Kaos Riders Still Going Strong in Cyclocross and Gravel

As the cycling season winds down Team Kaos has several riders who are still going full speed ahead, training and racing in the cyclocross arena.    Some Kaotics  have been doing this for years but this year we had several members give it  a try for the first time:  Matt ODonnel and Jordon Ross are both accomplished category 3 riders on the road, and they did their first race at the Omaha Cycling Weekend in early October.  Junior rider Mark Heubner also did his first cyclocross race that weekend on a borrowed bike.  All three said they had fun but they lost out to more experienced hard core riders.  But perseverence pays off.  At last weeks twighlight race ODonnel came in second in the B group and won his age division and Ross finished mid-pack in the A group.  Other TK riders were Ted Lechnowski, Andy Keffer, and Scott Kiddoo.  (Rich Pearson was watching from the sidelines with an injured shoulder).   The weather finally cooperated; instead of warm and sunny weather (not suitable for true cyclocross) race promoters were blessed with cold and rainy weather--perfect for cyclocross.   Upcoming events: Omaha Twighlight Cyclocross #3 Nov 9, Nebraska Flatwater Cyclocross Series (and State Championships) November 19th and 20th. 

Team Kaos Gets Ready for Cyclocross

After a successful road racing season some Kaos riders are gearing up for cyclocross and gravel races.   Several riders have already competed in regional cyclocross races; Rich Pearson and Vaughn Pierce were at the USGP Planet Bike Cup near Madison Wisconsin the last weekend of September.   (See pictures at the Omaha CX facebook page).  And at least one Kaos rider (Andrew Keffer) is slated to ride the North O Jackrabbit Hundy gravel ride on October 15th.  Lets hope  the weather will cooperate with some typical rainy cold weather to make it challenging.

Team Kaos Gets Ready for an Exciting Weekend of Racing

Preparations for the Omaha Cycling Weekend are well underway. The weekend consists of three events:

Saturday morning July 16: Cornhusker State Game Time Trial--16 miles of rolling hills near Elkhorn, Nebraska. (Team Kaos)

Saturday evening July 16: Papillion Twighlight Criterium: A challenging course around the city hall and neighborhoods of Papillion. (Put on by Midwest Cycling Community)

Sunday morning July 17th: Dave Babcook Road Race: 49-72 miles of rolling hills with a challenging uphill finish. (Team Kaos)

Go to www.omahacyclingweekend.com for more details including course maps and race bible. Registration is through www.USACycling.org only. On- site registration is not available for the time trial and road race but will be available for the Papillion criterium up to 30 minutes before the race.

Pearson on the podium at Joe Martin:

Rich Pearson had a successful weeke

nd of racing on May 7 and 8^th, riding in the Masters B race at Joe Martin Stage Race in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He did well on the 2 mile hill climb time trial, coming in 3^rd, just 4 seconds off the leader. Later in the day he gained a second at the road race, coming in 5^th. Going into Sunday’s crit he was just 3 seconds behind the leader for all 3 age groups in Masters B: 40+, 50+ and 60+ (he was 7 minutes ahead of the 2^nd place 60+ rider). The

crit had one short lived breakaway and came down to a mass sprint up the final hill. Pearson stayed with the group but time, ending up just 7 seconds behind in General Classification. Other Nebraskans racing were Rich Anderson, Sam Oaks and Joe Savoie, all from Elkhorn Valley Cycling Club.

Kaos has two omnium wins in Iowa City:

Jordon Ross, Chris Spence, Marc Walter, Robert

Swanson, Derek Wilson and Rich Pearson participated in the Iowa City Road Race, Iowa City Time Trial and Old Capital Criterium on April 30/May 1^st. Spence and Walter both took it easy in their cat 2 race, ending up towards the rear of the race. Pearson came in 1^st among the 60+ riders. Ross had a photo finish win in his cat 4 race, with help from Wilson and Swanson. Ross started his sprint too early and almost got caught. (take a look at the pictures on facebook). At Sunday’s crit Spence and Walter competed in the 40/50/60 masters race (along with Pearson) while the others did the cat 4 race. Pearson won the 60+ crit and also the 60+ omnium, and Ross came in 3^rd in the crit and 1^st in the Omnium for cat 4. (He is now a category 3 rider).

Kaos Makes Repeat Visits To Podium In Tour De Husker

Team Kaos hammered through wind and cool weather in the Tour de Husker race weekend to garner podium finishes in all three events.

Kaos’ Kevin Limpach took first place in the Cat. 1-2-3 road race, followed by Kaos’ Chris Spence in second and Kaos’ Jarred Berger in third. Limpach broke away early in the race with teammates behind him blocking the peloton from bridging. Spence and Berger worked to corral Ian Robertson (Flatwater Cycling) which allowed Limpach to cross the finish line with an 18-second lead. He finished the 59-mile course in two hours and 37 minutes, an average speed of 21.65 mph. Spence and Berger followed in a furious sprint. Kaos’ Joe McWilliams followed a few minutes later, about two minutes in front of the main pack, which include Kaos racers Marc Walter, Vaughn Pierce and James O’Donnell.

In the Cat. 4 race, Kaos’ Jordan Ross took fourth place in a breakaway quartet of strong riders comprising teams such as Midwest Cycling and Central Plains Cycling. Kaos’ Travis Furman crossed the line four minutes later in sixth place. Kaos’ Rich Pearson crashed on the second lap but managed to hold ninth place after a 15-mile solo effort.

Gusts only strengthened later in the day as the start time neared for the time trial, which had many racers questioning their wind-catching disc wheels. Despite the wind, Berger blasted a 34:37 time in the 15-mile loop, averaging 26 mph. The effort got him first place. Spence came in 51 seconds later for second place. Walter and Limpach capped the Kaos showing with fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Kaos’ Cat. 4 contingent garnered second, fourth and sixth places with finishes by Ross, Furman and Pearson, respectively.

On day two, the criterium turned out a duel between Flatwater’s Robertson and Limpach. Limpach, trying to dig into a minute-and-a-half deficit on the general classification standings, broke away for a solo effort. Two others were able to bridge to him and the trio quickly gained a 30-second gap, with Robertson giving chase at the head of the peloton. But the chase group suffered while the trio stretched their gap. McWilliams sprinted away to gain 10 seconds on his own. Meanwhile, Limpach squeaked by the two others in his group in a first place effort decided by inches. McWilliams soloed across for fourth place and the main group sprinted in with Robertson taking fifth, Pierce taking sixth and Spence taking seventh.

The Cat. 4 criterium field splintered early, but Pearson, Ross and Furman stayed with the front group. In the final sprint, Ross took third, Furman took sixth and Pearson took 10^th.

The overall general classification finishes for Kaos out of 14 finishers:

CAT. 1-2-3:

Berger – first

Spence – second

Limpach – fourth

Walter – sixth

McWilliams – eight

O’Donnell – 10^th

Pierce – 12th

Cat. 4 (22 finishers):

Ross – second

Furman – fourth

Pearson – sixth

The racing was held April 16 and 17 for the third annual Tour de Husker at Branched Oak State Park and Lincoln Southwest High School.

Team Kaos scores 2nd 4th, 5th and 6th in season opener.

Team Kaos started the Nebraska/Iowa road racing season off with a bang at the 3rd annual Twin Bing Classic in aptly named Climbing Hill Iowa. The hills and cool weather make it one of the toughest early season races Thanks to Bill Feiges and the rest of Sioux City Velo for putting on a very organized event.

Here are some excerpts of what 2nd place finisher Marc Walter had to say:

"After a slow start into the headwinds I was hanging out in the pack watching for attacks. Knowing that the crosswind section was coming up I wanted to make sure I was around teammates. This is a classic strategy to blow up a field--get the team in an echelon, stretching across the road and not letting others in. What happened next was very unexpected. I followed the wheel of Clark Priebe of Trek and soon we had rolled off the front. We caught one other guy up the road and started rotating. Right before the crosswind section, I looked back, and was amazed that the pack wasn’t there. Clark and I upped the pace but the other guy didn’t rotate, and on the tailwind hilly section we dropped him. Clark was taking strong pulls up the hills and I thought I could not last. Knowing I had a strong team behind and so did Clark I backed off. The group gained on me and at one point I thought I was going to get caught."

"As I topped the big hill, I figured the group would be on my tail, but when I turned around on the descent they weren’t there. Soon Jerome Rewerts, of team Zealous, bridged up. We were 2 minutes ahead of the pack and 1 minute behind Clark. Soon afterwards we picked up Clark and the pace picked up. I knew the teams must be covering and not letting the group pick up the pace. Now it was just a matter of settling in and maintaining the nutrition/hydration to avoid cramps."

"The next time up the hill, we dropped Clark. Jerome and I waited a bit at the bottom for Clark, but Clark wasn't there, so we pressed on."

"In the headwind section we maintained a smooth rhythm, rotating through. When we got to the tailwind it was time to just roll it over the tops trying not to push the power. This was the last lap and either we start attacking each other or sprint it out."

"The mile long hill finish was up next, with a big headwind. With 1k to go Jerome took the lead. With 300 meters I put it in one gear harder, got up out of the saddle, and bogged down. As I shifted again a small gap opened and Jerome saw that, shifted into a bigger gear and beat me by 2 bike lengths."

"As we watched the finish of the main group, it was great to see my teammates Kevin Limpach, Jared Berger, and Chris Spence come in 4th, 5th and 6th. Team Kaos is a very cohesive bunch of guys to race with. The Specialized bike equipment from JoyRide Bicycles is top notch along with all the sponsorship investment that goes into making this team work."

Other Kaos starters in the A group were Vaughn Pierce and Joe McWillams but they did not finish.

In the B group the Kaos plan was to get Jordon Ross across in a high finish, but he was overeager and spent too much time in front at the beginning. Most of the 71 riders stayed together for the entire 48 miles with a few bursts of speed interspersed with sections where the pace slowed to a crawl. The final tailwind/cosswind section blew the pack apart into several groups. Ross, Matt O'Donnell, Andrew Keffer, and Mark Weitzel stayed in the main pack all the way to the finish, but Rich Pearson got caught out when a gap opened up. The final result: Jordon Ross 8th, Matt ODonnell 11th, Mark Weitzel 13th, Andrew Keffer 15th, Rich Pearson 20th.

But while all that was going on Team Kaos did get a winner in the juniors race: 16 year old Mark Heubner snagged his first win over 9 other juniors over a 24 mile course. Only 3 of them were actually rotating through and Mark was able to easily outpower the others on the big hill.

Overall it was a great race. Everyone thought the course was very challenging. Hopefully Team Kaos will do even better next year.

Next up: Le Tour de Husker in Lincoln.

More reports coming on the opening Mountain bike race last weekend and Matt Farnhams collegiate races.

Team Kaos Announce Modifications to RR and TT courses

Team Kaos President Rich Pearson and Race Director Craig Tuttle announced today (March 30th) slight modifications to the Omaha Cycling Weekend Road Race course, and a new Time Trial Course.   The original course crossed 204th street (Highway 31) which was initially approved by the Department of Roads. However, after discussions with local law enforcement officials Tuttle came up with a better plan that does not require crossing the highway.  Law enforcement also felt that the original time trial course had too many traffic concerns.

The Elkhorn Time Trial will still be held Saturday morning, July 16th, but will now begin at the corner of Rainwood Road and 204th street.  Parking will be at the Army Reserve Center about 200 meters south of the start.  Click here to see the course.  It goes on part of the road race course but in the opposite direction.  There is one big downhill just past mile 3 and one big uphill at mile 12, otherwise there are gentle rollers.  Organizers estimate that the fastest times for the 14 mile course will be about 32 minutes.

The Babcook Road Race will still be on Sunday morning and will also start at 204th and Rainwood with registration and parking at the Army Reserve Center.  There will be a 1 mile neutral roll out, then onto the traditional 6.8 mile loop in a clockwise direction, which will be repeated several times.  The finish will be at the top of the hill on Deer Ridge Road, just west of 225th street. The uphill finish will be a challenge for all riders and will produce an exciting finish.  The feed zone will be on that same hill. Click here to see the road race course.

Plans are well under way to make a successful weekend of racing. 

Team Kaos announces race courses for Omaha Cycling Weekend

Race Director Craig Tuttle and Team President Rich Pearson announced today the courses for the Bennington Time Trial and Dave Babcook Road Race, two of the three events for the Omaha Cycling Weekend to be held July 16th and 17th, 2011.  (The third event is the Papilion Twilight Criterium on the evening of the 16th).  The web page http://www.omahacyclingweekend.com/ is under development and will have full details soon.

The Bennington Time Trial will be held Saturday morning, July 16th and will be based at Bennington High School one mile west of Bennington, which is only a few miles NW of Omaha.  The 15.7 miles course is completely different from last year and will take riders along a series of gentle and not so gentle rollers, plus a few relatively flat sections.  Most racers will use their full range of gears.  All corners and both turnarounds are at the top of the hill or on an upgrade.  See the map and elevations here.

The Dave Babcook Road Race will be held Sunday morning July 17th and will also be based at Bennington HS.  The race will starts with a 2.7 neutral roll out, to just past Highway 31/204th street.  After another mile racers will turn left to start a 6.6  mile loop, including the dip down into the valley and up the one big hill.  That hill has grades up to 10% and will take about 6 minutes to climb.  This is the same loop that has been successfully used for several years, except last year when the lower section was flooded.  After several times around the loop racers will head back across 204th street to Bennington HS.  The last section after the loop has 6 rolling hills which should provide an interesting finish.  The finish is at the top of the hill just west of Bennington HS.  Organizers have obtained permission to use restrooms etc at the high school and there will be plenty of parking. See the map and elevations here

More details will be coming soon.

Team Kaos at Jingle Cross

Matt Farhnam and Zach McClintock competed in Friday evening's Jingle Cross Rock in Iowa City, Farnham in Cat 2, McClintock in Cat 4. Farnham flatted at the top of Mount Krumpet and had to run a half lap to the pits to get a wheel change, and ended up toward the back of the group. 15 year old Zach McClintock bested his father Russ in the Category 4 race; both finished in the lower half of the group.

In Saturday's Masters 55+ race Rich Pearson worked hard to avoid falling in the slippery conditions and ended up 4th place, just ahead of one of his regular rivals from Kansas City Dean Parker. In the Cat 2 race Farnham again had bad luck and crashed. His front wheel got caught in one of the small mud pits and sunk in deep, throwing him over the handlebars. In addition to smacking his knee hard it took him a good twenty seconds to extract his wheel from the mud. He was worried that he had injured his knee, right below where he fractured his femur a couple years ago, so he took the safe route and DNFed.

Conditions were cool but sunny--perfect weather for cyclocross. Other Nebraska riders were Dave Randleman, Rich Anderson, Kevin Murray, Noah Marcus, and Sydney Brown. (Maybe a few others too). Race commentary was provided by Lincolnite John Leffler.

Sunday Nov 28: Overnight temps in the 20s froze the ground solid, then warming temps turned the top 1/2 inch to a slippery goo. Zach McClintock started out the morning in the junior group of 7 riders Zach finished the course strong but towards the back of the group. He gained valuable experience at falling and getting up and finishing the race. His dad Russ competed right after him in the cat 4 race. see him here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenbiking/5211117687/in/photostream/


Right after that it was Rich Pearson in the Masters 55+ race. At this time the plan was to open up Mount Krumpet but race officials wisely decided to keep to the shortened juniors/cat 4 course with the bypass. The descent off Mt. Krumpet was just too slick to ride or even run without falling. (Only the UCI elite women and men used Mt. Krumpet in the afternoon). By the time of the 10 am masters race the course was still partly frozen and required running on off-camber sections. Pearson fell once and saw Landon Beach pass him by. Pearson got up and chased but never caught him, and ended up with a 5th place. The Sunday podium was exactly what it was on Saturday.

Pearson may have been distracted by the bikini clad women who left 30 seconds before his group.

Matt Farnham was slated to compete in the category 2 race but was still nursing a sore knee from saturday so did not start. That was a wise move, as most of the riders fell at some point in the race due to the slippery conditions, made worse by a new mud puddle that had formed next to the bike wash station, catching riders off guard and sending many to the ground.

3 Team Kaos Riders Have Fun at Spooky Cross

Team Kaos's newest and youngest member Zach McClintock riding through the mud puddle at Spooky Cross.

The old and the new (and in between) met up at Spooky Cross in Des Moines over the halloween weekend. The newest (and youngest at almost 15) member was Zach McClintock who rode to a 3rd place finish on Saturdays race. His dad Russ was planning to beat Zach in his race which had both juniors and Cat 5 racing together. But Russ fell in his warm up and broke his handlebar in two pieces and had to drop out. Later Rich Pearson rode to a 3rd place finish in the Masters 40+ group plus 4th place in Cat 3. And Matt Farnham came in 3rd against some very impressive competitors in category 2.

go here to see some pictures in our facebook album.