Where is Myles?

Pictured would be all of our EXPO Juniors racing in the Cat1/2 Junior Open Division (Previously Junior X). These peeps are FAST - Liz, Nate, Theo, Mitch, Caleb, Kyle and... Where is Myles?!?!

Off the front is what we can say now. Myles put it down to dominate the Junior field... The entire COMP class for that matter. 2nd Overall! 16seconds back from 1st overall and 2minutes OVER the entire rest of the COMP field.

Other results to boot:

Chris - 1st Overall in Citizen
*Andy - 2nd Cit 10-14
Emily - 3rd Sport 15-18
*Jordan - 2nd Sport 10-14
*Ryan - 2nd Sport 15-16
Brandon - 3rd Sport 15-16
Riley - 7th Sport 15-16
Dan - 9th Sport 55-59
Liz - 1st
*Myles - 1st, 2nd Overall
Caleb - 4th
Kyle - 5th
Nate - 6th
Theo - 14th
Aris - 18th Elite 19-29
Brian - 22nd Elite 19-29
John - 11th Elite 40+

Mitch told the story of the heat which grabbed him a DNF and highlighted the inner beauty of "season". Brayden joins EXPO this weekend, after his 3rd race ever! He is in the right place, because I couldn't name a better group of kids to move him along the right path. Welcome Brayden.

* would indicate a so-far season best result. Pics and Stories to come.

Enjoyed the Memorial Day.

WORS #2 Keeps it Coming

Chris Schmidt, father of the boy named Andy, shows us exactly how he is trying to get Andy ready for the big races coming up this year. Chris took his Gary Fisher to a 1st in age and 1st overall. Chris and Andy both can be considered relatively new to the sport, and show quite a drive and focus of what you would normally see in seasoned mountain bikers.






How fitting that Andy be caught on pic with a Bonty banner behind. As you may have read about Andy's misfortune in a previous post, Andy was in need of some new hoops. What to do? Then, all of a sudden, I get this magic email from a man named Matt Gehling. He made sure there was some Xlite wheels with proper Rhinelander rubber waiting for the Schmidts upon their Saturday arrival. Andy managed a 4th in age to sneak onto the box to make it two trips to the podium in a row. Thanks again Matt!

Caleb Lenss rocked it for WORS #2. Off the front with Nate on his wheel. And after Nate's performance at Iola, one would be worried to have Nate on your backside. Combine Caleb's form and Nate's loose skewer... Caleb was gone! He was gone with a 5th overall COMP time.

John G is rocking out the WORS season this year. Two in a row and is getting closer and closer to crossing the line ahead of some old man trying to manage his rusty tool shed. John took 7th in his COMP age class and 59th overall. 7min off the old man's time.

Ahh! Yes you are seeing it here and now! The Shull family has jumped on the EXPO crew. Emily will rock out her Clif kit until we can rush her some women's specific from our friends at Endura. She will represent in the Sport class at 15. I tell you what, 2nd age and 18th overall... If her sister Liz can be any indication of Emily's potential... Look out.

Liz Shull is EXPO's first Junior Elite woman. She is faaast! To finish inside the top ten of the women's elite field at only 16, is scary. She did it at Iola. Just days after her top ten, she throws on an EXPO kit. To boot, she runs Ergon. Team Editions are on their way!

New faces leaves more room for face time. Liz and Emily will be getting plenty of it. Talks have already begun to have these two come out to CO with us to compete at the national level... Ha, as if WORS isn't that already!

What a pic. The entire podium (4 of 5 EXPO) has times fast enough to make the top 10 overall in the COMP field. Sick, right? Just look how WORS cash hungry err, jealous the boys are of Caleb's winnings.

Could this be the EXPO squad for Moab? What a question... How crazy is it going to be to watch that develop over the summer?

Not pic'd: Who could forget Brandon getting on the box riding his new Trek? Jay shoots him a pre-race strategy talk, wala. Improve something like 80 spots his sport overall result from Iola to Rhinelander and take 3rd in his age... Can't wait to see him at WORS #3. Can't wait to see you all!

***All Pics from the lovely peoples at Flicker and the WORS photoContest.

Rhinelander Pre-race

It is really nice when you cross by a FlickerPhoto that can finally tell the true story. Race report to come...


Photo by WORS Photographer Jared Brodjeski

EXPO bike gets Hurt

So I get a sad sad sad email regarding the health of a teammate's bike. The lesson that can learned here, I don't know...



"Driving 2 blocks away from our house, the wind had blown some tree branches down on some phone lines. These lines happened to be low enough to close-line Andy's bike and rip it and the Thule Rack off the top of the car. Trashed his Race X Lite wheels, hydraulic brake cables, and remote fork cable (not to mention the rack and the top of the car!). We’ve recovered emotionally. Now it's time for Verizon to cut the check!"



To the Schmidt family, We feel your pain and promise Andy will be happy on whatever the steed thrown together for this weekend's race. When your powers combine...

Iola kicks it EXPO Style'

The EXPO Junior cat1/2 peeps at the start of WORS #1, Iola. A huge group of kids that chose to blow each other to shreds after the first section of climbs. I absolutely loved seeing it. Watching them hang prior to start like the crew I know, then once the infamous "GoooOOOOO!" reaches their ears it was go time. Faces went to pro and it was time to see who brought their legs to the start of the mountain biking season. Nate was off the front(and would stay there!) with Kyle keeping the gap within 1 minute for most of the race. Then after those two it was cut-throat. Myles had to fight lap traffic and some fast kid from a team in blue to take 4th. Caleb fought hard to come oh-so-close to getting on the box. To be able to walk into a 7th place last year versus fighting for your life to get a 7th this years goes to show how hot the Junior scene is this for 2010.

Looking at the faces of Nate and Kyle in this pic taken by velogrrl at the finish will always keep you on an even mindset. Once the top two spots were sealed with the EXPO Badge (Nate 1, Kyle 2) it was all smiles. You can tell EXPO is out to have a good year.

EXPO Prodigy, Andy Schmidt, showed everyone he is here to stay. A U14 field that was 15 deep and littered with 12, 13 and 14 year old's was sure to pose a threat to Andy's second year racing and his first Citizen race to boot. The 10year old grabbed the 3rd highest spot on the box and place 26th overall. All I can say is look out Colorado... Andy will come ready to race US XC Nats.

What does 2009 US 13-14 Cyclocross National Champion Ian Haupt do in his off season? Rip up the Sport field as he works his singletrack skills. One thing is for sure, Cyclocross legs easily transfer to the mountain bike. Ian took second in the Sport U14 age and 10th Overall. He is most certainly off to a great start.

All in all the, EXPO Nation threw 12 into the almost 850 racer mix at WORS #1. I think we came out pretty good. And what a blast it was to see a the people that can be associated with a Mountain Biking weekend in WI. 2010 is going to be fun.