Veterans Cross - Roger's Last Stand.

The 2014 Veterans Cyclocross race was held this past weekend.  New venue this year outside of the Veterans VA Medical Center.  An interesting place with many historic buildings.

The Lantern Rouge cycling team and Big D Cycling promoted the event and provided a nice cyclocross atmosphere.  Plenty of food, beer and music. 

Those bratwurst were very tasty.  Combined with an ice ice cold beer provided the perfect post race meal.

The Veterans Cross was the final round of the popular Kansas Best Overall Rider Competition.   The masters fields were stacked with talent.  These guys are old but have not slowed down at all.

How many protests were filed on this day?  With all the food available the USAC officials were busy eating but did a great job as always to get quick accurate results.

Will this be the last time we see this van at an event?  Word on the street is that the Lantern Rouge will be teaming up with the man below to promote a 3 hour Mountain Bike event. 

The one and only Gerard Arantowicz of Jewel Cartoons was on hand racing.  Gerard did good taking a 4th place in the Men's Cat 5 event on a mountain bike.  Gerard and all the Veterans got a special blanket from Roger Harrison.

 The Cow Town Cycling Team took home 3rd place overall in the KBCXT Masters competition.

 Damian Almanza and several other riders were involved in a first turn crash.  Damian spent the rest of the morning chasing down the leaders.

 360's James Shiflett has had a strong cyclocross season so far placing 3rd overall in the KBCXR series. James demonstrates what may be the best form ever hopping the barriers.

The course was very fast on the flat grass sections with some tricky turns..  Cow Town Cycling's David Wathen leads Big D's Paul Fancer and Team Colavita's Craig Steeds through one of the many corners.

 Doug Stone and Rick Moseley were so far out in front of the Men's 40-49 class that they decided to just run instead of ride.

 Locke finally won something this year.  Roger presented him with a special award for the longest hair.

 Doug Stone took 2nd place on the day, first in the 40-44 division and most importantly brought home the win the the Masters 40-49 KBCXR. 

 Women's Masters racing has grown a lot the last few years.  That is a good thing but we also need to get some new younger women out on course.

 Roger Harrison divided the Masters into 5 year age-groups.  Cow Town Cycling's Chris Locke is presented his 3rd place award in the 45-49 division. Look for Locke to move into the 50+ class next year in cyclocross.

Brendan Sheehan navigates the only mud section of the course.

 The Cat 4 Men's class in action. Christopher Locke gets off to a quick start on a single speed.

 Doug Stone raises a glass to Mr. Harrison and the Big D cycling team for a job well done.

Doug Doubles at Herman Laird

Near perfect weather for cyclocross this past weekend as two popular events head to an even more popular venue.  Herman Laird Park hosted two of its planned four events with the Colavita Cup on Saturday and the Boulevard Cup on Sunday.   Same course for both days with a direction change on Sunday.

Saturday's Results: 2014 Colavita Cup Results

Sunday's Results: 2014 Boulevard Cup Results

Sunday's Pictures: Rogers House of Photos

Both courses featured pavement, gravel, small elevation, rough grass sections, a short tour of the Shawnee Town Museum and hundreds of turns.  Also, both events featured indoor registration and facilities plus plenty of food, beverages and music. 

Our own Doug Stone had a breakout weekend and emerged with victories on both days in the very competitive Masters 40+ field.   Doug continues his strong season and enters Sunday's Veterans Cycle Cross event with a chance to wrap up the 2014 Kansas Best Cyclocross Rider championship. 

Joules Cross Report

The Joules Cross was a double header weekend of cyclocross racing this year.  Saturday was a tune-up for Sunday's 2014 Kansas State Cyclocross Championships.  What you say?  State CX Championships in October?  It is 70 degrees and I just now started doing intervals.....

Some good size fields for this years Joules Cross.   The masters classes roll off the start on Saturday above.  Results from the day's racing - Joules Cross Saturday Results.  Some pictures of the Masters, Single Speed and Cat 4/5 - Joules Cross Pictures.

A new trend in local Kansas cycling races - No stakes just mowed fields. Paul Aldeguer and Doug Stone climb along one of the many mowed paths that made up the course. 

The field that was used for the event featured plenty of climbing and one short mud section.  David Wathen leads Kevin Collins out of the "Mud Hole".

Looks like beards are coming back for cross.  Time to bring back the Chops if you ask me.

Bill Anderson has the coolest bikes and always has a smile on his face.  No matter the weather or if he is suffering Bill has a smile.  Above Bill rides around the mud (a reason you need to stake a course and not just mow it ) because he did not want to get that sweet single speed rig of his dirty.

Cyclocross welcomes all no mater if you're an elite racer or a person that has special needs.:-)  Cross loves you and so does this guy that hungs around the twisty circle thingy - https://secure.flickr.com/photos/lanternerouge/

Sadly the course featured only one short mud hole.  Scott Stevens makes short work of it and continues on one of the many climbs.

Beware of creepy crawly things out in Kansas. 

Doug Stone raced both days with a great showing on Sunday.  Doug continues to lead the Kansas Best All Around Rider in the Masters 40+ division.

It is a long walk back to the pit.  For some reason there were plenty of tire mishaps over the weekend.  Maybe it was the rough field?  Freshly mowed fields which leaves sharp pointy blades of thick grass which can puncture tires.

Two sets of barriers on the day.  One large and one small.  Both required running them. Tige Lamb used his running skills to take home 3rd place in the Masers 40+ class.  Above he passes Masters 65+ winner Steve Schweiker of Ethos Racing. 

A nice size Cat 4/5 field on Saturday - 52 riders. Plenty of passing on that first lap.  Christopher Locke demonstrates how it is done on the first lap.  A lap later the favor was returned has he faded to 38th place on the day.

 Tire failures were not that uncommon over the weekend.  David Wathen had to take a bike change but climbed back to 12th place in a stacked Masters 40+ field.

The motto "Build it and they will come" apparently works not only for baseball but for cyclocross.  Mow a course in a field and you have yourself some Kansas Cyclocross.  Above 2014 National MTB Champion Doug Long leads David Romisch and Chris Locke in the field of dreams. .

What to think of the "Twister" Shane Jones got dizzy from the "Twister" and ended up in 12th place in the Men's Cat 5 class. 

The Robidoux Roundup Report

 

Team Horizon Cycling Team put on the Robidoux Roundup CX race Sunday.  The course featured a nice flowing course with some sweet single track thrown in that connected the two fields to made up the 1.1 mile course.

The event was very popular up in Saint Joseph.  It even made the News Press Now - CX Report

Results can be found on Kansas Cycling - Robidoux Roundup CX Results

The climb of the day was even harder with the recent rains which lefte the course soft in areas. Many thought this course was the best designed so far this year.  Hats off to the Jason Douglas, Randy Tracy and the rest of Team Horizon Cycling for having the event and putting so much work into the course.  It really showed.

Tire Pressure was on everyones mind.  With the single track sections, a few roots and some slick mud finding the balance was key to success. 

The Single Track sections were enjoyed by most riders.  A pleasant change from the normal venues and lets hope we get more in the future.

Riders with some mountain bike background did very well.  Micah Gordon showed he has some roots off-road and took the win in the Men's Cat 1/2 class.

JP Brocket who is no stranger to off-road racing had a strong showing taking 2nd place over Shadd Smith.

The worlds tallest barriers were build especially for this event.  Even taller riders had trouble.  I could not imagine what shorter riders thought of them.

Mark Smelser took his second win of the season over home town boy Christopher Farney.   Mark is peaking for next weeks Kansas State Cyclocross Championships.  Look for Mark to move up to the Men's Cat 1/2 class soon (at least lets hope so :-))

Good times to be had out on course.  Many riders were looking forward to the fun Robidoux course.  What they were not looking forward to was those hills during the final laps.  Course was fun but the climbing added up quickly. 

Midweek rains left the course a little slick in areas especially on the off camber downhills.  Hit the right line and they are a joy.  Wrong line and you are in for a wild ride.  Christopher Locke demonstrates how to take the fast line.

Carolynn Locke was out on course taking some fine photos along with Roger Harrison. Several of Rogers photos can be found in this report along side of Carolynn's.  These two take hundreds of photos each week and we thank them for that.

Action was fierce during the opening laps of many racers.   Here David Wathen chases Galen Hansen of Epic Cycling.

Julie Higgins raced to a 3rd place in the Women's Cat 1/2/3 class.  Look for Julie and her Women's Free State Racing Team at next weekends Joules Cross event in Lawrence, KS

Tige Lamb in route to a win the Masters 40+ class.  Not bad for his first cross race of the season. 

Doug Long in route to another Master's 60+ win.  He caught many of the Masters 40+ and 50+ riders on his way to the top of the podium. The only trouble out on course for Doug was those super tall barriers.

Speaking of air.  Some riders just use normal air from a floor pump, but Eric Burch uses helium in his tires to help float over the barriers.

Tom Price ran away from the masters field winning the 50+ division and was the overall fastest master.

John Williams and Chris Locke battle during the first few laps of the Master's class.  John would earn 5th place on the day.

Cow Towns Tige Lamb earned his first cyclocross win of the season in the Men's Masters 40+ class.  Paul Aldeguer of Big D Cycling worked his way up to 2nd place.  Terry Higgins of 360 Racing was on the final step of the box.

Ethos Racing's child prodigy Victoria Brocket won the Women's Junior class.  Victoria was one of those riders who excelled in the single track.

Finn Smith of the KCOI U20 team and son of the one and only Shadd Smith earned 2nd place in the Junior class today.  Finn has taken to cross just like his dad and even beat his result on this day.