Cheyne's Owasco Report

Rain , Rain go away , come back another day

The Owasco Stage Race started off with great weather ( Ha ! ) Saturday morning , and a ITT for Stage 1 . Being my first cat3 race and not being a Time Trial specialist , I was only able to get 32cnd and was 3:32 off from the leader's time . Later on Saturday we had Stage 2 the JW Dundee's Circuit Race , and the weather , well it had stopped raining until right before we started racing . During the Circuit Race , I attacked up Duck Hill and was able to stay away from the peleton long enough to get a time bonus sprint for 9 seconds . After getting caught , I sat in the peleton and finished 17th , getting the same time as the winner . Sunday morning , whew , the sun and Stage 3 , a 66 mile Hilly Road Race . Roughly 20 miles into the race the peleton hit the first real climb of the day. Immediately the peleton began to shatter and I had the wheel of Don Sproull , 2cnd in the GC . We weaved our way to the front and the pain really kicked in . After summiting in the lead group it seemed no one had any legs or wanted to work to hold the gap and so nearly the whole race came back together including the yellow jersey. The next climb really decided who was there to stay and so we ended up with only around 10 or 15 guys. We started working a paceline but some people wouldn't work . As we started up another major climb we saw Don Sproull behind us about to latch on but thanks to the hill he wasn't to be seen again and it was on this hill that I suffered the most just barely being able to hang on. From there on there were a lot of fast and rolling roads. Coming downhill into a corner Jeff Zygo crashed and struggled to the finished with a broken bike . On one of the last major climbs of the day I saw two guys starting to pull a decisive gap so I put the gas on and worked my way up to them and we left everyone else behind . From there the race was to be settled between us 3 , we worked together and got over a 2 minute gap on the chasers . I was stuffed for the finish and could only get around 1 guy and ended up finishing 2cnd . And the time gaps were big enough that I was able to move up to 3rd on the GC , 2:59 off the winner , a podium finish !!!

Thanks for reading , Cheyne .

Also , in the Womens Open Race , Yvette had some great results , she finished 2cnd in the TT only to get beat by a Canadian Pro . Then she finished 4th in the Circuit Race and 5th in the Road Race . All this translates into a 4th place on GC 4:41 down , but only 2:20 back from the non pro people . Very nice riding !!!!!

Podium Girl

I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time this week with Yvette, our sole women on the team. She participated in the 2006 Master's National Championships in Seven Springs Pa. I learned much about women cycling and about the dedication of Yvette. She is awesome. Every action is about being a better cyclist. From her diet to her warm up, there is not a wasted effort. I knew she was strong from riding with her, but not until I saw her race, did I know her real strengths. 3 races, 3 fantastic finishes.
For those of you who know her, perhaps you would think Crits are not her bag. You couldn't be further from the truth. I saw her string out a bunch of really strong girls, and saw her corner at speeds, I would be closing my eyes on. The Road race, she survived the toughest course I have ever witnessed. The time trial which would make most road course s look flat, she suffered with the best of them.
On the time trial she was 7th, The Crit she was 13th, the road race, she finished 5th. Incredible.
Please congratulate Yvette on a wonderful showing at the 2006 Nationals.

Rob's Report

ARGH!!!!!! 20K TT at Olcott Pirate Festival – 7/9/06

JW Dundee’s placed three riders in the top 14 at the ARGH!!! 20K Pirate Festival Time trial on Sunday morning. Great summer conditions and a stiff SW breeze made for a great time trial along Lake Rd in Olcott. Cheyne Hoag led the JW Dundee’s contingent with an outstanding 8th place overall finish (1st in 19 & Under age group) among 70 riders in a time of 29:31 for an avg. speed of 25.7 mph. Rob Dietrick was 10th overall (1st in 30-39 age group) in 29:36. Dwight Roth was 14th overall in 30:01, for avg. speed of 24.8 mph. Hats off for a very well run event!!

Faulkner Honda Criterium – 7/8/06
Dwight Roth and Rob Dietrick trekked down to the Faulkner Honda Crit on Saturday in Hummelstown, PA near Hershey. An extremely technical, tight 8-turn course greeted the riders for this day of attrition. 58 riders took to the line for the 1-hour race. By the 10 minute mark the field was split, with 25 riders up the road as numerous crashes took place on the hair-raising corners! Dwight was caught behind a crash, and left out of the break. I hung in the break that continued to drill the pace. I was caught behind a crash w/ 4 laps to go, and used all my matches to bridge back up to the group by 3 the to go mark, and hung on for 14th.

Yvette Dominates Fitchburg

Yvette scores impressive 6th in Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race!!
Yvette hammered out an outstanding 4th in the TT to open the weekend. Followed it up with a strong 4th in the Circuit race, 18th in the tough Wachusett Mountain road race, and 7th in the Criterium to solidfy 6th place overall in one of the largest and toughest stage races on the east coast!!!!!