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.

The 360 Cup Report

Team 360 brought us two days of fine racing in Lawrence, Kansas.  Centennial Park was again the location for this years 360 Cup.  This years course used the majority of the park and navigated around its 18 hole disk golf course.   The course featured many tight switchbacks that lead to long straights and plenty of climbing.  It was a power riders course for sure. 

Some rider highlights below...

Former national Collegiate Criterium champion Mark Smelser put on his game face to win the Men's Cat 3 race on Saturday for Team GP Velotek.  Looks like it is chop growing season. 

Word on the street is that David Wathen is looking for a new mechanic after a chain mishap cost him dearly in the Men's Cat 3 race held on Saturday.

2014 National Mountain Bike Masters 60+ champion  Doug Long proved his versatility as he took another win in the Masters 60+ class only this time in cyclocross.  Heck, we do believe he could win the 50+ class if he entered that. Doug pulled double duty and helped his team with the event and raced. Our money is on Doug winning another championship come January.

Chris Locke navigates around the medical staff in route to 9th in the Masters 40+ class.  The course contained many tight switch backs that caused some riders troubles.  "I never saw so many crashes in a cross race" said Locke.  "It got me thinking about heading back to Hare Scrambles where it is safer and less rocky".

Four time DK 200 winner Dan Hughes won the Men's Cat 4/5 class for the second time this season.  Usually a distance racer Dan is finding this cross stuff is no big deal and usually doubles up with two classes on a given Sunday.

Doug Stone powered his way to another podium finish in the Men's Masters 40+ division.  Here Doug is seen chasing eventual winner Rick Moseley.  These two have been battling hard the last couple of races.

Cow Town's Shane Jones who usually can be found riding his Single Speed mountain bike at local trails brought out his old trusty gravel rig and fought his way to 10th place in the competitive Men's Cat 4/5 class.

Christopher Locke Jr. might have damaged his family jewels on this remount and finished off the pace in 21st place.  "I think I might have to start training some and practice my dismounts before I hurt myself" said Locke.

Not wanting to damage his "Jewels" Chris Locke Sr. decided to ride over the barriers in route to a 7th place finish during Sunday's Masters race.

2014 Buffalo Bill Cyclocross Report

The 2014 Cyclo-cross season is underway.  The first local event was the Buffalo Bill Cyclocross Race brought to us by the Santa Fe Trails Bicycle and Coffee Shop. This years event was held at Havens Memorial Park in Leavenworth, Kansas.  Havens is a small park located on the edge of town and was last used back in 2007. 

The course has not changed much over the years.  It was hilly then and it is still hilly today.  This did not stop local cyclo-cross racers from coming out to test themselves on the freshly mowed course.  The energy sapping course quickly broke up the tight packs and by the midway point it was only the strongest riders who were able to maintain the pace. 

Pictures can be found the Lantern Rouges House of Photos

Results are up - 2014 Buffalo Bill Cross Race Results

Cow Town riders in action...

Doug Stone started off his season on a new disc brake CX ride and put those brakes to good use attacking the course to earn 3rd place in the highly competitive Masters 40+ class.  Doug put in a last lap charge and passed KD200 winner Dan Hughes for the final step on the podium.  360 Racing's John Jones took the class win ahead of Paul Aldeguer. 

Former junior standout Christopher Locke returned to racing in the Men's Cat 4 division.  "The Cat 4's are really fast, I actually thought my dad had signed me up for the Men's open division when I saw the leader take off and eventually lap me".   Looks like little junior has a lot of work to do as he finished in 16th place on the day. 

David Wathen, who was fresh off a 100 miler the day before, used today's event as a training event.  "I have been focusing on my base, needed to get some time in on the cross bike on a cross course and will now start to add some intensity to my training" said Wathen.  "Last year I peaked early and do not want to make the same mistake this year.  I am hoping to have my racing legs come November and December when it counts".

 A nice sized field lined up for the Men's Cat 1/2/3 race.  Damian Almanza put in a strong race to finish up in 15th place.  "I wanted to test myself in the open class and to put some hurt in this old body of mine.  It was a power course and I was a little down on power, but it is just the first race of the year."  

They say when you get old you start to make poor decisions.  "I decided to race Single Speed today which was not the best idea for a 49 year old".  Despite not having the power to climb with the "Fast" riders Chris Locke took home 5th place on the day.

2014 God's Country MTB Classic Report

A local mountain bike classic for over a decade, this years God's Country race was awarded the 2014 Kansas State XC Mountain Bike Championships.  Normally held in March/April on the Lawrence River Trails the event was moved to June and made a qualifier for the National Mountain Bike XC Championships.

Tropical heat greeted the nearly 150 racers as they not only battled each other but the course and heat.  The key to the day was to maintain a steady pace and keep the breeze flowing over your body to cool you off. Tori Brocket demonstrates perfect form.

 Another way to stay cool on the day was to enjoy some of Carolynn Locke's melons.  

Her melons were really tasty on this day especially with some salt.   10 ice cooled water melons were consumed on the day.

If melons were not your thing we had some tasty donuts.

Our first class to take on the trails and the heat was the Marathon division.  Great rides by all the participants.  Class leaders Kent McNeill and Lyle Reidy had a great battle.  Kent made the trip down from Nebraska pay off and took the top spot on the podium and finished with 5 laps - 50 miles. 

It was good to see so many juniors out having fun racing their mountain bikes, especially the little women mountain bikers.  The future of mountain biking is with them.

The start was up on the Levee.  Each group started in minute intervals.  For some the effort to get the holeshot and lead into the woods is worth the effort.  Others paced themselves in the heat and slowly worked their way up through the fields.

We had all kinds of bikes on Sunday. MTB's, Fat Bikes, Single Speeds and Cyclo-Cross bikes. Chris Thomas demonstrates the proper form on his Cross bike.

There is debate in the mountain bike world as to which wheel size is the best.  After Tige Lamb set the fastest time of the day and won his 3rd straight mountain bike event on his new Giant 27.5.  Word is J.P. Brocket is turning his back on the 29er world and joining Tige on a 27.5.

Without all the volunteers this event would not have been possible.  A special Thank You goes out to Lawrence Mountain Bike Club for getting the trails ready for Sunday's event and members of both the The Wheel Cyclery and Cow Town Cycling Team along with the Midwest Mountain Bike Patrol for giving up your day to allow us mountain bikers a chance to have fun.

Until Masons Midsummer Meltdown .   Peace out.

Picture Links:

• Lantern Rouge's  God's Country / Kansas MTB Championship Photos
• Start, Podium and Candid Gods Country MTB Classic Photos
• Ryan Weaver's God's Country Kansas State Championships 2014

Results:

• 2014 God's Country MTB Classic / Kansas State Championship Results

May Mountain Bike News

The temperatures are heating up and so is the Mountain Bike season.  The month of May has been very busy with off-road events.

The Kansas Fat Tire Festival started the month off with another great event out in Wilson, KS.  The trails are like nothing else in Kansas.  Local off-road hero Cameron Chambers returned home to take top honors in the Men's Pro division over Garet Steinmetz and Travis Donn.   Cow Town's Gerard Arantowicz participated in his 10th Kansas Fat Tire Festival with a bike mechanical causing him to get his first DNF.   Full results - 10th Annual Kansas Fat Tire Festal Results

Saturday was the 10th annual Syllamo's Revenge down in Arkansas.  Conditions were less than ideal with rain soaking the course and making the 50 mile event even more challenging (think epic mud fest on slick rocks).  Congratulations to our own Tim Greene for finishing top 10 in his age-group in a time of 7 hours 52 minutes. Some great pictures from Mike Brooks - Syllamo Revenge 2014 Gallery

Congratulations to all participating Cow Town members at Sunday's Dirty Little Secret.  Tige Lamb earned top honors for the day with the fastest overall time of 1:59.  Doug Stone showed some great form by taking a strong 3rd place in the Cat 1 40-49 division with his teammate Damian Almanza coming in 4th for the day.  This resulted in Cow Town taking 1st place in the Team division.  In the Men's Cat 2 30-39 division Cow Town's Jeff Arnaud won over Jason Taulber and John Frigon.  Gerard Arantowicz came back to earn 3rd place in the Men's Cat 2 40+ division.  Complete results - 2014 Dirty Little Secret Mountain Bike Race Results