[mplutodh1]

Alright, I know almost no one in here is a roadie but thought some would still enjoy reading this, XPost from the road forum.

Not sure how many folks in here keep up with the Collegiate road season but this weekend the top riders are showing their stuff in Kansas.

We sent 5 riders for the first time in our 3 year existence, it has been our goal since we started the team to send riders to nationals and this year our riders trained hard, worked their asses off, and we were able to not only put together a top notch squad but raise enough money (just barely) to send them.

Well the last of the races are tomorrow morning but tonights update from our riders via our discussion forum are super awesome!

Dispite the horrible rain, a snapped off fork, and a trip to the emergency room we are doing pretty darn well. Took 1 and 2 in the Division 2 road race today!

Check out the VeloNews article on Sean Brandenburg's bike, the update from our road captain is below:

http://www.velonews.com/race/dom/articles/8033.0.html

USACycling.org news states:

In the men’s division II road race, relatively unheralded Western Washington University captured the top-two spots as Nicholas Clayville and Brian Nelson placed first and second respectively. The two teammates escaped with one lap remaining of the 28-mile circuit around Perry State Park and held off the remainder of the bunch as Clayville soloed to the line 34 seconds ahead Nelson. Bennet Van Der Genugten (Cumberland) rounded out the podium in third place.

Yeah we were unheralded.... we are a new team and gonna start kickin some ass if they don't start watching out. One of the things I have loved about our team is that because we are new no one expects us, they see us, ignore us dont see any super threatening names.... yet Cat 4/5 riders in WA state will ask every WWU rider if they are Brian Nelson before the start, then when Brian replies, yup thats me... the group gets quiet... they know its over! Brian is a monster, the guys built like a tank, put him, Nick, Ben, Ryan, Sean together and they'll start causing all kinds of upsets!


Update to the team from our Road Manager

Sorry for the lack of updates, guys. With the trip to the Emergency Room yesterday and getting ready for the race today, we haven't had much spare time. We got back from the big victory today and rushed straight to the banquet for the jersey presentation (pics coming soon).

So Sean is fine. He got x-rays on his hip and shoulder, sources of great pain, but no damage was found. He is stretching right now, preparing to use his fresh legs for the TTT. My legs died at about 3:30, 5 miles from the finish, so I won't be as useful in helping them win another event! He is borrowing a bike from Aaron at Whitman. As long as he can hold his upper body up with his bum shoulder, I'm sure he will fly.

Not sure what else to say at the moment. I am so jazzed! I think we could have done much better in the crit and had higher standings overall, were it not for the terrible, jittery riding on the part of so many riders on the last lap. Ben had just came back from a 3-man break, and I was at 7th wheel covering a 4-man chase. Sean was close behind, when everyone swarmed up and just started falling over on us. I went down in the first crash, snarled my chain and took a few chain ring gouges to the leg. It took a few minutes to get the bike rolling again, by which time Sean had already had a close encounter with the parking meter on the 2nd to last corner (3rd crash of the lap). I didn't even notice him lying there - I was fighting for my 39th place. Ben got hung up behind all three crashes but didn't go down, so came through 17th.

Shortly after seeing Sean's bike back at the finish line, I heard he had been swept off in an ambulence. You can imagine our concern! But he was cognizant at the hospital, so that lowered our stress one notch. When we found out his hip wasn't broken or fractured, we were pretty stoked. There are guys walking around on crutches, in slings, you name it. A guy at Dartmouth said it best - that crit was a "stay-on-your-bike" contest. But if it hadn't turned into such carnage, I'm confident we would have had a killer lead-out!

On the bright side, if we had good results Friday, we may have been more closely marked on Saturday. Brian and Nick rolled away quietly, just like at the Palouse. People felt like resting and eating, and they waited until they were out of sight before they started hammering. Brian actually started off alone. Nick started bridging with on other guy shortly thereafter. We were like "Is Nick chasing?". But it actually worked. The offical on the motorcycle told Brian that Nick was coming, so he waited up, they got rid of the other guy, and they disappeared! Their gap hovered around 2 minutes for a while, but at one point reached 3:30! With teams limited to four riders each, no one could motivate to fight in the wind, or they just weren't strong enough. After the 55 mi. Palouse duo, I knew they would win! Brian had put some hard efforts early on, and Nick was super strong, so the last few hills caused them to split. He let Nick go in alone for the last 2 km. Brian came in 34 sec. back. Ben battled the group up the finish hill for a top ten spot. I just tried to hang on for the finish. I fought to rejoin the group 3 or 4 times after some hard hills and into the wind with every ounce of strength. I couldn't do it the last time up the big hill, so I rode 5 miles in alone for 44th.

Did we make you proud team! We are grateful you helped give us this opportunity by battling all season long for the points. I hope some of you can be here next year!

 

[Borregokid]

Congratulations on a great season. Not really a road rider but I heard you guys had one of the best in the state. Hope to see you guys at the Mt Baker Hill Climb.