Tour De Grove..  St. Louis, MO.. NRC Event (USA Crit Series, National Criterium Calendar)

For the second year in a row Ryan White and Andy Feuersthaler made the 6 hour road trip to St. Louis, MO for the Tour De Grove which is Round 5 of the USA Crit series.

Due to the Masters class being 40+ years of age, Ryan and Andy had to race the Cat 2/3 class. This class features many of the up and coming college teams and younger participants.

Day 1: Loop De Loop..  May 11^th, 2012..   Cat 2/3  (150 riders)  

The Loop is where St. Louis University is, and the area got its name because a century ago it was the location where the streetcars would turn around and return downtown.  

The race was sold out with 150 entries. The course was a 4 turn 1.3 mile Criterium with an uphill (4%) front straight, and a downhill back straight. Our race started at 7pm and finished under the lights. Large crowds packed the streets and the field was eager to give the fans something to cheers for. Ryan and Andy were at or on the front covering every attack. After 15 minutes of constant attacks, and nothing developing into a break we decided to let “the kids” tire themselves out. With 4 laps to go there was a break of 3 riders up the road and the peloton wasn’t working to bring it back. Andy decided to ramp up the pace down the back straight and reduce the gap. After pulling almost a lap, Andy swung off, and Ryan was right there. Andy and Ryan left the other 130+ riders behind them and were halfway across the gap. Ryan rode by Andy and said “I’ll take you to the break, and I’m done”. Ryan brought Andy to the back of the front 3 riders, and Team Velocause was in business. Andy encouraged everyone to work as hard as they could so the break would stay away. Two of the riders were skipping pulls, and the peloton was coming. Andy decided to go alone, full gas and see if he could solo the final lap. The field caught him in the final corner, and Andy salvaged 8^th. It was a bold move to go alone, but worth the try. After Ryan’s unselfish sacrifice for the team, he tucked back into the field and rolled in with the group.  

Day 2: NRC Tour De Grove..  May 12^th, 2012..  Cat 2/3  (141 riders)  

The “Grove” formerly know “Adam’s Grove”, “Rock Spring”, and “Forest Park Southeast” was one of St. Louis’s first subdivisions and is located directly South of the Central West End.  

Saturday’s race was the main event of the weekend with the Pro field racing for a $15,000 purse.  

The course was a flat, fast 8 corner Criterium. Once again (as it was all weekend), every time anyone attacked the entire field would react, in a panicked fashion. This led to a race with constant surges and no breakaway. Ryan was convinced that something would develop into a break, and was on the front all day. In the end it was groupo compacto, and on the final lap with 3 turns to go there was a 65 man pile up that collected Ryan on the right side of the road and Andy on the left side. Ryan bent a front wheel and picked up some new road rash on both knees and elbows, Andy landed on his head cracking his helmet in half. Both riders were fine, and joked about how many people were on the ground. Riders that were behind the crash had to dismount and walk around on the sidewalks because the entire road from left to right were littered with bikes and bodies.  

Day 3: Dutchtown Classic..  May 13^th, 2012.. Cat 2/3 (137 riders)  

The Dutchtown neighborhood got its name from the 19^th Century German settlers in the area that use to call it Deutch town. Dutchtown is a residential area on the South side of St. Louis.  

The course was a 6 turn, 1.8 mile Criterium with a hill top finish. Cross winds, a fast downhill turn 5, and a uphill finish made this course the most challenging of the weekend. Convinced that a break would not stick, and it would end up in a field sprint, Andy and Ryan stayed about mid pack and just went with the surges. The plan was for Andy to go from the last turn full gas to the base of the hill, leading out Ryan. All things were in place as Andy and Ryan came out of the final turn in 6^th and 7^th. Two riders in front of us locked handlebars, and violently slammed to the ground. One of the bikes missed Andy’s head by inches, and the sprint was disrupted. Andy just sat up and rode it in for 18^th, and Ryan sprinted past a few more for 12^th.  

Matt Wittig Memorial.. Muskego, WI.. WCA (Wisconsin Cycling Association). May 12^th, 2012  

Muskego Park is a very challenging 1.8 mile loop through the with an uphill finish.  

Masters 4/5: Randy Scoville and Tim Gullickson entered this class for Team Velocause and finished 16^th and 24^th respectively. There were 48 riders that started.  

Masters 3/4: Once again Randy Scoville entered back to back races and was joined by Michael Froh. Mike got second place, just missing the win by inches, and Randy finished 32^nd. 41 riders started.  

Masters 1/2/3: McGee Young was the only Team member to enter this class, finishing 27^th. 43 riders started.  

Crystal Lake Classic.. WORS (Wisconsin Off Road Series).. Camp Tesomas Rhinelander, WI. May 20^th, 2012  

Cat 2 (comp): Brian Schwaller was the lone Team Velocause member to race round 2 of the WORS mountain bike series.  Right away during the lead out Brian was thinking "this is easy, they aren't going very fast right now".  Brian surged up the first hill with Bill Street (a fellow competitor).  The two gapped the entire wave and they never looked back.  They raced off the front the whole race battling for the lead the entire time.  On the 2nd lap the heavens opened up and everything was soaked.  By the end of the lap it was done raining and the previously (overly dry) course was now as fast as ever.  They continued battling until the last mile when chain suck caused Brian to lose 10 seconds to Bill Street.  He couldn't close the gap and ended up 2nd in the wave by 9 seconds.  They put over 3 minutes into the 3rd place guy from their wave, but 2 guys beat them from the first wave so Brian ended up 4th Overall, 1st in his Age group.  

Wheels on Willy.. Madison, WI.. WCA (Wisconsin Cup Association). May 20^th, 2012

Masters 4/5: Randy Scoville was our lone participant in this category. Randy was in the Top 5 for the majority of the race, and finished 11^th. 50 riders started the race.

Masters 3/4: Once again Randy Scoville raced back to back, and was joined by Michael Cudahy (in his first 3/4 race, after earning an upgrade to cat 4), and Michael Froh. The plan was for Randy and Cudahy to assist Froh in winning the “super prime”, and race for the win. With a long slightly uphill finish, this course suited Froh’s strengths. Cudahy riding with very high confidence after last week’s WORS mountain bike win did everything he could to bring Froh to the front. Mike just missed the prime, and finished the race 5^th. Mike and Randy finished 22^nd and 25^th respectively. 58 riders started the race.

Masters 1/2/3: Andy Feuersthaler, Benny Smith, Ryan White, Ross Giese (G’Pa), and Chip Pieper (Soccer Dad) lined up for the top tier Masters division. This was Ross and Chip’s first race of the season. 90 riders started the race, and it was fast from the whistle. A couple quick attacks were covered by Ryan White and Benny Smith, but the pack was still together early. When the pace backed down Andy went to the front to increase the pace, and rolled off the front. Not meaning to attack, Andy found himself off the front with the whole front straight gap. He want a bit harder and had almost a half lap lead. He pondered going all out and seeing if he could lap the field, but feared using all that energy to only blow up. Andy sat up after a few laps off the front and waited for the peloton. Several more attacks were attempted, but nothing was going. Then the announcer started calling out primes. There seemed to be a prime ever couple laps, and half the crowd had bells, making the field wonder what the deal was. It was also hard to hear the announcer, and see the lap board. 3 riders rolled off the front after the field was sprinting for a prime, and that ended up being the winning break. With 2 to go Andy and Chip moved up the order. Andy found one of the experienced sprinters on the final lap, and was sure he would take him to the front. With 2 corners to go Andy jumped off of his wheel, and sprinted from a large gap to finish 9^th (6^th in the field sprint). Chip had a great first race of the year and finished 18^th. Ryan got 26^th, Benny 39^th, and Ross finished 44^th.

Pro 1/2: Chris Zugel race the Pro event and finished 24^th out of 101 starters.

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Michael Cudahy wins Round 1 of WORS Mountain bike Series. 

Last Sunday was the first Mountain Bike race for the Wisconsin Off ROAD Series, (WORS).  The race was held in Iola, WI and the weather was foul with heavy rain plaguing most of the day.  Cudahy’s race was delayed for one hour which was really of no help as far as weather is concerned, except for one thing:  Velocause team mate Mike Cudahy knows his way around mud.  Spending most of his mountain bike training in the sloppy Milwaukee River trails, he’s become accustomed to these conditions.  Tire selection, pressures, bike handling and the worst of conditions all strategically played into Cudahy’s hands.  Cudahy had established a strong 9th place at the start of the race, and methodically picked off competitors until he drudged himself into the lead half way through the first of two laps.  Cudahy held the lead for the rest of the race, winning his first-ever mountain bike race, almost four minutes ahead of his closest competitor.

Special thanks to all of our sponsors that help support our causes!

Ben's Cycle | Bartolotta Restaurants | Gruber Law Offices | Grand Cafe Centraal | Hardrath Design | HED | Milwaukee Bicycle | Northwestern Mutual | Prudential | RiderSurance | Sherwinn Williams | Specialized | 

Whitnall Park Criterium | Saturday, April 28^th | Wisconsin Cup Series

Team Velocause planned on having good numbers in all of the classes, but the weather changed many riders minds. Rain, and temps between 33-39 degrees led to Andy, Billy G, Scotty, Dr. Felton, Cudahy, and Froh to stay warm and dry at home.

Team Velocause did at least have a few riders that braved the elements including Randy Scoville who raced two classes back to back. Randy is determined to retain his Tour of America’s Dairyland crown by racing 2 classes every weekend.

Masters 4-5: Randy Scoville kept his new S-Works Venge upright in the tricky conditions to finish in the Top 20 with a 16^th.

Masters 3-4: Only having 10 minutes to grab more water and a dry jacket, Randy went right back out and finished 17^th in this class.

Masters 1-2-3: Ryan White and Benny Smith were the teams only entries in the ultra competitive 1/2/3  class. The team usually has between 6-10 riders in this class. Due to the light turnout, Ryan and Benny had to react to every move without the assistance from teammates. Both riders worked very hard, kept their bikes upright, and finished in the peloton.

Pro 1-2-3: Chris Zugel and Brian Schwaller (in his first race of 2012), rode very well and advanced their positions on the final climb to finish 10^th and 15^th respectively.

Kettle Moraine Klassic Road Race | Sunday, April 29^th | Wisconsin Cup Series

Sun and temps in the low 50’s were appreciated after Saturday’s rain out. Andy Feuersthaler, Scotty Mullins, Benny Smith and Billy Graef (riding in his first race of 2012) were the Team Velocause line up for Sunday’s road race. The course was relatively flat with several rollers, but 16 mph winds made this race very challenging. Riders (over 100) had to pay close attention, and fight for positioning in the gutter to benefit from the echelon’s that formed.

The race started off very fast with multiple attacks, but the peloton was attentive and refused to let anything go. On the second lap a group of 4 attacked, and their fellow teammates slowed the pace at the front. Feuersthaler called out that they were blocking, but no one chased. Andy decided to go alone and bridge all the way up to the break alone. That 80 second effort put him in the red, but he did make the junction. Once in the break, he took turns in the rotating paceline (30+mph pulls) for 14 miles, but couldn’t maintain that pace. Andy and another rider in the break called it quits, and sat up for the peloton leaving only 3 riders away.

Benny Smith was at the front and leading much of the race. Benny also brought back 2 large gaps alone that were created during  cross wind sections. His off season training and new Specialized Venge has Benny riding stronger than ever. Billy Graef and Scotty Mullins chased down attacks, and were there for Andy the final 3 miles to shelter him from the wind. Feuersthaler moved up to around 4^th entering the final corner, and sat on 2 of the perennial powerhouses in the class. With 150 meters Andy jumped off the draft and outsprinted everyone to the line, winning the field sprint. The 3 man break that stayed away was almost caught at the line.

Andy Feuersthaler 4^th

Scotty Mullins 14^th

Benny Smith 21^st

Billy Graef 21^st

The 4 Team Velocause riders raced very well together, and gained confidence for the upcoming races (St. Louis  MO, Wheels on Willy, Iowa, and Glencoe..)

Special thanks to all of our sponsors that help support our causes!

Ben's Cycle | Bartolotta Restaurants | Gruber Law Offices | Grand Cafe Centraal | Hardrath Design | HED | Milwaukee Bicycle | Northwestern Mutual | Prudential | RiderSurance | Sherwinn Williams | Specialized |