Gopher Wheelmen Cycling Club

From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Jul 13, 2007 9:36 AM

We had a full 10 women at the track last night, so upgrade points were
available. Amy & I mixed it up with Alan, Grumpys, U of M sprinter,
Dahlman Sisters, Bike club, Peace Coffee, and “guest rider at the NSC
velodrome” from TargetTraining. Felt a bit flat after the big block
of racing and 6 hrs of sleep the last 3 nights, but still looking
forward to a fun experience. We had spectators, as Ted, Kathy, &
Cheryl showed up, as did a 5 people from work. Amy (my co-worker
also) is leaving to move to Australia, so they wanted to come see her
race before her grand departure. They were excellent track spectators
and made a sign which said “Amy TURN LEFT.”

First race 15 lap scratch. Hadn’t raced against the Dahlman sisters
for awhile, so I’d forgotten about the speed. TargetTraining, being
the guest rider, went to the front to shake things up immediately
(shed folks off the back), but we weren’t going to allow that to
happen. I had bad position stuck rolling around the outside about 4-5
riders back, but didn’t want to drop to the back to miss any action
with such a short race. I would pay for this later. Target Training
jumped mid-race, and not wanting the out-of-towner to put the
smackdown on our local field, I yell at those in front of me to move
up & allow me to chase a bit. They oblige & I close the gap a bit,
but Dalmans U of M move by & I’m unable to hang onto those wheels.
Additional riders move by for the finish, with I think Bike Club
looking back at me like something was “wrong” with this picture.
Empty, I hear a familiar voice in my head, laugh! ing, “You wore a
longsleaved skinsuit for that!” Yup!! Rolled across the line in 7th
or 8th.

Second race Bavarian Win & Out, first sprint after 4 laps for 4th,
second sprint after 4 more laps for 3rd, etc. I decided perhaps the
LS skinsuit wasn’t enough, so I threw on the fanstastic gopher
shoecovers to see if that would provide additional motivation! I was
going for the first sprint to get my head back in the track game.
Alan accelerates post-neutral lap immediatey and is covered by
Grumpys, whom I cover. I look back & notice we have a gap just as
Alan sits up, so I yell that we have a gap, but its too late the field
is back. Grumpys rolls around for a lap, then 2 laps from the first
sprint go I’m in the front in the sprinters lane. I have a good 500m,
so I use it, taking 4th collecting an omnium point. Watch the rest of
the race. Amy did some chasing of Alan later in this race.

Third race, 30 lap points race, sprints every 5 laps. Fast start,
just following wheels. I don’t remember alot about this race, other
than holding position in the sprinters lane & having wavering Dahlman
sisters encroaching on my space repeatedly (and me repeatedly
yelling). Won one of the intermediate points sprints which felt good,
but outsprinted in another for 3-4 or 4-5. Finished 5th in the pack,
which was somewhat satisfying.

Due for a bit of R&R&TDF watching this weekend, hoping to go into next
thurs rested/refreshed as a tuneup for 6 days of crit-riding at
Superweek the following week!

Some nice riding by Dan Schueller in the Cat3s also!

Sara

PS-Amy’s last track race (until next summer if she’s back) is next
Thurs, so put it on your sked if you’re free!

From: David Schueller
Date: Jul 12, 2007 11:32 PM

Congratulations on the win, Rich.

I was looking for a good workout, so I went to do the Buck Hill
Thursday night race. Penn Cycle puts them on most Thursdays in the
summer, with a 2 lap rec race and a 4 lap advanced race.

So in doing this race, I gleaned a list of things to do if you want to
have a bone jarring, Wheelman-against-machine-type of trail race:

– Ride a mountain bike, oh, twice during the entire year, then race
it on a ski hill.
– Install a new rear derailleur cable as fast as you can the night
before the race.
– Make sure your front derailleur only shifts to the big ring half the time.
– Ride a worn-out 1998 fork with as much stiction as possible.
– Pump up your tires to a higher pressure than you’ve ever ridden, to
avoid pinch flats (because you’ll be going so dang fast). Then ride
the driest, loosest course you can. Your butt will love you.

All in all, it was a good workout and I got some cool scratches on my
arm. I got 26th out of 60 or so starters, in 1:08.00. I’m definitely
digging the road racing though, as my favorite parts were the climbs
and the straighaways where I could really jam. But bumbling and
bouncing around in the woods is always a good time.

David

From: Lynne
Date: Jul 9, 2007 8:05 PM

Fun time was had by all. Ted was nice enough to give me the
blow-by-blow as you guys came around each time. Verrrryyyyy
interesting.

The best part was how happy all three of you were after the races
(Sara, Lee and Amy-I didn’t get a chance to hang out with Cheryl, but
I know she was happy, too!).

Sara, if you hang in there for a few more years, I will have done
enough races that I will automatically be a Cat3-I’ll do all the races
with you I know, I know, I *am* just joking!

I checked Weatherundergound-by the end of our 4’s race it was 91
degrees and the dew point (or something like that) was 69. By the
time the women’s open came around, it was over 93 degrees and the dew
point was 70. SIZZLE!! Or, since it was not dry heat, whatever sound
you make in MN for sticky and HOT.

Not sure who’s doing the next Dakota series, but see you there. They
say you have to keep doing ‘em….

Lynne

From: Lee Penn
Date: Jul 9, 2007 10:03 AM

i totally had a blast in this race – until the last 30 seconds that is….

let’s see – i rode to the race and was feeling really good. once i
got to downtown hopkins, i rolled about and spent some time chatting
it up with sara b… then went off to finish warming up. guess
what!?!?!?! got a flat about 2/3 mile from the crit spot. kind of
leaned heavy on my handlebars and rolled back to where sara b was
warming up. with about 13 minutes to go, i installed sara’s spare
wheel onto my bike. my family rolled up shortly thereafter. i got my
spare wheelset into the pit with my and sara’s numbers on the label.
managed to ride the course for ONE lap, during which i ate my gu and
after which i dropped a load of stuff from my pockets with my
sweetiepie. notable exception – my saddle bag – doh!!!!

i took third in each of hte three primes… maybe i would have done
better if i hadn’t had my 1.5 lb saddle bag attached! sheesh! i was
basically going for the primes in order to set up my mental game
etc… plus, being on the front is just better all around.

right – birchwood made the race super fun with periodic attacks. i
loved the pace and so on.

final lap. well, i ended up trapped by three b-wood riders – in
retrospect, had i been somehow marked? hmmm – maybe. anyway, i was
trying to get out, and ended up making the POOR decision of moving
BACK in order to escape. things were fine on the backside, and leading
into corner three, i had begun my move back towards the front. sadly,
i was very nearly taken out by a crazy cornering birchie (egads -
scary) – seriously super close to crashing. it took me about 50 feet
in order to regain adequate control of my bike, and that gapped me for
a go for the final sprint. man – what a bummer! sara was in a good
position, and i was getting into a good position… oh…. well,
there it is. the last 30 seconds of the race – i blew it! oh well.
all of my goals – with the exception of contesting that final sprint -
were achieved. i didn’t crash – i rode strong – sara and i did some
great work together – i stayed with the front for the vast majority of
the race – i had a most excellent time for the vast majority of the
race….

oh – to put the icing on the cake? cold front moved in about 3.2
seconds after our race was over. ha ha….

what happened with the 1,2,3s? did the race go on?

right – thanks for reading!

lee

ps – it’s been an interesting week for biking… wednesday – got a
flat in the race. friday – my son and i got thrown to the concrete by
a police officer during st. paul critical mass. sunday – flat before
race and near near near crash. well, these things come in THREES,
right? so…. watch out for me in either st. cloud or super week or
whatever race it is i manage next! oh yeah, and i’m getting a new
freakin’ tire!

From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Jul 9, 2007 9:02 AM

Lee Penn & I toed the line with about TWENTY women again, with half
representing the B-wood armada. The other half of the field was
comprised of twosies from Gophers, Nature Valley, Grumpys, and onesies
from flanders and alan (maybe another but I can’t remember).
Commented to NV at the line that we must make sure we don’t repeat Ken
Woods, where b-wood would do no work. Lee Penn got the holeshot &
pulled us around for lap 1. Then the B-wood attacks began. Chased
the first. It became apparent after the first prime (where b-wood
beat NV), that we would need a collective effort of the non-b-wood
riders to prevent B-wood domination. Grumpys & NV helped cover
attacks, make pace. Attempted an attack to go for a prime once, but
was covered! immediately. No separation. A few B-wood attacks
pulled NV off the front, but w/o gopher representation, I chased it
down. One mild separation had b-wood, nv, gopher off the front, and I
believe grumpies chased it down. With 1 to go, I saw what appeared to
be slowing & organization of b-wood, so I rolled to the front to
disrupt any “train.” (Or you could say I was the first person in the
leadout;-)). Swarmed after corner 3 & rolled across the line happy to
be done with racing in the heat. Super-fun, active race. Textbook
team riding by b-wood, but in the end NV took the win.

Sara

PS–I’m a bit tired after 6/9 days of racing, so I forgot that AMY was in our pack for awhile (rode in the 4s race, too) in the OPEN race…AT one point as I dropped to the back, she rode by;-)!

From: Dan Schueller
Date: Jul 9, 2007 11:15 AM

After watching David ride an excellent Cat 4/5 race (2nd place and a
prime), I rode in the fastest crit. I’ve ever been in at an average
27.0mph. There were 51 riders in the Masters 35+ for 36 laps of the
..506 mile course. Rode 18.23 miles in 40:30 with 32.5mph max speed.
Rode at or near the front a few times and ended up 13th (Scott
Flanders won). Once the race ended, I badly overheated and thought I
was done for the day. But after a lot of water and shade I felt ready
to race again.

Four hours later rode with David and Rich in the Cat =BE race (57
riders) for 39 laps or 19.8 miles in 45:15 (26.3mph average). Rode
near the front and chased down a couple breaks, until 10 laps to go
when my left thigh cramped. I then dropped back with intentions of
abandoning the race. When I got to the back of the pack and soft
pedaled for a couple laps, my leg felt better so I tried to move back
up. But with only a few laps to go and an increased pace, I was only
able to get back up to 27th. Rich was a few places back and David
took 16th, including an awesome priem win which was a thrill to watch
him battle a GP guy from my position of 4-5 riders back. It was a
blast racing with David and Rich while holding our own near the front
for a good part of the race. No overheating in this second race was
nice, along with the avoidance of any crashes.

From: David Schueller
Date: Jul 9, 2007 11:01 AM

A few nights before I finished watching Rocky and
Rocky 2 for the first time, so I was pumped.

Started out in the Cat 4-5 race with 40 or so,
including Rich, who wisely told me not to be out in
the wind pulling too much. Rode in the top ten for a
while, then went for the second prime and won it. Let
up some and waited for the finish, and tried to avoid
crashing. At the bell lap I was about eighth or tenth,
and somebody took off after the first turn. Would’ve
been good to get on his wheel right away, if I
could’ve. Moved up before the last corner, then
sprinted by a couple to finish second. Fun race, and I
like to think I got some of the Rocky grimace in there
at the end. Up a cool $50.

Thankfully it clouded up for the 3-4 race. Started
with my dad and Rich for what turned out to be quite
an intense race. Before the first prime, I was up in
the pack, and decided to go for it on the backstretch.
Leapfrogged up to the leader, a GP guy, before the
last corner. He started his sprint so I went to the
left and got him at the line in quite a wooly sprint,
as he was kind of angling me out to the left the whole
time up to the line. That was quite a thrill, and $15.
I knew after that though that I wouldn’t be going for
any more primes. There was a lot of action in the
front, but nothing stayed away. On the bell lap I
must’ve been about 20th or so, and tried to move up.
Finished 16th. Really fun race, and for a few laps
there was a blast of cool air from that approaching
storm, which felt great.

Definitely a fun day of racing.

David

From: Amy
Date: 05 Jul 2007 23:26:41 -0500

It’s the track race report from the rookie.

I showed up to the track nervous as heck for my first race. Bob
Williams helped me get situated with a bike and registration so I was
good to go. I took some warm up laps with fellow rodent Sara B, which
helped alleviate my pre-race gitters. I also got to meet Dan S. and
son’s this evening for the first time. They saved my sorry rental bike
handlebar tape from sheer distruction with some duct tape….which we
all know fixes everything.

First race: 10 lap tempo. Starts at OK pace, but gets fast quick and I
highly misjudged the pace line and got dropped. That sucked rocks, but
on a positive note I didn’t get lapped and I finished, so at least 2
goals were accomplished this race.

2nd Race: Miss and Out. Woo hoo, I stay in until half the race is
over. Sara B. was an absolute work horse in this race by dragging the
pack around most of the race and still having enough to stay in the
top 3. What a rock star effort.

3rd Race: 30 lap scrach race. Race starts at a very comfortable pace
and there were some attacks/chases to keep things interesting
throughout. I was just excited to finish with the pack on this race
and not finish last again.

Overall, I was extremely happy with my first race experience at the
track and will be back next week. Congrats to fellow rodents, Dan S.
and Sara B. for excellent performances this evening.

Thanks for reading.
Amy

From: Dan Wheeler
Date: 05 Jul 2007 23:16:47 -0500

Well, you’ve heard about the great GW turn-out, the heat, and Rich’s
top 5 finish at Northfield. My addition is that in the Masters 4/5
race there was exactly 1 Gopher in a field of approximately 40 riders.
Tons of Silver Cycling and Loonies at the line. Pretty tame race for a
crit with a couple of solo attacks with little chance of staying away.
I raced a tactically smart race, not going for primes or chasing down
every single attack. Knew that most of our races have been coming down
to a sprint so I tried to position myself well (4-5th wheel) for the
last few corners. I tried my new trick cornering tactic coming into
the final straight away. However, the only person that this tactic
“tricked” was me as I came out of the corner way too wide.
Out-sprinted the Loonies known sprinter for 5th. $10 cold cash felt
good on such a hot day!

A great day for all Gophers! Thanks for your time…

d wheeler

From: Dan Schueller
Date: Jul 5, 2007 10:44 AM

40 racers (Cat 3/4), 26 laps of .7 mile course in 43:45 (25.0mph
average speed, 35 max). Pace was fast from the start and it felt hot.
I wasn’t sure why I was having such a hard time getting to the front
of the race but later realized it was most likely due to the 25.0 mph
average speed which is the fastest of the 4 Nfield Crits I’ve done
(the last three years the speed was 23.9, 24.1 and 24.5). 25mph is
very fast for this course and to put it in perspective, the Cat 123
race winner also averaged 25.0mph, although over 70 minutes instead of
50. Anyway, I got to the front a couple times but mainly rode midpack.
I wanted to win a priem but was never even close. Ended up 19th and
David took 18th. David did great and was often riding where I wanted
to be, in the top 5-10, and I’m sure I was hurting more than he was.
Joe Hamlin (Silver Cycling strong sprinter and cat 2 track rider) was
also struggling and riding back where I was but with 2 turns to go
there was an opportunity to sprint to the front. I didn’t take it,
and regretted it later, but Joe went and he ended up taking 3rd. I
really should have gotten on his wheel when he went but for some
reason I hesitated and then it was too late.