Three more road race national titles awarded in Cherokee Park
Michael Olheiser won the men's 35-39 road race in Cherokee Park on Friday. (www.DooleyMann.PhotoReflect.com)
The 67 men in the 35-39 age category were the first to toe the line at 8:00 in the morning. It was an aggressive start with the field blowing apart pretty early on in the 14-lap contest. Three men set a pace at the front that the rest of the field couldn’t match. Those three were Michael Olheiser, Benjamin Blaugrund (Boulder, Colo./Team San Jose), and Christopher Harkey (Mt. Pleasant, NC/Carolina Bicycle Company), and they had a three minute gap on the chase group by the contest’s half-way point.
“I didn’t really want to go as early as I did but the field just kind of slowed up a little bit I guess from the speed I wanted to and I made a first attack and blew the field apart to three guys,” Olheiser explained after taking the national title. “I just kept pushing the pace and picked the guys off one by one.”
Eventually, Harkey was dropped and it came down to Olheiser and Blaugrund. With three laps to go, Olhesier opened up a gap on Blaugrund and held the lead all the way to the finish line.
“I went into time trial and tried to hammer my way in,” the winner said at the finish.
After Olhesier soloed over the line for his second national title of the season (he also won the elite road race in Bend earlier in the summer), Blaugrund followed him in for the silver medal. Harkey was third for the bronze while Christopher Brown (Chattanooga, Tenn./Litespeed-BMW) and Kevin Kremke (Houston, Texas/Bike Barn) rounded out the podium in fourth and fifth.
CLICK HERE to watch a video of Michael talking after his race.
Next up was the 77-rider strong men’s 40-44 field. It was evident that it would be a tough 11 laps of the five mile loop as the pace was very fast right from the gun.
CLICK HERE to see a video of the men’s 40-44 race start.
The feed zone was a popular spot for spectators. (www.DooleyMann.PhotoReflect.com)
Closing Friday’s racing out was the largest field of the day – the 98 men in the 45-49 group. After eleven laps of racing, it was another big group sprint around the final turn. Cale Reeder edged out second-place finisher Jonathan Card (Sylvania, Ohio) in a photo finish. Taking third place was Troy Kimball (Randolph, NJ/Westwood Velo) while Janne Hamalainen (Tulsa, Okla./Tulsa Wheelmen) and Mark Gunsalus (Dudley, Mass./Team Fuji-Clif Bar) were fourth and fifth.
The USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships will cross the river and head into Jeffersonville, Ind. Saturday and Sunday for some action-packed criterium racing. Stay tuned to www.usacycling.org for daily reports on all the action.
For more information about this event, including a schedule and course maps, click here to visit the event’s webpage.
Click here for complete results.
CLICK HERE for a PHOTO GALLERY from the event
2010 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships
Louisville, Ky.
August 3-8, 2010
1. Michael Olheiser (Huntsville, Ala./TriStar Cycling Team)
2. Benjamin Blaugrund (Boulder, Colo./Team Hotel San Jose)
3. Christopher Harkey (Mt. Pleasant, NC/Carolina Bicycle Company)
4. Christopher Brown (Chattanooga, Tenn./Litespeed-BMW)
5. Kevin Kremke (Houston, Texas/Bike Barn)
1. Roger Aspholm (Haworth, NJ/Westwood Velo)
2. Frederick Norton (Towson, Md./Lateral Stress Velo)
3. Dan Martin (Foster City, Calif./Team Bicycles Plus)
4. Patrick Weddell (West Jefferson, NC/Team Ville)
5. David Henderson (Columbia, Mo./Columbia Bike Club Race Team)
This Article Published August 6, 2010 For more information contact:
