Spring Fling Criterium Series

Hello,


Saturday morning the skies were clear and cold. When I drove to the shop it was a balmy 28 degrees in Leavenworth. Nonetheless 25 of our team showed up for the race. The race started with the men's masters 35 +. This is a super fast field which carried speeds over 24 mph for 45 minutes. Art Mathisen took several breaks away from the field with the help from his teammates Carl Fischer and Mark Ramsden. Unfortunately, they were unable to make them stick as the field was simply too fast. Great job by all riders.


Next was the ladies category 4 race. The category 4 women warmed up as a team. All on trainers all working together. They rode the course before the race. One racer fell before the race started and her teammates rallied to help her get started. Our ladies took 1st in the ladies' category 4 - Ann Parthemore. Also we think that Kirsten Carl, Danielle Lansford, Mary Still, may have placed in the women's category 4.


Next up was the men's category 4/5. This is a tough race for the category 5 men. They are pushed into a larger field with faster speeds and greater time. The three men who raced the master's race were repeating again in the 4/5. Also racing in the 4/5 were Sean Smith, Kris Howell, Sparky Anderson, and Spencer Wallace. These folks raced a tough race. Carl Fischer lead the race out for a full lap followed by Mark Ramsden, Kris Howell and Sparky Anderson. Both Kris Howell and Sparky blocked from the front of the field as Art Mathisen committed attack after attack. Spencer Wallace also tried some attacks to soften the field. The 4/5 turned out to be even faster than the masters race. Great job by all who raced!


Next was the ladies category 3/4 race. Erica Haas attacked early to gap the field with a rider from another team. Ann Parthemore was a loyal teammate who avoided pulling the field back to Erica. Instead she waited for an opportunity and attacked the field herself. Ann rode across the gap to help Erica. Now there were three riders off the front of the field. Erica, Ann and the woman from the other team. Erica and Ann took turns attacking the other rider who played it smart. She had been drafting Erica the entire time and was now well rested. Erica took second by a foot and Ann took third in a superb effort!


Finally came the men's category 5 race. This race started with a bang. Literally. There was a crash after the first lap. We had 14 men in the field. The plan had been to control the pace. Didn't work so well. Sparky was up front several times reeling in the break away. Spencer Wallace and Sean Smith positioned themselves well in both the sprint lap and the final. We think that Spencer placed in the top 6 overall.


Many thanks to all our riders who showed. Especially to first time racers like Kristen Carl, John Doolan, Blake Lansford, James Lee, Howard Matthews, Chris Rowe, Patrisha Schneider, Jeremiah Still, Mary Still, and Marc Welde. Big thanks to Ron Stratton for transporting ALL OF OUR TEAM GEAR to the race! Ron is awesome! He showed up on Friday and loaded all the gear a day early. Fired up! Thanks to Paula Burton for organizing all our registration materials! Thanks to Jesse Patteson and Shawn Morelli for showing up to help on race day.


Roger Harrrison, alias the Lanterne Rouge, provided the  wonderful pictures that appear on our shop facebook page.  He also provided our team with a heater for our warm up tent.  Thanks Grand PooBah!