Gopher Cycling Blog

The crit was today. Keep in mind that conference championships count for double overall points, so Brian Crosby decided to take 4 of the 6 prime laps. One of them was taken at the line with a bike throw (Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a bike throw). Mark Smelser maintained his sprinting dominance with the final win, but Brian was right behind him for 2nd.

Steph and Kari walked away with a 1, 2 win.

Devon Palmer was feeling good today after his victory Saturday, but he forgot my "keep the rubber side down" advice and kissed concrete. B'Urban kept it real for 6th.

There are no official results yet, but it's obvious that the gopher women destroyed their category this season. The A men probably managed to land Brian Crosby in the top 3 overall, with the team effort locking in the Team Conference Overall.

I'll have a conference recap once I'm done with finals.

~Tink

I'm not in Kansas, but here are some quick results from the day one road race and TTT:
Men's A race: Brian Crosby: 2nd
Women's race: Steph and Kari 1 and 2, though I don't know which order.
Men's Bs: Deovn Palmer: 1st.

TTT: Men's As: 1st
Women: 1st
Men's Bs: no clue

Can I get a hell yeah? Particularly for the Gopher Bs finally beating St. Cloud State, who have dominated us so far this year. I'm pretty sure we've got the conference overall wrapped up.

Today is the crit: go gophers, and keep the rubber side down.

~Tink

At this weekeend's Lincoln Plating Spring Cycling classic in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Gophers duked it out with the other NCCCC teams and finished with a total of 7 podium spots over two days of racing.

In Saturday's road race, the biggest challenge was the wind. In the men's A race, Minnesota's Andy Cook outsprinted current national criterium champ Mark Smelser for the win. It was a one-on-one drag to the line, and Cook earned his 1st place medal with everything he had.

In the Bs, an early attack group battled increasing wind gusts for four laps, with the Gophers working hard to keep Devon Palmer in the lead group. Devon ended up landing the Gophers 3rd place against the dominant St. Cloud State team.

The women's race was another victory for the Gophers, with Steph Tompson and Kari Edvenson blowing away the field for 1st and 2nd, respectively.

The rain, rain, rain came down, down, down in Sunday's circuit race. A bunch sprint saw crit champ Mark Smelser of Kansas cross the line first, with Minnesota's Andy Cook a wheel length behind in 3rd.

The Bs improved on their previous days performance with aggressive riding and smart cornering on the soaking wet course. Once again, Devon Palmer was the Gophers strongest B rider, finishing 2nd.

The women's race saw a rare bunch sprint at the final straight, with Steph Thompson edging out an Iowa rider, and Kari Edvenson coming in for 3rd.

The battle against the elements was almost as intense at the racing this weekend. Great job Gophers!

~Tink

p.s. A big thanks to our coach Billy O'Reilly this week. He's in Fruita on his MTB after spending the weekend giving us handups in Nebraska.

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:

Hola, Amigos.
I know it's been a long time since I hollared at ya, but the U of M team has been on the down-low since Kansas. Here's how the weekend turned out:

Brad got bored with the pace of the Men's A crit and rode off the front for the win,
with 4 other grophers landing in the top 11.

The men's B crit was a learning experience. After workin it hard in the Team Time Trial, we had a hard ride in the crit. Maybe next time.

The women's crit went similarly to the women's road race. Steph and Kari beat everyone for 1st and 2nd, respectively.

We got so many overall points that we couldn't fit them all in the trailer and Kansas had to mail them to us.

We now have two weeks off from racing due to NDSU not hosting an event. After that it's our home race and then off to Nebraska. There will be a lot of training in the next week and a half as long as the weather holds off.

Til then, keep the rubber side down,


Tink