BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 7:00 pm
They put the 6-foot-2 guy on the bicycle six sizes too small and just kept pedaling through Puerto Rico. And when the cars honked, the Nebraska boys still kept pedaling. Apparently, it's a questionable idea to schedule a cycling race on a busy San Juan street at 8:30 on a Thursday morning.
Apparently, that upsets the locals and leads the news that day. But Team Kaos, a Nebraska-based cycling team, kept pedaling through the good, the bad, and any indecipherable Spanish words, finishing an impressive fourth of 17 teams at the Tour of Puerto Rico, which was held last Thursday through Sunday.
"No one had even heard of Team Kaos, not even the U.S. teams," said Sean Weide, director of Kaos. "They didn't know what we were all about."
They do now. Despite three bike mishaps and near 90-degree heat and humidity that a bunch of lads from the Midwest aren't used to in April, Kaos was the second-best American team in the event. Only better was Team TIAA-Cref, a well-established unit that will be competing this week at the Tour of Georgia with the likes of Lance Armstrong.
Kaos made its hay in the 41-mile mountain stage, the third of five stages. As impressive as any on the seven-person team was Jarred Berger, a senior at Nebraska who just started cycling two years ago, yet finished fifth in the mountains.
The Gering native became a cycling convert when two knee surgeries finished his wrestling career after two years of grappling at 133 pounds for the Huskers.
He's a natural on a bike it seems. He finished 13th overall, only outdone on his team by Jonathan Baker, who finished second.
Baker a Colorado native can thank his finish to Nebraska senior Ian Robertson, who borrowed his bicycle to the better rider after it was discovered Baker's bicycle frame had cracked during the mountain stage.
It was the third bike malfunction for Kaos. Joe McWilliams had to give up competing on the first day after an issue and Marco Vasquez misshifted on the second day, which screwed up his bike something fierce.
But Vasquez and McWilliams became repairmen and fixed McWilliams' bike by Saturday's race so that Robertson could continue to compete.
Unfortunately, Robertson is about five inches taller than McWilliams, which meant, well …
"We basically asked him to ride a clown bike," Weide said.
Still, Robertson performed the circus act quite well, finishing the race and ending 62nd overall.
While the placing was nice for Kaos, the memories they'll take from the trip are probably better.
"We were racing in streets comparable to Omaha in the middle of rush hour," said Vasquez, a native Puerto Rican who works at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Vasquez's Spanish knowledge came in handy with meet officials a few times.
Even his Spanish couldn't help the team, however, when it was put up in some barrack-style housing after Friday's races carried them 100 miles across the island.
"No sheets on the beds, just mattresses," Weide said. "No towels. No phone. No TV. No toilet paper. I felt like I was on Survivor.'"
But mostly, it was all good fun and, as Vasquez most importantly noted, "everybody loved the food and the girls were really cute."
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7438 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.