By James Watson / Brian Mitchell

Wichita Cyclefest kicked off sharp at 9:30 am in sunny/windy (20+ mph. wind) 45 degree weather.  Oz Sanchez started off riding with the Quad Division….not for sure if Oz just partied to hard the night before or needed a mile or so just to warm up.  Once Oz got going,

Oz quickly caught and passed everyone and rode on to easily win the Kneeseat Division.  Just as a note….Oz’s 24 mile time was 1:12:49….the CAT 3/4 Men rode the same 24 mile course but had to do 3 laps for their race……the Cat3/4 Men road the first lap at approximately 1:15:00 and the second lap at approximately 1:00:00…..who knows, Oz may have been competitive in the cat3/4 class!. Oz won King of the Hill for the Kneeseat Division.

Brian Mitchell, David Randall, Jan Mattern, and Gerard Ah-Fook took off and rode for about 6  miles together, then Gerard Ah-Fook was stripped off.  Jan Mattern was stripped off 4 miles later.  Mitchell and Randall rode the rest of the course never separated more than 3 bike lengths.  Mitchell attacked several times but failed to drop Randall.  Randall attacked on the hills and won King of the Hill for the longseats but failed to drop Mitchell.  Mitchell edged Randall in a sprint at the finish to win the Longseat Division.

Jan Mattern’s shifter cable broke at mile 12 but he managed to survive and finish the race.  Gerard Ah-Fook took full advantage of Jan’s mishap and passed and finished in front of Jan.

Dennis Clark and Tom Kahler road together for about 11 miles.  Dennis attacked Tom on a slow grade hill and pulled away leaving both men to finish the race in time trial fashion.  However,

Dennis’s chain broke at mile 17…. so he DNFed.

Wayne Romero, James Watson, Mark Stever, and Dale Pausewang rode the entire race in time trial fashion.  James was having backrest problems and never really got into a good racing groove.  Wayne Romero capitalized on James’ backrest problem and won the Quad Division and Quad Division King of the Hill. Quad class racer Dale Pausewang, rode a personal best on the course.  Mark Stever said “nice training ride”.

Road race times and places were as follows:

Kneeseat Oz Sanchez—CA  1:12:49

Longseat Brian Mitchell—MO  1:31:42

Longseat David Randall—OH  1:31:43

Kneeseat Gerald Ah-Fook—WA 1:54:44

Longseat Jan Mattern--TX  2:03:15….shifter cable broke at mile 12

Longseat Thomas Kahler—TN  2:07:38

Quad  Wayne Romero—KS  2:11:51

Quad  James Watson—KS  2:14:23

Longseat Mark Stever—KS  2:50:33

Quad  Dale Pausewang—KS  3:06:39

Longseat Dennis Clark—TN  DNF…..chain broke at mile 17