Spring Fling Criterium Series March 3

Great racing today at Spring Fling Criterium Series!  We were lucky to bring along Will - an officer from the United Kingdom who is visiting Fort Leavenworth for two weeks.  He was excited about the opportunity to race and pledged to work with our team if given the opportunity to tag along.  How awesome is that? 

Big Ron Stratton and Carl Fischer selected a new site for the Team's tents.  They rock!  Tucked away behind the brick wall at Campground #1 we had two tents with walls.  We also had a heater thanks to Roger Harrison.  This was phenomenal!  It was pretty cold  with some hard blowing wind, but our team benefited from superb site selection.  We had a cozy site to warm up. 

First up was the Men's Masters 35 +.  Carl Fischer and Art Mathisen both placed (I think 4th and 6th).  Very fast and hard race. 

Next was the women's category 4 race.  Wow!  Ann Parthemore again crushed the field.  Breaking away and riding untouched  from the start.   Kirsten Carl also broke from the field and kept clean wheels for third place.  Danielle Lansford and Mary Still also placed in the top eight. 

The men's category 4/5 race came next.  Turbo fast.  We tried, but I think we all came up empty on this race.

The ladies 3/4 race.  This was another great demonstration in team work!  Kirsten Carl and Danielle Lansford set a very fast pace for the women's 3/4 race.  After two laps, Ann Parthemore and Erica Haas attacked.  This dropped most of the field.  Then Ann attacked again.  Erica rode the wheel of another women chaser.  Ann just kept going.  The field couldn't respond.  Ann won.  Erica took second.  Even cooler?  Last week's winner was dropped by their team tactics. 

Finally the men's category 5 race.  This was an exciting race!  Sean Smith, Sparky Anderson, Spencer Wallace and Will attacked hard going into the intermediary sprint.  They succeeded in getting points.  More importantly they stretched the "elastic"  of the lead group.  Will encouraged the group to drive the pace.  Only 8 men remained in the lead group.  This included Will, Sean and Spencer.  Spencer made a fierce attack from 300 yards out.  Will and Sean followed.  Spencer won the final lap!  Will and Sean finished in the top 4. 

Superb race!  Can't wait for next week!