DES MOINES—Dave Vander Horst and Jacob Oyen kicked off the cyclocross season at the Capital City Cross race in McRae park.

Oyen made the trip to Des Moines on Saturday for the first race of the year, and his first cyclocross race ever. The quick start on a relatively difficult course proved to be challenging however, Oyen finished seventh out of 21 racers.

Vander Horst joined Oyen for the race on Sunday. The technically challenging course provided a lot of excitement with some fast sections and some really slow technical sections. Vander Horst opted to race in the CX4 category instead of with the masters. After battling with some park equipment while crossing the sand pit, he placed 11th out of a 26 man field.

Oyen came in eighth after going toe-to-toe with Dave Mable (all9yards.com) for most of the race.

The team is headed to Newton next weekend for the Cross Out Chrons race.

ST. LOUIS MO.—Steve Reynolds showed the fruits of his labor in St. Louis with two top five finishes at the four-day Gateway Cup.

The first day of the four day cup series started with the Tour de Lafayette, a flat and fairly fast course. Lee Current, the only team member that made it for the race, made a break for a mid-race prime, but was unsuccessful. Current finished 46th out of the 90 competitors.

Reynolds joined Current for the Emerson Motors Criterium on Saturday. The one mile figure-eight style course proved to be exactly that, fast and crazy. Steve Reynolds showed his strength and placed third. Current suffered a puncture with only two laps to go. Disappointed, he was forced to call it day early.

Sunday’s Giro Della Montagne proved to be the hilliest of the four days of racing. Current was caught up in an early race crash, but made it to the wheel pit for a spare wheel. Reynolds finished the day 21st and Current was just behind in 33rd in the large pack of racers.

Monday’s final day of racing at the University City Loop helped put the exclamation point on an outstanding weekend. Reynolds placed 5th and Current followed through in 39th.

For most of the team, the racing is now complete for the 2008 season. Some will opt for the final Elkhart Time Trial and others have started to gear up for cyclocross season.

PELLA—Doug Klahsen and Jacob Oyen received their Category 3 upgrade approval from USA cycling after a full season of races.

The upgrade tops off a successful 2008 campaign for the two racers. Klahsen had a second place finish at the Green Days race in Johnston and a third place finish at the Bicycle Blues and BBQ Criterium in Clear Lake this year. With multiple seasons of racing under his belt, Klahsen also racked up numerous top 10 finishes.

Oyen had a second place finish at the Northfield Criterium in Northfield, Minn. and a fourth place finish in the Kansas City Kansas Criterium. He also had numerous top 10 finishes over the course of the season.

The teammates will continue to prepare tirelessly for their 2009 campaign.

PELLA—Steve Reynolds led his teammates through a challenging state championship event hosted by the Pella Bike Racing team.

The racing started late in the day for the team. The first half of the category four race was uneventful with nobody getting away. With 15 laps to go Jacob Oyen turned on the gas and had a small, but unorganized group off the front for a lap and half before it was reeled in.

With three laps remaining in the race, Doug Klahsen went to the front and strung the field out in a leadout attempt. With Reynolds and Oyen in tow, the team was positioned well for the finish. As the final lap began, Klahsen peeled off and let the team go to work. When the peloton entered the third turn, a DMOS rider crashed. Reynolds squeaked through and avoided disaster placing seventh.

Oyen wasn’t so lucky as he ran out of road and took a tumble into the grass. After picking himself up, he limped up to the finish line where he finished 17th. Lee Current finished just behind him in 18th.

The team now starts to look towards the off-season as the road season in Iowa is mostly complete. Some racers are headed south for the Gateway cup over Labor Day weekend, and others have already started their off-season training plans.

AUSTIN, MINN—Kyle Fleener is headed to the World Championship Duathlon in Rimini, Italy, Sept. 28.

Fleener, a category 4 cyclist for the Pella Bike Racing team, qualified for the world championships at the Apple Duathlon this past spring. He also raced two half-ironman triathlons this year in preparation for his trip to Italy. The Austin Post-Bulletin wrote an article showcasing Fleener’s world championship training.

Not only is Fleener a contender on the world duathlon stage, but also an up and coming cyclist. He pulled off back-to-back victories in the Category 5 races at the Bicycle Blues and BBQ Crit and Road Race only one month ago. He also hopes to dive into the cyclocross scene this fall to keep his winter fitness.

ELKHART—Jacob Oyen led the Eddy Merckx category at the fourth edition of the Elkhart Time Trial Series with a time of 18:02.

Oyen rode his fastest time trial of the year, with an eight second improvement, on a night when conditions were near perfect. Averaging a blistering 24.8 mph for the 12 kilometer course, he was 1:21 faster than his closest competitor.

There is now an 11 point difference in the Eddy Merckx category between Oyen and the season-long leader, Jerome Rewerts (all9yards.com). The final edition of the race series in September should prove to be exciting as the two racers go head-to-head for the top spot in the category.

The race team is making their final preperations for the State Criterium Championships in Pella on Aug. 23. The race will mark the end of the Iowa road racing calendar.

OVERLAND PARK, KAN.—Jacob Oyen had three top 15 finishes at the three-day tour of Kansas City.  The tour, known for it’s challenging and technical courses, provided Oyen the opportunity to race in a large field.

Kansas City Kansas Criterium
The Friday night criterium in Kansas City kicked off the weekend of racing with a four corner crit. The course included a technical descent as well as some field splitting climbs. Oyen, riding without any teammates, spent most of the race staying out of trouble at the front of the pack in the smallest field of the weekend with only 54 riders.

As the race progressed, different teams tried to split up the race unsuccessfully. With the field together going into the last lap, Oyen started to move toward the front. As the sprint unfolded coming out of the last corner, the sea of riders parted as Oyen opened his “magical cloak” and surged to the finish taking fourth.

Cliff Drive Classic
The Saturday circuit race in this historic part of Kansas City also brought challenging weather conditions for the 20-mile race. With some heavy rain falling before the race, the 82 racers were unsure of the course conditions as they started.

As the riders eased into the racing action, the elements proved to be the deciding factor in the race. For the riders that stayed upright, the road conditions brought an additional challenge. Construction on the bottom side of the course reduced visibility and coated the riders with a layer of mud and grime.

With the race half-over, Oyen found himself off the front after leading the pack up the challenging goose-neck hill. After being caught, Oyen rested up for the final build up to the finish. With a massive acceleration up the final climb, Oyen placed himself in 12th for the finish.

Overland Park Grand Prix
The relatively flat and fast figure eight style course in the old part of Overland Park proved to be the most exciting race of the weekend. With an average speed around 25 mph, there was no room for error.

Shortly after the race started, two riders rolled off the front and put a considerable gap on the field. The peloton had a difficult time organizing themselves to chase which resulted in many crashes. The two leaders were also pushing the pace hard enough that one crashed out, leaving a solo rider off the front with only a few laps to go.

The field chased feverishly, but it proved to be unsucessful as the peloton was treated to a field sprint. As the riders setup for the sprint, Oyen lined himself up in the top 15 to make his move in the last two turns. As the sprint unfolded the tempo kept increasing before Oyen put the power down to come through in 11th.

The racers now have a two-week break before the Iowa racing season comes to a close with the State Criterium Championships on August 23 in Pella.

WEST BRANCH—Steve Reynolds brought home a bronze medal for taking third place at the Iowa State Road Race Championships.

Epic riding conditions greeted the racers from Pella for a much talked about 54 mile road race. The wind was out of the east, but it didn’t provide much relief from the temperatures that were in the low 90s at race time. The first 15 miles were pretty relaxed with the DICE team doing most of the work in the early miles.

With 20 miles behind the riders, a small break formed which included Reynolds. The peloton let the small group get almost a half mile lead before the peloton brought things back together. Doug Klahsen, playing the role of domestique for Reynolds and offered up a fresh bottle and a load of luck for the finish.

With 10 miles to go, Shawn Loomis (Colorbiotics) took a long pull off the front, but was unsuccessful at breaking things up. Within five miles of the finish everything was back together, setting the race up for a field sprint which was hotly contested. Reynolds came through in third just behind Michael Morrison (unattached) and Gerald Johnson (Rasmussen Death Squad 5000). Klahsen came through in 23rd. Dave Vander Horst and Lee Current placed 32nd and 33rd respectively.

The team will take a short break from the racing action next weekend to volunteer their time at the Dutchman half-ironman triathlon in Pella next weekend, while some will head south to compete in the Tour of Kansas City.  The team is also continuing their preparation for the Iowa Criterium Championships in Pella on August 23.

CLEAR LAKE—Kyle Fleener won both category five races at the Bicycle Blues and Barbecue festival and Steve Reynolds managed to take a close second place in the Saturday night crit race. These solid performances showcased the team’s ability to make a statement to the Iowa peloton.

Starting with the Saturday night crit, Fleener challenged his competition late in the category five race. Making his move with two to go, he pulled away from the field for a solo victory. This was only the beginning for the triathlete turned road racer as he challenged the field in the 42-mile road race on Sunday. Keeping things together for the first 20 miles, Fleener made his move and took one competitor with him. The two riders traded turns in the gusty winds all the way to the finish where Fleener pulled ahead and won in a sprint finish.

More teamwork helps Reynolds to second and Klahsen to third
While Fleener took two victories in the category five races, the rest of the team was racing in the category four races. The action started early in the Saturday night crit with Doug Klahsen pulling away from the field on the first two laps. Once he was caught, Lee Current took his turn off the front but was quickly chased down. Jacob Oyen launched a dangerous break with Jerome Rewerts (all9yards.com) which was brought back after a lap.

The final attack proved to be the decisive move of the race. Klahsen and Reynolds developed a break that also included Rewerts, Tim Putnam (North Iowa Spin) and Shawn Loomis (Colorbiotics) that was allowed to roll of the front by Oyen and Current controlling the main peloton. Klahsen, Reynolds and Rewerts kept the pace high enough to shell Shawn Loomis off the back of their group and keep Putnam at bay.

The small break of four riders traded turns on the front until the last lap where Klahsen set up a sprint between Rewerts and Reynolds. The sprint came down to a photo finish where Reynolds was edged out by a narrow margin of just six inches. Klahsen rolled home in third while Oyen and Current finished 9th and 13th in the main group.

A windy road race
With two on the podium in the crit, the team had high hopes for the road race on the following day. A strong wind out of the west greeted the riders when they started the day. As the riders rode along Clear Lake, an easy tempo kept things together for the first 30 miles of the race. When the racers made the final turn to the north, the race began to string out and whittled the field down.

On the four mile long finishing stretch the action and the tempo kicked up. Starting the charge was Klahsen, who kicked the speeds up to almost 30 mph with the wind behind the field. Once he pulled through a second smaller group start to form off the front that included 10 riders. With 300 meters to go, the pace kicked up even higher, but Oyen and Reynolds couldn’t react quick enough and came through in 9th and 10th places respectively. Klahsen and Current finished in the main group in 12th and 18th.

The team takes a short break before heading to West Branch for the state road race on Aug. 2. Preperations have also begun for the Iowa State Criterium Championships in Pella on August 23.

ELKHART—The third edition of the Elkhart time trial series proved to be difficult with a stiff south wind. With the wind in their faces, Doug Klahsen and Jacob Oyen toed the line to race the clock.

Klahsen was the first racer for the team to go off, putting down a time of 18:47, placing him fourth in the category. Oyen followed almost 15 minutes later and rode a time of 18:36, placing him third. Both racers competed in the Eddy Merckx category which doesn’t allow the racers to use any aerodynamic equipment.

As the results are tallied, Oyen will move into second place for the series in the Eddy Merckx category placing him 28 points behind Jerome Rewerts (all9yards.com).

The racers are headed to Clear Lake for the Bicycle Blues and BBQ criterium and road race. While the criterium is a new race, never before run, the road race provides a unique challenge and a typically windy day on the bike.