We had high hopes and high expectations of defending National Sprint Champion, Kurt "Chopper" Begemann, riding the 2009 National Sprint Championships with stoker, Thom Norton going into Friday August 31, 2009 at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Trexlertown, PA. Unfortunately, as has been somewhat of a trend this summer in TTown, Mother Nature had something to say about the racing schedule, with Friday night's event being postponed until Saturday due to the threat of severe thunderstorms.That being said, Saturday was a beautiful, albeit quite humid day in the Lehigh Valley, and the race's Flying Lap (333m) TT, to seed the sprint brackets, was set for 5.30pm. Riding the ominous looking Tiemeyer Tandem, aptly dubbed, the "Widowmaker," Kurt and Thom set the 7th fatest time going into the Championship. They ran up against a formidable looking team from California, and almost pulled off the win, but simply ran out of track in the home straight. In the next round, Team Cycle Loft rode to a convincing win over Team Gorman, which brought them to a match up with Team Espinoza who just had too much gas and would be the eventual National Champs. The 2nd repacharge would be a 4-up round for 3rd place with the team from California, another American team and the Australian team. Kurt and Thom rode a great tactical race, having gone to a 103.8 inch gear, only to be narrowly caught at at the line by the Califonians by a 1/4 of a wheel--leaving them as the 4th best placed American team and 6th overall. Click here for results.
After the podium cermony, Kurt and Thom were determined to make a good showing in the 15 lap Tandemonium Scratch Race--during which they literally did make the race by riding away from the group on the opening lap and staying away for nearly 13 laps--including the race's only 2 preems--only to be caught by the 3 international teams from New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina (defending champs.) Kurt and Thom had the entire velodrome pulling for them, willing them to stay clear for the race, but that wasn't to be, as they finished as the 1st American team, and 4th overall in the Scratch race. I'll tell you, it was quite a site to see 10, yes TEN tandems, on the track at once racing, quite an exciting night of racing. Bottom line, great efforts, very close racing, and the seeds of motivation have been sown for a return to Tandemonium and Tandem Sprint Nationals for 2010!
