Team Newsletter Aug 5th



Annual Beartooth Ride Weekend

A report from Fitzy:
“A bunch of Fitzy teammates spent the weekend riding the beartooth highway. Chris Erickson, Kevin Burke, Andy Huta, J9, Len Carlman, Rich Leigh, Bill Field and myself were part of a 20 person peloton of riders who went from Cooke City to Red Lodge Montana on Saturday and back again on Sunday. The trip has been organized by Gene Renner for over 25 years on the first weekend in August every year. This year we had perfect temps, a little cloud cover, and tailwinds that made the rides ideal. We thought the Red Lodge fire would put a damper on the day but the winds stayed in our favor and the smoke was a non-factor. This is as close to riding in the Alps as it gets in the states. Special thanks to Mrs and Mrs Witte (Jannine’s parents) for their great support job while driving the team car. Can’t wait for next year!”- Fitz

Jannine sent in this quick note:
“Have to admit…I am loving the road bike right now. I felt awesome on Beartooth this past weekend. What an amazing ride! 64 miles with 5300 feet of climbing on Sat followed by 64 miles back with 7000 feet of climbing on Sun. Legs felt awesome! What a beautiful ride!!!” – J9

Alan Butler Memorial Criterium
July 26th but results were slow to be posted.

Dave Ryan reported after the Alan Butler Memorial Criterium:

“Fitzy’s was once again well represented at the Alan Butler Memorial Crit in Idaho Falls on Saturday evening, riders in orange included Dina, Shildog, Bergy, fast Kris L and others. This twilight race is a classic downtown crit in the old IF business district with a fast six corner L shaped course on good pavement, good crowds and great promotion. The masters 35+ event was early in the evening and plenty hot both in terms of pace and judging by the thermometer. Roughly 20 old guys started the event which went out fast with a steady string of attacks by the eight odd George’s riders from Boise including Brian Harder. Schildog was doing more than his share of attacking and chasing and after a few laps and only a few very brief turns up front I quickly backed off to hang on and survive mode. Within twenty minutes the field was cut in half but the attacks didn’t stop and riders were simply sitting up and coasting which made for some hard digs to close sudden gaps. With ten laps to go we were down to seven riders in the front group and after a few mellow laps the frenzy resumed. Schildog went with a three man break with two to go that looked promising but was run down on the back stretch and then jumped again with a big attack on the final lap. That was my last straw and I gotta say I was pretty content to cruise the final lap for 6th place. This is a classic downtown crit and a well run event that should be on folk’s calenders for next year!” – Dave Ryan