Gopher Wheelmen Cycling Club

From: Lee Penn
Date: Jul 5, 2007 11:41 AM

i was LOVING this race - such fantastic fun….
Sara shot off the start, and the first two laps were FAST.
Then, things calmed a little….
Then we had two primes IN A ROW! Who’s idea was that? Well, on the second
prime lap, mnjrc sat up at the halfway mark up the hill, almost taking me
out. I stay OFF her wheel thereafter.
I felt good - I was having a good race. I’ve been working hard on my mental
game - the part where you don’t come off the pack cuz you’re scared - that
part. I came off a little twice, but got right back on. The race was hard
and fast - just the way I like em!
Then, THREE laps to go … halfway up the hill, my bike feels funny. I look
down and see that I’ve flatted. Really nice loonstate guy - ben -
immediately runs to my rescue with his wheel. I got to the pit - no more
free laps…. I’m out. SHOOT!!!! I totally had something left for those
last laps - I did a good job conserving energy on the two/ three laps
leading up to my flat. Stupid flat!

Oh yeah - it was kinda warm. Actually, after I was finished, I felt a
little chilled.

Mmmm - hopkins…. I’m looking forward to it!

Lee

From: Rich Bergstrom
Date: Jul 5, 2007 9:58 AM

It was nice to see the “Gophers going for It” at Northfield. Yesterday
turned out to be an amazing day of racing.

Sr 4/5, 4th of 45-50 Starters!

My main thought going into this race was not to do anything stupid during
the first 15 minutes of the race. Easier said then done…

For the 1st 15 minutes I just sat in, and watched my strong teammate Mr.
Sterling cover the front. That was real nice of him, unfortunately he
flatted going threw a corner, and wasn’t able to get back into the race
after taking a free lap.

About 25 minutes into the race I decided it was time to be aggressive. There
was a Silver guy out front, and I bridged to him, and dropped him. A hairy
legged ride from Grumpy’s went with me, but we didn’t stay out for more then
a lap.

I let my self back into the field. I tried to stay in 5-10 place. Guys kept
trying to go up the road, but I let other people cover. I didn’t feel
threatened. So I didn’t feel like working more then I had to.

Thanks to Sherry for watching my crits at the Capitol, and at Peoria and
telling me I was working way too much. I can’t tell you how many places that
was worth.

As I came threw for the bell lap and the crowd roar was deafening. I
positioned myself in 4th or 5th place on the back side of the coarse. We hit
the last corner and I stood to sprint. I thought I had 3rd locked up but I
got clipped at the line. A fine move by the competition.

Sr. 3/4 27th of 50?

I had a little lunch between my races. I avoided the peppers in my sandwich.
I figured if I was going to puke on someone again I didn’t want that taste
in my mouth.

It was damn hot. I watched Schullers patrolled the front while I fought to
stay in the pack. I tried to hang to the guys in front of me while going up
the hill, and pass them on the downhill parts of the coarse. What misery. I
was glad to roll over the finish line, I was so overheated.

I happy. 3 years ago I was pulled 20 minutes into the 4/5’s race.

I will see you all at Hopkins, I’m about to head up north and I’m not
bringing a bike with.

Bergstrom

From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Jul 3, 2007 9:36 AM

Rolled into Peoria IL for 3 days of racing with a gaggle of gophers +2.

Friday night TT, Chillocothe IL

6.2 km, false flats with one more signficant pitch toward the end

4th womens 3/4

9:42

Good trainer warmup. Parents came over from Normal IL to watch their
first TT, so noticed them on the way up the “hill.” My stomach could
tell near the top that I was riding at my limit, so I was satisfied
with the effort, but unsure of my time. Happy with the time (last
year 10:21), but I’m sure a mild tailwind did help. Track time
probably helped, too, with the short, hard effort.

Brimfield RR

Womens 1/2/3 (3 scored separately), 51 mi

3 x 17-mi laps, KOH points at ~ 5 miles

11/13 Cat3s, 2nd KOH ($14)

Sherry & I lined up with a big field (30+). Cat 1/2 and Cat 3 scored
separately. Rolled off the line with a sort of slow pace. Since I
didn’t want to be out there for 3 hrs, I rolled to the front,
expecting the group to follow. Suddently, our spunky Albertos fried
from Chicago rolls up & says, Hey lets to. I look back and am stunned
to see we have a massive gap. Ok, I say, lets go get those KOH
points. By the time we hit the KOH, we have a huge gap on the pack
(SHerry & Alberto’s teammate present to help shut pack down, and Cat2s
were looking to Cat3s to chase (since we were both Cat3s, and they
weren’t). I collect 5 for first, she 4 for second, & we sit up & wait
for the pack since there is no way 2 of us will stay away the entire
race. Attacks leading to 30mph chasing, but no counterattacks led to
abrupt reductions in the pace, with no-one wanting to sit on the
front. After tu! rn 4, people are COASTING down some rollers not
wanting to do any work, which was just sort of ridiculuous (isn’t this
a race), so at one point I said that if someone would let me through I
would be happy to work. Flawless handup from DanW as it was a bit
warm just after beginning of the second lap. Slammed against the
centerline at one point in a rather insignificant cross-wind,
officials yell at us to move to the right, and the pack obliges.
Subsequently rolled across the centerline later by a Cat2 ABD rider
who cared just a bit too much. I attack again just prior to the KOH &
they let me go, again, to collect maximum points. I sit up and rejoin
what has become an smaller pack. Still no-one is doing much work, so
a rider goes off the front. Eventually ABD rider and another join
(all Cat2s up the road), but Morris trucking has missed this break so
they start a frantic but futile chase. Finally in the begin! ing of
the third lap a paceline starts (amazing!) with EVERYONE workin g.
Sherry gets me to the front before the final KOH, but I am unable to
gain any points this time, as Morris trucking girls sprint up the
hill. My computer reads 40 miles, and I am done for the day.
Satisfied with the effort given the KOH results and the fact that I’ve
not had any sort of race type effort greater than 30 mi since before
memorial day weekend. Tactically interesting race.

Criterium, Downtown Peoria

35 min + some laps

unknown finish.

Sherry & I team up with 2 albertos riders for a more tactically
interesting game. State champ is on the line for them, and I owe my
spunky albertos breakaway companion for the help from the prior day
with KOH. A few laps in I attack to force others to chase. I am
covered immediately. I go again a bit later, and am covered
immediately. Hmm…. not going to allow a repeat of the day prior. I
hear a prime announced (thought it was a $50 gift certificate to a
local shop) get into good position by corner 3, and bomb through the
next few corners to open up a gap. Surprisingly allowed to go, taking
the prime. I allow myself to rejoin the pack, and the announcer
decides to comment on this. I sit on the pack for a few laps, inquire
about whether it is a cat3 or cat 2 rider away (Cat 2s, 3s scored
separately), but no one will tell me. I continue sitting on the back
as sherry moves up, the pace surges on the f! ront, a gap opens in
front of the rider I’m on. Another rider counterattacks, and there is
not much hope at closing the gap. I finish out the race with a Kenda
rider from Chicago. In the end, I found my prime was for a pink
waterbottle cage. I think that might go well with celest.

This entire weekend was overwhelmed by an accident in the Womens Cat4
road race race (before the womens 1/2/3 road race), where a rider
hovering to the left of the centerline was dumped into oncoming
traffic. Details are here: http://www.chicagobikeracing.com. Prior
to the womens 1/2/3 race, a lap was riden in her honor, lead by XXX.
The accident should not have happened.

The centerline rule was announced prior to the womens Cat4 race ONLY
AFTER THE REQUEST by Jessica Wittwer. It was not announced prior to
our race despite the accident in the early wave of races. In our
race, while riders did announce oncoming traffic given the tragedy in
the earlier Cat4 race, I STILL saw riders advancing across the
centerline, and I’ve heard in the mens race riders were doing the same
thing. This was the illinois state RR championship so there was quite
a bit on the line which lead to individual racers (multiple
riders/team) unwilling to do work, keeping the pack strung out/safe,
which would’ve made for much safer racing. Just a heads up to be
aware of your safety and that of your fellow riders when racing on
open road courses.

Sara

ps: Oh so rumors don’t get started, the rider involved in the accident
was on the correct side of the centerline (right side, not left as
indicated below).

From: Bill Connell
Date: Jul 3, 2007 10:14 AM

Hello rodents - i was very sorry to read about the terrible crash down
in Chicago over the weekend, thanks for the report, Sara. I just
finished getting photos uploaded from my own weekend cycling
adventure, thought i’d share.

This past Sunday morning, two friends and i rode over to the Amtrak
station here in St. Paul, boxed our bikes and rode the rails to
Winona, and then we biked home. We had perfect weather, right down to
the tailwind, and made a nice casual tour of it with plenty of
luxurious food stops and photo ops. We rode on the Wisconsin side at
first through Nelson and Stockholm, then across the river at Red Wing,
on to Welch, Hastings and through the ‘burbs to Fort Snelling and on
to home. I got home with 146 miles for the trip, then took an extra
lap of the neighborhood to round it up to 150 before turning in, just
for fun. I had a great time, can’t wait to do it again.

Full story and photos here:
http://wjc.fidean.net/log/2007/07/02/the-msp-win-dual-mode-double-metric-ride/

From: David Schueller
Date: Jul 5, 2007 11:26 AM

Started with 40 or so cat 3/4 riders in Northfield. I tried to stay up
front, which felt good and fast through the corners. Definitely a fast
race. Great course with that hill in there. It was also baking hot.

I ended up holding on, and was happy about that. My last memory of
Northfield was getting pulled off the course two years ago, so
actually being in the race felt great.

Good to see the Gophers out there, and I’m planning on doing Hopkins.

From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Jun 18, 2007 7:04 PM

Saturday night was the first event in the Radius series (3 Saturdays)
at the track. 5 races, $20, hot temps. Drug the gallon of water into
the infield to set up for a long evening of racing. 7 women, peace
coffee, state crit champ, 2 U of M, grumpys sprinter, and Alan all
arounder. Smaller field. Ran 49×15.

First race of unknown distance. We knew only 3-10 laps. Read state
crit champs mind at one point & immediately neutralized her attack.
3rd in the sprint…not too bad.

Second race was a snowball, 10 laps. 4 pts first sprint, 6 for second
sprint, 6 for third, 10 for last, sprints every 2 laps only the winner
receiving points. Knowing I had a good 2 laps, I jumped from the gun
to take what I could get. Got 4 pts & noticed a gap behind.
Hmmm..still not closed by the next bell, so I put the hammer down &
took the second…and third sprints. 16 pts. Since I had the win I
sunk back through the pack ’till the end. First win on the track a
bit sooner than I expected.

Third race was a Win & out, winner of the first sprint wins, winner of
second sprint 2nd, winner of third, 3rd, etc. Since I’ve been unable
to get around Grumpys yet this year, I knew if I wanted the win, I had
to go with my 2 good laps again. Played the same card as in the
snowball from the gun…& again stayed away for the win. Things at
this point were looking good for the omnium…

Fourth race was the Australian Pursuit… 6 riders at different
points on the track. Goal is to catch rider in front. IN the event
of a stalemate, officials ring a bell & that’s the last lap…whoever
gets back to their start position first wins. Grumpys ahead, U of M
behind. Took what seemed like FOREVER to catch Grumpys, but it was
accomplished and the race was down to myself & the state crit champ.
At least 10+ laps of flat-out this was becomming like a time
trial…in my head. Eventually I heard she had 10m on me, a few laps
later a bell, & I couldn’t close it. 2nd, but still satisfying
effort.

Last race in the evening was a 40 lap unknown points race. Sprint
laps are indicated by a bell only and can be anytime during the
points. I allow a gap to open with state crit champ, hoping to force
grumpys & alan to chase (thus tiring them). Everyone is working
except U of M (former teammate/teammate of state crit champ), so she
brilliantly counters immedaitely upon the catch. Alan is shed,
Grumpys & I have a small gap on state crit champ (who is rightly
tired), but I notice our gap too late & state crit champ is back.
Eventually we catch U of M, and I finish 4th in the end.

The win on the omnium was satisfying. DanS timed the last event (10
km), & based on the time we averaged 25 mph, which is pretty
impressive given 4-5 of us were involved in the pacemaking. Good fast
rodent racing. Interested to see how the 49×15 goes again Thurs given
that I seemed to spin it out last thurs.

Thanks for reading.

Sara

ps nice riding by Dan, too, with 3rd in the omnium (?) and at least one win.

From: Sara Brokaw
Date: Jun 24, 2007 8:11 AM

Sara Brokaw

Womens 3/4

6th/?

35 min

racing with mens 4/5, Juniors

Rolled into Mankato with Racing Rodent Bergstrom, where shortly after
arrival (trying to figure out where to park), we encountered B-wood
with the rodent connection (rolling around on a bike) along with
Rodent Merwin who expertly captained an ATV-thing while directing us
to our excellent parking location. On foot we previewed the course,
which I would describe to be a crit-riders dream-type course, L-shaped
6-corner course with each corner a bit different from others, turns
into/out of widening/narrowing lanes. Rodent Hallager was also
spotted.

Good warmup. Rolled once around the course & felt like the rear tire
was a bit flat. Checked tire for foreign objects & extracted a chip
of granite stuck into the tire. Hmm… this is not good. Wonder if
the tube is ok. Checked tire pressure & found that the 95 psi put
into tire at car was at 80. Hm… Race time is close, and I don’t
really have time to run back to the car since I need a good position
on the start line (large field). No neutral support, but after like 5
checks of the tire before the start I convince myself convinced the
tire will hold for the race.

I knew the start was super-important, so I get myself into the top 6
or so riders (MNJRs) around the first turn. Nice. Eventually this
group swells to 25-ish riders (maybe 20, including Rodent Bergstrom),
and we’re hitting 30+ mph in parts of the course. Fun to be riding
with a fast bunch. I’m the only woman up here, so all I have to do is
stay here for the win…added bonus..nice. I think I touched my
brakes once which makes for fun crit riding! We lap one group of
women.

15 min into the race I seem to have a soft rear tire, so I let go of
this front group since we’d been hitting the turns hard & I didn’t
want go sliding across pavement. I yelled at Rodent Wheeler on the
sideline to find a wheel (which he graciously found on the next lap).
NV girl rolls by having a good ride, but concerned about the tire, I
don’t hop on. Almost rolled off course but felt like riding it out as
long as tire held. Later in the race some other girls roll by, but by
this time, and I hop onto their groups, but unmotivated to stay,
frustrated.

Roll off course after the finish, check the tire expecting it to be
soft, & it was fine. Ah bummer…missed opportunity. Bergstrom
reports back later things really ramped up in the last few laps
(whittled down to 15 or so guys), so I might have come off, but an
additional 10 minutes of riding with that group would’ve been really
fun.

After a post-race lunch at Paglais (sp) pizza with the WINNER of the
womens race (NV), we return to pick up her cash and both Bergstrom & I
are pleasantly surprised to find we both finished in the cash for the
day! Womens payout went 6 deep ($10), and mens to 10 (Bergstrom
placed 10th, $5). Apparently several of the riders up front were some
scrappy Juniors who were recent cat3 upgrades.

In the end a fun day. Well-run event.

Thanks for reading.

Sara

PS-Appreciated the depth of the prize lists AND the the free race for
women/jrs…. I the free entry did probably did help to increase
turnout from the womens side of things given we were racing with the
men.

From: Dan Schueller
Date: Jun 4, 2007 10:19 AM

I measured the State TT to be 37.5KM and my odometer is quite accurate.
My goal was to average 25mph and I did exactly that to the second.
However it was more painful than I thought it would be, and like Jeff I
could hardly walk after the race and the next day. My happiness with my
effort was a bit dampened when I saw the results and how fast everyone
else went (in the 45-49 group, my 55:53 was only 8th of 11). Rich B.
had a great race at 55:20 and it’s neat to see how strong he is getting.

Following is a recap of last Thursday’s track races which were a lot of
fun except for a couple close crashes:

Took 3rd in 10-lap race (almost crashed when someone hit me from above
and knocked me into the guy below =96 I was a Bianchi sandwich for a
couple seconds).

Took 3rd in miss-n-out (I thought there was one lap to go so I didn’t
even sprint at the end when it was down to the final 3).

Took 4th in 40-lap scratch race after attempting a break away with 15
laps to go, but 3 strong sprinters stayed on my wheel and came around me
at the end (I led for most of the last 20 laps), almost crashed when Ted
Schmid ran into me when coming around on the last lap, he knocked me
down to the blue line and almost onto the grass. In this last race,
Taylor Olson passed me just at the line to take 3rd, otherwise the
overall standings would have been a three-way tie of 6 points for 2nd
place (instead I got 4th with 5 points). My goal next Thursday is to
win my first race on the track, I’ve been close in every race but
haven’t quite put it together. I’ve been able to sprint at 35mph in my
91 inch gear but some of these other guys can hit 37mph with the same
gear. I just can’t spin that fast so next Thursday I’m going to see
what happens if I use a bigger 98 inch gear.

Category 4,5 Scratch Race
Place Racer Name Club Points(Omnium)
1 Taylor Olson Loon State 5
2 Dan Currell Bianchi/GP 3
3 Dan Schueller GopherWheelmen 2
4 Ted Schmid Loon State 1
5 Eric Ware MCT 0 0 0

Category 4,5 Miss & Out
Place Racer Name Club Points(Omnium)
1 Dan Currell Bianchi/GP 5
2 Colton Barrett MnJRC 3 0
3 Dan Schueller Gopher Wheelmen 2
4 Peter Schweich Grumpy’s/LGR 1
5 Eric Ware MCT 0 0 0

Category 4,5 Scratch Race
Place Racer Name Club Points(Omnium)
1 Ted Schmid Loon State 5
2 Peter Schweich Grumpy’s/LGR 3
3 Taylor Olson Loon State 2
4 Dan Schueller Gopher Wheelmen 1
5 Dan Wold Grumpy’s/LGR 0 0

Category 4,5 Omnium Final Standing
Place Points Racer Name Club
1 8 Dan Currell Bianchi/GP
2 7 Taylor Olson Loon State
3 6 Ted Schmid Loon State
4 5 Dan Schueller Gopher Wheelmen
5 4 Peter Schweich Grumpy’s/LGR
6 3 Colton Barrett MnJRC

From: Jeff Ingham
Date: Jun 4, 2007 9:44 AM

I can confirm from my powermeter data that the distance was about
37.2KM so don’t believe the speeds posted on the results those are
based on 40KM.

The conditions were ideal and it’s a fantastic fast course. I though
I just had a decent but not great race. I went off 5th and quickly
passed the four racers in front of me, a few miles from the turn I
really struggled without having something to look at in front of me,
with about 15min left in the race a Silver Cycling guy passed me (I
think it was Matt Stein) finally with something to look at I was able
to pick up the pace and keep him to about 15-20 seconds.

Official Time 56min 10sec

Avg Speed 24.9mph

Place 6th

Walking Sunday morning was painful, I would have been quickly pulled
from Sundays crit.

Does anyone know why this is the only race of the year where they
don’t do the regular categories like every other race (meaning no
Masters 4) doesn’t make much sense to me.

Jeff

From: julee taylor
Date: Jun 4, 2007 9:27 AM

Finally-I won something!!!!!

Yes, I took home the Gold medal on Saturday at the State TT for the
Masters Women 35-39 Category…ok,ok I was the only one who entered in
that category. Whatever it takes…Yeah.

I rode the orange Trek w/ aero bars and the HED 3-spoke carbon
wheels. I may have wanted to lower the stem as well, not sure. My back
was bothering me from a Thursday night practice session, and not being
used to hanging out in aero position for an hour, but oddly it felt
fine once I got down in position for the race.

The course was a bit shortened this year due to road construction, so
I think it was only 38K instead of a true 40K (the boys may be able to
confirm.) I rode it in 1:04:03, a respectable time anyway, with an
average speed of 23.2 mph. The conditions were supreme and the overall
times were very fast it seems. I used my HR monitor to gauge my effort
the whole time which helped take my mind off the distance and pain.

All in all, the race was fantastically hard both physically and
mentally. I loved it. The TT is my race of choice.

Props to Mary B. who brought home 3rd in her age group. Dan S., Rich
B., Jeff I, Chris B. were also there and all did well. The Gaines Bros
also brought home 2nd + 3rd place too, I think.

Thanks for reading. Jules