And that's a wrap! (for road racing, that is)

Thanks to all that came out to the Tour of Little Switzerland! It was a smooth weekend with a lot of great racing action in the time trial, road race, and criterium. We hope everyone had an enjoyable omnium and trip to the New Glarus area. We will be sending out surveys to racers shortly to gain valuable feedback on the courses, race structure, and event organization.

You can relive parts of the weekend through some photos on our Facebook and from our volunteer photographer Paul Vassalotti's Flickr page.

With the conclusion of the ToLS, the 2017 WCA road calendar is now complete. We're anxiously awaiting final WCA team standings, but it's likely we'll be in the top 3 overall! Many of our racers have had solid race seasons, and BD continues to grow as a respected name in midwest racing.  

Cyclocross season is up next and many BDs can't wait to get to the start line. Don't worry - go ahead and heckle the BDs you see out in the fields, they can take that and turn it into race motivation (and execute a perfect hand-ups). The Brazen Dropouts will host the Sun Prairie Cup on Sunday October 29th. 

Summer Racing & Looking Ahead to the Tour of Little Switzerland!

There has been a lot of road racing since the WCA scheduled kicked-off in April, but some of the most exciting racing has occurred over the last month with Tour of America's Dairyland and the Wisconsin State Road/Crit Championships.  Most notably, we saw Cat 4/5 racer Lee Prouty win Stage 1 of ToAD in Kenosha and Peter Armstrong take home the State Championship Crit for Master's 3/4 age 35-44 in Green Bay on July 8th. 

There have been many consistent BD road racers throughout the season including Ben Grabow, Lee Prouty, Craig Billings, Olivia Cope, Lee Pier, Derek Landwehr, Collin Saino, Sam Naggatz, Jason Bentley, and Eric Staats.  We've also been happy to gain some new UW-Madison collegiate riders after the conclusion of their season in May, many who have represented BD well right out of the gate.  Our Juniors team has continued to expand, and the level of riding has improved right along with that thanks to a dedicated coach in Andrew Hellpap. The Junior Dropouts focused on three early season criteriums in Madison and Muskego, producing some of the largest Junior's representation in recent memory in the WCA. You can check out a bunch of road race season photos on our Facebook page.

While we're not known for mountain bike racing, we've had a small BD contingent represent well at WORS. Austin Peterson has been consistent all season long in the Sport Class, finishing top 10 overall (all age groups) numerous times at just age 15.  Expect to see him in the Comp class next year!

The largest BD-hosted race is coming up on July 29-30th - The Tour of Little Switerzerland! The two-day omnium will include an individual time trial, road race, and criterium in the New Glarus, WI area. Planned payouts exceed $7,000 so if you can make it to the podium, you'll be rewarded nicely! New Glarus has much to offer for racers with plenty of local restaurants, cheese and gift shops, and of course the New Glarus Brewery just a few minutes from each race start line. Help us spread the word about this great event! Last year's road race was very memorable, and we hope to step it up even more this year!

2017 WCA Road Season is Underway!

It feels like just yesterday was the Bike Swap at the Alliant Energy Center, but it's already mid-April and the WCA road schedule is getting into full-swing.  Although there has only been a few weeks of racing, BDs have taken podiums in several men's, women's, and junior's races.  Many BDs are looking forward to the La Crosse Omnium taking place May 5th-7th, ToAD in June, and the new State Championship weekend in Green Bay in mid-July.

Planning is underway for the BD-led Madison Practice Crits, a new Omnium to take place in New Glarus at the end of July, and the Sun Prairie CX race in October.  

Stay up-to-date through this website as well as our public team Facebook page.

Keep the rubber side down, friends.

Arkansas Training Trip

Eleven BDs made the 10 hour trek to the Ozark National Forest area in Arkansas to get in training miles before the WCA road schedule starts in April.  With plenty of elevation, riders were challenged with long climbs and technical descents.  Although the third day brought temperatures in the low 30's with rain and sleet, the trip was very worthwhile and all those who attended had a good time.  The team will likely continue trips like this into the future!

2017 Bike Swap in Photos

The Brazen Dropouts Bike Swap was another great success in 2017 with over 800 general admission entries and 167 vendors.  Check out our Facebook page for further social media coverage from the day.  We hope everyone had successful sales and were able to get deals on all the items they were looking for!  

If you have any question/comments/concerns about the Swap, feel free to email us at bdbikeswap@gmail.com.  A special thank you to all of the BD volunteers and event sponsors: Nitty Gritty, Machinery Row Bicycles, Speed Cycling, Perfect Circle Cycling, and Race Day Events.  See you next year!

CX Season Wrap-up and Winter Updates

It's been a great year of riding and racing for the Brazen Dropouts! The last couple months of cyclocross racing has been a blast and numerous BD riders have proven that we are a team that should be taken seriously when racing in all categories.  Combining WCA SuperCup points from the Brazen Dropouts and Junior Dropouts puts us at 5th place overall in the team standings!  Check out the WCA and USA Cycling results pages to see for yourself.

The 26th Annual Brazen Dropouts Bike Swap is approaching quickly - January 14th, 2017.  Check out the Swap event page for all the details and to sign-up for a vendor table or expo spot.  We are also sending out updates via the general Swap Facebook page and specific event page.  

If you are interested in joining the team, now is a great time to do it as we will place the first team kit order of 2017 in February and are also planning for winter training sessions at Speed Cycling so we can hit the ground rolling when it warms up again.  Contact our Membership Coordinator via the form on the Join page for more info.

We hope everyone can stay active during the winter months in whatever way possible and wish you all happy holidays and a great New Year!

Social Media Updates

Our Social Media Committee has been busy establishing a stronger Facebook presence!  Check out our new public page @ www.facebook.com/brazendropouts/

This is where we'll keep everyone updated with race finishes, pictures of our stellar riders, and other great things the team is up to.  This will be a public page so feel free to give it a like and follow BD!  

We have also established a Facebook event page for the 2017 Swap @ www.facebook.com/events/1155829044496610/ so everyone can get this on their calendar and get the hot-off-the press updates for new Swap initiatives, event sponsors, and details about the January 14th, 2017 event.

As always, feel free to contact us through the website on the Join page or at the bottom of every page with the Get in touch link.

Happy and safe biking, everyone!

 

Summer 2016 in Review

As the team transitions out of road and mountain bike riding/racing and into cyclocross mode, it's good to look back and remember what the Brazen Dropouts accomplished this past spring and summer.  Our members have dedicated a lot of time not only to training and racing, but also to volunteering for our two successful WCA race events and our fun BD team activities. Here are some of the key items from the past several months:


Racing: Just like the WCA road schedule hits hard in April and May, the Brazen Dropouts also hit the racing scene seriously this year, donning all-new member-designed kits.  Week in and week out, a BD rider was at the front of the pack and finishing strong in men's, women's, and junior's races.  There were some of the highest numbers in recent memory for BD's in the Men's 3's field, elite women's races, and all juniors races, which clearly reflects our increased membership numbers and accessibility for our members to seriously train and ride with other skilled riders.  The Brazen Dropouts finished above all other Madison-area teams and in the top 5 in the state for team point standings.  For WORS mountain bike racing, we have had several riders consistently finishing in the top 5 of their age group and several age group wins in the Cat 1 field.  As a member who just started mountain bike racing this year, I would say it is some of the most challenging and fun riding around Wisconsin and recommend it to anyone.


BD-hosted Races:  We hosted our first ever road race in New Glarus, WI at the end of July and co-hosted the State Championship Crit in Mid-August.  Feedback from the RR was very positive, with many attendees praising the course design, and the race was well-attended with 300+ individual registrants from WI, IL, MN, IA, and beyond.  We hope to continue this event in the future and keep road races present on the WCA calendar.  The new format of the WCA state championship weekend brought all riders to the Madison area.  The crit in downtown Middleton was a unique and challenging 8-corner course that split apart many fields and truly showed who the strongest riders were.  The WCA and Madison teams will be evaluating the success of this years championship weekend and will assess the likelihood of continuing this structure into the future. BD had fun hosting these events and none of it would have been possible without members stepping up to take on organization roles and filling volunteer slots, which we take pride in as a team.


Other fun stuff: In addition to our usual team meetings, we had a summer ride+cookout party.  A moderate pace pre-ride of the New Glarus RR course followed by grilling out and enjoying team camaraderie made for a fun Saturday in late July. A few members of our team have held consistent 'donut' rides on Friday evenings to bring riders together in a relaxed atmosphere.  Our Women's Leadership Committee has also been hosting social events to bring our female members together.


Looking ahead, BD will be hosting the Sun Prairie CX race on October 23rd and are currently in the planning stages for our annual Bike Swap, which will be January 14th at the Alliant Energy grounds in Madison.

 

One more reason to join the Brazen Dropouts:

Winter weekend training rides at Speed Cycling! We're very grateful for Speed's hospitality and guidance in setting up these rides for team members, and thanks to our amazing members these rides feature

  • Sweet tunes
  • Bacon
  • Tasty refreshments
  • Camaraderie
  • Wattage

Just because it's cold/snowy/wet/dark outside doesn't mean you can't have an awesome group ride. If this sounds like your idea of a good time, you should look into joining us!