Despite the rain, Team Wisconsin Cycling can be proud of a successful and exciting day of racing at the 2015 MOSH Criterium.
The Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital played host on Memorial Day weekend and provided an excellent course. Team Wisconsin teammate Julio Jacobo said the venue was “impressive” and that he “couldn’t wait to come back and race on the course again.”
The highlight of the day came at the Masters 3/4 race. Jason Balden and Freddy Derocher put on an impressive display of teamwork that led to the podium.
“I liked how the course was set,” said Balden, who had raced in the MOSH Criterium last year. “The surface was smooth and it wasn’t your typical crit. It had a mixture of left and right turns and it’s one of my favorite courses.”
Feeling comfortable with the course, Balden’s primary concerns were the rain that had made the road wet and making sure he could execute his race plan. The Masters rider used his experience from last year’s race to lay out a strategy.
On the third lap, Balden and teammate Freddy Derocher pushed the pace to separate themselves from the peloton. The Team Wisconsin teammates were quickly joined by a team ISCorp rider.
“We realized the ISCorp rider wasn’t going to do any work so at that point Freddy and I had to communicate and work together.” Balden and Derocher decided to ‘sandwich’ their opponent and keep him in check. When the time was right, Team Wisconsin made their move.
“I made the first break,” Balden said. “Freddy blocked the ISCorp rider, giving me the time I needed to create space between me and the group.”
From there, Balden was locked in and focused on taking the race. Having raced in the Stumpfarm 100 the day before as part of the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series, Balden’s energy levels were on his mind.
“I had done the WEMS race the day before but I felt great,” he said. “I was also asking myself if I should save some energy for the Masters 123 race.” Balden kept the pace up and with five, then four laps remaining, his lead was growing from eight to ten seconds.
Heading into the final lap, Balden said he heard teammate Briant Kelly yell out, “final lap, be smart!” Getting the direction from Kelly, Balden made sure to take one last swift, safe go around the course and finished with the victory. But Team Wisconsin wasn’t done yet as Freddy Derocher was able to grab second place to give the KS Energy Services-sponsored team two tops spots on the podium.
Thanks to everyone who came out to race and support and be sure to join us for our next race, the Trek 100 on June 6. The great day of racing wouldn’t have been possible without the Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital and Team Wisconsin’s other great sponsors: KS Energy Services, Trek Bicycle, Emerys, Clif Bar and Country Financial.