Gopher Cycling Blog

The National Road Championships were held in Lawrence, Kansas, this past weekend. Maria S and Steve G attended for the U of M in pretty aweful weather. Steve G raced the criterium on Friday and the road race on Saturday, finishing 67th. Maria S finished 23rd in the criterium and 41st in the road race.

Maria S described her experience in the criterium as follows:

DI Women's Criterium (60 min + 3 laps)

"The crit was the scariest race I have ever competed in. Friday was rainy
all morning. By 10:50, the start of my race, the rain had almost subsided,
but the road were covered in water. The field of about 80 riders started
our 60 min + 3 laps race at a fast pace. The course was an "L" shape with
seven turns, 6 left and 1 right. For the first 20 minutes, I rode as hard
as I could, trying not to fall off the back of the pack. The spray from
the road was so bad that I was getting water and dirt inside my glasses.
Women were crashing all around me. At the start of one of the prime laps,
the leaders jumped and the field followed. Women were throwing their bikes
around as the stood up to maintain the pace. Two or three women crashed in
front of me. I was going to ride between them until one of the fallen
riders stood up, directly in my line of travel. I slammed on the brakes
and luckily just tipped over. I took my free lap and jumped back in the
race with only a skinned knee. Not long after my minor crash, I was riding
in the pack when a rider next to me swerved into my bike. We were on a
gradual downhill straight away, so I have no idea why she was losing
control of her bike. She leaned up next to me for a few seconds and I
leaned into her to stay up. Suddenly, she slipped off of my soaking wet
shoulder and I heard her and the riders behind me go down. The pace slowed
as the race continued. No one ever rode off the front, we just kept
shelling riders off the back. Since there were so many corners, we coasted
to the corner and sprinted out of the corner, coasted to the next corner
etc. I managed to survive 70 minutes of white knuckle riding to place
23rd, just 4 seconds behind the winner. I was too concerned about crashing
out and not racing the road race to ride very aggressively. I thought the
worst was over when I finished the crit, but I had no idea what the road
race had in store for me!"

Maria S described her experience in the road as follows:

DI Women's Road Race (56 miles)

"Saturday was a clear, dry, windy Kansas day. The field of about 80 riders
started the race faster than I expected. The loop started with a sizable
downhill and then entered rolling terrain. About 5 miles in, the road
flattened out a bit. Overall the course had rolling hills, most were
smaller than Durand. This morning the women were riding as sketchy as
yesterday, but we had fewer corners and dry roads. I kept trying to ride
at the front of the pack, but I kept getting spit to the back. Women would
ride next to me or try and get ahead of me and then pull some sketchy move
like swerving or braking hard. I didn't want them to take me down, so I'd
get out of their way, and then I was in the back again! The riders in the
front started sprinting up one of the rollers about 6 or 7 miles into the
course. Just like the day before, the women were throwing their bikes
around. 5 or 6 riders crashed in front of me, and I had to use some
off-road/ditch riding skills to clear the wreck unharmed. I was sick of
thinking I was going to die in this race, so on a subsequent climb, I made
my way to the front of the pack. Just as I was getting to the front, a
rider from California pulled out in front of me and attacked. I stuck on
her wheel thinking that this was going to break up the field. The hill she
attacked on was too short to create a decent gap and the rest of the field
swallowed us up on the descent. I kept hoping for a counter attack, but no
one seemed interested. A few miles later, I saw my chance. On a long
climb, I attacked and held the lead up most of the hill. My goal wasn't
necessarily to ride off the front, but rather to break the field up so we
didn't have 50+ women riding 8 across the road. My strategy didn't pan out
how I hoped. The pack caught me and we went back to our usual pace. No
one else attacked until about 22 miles in, on our first lap. This is where
the only big hill was. The attack was very short lived, and I didn't even
get in the lead group. Less then a mile later, we were back together. Our
field stayed together until 1 km from the finish where we were sheltered
from the wind and there was a hill. The field broke and I tried to stay in
it. Unfortunately, my low training volume this spring was starting to show
and I didn't have enough to stay with the leaders. I finished less than 20
seconds back from the leader in 41st place. I was really disappointed with
this race, not only because I was tired at the end, but because no one in
the field wanted to work. I also didn't like thinking that I was going to
die for two and a half hours. That's road racing for you!"

More articles can be found on the NCCA website.

After a powerful performance in the last weekend of racing, the U of M took the Men's, Women's, and overall conference championships. A final tallying of the scores put the Gophers firmly in the overall lead with 38% more points than second-placed University of Kansas. Both Men and Women qualified for the NCCA National Championships in Lawrence, KS, on May 13 and 14, which will be attended by Maria S, Steve G, and Ben R. Stay tuned for reports from the event.

Women's Road Race:

Ann H submitted this race report:

"After a very cold wait at the starting line, Maria took advantage
of a sluggish start by the pack. Her sprint at the beginning split the
field of 15 women in half. With a very hard pace from the start, it
felt even harder with cold muscles but only a couple miles down the
road we were working in a pretty good rhythm. Several girls took turns
leading the group which contained Maria, Julie, Jenn, Hannah, and
myself plus KU, KState and Jenna from Mankato (I think that's everyone
that was with us). We kept up a brisk pace on the rolling hills, and
passed the remnants of a crash (from which race? [Ed.: Men's A!]) in the first leg of
the lap. Then we turned in the headwind for some more hard work and
lost Jenn on an uphill surge. Continuing a strong pace we also caught
and passed the regular women's field and then turned back in the
crosswind. I got a chance to practice some technique of drafting
shoulder to shoulder with a strong wind from the side and our pack kept
moving. Then we got to a sizeable hill (not the big one at the end of
the lap) and KState dropped her chain so Maria took advantage of the
moment to lead a charge up the second half of the hill. Julie,
Jenna (Mankato), and I followed and the 4 of us were off. We set a very
hard pace to make sure and gap the others. When we got around the
final turn the uphill broke apart what had been a tight paceline, with
Jenna charging ahead. Julie, Maria, and I tried to settle into a good
rhythm on the hill and I was able to grab Jenna's wheel before she got
too far away. I let her pull me up and past the finish line and chowed
down on some gel as we headed into the second and final lap.

I checked back and saw that Maria and Julie were working
together to catch us, so I stayed behind Jenna for the first couple of
miles hoping they would catch up. Soon enough though, we started
trading off to work against the wind and keep our pace up, especially
when I noticed a pack behind Maria and Julie. Turns out it was the USCF
women's field, not the other collegiate girls, but I didn't realize
that, so we kept moving. The wind got worse, some snow flurries popped
up and I just tried to leave a little something for the final hill.
Jenna caught me off guard however, on a rise going into the last turn
and I couldn't keep with her. So I finished with everything I had left,
but still in a definitive second, with Maria and Julie coming in not
too far behind. Hannah and Jenn also pulled in having battled the wind
by themselves for much of the race."

Women's Team Time Trial:

Nobody submitted this race report:

"Race report coming soon."

Women's Criterium:

Maria S submitted this race report:

"Sunday offered almost miserable racing conditions at Opus. During our 16 lap race we battled a nasty head wind on the back side of the course and
fought ice pellets now and then. The field of eight women decreased to six
shortly after the race began. Julie K, Hannah D, and I represented the U
of M while Kim K, Andi H, and Bria S. represented KU, KSU and St. Olaf,
respectively. Kim K led the charge for the first prime, but I out
sprinted her at the line. I tried to lose the pack by riding hard over the
hill after the first prime, but I grew tired and let the rest of the women
catch me. Julie, Hannah, and I pulled for over three-quarters of the race.
With 3 of us U of M women, I wasn't surprised that the other women weren't
going to pull. Unfortunately, Julie and Hannah worked really hard during
the race and didn't have much left for the end. On the bell lap, I broke
at the bottom of the hill. The pack followed. I crossed the line first
with Kim and Andi in 2nd and 3rd, and Julie and Hannah in 4th and 5th."

Men's A Road Race:

Ben P submitted this race report:

"Saturday's road race took place in predictably cold and extremely windy conditions. We rolled out with most of the UofM team riding in front,
setting a moderate pace. On a long flat straightaway shortly before turn 2
(about 4 miles into the course), a large farm vehicle (a combine or
something) pulled out in front of the peleton, kicking a bunch of dirt
and rocks onto the road. Behind me, I heard a loud pop of someone's
front tire blowing, a yell, then the horrific crunching sounds of the
ensuing pileup. Looking back, it seemed as though someone had tossed a
grenade into the peloton--bikes everywhere, people all over each other,
into both lanes, total chaos.

Piecing together the accounts of what happened, I gathered that someone
(possibly Ian from UNL) blew a front tire on the debris, and an MSU
rider next to him panicked and swerved into Dallas (KSU), who went down
hard on his face, and the rest of the group just went over the top of
them. The end result: 3 riders off to hospital, a third of the field out
with injuries or mechanicals. UNL lost all but one rider. Nasty!
However, the Gophers were all safely in the front, out of trouble [Ed.: With the exception of Eric S, of course, but he was far enough back to not be seriously involved in the crash.]. Nice!

After some hesitation, the group ahead of the crash decided to keep
going--not an attack, but a steady paceline around the corner. After a
few minutes, we continued to lift the pace, with the UofM representing
the majority of the group and doing all the work. Big Ben and Steve
assessed the situation and decided we should end the race right then and
there and get a fast group away, as most of the big threats from other
teams missed the front group after the crash.

We attacked hard, forming a break containing Big Ben, PeterMan, F'n
Steve and myself, along with the remaining Nebraska guy and Justin from
MSU. For the next lap and a half, the four of us worked hard, riding in
echelon formation to try and gutter the others. Justin from MSU worked
for awhile, but the Nebraska guy sat, and eventually Justin joined him
at the back. The wind eventually got to me, and my back (still weakened
from my injury, I guess) started cramping. The climbs were fine, but the
flats in the wind were killing me. Nebraska started accellerating to
break our rythm, and eventually I was dropped on the final lap, and
hunkered down for 15 miles on my own.

Towards the end of the lap, Big Ben and PeterMan got behind Nebraska,
and F'n Steve accelerated away, taking Justin from MSU with him. Steve
managed to lose MSU before the finish, riding to victory! In the second
group, Big Ben attacked before the final climb, riding clear for a very
comfortable third. A chase group of three K-State and Kansas managed to
catch the rest of stragglers from the lead group, but Peter and I still
held on for top ten. Big win for UofM!"

Men's A Team Time Trial:

Ben P submitted this race report:

"We fielded two teams for the TTT: Team 1 was Big Ben, Screech, PeterMan and F'n Steve; Team 2- Chris Mai, Big Nick, Ed and I. My group rolled
out first. Ed and I were pretty cached from the A race, and Chris was
super cached from the Cat3/4 race. Chris hung on until just after turn
one. Ed did what he could until about halfway through the lap, but the
legs started leaving him, so he sat back to recover. I alternated with
Nick, pulling up the hills while Nick absolutely POWERED along the flats
and downhills, taking monster pulls. It was really impressive. I was
spun out trying to hold his wheel. He was amazing. We were caught by the
Nebraska team as they rode to victory, all three remaining riders on TT
bikes, all fresh because of their DNF's from the morning. Ed recovered
for a few more pulls, then we paced up the hill and rode in for third
place. We all agreed we need to get Nick on a TT bike and see what he
can do!

Team 1 rode hard, but with two of four on TT bikes, and with widely
varied fitness (and fatigue) levels, they were mired by problems with
team dynamics as they rotated pulls. PeterMan was finally dropped before
the last climb, but Big Ben, Steve and Screech held on to finish second."

Men's A Criterium:

Ben P submitted this race report:

"Sunday's Crit was freezing- windy and snowing for the start. I made it my job to score us some sprint points and chase down threatening moves,
and try and set up Big Ben for the final. F'n Steve and I made our
presence known at the front, while Big Ben followed wheels of the other
fast guys. Coming into the first prime sprint, Steve wound it up going
up the hill into the wind. I saw an opening along the inside. Using my
mtb skills, I rode up the small gap along the gutter on the side of the
road and shot out of the pack, getting a gap. I held off everyone except
a charging Sideburnz, who nipped me at the line for a UofM 1-2 for the
points.

Things stayed pretty much the same until the second prime, with Screech,
Steve, PeterMan, Big Ben and I keeping an eye on things towards the
front. On the prime lap, I noticed Chris Mai moving forward so I hung
back until the uphill to try a leadout. I told him to get on my wheel as
I attacked up the outside and he jumped on, bringing a KSU guy. As we
neared the top, I pulled off and told Chris to go, and he completed the
sprint to perfection, easily taking it. I held on for 3rd. UofM 1st and
3rd for points.

Steve, PeterMan and I chased down a few more dangerous flyers, and then
it was all I could do to hold on after that. Just before the final lap,
I found myself off the back, but Peter and I chased back on. A Nebraska
guy had attacked, and Ian from nebraska was blocking for him. I spent my
reserves and tried to move to the front as we caught up, but Big Ben's
patience ran out and he attacked, so I ended up moving accross to block
instead, as I had exactly nothing left. A KSU guy managed to come around
Ben for the win, and Ben took second. Chris finished 4th overall in the
ensuing bunch sprint, with Steve in 9th? and Peter and I ground it out
for 12th and 13th respectively.

A pretty good weekend for the UofM, and it was enough to qualify our
men's A team for Nats ahead of K-State!"

Men's B Road Race:

Nick D submitted this race report:

"The race started early with some pretty cold weather, we started a few minutes behind the Men's A riders. U of M was well represented with 6 riders out of a total field of ~25. We started the race at a moderate pace with our guys taking turns pulling at the front. Midway throught the first lap no one else was pulling so Chris and Boris went off the front of the pack and remained separated toward the end of the first lap. Guys from the other teams were taking turns pulling to reel them in. It was a great attack because it forced some guys from other teams to do some work while the rest of us U of M'ers just sat in. The pack was pretty much together up the first hill, then it split in half up the larger hill, however most of those guys that got dropped caught back on a few miles later. We continued like this through most of the second lap. During this lap there was a crash, I am not really sure what happened, but Boris went down and then got back up to finish the race. For the rest of the race the pace was not very fast until we got back to the hills for the second time around. The pace slowly increased led by a few strong Kansas guys and a strong St Olaf guy. Up the final hill the pack started to split apart with ~6 guys in the lead pack, Thomas and myself being the only U of M guys. With a few minutes left the strong Kansas rider attacked with the St Olaf guy and myself following all three of us strung out chasing each other. I eventually caught and passed the St Olaf guy but didn't have enough to catch up with the lead Kansas rider who finished a few seconds ahead of me."

Men's B Team Time Trial:

Nobody submitted this race report:

"Race report coming soon."

Men's B Criterium:

Nick D submitted this race report:

"The men's B crit started 8 am on a cold Sunday morning. The race was 19 laps with two primes (which were unofficial), I think that there were about 15-20 riders with only 2 gophers. The race started pretty slowly with some of the riders from other teams proposing to "take it easy for the first 30 minutes or so" . . . So I went off the front for the first 3 or 4 laps to speed up the pace never really making a huge gap. After the first few laps I settled back into the pack with the pace increasing slightly before the primes. However the primes were not hotly contested as everyone was waiting for the finish. With about three laps to go the Kansas rider who won the road race attacked with the St Olaf rider and myself and an Iowa St. rider following. Kansas and St Olaf worked together with the other two of us slightly behind. With a lap to go Iowa dropped me and eventually caught and passed the Kansas rider; the St Olaf rider remained strong and finished first."