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Summer Disappears, Cyclocross Looms on Horizon
 Chris Schmidt, Sept. 16, 2009
My calendar suddenly flipped from July to September. I've either been been caught in a time warp or had a baby. Or is that the same thing? In any event, the team web site has been neglected the past several weeks. Before the cx season gets into high gear, a summary of how the second half of the season went.

Having gone unreported are Ore to Shore, The Deer Chase, Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival and Tour da Woods, all of which saw strong showings by Red Jacket - BlueSky Health riders.

Contesting the 2009 Ore to Shore were Steve Hackney, Bruce Pletka, Bob Carpenter, Diane Ursu, and Chris and Tammi Lehto. Posting the best result on the day was Tammi Lehto, who finished fourth in the 40-44 age group. Unlukiest rider was her husband Chris, who's derailleur when to the great bike shop in the sky midway through the race.

Leading the team at the Deer Chase was Mark Klein, who finished 2nd in the 20-29 age bracket in the 27 mile race (7th overall). Also racing the long race were Pat Szubielak (2nd - 50-59), Chris Lehto (4th - 40-49), Tammi Lehto (2nd - 40-49 / 5th overall) and Steve Hackney (6th - 50-59). Racing singlespeed, Jon Klimowicz finished 4th in the long race, which doubled as the unoffical UP singlespeed championships, followed by James Bialas (10th) and Bob Carpenter (14th).

Steve Webber, en route to victory in the singlespeed class.
Bringing home the bacon in the short race was Steve Webber, who took top honors in the singlespeed category. Diane Urso finished 5th in the 30-39 class, Bruce Pletka and Terry Kinzel crossed the line in 4th and 7th, respectively, in the 60-69 bracket.

Nearly all of the Red Jackets lined up for the 16th annual Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival. Leading the way for the team in the long race was Chris Schmidt who, in spite of chronic chain problems, managed a 7th place finish in the singlespeed class. John Gershenson took 9th in the hotly contested 40-49 age bracket. Pat Subielak came 2nd in the 50-59 group, followed by Bob Carpenter in 6th.In the short race, Jon Klimowicz cranked out an impressive 3rd place overall, with Mark Klein hot on his tail in 4th. Caleb Wendel finished 3rd in the 25-29 age group, one spot down on Klein. James Bialas took 7th in the 30-39 group, Bruce Harvey 11th (50-59), Diane Ursu 8th (30-39). Again claiming top honrs in the singlespeed class was Steve Webber.

Moving on to Munising's Tour da Woods, Pat Szubielak made the Red Jackets proud with a top 10 finish in the long race and 2nd in the 50-59 age class. Steve Hackney finished a strong 6th in the same age group.Also climing up to the second spot on the podium in the long race was Bruce Pletka, 2nd in the 60-69 age class. In her best finish of the year, Tammi Lehto captured 3rd overall in the short race; Chris Lehto's hopes for a podium finish were dashed by a crash late in the race, yet he held on for fourth, 1st in the 40-49 age group, followed by Dave Watkins in 3rd. Terry Kinzel finished 6th in the 60+ bracket.