Wheelchair Sports, Inc.

Presented by Wheelchair Sports, Inc.

In Partnership With OZ Racing & Johnson’s Garden Center

OZ Racing The 2008 Wichita Cyclefest Handcycle Omnium
May 3rd & 4th, 2008

Special Thanks to:

OZ Racing (OZ Bike Club Wichita KS)
Wheelchair Sports Members and Volunteer Staff

Photographers/video:

Tyler Ross

Betsy Clark
Sher Stever

Danny Beougher
Brittney Stever

Tiffany Nickel

Road Race Story
by Brian Mitchell

Wichita Cyclefest kicked off sharp at 9:30 am in sunny/windy (20+ mph. wind) 45 degree weather. Oz Sanchez started off riding with the Quad Division….not for sure if Oz just partied to hard the night before or needed a mile or so just to warm up. Once Oz got going,
Oz quickly caught and passed everyone and rode on to easily win the Kneeseat Division. Just as a note….Oz’s 24 mile time was 1:12:49….the CAT 3/4 Men rode the same 24 mile course but had to do 3 laps for their race……the Cat3/4 Men road the first lap at approximately 1:15:00 and the second lap at approximately 1:00:00…..who knows, Oz may have been competitive in the cat3/4 class!. Oz won King of the Hill for the Kneeseat Division.

Brian Mitchell, David Randall, Jan Mattern, and Gerard Ah-Fook took off and rode for about 6 miles together, then Gerard Ah-Fook was stripped off. Jan Mattern was stripped off 4 miles later. Mitchell and Randall rode the rest of the course never separated more than 3 bike lengths. Mitchell attacked several times but failed to drop Randall. Randall attacked on the hills and won King of the Hill for the longseats but failed to drop Mitchell. Mitchell edged Randall in a sprint at the finish to win the Longseat Division.

Jan Mattern’s shifter cable broke at mile 12 but he managed to survive and finish the race. Gerard Ah-Fook took full advantage of Jan’s mishap and passed and finished in front of Jan.

Dennis Clark and Tom Kahler road together for about 11 miles. Dennis attacked Tom on a slow grade hill and pulled away leaving both men to finish the race in time trial fashion. However,
Dennis’s chain broke at mile 17…. so he DNFed.

Wayne Romero, James Watson, Mark Stever, and Dale Pausewang rode the entire race in time trial fashion. James was having backrest problems and never really got into a good racing groove. Wayne Romero capitalized on James’ backrest problem and won the Quad Division and Quad Division King of the Hill. Quad class racer Dale Pausewang, rode a personal best on the course. Mark Stever said “nice training ride”.

Time Trial Story

By Brian Mitchell/JW

The Wichita Kansas Cyclefest Time Trial started in sunny and cool morning. The Wizard…Oz Sanchez put up mystifying performance and easily won the Kneeseat Division, while simultaneously smashing the old handcycle division course record. Oz averaged 23.61 mph on this flat fast TT course. Based upon Oz’s performance in the Georgia and Kansas TTs this year, Oz can definitely be considered a TT specialist. There is some speculation amongst the handcyclists that Oz might even be able to dethrone longstanding King Alejandro Albor in the TT event.

Longseat TT specialist David Randall won the Longseat Division TT even though he had some trouble negotiating the narrow turnaround on the out and back 15K TT course. David averaged 20.29 mph.

James Watson got back on track and won the QUAD Division TT leaving a CRIT showdown between he and yesterdays RR winner Wayne Romero to see who takes Overall 1st Place in the QUAD Division.

Local handcyclists Jennifer Kreutzer placed 1st in the Womens Open Handcycle Division.

Criterium Story

By Brian Mitchell/JW

The Wichita Kansas Cyclefest CRIT started in sunny 65 weather with a head wind on the back stretch.

Oz Sanchez easily won the Kneeseat Division. Gerard Ah-Fook and Everitt Ross to .

Brian Mitchell and David Randall played cat and mouse on the CRIT course from beginning to end. Mitchell pulled out every racing tactic in his book and attacked Randall multiple times over the entire CRIT course. Randall answered each time not letting Mitchell get away. In the end, Mitchell won the Longseat Division in a sprint to the finish. “Those two are fun to watch. “They are always challenging each other!” comented Rebecca Strickert, a representative of Wheelchair Sports Inc..

Jan Mattern and Gerard Ah-Fook worked well together over most of the CRIT course even catching but failing to beat cat and mouser Randall and Mitchell. Gerard pulled away narrowly beating Jan at the finish.

The QUAD Division saw James Watson and Wayne Romero battling it out for the CRIT and Overall QUAD Division 1^st Place. Working together with Everett Ross for the first few laps Wayne dropped back after the 6^th lap leaving Watson to run with Ross. Shortly Ross dropped back as well. Watson cruised in to win the QUAD Division CRIT and QUAD Division Overall. Apparently Romero burned himself out waxing Watson the RR and just didn’t recover enough to challenge Watson in the TT or CRIT. “The target is on your back again now buddy” said Romero to Watson in response to a similar comment by Watson after the road race. The two train together regularly.

Last Updated: May 11, 2007
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