Hilarious!

Red Hawks Ready to Romp

The Ripon College Red Hawks Cycling Team is looking forward to working with Nordic Mountain and the Wisconsin Off Road Series to bring a Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference race to Wisconsin Labor Day weekend.

The inaugural Red Hawks Romp collegiate mountain bike race will feature some of the area's best singletrack, a wickedly fun downhill course and a fast, challenging and spectator friendly short track.

This site will be the definitive source for race info. Take a peek at the course map, download the race flyer, check the race schedule and look for directions and lodging info.

For those who enjoy water sports, Nordic Mountain's new Nordic Wake Park will also be in operation.

The Red Hawks invite all Midwest Collegiate Conference teams to participate. Nordic Mountain provides some great spectating, so friends and relatives should come to watch. We'd also love to see some young high school mountain bikers who want to get a taste for collegiate racing.

Season Preview

The Red Hawks cycling program remains in its infancy, but I expect the team will take several big baby steps forward in just its second year.

We have two returning student-athletes who are now familiar with the college racing scene and know what to expect from the venues and the competition. For both of them, last year was their first year racing a bike of any kind. So that experience gives them a huge advantage over last year.

Plus, the Red Hawks add three new members who bring race experience to the fold.

Eric Smith, a first-year student from Charlottesville, Va., is a key acquisition for Ripon. Eric boasts three years of quality results in downhill and cross-country racing.

Eric is a student who will have an immediate impact on our program. He is certainly our first marquee recruit.

He is a versatile rider who has finished on the podium in both gravity and endurance events. He placed third in the 18 and under sport division of the 2009 USA Cycling Virginia State Downhill Championship at Massanutten Resort in McGaheysville, Va., in May. He finished second in two cross-country races this spring as well. He and a teammate finished in first place among beginner men in the sport duo category of the Paranormal 6-hour endurance race in Earlysville, Va., last November, and Eric finished second among racers 19 and under in the U.S. Junior Off-Road Duathlon (5k run/11k bike/3k run) National Championship in Richmond, Va., in April.

Andy Fehrenbach of Stevens Point, Wis., is another first-year recruit who brings experience to the table for Ripon. In June, Andy, who has been riding and racing for a number of years, placed second among 17- and 18-year-old males in the sport class at the Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) Big Ring Classic at 9-Mile County Forest near Wausau, Wis. It was his best placing of three WORS races thus far this summer. In July, Andy participated in the Bike Northwoods Tour, a six-day bicycle trip averaging 50 to 60 miles a day through Northwest Wisconsin.

Andy is a kid who just really enjoys being on a bike. His enthusiasm will serve us well, and I predict he will show some quick progress this fall.

Rounding out a trio of new first-year student-athletes for the Red Hawks is Paul Meuer from Kaneland High School in Elburn, Ill.

Also new to the cycling roster this fall will be Ripon juniors Andy Ayers and Zach Smith. Andy, a computer science major from Eagle River, Wis., was previously a member of the Red Hawks football team. This will be his first year racing a bike. Zach, a music and business management major from St. Louis, Mo., is also a member of the Ripon swim team. He brings several years of mountain bike racing experience to the cycling team. Zach is an athletic guy who has been on the bike in a race situation before, so he knows what he’s doing out there and should do well from the gun.

On the woman’s side, Ripon brings back Tiffany Seering, a junior from West Bend, Wis., and Christa Kussmann, a senior from Beaver Dam, Wis.

Tiffany provided us with the best individual results last year. Racing in the women’s B category, she posted two firsts and a second in the collegiate cross-country races. She added three second-places finishes in the short-track and brought home a first place from the downhill slalom event at Purdue University.

Tiffany is planning to make the jump to the women’s A category this year. In order to be competitive there, she is going to have to improve her speed and endurance. She’s a gutsy rider, and I’m confident that she will rise to the occasion.

I am expecting Christa, the sole senior on the team, to provide leadership. At the beginning of last year, Christa was content to simply finish the races she started. But as the season progressed, she showed significant improvement as she became more comfortable on the bike and her confidence grew. I expect that progress to continue this fall.

The Red Hawks add a third woman for 2009 with Charlotte Evans, a sophomore physics major from Berlin, Wis. An avid recreational cyclist, this will be Charlotte’s first year of competition.

I have no doubt that we will be an improved team compared to last year. We lost three great students to graduation, but we’ve added six new members who each promise to bring something special to the mix. I think we’ll be competitive as a team, and just maybe we’ll qualify one or two riders for nationals. That would be a very big step for our program.

The new jerseys arrived today

Batman is looking good.

Finalized Schedule for Fall

I've finalized the Red Hawks mountain bike schedule for this fall as follows:

• Aug. 22: Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series Race #7 @ Blue Mound State Park in Blue Mound, Wis.
  
• Aug. 29 & 30 @ Butler University
• Sept. 5 & 6: Ripon College Red Hawks Romp @ Nordic Mountain, Mt. Morris, Wis.
• Sept. 13: Treadfest: Wisconsin Off-Road Series Race #10 @ Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wis.
  
• Sept. 19 & 20 @ Purdue University
• Sept. 26 & 27 @ Michigan Tech
• Oct. 3 & 4: MWCCC Championship/Regionals @ University of Missouri
• Oct. 11: Wigwam MTB Challenge: Wisconsin Off-Road Series Race #12 @ Jaycees’ Quarryview and Evergreen Parks in Sheboygan, Wis.
• Nov. 7: Iceman Cometh Challenge @ Traverse City, Mich.

Should be a great year.

Tentative Fall 2009 Schedule

The Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference has announced the Fall 2009 mountain bike race schedule as follows:

• Aug. 29 & 30 @ Butler University
• Sept. 5 & 6: Ripon College Red Hawks Rendezvous @ Nordic Mountain, Mt. Morris, Wis.
• Sept. 12 & 13 @ Lindsey Wilson College
• Sept. 19 & 20 @ Purdue University
• Sept. 26 & 27 @ Michigan Tech
• Oct. 3 & 4 MWCCC Championship/Regionals @ University of Missouri

It looks like the Red Hawks will kick things off with an "exhibition" (so to speak) Aug. 22 at Blue Mound State Park as the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series hosts its seventh race of the year there. The WEMS races are always fun and challenging and will give the Hawks some quality race time before the "real" season begins.

And you read it correctly: Ripon will host its first collegiate mountain bike race with the help of the fine folks at Nordic Mountain ski area near Mt. Morris. Nordic has been hosting the Wisconsin Off Road Series Subaru Cup the past few years and offers some great singletrack and downhill facilities.

I still need to decide if we are up to making the 10+ hour trip to Kentucky for the Lindsey Wilson race. The trip may be too much and we may rather participate in Treadfest, race 10 of the Wisconsin Off Road Series at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva. The WORS races are so well run, and the atmosphere is always electric. Plus, I'm sure the team would enjoy an extra night or two in their "own" beds in Ripon.

Also, while I have already secured my entry to the Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 (as have a few others on the team), I am struggling to decide if our team goals wouldn't better be served by making the trip to Purdue that weekend to score more conference points in hopes of a possible nationals bid. If we don't travel to Kentucky the previous weekend, then Purdue is a must.

I'll be making the final decisions in the next few days.

Thank You!

The 2009 Wisconsin Cycling Association State Criterium Championship bicycle races have come and gone; and by the accounts of the racers and fans, the event was a huge success. More than 215 racers, along with friends and families, visited Ripon Saturday and left with many good things to say about our hospitable community. That success would not have been possible without the help and support of a wide cast of characters, including the cooperation of the businesses and residents along the race route. Your flexibility is greatly appreciated.

I’d also like to acknowledge T.J. Rogers and Accurate Controls and Doug Brewer and Brewer Heating and Cooling. They deserve a big “thank you” for their financial sponsorship of the event. Additionally, I’d like to thank Rippin’ Good Cookies for providing cookies for the race winners. The sweet treats were a big hit amongst the riders.

Also, thanks to John and Carol Bartow and Fond du Lac and Oshkosh Cyclery for their ongoing support of the Ripon College cycling team and their contributions to the state championship race.

Thank you also to the City of Ripon, the Ripon Police Department and the Ripon Public Works department: first, for granting permission to use the city streets, and second, for making those streets as safe as possible. Your extra efforts did not go unnoticed.

And while there were a few scrapes and bruises (and one broken hip), I would like to thank Chris Schattschneider, Brian Azinger, Mark Sabel and the Ripon EMTs for the quick and attentive care they provided to the injured racers.

I would also like to recognize the work of Danelle Phillips of the Ripon Medical Center and Stefanie Ehle of the Ripon College Office of Community Engagement for the fabulous Free Wheelin’ Children’s Bicycle Safety Expo and Fun Race. The many children and their parents with big smiles on their faces added a great deal of fun to the day’s events.

Thank you, also, to the Ripon Chamber of Commerce and Ripon Main Street for their constant support and encouragement.

A special thank you to Heidi Mingesz and her crew of race officials for their hard work and dedication to the sport of cycling in Wisconsin. We wish Rich Weiss, who suffered a heart attack Saturday morning before the races began, a speedy recovery.

An extra large “thank you” to John Van Susteren and his teammates at LAPT Cycling Club and to all of the volunteers who assisted with set-up, registration, announcing, corner marshaling, take-down and all of the behind-the-scenes details that make a bike race safe and fun.

We hope to bring the race back next year and with the support of the Ripon community make it even better.

Be sure to take a look at peloton-pix.com for a video and photos from the event.