Posted: 20th February 2011 by Leadout Racing in Race News
Tags: Dan K, Race, Race report, Racing
Well the second and last Snowcross of the year is in the books and I will be cleaning my bike for several months. I would like to be posting about my second win, but a couple of timely mishaps have me reporting about 2nd place. Unlike last time when it was a true SNOWcross this was going to be a mudfest. The course was horribly muddy and the Farmer was nice enough to find every bit of water and mud on his farm. Geoff, Lupe and I lined up at the start along with about 10 other idiots. Right of the bat Shawn D. from the Farm Team went to the front and Geoff and I were right behind. As we approached the first corner Geoff got a little squirelly and down he went. I quickly found myself in first with Niel Scharphorn on my wheel, I looked around for Geoff and Lupe, but they were a little too far behind to catch back up. Niel went to the front and I was feeling pretty comfortable behind him. As we were going down the backstretch I slid out on a little bump and was immediately dropped by Niel. I managed to get close and with most of the race left I was not worried. On the 2nd or 3rd lap I was flying down one of the muddy downhills. I had just went through the water and had called out “on your left” to a slower rider when down I go. Chad would have been proud at how I slid, then quickly popped up and then angerly got back on my bike. I was happy to see that the bike was ok and I felt decent, but Niel was now long gone. I spent the rest of the race putting in a weak effort to catch back up. Niel stayed about 20 to 30 seconds in front of me and third place was nowhere in site. I did enjoy passing Laura and Keegan as we did our best to try and motivate each other. I ended up in second place and was happy that I lapped everyone except 1st through 4th place. Lupe continues to get himself back in shape and had a very strong showing with a 6th place. Keegan accomplished his goal of finishing and was done before I was.
Dan K.
Posted: 26th January 2011 by Leadout Racing in Race News, Racing
Tags: Dan K, Race report, Racing, Results
My preparation for this race was pretty relaxed. I rolled up to the line without a warmup and I never put a tire on the course until the gun went off. At the start of the race Niel Sharphorn and Farmer went to the front and I was able to get 3rd wheel pretty easily. About a half mile in Niel was starting to put a slight gap on Farmer and I decided to go around and close the gap. I settled in behind Niel and he soon put a gap on me as I struggled with some deep snow. I could see him looking back and start to push his pace. I put in a decent effort and was able to catch him. I stayed behind for the first lap, but thought the pace was a little slow. I passed him at the start of the second lap and I was quickly all alone. I put a considerable gap on him and the rest of the field was pretty much gone. As I rode around the course I was passing tons of people and began to think about the possibility of lapping Farmer. About 6 or 7 laps in I started to ask where Farmer was and I pushed a little harder in hopes of catching him. Chasing him made the last laps go by pretty quickly and before I knew it the race was over. One more lap and I would of had him, but I was happy to get first place especially when it meant beating a couple of very good bikers. Looking forward to Snowcross #2.
Posted: 14th May 2010 by Leadout Racing in Race News
Tags: Cat. 3
I took 1st and Mark took a strong second place.
From the start I clipped in and started rolling and didn’t realize but by the 1st corner I had a large gap, I figured whatever lets see how this plays and kept rolling. Someone bridged and joined me and we began trading pulls, about 3/4 of the way through the 1st dirt section he flatted when he moved a little bit too far to the side to let me through. I kept rolling until around the corner on the cement where I felt the wind and had no desire to be out on my own in that wind on the 1st lap. The field rolled in and then shortly thereafter Mark went up front and was first into the dirt section. I don’t recall which time through everything happened, but Mark led through that section almost the entire way every lap. There were several times Jeremy would get antsy and attack and Mark or I would go with him every time. We’d roll easy but keep the pace up and force individuals to chase. I would usually start the 1st section 2nd wheel and then at some point i’d pull through so i could be 1st through the bumpy section. Being up there meant it was easier to dictate pace if we wanted and we could pick the nice lines. The race was pretty simple nobody wanted to do anything aside from Jeremy, Mark and I, so we just launched little attacks (which usually formed due to just gapping people in the dirt or corners) and we would spend some time away sharing pulls and upping the pace. There was one point were we had both mark and I and two guys from SC cycles (including Jeremy), but there were a few motivated individuals in the field who didn’t want this one to go and pulled us back. For the sprint Mark took the front almost immediately after the final turn and kept a real easy but steady pace. Mark slowly started ramping it up with about 1K to go as I recall, and then around 500M the TT1 guy jumped hard and early and Mark easily covered and held his wheel to the point where the TT1 guy ran out of Gas, then Mark hit it harder and brought the pace up fast and started the leadout in earnest. He kept it fast well into 100M to go where is about where I recall heading around him. While I would have enjoyed more action from the field it was fun being really active on the front.
Felt good after I flatted yesterday.
Peter
Posted: 4th May 2010 by Leadout Racing in Race News
Tags: Geoff, Keegan, Race report, Racing
While I was preparing for the race my sister (Kiersen) rammed into my deraileur. This caused a huge problem that I would find out about later in the day. As the waves before me were taking off I was talking to the other racers in my group about how the race could be won by the sprint at the beginning. At the start, me and a 13 year old took off and the race was going to be between him and I as we dropped the other racers right away. For the first half of the race we stayed right together. He was fast on the downhills, but I was able to catch up on the up hills. When we entered the amusement park I found out that my sister had wrecked my derailleur and I dropped my chain. I quickly got my chain back on, but by then the other kid was gone. I was far enough ahead that the other kids never caught me and for the rest of the race I was by myself except for a few adults. I pushed as hard as I could for the rest of the race, but was never able to catch the other kid. I finished with a time of 52:50 and in 2nd place. After I finished I found the other kid and congratulated him on his win. I look forward to more racing at Hanson Hills and once more I would like to thank Geoff for helping push me to do my best.
Keegan
Posted: 27th April 2010 by Leadout Racing in Race News
Tags: Dan K, Geoff, Keegan, Race report, Racing, Results
Going into the race I didn’t think I was going to do so well with 14 year olds in my group. I started the race and I was doing better than I expected. Maybe because Geoff was following me and he said he would run me over if I used my brakes. During the race I passed many adults and some kids in my age group. At one point I was chasing someone down and in a sandpit they wiped out in front me and I had to walk around them. I had to run up 3 hills and walked zero. Near the end of the race I was feeling like giving in, but I didn’t because I really wanted to beat Billy for the first time. As the finish was getting closer I picked up the pace even more, pushing myself harder than I have before. I ended up crossing the finish line with a time of 1:19:53 and in 4th place. I was amazed at how well I did and had improved on last years time by over 25 minutes. Geoff kept me going through the whole race and I have to thank him for my improvement. I hope he can go with me at Fort Custer.
Keegan
