It's been a busy few weeks for Team Kaos/Nebraska Medical Center riders. As the road racing season winds down, some are preparing for cyclocross, while others are looking forward to the state road race on Sept. 6, and then a few weeks off.

Follow the jump for reports from Puerto Rico, Pella and the Tranquility Tire Tantrum mountain bike race.

Clasico Coqui Dorado -- Puerto Rico (Aug 16 to 18)
A pair of top-five finishes was the reward after a long day of climbing in the opening stage.

Dewey Dickey, on loan from Mercy-Specialized of Iowa City, won the masters elite division, while Marco Vasquez finished 15th. If not for a late flat, Vasquez would have ridden into second place at the end of the stage.

Matt Landen attacked on the first of many climbs to split the field and pave the way to a fifth-place finish in the elite division. Matt Pavlovich finished 35th after the first stage.

"There was a ton of climbing -- way more than last year," Pavlovich said. "It was insane."

Team Kaos held the masters team lead after the first day.

Stage Two featured plenty of climbing at the start before leveling out for the final 40K. The stage topped out at 2,500 feet after starting at 100 feet. The technical, 15K descent to the final flat was littered with rocks from the previous day's rains.

Landen, expecting attacks before the descent, flatted before the second part of the uphill portion of the stage. He got a quick wheel change and regained contact before the second climb.

"On the day's second climb there were a ton of attacks," Landen said. "Most of the attacks were really strong, but the riders never had the power to drive the tempo once they attacked so I never changed my tempo and continued to ride myself back into the front group as attacks went."

On the tricky descent, Landen went down cautiously, preferring to make up time at the bottom rather than lose more in a crash. 

On the final flat section, Landen was forced to mount a chase when a Caico rider escaped and built a massive gap. Taking the reins at the front of the chase group, Landen pulled the peloton at 36 mph on the flats to cut the breakaway lead from 4 minutes to 2:21 and preserve his GC standing.

Pavlovich and Vasquez finished in a group that crossed the line 9:30 behind the winner. Vasquez attempted to escape and take some time back, but was reeled in and picked up only three seconds in the masters GC. 

Stage Three was filled with triumph and frustration. On one hand, Dickey defended his GC lead. On the other, Landen flatted and was saddled with time penalties to drop to 19th place overall.

The course was a 6.5 KM loop through Cayey that featured a short, steep climb and a long, fast descent. The elite and masters fields were split for the first time, with the elites heading off three minutes ahead of the masters and set for a 12-lap race. Within four laps, Dickey had shattered the masters field, the remnants of which were being lapped by the elites. 

After attacking and building a 10-second gap, Landen flatted and took a wheel from Pavlovich, who then got a wheel from the neutral service vehicle. The two mounted a chase in an attempt to return to the peloton, but were eventually lapped and pulled from the field. Lapped riders were given the time of the last-place finisher, plus a one-minute penalty for every lap that was left when they were pulled. That meant nine minutes of penalties for Landen, who finished 19th in GC. Pavlovich was 43rd in GC after the penalties. 

Dickey broke away with four others and had a minute on the field after eight laps. Vasquez attempted to bridge and rode in no-man's land for three laps before being reeled in. He used the last jump in his legs to lead out another teammate-on-loan, who took second in the field sprint and fifth for the stage. Vasquez was 10th in the stage. 

Vasquez said Team Kaos again made a favorable impression at the race. "The trip was successful for our team, and we received many compliments from race organizers and professional racers on the way we raced and conducted ourselves."

Psycowpath Series: Tranquility Tire Tantrum (Aug. 16)
Team Kaos shop sponsor Bike Masters, along with its cycling club, sponsored the latest installment in the Nebraska Lottery Psycowpatch Series.

On a cool, pleasant Saturday morning, Mark Brackenbury took third place in the Sport Men's Masters 45-plus field. 

Iowa State Criterium Championship: Pella (Aug. 24)
Rich Pearson finished fifth in the Masters 50-plus race, and followed it up with a 10th-place finish in the Cat. 4 race later in the day. Also in Pella, Mark Stursma finished sixth in the Cat. 5 men's race.

Pearson was off the front with two others in the Masters race, but was reeled in by the peloton. The group stayed together the rest of the race, which led to problems on the last lap in turn three.

"(It's a) sharp turn followed by a short uphill section," Pearson said. "Someone touched wheels and three riders went down right in front of me. I ran into the pile. I stayed upright but came to a complete stop and then had to get going again, still in the big ring. I lost a few seconds so I never got to contend for the sprint."

In the Cat. 4 race, Pearson again had his breakaway attempt reeled in. And, again, trouble bubbled up in turn three. Though only one rider went down, Pearson was caught in traffice and left out of the sprint. 

Stursma had the same problem on the last lap of his race, as well. A crash in front of him stalled his momentum heading into the final hill.