Kent Park 2010 Review

A cold, yet inspired morning greated the nearly 130 riders who participated in the 2010 Kent Park Spring Classic. This event serves as a sort of spring opener for Iowa racers; a chance to reunite with cycling friends and test skills & fitness against some of the best talent in the region.  The course is a 6 lap, hilly circuit totaling around 24 miles.  The racers are staged according to category with seperate fields for masters and women.  (Below: Charging up the finish line hill, chasing the Cat 1,2 field with Cat 3 riders in tow as the second lap began).

There were 14 Cat 1,2 riders that took off first, followed by me and 17 other Cat 3 racers about a minute later, with the rest of the field released at similar intervals.  Traditionally, the fields chase each other to create one large field, however that wasn't quite the case this year.  Most of the fields maintained seperate peletons. 

I was interested in catching up with the Cat 1,2 field and took some pulls as the front to help bring things together.  It actually took us an entire lap and a half to bridge up the Cat 1,2 field.  At this point, it was apparent that some riders from the bigger teams must have escaped because the pace was noticably controlled.  I believe that Bikes 2 You had Derek Cassady and Bryan Moritz up the road, and that Velosport had previous Kent Park winner, Lou Waugaman in the break as well.  Ultimately, 10 of the 18 Cat 3 riders merged up with this lead group and held on until the final field sprint.

I felt strong today, and spent a lot of time at the front hoping to take advantage of a break opportunity, and perhaps contribute to a tempo that might shell a few Cat 3 riders from time to time.  (Left: the field is cresting the steep finishing hill. I am setting the tempo along with Andrew Fagersten)

None of the attacks stuck and the field was very attentive, so my strategy didn't pan out.

The guys from Goodtime Racing (formerly All-Nine Yards) and Iowa City Cycling (Mercy-Specialized) potentially had incentive to try and chase the breakway, however this didn't seem to be occuring.  From my perspective, I can say that  Andrew Fagersten, Paul Deninger and Ryan French were pretty active, with a handful of other guys making some appearances from time to time.  Unfortunately, being 'active' doesn't usually translate to success if the race ends up as a large field sprint.

Near the end of the last lap the field surged up one of the ascents in anticipation of the approaching finish line hill sprint.  The Cat 1,2's were sprinting for third or fourth, I believe, as the Cat 3 field was still contesting the top placing.  Geoff Perrill (ICCC) was the highest placed Cat 3 and 8th overall.

RESULTS...

Cat 1/2

1. Lou Waugaman (Velosport)

2. Derek Cassaday (B2U/WOB)

3. Bryan Moritz (B2U/WOB)

4. Ryan Nenniger (ICCC)

5. Jeff Bradley (Velosport)

6. Jim Cochran (Atlas)

7. Joe Hetrick (ICCC)

8. Andrew Fagersten(B2U/WOB)

9. Jerome Rewerts (Goodtimes)

10. Lane Anderson (Goodtimes)

11. Paul Deninger (Velosport)
12. Jeff Barnes (ICCC)
13. Will Greenwood(B2U/WOB)
14. Lee Venteicher(B2U/WOB)
Cat 3
1. Geoff Perrill (ICCC)
2. Grant Headley (B2U)
3. Nate Kullbom (Atlas)
4. Daniel Gales(Atlas)
5. Kevin Tempel (B2U)
6. Todd Gillihan (Team Skin)
7. Ryan French (Goodtimes)
8. Chad Bishop (Harper's Racing)
9. Pete Basso (Rasmussen's)
10. Nick Campbell (B2U)
11. Steve Robinson
12. Michael Edwards
13. Gary McNabb
14. Christopher Maharry
15. Steve Reynolds
16. Robert Thompson
17. Matt Gumm
18. Dave Mable

Three fellow teamates participated in the event as well. Greg Harper got 2nd /10 (Master's 50+), Bill Ford got 3rd/13(Master's 40+), and Josh Long got 18th/26(Cat 4).

FULL RESULTS