Gopher Cycling Blog

News about the University of Minnesota Cycling Team

 

Saturday, March 24, 2007

The Jayhawks Spring Classic, Lawrence Kansas

NCCCC Road Event #1
Road Race and TTT

The season started off today with a 1st and 2nd place for the Gopher women and a 2nd and 4th place for the men’s A riders in the road race. The course featured rolling hills on very rough pavement over 10 miles of windy Kansas countryside.

After three laps on the nasty pavement, Steph Thompson and Kari Edvenson had completely dropped the other women in the field and rolled across the line for first and second, respectively.

In the men’s A race Andy Cook led out Brian Crosby in a close sprint against reigning national criterium champ Mark Smelser. While Smelser managed to edge out Crosby, the Brain got 2nd, with Cook holding on for 4th place.

The men’s B race was full of fresh and sketchy newcomers. There were four crashes, but four Gophers managed to stay on when the break went. Three held on to the relatively fast-paced break group to land in the team points at 13th through 15th places.

In the Team Time Trial the Gopher women’s team took the win and the men’s A team got 2nd to Kansas State.

Tomorrow there’s a crit on campus, and some of us accidentally discovered the course tonight. It’s going to be smooth rolling with some good corners. If it rains, this will be a crash fest.

Rock and Roll!

Tink

posted by UMCT at 9:17 PM 1 comments

Sunday, March 18, 2007

some people go home, some to the podium

This morning we left Fayetteville at eight. Ten of us went to the Hell’s Kitchen race, while the rest returned to the Twin Cities.

Andy Cook won the 4s road race, with Brian Crosby taking 3rd. Eric (Ed) Stewart got 12th. More results to follow.

Big ups to Brad Johnson for taking 2nd in the Pro/1/2 race! Rock and Roll!

The non-racers drove back north (with a 1.5-hour shamrock shake side-trip thanks to Tink) and got in around nine.

We’re tired, but ready to race the collegiate season. Next weekend: Kansas. Bring it.

-Tinkerdoodle

posted by UMCT at 10:39 PM 0 comments

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Almost Done

Today was a rest day for the Hell’s Kitchen racers, while most non-racers put on some long miles. There was a century, half-century, and a 20-mile singletrack trip. Each was rather uneventful, as everyone was pretty well spent from the long week.

Tonight we packed the bikes and got most of our gear into bags for the trip back. In the morning one van and the trailer are staying to race, while the other two vans will leave for the cities. ETA on the early bus: 9pm with pit stops.

It’s been a long, hard week of riding and racing. After our week of intense training and intense proximity, the real world will feel alien.

Good luck to the kids racing Hell’s Kitchen on Sunday. I predict Ed breaks away at mile 3 and solos 37 miles to wheelie across the finish while making X-Wing sound effects.

-Tink

posted by UMCT at 10:09 PM 0 comments

"I don't want to learn about naked ladies. I did that enough when I was 15" --Scurvy

"I did a lot better than those Tyson b*****s" --S

"I've got 50 cents" --Sherve
"Yeah, I've got experience." --Paul

posted by UMCT at 9:56 PM 0 comments

TTT practice, wicked trails, one less helmet.

Friday morning we rode the lake Weddington triathlon bike course in groups of four. It was great practice for the TTT requirement that the NCCC(CCCC?) now has for the road season. Team 2 missed one of the corners, and team 3 managed to have a totally sweet crash that broke Stoveken’s helmet. Other than that, we all got a better sense of riding as a time trial team.

After the TTT practice, some of us returned to the Wal-Mart trails and did another loop on the front side of the mountain with the whole MTB crew. Then the newer riders went back to the van, while the more experienced riders hit up the backside of the mountain for some of the best (and most challenging) XC trails around. The leaf cover made for some tough riding in the loose, rocky terrain, but there were no major crashes and everyone had a blast.

We watched Star Wars: Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith: (Lucas is a burning out) after some Chinese Buffet.

Billy says: “I’m so goth I shit bats.”

posted by UMCT at 9:06 AM 0 comments

Friday, March 16, 2007

Basketball

"The kids, they come out of the hood, and they've been playing basketball their whole life, just like their homeys have, and they're good." --Billy

"What are these teddy bears doing fighting machines? What the f**k is that?" --Baba

"I'm always telling stores, because I'm old and can remember stuff" --Billy

"These ads don't do it for me. Give me an inflatable gorilla and I'll buy everything." --Baba

"What flavor is neon?" --Billy, while holding a handful of Mike & Ikes

And if' you're into stupid bird names:
http://birding.about.com/od/allaboutbirds/a/aa032700a.htm

posted by UMCT at 9:03 PM 1 comments

Thursday, March 15, 2007

while at lunch today

Brain: "So how does this work?"
Sandwich guy: "You tell me what you want and I make it for you."
McKenna: "I want a girlfriend."
Sandwich guy: "I don't think I can make one of those and sell it to you, but I can see if my manager's around."

posted by UMCT at 3:10 PM 0 comments

Bicycle Race!

The Hell’s Kitchen course hosted our race Wednesday. We split into a faster and slower group and duked it out on some nice hills. Tink didn’t have time to look at the map to determine climb, sprint, and finish points, but it pretty much played out like this:

A group:
Ed: Greenland (first time)
Brain: Finish line, Greenland (second time), Fayetteville
Cook: Hell’s Kitchen Climb, West Fork
B group:
Tink: Hogseye, Fayetteville, Hell’s Kitchen climb, Greenland.

It was a nice ride and we all had fun. We’re staring to learn where our strengths lie. There were two broken spokes (Brad and B’Urban) and a broken rim by Brad. The damage to bikes is getting to be worse than the people damage. We’re gonna need to talk to the cats at One on One when we get back about some replacements. Tomorrow we are either spinning easy or maybe mountain biking.

The Flying Burrito has some sweet nosh options, and Braum's was once again our ice cream spot of choice (mostly for location convenience). Return of the Jedi played while osme of us passed out fromt he hard efforts today.

Rock and Roll,
Tink

posted by UMCT at 10:27 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

More for the McKenna

"Alright, I'm going to go use Hell's Bathroom."

"You dorks" -- Ed, while walking into a room to watch Star Wars

This might be all for tonight. Everybody is pretty exausted from the hard ride today.

--S2H

posted by UMCT at 2:58 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Photos from the trip...

posted by UMCT at 8:04 PM 1 comments

An Easier day

At seven today Maria, Billy, Tink, and the Scurvy did a mountain bike ride on Kessler mountain with Nate form Fayetteville Bike. It was sweet and pretty tech, with some rocks, stream crossings, and only one flat tire. We time trialed it out to Wal-Mart to meet Nate. 45 minutes in rush-hour traffic was sweet.

The middle and fast groups rode 38 rolling miles with local roadie Ben Upchurch. They spun out their legs for tomorrow’s hard ride

Scottie 2 Hottie’s Funtime Adventure spun it out for 20 miles, and then did handling drills with Maria in the hotel parking lot. Then Tink talked about cornering and how to crash with minimal injury.

Tomorrow we’re having a race. Each rider in each of the three groups will have directions and we’ll be riding at race pace. Each town line will count for some points, with the Fayetteville sign at least double, and each hilltop will count for some points. The person with the most points within their group at the end of the day gets a special prize from Tink. High fives for life, most likely.

A big thanks to the local riders who have been showing us around.

Mohawk count: 3. Tink, Brain, Pat
Crash count: Brain=1
McKenna=3
B’Urban=4
Steve= 1
Pat=1 (kinda)
Cook= like 15-20 on the mountain bike. So far cook wins.


Wes’s barbecue and Burgers Plus for dinner. Megan had the squarefish (did you know they come in squares?) and most of us had burgers of one sort or another. Then we drove for ice cream across the street from the hotel and McKenna reminded us, “We’re not here to get exercise.” See more McKenna quotes below. This kid is on fire. Ed kissed his plate after making a smiley face on it in catsup.

-TINK

posted by UMCT at 7:53 PM 0 comments

The kid that never stops talking

From McKenna, unless otherwise specified.

"What, it's not like we're here to exercise."

(to the waiter) "Do you have Mountain Dew, cause I heard that stuff just makes you crazy."

"Wait, why can't we eat snickers?"

"You drafted on a unicycle?"

"I love to get hit on." --Baba

(to the waiter) "The guy in the red ... he matches the catsup."

"My grandparent's grandparent's could have been from there, and they coudl have had kids."

"I'm a 10 on the flexibility. Ask Billy."

posted by UMCT at 7:06 PM 0 comments

Monday, March 12, 2007

big bikes, Ice Cream, and Star Wars

Monday!

Today we split into three groups:

Stupid Fast Kids: Brain, Ed, Cook, Jorgen, Brad, Pat, Stovetop, Jameson.

Maria’s Fun Group: Maria (duh), Tink, Steve, B’Urban, Mitchman, Scurvy, Steph, Carrie, Devon.

S2H super adventure Team: Scottie (too hottie), McKenna, Meghan, K5, Dauenhauer, Duncan, Billy.

This worked out way better than 24 people in one long paceline, and everyone had a blast on our 50-mile cruise with two leg-breaking climbs. In the morning some of us checked out the local MTB trails, got lost, got found, and learned how to rock and roll on rocks that roll.

Greek food, Jimmy Johns, ice cream, and a healthy dose of Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones rounded out a nice day of riding.

B’Urban crashed twice, and there was a flat on the Adventure Team, but everyone was in a good mood at the end of the day. We’re tired and having fun.

posted by UMCT at 8:57 PM 0 comments

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

Another day, another crit, another crash. This morning some of us raced in the downtown Sand Springs crit on wet cobbles and the expected happened: the cobbles were slick. Brian Urban and Steve Welle ate it, and Patrick Gordon barely stayed on his bike. Tink personally witnessed one guy slide about 35 ft on his rear end. B‘Urban got 4th.

The other kids went for a nice cruise around Sand Springs and managed to get in 30 miles before the rain hit. We were actually pulling right into the hotel parking lot as it began to sprinkle.

We then all piled into the vans and headed to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to our home for the rest of the week. After arriving we had a short ride (30 miles) to keep the legs fresh for tomorrow’s nice long slow cruise. The mountain bikers are going for a ride on some local trails. We’ll be splitting into three groups for the road rides from here on out. 24 riders

No big news. We need to hit up a shop in the morning before any road riding to get peoples bikes fixed. Things are going well. We’re feeling good.



Good quotes from today:

“Nice tooth!” –Billy to the lady at the toll booth.

posted by UMCT at 10:21 PM 0 comments

Fayetteville

We made it to Fayetteville. Even through the rain.
Quote of the day:
"So I call this guy to ask him some questions, and he says 'Don't ever call me on my cell phone again!' ... ... ... He's a little bitch." --McKenna

posted by UMCT at 10:18 PM 0 comments

Saturday, March 10, 2007

First day? Some of us were still driving

Those of us who couldn't skip an entire day of school Friday left Minnesota today. Pretty uninteresting, considering 70% of the drive was through Iowa and Missouri.Seriously.

Ate some Western Sizzler when we got into town. Had a good time with the two vans together.And had some interesting quotes/comments.
  • “I watched 90 episodes of Anime in one day” –Kyle
  • "Seriously, it’s like a Death Ray with a fan in there.” –McKenna, referring to the heat lamp in the bathroom of the hotel.
  • "Maria, you’re good at this.” –McKenna, referring to her know-how of how to order food at the restaurant.
  • "I’m not going to kid you, this bathroom is freaking gross.” –Paul, referring to the Western Sizzler bathroom.
  • "Why do you carry around crap in your wallet?” –Andrew S.
    "On a date, it’s always good for a laugh.” –McKenna
  • "Every day that I wake up, I’m in a different state.” –Kyle
  • "What are you thinking planting a tree there?” –McKenna
-----Scott

posted by UMCT at 10:02 PM 0 comments

First day, and our first win

Today the early van rode out to a crit in Sand Springs hosted by The Tulsa Wheelmen. It consisted of a dogbone circuit course with a slight cresting hill before the finish. We arrived too late for the 5s race, but The Brain, Jameson, Cook, B'Urban, and Ed rode the 4s race.

Short story: Brain won it thanks to some great teamwork from the other Gophers. The downside is the guy he barely outsprinted blew out a tire and took them both down hard about ten feet after the finish. The Brain is pretty beaten up (as is his top tube), but both bike and rider are ready for tomorrow's crit.

In the women's 4 race, Steph, Megan, and Kari worked together to land Kari in 4th ina highly competative field.


The 2nd van arrived this evening, and now the team is together once again.

Tomorrow more of us are participating in the downtown Sand Springs crit, depending on how the weather looks.

So far, so good.

Tink

The damage:

posted by UMCT at 8:51 PM 1 comments

Friday, March 09, 2007

We're heeeeeere!

We've arrived in Sand Spring, OOOOOOOklahoma (where the wind blows, sweeping down the plain) for the first night of our spring break trip. No problems, except for an absent trailer htich on the van.

We stopped at a wayside burger place called "Swope's" and had some great greasy
food. Apparently the shakes were killer. Tomorrow we'll be destroying the continental breakfast and going out for some easy riding to stretch the legs and get ready for Sunday's crit here in sand springs.

Keepin it pretty.

Tink

posted by UMCT at 11:28 PM 0 comments

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Red Bull, Paint, Tools

What's goin on my internet friends? Once again, Tink here to keep you in the know on all things University of Minnesota Cycling Team news.

Last Monday Paul Stewart and I (Andrew Rosch) participated in Red Bull Ride The Sky. We raced with 50 other mountain bikers through the St. Paul skyway and railed corners on carpet, tile, and marble. Paul landed 13th, and I sandbagged for 41st. It was a blast, and a big thanks goes out to Buck and Red bull for putting on a totally sweet event. check out these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Ud9UJXlgA

go here and search the videos on the right for "skyway" to see a helmet perspective of the course:
http://wcco.com/video/?cid=5

Minnesota Daily coverage:
http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2007/02/27/70943



Secondly, the team did a little community service Saturday when we painted the kitchen and office of the Continental Hotel in downtown Mpls. The Continental is just one property of The Central Community Housing Trust's many metro area locations. Their work is an important part of providing Minnesotans with affordable housing, and we had a great time helping them give the place a facelift.








Finally, the team bought a whole bunch of tools and supplies for outfitting our sweet bike trailer this week. Mostly things from Park, we're fully stocked to handle any race-day disasters that might arrive. Party on, Wayne.

Tink

posted by UMCT at 10:20 AM 0 comments


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