Dave, I am working on a bike made entirely of eco-friendly cow paddies, it smells bad, but feed it some hay and it will go for miles.

Our 56 mile ride consisted of Dave "Contrador" Oachs, Jeff "Downhill Cowabunga" Colbeth, Andrea "the Squeakmeister" P.O. Smith, and Bob "the Boomer" Barabe.
The group went south and east of Hudson taking in some real good climbing with the pace at 20+ miles per hour due to the light SE winds. The overall average was around 17 mph.
Jeff led the team up the Coulee Road at category 10 hill letting our bodies slowly warmup. The route next took on Townsvalley Road with Dave and Bob leading the way to the top. On the twisting downhill Jeff took off and never touched his brake levers once with speeds of close to peeling the skin right off of his nose.
After doing the loop directly west of River Falls the mini peloton went onto the famous Apple Valley Trail, a 3 mile climb that sucks the energy out of the quads like nothing else. Bob elected to be a domestict' by pushing the pace for about one third of the way up before Dave and Jeff took over and dueled the rest of the way up. Andrea gave it her all and finished the way to the top in a flurry.
Little did Jeff and company know what was in store for them next. Bob brought them to a road that went pretty much straight up, which made Jeff start making strange sounds like, "oh boy", and "not this one!" It was a good push up this hill by the three guys and it was pretty much an even finish at the top. With each climb Andrea would always pushed the pace once she joined the boys, which made for a good ride. The last major climb found us doing the 'world famous' Cliffton Hollows Hill from the southside to the north. Jeff took off right away and yelled out something like "cowabunga". He had a big lead on the rest of the peloton, like instantly. Dave, Andrea, and Bob followed down with speeds of 47 mph being the norm. On the northside Dave caught Jeff and Bob followed right after. Dave was like a man possessed as he stood off of his saddle for the entire duration of the climb. Bob and Jeff battled it out for the bragging rights to second place. Jeff caught Bob near the top and went on to beat him by a two bicycle lengths. Andrea was a real gamer as she gave this last big climb her best effort of the evening. With most of our liquids gone it was decided to stop off at the nearby golf course and get some water. The rest of the ride was uneventful, with the exception being the ride up to the Townsvalley Ridge. Bob challenged the group to do it in the big ring. Dave took the honors with Jeff, Bob, and Andrea following just behind in the race up to the summit. Thaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttssssssssss all folks!!!!!!!!

Bob B.

The team put 3 riders in this event.  It's sponsored by County Cycles of Shoreview and this years weather was great.  It got up to 80 degrees with only mild winds.  The ride actualy started from Bogies house where he made swedish pancakes  for Vince M. and Dave O.  We rode to Houlton where the ride started.  Overall it was about 69 miles at 18.8 mph.  The schedule was tight as Vince wanted to be back home at 1:00.  We stopped at the Cascade for lunch break of 35 minutes.  I was anticipating doing the ride at 17 but the hammer fell and we all finished ahead of schedule.

Dave Bogenhagen

The ride was attended by Dave Bogenhagen, Vince Meyer and Dave Oachs.  We wandered east then north going past New Richmond.  In this new uncharted territority we headed west and observed the final turn to go to Rivers Edge tube park and found a crossing of 64 to return back on I.  Bogie was being paced most of the night by his mates except when he put out a short occasional effort.  As the nights Trailmaster Bogie stole one point on the first hill of river road on the westward return.  Vince started out for the next pointage but Dave Oachs overtook him and lead him over each of the remaining hills where the finale was a close duel to the end.  After they had a snack break waiting for Bogie the sprint winner was TBD.  At two mile out Dave Oachs didn't want to face a contest at the line and broke away.  Vince tried in vain to bridge but couldn't do it alone.  The North Hudson city limit was all Oachs.

Ride details:
42.8 miles, 2:16:21 18.7 mph

River Road Points:
bus sign - 1 pt
electric box - 2 pts
electric box - 2 pts
Nelson farm road left - 1 pt
42nd street - 3 pts
rustic road sign - 2 pts

Points:
Oachs 10, Bogie 1, Vince 0

Sprint 1st there anyway)
Oachs

Big Ring Flyer Training Ride Journal Entry #2 Stardate 54016.3/27/07

The weather was mainly light to moderate rain with the wind coming from the ENE at about 14-18 mph. Those who came out to ride were: Tina, Dave B., Dave, Vince, Paul, Dagmeister, and Bob. Jeff Colbeth 'bunted out' because he had mechanical problems with his training bike and didn't want to take his brand new Look Bike out in weather like this. What an excuse, Jeff!( The ride went mainly southeast in search of clearings in the rain clouds. This technique worked some of the time, but majority of the time it didn't matter as the rain was determined to fall on us.  There were a few hill attacks, but mainly the group was a tad reserved which was good in this weather. The pulling was equally distributed amongst the peloton, especially on the way back when the crosswind was just terrible. Echelon formation training was also practiced, out of necessity more than anything. The total time of the ride was around 2 hours and the miles ridden were 33.4. Average was about 16.1. The average amount of dirt and grime accumulated on our clothes and bikes was around 5lbs. 3lbs for Tina and Bob and 8-9lbs for Dave B and Vince.( Sorry boys, but I couldn't resist taking this shot at you. The fastest downhiller was Dave B. as he rocketed down Coulee Road past Dave and Bob B. The best hill climber division was a toss-up between the two Daves and Vince. The best coaching session was Dag with repositioning Dave B. on his bike for maximum performance. Dave is presently icing his knees after that lesson.( Just kidding. It was around 7 p.m. when the peloton returned back to their beginnings.

Notes From the First Tuesday Team Ride

The temperature was close to 40, but the windchill was down close to 30
degrees coming from the southeast and blowing at 15 to 20 mph.

Six people came for the ride, they were: Jeff Colbeth, Tina Raeshler, Vince
?(Sorry), Jim Cullen(from Loon State), Aaron Nelson, and Bob Barabe

The route we took was south towards River Falls on Townsvalley Road and
then across MM to M and the loop just south of there and back onto M east
to River Falls.  We had to struggle with the tough headwind.  Jim was in
his big ring for most of the ride.  After a while I notice most of us doing
the same, except for the spinmaster Jeff C.
On the way back we came through Coullee Road a fair climb and west all the
way to Old HW 35. By the time we got back we had about 43 miles and a 16
mph average.
Jeff was won the fastest downhill award.  Jim and Aaron earned the best
climbers trophies.  Bob was the best 59 year old there, while Tina was the
fastest mother.  Vince had an awesome pull on M going into River Falls. 
The Peloton peeled off like the shell of a shrimp.

Best quote during the ride. "I don't think that I should have done this
one." from Tina after we were more than halfway through the cold temp,
windy conditions, and it being one of her longest rides of the season.
Best reply: "You will be a better rider for this, Tina". From Bob B.

Stay tuned for next weeks ride journal.
Your Team Reporter,
Bob

Big Ring Flyers Annual Meeting Minutes
March 10, 2007; 9:00 AM

Call to Order: 9:12 AM (Dag)
Attendance: Dag Seelander, Jeff Colbeth, Varick Olson, Dave Bogenhagen, Jim
Frame, Bob Barabe, R.J. Ochmann, Andrea Potyondy-Smith, Brian Halusan, Tina
(?), Jim Remington

1) Presentation: Dr. Dennis Drummond and Brian H. gave a presentation about
Usana vitamins and nutritional supplements. If any member would like to know
more, please talk to Brian H.

2) Financial Report (Dag):
a. As of 3-10-07, we have $1,269.94 in our checking account
b. As of 3-10-07, we have $1,370.87 in our savings account.
Both accounts are at the Wisconsin Credit Union.

3) Sponsors for 08 (Dag): We are still in the process of finalizing and
pursuing new sponsors for the 2008 cycling season. We do have Grand
Performance as a sponsor now, which means good deals on Ridley bicycles.

4) MN Junior's Cycling Team (Dag): Dag will once again be coaching the MN JR
Cycling team; this is his second year doing so. Some of these juniors may be
riding with us on team rides this year. All interested kids/teens you know
who are interested in cycling are encouraged to "apply"/talk to Dag about
joining.

5) Cyclo-Cross Race 08 (Dag): This year will be the third that a cyclo-cross
race will be held in Hudson. It will take place the last weekend in
September.

6) Time Trial 08 (Jeff):
a. This year out time trial will be held on August 11th-not on the same
weekend as Osceola.
b. The Fairfield Inn of Hudson has generously donated a prize for the
overall male and female winners: a one-night stay at the Hudson branch of
Fairfield Inn.
c. R.J. Ochmann will be making wooden arrow signs for the race this year.
d. We will also be utilizing washable road paint for the spray-painted road
arrows this year, as last year's chalk arrows were not effective.
e. We need to order new numbers, since we are running low.

7) Annual Road Clean-Up (Jeff/Bob): As a community service, BRF cleans up a
local section of Hudson highway in spring and fall. No date has been set yet
for this year. When a date is set, an email distribution will be sent out.
All members are asked to participate, if possible.

New Members (Jeff/Andrea): We have a number of new recruits this year:

a. Julie and Nate Phelps of the Green Bay area
b. Jim Frame of Wausau
c. Rick Green of the northern Illinois area
We also have 2 potential recruits from the Lakeland, MN and Hudson area:
Vince and Paul, respectively. Elmer Colyer will also be racing more this
year, to help increase team points.

9) Club Ride Dates and Times (Bob/Jeff):
a. Tuesdays: 5 PM from Dag's (1st and St. Croix in Hudson), begins March
20th, 2007
b. Wednesdays: 5 PM from Hoffman Park in River Falls
c. Thursdays: 5 PM from New Richmond (1st National Bank Parking Lot)

10) Club Dues (Jeff): This year's club dues are:
a. $10 per person
b. $15 per family
Please relay money to Dag, Jeff, or Bob as soon as possible-preferably by
the beginning of May.

11) Year End Cash Money Earned from Wisport (Varick): Some discussion was
had about how to distribute the cash prizes BRF wins from Wisport. The
following was agreed upon:
a. Any prizes won will be distributed between the top 5 over-all points
winners for BRF. This does not mean the top 5 winners in an age category.
b. Therefore, the more a member participates in races, the higher their
chance of winning a prize.
This decision was made to encourage participation. We have done this for the
past 2-3 years, and it was asked to make this policy explicitly clear to all
members.

12) Roger Parenteau Update (Dag): Roger is a supporter of cycling in the
Hudson area, a good friend of Dag's, and is currently battling throat cancer
after winning the fight against 2 cases of skin cancer. The Flyers will be
donating $100 to his family and sending a card representative of the team.

13) Website (Dave):
a. Overview of the website's availability and options
b. Overview of sponsors listed on the site
c. We are planning to add names, addresses, email addresses and phone
numbers to the restricted (members only) section of the website
d. Go to http://bigringflyers.bravehost.com/ to view the website.
e. Members only access:
i. User Name: husdon
ii. Password : raiders
Dave is still in the process of perfecting and completing the website; much
progress has been made. Members are encouraged to view the site.

14) Clothing (Bob):
a. No new clothing will be ordered for the 07 cycling season, as we want to
finalize sponsors and re-design the 08 clothes around this.
b. Inventory was sent out over 1 month ago. Please contact Bob if you would
like to purchase clothing
c. Thin wind breakers and warm jackets are now 50% off-wind breakers are $35
and warmer jackets are $65

15) Election of Officers (All): A motion was made by Varick to keep the
infrastructure of BRF as it has been the last year. Andrea seconded the
motion. It was carried unanimously. This means:
a. Dag is our acting president
b. Bob and Jeff are co-vice presidents in charge of day-to-day business
c. Andrea is the secretary
d. Dave is webmaster

This decision was made so that no one person has the full weight of
responsibility on their shoulders, and because the club ran very smoothly
with this structure last year.

Meeting adjourned: 11:25 AM