn 3, curve toward the finish. Completely flat course.
Pace started out slow due to heat. Thinking perhaps an escape was
possible due to heat, I attacked like I meant it with 17 laps to go.
Covered first by Wolverine, who I tell to work with me but she won’t
even though we have a substantial gap. She drops off and then
Flatlandia then replaces the wheelsucking Wolverine. I yell at her to
work with me, but she won’t work with me either. I yell more & drop
back through the pack, annoyed & basically done for the day. Today’s
race was really rather lame….seemed like a herd of individual racers
were riding around just waiting for the sprint at the end for the
upgrade points. However, our group of 4 being frustrated at how the
day played out (Flanders, Albertos, and Team Type I (associated with
Albertos…18 yr old f! rom Florida in her first year of racing)) was
determined to make Day 3 lively with attacks/counterattacks.

Day 3

Sheboygan

27/30+ starters

Our group of 4 was joined by fresh Grumpy legs today. Historicaly
this race has been really fun with lots of primes. 4 corners, chicane
on the front stretch, fast turn onto uphill through turn 3. A prime
was called from the gun, so I went for it. Atlas (MTBer) was the only
one coming with. She came around on the backstretch and I made her
tow us to the line. Missed getting the $10 by a half wheel or so.
Through turn 1 we still had a gap, so I asked if she would work with
me. She said yes and I was overjoyed.

Eventually reeled in. Another prime called. Flatlandia jumps, and I
cover her through turns 3. I come through turn 4 first I just put the
hammer down to try to pick up the cash. I am successful. Through
turn 1 we still had a gap, so I asked if she would work with me. She
said yes. I was overjoyed at the change in heart from the day prior.

Rolled to the front at one point to set false tempo when Flanders &
Albertos were up the road, hoping for a break in the pack but it came
back together.

Jumped with team type I on my wheel at one point & led her out for the
prime ($20 + socks) late in the race. Tried to do some pacesetting at
the end but was sort of tired, and there were primes on the last 5/7
laps. Albertos had good position for the finish but had to stop due
to a crash (started pouring on the last lap). Grumpys & Flanders were
still in the cash though, so a good day, good collective effort.

Kenosha

23/30+ starters

Optimistic that today would be a fun race given the seeming commitment
to an active race by GC riders yesterday. Pancake flat course. We
had a cheering section (my mom, aunt, and sister came up/over for the
day). Shortly after a crash in the front stretch Flatlandia escaped
with two other riders. Helped chase given some of our riders
(Flanders, Albertos) were relatively high in the GC. Gap was 20
seconds for a long time, eventually reduced sufficiently so Wolverine
and Atlas were able to bridge. The group, however, did not have
sufficient organization/firepower to close the gap. Attacked at one
point but was brought back. Did some pacesetting at the end to try to
keep it safe, followed some additional work by Sherry on the front of
the race. Albertos made it into the cash so the work was worth it.
Finished at the back of the pack but felt it necessary to outsprint a
Jr. rider from Kenosha (smoothes Jr rider who I! ‘ve ever seen who
may be at our track in a few weeks). Super-fun, fast race ~ 24mph
ave, 1mph slower than last year.

Brewers hill crit, Milwaukee

20/30? starters

Really tired today. Yesterday was hard. Nothing really in the tank.
Course was interesting, flat into turn 1, flat between turns 1-2,
descent through turn 3 and turn 4 was offcamber onto a hill longer but
lower grade than northfield into the finish, rough pavement features
pretty much everywhere to add to the character of the race. Our
loosely associated posse was reinforced by one relatively fresh
Albertos rider (”fresh” off lapping the womens field at the Northbrook
track the night prior with another and collecting a $156 prime for the
effort!) and one Birchwood (2 albertos 2 gopher, flanders, team type
1, b-wood).

No one else seemed to have anything in the tank, either, as the pace
started out slow. 2 or so laps into the race, riders pushed to the
right side of the road by the wind failed to negotiate the fencing
narrowing the road at the start finish. Apparently an ABD rider moved
left where there was no room, and her teammate ran into her, and I ran
into her teammate with nowhere to go, basically just falling over onto
the fencing (sort of funny taking all this out but happy this was a
slow speed uphill crash). When I got off the ground and checked the
bike, I found the front wheel was screwed up..not spinning. I started
running to the pit but then realized the absurdity of this so walked
to the pit & got a new wheel (clincher zip404…nice ride..). Got my
free lap & got into the pack. Attacked through turn 3 soon after to
see what type of gap could be opened through this…a decent one.
Reeled in & just rolled around the! back. Eventually a prime was
called, but I had poor position. Another prime was called so I bombed
turns 3 & 4, opening up a sufficient gap to gather $20. (I think also
by this point I’d been identified as non-threatening to the gc riders
since I was going after primes and absent in the finishes.) Cooked
from the effort I rolled tempo on the front for the next lap to keep
things safe.

Good finishes by Albertos & Birchwood. Actually a really fun course.

Whitefish bay
21/35? starters

Felt better today than yesterday. Boring first 15 minutes of the race
until Albertos started throwing riders off the front. Stuck rolling
around the back for awhile but eventually moved up with hopes of
countering an attack. Eventually the opportunity presented itself
between turns 3-4, and I opened up a pretty good gap. After a lap off
the front, Wolverine bridged up on the backstretch. I needed her to
pull for about a lap so I could recover, but just didn’t have the
energy left to stay with her and sunk back into the back. Stuck at
the back for quite some time trying to recover. Eventually Albertos
rolled off the front again so I moved to the front to help cover
anything. Towards the end Endeavor (I think) rolled off the front.
After she sat out there a bit, I moved up to try to bridge as the goal
of teh collective effort was to have someone in all breaks. Just as I
opened up some room across the start fin! ish, a bell was rung for a
prime. I try to gain more space with turns 1-2, but by the
backstretch, Flatlandia is on my wheel. Not wanting to lead her out
(she won nearly every race), I sink back through the pack. Albertos
grabbed the prime, so all was not lost! Pretty much done for the day
rolled in after the pack. Good finished by B-wood & Flanders.

A point of interest is that as I cross the finish line, my name/team
is announced with additional commentary about animal-type team names.

Fun week of racing with an enjoyable group of collective riders.
Probably the smoothest/safest bunch of 3/4 riders I’ve experienced at
superweek. A few crashes but nothing due to reckless riding…just
what you would normally encounter when riding in a pack with some
inexperienced racers. A little slower overall due to the absence of
full teams (IS Corp, Endeavor, ABD) to make pace/attack.

From: Dan Schueller
Date: Jul 26, 2007 9:52 AM

Last Tuesday, July 17 I raced for the first time on a non-Blaine track
in Kenosha on a humid night after visiting my daughter Tania in Chicago.
I did 3 races. The first race with 15 Cat 3 riders was fast but
uneventful and I took 4th in the field sprint.

The second race, a Masters 30+ 20-lap scratch race with all categories,
was one I really wanted to place well in, but it turned out to be my
worst race. It was a big group of 28 riders and I got boxed in for the
first couple laps while four guys broke away and got half a lap. Once I
saw daylight, I broke to catch the leaders and rode several laps alone
gaining on them. When I got real close (about 20 yards away) I ran out
of gas and quit gaining ground. So I looked back to see the pack still
a half lap down but I also noticed a rider on my wheel who I pulled the
whole way up. Thinking he could pull the last 20 yards, I pulled up
track to let him through. But he then just put on a sprint to close the
gap, leaving me in the dust. The announcer made a comment on my strong
effort to bridge and the cheap shot delivered by this rider who happened
to be his nephew. I then rode the rest of the race as hard as I could
trying to hold off the pack, but they caught me with one lap to go and I
finished mid pack.

The third race, a 20-lap points race with four sprints (for 5, 3, 2, 1
points every 5 laps) and 15 riders was the most fun. The first sprint I
took 5th for no points, the second sprint I took 3rd for 2 points, the
3rd sprint I took 2nd for 3 points and 3 laps before the last sprint I
broke away with two others and then outsprinted them to win 5 points,
taking 2nd overall:

Category 3,4,5 20-lap Points Race
1 Al Urbanski - 13 pts. - Team XXX
2 Dan Schueller -10 pts - Gopher Wheelmen
3 Andrew Toumanoff -7 pts - Pegasus
4 Jeff Brodick -6 pts - Hayes Brake
5 Bob Schallhorn -5 pts - Beans & Barley
6 Zack Alderks -2 pts - Kittles
7 Art Hicks -1 pt - Beans & Barley
8 Andy Leslie Kenosha Velosport
9 Ben Fietz XXX

It was really fun to race on a different track with unknown riders. I
thought they were pretty equal in ability to riders at our track. The
main difference was that they had a lot of junior riders (2 separate
fields of them) and only 2 women riders, compared to Blaine where we
have no junior races and a good women’s field.

At last Thursday’s Blaine races I placed 5th in the Cat 3 Omnium. The
first race I broke away with four staying on my wheel, then I finished
5th after all four came around me on the last lap. The second race, a
miss & out, I made it to the final two by riding the whole race near the
front on the blue line (a strategy I found works well for this race).
Then on the last lap I was high on the first turn when I got caught
looking over my right shoulder for Lionel Space who surprised me and
sprinted down track to my left to win it. In the last race, a 50-lap
points race, I finished 5th after only getting one point before the
final sprint where I took 3rd for 2 points.

Sadly, it looks like tonight’s track races may get rained out, but I’m
looking forward to Saturday’s Masters State Track Championships.

From: Lynne
Date: Jul 26, 2007 9:00 AM

Good thing I was in my road gear for the first time, then
(shoes/pedals)! It was hard not having a good 30 second man (mine was
a FAST guy) and my computer was malfunctioning, so I had no idea how
fast I was going a lot of the time.

So, I’m pleased that I was able to improve by 13 seconds over my last
time, coming in at 19:44 in the stock category. I’m working on my
skills and fitness and hope that either by CX season or next year at
the latest I’ll have some excellent race reports to put up!

Ok, and I have to say, I was adding up all the ka-ching ka-ching $$$$
Time Trial bikes last night. I had to sweet-talk my poor Trek as she
was feeling like the poor step-sister! LOL!

Glad to see you all last night (feels so good to see people in the GW
kit at races) and glad the practice went well. I heard a LOT of
communication as you FLEW by me while I was cooling down

From: sherry berde
Date: Jul 26, 2007 8:08 AM

I heard from the Dog regulars that times were slow for most last nite.
Casper (TT guru) stated that his time was the same as his first Dog
of the year. My time went up to 17: 39 (I think) and the time before
was 17:34. First Dog was 17:40 plus some change. It was hot.
I had a blast practicing rotating with Jules, Colleen, and Julia (GP)
for our upcoming 4 women TT event at FH50. I was so excited to see
Musser as well! Sherry

From: julee taylor
Date: Jul 26, 2007 7:26 AM

It was hot.

My time went up again: 18:27 from last time of 18:13 and the time
before of 18:07…whatever. It was hot.

The camaraderie pre and post race was second to none. (My favorite
part of being a Wheelmen and TTing)

And the best part of the whole night was seeing none other than Kris
Musser decked out in her GW kit, on her bike coming towards me as I
crossed the finish line!!!!! Excellent.

Stay cool out there. Jules

From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Jul 24, 2007 3:18 PM

Cedarburg Classic
womens 3.4
17/30+ starters

Day one of the 6 day womens superweek 3/4 series. 25 mi “crit” which
is really more of a circuit race. Flat through the start, gradual
uphill after turn 1, false flat after turn 2, flat proceeding turn 3,
fast descent into turn 4 with a punchy uphill before the start/finish.
Lined up with a few friendlys (albertos/flander/SpringStreet sports),
always appreciated. Just wanted to get through this one given the
relative difficulty I’ve experienced with the uphillsl this year. Good
fast racing, most agression probably by ABD rider. Dangled off the
back a bit on the uphill with 10 or so to go, but got the head back in
the game shortly after & rejoined. With 4 to go, albertos & flanders
are both toward the front of the pack, so I leapt off the front at the
high point on the course, bombing through 3 & 4 tos ee what would
happen. Friendlys shut the pack down, and I had a nice gap, but all I
could manage on teh uphill was a *pitiful* 14 mph, so I was reeled in
(actually ! expected). Stuck on the pack until midway through the last
lap where I chose not to dig deep to stay in contact on the uphill,
saving efforts for later in the week. Satisfying first day and good
fun clean racing. Will be nice to have additional reinforcements
(Sherry & B-wood) later in the week.

I CANNOT believe the Vino story.

Sara

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At 08:56 AM 7/23/2007, Jeff Ingham wrote:

Any news on Dan’s medical condition. I didn’t see him again after he
went for stitches. I’m hoping he’s ok.

From: Dan Wheeler
Date: Jul 23, 2007 9:59 AM

What Jeff is referring to is my final few hundred metres of the Bell
Tower RR. Here is a coarse outline of how the events went down…

1. Weird registration happening - Announced Master’s 30+ 4/5 category is full
This is very strange since this has never happened in the 3 long
years of my racing. I thankfully can race as a Category 4/5 for the
road race.

2. 80+ guys at start - uffda.
OK so I thought the idea of capping a category’s registration was due
to “safety” concerns. Then they combine the already full Master’s 4/5
field with the 4/5 field. Course has one hill and it is not big/long
enough to break up the peloton.

3. Medical condition update
This is a first for me, save cyclocross where minor injuries are
anticipated (and celebrated). The last few hundred metres the pace of
the 60+ guys picks up a bit and David Schueller and myself are moving
into position when 2 riders in front of David collide and both go down
taking David along. I see bodies and bikes every which way and decide
to also join in the fun! I somersault over riders and land on my
shoulder (badly bruised, x-rays show no dislocations or breaks),
tucked my chin all the way to my handlebars (9 stitches) and closed my
eyes. When I opened up my eyes I was still in 1 piece. Fellow
rodents tended to each other and Official/rodent Merwin handed me the
biggest wad of paper towels I’ve ever seen for soaking up blood -
thanks! As the x-ray technician told me, “I think you’ll live to ride
another day!!!”

dw

From: David Schueller
Date: Jul 23, 2007 4:44 PM

Bell Tower RR:
Glad to hear no shoulder injuries, for the rolling rodents at least
(there was one guy that broke his collarbone in the same crash). As
for me, I was setting up to sprint, saw the guy in front of me fall so
I tried to jump over him and then I was in a washing machine, hit my
head and found myself in a tangle of people and bikes. Dan Wheeler was
bleeding pretty bad, though both of us technically finished after it
all. Had road rash on all sides of my body, though nothing really bad.
My bike has a nasty dent in the top tube, though, and I cracked my
helmet up.

We’d had a good team strategy talk before the race, which I thought
was a good idea with six GW in the same field.

TT:
After some new-skin and medical help (thanks all), I was ok to ride
the TT, and after Matt Sterling lent me a front wheel. Course was one
way, and windy in a lot of places. I was sixth or seventh in Cat 4, I
think. Nice job Jeff, on the TT win.

GrandStay Crit:
Started the crit with two borrowed wheels and a borrowed helmet from
my dad. Course was .55 miles with 6 turns. We ended up averaging 25
mph over the half hour. After turn two I attacked to get the pace up
and get things moving (and not crash again). Kind of relaxed when they
gained, and rode in the top five for a while, covering breaks. Broke
away again about mid-race in similar fashion. They had some quality
primes this time — ours was a croquet set. Let a couple others battle
it out for that one, though I did consider it for a second.

With about four laps to go a bunch of people came by and I was about
10th. I remembered this point at the Hopkins 3/4 race and got back to
the lead on the backstretch, and soon got on somebody’s wheel. Coming
into the last two corners I was set up perfectly, three back in the
line. Took the last corner sharp to the inside, jumped first and
sprinted for everything, and won.

David

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From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Jul 20, 2007 10:07 AM

Headed up to Blaine for yet another installment of the Thursday Night
racing series with Amy in the Womens Field & Dan Schueller in the
Mens. Rodent Wheeler came to spectate, as did sognier Brian and
co-workers of Amy & mine as well as Dan “The Diesel” Schueller’s
workplace. Sognier Brian’s ex-coworker and husband also made an
appearance

On tap for the womens events, a Snowball, Keirin, and 30-lap points race.

Amy I & lined up at the rail with 10 or so women for the Snowball
(winner takes all points, 4 sprints every 4 laps), where a mechanical
delay I’m sure disrupted my mojo. Apparently in track racing if
somebody has a mechanical on the neutral lap, you stop and wait for
them to fix their problem. Definitely kinder and gentler than road
racing. I completely disrespected the long-sleaved skinsuit in this
event with too much chasing which left me gasping for air and
finishing in the back half of the pack. I like this race, but when it
goes poorly, it goes poorly…sort of all or nothing.

Keirin involves pacing with a motorcycle for 5.5 laps, with the
motorcycle pulling off with 2.5 to go. Two heats. Made it through the
first heat to the finals. An improvement over the previous event.
However, the final still didn’t go very well, as I rolled to the front
too early after the motorcycle pulled off. Keirins are sort of fun!

Last race was a 30-lap points race, sprints every 6 laps with 2 merch
primes. I was happy about this. First bell I follwed Bike Club who
thew down an attack. Yelled at her to go. Around the north side of the
track there was a sudden bang & her line started wavering…she had a
flat…dodged her slowing down on the apron (hitting the boards) &
rolled back uptrack to take the sprint … for some Peace Coffee!
Yeah! Bell rang again, so I just kept the tempo hoping others would
be delayed by that mech (even with the flat she stayed upright), & not
be able to close. Passed by 2 riders at the line for a few points.
This is definitely an improvement. Heard a bell again for a prime &
went for it, this time getting some B-wood granola. B-wood with the
gopher connection notices our gap & yells we have a gap. Sprinter
types (Dahlmans, Grumpys 2x) don’t care since they have a nice turn of
speed, so ! I go to the front to drive the tempo. No points in the
next sprint. Chase back on after sprint to a group of 5. In the end,
we pick up some lapped riders & I finished 3rd or 4th in the final
sprint..very satisfied with that. Apparently the legs were finally
working by the end of the evening. Ted always said that you need a
long warmup once you get fit, so perhaps this is what is happening;-)!

Relatively new Gopher Amy Moran will be leaving us this weekend to
live/race/work in Australia. She’s come quite a long way since
November 2006, where having only done a few triathalons and a few
bike-beer tours with her husband in the metro area, heard me talk at
work about this “team bike racing thing,” she went out and bought a
bike, trainer, clothing, and started riding with hopes of being a
contributing member of the team. Shortly after, she found she & her
husband would be able to realize a dream of living and working in
Australia, but she kept at the training, no doubt an outlet for the
stress involved in trying to move to another country. I was impressed
and knew she was capable of becoming a good bike racer when I had her
out on a 60-ish mile ride in below-freezing weather, she on her heavy
MTB & me on my cx bike, and I did not have to really ride below a low
endurance pace! In the spring, she joined on her first Gopher group
ride out to Afton, where she exhibited a never-say-die attitude and it
became clear she was going to conquor this bike racing thing. She was
extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to head to Hudson WI for
weekly Tuesday rides with Ted Free & Kathy Ostland who taught her (and
Cheryl) the finer points of good bike riding. She was very happy after
finishing her first RR (Ken Woods) & looked forward to doing more
races. She kept improving at Duluth, staying with the pack in the RR
over the first lap, and finishing a wet criterium in Cloquet. She
pretty much went to every race she could, learning more each time.
Finally, in Peoria, she was able to finish with the pack in the RR &
crit, and at Hopkins she felt like she was finally a “contributing
member of the team.” Its been fun having her at the track, where she
probably has great potential (given her history as a power-lifter in
high school). I’m happy for her in the fact that the Australian womens
scene seems to be very healthy, and she will be heading to Sidney
where she will be able to ride on the Olympic track. Howerver, we will
all miss her enthusiasm for the riding/team racing and look forward to
rides/races whenever she can visit. Perhaps sometime we’ll be reading
about a rising Australian track star on cyclingnews.com!