Gopher Cycling Blog

Today, Saturday, the gophers had a road race and TTT in Northfield, Minnesota as part of their home race weekend. Carleton and St. Olaf did a great job of putting together a challenging road course with two good climbs and some rough gravel.

The women's race was controlled from start to finish by the gophers, with Kari Edvenson, Steph Thompson, and Maria Stewart riding off the front and blazing it to the finish for first through third, in the order listed. The three then went on to win the women's TTT later in the afternoon.

The men's B field was strung out and split in half with an early attack by the Gophers on the first climb. Even after a brutal pack crash in a section full of potholes, there were plenty of Gophers in the remaining break to be competative. A 3rd-lap attack by Devon Palmer split it into a yet smaller break group with Devon eventually finishing 4th on the day. the Gopher men's B team had more than 4 riders land inside the overall points.

The men's A race was a slugfest, with Brad Johnson breaking a spoke early on and dropping out, and Andy Cook flatting. In the end the Gophers managed to still land Brian Crosby in the top 8.

Even after a difficult and trying road race, the Gopher A men won the 10-mile TTT by over 20 seconds! Way to go Gophers!

Come on out to Opus for some crit racing Sunday morning at 8:30. Until then, here are some pics of today's trip: