Great day for the Kansas State Cross Championships yesterday. Blowing snow, freezing rain. Temperature was 20 degrees. When we went through the toll booth in Topeka, the lady there asked us “Are you going to ride these bikes….Outside? I’d like to see that…I wouldn’t want to do it, but I’d like to see it!”
Five brave souls showed up to race for Santa Fe Trails Sunday. The course started w…ith about 200 yards of snow packed pavement. It included three barrier sections including the “mound of misery”. The mound of misery had a steep drop followed by a 180 turn, followed by a barrier, followed by a steep climb. The shrill sound of squealing brakes could be heard from a distance.

The first race was the category 4/5s. The course was so long, we only completed three laps before time expired. Mark Ramsden took third in the category 4s, garnering him a State Medal. I thought - gee that wasn’t too bad. Why not race again? I soon found out that was a bad idea. Next race was the masters. I joined teammates Carl and Mark at the start line. I remarked to Carl that we had a great warm up for masters. He said that we might feel that warm up after four laps. It didn’t take me that long.
Everyone finished safely and made it home.

Here are the results:
Men’s Category 4 - 3rd Mark Ramsden, 6th Carl Fischer, 11th Brendan Sheehan. Men’s Category 5 -7th Alex Ardussi, 10th Collin Guy. Masters 40 + 11th Mark Ramsden. Master’s 50+ 9th Carl Fischer, 10th Brendan Sheehan.

Two corrections to our Kansas Cross Championship results:

1. Carl Fischer placed third in the 55 +, garnering a state medal. Congratulations to Carl Fischer!
2. Roger Harrison stood out in the cold taking pictures from 8 AM to 2 PM. Thanks for your support Roger!