Women Team News

Kirsten Williams wins the Best All Around competition

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:06:00 GMT

Kirsten started racing more consistently in the junior women’s 10-12 category this year. She raced the past two seasons doing tandem races with her dad and the state TT on her own. After her first season of cyclocross she wanted to strike out on her own for road races. She especially wanted to compete in the Cherry Creek TT series. After winning two of those time trials Kirsten was hooked on bike racing. Halfway through the season out of curiosity she checked the BAR results and found herself in fourth place. She set her sights on moving up in the ratings and finished in first place!

Kirsten placed in the top 5 all year and had a long string of races where she was first or second. She won at the Wheels of Thunder, Longmont Criterium, and Rock the River races. The competition came down to the last weekend of racing. Kirsten needed to do well in both races to hold the lead position. She placed fourth in the Federal Center Circuit race and then sixth in the Bannock Criterium.

August 19 update - Baker, McCarthy, Pinkerton and more

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:59:00 GMT

Baker wins Tour of Colorado, Gateway and Boulder Roubaix – Jon Baker continues to have a strong 2008 campaign. This past Saturday, Baker took out one of Colorado’s most prestigious races by winning a wet and muddy edition of Boulder Roubaix. The win was a sweet one due to the teamwork involved. Jon Tarkington went in a very early move with Alan Krughoff (Team Rio Grande) and put pressure on the field. When Tarkington was caught late in the race, Christian McCarthy took off on a solo move. Sheldon Taylor (Team Rio Grande) bridged up to McCarthy with only Baker in tow. Upon Taylor’s arrival at the McCarthy rear wheel, Baker launched a textbook attack and held it to the line for the win. McCarthy would finish third. Derek Strong continued a string of solid performances by finishing 6^th and Dirk Friel took 7^th. Tarkington hung on for 10^th.

Baker finished 5^th the following day at another Colorado Classic – the North Boulder Park Criterium. With that placing, Baker clinched the Tour of Colorado. In taking that title, Baker won a pair of climbing road races the prior weekend in Grand Junction, CO.

In women’s racing, Anne Lannan took 2^nd in the North Boulder Park Criterium with VC teammates Renee Eastman, Lisa Strong and Jenna Allen taking 6^th and 9^th and 10^th, respectively.

McCarthy racks up silvers – in other race news, VC strongman Christian McCarthy notched three-in-row second places in recent weekend races. In all three instances, McCarthy was second to some solid professional riders. McCarthy took second to Heath Blackgrove (Toyota United), Chris Baldwin (Toyota United) and Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) at the Federal Center Circuit Race (Aug 2), Bannock Criterium (Aug 3) and Vic’s Prospect Criterium (Aug 9).

Pinkerton wins Nevada Masters State Championship – VC team manager and long time rider Bob Pinkerton recently took the Northern California/Northern Nevada State Criterium Championship in the 50+ Division at the Carson Valley Classic Criterium.

Kellagher, Barrowclough and Mapes – The Vitamin Cottage pb XP Companies team snagged a few recent victories of note. Bill Kellagher won the 45+ and James Mapes the Category 3 Boulder Roubaix race. Mathew Barrowclough won the Salida Criterium.

Early Season Report - Jon Baker wins Deer Trail Road Race

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:17:00 GMT

The first elite team win of the year came this past Saturday at the Deer Trail Road Race, where Jon Baker powered his new Merkx carbon LXM frame and Rol Carbon Wheels to a repeat win. The 70 mile race took place among snow flurries, 40 degree temperatures, and 20 to 40 mph winds. Most of the first 50 or 60 miles ended up being either a direct head or tail wind.

With the race winding down to its final 15 miles, Jon Tarkington attacked on the last tailwind section drawing out a small group as the race headed for the final out and back section where - strong cross winds awaited. With perfect team tactics, Jon Baker marked a bridge attempt and got a free ride up to the brake. VC was now in pefect position with 2 strong riders in the break and 3 sitting behind in a dwindling field.

In the last ten miles, the riders in the break traded blows and it was finally Jon Baker who snapped the elastic and soloed in for the victory with Tarkington arriving in third.

Unfortunately at the following day's Primus Mootry Criterium the team did not enjoy the same luck as at Deer Trail. In the final lap with VC congregated at the front of the race, a massive chain-reaction crash (reportedly started by a rider from behind trying to fit through a hole that wasn't there) took down Christian McCarthy, Joe Pinkerton, Brent Ertz and Randy Reichardt. Fortunately the outcome of the crash was limited to lost skin and broken equipment for the VC boys.

It's otherwise been a fairly quite early season in Colorado. A handful of collegiate races have dominated the calendar so far with the majority of the spoils going to Toyota United and a handful of other pros. However, if you look closely at the results from those races you'll most often find the first amateur rider listed wears the familiar orange and purple, such as was the case in the Denver City Park Criterium, with Dirk Friel finishing 5th behind a crowd of Toyota United's, and the Air Force Academy Road Race and Koppenburg Circuit Race where Jon Baker finished 5th.

The women's elite team has been knocking on the door all season with a number of strong finishes. Renee Eastman took a hard fought second place at the Koppenburg Circuit Race and a third at the Primus Mootry Criterium.

Keep an eye on cat 3 rider Will Campell who won the Koppenburg Circuit race. Congratulations to Will - that's a nice win.

Vitamin Cottage Women Storm in to St. Louis

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 18:27:00 GMT

The Vitamin Cottage Women’s team headed out to the Gateway Cup in St. Louis over Labor Day weekend. This series of 4 criteriums in 4 days is a mid-west classic and attracts riders from all over the country. The weekend couldn’t have started better as Renee Eastman won the first night’s twilight race at Lafayette Square. The race was fast and furious from the start as the riders were spurred on by the raucous crowds and frequent cash primes. In the closing laps Renee slipped off the front with one rider from the mid-west Plane X team to grab a prime. The duo then dangled off the front for the last 4 laps of the race, with Eastman winning decisively in the sprint. Also placing well for the team was guest rider Maegan Daigler and Beth Fisk who finished in 9th and 10th respectively.

The second day’s race went almost as well as the first as the Vitamin Cottage team once again took the victory in the women’s event. In the Washington Ave Criterium held in downtown St. Louis guest rider Maegan Daigler proved herself in a daring solo move in the race’s final laps. Following several attacks from her teammates, Maegan powered her way off the front on the course’s long uphill straight with just 4 laps to go. The other teams lacking in organization let Daigler dangle 8-10 seconds off the front until the final turn. Knowing it was do or die, Daigler put her head down and hammered up the finishing straight to take a well deserved solo win. Eastman wasn’t far behind, finishing in 6th. Unfortunately, the day wasn’t all good, as Beth Fisk had and unfortunate crash in the final lap. Luckily, she wasn’t hurt badly and returned for the following day’s race.

The winning streak ended on the 3rd race of the weekend at the Giro della Montenga. This race held in the historic Italian section of St. Louis always brings the crowds, but unfortunately this year it also brought the mid-west heat and humidity. The hot temperatures and hard racing of the previous days took their toll on the women as the best finish of the day was Eastman in 10th.

The last day of racing provided some redemption for the team though. The final race of the Gateway Cup was at University City and once again provided for fast aggressive racing all day from the team. Beth, Maegan, and Renee took turns attacking the field until the elastic finally snapped and a break stuck in the race’s final 5 laps. It was guest rider Maegan Daigler again initiating the move, but this time she took super-sprinter Kelly Benjamin from the Cheerwine Team with her. Benjamin won the day, but Daigler took 3rd and ended up 3rd for the final omnium. Eastman and Fisk both finished well in 7th and 10th respectively. It was a fantastic weekend of racing for the women, and it brought the tally of wins for the season up to 22.

With just one race left for the team, they can go in with confidence from a season already well raced.

McCarthy takes Niwot Criterium

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 05:05:00 GMT

The downtown Niwot Criterium is a Colorado Classic and is formerly an NRC event that shared a weekend with the grueling Saturn Classic. The last time it was held, Floyd Landis was in the field along with Christian Vandevelde and Chris Horner.

With its storied past, a large 75-man field turned out and included the likes of Will Frischkorn, Blake Caldwell and Jason Donald of Team Slipstream, Chuck Coyle of the Succesful Living Team, Dan Schmatz from team BMC and Stefano Barberi of Toyota United among others. With 7 turns, two of which are sharper than 90 degrees, 75 riders just don't fit well on the course and positioning is critical. Vecchios mechanic Jim Potter realized the urgency of positioning as from the sidelines he enthusiastically and humorously encouraged Vitamin Cottage riders to “move up”....during the warm up lap.

The race started fast with the field strung out single file and stayed that way. A number of breakaway attempts came and went before the break of the day formed. In the final lap the break was wittled down to two riders - Christian McCarthy of Vitamin Cottage and Keith Harper of Excel Sports with McCarthy taking the win in front of a sizable crowd. VC's Dirk Friel and Joe Pinkerton finished 4th and 5th.

In the women's race, retiring pro rider Cathrine Powers (Aaron's Corporate Furnishing) took the win ahead of 2nd place Renee Eastman and third place Beth Fisk, both of Vitamin Cottage.

Next up is the Santa Fe Trail Stage race held over labor day weekend in Lamar Colorado followed two weeks later by the Parker Twilight Criterium, the last hurrah for 2007 Colorado Road Events.

The Boulder Daily Camera has a nice article and photos from the event. http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/aug/27/cycling-mccarthy-tops-harper-for-niwot-criterium/

Vitamin Cottage takes another series of wins at Dillon and Copper

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:07:00 GMT

Vitamin Cottage rider Beth Fisk continued her roll by winning both the pro-1-2 women's Dillon and Copper Mountain Criteriums on August 18 and 19. The criteriums were both held at elevations above 8,000 ft. In both women's events the elevation, pace and demanding courses took a dramatic toll on the field with many left behind early in each race. The lady VC's mixed things up with Fisk, Renee Eastman and Syrae Wiekle following numerous moves throughout both races. Fisk took the Saturday Dillon Criterium by sprinting ahead of a small group at the finish. On Sunday she soloed the last several laps to win the Copper Mountain Criterium which wound its way through the cobbled streets of the Copper Mountain Village. Renee Eastman took 8th for VC in both events.

In the men's events, the ageless Scott Moninger of team BMC took the Dillon Criterium win out of a thinned-down field. Vitamin Cottage rider Dirk Friel made another podium appearance by taking third and Joe Pinkerton continued to show he's the real-deal with a well-earned 5th place finish.

Apparently, the Vitamin Cottage boys did not take kindly to missing the win at Dillon as they came back the next day placing five riders in the top 10 and winning the race at Copper Mountain. After a series of relentless attacks, the days breakaway finally formed with Vitamin Cottage represented by Christian McCarthy and Dirk Friel along with Colby Pearce (USA Cycling), Scott Moninger (BMC) and former Motorola pro Keith Harper (Excel Sports). McCarthy took a narrow victory ahead of Moninger. Moninger credited Friel and the strong teamwork of the Vitamin Cottage duo as major factors in McCarthy's win. Friel ended up 5th, Jon Baker 6th, Jon Tarkington 8th and Joe Taddeucci 10th for VC.

See the Summit Daily News for an article .http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070819/SPORTS/108190075

Vitamin Cottage wins at Salida, Federal Center and Bannock

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:36:00 GMT

A familiar scene - Fisk wins Bannock!

Vitamin Cottage riders have been busy stepping on and off the podium over the past couple of weeks. First up over the July 27 weekend was the the Salida Omnium, a three-stage race with a time trial, road race and criterium. Beth Fisk took a dominating victory in the overall pro-1-2 women's omnium. To do so, she won the time trial, took fourth in a demanding hilly road race, and won the criterium. Other notable VC women's results included the time trial: Renee Eastman (6th); Criterium: Anne Lannan (7th); Omnium Overall: Renee Eastman (8th). In the men's master 45+ omnium, Vitmain Cottage rider Jimi Gibson took the road race stage, which was also the state road race championship. If the men's pro-1-2 omnium was a golf tournament, Vitamin Cottage shot well over par. However, Jon Tarkington managed a respectable 9th in the time trial, 6th in the road race and 9th overall.

The men's team reconciled it's Salida performance by taking 1st and 2nd in the Federal Center circuit race and second in a hotly contested Bannock Criterium. At the Federal Center Vitamin Cottage riders Jon Tarkington, Dirk Friel, and Joe Pinkerton were part of an 8-man breakaway in the final 15 minutes of the race. The break of strong riders consisted of Kevin Nicol (Tokyo Joe's), Timmy Duggan (Team Slipstream), Colby Pearce (USA Cycling); Zak Grabowski (VMG racing); and Taylor Phinney (5280). With half a lap to go, Tarkington sacrificied his own chances and took a long pull delivering Dirk Friel and Joe Pinkerton to the line for a 1-2 finish. Tarkington hung on for 6th and once again the elite squad worked to perfection as a team.

Dirk Friel takes the win at the Federal Center

In the women's version of the Federal Center Circuit, Vitamin Cottage matched its earlier performance by the men's team. Syrae Weikle took the victory with Beth Fisk in second. In Sunday's Bannock Criterium, Beth Fisk took the win for Vitamin Cottage. The men's Bannock race was a national caliber field. Vitamin Cottage was in the mix of every serious break the entire race. With 15 minutes left, Dirk Friel integrated a 4 man break. Unfortunately for three of them, the break included BMC sprinter Dan Schmatz. As expected, Schmatz took the win, but Dirk Friel was right behind in second. Friel has made the podium in almost every race he's entered this season.

The breakaway works together at Bannock

With only a few races remaining, the Vitamin Cottage men's and women's pro-1-2 teams and the men's 45+ team hold commanding leads in the season-long best all around team competition. Interestingly, both pro-1-2 teams and the 45 + team focus on winning races as a team as their first priority. In so doing, the points competition takes care of itself.

VC State Champions!! - Beth Fisk and Dirk Friel

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:42:00 GMT

Vitamin Cottage riders Beth Fisk and Dirk Friel are newly crowned 2007 State Criterium Champions. The races were contested in 90 degree plus temperatutes in downtown Longmont on Sunday, July 15.

The two VC stars went about it in different ways. First up was the men's race in which Friel took off with Timmy Duggan (Slipstream Chipotle) and Kevin Nicol (Tokyo Joe's) 10 minutes into a 90 minute criterium. To its demise, the field decided to play “I'm not chasing, you chase“, which was a bad idea given the collective horsepower of the three breakaway riders. With a strong Vitamin Cottage team marking any of the serious moves from the field, the break stuck until the end and Friel took a photo finish victory with a dramatic bike throw.

L to R: Timmy Duggan, Dirk Friel, and Kevin Nicol Photo Courtesy of Chuck Bolden

In the women's race, the pressure was on Fisk and her Vitamin Cottage teammates as the odds-on favorite for victory. And deliver they did. With the whole team lined up on the front in the final laps, Fisk took a field sprint finish victory to score state championship number two on the day. The Vitamin Cottage supporting cast in Anne Lannan, Renee Eastman, Lisa Matlock and Syrae Weikle are to be commended for their role and sacrifice in the Vitamin Cottage victory.

L to R: Renee Eastman, Lisa Matlock, Syrae Weikle, Anne Lannan and Beth Fisk Photo Courtesy of Chuck Bolden

The Boulder Daily Camera did a feature article describing Friel's and Fisk's victories in its Monday Sports page. http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jul/16/friel-heats-up-to-collect-win/

To put a little more polish on the day, the VC masters 45+ team also took a victory with Bill Kellagher. Though the masters state championship was contested at City Park earlier in the year, the victory was sweet nonetheless for a team that has really gelled together in 2007..

Dead Dog Classic Report - Vitamin Cottage adds to 2007 Victory Tally

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:46:00 GMT

Baker's celebrates his Road Race Victory (copyright Pelotonphoto.com)

Racers were treated to spectacular weather and a well-organized race in Laramie Wyoming this weekend. The Dead Dog stage race consisted of a mountainous road race, a downtown criterium and a high-altitude time trial. The road race required racers to climb over a 10,000 foot pass once or twice depending on race category. Vitamin Cottage riders Jon Baker and Christian Mcarthy picked up respective wins in the pro-1-2 road race and criterium. Beth Fisk added to her Women's pro-1-2 tally with a criterium victory and Masters 45+ rider Jimi Gibson won the road race and general classification. A summary of Vitamin Cottage rider's results is as follows:

Road Race

1st - Jon Baker (Men Pro-1-2)
5th - Jon Tarkington (Men Pro-1-2)
2nd - Lisa Matlock (Women Pro-1-2)
5th - Beth Fisk (Women Pro-1-2)
10th - Anne Lanna (women Pro-1-2)
1st - Jimi Gibson (Masters 45+)
7th - Bob Pinkerton (Masters 45+)
9th - Jeff Ray (Masters 45+)
10th - Martin Guess (Cat 3)

Criterium

1st - Christian McCarthy (Men Pro-1-2)
8th - Jon Tarkington (Men Pro-1-2)
1st - Beth Fisk (Women Pro-1-2)
7th - Anne Lannan (Women Pro-1-2)
8th - Lisa Matlock (Women Pro-1-2)
2nd - Bill Kellagher (Masters 45+)
3rd - Bill Herwig (Masters 45+)
4th - Bob Pinkerton (Masters 45+)
7th - Jimi Gibson (Masters 45+)
6th - Martin Guess (Cat 3)

Time Trial

4th - Jon Baker (Men Pro-1-2)
10th - Jon Tarkington (Men Pro-1-2)
3rd - Beth Fisk (Women Pro-1-2)
6th - Renee Eastman (Women Pro-1-2)
4th - Jimi Gibson (Masters 45+)
8th - Bill Kellagher (Masters 45+)

General Classification

3rd - Jon Baker (Men Pro-1-2)
4th - Jon Tarkington (Men Pro-1-2)
2nd - Beth Fisk (Women Pro-1-2)
3rd - Lisa Matlock (Women Pro-1-2)
10th - Anne Lannan (Women Pro-1-2)
1st - Jimi Gibson (Masters 45+)
6th - Bill Kellagher (Masters 45+)
9th - Bob Pinkerton (Masters 45+)
10th - Jeff Ray (Masters 45+)
10th - Martin Guess (Cat 3)

See www.pelotonphoto.com for a full gallery of race images.

Watson, McCormack, Gibson and Kellagher win, Eastman 3peats

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 20:12:00 GMT

As the weather has heated up here in Colorado, so has the racing calendar. At the front end of June, Vitamin Cottage’s Wayne Watson won the State 55+ Time Trial with a time of 52:58 over the 38 K course. Watson’s nearest competitor was 49 seconds slower.

The past couple of weekends we have seen some great classic races develop in the Front Range of Colorado. On June 9 and 10th a couple of newly paired races in Fort Collins showed up on the calendar. In the Colorado Cycling Festival Road Race Jon Baker did a stellar ride to finish 2nd place in this soon to be epic classic that featured a 12-mile climb and harrowing descents. That performance was matched on the women’s side as Beth Fisk also finished 2nd. The Vitamin Cottage 45+ men’s squad garnered first and second in the Road Race. Old guy climbing sensation, Jimi Gibson, ripped the legs off of everyone to solo away on the long Rist Canyon climb then kept his head down for the remaining 40 miles for the win. Vitamin Cottage’s Bill Kellagher came to the line second, about a minute behind Gibson. Other notables to make the top ten in the Road Race were Dirk Friel and Jon Tarkington on the men’s side and Lisa Matlock for the women.

In the Fort Collins Criterium the following day, the ageless Alan McCormack took a well fought win for the team, while Jon Tarkington followed in 4th place. On the women’s side, Lisa Matlock and Beth Fisk took 5th and 6th respectively.

The next weekend featured the early summer classic Rocky Mountain Omnium. This event pairs the US Paralympic National Championships with road racing events to allow a venue for greater exposure for our Paralympic athletes. On the women’s side, Beth Fisk ripped through the time trial to take 2nd, while Renee Eastman and Lisa Matlock also placed in the top ten. The following day’s road race saw a remarkable feat by teammate Renee Eastman as she took her 3rd win in as many tries at the Hugo Road Race. With Beth and SyRae finishing 4th and 6th, the team was in great position for the final day of the weekend Omnium.

Both Beth and Renee were tied for 2nd on points after day 2, and that meant there would be a tactical race in the criterium on the final day. Although the team worked hard for the goal of the overall, they came up a bit short in the end. Lisa rode fantastically in the break that day and took a well deserved 2nd place, while Beth and Renee rode aggressively to try to take the overall title and both finished in the top ten. Although they weren't able to take the overall, the two Vitamin Cottage riders still landed on the final podium for 2nd and 3rd. With Lisa also ending up in the top 10 for the omnium, the women certainly had a great weekend of racing.

On the men’s side, they dealt with a limited squad for the omnium weekend, but still managed to place riders in the top ten for both the road race and criterium. While Jon Tarkington finished 7th in the road race, Christian McCarthy and Alan McCormack finished 4th and 5th respectively in the criterium.

In very similar fashion to the prior week's road race, the 45+ mens team went first and second at the Hugo road race. A small group of 6 which included Vitamin Cottage’s Bill Kellagher and Bob Pinkerton formed on the second leg of this 80 mile rolling hill rectangle course. No sooner did the break form when Bill Kellagher attacked the group and was out of sight in a matter of minutes. Kellagher’s 45 mile solo effort nailed the win for the team. The chase group of 5 approached the line a little over a minute back with Pinkerton taking the group sprint for second. Pinkerton ultimately placed second in the overall omnium results by finishing a solid 3rd in the Curtis Park Criterium the following day.

Up next for the team is the Dead Dog Classic in Laramie, Wyoming.