Thursday, October 4, 2007

Ode to Benno

This poem is for Mr. Oliver, our wonderfully unique wrench
A man who is not only smart but can do 350lb on bench

He’s a dude of many talents, as many of you well know
If you get him drunk and ask nicely, he may show you his “gun show”

Of course he fixes our steeds and even washes them too
But he also gives them his love like only special mechanics do

But there’s even more to this quiet man with all his colorful tats
Though he looks as though he may bite the heads off of bats

His patience is unparalleled, when dealing with high-strung spoiled pros
I wonder why he doesn’t just whoop our ass and feed us to the crows

He’ll consume nothing but coffee and beer for a stage race of 5 days
And then he’ll drive the van home in a drunken, sleep-deprived haze

And don’t be fooled by his scraggly beard and his worn cargo shorts
The man has a better vocabulary than the famous Will Shortz

You may catch him in a corner, reading Waltman, Poe, or Joyce
And this is no assignment mind you, this is his free choice!

Many say his calves are sculpted better than Arnold in his prime
So our mechanic may be juiced, how is that a crime?

And then there’s the team van, this part is hard to describe
He has this special relationship, way more than with the Vibe

He’ll drive that van for hours on end, with his foot firmly affixed to the pedal
Fueled by nothing but caffeine and seeds, while his Ipod blasts Death Metal

Bathroom breaks? Yeah right – those are for the weak!
Those bench seats have essence of sweaty Ben; one might say they reek

It’s considered his permanent residence, that much is for sure
He spends more time in that thing than any human should, anyone will concur

But that’s why we love him, he does all this without complaint
I even heard one time he applied Bag Balm to Garrett’s infected taint

Maybe that’s not true, but I know this for shizzle
We’re lucky to have Benno for 2008 on team Bissell!

-by Tom Zirbel

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

From Garrett Peltonen

The 2007 season has come to a close and aside from enjoying some much awaited rest and relaxation it is already time to start thinking about next year.

The past season has been a successful one for us with Ben Jacques-Maynes finishing an impressive second overall in the NRC rankings and the team accumulating many wins along the way.

Next season with a new title sponsor, Bissell, we look forward to building on the past years success and having an even better 2008 season. With the core group of last years team returning on top of a few new key acquisitions it will definitely be an exciting year which will once again kick off in mid-February with the Tour of California.

On a more personal not I could not be happier than to be part of the Bissell professional cycling team for 2008. Glen Mitchell, our director, has assembled the right mix of guys who are not only talented cyclists but are also great friends with good chemistry. All of which are important ingredients for a successfully cycling team.

It will also be a pleasure having Bissell on board as the title sponsor for 2008. Not only is Bissell the industry leader in home cleaning supplies but the company has a true interest in cycling. Mark Bissell, the President and CEO of Bissell, is an avid cycling fan himself which is great. It is not uncommon to find Mr. Bissell out riding with us at training camp or supporting us at various races throughout the year with his wife. From a rider standpoint I find it unique to have such a personable, supportive sponsor who understands cycling and truly cares!

On that note look for the Bissell Professional Cycling Team on the top step of the podium in 2008!

-Garrett Peltonen

From Tom Zirbel

2008 is going to be a fun year for racing on the Bissell Pro Cycling Team! I’m excited about my teammates, about my management and staff, and about my sponsors. It’s going to be great to have Bissell as the title sponsor of our team in 2008 because Mark Bissell has been an integral part of the growth of this team the last 3 years while being a “secondary” sponsor in terms of logo advertising and team name. He seemed to be more concerned with the “big picture” growth of the team rather than the short term gains that he could have made by demanding a larger advertising presence in team name, jersey space, etc. He is a huge cycling enthusiast and has really shown an interest in the results in not just the team from year to year but the riders from race to race. Having sponsors such as Mark Bissell and Bob Hughes (Advantage Benefits Group) who are genuinely interested in our results on the bike and our lives off the bike only strengthens our resolve to achieve success in this insanely difficult sport. It gives a family feel to a sport/profession that can seem so business-like as to take the pleasure and romance out of riding your bike. I believe this family like atmosphere on the Bissell team is going to lead to a high level of success in 2008. On a team like this, the pressure to perform comes not from the management but from within the racer. The desire to achieve your best is amplified by the closeness to your teammates and the knowledge of all the hard work and sacrifices that have been made by your management, staff, and sponsors to give you the opportunities that you have. With the additions made to the roster and staff for the 2008 season, we have all the tools necessary to make an additional step up and further our quest to become the best cycling team in the nation. We’ve added depth, strength, and experience to a team that was just starting to realize its potential in 2007. We now have the talent and experience necessary to be the best team in the nation. All we need now is the confidence to do so, a little luck scattered here and there, and ton of hard work and dedication to the cause. Let’s get started already!!!

-Tom Zirbel

From Ted King

With the air beginning to turn cool and crisp, the 2007 cycling season draws to a close once again shrouded by controversy in the highest echelon of the sport. The World Championships, taking place in late September, should be a highly celebrated event for our sport, culminating another exciting year of bike racing. However, the only news regarding the race over the past two months is who is being barred because they're somehow affiliated with this or that drug scandal. As a cyclist and cycling fan, it's just sickening to see these allegations time after time.

Wait wait wait. "…the highest echelon of the sport." That's right, the ProTour. Sure there's the occasional, single anomaly every two or three years in American domestic racing, but by in large to compare the cleanliness of the racing in America to the racing overseas is like comparing a brand new drivetrain to a drivetrain after a wet cyclocross race in the Belgium. While it's reassuring to see the continual steps to curb doping by the UCI and others, the most significant measure is a result of developing clean cyclists from the ground up. This is the exact direction that American domestic cycling is taking and this pure form of cycling is one in which I'm proud to be a participant.

I first met Mark Bissell in the early spring of 2006 while on the Priority Health team during a swing through the team's home state of Michigan during a lull in the race season. While crisscrossing the country for the past two years, rumors began floating around that 2008 would be the year Bissell took over the title sponsorship. The past two years have been an amazing experience with Priority Health allowing me to get my foot in the door and really experience American professional racing on a full time basis. But when I first heard this rumor many months back I started feeling like a giddy school child! See, having met Mark in '06, I knew that he was going to be bringing a genuine love for the sport of cycling. He's not just an enormous fan of the sport, he's also a cyclist himself and can identify with the team, the riders, and the entire experience. As a racer, this type of sponsorship makes you want to work, train, and race that much harder. It's not just punching a clock and slogging through a work day, time and again, because in this instance your bosses are wholeheartedly supporting you and wishing you the best.

Enthusiastic and appreciating sponsors, in addition to the talent and experience of the team's newest signings, promise to make 2008 the year yet for this team. These factors will contribute to the continual strengthening of American racing, and ultimately to a cleaning and purifying of the sport.

-Ted King