Team Kaos' Matt Farnham stormed to a Cat. 4 men's victory in the opener of the Sobe No Fear CX weekend Saturday at Pioneers Park in Lincoln.

Farnham completed the 30-minute race with a nearly one-minute gap over Randall Crist of Omaha Velo Club. Farnham also turned in the race's fastest lap, in 5:38.

The Sobe No Fear weekend continues Sunday with the Nebraska State Cyclocross championship races, also at Pioneers Park. Races begin at 11 a.m. and conclude after the Men's 1/2/3 race at 2 p.m.

New wins mark highlights 2007 season

Just a year ago, Team Kaos reached its high-water mark with 48 victories for the 2006 campaign.

A year later, Kaos flooded the road with 63 wins in a dominant season that ended with 12 state championships across three events – time trial, road race and criterium.
 

Click here to see his photos.

Elkhorn, Neb. - Duane Dickey (Mercy/Specialized) grabbed the first day lead in the Pro-I-II division by winning the morning road race and finishing in the top six in the afternoon time trial at the Dave Babcook Memorial Cycling Weekend

Dickey leads Omahan Chris Spence (Team Kaos) by 40 seconds heading into Sunday’s 75-minute Chipotle Burrito Buster Criterium that caps off the two-day, three-stage race. Spence won the Masters 35+ overall earlier this month at the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic.

In third place, one second behind Spence, is his former teammate, Jarred Berger, who now rides for Team Einstein’s. Berger was six seconds slower than Spence’s winning time in the nine-mile time trial.

Overall, riders from Nebraska are in the lead in eight of 12 categories after the first day of the Dave Babcook Memorial Cycling Weekend.

Omahans Jackie Weires (Cat. IV women), Peter Duryea (Masters 45-and-over), Fred Galata (Masters 55-and-over), Sydney Brown (Senior women I-II-III) and Justin Maresh (Cat. IV men) of Lincoln, Daniel Schuldt of Doniphan (Cat. V men), Richard Hake (Cat. V Masters 55-and-over) of Madison and Jerry Arnold of Valentine (Cat. V Masters 45-and-over) all lead their respective divisions.

Team Kaos' Morgan Chaffin (pictured at left) won the Women's I-II-III time trial by 49 seconds and sits second overall to Sydney Brown (X Plane/Team Revolution).

The more than 140 racers from nine different states enjoyed sunny skies for Saturday morning’s road race and afternoon temperatures in the mid-80s for the time trial. The final 20 starters of the time trial did endure a brief afternoon rain shower, but it did not seem to significantly affect the times.

At least one category could be decided by time bonuses on the finish line of Sunday’s criteriums. Scott Fairbairn (All9Yards.com Cycing Team) holds an eight-second lead over Matt Pavlovich (Team Kaos) in the Cat. III division and three others are just 20 seconds off the lead.

Complete race results and the first day communiques are available for download at Nebraskacyclingnews.com.

It all gets underway Friday night with packet pick-up at Bike Masters Cycling & Fitness, 129th & Fort St. The official shop of sponsoring club, Team Kaos, will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. to provide competitors with their race bible, numbers and goodie bags.

Late packet pick-up continues Saturday morning on-site at Mt. Michael Abbey, located northwest of Elkhorn, Neb. From 6:30 to 7:30 a.m., competitors can pick up their packets, just prior to staging of all races.

This year's road race course is identical to last year's and features a challenging two-tiered climb within its circuit course. Timing and results will be handled by Velo-Tech.

Only hours after competitors sprint to the finish in the road race, they will be back on their bikes for the afternoon time trial, which begins at 2 p.m. This year's course has been lengthened to include a more varied terrain. This is where time lost in the road race can be made up. OnSupport will be providing neutral support to keep everyone moving.

Not to be missed is the Saturday night appreciation dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Upstream Brewing Company, 171st and West Center Road. The complimentary pasta buffet includes grilled chicken penne pasta with red pepper cream, mushrooms, peppers and fresh rosemary Mediterranean pasta (linguini with white wine shallot reduction, olive oil sun dried tomatoes, spinach, artichoke hearts, black olives, feta and pine nuts and parsley), Upstream Mac and Cheese spiral pasta tossed with black forest ham, scallions, smoked cheese sauce, topped with jack and cheddar cheeses, pub salad with balsamic vinaigrette and ranch on side, beer bread and assorted rolls and butter.

Riders should sign up at the road race Saturday morning and bring their race numbers with them to the restaurant. Guests are welcome at a cost of $10 each (please sign up Saturday morning and make your check payable to “Team Kaos Cycling”).

Sunday's final day of racing action will be on the same course in Downtown Omaha as last year. Featuring some newly-paved street sections, this course promises to be fast and, with several hundred dollars of primes on the line, the racing is sure to be exciting. It all begins at 9 a.m. with the inaugural edition of the The Babcook Family Research Fund Cycling Tour. Criterium racing begins a half-hour later and continues through the day.

 2007 DBMSR Race Bible

For more information on the race, click here.

To find out more about the recreational tour, click here.

The race started at 7,540 feet in front of Clear Creek Middle School and climbed to Echo Lake, where the course turns and climbs to the summit (14,264 feet). More than 500 racers participated in the 42nd annual event.

"The pace was crazy from the start as Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling) was attempting the record," Gray said. "My goal was two hours and I felt like I crushed it with a 1:58:08."

His Team Kaos teammates, Matt Landen, and Mark Merritt were 33rd and 38th, respectively, finishing in 2:11:51 and 2:15:56.

Danielson was challenged all the way to the top by Scott Moninger, the two-time defending - and six-time overall - Mt. Evans Hill Climb champion who rides for the BMC Professional Cyling Team. The Discovery Channel rider won in 1:43, with Moninger second and veteran pro Michael Carter third.

Morgan Chaffin and Justin Maresh captured gold medals with wins in the women’s open and Cat. IV divisions, respectively, while Rich Pearson earned a silver in the Masters Men’s 55+ and Joe McWilliams took home the bronze in the Cat. I-II-III division.

Chaffin covered the 24-mile course near Yutan in 58:03 to average 24.8 mph. Maresh’s time was 57:17 – nearly a minute-and-a-half faster than second-place finisher Don Raskey of Midwest Cycling.

McWilliams came within eight seconds of second place and was nine seconds out of first with a time trial he called “one of his best” in years.

Nearly 60 riders turned out to race under sunny skies with a strong southwest wind that provided a nice tailwind on the return trip of the out-and-back course.

"I couldn't have done it without Marco (Vasquez) and Mark (Brackenbury)," Spence said after accepting the final yellow jersey of race leader Sunday. "Those guys did a fantastic job."

Vasquez and Brackenbury's hard work to keep Spence in the yellow jersey was never more evident than in Friday night's downtown criterium. Lap after lap, the pair chased down attack after attack for nearly the entire 45-minute race.

"I felt pressure for sure," Spence said. "In the crit, the guy in second place at the time (Michael Larsen of Bend Bike 'N Sport) was definitely looking to split it up and possibly get gap."

But with Vasquez and Brackenbury again patrolling the front of the peloton Saturday, Spence put more time into Larsen with a second-place finish in the 85-mile Pacific Power-Cascade Lakes Road Race. Stage winner Christopher Phipps (ZTeam), who soloed in for the win, now loomed as Spence's biggest challenger, 1:28 behind.

Spence said that made Sunday's 63-mile Deschutes Brewery-Awbrey Butte Circuit Race the toughest of the three-day, four-stage race.

Photo at right: Marco Vasquez leads Team Kaos teammate Chris Spence through a corner during the Desert Orthopedics/Rebound Physical Therapy-Downtown Criterium. (Photo courtesy Gregg Zivney.)

Spence rode in 56 seconds after Stage 3 winner Christopher Phipps (ZTeam), while the rider who was closest to challenging him, Michael Larsen (Bend Bike 'N Sport), was dislodged from his second place spot when he finished 13th on the stage.

The podium placing for Spence increased his advantage to 1:28 over Phipps, who climbed into second place. Spence has been in the yellow leader's jersey since winning the 15-mile opening time trial Friday morning.

Only Sunday morning's Deschutes Brewery-Awbrey Butte Circuit Race remains between Spence and the overall title. The 63-mile race is run around a 17-mile circuit.

In the Cat. III competition, Team Kaos Matt Pavlovich finished 37th in the Pacific Power road race, 1:32 behind the winner, to climb to 35th overall, 3:49 behind.

Ian Gray and Matt Landen, who are competing in the Pro Men's I-II race, held their positions on overall classification with 29th and 55th places, respectively, on the day. With one stage to go, Gray is 30th and Landen is 47th.