They said he was "no Jedi"...They were wrong!

We are first and foremost a clan of like-minded individuals who like to race their bicycles.  So when one of us performs well enough to warrant and upgrade we think it's a big deal.

Jed "the Jedi" Barden, in his first year with the squad has just upgraded to Category 3 status on the road.  Here is a brief interview I had with Jed to learn more about his spectacular Spring campaign.

The Jedi winning the Ravensdale Cat 4 men road race

 You've had a strong season so far and appear to enjoy crits including a recent win at Enumclaw. What's been your racing highlight so far?


The highlight of this season has to be the win at Ravensdale. Up to that point I had not won a race or been in a legitimate breakaway. We were in that 3-man break for 25 miles and I don't think I have ever been so tired at the end of a race. It is one thing to know you can win, but to actually do it was really special.

Images from the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race

Erica on her way to a 5th place finish in the P1-2 criterium.

Dustin on the streets of Enumclaw after his 8th place finish in the morning time trial.

Brad putting his cornering grip to the test in the P1-2 criterium.

A dark, wet and crash-filled criterium for Jeff D. and the other Cat 3s.

The Masters 40+ 4-5 & 50+ Stage 2 field gets rolling with Dave, RC, and Corrie.

Second on general classification, Andrew is called up to the line prior to the Cat 4 criterium. After Stage 2 Andrew would move up to first on GC, only to see his hopes of a high placing dashed because of a crash in the next day's road race.

Photos courtesy of Amara Boursaw www.wheelsinfocus.com

GC Results from Mutual of Enumclaw

Event Name:	Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race - General Classification
Date:	May 21-22, 2011
Description:	Results after Stage 3
Cat 3 Women:	4th - Suzie Kauper
Cat 4 Men:	4th - Jed Barden 7th - Dean Jasper
Masters Men 40+ 4-5 & 50+:	4th - Dave Hecht 5th - RC Rogers

Second for Hecht in Stage 3 Road Race

Alex on the Mud Mountain Road climb.

Photo courtesy of Amara Boursaw www.wheelsinfocus.com

Event Name:	Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race - Stage 3 Road Race
Date: Description: Cat 3 Women:	May 22, 2010 A fourteen-mile loop near Enumclaw with a 500ft. climb up Mud Mountain Roa. Dave carries the momentum from his Stage 2 criterium victory into an outstanding finish in the road race. 9th - Suzie Kauper
Cat 4 Men:	9th - Jed Barden
Masters Men 40+ 4-5 & 50+:	2nd - Dave Hecht 6th - RC Rogers

Barden, Hecht Win Stage 2 Criterium at Enumclaw

Jed takes the Cat 4 Criterium with room to spare, and time to celebrate.

Photo courtesy of Amara Boursaw www.wheelsinfocus.com

Dave lunges for the line in winning the Master 40+ 4-5 & 50+ category.

Photo courtesy of Amara Boursaw www.wheelsinfocus.com

Event Name:	Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race - Stage 2 Criterium
Date:	May 21, 2011
Description:	A technical eight-corner criterium in downtown Enumclaw. Dry for the early races, but the inevitable rain made things interesting later on. In addition to victories by Jed and Dave, Erica put in a solid performance to finish 5th in the P1-2 field.
Cat P1-2 Women:	5th - Erica Lorenzen
Cat 4 Men:	1st - Jed Barden 9th - Dean Jasper
Master Men 40+ 4-5 & 50+:	1st - Dave Hecht 7th - RC Rogers

Several Top Tens at Enumclaw's Stage 1

Aaron sets out on the time trial course.

Photo courtesy of Amara Boursaw www.wheelsinfocus.com

Event Name:	Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race - Stage 1 Time Trial
Date:	May 21, 2011
Description:	The stage race starts off with a 10k time trial, a mostly flat course with one rolling hill. The team was paced by several strong rides, with top ten results in nearly every category that was entered.
Cat P1-2 Men:	9th - Dustin Van Wyck (+:20)
Cat 3 Men:	8th - Jeff Dunn (+:51)
Cat 3 Women:	4th - Suzie Kauper (+:19)
Cat 4 Men:	2nd - Andrew Eisen (+:03) 9th - Gabe Templeton (+:23)
Masters Men 30+ Cat 1/2/3:	6th - Alex Telitsine (+:37)
Masters Men 40+ 4/5 & 50+:	5th - RC Rogers (+:45) 7th - Dave Hecht (+:50)

Lorenzen Upgrades to Cat 2

Erica in action at the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race.

Photo courtesy of Amara Boursaw www.wheelsinfocus.com

After a successful 2010 and early 2011, Erica Lorenzen has upgraded to Category 2. Her impact on that field has been immediate, demonstrated by her 5th place finish in the Stage 2 Criterium at the Mutual of Enumclaw. Erica began cycling seriously five years ago in grad school where she was on the Yale Cycling team. Her focus at the time was on half-ironman distance triathlon. In 2009, Erica made the switch to road racing, starting as an unattached Cat 4. The next year she joined Farestart p/b Cobalt Mortgage (then IJM). Her 2010 season was a breakthrough year, in which she placed in the top five in most of the races she entered and upgraded to Cat 3. Erica has continued with good results this season and earned enough points for the Cat 2 upgrade. "I am looking forward to the challenge of racing with women who have been racing for quite a while and who take their training and racing seriously. I still have a lot to learn and being the only 1/2 on our team makes every race an intriguing strategic challenge," said Erica.

Stottlemeyer 60 Report by Martin

Martin's Steed Prepares for Battle

I have been waiting for this event ever since I put it on my calendar. The day was perfect as there were no racing conflicts on the calendar and Tony B came along as well so I had company. I guess there were 45 entrants total last year and this year it sold out meaning there were 200 riders! Nice.

Continue reading the full report here: http://martin.criminale.com/2011/05/stottlemeyer-60.html

Criminale Gets 4th in the Dirt at Stottlemeyer 60

Event Name:	Stottlemeyer 60
Date:	May 14, 2011
Description:	Four-lap mountain bike race on gravel, road, and single track. A true sufferfest.
Singlespeed: Photos:	4th - Martin Criminale http://stevesandersphotography.com/p764715540/e3d24f69f#h3d24f69f

Top Ten Finishes for Barden and Eisen in Rainy Wenatchee

Event Name:	Wenatchee Omnium
Date:	May 14-15, 2011
Description:	Instead of the usual warm and sunny Wenatchee, the omnium race was hit by one of the worst rainstorms in the area's history, which dumped 1.5 inches of rain in 24 hours. A number of riders bagged the race entirely; just doing this race was worthy of some kind of award.
Cat 4 Men Overall:	7th - Jed Barden 8th - Andrew Eisen
Cat 4 Men Time Trial:	6th - Andrew Eisen 8th - Jed Barden
Cat 4 Men Criterium:	9th - Jed Barden
Cat 4 Men Road Race:	5th - Jed Barden 6th - Andrew Eisen

Kowalchyk Second on the Carnation Hill Course

Event Name:	Carnation Time Trial Series - Hill Course
Date:	May 8, 2011
Description:	14-mile time trial with two categorized climbs starting and finishing in Carnation. The bad weather continued with driving rain and cold temperatures. On the bright side, the race was not cancelled due to snow or flooding.
Cat 3 Women:	2nd - Karen Kowalchyk
Cat 4 Men:	5th - Jed Barden 9th - Tim Farrell
Master Women:	4th - Allison Howard

Historic Day at Ravensdale

Finish line photo of the P1-2 race shows Dustin celebrating his win.

The P1-2 break with Dustin and Aaron. Dustin made his winning move 1.5k from the finish.

The winning breakaway in Cat 4, Jason Cemanski (Apex), Travis Biechele (Cycle U), and Jed. The break started halfway through the race, after both Jed and Jason were involved in a crash on the first lap.

The Cat 4 field was kept under control while the three-man break built a minute advantage.

A wet and cold day of racing for the Cat 3s. Ryan G. later sprinted for second place, brightening his mood.

Photos courtesy of Kevin Tu, kevinvutu@yahoo.com

Van Wyck, Barden, Hecht on the top step at Ravensdale

Event Name:	Ravensdale Road Race
Date:	May 7, 2011
Description:	A 9-mile loop near the small town of Ravensdale, featuring several deep potholes and one sketchy corner. Weather was miserable - alternating rain and hail. Farestart p/b Cobalt Mortgage scores multiple podiums on the day, with victories in the P1-2, Cat 4, and Masters 30+ 4-5 & 50+, and second place in Cat 3. Dustin Van Wyck's win in the P1-2 field was the first in that category in team history.
Cat P1-2 Men:	1st - Dustin Van Wyck 9th - Aaron Shaw
Cat 3 Men:	2nd - Ryan Gist
Cat 3 Women:	6th - Erika Lorenzen 7th - Suzie Kauper
Cat 4 Men:	1st - Jed Barden
Masters 30+ 1-3:	7th - Dave Hecht
Masters 30+ 4-5 & 50+:	1st - Dave Hecht

Suzie Kauper Takes Third at Senior State Championships

Event Name:	Vance Creek Road Race - Washington State Senior Road Race Championships
Date:	May 1, 2011
Description:	13 mile loop repeated multiple times with an uphill finish. The sun finally made an appearance, with temps in the high 60s.
Cat 3 Women:	3rd - Suzie Kauper

Suzie on the cat 3 women's podium

The team preparing to go nuclear in the afternoon races