President takes 'plunge' with Red Hawks

Ripon President David Joyce, an avid mountain biker, joined members of the cycling team Friday, Feb. 18, as they plunged into the frigid waters of Lake Winnebago as part of the Special Olympics of Wisconsin Polar Plunge event in Oshkosh.

The team's efforts raised more than $1,700 to support the state's Special Olympcis efforts to provide funding for nearly 10,000 athletes with cognitive disabilities. Joyce agreed to participate as part of the "Toss Your Boss" event.

Joyce, along with Ripon cyclists Andy Ayers, Jeremy Brouwer, Andy Fehrenbach, Benjamin Jones, Paul Meuer and Head Coach Ric Damm, jumped into a hole cut in the ice at Millers Bay near Menominee Park in Oshkosh. And it was COLD!!

Thank you to everyone who supported our efforts, and a special thanks to President Joyce for being such a good sport.

A painful reminder

Our thoughts and prayers go out today to our friends and colleagues at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C., and to the family and friends of Carla Swart. Swart, who signed with HTC-Highroad this past fall, died today after being hit by a truck while training in South Africa.

According to the report from Cyclingnews.com:

The 23-year-old Swart was riding on the road to Marquard in the central Freestate province of South Africa when a truck slammed into her.

Barry Austin, Cycling South Africa’s team manager who saw the accident happen, said Swart turned around right in front of the oncoming truck moments after she had lost her cycling computer.

“I could see how the driver slammed on his breaks. He even swerved to the right so as to avoid smashing into Swart, but it was to no avail. The truck hit Swart full on, flinging her into the air,” Austin said.

Swart died before she reached the hospital.

According to Austin, Swart was doing time trialing exercises when the accident happened.

Swart was born in Graaff-Reinet, South Africa but moved to the USA with her family when she was 15. She represented South Africa in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, finishing eighth in the road race as the top South African finisher.

She was a multi-discipline US collegiate champion in 2008 and finished eighth in the 2010 Ronde Van Drenthe World Cup. She also won the best young rider's award in the Tour de L'Aude stage race and finished 10th in the women's race at the road world championship in Australia.

HTC-Highroad posted a moving message on the team's website: "Carla, in such a short time you became part of our family and touched us all with your vibrant personality and your constant smile. You infected us with your zest for life and we will forever have you in our hearts. Our wishes go out to Carla's family and loved ones."

Deon Swart, the father of Carla, wrote the following on her facebook wall. "Carla's dad here. We all know Carla has claimed her place in Heaven. She was in a cycling accident today in South Africa while training. Thanks to everyone that was so involved in her life and career. RIP Carla. What more can I say at this stage."

Be careful out there.

Freezin' for a Reason

As we did last year, members of the Red Hawks Cycling team and I will be jumping into the frigid and murky waters of Lake Winnebago this February. This year, we've challenged College President David Joyce to join us for the 2011 Polar Plunge in Oshkosh, Wis. Joyce has agreed to participate as part of the event's "Toss Your Boss" event Friday, Feb. 18. Joyce will take the plunge if the team raises at least $1,500 to support Special Olympics of Wisconsin. So we need your support!

Last year Ripon cyclists Andy Fehrenbach, Paul Meuer, Eric Smith and Head Coach Ric Damm joined nearly 2,000 participants who jumped into Lake Winnebago at Millers Bay near Menominee Park in Oshkosh.

This year's Oshkosh event is one of 12 throughout the state being organized to raise funds for Special Olympics. According to the Special Olympics Wisconsin Web site, money raised through the Polar Plunge provides funding for nearly 10,000 athletes with cognitive disabilities.

Special Olympics Wisconsin is a statewide organization providing persons with cognitive disabilities year-round sports training and competition. Individuals who are at least eight years old and are identified as having a cognitive disability are eligible for participation. With seven Area offices throughout the state, Special Olympics Wisconsin serves nearly 10,000 athletes in nearly 189 communities statewide. Special Olympics Wisconsin is one of the 50 state programs and one of nearly 200 countries providing this opportunity to more than one million athletes worldwide.

Donations to Special Olympics Wisconsin on behalf of the Ripon cycling team can be made via our pledge site. Checks made payable to "Special Olympics Wisconsin" also can be sent to Ric Damm at Ripon College, PO Box 248, Ripon WI 54971-0248. For more information, e-mail dammr@ripon.edu.

7th Annual Ride for Rosita Coming Jan. 22

The seventh annual Super Spin Saturday: Ride for Rosita will be held Saturday, Jan. 22 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the newly renovated YMCA in Fond du Lac (90 West Second Street). I'm pretty sure I've attended all six to date, and this year promises to be the biggest and best to date. If you haven't been to one yet (and even if you have) make plans to attend this year.

Participants from six-year-old beginners to pros are welcome to spin for one hour or up to four hours. A limited number of stationary spin bikes will be available, however, participants are encouraged to bring their own bikes and stationary trainer or rollers. If you don't have a trainer, some will be available for use with your bike.

Every participant will receive a free one-week membership at the Fond du Lac YMCA. Plus, $1,000 worth of prizes will be awarded in various categories for most money raised.

Cost to participate is $5 per hour or a flat fee of $15 per individual or $25 per couple or family. United Hearts for Health volunteers will once again serve their very tasty homemade energy bars (worth the cost of admission alone!). To support the cause, you also are encouraged to raise additional money through pledges. All checks should be made payable to “United Hearts for Health/Holy Family.” Download the registration form.

The Red Hawks will once again be leading an hour of spinning beginning at noon.

Super Spin Saturday is a fund-raising event to support United Hearts for Health (UHH) and its health care efforts in Rosita, Nicaragua. The first group of Fond du Lac medical missionaries traveled to Rosita in 2003. The health care system they found was in a dire crisis. The hospital infrastructure was rotting away, the laboratory facilities were inadequate for diagnosis, dental equipment was inadequate and the infant and maternal mortality rates were — and remain — among the highest in the world.

Since 2003, a new hospital has been built and a new well drilled to provide potable water to the hospital and its patients. Fond du Lac health care providers have treated more than 600 patients in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, that number rose to more than 1,200 in Rosita and at two nearby satellite locations. Every year the cost of medicine and supplies goes up, and UHH relies heavily on donors to help us purchase the type and amount of medicine and supplies needed to treat patients effectively. The cost of medication alone was over $10,000 in 2009.

For more information, including a photo gallery from last year's Super Spin event, visit the United Hearts for Health Web site or call 920-921-6021.

You can also check out the Ride for Rosita on facebook.

New trail process has begun

As many of you already know, Ripon College finished in the top 10 in a nationwide voting contest in August. Ripon’s proposal to build a mountain bike trail on campus was among the top-10 vote recipients in the $25,000 category of Pepsi’s Refresh Project. Our proposal finished in 10th place for the month of August to earn the grant.

The Pepsi Refresh Project began in 2010 as a means to help “refresh” communities, according to Melisa Tezanos, communications director for Pepsi. Anyone can submit ideas on the Pepsi Refresh Web site in tiers of $5,000, $25,000, $50,000 and $250,000 grants.

“We accept up to 1,000 ideas every month across all of the tiers,” says Tezanos. “The top vote-getters in each of the categories receive the grants.”

Each month, Pepsi awards $1.3 million. Tezanos says Pepsi is using the money the company saved by not advertising during the 2010 Super Bowl.

The Ripon College mountain bike team has flourished in the three years since its inception in 2008. The team has won the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference Division 2 team championship and qualified multiple students for national competition in each of the past two years. Still, the nearest mountain biking trail is more than 20 miles from Ripon. Using the money from the grant, we now expect to have a mountain bike trail on campus before the start of school in 2011.

Our team has experienced moderate success to date, but in order for Ripon to recruit top-level mountain bikers and provide those riders with an adequate training ground on campus, we felt this trail was a necessity.

The trail will be located in the wooded sections of the College’s Ceresco Prairie Conservancy at the west end of campus. The Conservancy comprises 130 acres of native prairie, oak savanna and wetland habitat. The area is part of the Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Glacial Habitat Restoration Program, a partnership between the DNR and the College. Damm says the new trail comes with the approval of both Professor of Biology and Director of the Conservancy Skip Wittler and the DNR.

The consensus is that a mountain bike trail fits well within the existing recreational uses of the property without posing any adverse risk to the prairie ecosystem or other guests.

To minimize the potential for erosion and other impacts of the new trail, the grant money is being used to hire the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s Trail Solutions team to design and build the trail. That was the entire reason for seeking the grant. Once it was agreed that a mountain bike trail was an acceptable use of the land, we wanted to be certain that the trail was built to the best standards to ensure the integrity and longevity of the trail as well as the prairie and woodland habitat.

Jill Van Winkle, a trail specialist with Trail Solutions, met with Professor Wittler, President David Joyce, some of the Red Hawks cyclists and I yesterday. Today, she is well on her way piecing together the initial design for the trail. The Trail Solutions team will return in spring to begin construction.

After speaking with Jill and walking around the woods, I’m excited by the possibilities. This trail will not only provide an excellent resource for our team, but it will be another great jewel in the crown of the Ripon community. The trail will be built will some challenges in mind for more advanced riders, but will not be so intimidating as to scare off would-be newcomers.

We want this trail to be a gateway for others who are curious about the sport of mountain biking. Ripon students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the Ripon community at large all supported this project and gave us the votes we needed to secure the grant. This trail will be built for all of them, and everyone is welcome to use it. We hope you'll join us next fall. In the meantime, check back often for updates.

Red Hawks finish 13th among D2 schools at Nationals

Eric Smith capped the Ripon College cycling team's efforts at USA Cycling’s Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals at Northstar Resort at Tahoe Sunday with a 13th place finish in the men’s D2 downhill event. Smith’s run time of 4:29.8 was just three seconds off a top-10 pace and helped propel the sophomore from Charlottesville, Va., into 9th place in the individual omnium competition.

With help from fellow sophomore Andy Fehrenbach of Stevens Point, Wis., Smith put the Red Hawks into 13th overall in the team omnium. Junior Renee DeBruin of Appleton, Wis., crashed hard in the opening cross country event, breaking her right collarbone and forcing her out of competition.

Ripon opened the weekend’s racing at the ski and mountain bike resort near Truckee, Calif., with a 25th-place finish by Smith in the cross country race. Fehrenbach placed 34th and DeBruin did not finish. In Saturday’s short track race, Smith placed 20th and Fehrenbach was 39th. Smith also competed in Saturday’s four cross gravity race.

He was eliminated in the first round and placed 27th.

Overall, Smith scored 161 points to put him securely in the top 10 among the D2 men’s omnium participants — one spot up from last year’s 10th place finish.

DeBruin's unfortunate accident hurt Ripon in the team omnium competition as the Red Hawks lost a spot from last year’s 12th place finish.

It is unfortunate that Renee was unable to finish her race. She was positioned in the middle of the pack after the first lap and doing very well. Of course it is disappointing both for Renee and the team, but thankfully her injury was not more severe. In fact, it is one of the most common cycling injuries. She is recovering, and she'll be back next year.

Our cycling program remains ahead of expectations set forth when the team was established in the fall of 2008. We've won our conference championship twice now and qualified multiple riders for nationals in each of the last two years. There is a lot of room for improvement, but our trajectory so far has exceeded expectations. We have a solid foundation of talent to build upon, and we will only get better.

For complete results, visit USA Cycling's web site. And check out the photos I took posted on flickr.

Time Trials: Sept. 30

• Eric: 3:43.63/3:55.94/4:07.72/4:07.38/4:07.90/4:05.72 = 24:08.29 {-42.02}
• Furby: 4:17.42/4:20.52/4:28.31/4:33.19/4:34.72/4:29.50 = 26.43.67 {-07.36}
• Paul: 4:26.54/5:16.84/4:46.16/4:46.72/4:51.63/4:53.00 = 29:00.89
• Rosette: 5:16.32/5:13.78/5:14.76/5:25.03/5:26.65 = 26:35.54 {-10.79}
• Renee: 5:04.29/5:23.44/5:29.10/5:46.03/5:32.49 = 27:15.38 {-1:53.05}
• Ben: 4:56.57/5:02.85/4:44.90/4:48.22 = 19:32.54 {-50.00}
• Jeremy: 4:48.89/4:58.12/4:51.94/5:05.06 = 19:44.01 {+33.42}

Lap = 1.05 miles

It was a beautiful night for the time trials. Sunny, warm ... a slight breeze out of the south giving the riders a tailwind down the finishing stretch.

Eric set a blistering pace, beating last week's mark by 42 seconds. It's amazing how similar his lap times were for laps 2, 3 & 4 with only .52 seconds difference between them.

Furby, Rosette, Renee and Ben also improved their times from last week. Renee did so by an astonishing 1 min. and 53 sec. Jeremy slipped 33 seconds off last week's time, and Paul's time can't be compared to last week's since he added a lap. Though Paul's 5-lap time this week was about 1 min. slower than his 5-lap total last week. He's also riding a new bike and had to stop after lap 2 to adjust his seat post.

I continue to be pleased with the progress I see week in and week out with this group. With the conference championships this weekend, the collegiate season will close for all but those going to Nationals. I wish I could oversee their training during the summer months to assure that they each come into the beginning of the collegiate season in prime shape. Each of them has much more potential than we've uncovered to this point.