Smitty 20th in DH; Red Hawks 12th Overall

Eric was looking forward to the downhill competition at the collegiate mountain bike championships. After dropping a chain during his qualifying run for the four cross yesterday and missing the 32-man cutoff by less than a second; he was very much hoping to redeem himself today.

But a few technical difficulties had him a bit on edge. First, he discovered a missing nut on the pivot of his rear suspension. The bolt could not be tightened. It didn't seem like the bolt would come loose, so attempted the four-cross qualifier with confidence. The dropped chain cut his competition in that event prematurely, but it gave him time to practice the downhill. So while 32 D2 men raced for the national championship in 4X, Smitty took three runs down the DH.

On his third run, he severely bent his rear derailleur hanger thus effecting his ability to shift well. Between the loose bolt and the bent hanger, Smitty's confidence took a hit. Still, his outlook before departing on his first seeding run was positive and he came away with the 26th best time (5 minutes even) of the 51 D2 competitors — meaning he'd be the 26th rider to tackle the DH course for the real deal.

In his bid for the D2 national championship, he cut his time by 13.9 seconds to take 20th place with a time of 4:46.1. The winning time of 4:13.23 was put in by Michael Thomas of Appalachian State University.

In the end, Ripon finished the nationals competition in 12th place overall among the 25 Division 2 schools competing. Smitty's 20th in the DH, 22nd in the STXC and 28th in the XC dropped him into the top 10 in the D2 individual male omnium competition.

Tiffany 17th; Eric 22nd in Short Track

It's no secret, neither Tiffany nor Eric like the short track discipline. So after the grueling day both experienced on the mountain in the cross country event yesterday, they were most certainly not looking forward to the equally challenging short track course at Northstar.

They both put in great efforts in spite of the soreness in their bodies. It was exhilarating to hear Tiffany called to the start line first as the Midwest Conference champion. The exhilaration soon faded as the reality of the opening climb set in, followed be a nasty crash on the downhill section. In the end, Tiffany lasted only three laps before being lapped by the eventual winner, Kay Sherwood of Colorado College. Still, she wasn't the first to be removed from the race and placed 17th.

Having a good starting position would be key in the short track as the racers immediately climbed up a road of loose gravel. Eric was fortunate to have a place right up front, but like Tiffany, it didn't do him much good. He struggled up the long climb and the downhill section was too short for him to effectively use his skills to gain ground on the leaders.

Those leaders would eventually lap him, and Eric was pulled from the race with three laps to go. He finished in 22nd place among the 40 starters.

He hoped to do even better in the four cross event, but during his qualifying run, he dropped the chain and limped across the finish line. His run time was 35th best. Only the top 32 qualified for competition. Eric's time was 3/10ths of a second shy. Them's the breaks. You hope such bad luck doesn't occur during the biggest race of the year ... well, for Eric, the biggest race of the year is tomorrow. The downhill is his favorite event, and I predict he'll come back strong tomorrow.

Red Hawks Experience National-Level Competition in California

After Day 1 at the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals, Ripon was 10th (of 22) in the overall team omnium scoring for Div. 2 schools. This after a rough day for Tiffany and Eric.

Tiffany was the final woman across the finish line in the 3-lap, 22.5-mile cross country race Friday morning. She crossed the line in 3:30:46.40, battling the 800 feet of vertical on each lap and significant pain in her knee. Of the 19 D2 women who started the race in the village at the Northstar at Tahoe Resort in Truckee, Calif., Tiffany was 15th. Four women did not finish the race.

Similarly, Eric was the last man to cross the line for the D2 men. Eric finished the 4-lap, 30-mile race in a time of 3:07:03.65 to place him 28th among the 38 starters. Ten men did not finish the brutal race up and down the ski mountain at Northstar.

Regardless of the results, I was extremely happy with the effort and determination both riders showed today. In an odd move, the race officials pulled riders from the cross-country race if they did not complete the second (for women) and third (for men) laps in a specific time.

Had Tiffany come through the finish three minutes later after two laps, she would have been pulled. Instead she went out for her third lap. The effort almost proved too much for her though. But it wasn't. She completed the race ... a national race.

Eric was the last D2 man left to head out on the fourth lap in the men's race. Still he had a respectable race. He finished ahead of two D1 riders. And like Tiff, he completed a national-level race.

For both riders, it was tremendous experience. This is Ripon's first trip to nationals, but it will not be the last. Tiff and Eric will most likely be back next year, and now we all know what it takes to compete at this level.

Mountain Bikers Make the Marquee

Hawks' Wings Iced at WigWam MTB Challenge

The unseasonably cold weather put a chill into the Red Hawks cycling team yesterday at the Wigwam MTB Challenge in Sheboygan, Wis. Eric Smith was the only Ripon cyclist to earn a podium spot in the 12th and final race of the 2009 Wisconsin Off Road Series. Smith placed second in the male 17-18 year age class of the Junior X category.

Junior X is the equivalent of the elite category for racers 18 and under. Eric lost time when he had to repair a flat midway through the race, but he still finished. Several other riders abandoned the race after experiencing flats. Despite his mechanical setback, Eric finished seventh out of 13 in the Junior X category. Five of those 13 did not finish.

Andy Fehrenbach could relate to those who abandoned. He experienced two flats during his race and was forced to drop out after the second one. Furby was in good position in his age group (17-18) of the sport class before dropping out. It was unfortunate that he was forced to abandon because he was having a great race before the mechanical issues.

Tiffany Seering was the highest placing Red Hawk in the sport division. She finished 17th in the women’s field — fifth in her age group (19-29). During the race, she complained about having difficulty breathing due to the cold. With temperatures in the lower 30s at the start, the cold could have affected her performance ... perhaps cold induced asthma?

Ripon’s other performers — Andy Ayers, Paul Meuer and Zach Smith — finished 96th, 152nd and 158th, respectively, in the sport division.

It was not a great race for us overall, but it provided Eric and Tiffany with some more solid race experience leading up to nationals and gave the rest of the team incentive to work hard in the off-season to prepare for next year.

Eric and Tiffany will leave Thursday to head to the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals at Northstar at Tahoe Resort in Truckee, Calif. The rest of the team has some downtime before participating in the Iceman Cometh Challenge, Nov. 7, in Traverse City, Mich.

A new DVD for when it's time to head indoors

The days are becoming shorter and colder. Soon, it will be time to spend a good number of hours training indoors in the gym or the gloom of a basement corner. If the end of the season isn't depressing enough, being relegated to an hour spinning and going nowhere can seal the deal.

For now, the Hawks are concentrating on keeping Eric and Tiffany in top shape to race at nationals next week. When they return, however, our focus will turn to preparing for the 27-mile Iceman Cometh in Michigan. With the Iceman a month away, you can bet that the Hawks will be spending some time riding the trainers that Saris Cycling Group was so kind to donate to us last year.

Now, riding inside on a trainer doesn't have to be torture. There are lots of ways to make it fun and interesting. Selecting different movies and music and playing different games can make the time fly by. And of course there are any number of DVDs designed specifically for training indoors. I've found one series that recently came across my desk to be particularly interesting and enjoyable.

Global Ride LLC has produced a couple of virtual cycling DVDs that follow cyclists through scenic and challenging landscapes. Rather than watch a group of sweaty individuals riding trainers while you're riding a trainer (kind of hard to pretend you're doing something enjoyable when you're constantly reminded that you're not by the group in the DVD ... watching yourself in a mirror may be more effective), the Global Ride concept (and it's not a new one) helps you imagine your riding along the coast of a Hawaiian island or through the Dolomites of Italy by providing a first-person perspective.

I recently spent a raining morning with StrenDurance in Hawaii, one of three DVDs in the Hawaii box set. The DVD has U.S. coach and triathlon hall of famer Sally Edwards providing instructions and inspiration while we follow a cyclist on a four-mile climb on the island of Oahu and along the shore on Maui followed by more climbing up the Maui cliffs.

The scenery is magnificent and the accompanying music selections work well. I did, however, find the instructional audio a bit hard to hear and understand (If you're riding solo, you may want to use headphones.). I also found myself wishing the DVD included a visual dashboard to highlight the target exertion levels, cadence, heartrate and gearing, especially given the difficulty I experienced in understanding the coach's instruction.

Global Ride founder Gene Nacey, a certified spinning instructor and heart zones cycling coach, says they've improved the audio quality for the forthcoming Italy series. He also said the whole point of the Global Ride DVDs is to help the rider get lost in the scene before them on the screen, therefore they decided not to include any visual cues on screen.

In additon to the training offered on the bike, each DVD comes with a 30-minute off-the-bike exercise session to strengthen your core and improve flexibility. The Maui Rollers DVD includes a yoga; the StrenDurance DVD includes strength-training; and the Oceanside Ride DVD includes Pilates. Each is a perfect cool down to compliment your training ride while also working as an effective workout on its own when time is short.

If you're going to be spending some time locked away going nowhere, give the Global Ride DVDs a try. You can at least pretend you're exploring new, beautiful locations. But be prepared to make a financial investment. The Hawaii boxed set sells for $75 while the individual discs run $30 each. This is comparable to most other DVDs on the market, plus you get the added 30-minute off-the-bike training.

Visit the Global Rides Web site for more info.

Ripon Secures MWCCC Div. 2 Title

The Red Hawks headed into this weekend’s Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference Championships trailing Michigan Tech by 529 points in the Division Two standings. When the dust settled on the trails near the University of Missouri campus Sunday, Ripon had built a 217-point advantage over Tech to secure the 2009 title.

The Red Hawks effort was led by Tiffany who garnered 228 points with fourth-place finishes in both the Women’s A cross country and short track cross country events. T’s hard work moved her up in the overall individual season standings to third place — tops among Division 2 females — and ensured her spot at the upcoming collegiate mountain bike nationals at Northstar Resort at Tahoe in Truckee, Calif., Oct. 16-18.

Joining her at nationals will be Smitty, who claimed the Div. 2 individual conference championship. Smitty was ninth in the Men’s A cross country event Saturday morning. He then injured his left hand during a trial run of the downhill course that afternoon. Somehow, he was able to suffer through the pain and finish his two runs of the descent for an 11th-place result. He proved his mettle once more by returning Sunday to compete in the short track race on a challenging course that included a steep uphill climb and a rock-strewn downhill. The downhill section was so rough on his injured hand that we was forced to walk it on his final two laps. He still finished in the top 10.

Smitty merely needed to complete the downhill and the short track events to secure a spot on the starting line in those events at nationals. He wasn’t sure he would be able to compete with his injury, but he showed true grit and determination in not only participating in both events, but in performing very well considering the pain he was in.

Shaggy brought home two individual titles from the championship weekend. He won both the Men’s C cross country event and the short track event while also competing in the downhill and dual slalom events. He grossed the most points for Ripon behind Tiffany. Shaggy has shown a lot of progress in what is really his first season racing bicycles. He has a real competitive energy and a drive to expand from the cross country events into the gravity discipline.

Furby garnered the Red Hawks' only other podium placing with a second place in the Men’s B short track race. He also finished fourth in the Men’s B cross country event.

Zach flatted and crashed out of Saturday’s cross country race but returned Sunday to finish fifth in the Men’s C short track event. Paul was eighth in the short track and 10th in the cross country.

I’m very pleased with how far our program has come in just its second year. We’ve won the conference title and two of our riders have earned a trip to compete at nationals. Our progress is ahead of schedule.

Look for the Red Hawks at the final race of the Wisconsin Off Road Series, Sunday, Oct. 11, in Sheboygan.

Time Trial Week 7

1. Andy F. = 20:17.69 (3:55.16/4:00.78/4:05.13/4:10.30[16:11.37]/4:06.32)* {-1:03.88}
2. Eric = 21:36.75 (3:45.16/4:19.34/4:11.47/4:35.16[16:51.19]/4:45.56)* {+0:50.97}
3. Andy A. = 18:37.91 (4:17.44/4:34.34/5:04.99/4:41.54) {-0:06.53}
4. Paul = 20:42.37 (4:40.85/5:12.84/5:24.03/5:24.65) {-0:28.91}
5. Tiffany = 24:19.69 (5:31.25/6:09.60/6:13.18/6:25.66) {-1:59}**

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

Lap distance: 1.05 miles

Furby proved the fastest today. He dropped more than a minute from his time of last week. Must be the new bike.

Smitty wasn't feeling well, and his times showed it. He busted out the fastest time yet on his first lap, but his subsequent laps revealed his sub par health. In the end, he gained more than 50 seconds on last week's time.

Shaggy and Paul both continue to exhibit improvement, while Tiffany destroyed her prior best by nearly 2 minutes.

Ripon an Honorable Mention among Bicycle-Friendly Businesses

The League of American Bicyclists recently awarded Ripon with an Honorable Mention in its Fall 2009 list of Bicycle Friendly Businesses.

The League of American Bicyclists recognizes the businesses that promote bicycling for transportation, recreation, exercise and sport. These businesses also must practice social responsibility by including bicycling in the business culture, promoting the health of each person and the environment. When awarding these businesses specifically, they evaluate them in the four categories of encouragement, education, engineering and evaluation.

In response to this award, David Joyce, president of Ripon College, said, “Ripon’s Velorution Project for students and the recent extension of that program to faculty and staff is part of a broad effort to rejuvenate use of the bicycle as a fundamental form of transportation and recreation. We’re excited and proud to learn that our dedication to this effort has captured the attention of the American cycling community.”