Cheyne Captures Third in Junior Nationals!

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

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

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

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

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