A group of riders in this year's Firehouse 50.
Firehouse 50 Eau Claire Cyclists Sweep to Victory
By Karl Gutnecht
Sticking to script, cyclists from the Chippewa Valley Cycling Club, Eau Claire, help sweep 23-year-old-David Wesner to his first major victory in this year's Grand View Firehouse 50 in 1.57.26.4.
Two weeks prior to the race, the Eau Claire-based group went to Grand View, studied the terrain, rode the course twice, and designed and followed the winning raceday strategy, a beaming Wesner said after the race.
"We rode the race we wanted to. We knew we had to try and hurt the legs of the other strong racers as much as we could as often as we could. So it was attack, attack, attack," Wesner said.
Wesner credits teammates Mike Johnson, four-time Firehouse winner Dave Metza, Wade Reese, Jim Sokup and 48- year-old Greg Pautsch, as well as Ryan Hebert, Sheel's Allsport, who trains with the group, for the win.
Despite nagging drizzle, which began at the start horn, and a serpentine detour from Drummond to Grand View, it was the safest race in Grand View history, without a single mishap reported to the EMTs during the two days of events.
From the new rolling start, the Eau Claire group dominated the 42-person first pack. Wesner and Herbert, who finished second, hammered with conviction up Davis hill at the Great Divide, putting a gap on the field in the early going. They continued their relentless attacks up highway D into Cable, holding a 35-40-mph-pace at times, Hebert said. Lake Own Road gave the pack no mercy as the Eau Claire group controlled the rolling, narrow 15-mile stretch into Drummond.
Third place was earned the hard way by Don Schmeichel, 28, Andover, Minn., who chased the lead pack with assistance from his brother-in-law, Nate Birkmeier, 24, from Coon Rapids, Minn., who finished eighth.
At 215 pounds, Schmeichel had a challenge to weave his way through dozens of slower riders to reach the lead pack by the 25-mile-mark at Cable. He entered race day and did not have a "preferred start," which separates the faster riders from those touring.
Dave Rogers, DePere, and Brian Hill, Green Bay, were on Schmeichel's heels in fourth and fifth, at the finish, with 18-year-old Garrett Peltonen, Ashland, taking sixth.
Tucked in the peloton were age-group winners, 50-year-old Raymond Wood, Minocqua, and 45-year-old Robert Mairas, Saint Paul, who finished in 1:57.32.9.
Hometown favorite from Cable, Benji Uffenbeck, 22, also got a leg up on an additional best-of-both award
by finishing with the lead group in 1:57.34.2. Sunday, Uffenbeck blazed to a win in the 15K run with a 56.36.l to give him the overall, coveted "Best of Both" overall combo award.
Doug Shidell, Silent Sports columnist, was a mainstay of the 40-person second pack, which provided a comfortable canopy for women's winner Pamela Koski, 30. Koski, who rides for Brings Fitness and Cycle,
Wisconsin Rapids, finished with the group in 2:05.25.8. She focused her racing year on the Firehouse after missing a repeat title last year.
Steve Fouts, Middleton; John Ericsson, Madison; 58-year-old Gary Andrus, Evanston, Ill.; and Chequamegon Telephone Cooperative Company manager, Dan Anderson, 46, Grand View, took turns at the front.
A third 34-person pack finished in 2:10.29.2.
The venerable Rhinelander biking couple, Gordy Paulson and Diane Ostenso, made a triumphant return to cycling after a 10-year hiatus.
Paulson, 49, a nationally-ranked time trial cyclist in the 1980s, won the hotly-contested individual time trial, turning l:59:58.4, besting nearly 65 other competitors. Ostenso, his wife, convincingly set a new women's record in the 45-49 age group for women, finishing in 2:10.36.4. Kathy Frise, LaCrosse, captured third, five seconds behind Ostenso.
Carol Bolllenbeck, 37, Appleton, took the individual time trial in 2:24.59.8, three minutes ahead of Samantha Kaplan, Madison.
Dar Vollroth, 49-year-old WISPORT Director from Greenwood, established a new standard for participation, completing four of the events, which meant he turned a century on Saturday before 1 p.m. He began Saturday, leading a four-person time trial to a ninth-place 2:24.16 finish in time to join the Firehouse
50 road race that he finished in 2:38.35.7. Sunday he completed both the 15K and 2-mile road races.
Race Director Chris Iverson said the Firehouse continues to grow and attract a broad base of participants. She said time trials are the fastest growing segment with many top Midwest cyclists opting to test themselves in this 50-mile "race of truth." Iverson said, for next year, the Firehouse is considering age group awards for the time trials.
Dubbed the Midwest's premier bicycle road race, the Firehouse 50 brings a beehive of life and energy to the tiny crossroads community of Grand View every first weekend in August. Proceeds from the weekend of athletic and family events fund the Grand View Fire Department's modern firefighting trucks and equipment. Over 300 volunteers with ties to Grand View assisted Iverson in this year's successful event.
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