The 2014 Calvins Challenge felt very much as a repeat of the 2013 edition. Many suffered through a extended cold winter, which limited meaningful training. Even the weather the day of the race was similarly perfect with cool temperatures, a quick morning rain shower and wicked afternoon winds. Yet, despite those obstacles, records were broken. Winter had an impact on the route with deep pot holes, and gravel in the corners. We are happy that none of the holes took out any of the racers, but the gravel got a racer or two despite our crews effort to sweep as many of the corners as possible on the 58 miles of race course. Route marking was another mystery. Those that pre-rode the course reported that it was very well marked. The entire course marking was checked 18 hours before the race. Every intersection was marked with 3-4 arrows. Every mile of the course was also marked. A GPS file of the course was available. We cannot ever remember having so many racers off route, even those that have raced this same course before. This made scoring difficult. Missed turns, or mis-reading arrows made a number of the racers very frustrated. We will do our best next year to incorporate the suggested ways to make the route marking more fool proof. Just remember the if you go through an intersection without any marking, you are off course. If you go more than a mile without seeing a mile mark, you are off course. After 6 years of trying to electronically score Calvins Challenge we have success. Was the scoring 100% perfect? No, but it was very close. No matter what scoring system is used, from punch cards to riders calling out their number, there will always be the need to make corrections. We expect less corrections and faster results next year. Thank you to all that have suffered along with us as we worked with various timers. The 12 hour race went off a half hour earlier than it had traditionally. I think we all appreciated finishing up earlier. A lead group of 20 formed very quickly and stayed together most of the opening lap. For the opening miles everyone seemed to be content to sit in and work the wind as a group. Just like in previous years, Collin Johnson has figured out the winning formula posting 244 miles, 30 miles better than the next best mileage. In the mens 10-14 age group Aidan Raynor rode strong all day to break the record with 183 miles. Aidan now owns the records in the under 10 years old and now the 10-14 age group. Remember this name for the future. In the womens 10-14 Paige Stephens returned to prove that there is no crying in ultra cycling and bested her mileage of last year with 72 miles. At the other end of the age group Lew Meyer set a new record in the 80+ age group of 164 miles. There was two racers in the 80+ group, long time Calvins supporter and racer Chris Stauffer posted 108 miles. At Calvins you will see all types of machines raced. We were the first race in the country to allow Ellipticycles to race with other bicycles. Jordan Trump age 27 posted 150 miles. Daniel Waggoner age 65 posted 133 miles. Our hand cycle racers, Brad Baumann and Patrick Doak both raced to 143 miles. Matt Bond has raced at every Calvins Challenge, the last few years in the single/fixed gear class. 190 miles this year. The womens witnessed a battle of veterans. Nancy Guth returned to the Calvins after a few years hiatus to race at RAAM. Pascal Lercangee returned as the defending womens champion. The race was one of racing style and strategy. Nancy and John Guth worked together to put Nancy on a record setting pace. Pascal missed the early move and found herself without any partners against the wind. By short pitting Pascal was able to close the gap by the end of the race. Both Nancy and Pascal tied for first place with Nancy setting a new womens 60-64 age group record of 213 miles. In other womens news, Elizabeth Wicks broke the womens record in the 70-74 age group with a great race of 157 miles. The 6 hour race was finished before the peak winds blasted the course, but was by no means an easy day in the saddle. Unlike the 12 hour race, eventual mens overall winner Billy Volchko age 24 attacked right at the drop of the flag and never looked back. Billy tied the age group record of 128 miles with his solo effort. In the womens race Deborah Matteliano won with 111 miles. In the HPV class Bill The cannon Hannon 71 returned to the race after some heath issues with a 6hr race best of 139 miles. To keep the playing field as level as possible, any bike with a fairing is not permitted to contend for the overall win. The 2014 Calvins Challenge seen the first running of the Century Challenge. Daniel Norbeck sets the time to beat at 5hr:0min:37sec. The life of a race director is often filled with tough decisions. For the 12hr race the short loop opens at 3pm. With the increase in wind speeds the decision was made to open the short loop one hour early at 2pm. This caught a few racers out that had passed through the main checkpoint before that time. We plan to develop a policy that if the predicted winds will be above a determined speed we will make an announcement earlier so that each racer can decide whether to go back out on the long loop or wait for the short loop to open early. The food trucks again this year kept us all fed. X-WARN provided us with great course radio communication and intersection safety. The Clark county Sherriff provided course patrols and traffic control, we truly could not do this without their help. This year we partnered with the group that organizes the RAAM time station #42 to run the main checkpoint aid station and help score the partial laps. Shawnee High School once again were accommodating to our needs. It is a very long day for the custodian Bret Adams to make the school available to us. The South Solon Fire Station allows us to use their facility. We want to thank every racer that came out this year despite the tough winter. We are amazed at the perseverance of all of you to battle the wind. Remember that Calvins is a personal challenge to see how far you can go on the day of the race. While we are sure that many of you fell short of your goals, it sure beats those that sat at home. Congratulations !! Now that you have recorded mileage at Calvins Challenge you are in the running for the Oh-Tex Invitational. tt24tt/texas-ultra-cup-challenge/oh-tex/ Each racer that post mileage at both Calvins Challenge and The Texas Time Trials will earn a personal engraved trophy with their name and total mile raced at both events. Calvins and the TTTT are some of the best ultra races in the country, you should be making plans now to go to Texas and experience TTTT hospitality. On behalf of race directors Heather and Rick Miller, Christine and Larry Graham, we thank each of you for your support. See you next year on May 2nd 2015 for another perfect day.
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 14:37:40 +0000
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