Big Ring Flyers "On the Fly"

Kirke Vei TT; MN State RR; Border Battle; More time trials

Aug. 18-24

COTTAGE GROVE, WISC. - Roadwork reduced the Kirke Vei Time Trial to 10.1 miles on a course that was relatively flat and fast. Of course "The Wall" at the end of the event was still there.

A handful of Flyers pushed through the course in several different categories (aero, stock and single speed) and got a little damp in the process.

On the women's side, Julie Phelps finished second overall riding a stock bike, 12 seconds behind overall winner Mary Jarosz. Phelps won the women's stock division.

For the men,

FULL RESULTS COMING AS SOON AS THEY ARE POSTED

A short video from the event (and some shenanigans involving David Goetzinger) can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0fUqQkfZds

AVON, MINN - Back in Minnesota, Jeff Colbeth had a 10th place finish in the Minnesota State Road Race, racing the Cat. 5 division while Robert Cattanach (SPBRC) finished 11th in the 50+ Masters category.

RIVER FALLS, WISC. - Weekend action continued Sunday on in the dirt as Dave Oachs (www.nicolletbike.com) rode to a 20th place finish in the WORS/MNSCS Border Battle in River Falls Sunday.

The event brought riders from Minnesota and Wisconsin mountain bike series together for a head-to-head battle on the White Ridge Trail near River Falls.

Oachs, center (www.skinnyski.com)

"The course featured loads of fast single track, with a couple of prairie segments mixed in," according to a report at www.skinnyski.com. "While the trails were bit dusty, the cool weather and constant breeze were welcomed. The WORS series won the inaugural Border Battle trophy, edging out the MNSCS series by less than a dozen points."

WILLOW SPRINGS, ILL - Elmer Colyer continued his battle in the Chicago Time Trial Series Sunday with the rescheduled race at Willow Springs.

Colyer finished 3rd in the 50+ division with a time of 41:36.

The stage was made up by two trips around a 15K triangle through forest preserve, according to organizers who also threw in a timed hill climb ("1.5K long 6 percent grade hill and we'll know for a fact who can lay claim to being the mountain goat of Illinois").

MEDINA, MINN. - Dan Ross finished out the TNT Tuesday night time trial series near Medina on Aug. 18 with a strong time.

Ross finished the 11-mile out-and-back course in 27:52 for an average speed of 23.68 mph, good for 27th overall.

Average speed for the event was 23.41, according to event results.

The Back Page

Recent news and results:

Real Wheelin' RR; Race The Lake; ABR Masters TT

Aug. 16-17

MAUSTON, WISC. -- The torrential downpours of the 2007 race at Mauston gave way to a sunny, warm conditions for the 2008 installment of the race through the hills of south central Wisconsin Aug. 16.

The team put 10 riders in the field and Andrea Potyondy-Smith (44th overall) continued to add to her win total for the season on the women's side with another victory, finishing ahead of Julie Phelps (50th). Potyondy-Smith is in the hunt for both the yellow jersey, polka dot jersey and the "fastest woman" categories in the season competition.

On the men's side, Mike Buelter (23) and Jeff Colbeth (29) were the quickest of the team's male riders Saturday.

Team results:

23- Mike Buelter

29 - Jeff Colbeth

30 - David Harkness

39- David Goetzinger

44- Andrea Potyondy-Smith

45 - Nate Phelps

50 - Julie Phelps

57 - Varick Olson

63 - RJ Ochmann

68 - Daniel Johnson

GARDEN PRAIRIE, ILL. -- A pair of teammates took to the, ummm... level roads of the ABR Masters National 30K Time Trial Saturday near the northern Illinois community of Belvedere in the 50-59 age bracket.

Elmer Colyer (Free Flight Bikes) finished second to Wayne Simon after riding the course in 43:34 -- an average speed of 27.4 mph.

Rick Green (RVO) finished 11th in the same age group.

The course was described by organizers as "out and back relatively flat with a few rollers" and closer to 31.5 K in length.

FOND DU LAC, WISC. -- If 27 miles of racing over almost 2,000 feet of elevation change isn't enough, try a 92ish-mile race the next day.

Coming off a 30th place finish at Mauston Saturday, David Harkness headed up to Fond du Lac for the inaugural Griffen Race The Lake Sunday. He was joined in the peloton by fellow Big Ringer Kyle Schmidt who also rode the race, which both said was well organized and ran smoothly.

"It was an epic event indeed!" Harkness said. "The first half was not real bad. It felt like a stage in the Tour. Every town we went thru the race turned into a mini crit with the speed increasing and the field spreading out.

"The pack jacked up the speed before High Cliff State Park and then we hit the hill where the park got its name and the field split. Our chase pack included about 25 riders with four of us doing all the work. By the time we finished we had seven. I fought cramps for the last 25 miles but somehow managed to get past them."

Harkness finished 38th overall, claiming second place in his age group.

Schmidt said he held the front group for the first half of the race was held up by a crash in Appleton. He also hit some road kill but still managed to finish 64th.

"I think it was a raccoon," he said. "Then I hit a water bottle. Ninety-two miles starting at 5:50 AM is nothing to sneeze at."

A $10,000 purse to be split among winners and 353 finishers were listed for the event.