JW DUNDEE'S - HOME PERFORMANCE CYCLING TEAM

Staffo Victory at Bristol

2008-05-15T07:28:00.002-05:00

I got my first win in quite a while at the Bristol Mountain in the 35+ race. There were about 40 riders with a large contingent of Canadian riders. The only one I was really familiar with was Dave Gazi (Ultralink), a very strong rider who is always in the results. My good friend Scott Dorfman pointed out a couple of other strong Canadians at the start line. My teammate Kevin Mahoney took an early go about 3 minutes into the race. Duncan Douglas (Park Avenue Bikes) bridged to Kevin not long after. They came to the first hill which was a long gradual drag with 2 steep steppers. I saw Duncan had gapped Kevin, who is having some back issues lately and is not feeling like his usual self. When I hit the first part of the hill I decided it was time to go and took off in pursuit of Duncan. I brought 1 of the Canadians Scott had pointed out to me (Cavanaugh) with me. I turned the screws a little to see what Cavanaugh had, I looked back to see that I had gapped him. I picked up Kevin who took some nice pulls to give me a chance to rest a little I made contact with Duncan and the 2 of us were off. A group of 4 (including Gazi and Cavanaugh) bridged to us at the beginning of the last lap. Coming up the finishing drag I was able to outsprint my breakaway partners for the win.

Bear Mountain is a great race an a fantastic course. I rode hard all day and got myself in a couple of non-successful moves the first 2 laps. On the 3rd lap a group of 6 of us got a good gap and built up what I thought was a good lead. We were caught by the pack with about 5 miles to go. I finished with the lead group but did not have much left for the sprint. I have decided not to do Syracuse this year as I will head up to St. Catherine's for the Niagara Classic on Sunday. Should be a good hard race. After that I will do ESG qualifiers, Balloon Festival, and then the infamous Housatonic Hills (can't wait)!!

Dan Staffo Update

2008-04-28T08:01:00.004-05:00

Last week’s racing at the Tour of Battenkill went well for our team. This was my 3rd year doing this race and the conditions were the toughest I have seen with the 90 degree weather, very soft dirt roads and dust. Roger Aspholm got a gap on the 2nd. dirt road section on a steep climb and was gone for the day, winning by over 5 minutes. I rode aggressively all day with a lot of attacks to get something going but everything was being brought back. Stephen Badger, Dave Taylor, Matt Howard and another rider got a gap on the field. I let them open a bit of a gap and then went across to them on a false flat section. I know Badger has a very good sprint so I figured my only chance was to jump first and get a gap and hopefully hold on. I jumped first but Badger came around me and Howard nipped me at the line for 3rd. I really needed an 11 as I had my 12 spun out.

I ended up 3rd on sunday at the GVCC Classic at Bloomfield for a good weekend of racing.

This past weekend was Sturbridge and Palmer in Massachusetts. Rob Dietrick and I left at 5:30 am Saturday for 12:00 start at Sturbridge. There was a new course for Sturbridge this year which consisted of a 15 mile loop with a long 2 mile drag up a hill to the start/finish. Things kicked off pretty quickly as found myself in a break with a CRCA rider and Frank McCormick (Fuji). We hit the long uphill section and about halfway up I saw a group of about 4 coming with the pack about 10 sec behind them. The 4 riders made contact with us with the field strung out behind. I put in a bit of an acceleration which turned out to be costly. Roger jumped on the steeper section of the hill with Mark McCormick on his wheel. I was unable to close the gap, came close but not quite. I realized after where I made the acceleration was not the right place and that I should have waited for the steeper section where Roger jumped. So there were 4 guys in the break, never to be seen again. A group of about 6 of us (with some heavy hitters) got a good gap on the last loop. We were working well together and I figured we were going to make this stick. I took a look back and saw the field closing in quickly and everything was back together. I waited a bit and went again and got away solo with about 4-5 miles to go. As I reached the base of the long uphill drag to the finish, Bill Yabroughty had bridged to me and the 2 of us had about a 15-20 second gap on the field. We took turns pacing each other up this hill trying to hold on. We hit the steeper section of the hill and gave it everything we had which probably allowed us to finish ahead of the field by about 2 seconds. I ended up 6th on the day and was very happy with that.

The Palmer Road Race was ok, with the race ending in a big field sprint.

Paris to Ancaster, Ontario 60K

2008-04-20T19:15:00.004-05:00

John Roden

We decided to do a little family outing to the city of Hamilton, Ontario and stay in a swanky hotel and head up to the Paris Ancaster race all rested and ready for this 60K off road race. Wishing to get their money’s worth, the kids decided to stay up all night messing around, and the morning found us tired, grumpy and in the middle of a downtown that must have been a happening place during the Ford administration.

I always dislike the start of this race. There are well over 1000 people hurrying up like mad to get down this narrow dirt road before the trail goes up a steep hill about 15 minutes into the race. This year was typical, with the pack just winding down the road, rocks flying, people trying to move up without enough room, general chaos. I was sitting in about 5th. position, keeping myself out of trouble, when I started to drift back a few spots. Thinking that I needed to move up pronto, I started looking for a hole when some oaf off to the starboard side goes cartwheeling, sending a rider sliding on his bottom across the road right at me. I miss him with my front wheel, but he keeps sliding and takes the bike out from under me and I go down hard and someone else plows into me. I’m lying on the ground waiting for the traffic to clear, get up and knock my brake lever back in place and jump back in the race, bleeding and a tad sore in my sitting region. I am now behind the whole first wave of 200 riders and just hitting the messy sections. Things look pretty bleak for the home team.

I start chasing my way through the field, first we hit a long and windy road section, then some single track in the woods, but I’m still pretty amped and moving my way up. Dan Staffo gave me a new workout this week called an “easy week” which left my legs feeling rather spunky, got to try those more often. After about 15 minutes, I’m starting to really suffer and have worked up to the third large group on the road. We start working together and in time regain the second large group just before we hit the woods again. I ride to the front and try to floor in through the woods and emerge alone with a group of 6 maybe 30 seconds up the road. I’m really starting to tire, but I’m able to finally ride acrost the gap and join my new pals.

Upon joining this group, I see a cast of familiar faces and ask what’s going on with the race and find that we are in fact leading it, well hot dog! Over time, we drop a couple riders and I manage to get myself dropped in short order on an uphill. Now I’m all alone on the windy, soft dirt road just watching the break ride away. Drat. We hit the headwind and the group of three isn’t really killing it, so I’m able to finally get back with the leaders, whew.

For the next hour, we work very nicely together through the windy sections and finally our group falls apart a bit coming down the Powerline mud chute. I’m able to do OK and come out 2nd wheel, but we are caught back in short order by cyclocross star Peter Morse (Jetfuel) with Nathan Chown (Handlebars) riding like a house on fire. In time, Eric Box rejoins and we have 4 again.

The last couple miles are pretty hilly and the final climb is brutal. Eric comes unglued first, then Peter and Nathan light up the final climb and I’m off the back, but lumber in for third, my first time on the podium on about a dozen years doing this race, so I'm pretty happy with my day, especially after the rough start.

Tour of Pelhan, Ontario

2008-04-09T11:21:00.002-05:00

I really got in touch with my inner Fred today. Started off last night by having to steal a bottom bracket off the TT bike and bolting it up kind of late and figuring it'd work OK. Late start today, family had to bail at the last minute so did the quick drive to Canada alone. Got to race with maybe 20 mins to start, finally got suited up with about 7 minutes to warm up, no worries until the chain starts skipping. Upon inspection one of the pins was half way out, oof. Back to car for a chain tool, having no luck with the repair. Rode toward start line with 3 mins to start and bike isn't working at all. Figure I have to do the repair right and remove a link and press the link back in the old fashioned way. I'm fumbling around and dropping stuff and it's start time now. I hear the motorcycle and here comes the race, and there goes the race. I finally get the pin in and shove the tool in my pocket and jump in around 75th. place. The first 5 miles are on some twisty, hilly dirt roads and the people back here are riding like granny, so I put my head down and just kind of weave my way through the squealing brakes. After about 10 minutes of chasing I see what looks to be the lead pack maybe 100m off the front, so I ride across the windy gap and finally make it up there. The pack was going kind of slow (hence my being able to catch them) because there were two riders on the same team as the one rider off the front, a real strong cyclocrosser who wold stay gone for the duration. I'm spanked from chasing, so I sit in the group and have a drink and take stock. We hit the first trail section and I'm in second spot, doing OK through the woods behind another cyclocross star.
We hit a gravel uphill and I decide to run it, which turns out to be a really stupid move, so I drop two place right there. We hit a really slippery muddy icy section of trail with off camber clay and icy snowmelt, I make a few more mistakes and drop back to 6th. We hit the roads again and I chase back up to 5th, he's sitting on my wheel in the winds but I don't care at this point as we are out of contention anyway.
After a spell, we hit the last off road section of the day, where I get a rear flat. I ask a volunteer how much further and it's just a click and a half, so I just ride it in on the rim, Almost wiping out in front of the OPP officer on the last corner. I manage to drop another place on the run in and finish 7th.
On a positive note, the snow tires and snow thrower are put away, let the season begin.

Staffo Unshackled

2008-04-09T11:09:00.003-05:00

Johnnycake #3
I was in Utica last Friday visiting my father so Saturday I decided to drive out to Albany to race the final Johnny cake series race. The race was 9 laps for 63 miles which included the hill referred to as the "Koppenberg" . There was an early split of about 15 riders which included all the big guns such as Cory Burns (fiordifrutta), Roger Aspholm (westwoodvelo), Justin Lindine (target training) and Aiden Charles (nerac) just to name a few. I saw this split but was boxed in as I was riding alittle cautious do to not knowing the course along with being alittle nervous racing in a large group for the first time this season. The field did start to chase and got the gap to within 20 seconds but that was about it. With 2 laps to go a group of 7 of us went clear from the pack. Then with 1 to go Alec Donahue (team Nerac) got a gap on our group and I was able to bridge to him on the Koppenberg and the two of us finished 8th and 9th as the the break
of 15 was blown to bits. Other than the mistake of not being in good position early in the race I was happy the way I rode and feel the form is on the right track for Battenkill and the rest of the spring races. Finished up the weekend with a great 5 hr ride up and around Canadaigua lake with my teammate Rob Dietrick.

Team Dominates Spring Campaigns

2008-04-02T13:12:00.004-05:00

Rochester Report

Last Sunday was the final stage of the prestigious Giro Series. The team clinched first place overall with Staffo beating Mr. Sprint himself to the line. It was do or die and Dan put on the after burners to insure overall victory. The last day was anything but tame. Miles before that Rob Dietrick put the winning move on the peleton and brought home the stage victory, claiming third overall for the series.

Buffalo Report from John Roden
After starting 4 weeks ago on the scorched plains of the greater Pendleton area, the Race to the Sun reached the sunny, verdant hills of Marilla on Sunday. With a warm breeze at our back, the pack rolled down the main street of Marilla, amid the cheers of various stray dogs and free range chickens. With some small hills and a decent selection of crosswinds, the course held the potential to break things up a bit and promote some more aggressive racing, maybe.

The first move of the day found Dorfman and Burget off the front, gaining a couple minutes over the slumbering pack. Despite a large field of about 30 and a pretty flat course, the field showed no great interest in the two riders who were vanishing well up the road.
After maybe 20 miles, the two off the front cracked and it was all even, so a series of attacks started, but the hills were not quite steep or long enough to get the job done. After a long spell of the attack-weld-regroup cycle, a group of about 10 remained. On the bell lap, Skalski noodled off the front and just kept going, going, gone.

On the last time up the rolling hills, Roden, Nye and Halter rolled off the remaining group, but a tactical Halter said no dice and Nye said fiddlesticks to Halters non-work ethic, so Roden joined in the inaction and a perfectly good little spilt was re-absorbed by the dwindling pack.

Garret and Youhess both launched nice "Hail Mary" attacks from the 1K kite but were reabsorbed as the sprint wound up. Nye led the sprint out from a goodly ways, Halter tried to come over the top on the windy side, reconsidered and tried to sneak by on the white line but ended up on the shoulder, bouncing his way into third behind Nye.
Roden slogged in for 4th. with Farrel rounding out the remaining points.

Joe Halter 57
Jason Skalski 54
Ryan Nye 18
John Roden 15
Frank Mesi 8
Dan Staffo 7
Kevin Mahoney 7
Ben Willis 6
Dan Youhess 4
John Garrett 3
Jim Costello 1
Mike Luther 1
Scott Farrel 1

The Fallen - Remembering Jon Boy

2007-12-09T21:13:00.000-05:00

The current issue of Bicycling Magazine (Jan/Feb 08) has an excellent but painful to read article on the issue of driver/cyclist collisions. The stories are gut-wrenching. Embedded in the article in a sidebar entitled "The Fallen" features among others, our friend and teammate Jon Dechau.

The article serves as a painful reminder to the rest of us of the danger that exists out there on the roads we travel every day. Please be careful, and get home safely.

During the Christmas Season, we wish for peace and comfort to Jon's family, especially his wife and kids, and his mom and dad. Peace and God Bless.

Bob

John Roden King

2007-11-17T13:52:00.000-05:00

Our own John Roden was named 2007 Duathlon champion for the Score This Multisport Series in the Duathlon discipline!

Oct 27- Kelso Ontario Halloween Cyclocross

2007-11-17T13:46:00.001-05:00

Report from John Roden

Nothing like a nice 1pm start time for a family friendly race. We still were hurrying to make our 9.30 departure deadline, but made it across the border and off to the Kelso Conservation area with not too much time to spare. After some jabbering in the parking lot, I went for a lap with Dan Staffo, decided the course was pretty hard, did another lap and confirmed this and
went back to the car to do some last minute tire pressure adjusting (downward due to wet grass).

This was a classic hard course that would favor a real climber hard man type, short laps of under 6 minutes with a nasty stairstep climb that most riders opted to run. I had kind of a lousy start but decided that this racewould really grind people down and had no regrets about sitting in 12th. or so for a while. The hill took a toll and with what looked to be a 10 lap race in store, I settled in and tried to just ride fast and move up. Some of the people I passed blew up, other stayed with me for a while but fizzled over time and by the end I was ready to barf and get off the bike, in roughly that order. The kids and dog all had a blast on what turned out to
be another really nice late fall day in Canada. I still feel like barfing 6 hours later, so it must have been all I had in the tank.

Money went 5 deep, I knew before I even looked at the sheet that I would be 6th. I just had a feeling... Now with the weak US dollar, it would be nice to win an envelope of that pink money with pictures of waterfowl and pond hockey, but not today. Dan was hanging tough in a loaded masters race and finished in the top 10.

Valley Park Cyclocross

2007-11-17T13:31:00.000-05:00

Post from John Roden
September 23, 2007
Hamilton, Ontario

As the leaves outside have started to change a bit, the time for some cyclocross plotting and planning has finally come to my little basement workshop in the cupboard under the stairs. After the little children are safely ahead and given their special requests for just the right blend of water in the sippy cup, the serious work of mixing up draft of special potion in my sticky tubular glue cauldron has arrived. Working slowly, and with the aid of a J.W. Dundees pale ale, I smeared up a sticky mess and stuck another set of sketchy tires onto some fairly deplorable rims for another season on the cross pitch. Unsticking a pencil from my forehead, I emerged with all of my equipment in top form for another season on the circled square, marveling yet again at all the abuse a Mavic rim can withstand while still remaining sort of round.

Sunday was a perfect day for a road race, with bright skies and wall to wall sunshine. Dismal,grey and snow flecked trails were but a memory from seasons gone by. The course was dusty and fast with a few odd barriers and a lot of turns. On the starter's whistle we were off for another season, everything going smoothly for the first hundred feet until a rider went over the bars right next to me, taking out the center of the pack. No mind, I was safely ensconced right toward the front and all was well. After a few more turns, some hapless rider tried passing to the inside and slid out, taking my wheels out from under me, pushing me back a couple places. I sat in what was turning into a group of sorts until I followed suit and crashed on one of the turns, sliding out my front wheel. I was to crash once more during the race (sliding out my back wheel to keep symetrical-like) and make a slew of mistakes to lose dribs and drabs of time to end up 7th. for the day. Kevin Mahoney also flew the flag for an excellent master 1 race. All considered, not a great opening day but good to get all those mistakes out of the way, hopefully. After a welcome back into the U.S. at the Peace Bridge, we were back home safe and sound with a few new bumps and bruises to start the new season off right.

For all photos go HERE.

Ontario Provincial Time Trial Championships & Danfoth Fall Fllolic Duathlon

2007-11-17T10:10:00.000-05:00

Report from John Roden

September 8 / 9 2007

Saturday Race-Ontario Provincial Time Trail Championships - Wellandport, Ontario

The whole master plan for the weekend included doing the 40K tt up in Ontario, zipping over to Niagara falls for some tacky tourist fun, re-crossing the border and getting some free camping on lake Ontario before jumping in a sprint Duathlon. The whole plan went out the window once we realized the kids were utterly exhausted and camping would only decant more gasoline on the fire, so we made a day trip of the TT.
Arriving more or less on time for the race, we were greeted with a bit of a breeze and pretty hot and oppressive temperatures. There were over 200 riders in the event, which is a great turnout. The race was well organized and my high-noon start time was right on target. I decided to try stuffing a little camelback under my speed suit to have more water during the event, giving me kind of a hunchback look.

I didn't feel great warming up, but what are you going to do. The course was gently rolling to flat with a crosswind the whole way. I was really wishing for a disk, a fact which I mentioned to my wife while making excuses after the race. She noted that it's always one more expensive thing that I need to buy, just one last little gizmo, which while true was not relevant to the need for a disk wheel today.

In any event, it was slow on the way out and quite a bit faster coming back.
The interface between my body and the saddle was in searing pain the last 20 minutes, which detracted from the fun. For some reason, the course was mis measured and a little long, I averaged just over 26 mph and back-figuring my time would have been a low 57, not exactly setting the world on fire but not awful either. I'm amazed that people ride these at 30 mph, would take more than a disk to make that happen...

We drove to Niagara Falls down Lundy's Lane past all the porn shops and strip clubs and by the time we arrived the kids were starting to melt down, so we headed for home, making for kind of a dull outing, but that's life sometimes.

Sunday Race Danfoth Fall Frolic Duathlon - Barker, NY Day two of my weekend of racing dawned cold and rainy. The race was up on Lake Ontario and by the time I arrived it was blowing up in sheets of rain and maybe 58 degrees. With the storm overnight, the lake turned over and the water temp was in the low 50's, so the swim was canceled and everyone was doing a duathlon, which was fine with me. The first run was short, maybe 1.6 miles and I just kind of chugged along, finishing maybe 10th. or so in my wave, which was full of old folks like myself. The bike was mostly out and back, with the "out" portion straight into a raging gale. I chugged along in the low 20's until the turn around, then dropped it down in the 11 for the return journey, still shaking my head that people can ride 30 mph without a monsoon storm pushing them along. My legs felt like dirt from riding the time trial the day before, but that's life. The second 5K run was dreadful, I did not drop any places but my injured leg was telling me in no uncertain terms that duathlon season is simply over, which is fine. In any event, I was able to win the race, but it wasn't pretty and no pictures as the family had zero interest in a day out in the rain in the middle of nowhere.

Geulp Lake Duathlon

2007-11-17T10:06:00.000-05:00

Report from John Roden
September 1: Guelph Lake Duathlon, Guelph Lake Ontario

We pointed the caravan north this weekend for the Guelph Lake Duathlon in Ontario, Canada. Things started off a little disorganized as I thought the race was on Sunday, like they usually are and realized kind of late in the week that it was on Saturday, so we had to shuffle things around a little and well I was hoping for that extra day of recovery from my repeated attempts to pound some more speed into my recalcitrant legs, but no mind. We camped out right at the park where the race was held. The race attracted maybe 700 people total, with 160 in the duathlon, which is pretty big around here.

I rode right to the start from our campsite after making a double batch of waffles and blowing the circuit breaker a few times trying to also run to coffee pot, which is why they call it roughing it in any event. I arrived a little late, but got all setup and jogged around a little before and tried to stretch my banged up legs. The first run was 2K, which is really short and painful and I managed to finish in about 20 something place, not a great start to the morning. The bike went really well, 30K of gentle rolling hills with lots of people spread all over the course. I was passing people like mad and by the last 10K things were pretty quiet and spread out. In any event, I had a nice bike ride, the one pro triathlete who won the triathlon was faster, but I was second fastest, which I'll take.

I got off the bike and parked next to another dutahlete, I asked him if we were leading and he reported another runner was already ahead of us and said "nice ride" to which I thanked him, while silently doing my sums on the odds of beating him in a 7K run after he soaked me for two minutes in a 2K run.
So, off we went and I dropped a place before we left the transition.

The last 7K run was just awful, I managed to drop to 6th. place by degrees, making a consummate mistake in the last K of not knowing the finish circuit and attempting to kick to catch 4th. without realizing I had a K to run after we passed by the finish line aaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggghhhhhhh. So I dropped a couple in the last circuit while I was utterly blown from my bone-headed and futile attempt at a sprint.

This running hangs like a giant stone around my neck, but I will continue to work on it. After two nights of camping, we packed it in, the kids were pooped and so were mom and dad...

This first picture is funny, I'm trying to figure out who is coming up behind me and if they are in my race or a triathloner, it was a long day out there...

Cheyne's Chronicles Part 2

2007-10-05T18:59:00.000-05:00

We say goodbye to Cheyne with this last installment of his diary while at the Olympic Training Center. Cheyne is moving on a to http://www.skntcycling.com/ a U25 development team based out of NYC. Cheyne its been an honor to see you move from a Cat5, to the "Real Deal"

Wednesday August 15th

Today we went for a hilly ride in the morning on the northwest corner of the city. It was fairly relaxed except for when we went uphill. We covered around 30 miles by the end. Then in the afternoon we went to the 7 eleven velodrome which is only about 3 blocks from the Olympic training center. It's a nice outdoor concrete, 333 meter track. They gave us track bikes to use and we rode around, got comfortable, and learned the basics of track racing. When we got back to the training center we ate dinner and then watched films of world cup track racing. After that we had some free time so my roommates and I took on the three guys with the room across from us in fooseball. We had a little bit of a dorm room rivalry going on because they had deflated our tires and stole our pillows the day before.

Thursday August 16th

Today was a full day of track cycling. In the morning we all split into groups and pacelined on the track for like 2 hours. It was a lot of fun especially when we started rippin it. After pacelining the guys that lived across the hall challenged us to a team pursuit. We had 3 man teams and it was a 3K pursuit. We lost to the other guys by a mere second. After getting back to the training center we ate lunch and then discussed our power results from Tuesdays field tests. I did not produce to great of results in that. After that we had some free time and then later we went to the track because we were going to compete in the local Thursday night track races but they got rained out. It was unfortunate because I really wanted to give it a go on the track. I knew it was going to rain because it rained every single evening into the night the whole time I was in Colorado.

Cheyne's Chronicles Part 1

2007-08-24T19:09:00.000-05:00

Monday, August 13, Day1

I woke up around 4:30 am to catch my flight from Rochester to Colorado Springs with a stop in Chicago along the way. I landed in Colorado around 11:15 Colorado time because of the two hour difference. The first thing we did when we reached the Olympic training center was check in and then build our bikes. After building the bikes we went for a ride on the west side of the city next to the mountains. My heart rate seemed higher than normal and my breathing as well but it was of course due to the change in elevation. Colorado Springs is around 6200 ft. When we got back from the mellow ride I got a chance to get to know my roommates better. I already had met one of them two years prior at a regional camp in Kutztown, PA. His name was Zach

Felpel and he is17 years old. My other roommate was Max Durtschi from Ketchum, Idaho and he is 16 years old. We soon found one of our favorite places to hang out, the cafeteria. The food was awesome and they had absolutely everything.

Tuesday, August 14, Day 2

This morning's ride was quite hard. We headed west into the mountains for some field testing. The first field test of two was about one mile up at moderate grade. It was a big chain ring climb but only because it was so short. After the first test I really felt the elevation change. It took me
like 20 minutes to recover and then I coughed the rest of the day. The second test was in Cheyenne canyon and was around three miles long with nasty steep switchbacks. I rode more in my zone on this one because I knew it would be very easy to blow up if I rode too hard on this climb and at this elevation. After getting back and eating lunch we had a lecture session
with USADA about doping. The message was "Don't Dope." After that we took to the bikes again for some control and handling games. The game was basically to grind into people and make them put their foot down first and the last one up would win. The mountain bikers were very good at this. Later we had another lecture about collegiate cycling and I was the only one
it immediately applied to because the other 19 kids all had at least one more year of high school left.

John Roden's Weekend Report

2007-08-12T07:28:00.000-05:00

August 11--2007

Started the morning with the Summer Sizzler duathlon out on Grand Island.

With a course that featured quite a lot more running than biking, I bade goodbye to the eventual winner at the crack of the starter's pistol and spent the day laboring in second place, wire to wire as they say.

Next stop was the Ascension Church Criterium. Spent the day doing results and registration and jumped in the P1-3 race at 6pm. This was my first crit since a nice crash a few weeks back caused by a freak stem breakage, so I was feeling a little apprehensive, but it all comes back after a few go-arounds. The race played out in an interesting way, with local teams having both strong riders and numbers, but the presence of many strong Canadians riding without teams kind of upset the apple cart and gave the race a nice dynamic. With a couple to go I managed to worm my way into a nice group of 4, throwing everything my cramping legs had left to stay on Peter Morse's wheel to make it across, but alas were caught by the pack with 800m to go, so I came out of the last turn with smoke billowing out of two engines and hydraulic fluid blowing out of the back for 12th. place. Todd Sheske won with a class sprint at the end of a hard fought race.

Dan Staffo had a great race in the Mas 35 for 2nd. place after a long solo attempt off the front. Kevin Mahoney rode strongly in two races back to back and Mick Snyder flew the colors with verve in his race.

Jonathan Dechau Memorial TT

2007-08-05T20:22:00.000-05:00

There was a wonderful show of support from our team at the inaugural Jonathan Dechau Memorial TT. The entire town of Rushville came out to cheer. It was hard not think about Jon during the day, and his old TT bike was in full display at the fire hall.
John Roden blistered the course to take home the gold medal for the Master's 40+ race. Cindy Dunn peddled in joy on her pink machine to bring home the silver in the women's race. Kevin had a flat on the way home, but still managed a bronze in the 40+ race. Mick hung in there for a great 4th place in the Cat 4 race. Cancer survivor Shannon Case had an excellent time of 1:13:14. Congrats to all team members who where able to show their support for our Jon and his family.

The best quote of the day came from team member Mark Dux; "I kept flicking my elbow for the next guy to come through and take a pull, but no one ever pulled through"... at the time it was funny.
Take a look at the old post regarding Jon HERE.

Rob's National Report

2007-08-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry for this late post, from our Man Robbie

I arrived early at Seven Springs along w/ Dwight & Yvette to give the TT a try for the first time at this level. The gale force cross winds kept you pretty honest riding in the aero-bars & I managed a 27^th in 40-44 averaging 25.97 mph. I quickly found out that at nationals, the boys come carrying a ‘very big club’, with the winners averaging 29.7 mph!!! I surfed the back of the crit field looking to move up with 7 or 8 to go, but there was not much moving up by that point as the pace was full gas from then till the end, I stayed solidly were I rode all day, 46^th. On lap one of the RR, I was feeling like I was going need Todd Scheske(our loyal feed zone help for the day) to scrap me off the road with bug remover. The pace was stout & I was on the ropes. I soldiered on & began to feel better as we rolled down & around the rural farm pastures in single file formation looking like a roller coaster that was ¼ mile long. Just getting a drink was a chore sporting the cast, let alone getting a bottle from Todd as we entered the feed zone each time at 25 mph. Of course, we must attack in the feed zone to! I made it to the base of the final big climb to the finish, I popped & bid farewell to Erik Grimm & Tim Loughlin (who I’d raced with all day) and brought it home 50^th in my 25 cog. All in all a great experience with great friends & teammates at nationals, especially since I wasn’t even expected to ride there after my April ‘get-off’.

Cheyne Captures Third in Junior Nationals!

2007-07-16T20:26:00.000-05:00

Road and Criterium Report:

The 17-18 year old junior road race was held at 7:30 in the morning Saturday so I jumped out of bed at about 5:30 and drove to the course. I had already driven it the day before so I knew what to look forward to, lots of rolling hills. The race started down a fast descent and then made a right turn into a short uphill and then another really fast descent where a huge crash occurred. It started right in front of me and to the left. A few guys just started shaking and going out of control, they went down and I rode right by next to them and looked back to see half the field gone. Most would get back on but supposedly it was about a 20 man pile up. After that everything was smooth and an early attack launched about 10 miles in to the race and would never be seen again. Ben King the winner of the tt went solo for the win, he was really strong but also there wasn't really a chase. In any case the rest of the field was racing for second and I decided I might as well wait for the finishing climb to do anything. Nick Bax (Hot tubes) was driving the pace up the climb with myself and around 4 others in tow because the rest of the field had shattered across the climb. When he started to fade a bit I got on the front and started to drive it so we wouldn't be caught by the ten man group behind us. By the last kilometer it was myself Nick Bax and one other rider. Gaps started to form between us and I was last out of the three. 200 meters to go I found some strength and passed one. We all finished practically side by side, second place was about a wheel length in front of me.

Sunday was the criterium. Just before my late afternoon race there was a monsoon. So, the course was nice and wet with plenty of puddles to ride through. It was a 50K crit which is probably the longest crit I have ever done. We went 31 laps and the first 15 were not to pleasant for me. I just couldn't seem to find any speed in my legs. Finally about half way through I started to mix it up. I attacked about twice but neither one lasted long.

I also bridged to a few breaks but nothing happened. Then with probably about twelve to go I bridged to about 6 other guys off the front and we started working it. Some more men bridged after that and we ended up with about 11. We never gained more than a 20 second advantage over the main field but at the end of the day we made it to the finish with around 10 seconds on the main field. I put a lot of effort into the break. Because of this and a tactical error on the last lap I didn't have anything for the sprint. I rolled across 9th but was satisfied being in the break and the top ten.

East Aurora Independence Day Parade: Kids on Wheels Division

2007-07-04T15:34:00.000-05:00

July 3-

I'm always a little nervous before these kind of events. I checked my streamers a thousand times, made sure the flags were zip tied on properly and reviewed the parade route with the kids using a PowerPoint and megaphone the weeks prior to our big event. We were all fired up and arrived early. After some limbering up on the swing set, we could see the time had come, many of the invited riders were already being called to the line. Just before the start, we decided to nip into Wilson Farms toget some Skittles and water, in case we got dehydrated out on the course. I felt it was a good idea at the time, but by the time we left the store, we had missed the start! What a mistake! Quickly we jumped in, but found ourselves hopelessly boxed in behind the little leaguers and a float full of senior citizens pulled by an old Willies Overland with a coolant leak. Coming down the hill to main street, we were braking while in the distance, the lead group was already accelerating down the back stretch, throwing candy as if to taunt us. My son saw the gap first, it opened on the rightside and he drove his bike through it, ringing his bell for added stealth. We blasted up the sheltered side, past the jugglers but a Shriner on alittle car closed the door and we were done for the day, well out of the money. The parade wound down Park Street and we looked at each other as if to say "Live to fight another day, my friend." Crossing the line, we were shocked to find we had been awarded a one dollar gift certificate to Viddlers department store, in the money after all.

Happy fourth of July

John, Kate (behind the lens as always) Evan and Aubrey

Yvette Takes Second at Fitchburg

2007-07-02T05:23:00.000-05:00

Less than the time it takes to read this sentence, thats the distance between Yvette and the winner of Fitchburg. Wow! Congrats to Yvette. We want to know all the details

Roden Wins Duathlon

2007-07-02T05:19:00.000-05:00

Some times our spouses know us better than we know ourselves. I was lying in bed on Saturday, still smarting from a robust crash Thursday night from a freak stem breakage while sprinting in the Thursday night mayhem series. We had planned to do the Raccoon Rally mountain bike race, but I kept thinking about going 40 down this rocky trail with rocks hiding in the weeds and was feeling a tad spooked about the whole affair. Over pancakes, my wife Kate says "Are you sure you want to do THAT race?" Well, I guess I didn't, so we switched around our campground reservations and off we went to the Tri in the Handlebars Buff Duathlon at Evangola State Park. After an evening of restful sleep at the adjacent campground, I was ready to roll for the early morning start. The first 5K went off smoothly, I finished in second but lost a minute or so. Rolling onto route 5 with a tailwind, I saw all the signals down the track drop to green, so I pulled the throttle back on the diesel-electric motors and started for the station, coughing and sputtering up the hills. A verse of Ralph Stanley came to my head:

He looked 'round and said to his black greasy fireman, "Just shovel in a little more coal, And when I cross that old White Oak Mountain You can just watch Old 97 roll."

Back at home base, I swapped out my cleats for some gym shoes and headed out for the run, at a pace just above that of drying paint. The runner in second place was bearing down on me with grim determination, while my legs were starting to cramp. It was similar to the day Thomas the Tank Engine cheekily challenged Edward the great locomotive to a race, so I chugged along with the express line closing the gap, just balling the jack toward home. The closing lyric of Mr. Stanley's song popped into my head:

"He was found in that wreck with his hand on the throttle, He was scalded to death by the steam."

Risking a look back, I was being caught in short order, so I broke into a rapid shuffle and was able to nip across the line for the victory. Happy day for my family to finally win one these things.

Calling All Engineers

2007-07-01T10:06:00.001-05:00

Team/Fans check THIS out

Twilight Crit Revisited

2007-06-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

Our local race is in the history books, but it won't be forgotten any time soon. Not only does the race serve as a competitive venue, but it allows our friends and family to come watch us doing what we love to do. HERE is a picture of Dman with with friends and family.

Thanks to photographic abilities of Dr. Dunn we have lots of photos from the Twilight Criterium. They are available as a slide show HERE.

Yvette wins TT at Fitchburg!

2007-06-29T08:48:00.000-05:00

In an outstanding show of fitness, Yvette won the Individual TT at the Fitchburg classic. For all the results check HERE . Check out all your favorite riders!

Roden's M 35+ Twighlight report

2007-06-25T15:51:00.000-05:00

A good solid field for the hometown JW Dundees-Home Performance team in the Rochester Twilight Criterium. Our masters 35+ race had the usual guys plus a nice bunch of top flight US and Canadian cat 1-2's opting to skip the main event later in the day. The event was perfectly run and starting on time and without incident. The course was an absolute blast to ride, great road surfaces, plenty of turns and a slight roll uphill to the finish. All eyes tended to be on the out of town hotshots, so when they attacked, people were like gum on a shoe. By the end, all the early breaks had been nullified and we came through with two to go all even. Steve Burget had moved himself up into the front half dozen and was protecting his spot well, despite the general mayhem unfolding about him. Dan Staffo and I rode up to the pointy end and kind of bumped around in about dozenth through the turns. Coming into the last few turns, The Lefebre brothers from Canada took some risks through the turns and made it to the front for a nice win, Steve rode a brilliant race for fifth place, netting some money. The rest of the team rode a solid race, finishing up well in the top 20 for the most part. From my vantage point, Rob Dietrick's ride with a cast up to his elbow was simply brilliant, it's great to see someone able to ride at the next level and Rob's hard work on the bike is clearly paying off. A good day for the home team, hats off to Steve for scrapping his way through the mayhem for an excellent finish.