Red Hawks Continue Winning Ways at Michigan Tech

Eric Smith's first foray into the collegiate men's A category was a successful one. The freshman from Charlottesville, Va., placed sixth in the cross country race, fifth in the short track cross country race and first in the super D event hosted by Michigan Technological University Saturday and Sunday in Copper Harbor, Mich.

Smith made the jump to A in all race categories in a bid to secure a spot on the start line at nationals in Truckee, Calif. His teammate, Tiffany Seering is all but a shoe-in for the championship event to be held at the Northstar at Tahoe resort, Oct. 16-18. Seering, a junior from West Bend, Wis., placed second in the women's A cross country race; was first in the A short track race and was second in the A super D.

The performances of Smith and Seering capped a successful weekend for the Red Hawks. Freshman Andy Fehrenbach abandoned Saturday's cross country race due to pain in his right wrist from a crash the week prior. He came back strong Sunday, however, to finish third in the men's B short track race.

The Ripon men swept the podium in the men's C short track event. Junior Andy Ayers of Eagle River, Wis., junior Zach Smith of St. Louis, Mo., and freshman Paul Meuer of Elburn, Ill., finished in first, second and third, respectively. All three also finished in the top 10 in Saturday's cross country event where Ayers was second, Smith was eighth and Meuer was ninth.

The Red Hawks will travel to Columbia, Mo., next weekend for the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference Championships hosted by the University of Missouri.

Kettlepalooza 2009

The Red Hawks cycling team will be at regionals in Missouri, but I wanted to spread the word about this great event planned by Randy Wegener. If you're interested, contact Randy at rwegener@excel.net

Hey Everyone,

I know the next few weeks are super busy with MTB races, CX races, etc. but I've got a fun weekend planned for anyone who may be available. Some of you may or may not know that I've been heading up the volunteer trail building effort at Greenbush for the last few years. Last year I organized a trail building day that was quite succesful. We were able to complete loop #3 of the new trail system. This year myself and Gary Lake, who is involved with the Southern Kettles, have joined forces to organize another trail building event but this time it is going to be bigger and better. I've arranged with the Northern Kettle Moraine Forest Superintendent, Jerry Leiterman, to provide our group with complementary camping, shelter use, park passes, and trail passes for October 2nd through the 4th. The weekend will consist of trail building, group rides, bbq, and some fun events. All free to participants who volunteer a few hours of their time to help us try and complete loop #4 of the new singletrack on Saturday morning. This loop has been rough cut by the DNR but it is up to us as volunteers to do the finish work. This will finish the new trail system with a total of approximately 9.5 miles of singletrack. I've listed the itinerary for the weekends events. Whether you can come out for the entire weekend or for just the trail building on Saturday we'd welcome your participation. This is a family event so bring the entire family. If you think you'll attend please drop me a line as we are trying to get a head count for food and whether you'll be bringing children. I appologize if this is a duplicate e-mail for some of you but now that all the times have been secured I wanted everyone to be informed.

Thanks,

Randy

KP EVENT Schedule

FRIDAY

• Noon 10 pm Arrival and Camping Set Up in Group Sites 8 & 9
• 8:00 pm - Friday Night Ride Bring Lights

SATURDAY

• 8:30 am Gather for the workday at the shelter
• 8:45 - 9:15 Invasive species presentation and safety discussion presented by the DNR, Award presentation to WI's best trail and trail advocate sponsored by Gnomefest.
• 9:15 am -10:00 am Depart for worksite and organize crews at site
• 10:00 - 1:00 Trailbuilding
• 2:15 - 2:45 Kids Race & Ride
• 2:45 pm - Ladies Ride, Group Rides, Hangin' Out
• 6:00 - Kettlepalooza BBQ: Brats - Chicken. - Hamburgers - Corn on the Cob - Soda - Beer - all complimentary to Kettlepalooza participants thanks to generous donations from WORBA, The FatCats and Gnome-Fest!
• 7:30 - Just before Dark - Derby
• Group Camp Fire

SUNDAY

• Morning - Group Rides at Greenbush
• Afternoon - Group Ride at New Fane?

Week 6 Time Trial

1. Eric = 20:45.28 (3:51.28/4:02.25/4:14.25/4:19.79[16:27.57]/4:17.61)* {+0:07}
2. Andy F. = 21:21.57 (4:16.97/4:11.75/4:19.10/4:20.81[17:08.63]/4:12.94)* {-1:22}
3. Andy A. = 18:44.44 (4:25.70/4:40.67/4:51.20/4:46.87) {-0:09}
4. Paul = 21:11.28 (4:57.03/5:09.34/5:29.41/5:35.50) {-2:27}**
5. Zach = 22:52.07 (5:09.85/5:45.43/6:35.09/5:21.70) {+2:06}

*5 laps: the number in [ ] indicates the total time after four laps for comparison to the other riders.
{time difference from last week}
**Paul's time difference is from two weeks ago

Lap distance: 1.05 miles

Eric's and Andy's overall times were pretty consistent to last week, as were their individual laps. Furby showed some dramatic improvement over last week's times, gaining a minute and 22 seconds. Paul gained more than a minute since his last time trial effort two weeks ago. Zach's slow down can be attributed to the injury he suffered to his knee Saturday at Purdue. Though he said the knee felt OK, rather it was his stomach that he said was bothering him. We'll see how this all plays out this weekend at Michigan Tech.

Seering repeats in DS at Purdue

Last year at Purdue, I coaxed Tiffany into giving the dual slalom a "go." She had never done any gravity event. Heck, it was her first season on a bike. But the slalom course at Purdue is so tame, it brings gravity to the masses. So Tiffany gave it the old college try and wound up winning her category.

We returned to Purdue this season with the intent that every Red Hawk would take a chance down the grassy, dirty, mulchy slopes of Slater Hill. And every Red Hawk — with the exception of Zach, who was beat up from a mishap in the cross country race yesterday — donned a full-face helmet and took a ride down the hill.

Tiffany had the most success, winning the Women's B category by defeating Brooke Crum in two tries.

Smitty took second in the Men's B, and Shaggy took second in the Men's C. Everybody had a blast with the experience, including Furby who was reluctant after injuring his wrist during the short track. While he was eliminated after two runs, he admitted he had fun despite the pain.

Paul "Jumbo" Meuer looked a bit out of place taking his 29er down the course weaving between the trees. He was eliminated after two runs against Shaggy.

The dual slalom capped a fairly successful weekend for the Hawks. Smitty took third in the brutal short-track race. Furby, who went down hard in a grassy turn, showed true grit in finishing the race. His effort earned him an eighth place.

Shaggy took fourth in the men's C race with Jumbo coming in seventh.

Tiffany hung in for fifth place in the women's A event.

Smith 2nd; Seering 3rd in Purdue XC

First-year Eric Smith sprinted his way to second place and junior Tiffany Seering finished third in the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference cross-country race at McCormick Park on the Purdue University campus.

In the Men's B race, Smith came out of the woods in third place behind Lindsey Wilson's Taylor Ladd and Jacob Brackett. He clung to the wheel of Brackett, who was in second place, until the final stretch when he dug deep and sped away to claim the number two placing. The path of dry and extremely dusty dirt that served as the starting and finishing stretch was also very loose. Smith lost control in one of the open turns near the end of his first lap. When it came down to the finish, however, he played it safe — riding in the wake of the Lindsey Wilson rider until after that final turn — before turning on the jets down the straightaway.

Seering took to the woods in the three spot and held her ground there throughout her three laps. She came within 10 seconds of eventual second-place finisher Brooke Crum of Lindsey Wilson, but a run-in with a tree in the final lap forced her to settle for third. It was her best placing of the season in the Women's A category.

In the Men's C race, junior Andy Ayers was Ripon's best-placed rider in fourth.

The Red Hawks will return to the Purdue campus tomorrow for the short-track cross country and dual slalom events at Slater Hill.

Week 5 Time Trial

Eric = 20:38 (3:57/3:53/4:14/4:21[16:25]/4:13)* {-31 seconds}
Andy F. = 22:44 (4:24/4:36/4:37/4:33[18:10]/4:34)* {-20 seconds}
Andy A. = 18:53 (4:24/4:46/4:54/4:49) {-28 seconds}
Zach = 20:46 (4:45/5:24/5:27/5:10) {-19 seconds}
Tiffany = 26:18 (6:29/6:45/6:38/6:26)
President Joyce = 22:15 (5:04/5:43/5:49/5:39)

*5 laps: the number in [ ] indicates the total time after four laps for comparison to the other riders.
{improvement from last week}
Lap distance: 1.05 miles

Wisconsin nonmotorized trail users need to voice support for SB 265

In reaction to the following plea, I just sent the message below to the members of the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry and Natural Resources (Sen.Holperin@legis.wisconsin.gov; Sen.Sullivan@legis.wisconsin.gov; Sen.plale@legis.wisconsin.gov; Sen.hansen@legis.wisconsin.gov; Sen.kedzie@legis.wisconsin.gov; Sen.Grothman@legis.wisconsin.gov).

I urge all Wisconsin hikers, bikers and nonmotorized trail users to do similar.

Dear Wisconsin State Senators of the Committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry, and Natural Resources,

I am writing you to voice my support of Senate Bill 265. As you are well aware, this bill would create a much needed segregated fund with an annual appropriation of $10 million or 1 percent of state motor fuel taxes, whichever is less, to be spent on the maintenance of nonmotorized trails. This is a measure that I whole-heartedly support.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources already administers similar programs that provide grants to snowmobile and ATV clubs to pay for the upkeep of their users’ trails. It seems fair, then, that a measure to make local government and nonprofit groups eligible to receive money to fix biking and hiking trails be put in place.

There currently exists a great disparity between how the maintenance of motorized and nonmotorized trails are funded. Revenue from a motor vehicle fuel tax is an appropriate source of nonmotorized trail funding.

This concept has won majority support on the Special Committee on Enhancing Recreational Trails for Nonmotorized Use.

There are two other bills before the you which I support: SB 266, which would create the Nonmotorized Recreation and Transportation Council; and SB 264, which would increase the trespassing penalties for ATV, snowmobile and other off-road motor vehicle drivers.

I ask that you please continue to moves these bills forward.

Thank you.

Hawks make impression at WORS Treadfest

Eric Smith continues to impress as he finished first in the 17-18 year age group in the Sport category of today's Wisconsin Off Road Series Treadfest race at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wis. He was first among a group of 10 riders, completing three laps of the technical course with lots of vertical in just over 1 hour and 20 minutes. His time was good enough for 16th overall among all Sport racers.

Andy Fehrenbach finished just more than 6 minutes behind his teammate, good enough for sixth in the age group and 59th in the category of 182 finishers.

Forty-four starters did not finished the race, a testament to the difficulty of the course and the unseasonably warm temperatures. Among those who did not finish was Andy Ayers, who was forced to withdraw from the race with a broken chain on his second lap.

Zach Smith finished 12th in the Sport 19-24 group and 142nd overall. Due to a timing SNAFU, Paul Meuer was not given a result, which is unfortunate, because the determined first-year racer definitely finished the race.

On the women's side, Tiffany Seering finished third in the 19-29 age class of Sport riders with a time of 1:49.58 for three laps. Her result was good for 15th among all women Sport competitors.

The beauty of a WORS race is Coach gets to race, too. I finished second in my 35-39 age group of Comp racers and 12th overall with a time of two hours and four minutes for four long and agonizing laps.

Wednesday Time Trial Results

Well, I tweaked the time trial just a tad this week. I had Smitty and Ferbie, my B riders, go one additional lap for five total — a bit closer to race time for the short track races, which is what the Prairie course most closely resembles.

Both Smitty and Ferbie went great guns on their first laps and then slowed. Again, Tiffany was unable to participate. She spent a good deal of time at the hospital today and the entire team wishes her well.

I also had the opportunity to try out my new stop watch.

Everybody showed improved times compared to last week ... a good sign of progress.

Times were as follows:
Eric = 21:08.87 (3:55/4:07/4:14/4:27[16:43.93]/4:25)*
Andy F. = 23:04.21 (4:21/4:30/4:35/4:41[18:17.33]/4:47)*
Andy A. = 19:21.15 (4:38/4:39/5:07/4:53)
Zach = 21:05.24 (5:06/5:08/5:27/5:24)
Paul = 23:38.37 (5:50/5:39/6:05/6:12)

*5 laps: the number in [ ] indicates the total time after four laps for comparison to last week

Seering, Smith top performers for Hawks on Day 2 of Romp

Tiffany Seering took fifth in the Women's A STXC race today, while Eric Smith finished fourth in the Men's B event.

Tiffany did her best to hang on to the four Lindsey Wilson riders in her field, but the tempo and the repeated climbs proved to be too much. Lindsey Wilson's Ashley James once again proved she is the best in the discipline by setting a blistering pace. While Tiffany once again proved her toughness by hanging in until the end despite pain in her right knee.

"Smitty" battled hard for third place in the Men's B race, but couldn't maintain the pace of Murray State's Eric Dobberfuhl, the eventual third place finisher. Smith was within seconds of Dobberfuhl's wheel, but was forced to settle for fourth place in the final three laps.

Our other B rider, Andy Fehrenbach rounded out the top 10.

In the Men's C race, Andy Ayers was in a solid third place when he lost control of his bike on a grassy downhill section that was still wet with morning dew. Andy remained upright, but lost his momentum, allowing Michigan Tech's Andrew Reed to swoop into the 3 spot. Zach Smith and Paul Meuer finished behind Ayers in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

Red Hawks Romp at Nordic Mt.

Eric Smith dominated the Men's B downhill competition during the Red Hawks Romp at Nordic Mountain today. Smitty took the top place by more than 20 seconds in the event in which riders combined their times for two runs down the rocky trails of the ski area. It was his first competition on his new downhill rig after shearing the rear axle on his old ride at Butler last week.

It was Smith's second first-place finish in the discipline in two weeks and led the Ripon attack. Eric was also Ripon's top finisher in the Men's B cross country race, taking third place behind Joseph Maloney of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Taylor Ladd of Lindsey Wilson College. Ripon's Andy Fehrenbach finished in 14th place in the event.

In the Women's A cross country race, the Red Hawks sole female Tiffany Seering took sixth place, just over a minute and a half behind fifth-place finisher Brooke Crum of Lindsey Wilson.

Andy Ayers again led Ripon in the Men's C race. The junior from Eagle River, Wis., was about two-minutes off the pace of second-place finisher Graham Kennedy of the University of Michigan. The Red Hawks put all three of their C Men in the top ten with Zach Smith finishing 8th and Paul Meuer finishing 10th.

Week 3 Time Trial

This week we extended the time trial to four 1.05-mile laps in an effort to get closer to exceeding 20 minute times.

Everyone showed a lot of consistency in each of their four lap times and everyone showed improvement when comparing total time for three laps last week versus three laps this week. Well, everyone but Andy F. Believe it or not, Mr. Consistency hit the exact same time for three laps this week as last. Each of his four laps tonight differed by only six seconds.

Eric was the first to crack the four-minute mark. He did so on his first lap. Impressive given that he was riding Andy's Velorution Cannondale. He did wipe out on one of the turns in his fourth lap, however.

Unfortunately, Tiffany is sick and missed tonight's training. We hope she feels better tomorrow.

Times were as follows (the number in [ ] indicates the total time after three laps for comparison to last week):
Eric = 16:50 (3:53/4:03/4:14[12:10]/4:40)
Andy F. = 18:31 (4:35/4:37/4:41[13:53]/4:38)
Andy A. = 20:32 (4:51/5:04/5:18[15:14]/5:18)
Zach = 22:01 (5:09/5:35/5:37[16:21]/5:40)
Paul = 23:56 (5:19/6:02/6:01[17:22]/6:34)