BISSELL Pro Cycling Team Blog

Grattan Victory

2009-08-14T14:39:00.001-04:00

From Tim Farnham:

The biggest race in Grand Rapids on Wednesday night's are out at the Grattan race track just east of town. It is a 2 mile somewhat hilly track that is normally used for race cars or prototype cars from the big 3.

The race started out as normal with a few attacks from the local strongmen. I like to do some early attacking as well since it gets me fired up and ready to drop the hammer later on ;-) Eventually Nathan Williams (BISSELL Elite) and I were in an 11 man break with about 30 seconds on the group. We were all rotating through pretty smoothly sans some shenanigans by a select few. Then at about 5 laps to go, Nathan thought it was a good idea to attack up the short kicker before the start/finish line. He and I went and the break got strung out, but nobody was willing to do the work needed to reel us back in. Every lap we added about 10 seconds to our lead. Nathan sucked up the prime points and I took the overall victory with him in tow.

GOOD WORK NATHAN!!

BISSELL Company Ride

2009-08-13T10:00:00.006-04:00

From Tim Farnham's Blog on August 11, 2009:

This trip has been a blast so far. My bro Tommy and I have been exploring the Grand Rapids night life (which is killer) and riding daily. Friday was the BISSELL company ride. Basically, all the BISSELL pros in town met at the BISSELL HQ for a meet and greet with the employees and all sponsors that felt like riding. We rode out of town and were greeted with a nice warm rain. It felt pretty good actually :-)

Frank Pipp 3rd at Giordana Crossroads Classic Fuze Salisbury

2009-08-07T14:38:00.004-04:00

From Jonathan Coulter, Soigneur:

Newlywed Bissell Pro Cycling speedster Frank Pipp dug deep into his bag of tricks in an effort to outscheme a powerful Colavita armada at last nights mid-week Fuze Salisbury Criterium, part of the Giordana Crossroads Classic in North Carolina.

With full squads from Colavita, Mountain Khakis, DLP and Kenda in attendance, Pipp was ably supported by the previous nights 4th place finisher Cody O'Reilly, Peter Latham and Andy Jacques Maynes. With the race starting at 8:45pm on a technical, 8 corner downtown circuit, it was not long before the attacks started flying down main street. Pipp, making the most of his positioning at the head of the peleton, saw an opening only 15 minutes into the 60 minute slugfest and launched off the front. He was quickly tagged by Colavita speedster Sebastian Haedo and Mountain Khakis' Isaac Howe, and the trio began the arduous task of advancing their lead on the aggressive peleton.

After several laps of lung busting effort, vigilant marking by Pete Latham and Andy Jacques-Maynes saw the impetus taken out from the bunch, and the gap to Pipp and the other escapees extended out to 35 seconds.

With Pipps ability to win races from small breakaways, Colavita knew they had to send another rider up to the break to offset his cunning, and after rapidfire attempts by Luca Damiani, Alejandro Borrajo and Kyle Walmsley, it was Luis Amaran that escaped the peleton's clutches and began making headway on the break.

Over the final 15 laps Pipp was forced to do the lions share of the work as Amaran closed in. To the roar of the crowd Amaran made the juncture with only two corners remaining, flying past the breakaway. Outgunned against the two Colavitas, Pipp latched onto his wheel and coming out of the final turn was forced to begin the sprint. With 100 metres to go it looked like his power would save the day, but alas Haedo and Howe managed to rush by on the line. Andy Jacques-Maynes was 8th.

"It was great to be able to represent Bissell at this excellent series put on by Giordana," said Pipp.

Pipp and the Bissell riders will now rest up before this weekends NRC double header in Charlotte and Hanes Park.

- Jono

The Italian Job

2009-07-22T17:30:00.001-04:00

Race Recap by Graham Howard

I'm back in GR now after being in Italy for the Pinarello Granfondo. I flew in to Pisa, Italy a little more than a week ago to adjust to all things Italian in hopes of having a good showing at the Pinarello Granfondo held on July 19th. From Pisa I met up with Joao and we drove to a small town in Tuscany where he has friends that were able to put us up for a few days before we headed to Treviso for the race. I've never been to Italy before and was pretty excited about the chance to see and experience it. Joao and I, along with another friend of Joao's, Thomas, who was also in Italy for the Pinarello Granfondo, spent three days in Tuscany, riding and eating before packing up our bikes and heading to Treviso. We met up with Andy Jacques-Maynes and Mark Bissell at the race hotel on Friday and went to preview the course. The course was 205k of lots of up and down. It contained large major roads, small cobbled streets and alleys through villages, tiny goat path climbs through mountain tunnels and little bike path descents on the edge of mountains. Everything about this event promised to be a new experience. Granfondo's, for the most part, are unknown to Americans, and rather difficult to explain. They are not races in the traditional sense that we have them here, nor are they organized group rides. They contain elements of both. They are mass start, single category races. This event had more than three thousand participants.

Treviso, along with being the location of the race is also the home of Pinarello. Being there a few days before the event gave us the chance to see the original and current Pinarello location along with the famous bicycle and jersey of Pinarello's founder, Giovanni Pinarello. Following finely hosted dinners by Pinarello on Friday and Saturday night, we woke up bright and early on Sunday for an eight a.m. start. We all lined up at the front of the race hoping to stay out of trouble, but unfortunately, a handful of the Italians threw back a few too many espressos that morning and there was a horrible wreck at the front of the field as excited, jittery Italians collided not 5k into the day. Joao and I managed to squirt clear, but both Andy and Mark went down hard. Mark got up, dusted himself off and soldiered on, but Andy was forced to abandon with mechanical problems. Joao and I stayed out of trouble and he was able to deliver me to the first major climb at the front with fresh legs. Thanks to our course recon, we knew that the courses major climbs all occurred within the first 100k, so our hope was to follow wheels and make it over those climbs with the front group, then look for opportunities on the flatter second half of the course. I managed the first part of the plan, making it over the major climbs with the front group, but my legs failed me on one of the courses lesser climbs. I was stuck in no man’s land for the remainder of the day until the final climb at 170k, where I was caught and overtaken by the second group. I descended and rode the last 15k alone, finishing in 51st. I was a little disappointed after having made it over the courses tougher climbs to be popped on one of the smaller ones, but still happy to have finished my first Granfondo in one piece. Sunday night Pinarello again treated us to a fine dinner and Monday morning we were off back to the states.
I enjoyed my first Granfondo immensely. I’d like to thank Pinarello for inviting and hosting us and also for sponsoring such a fine event. I hope to see more if Italy in the future and would like another crack at the Pinarello Granfondo in 2010.

Pinarello Gran Fondo

2009-07-22T17:26:00.001-04:00

Race Recap by Andy Jacques-Maynes

The Pinarello GF was a mix of disaster and redemption. We drove the course a day before to see the climbs, and they were mind-blowing: Switchbacks inside tunnels, 14% pitches, tiny narrow roads with rock overhangs, and long climbs up to ski areas: this course threw everything at you!

We were lucky to line up towards the front, because there were about 1700 angry Italians behind us chomping at the bit. Once we rolled out of town, everyone was jostling for position and you could smell the impending doom. Sure enough, two guys touched wheels at the front of the pack and the entire field hit the deck. I think the crash started from 6th wheel, right in front of team BISSELL! Graham went right, barely missing tumbling riders, Joao went left, also just squeezing through. Mark and I had nowhere to go but into the pile. Someone swerved into my front wheel and I was tossed to the ground at 35mph. I slid to a stop and was buried under three more riders. After untangling myself and my bike, I gave it a cursory check and started chasing. This was 5km into a 205km day, not a good way to start!

I got back to the front group after 15 minutes of solid hammering. My rear shifter was not functioning perfectly, and I could only use my 14 cog. I tried to get it working, with some small success, and I pulled up to Joao saying, "I'm back, ready to race." he took one look at me and said, "no you're not, your top tube is broken!" I guess another rider had fallen onto my bike and the frame was almost severed in the middle of the tube! Massive disappointment.

I pulled to the side and stopped, then waited for the entire field to fly by. 1700 riders takes quite a while to come through! I limped back to town and our hotel, cursing my luck. Upon entering the lobby, a collegue of Joao's was also coming in, he had breathing problems and turned around before the mountains started. It turns out he rides my size, so I took his bike and was back in the game!

I rolled from the hotel 2 hours after our start, determined to get some riding in. I intended to follow the course and try to catch the back of the field through the mountains. Because of creative (read: missing) course markings, I eventually got lost. I found the course again, but I was going the wrong way, backwards! This was fine, as I would be guaranteed to meet my team mates if I proceeded. Aside from lots of looks from riders (I don't know how to say "you're going the wrong way!" in Italian, but I'm sure that's what they were saying), I had an awesome ride. After 90km of being a salmon going upstream, I found Mark and Joao and rode with them to the finish.

Big props are due for the big man, Mark Bissell, for toughing out 200km with crash damage to his whole left side. Mark not only rode the whole distance, he rode STRONG all the way to the finish. Very, very impressive.

Race Notes:

I had to hike-a-bike through a vineyard to avoid a stern policeman who wouldn't let me up the course.
I earned $100 from Joao by riding the last climb (the Montello) in the big ring.
Mark won a field sprint out of about 100 guys, in part due to my 15km one-man leadout train.
With my various twists, turns, and backtracking, I rode more than if I had done the whole course: I ended the day with 240km, or about 145 miles.

AJM

Tour de Mont Pleasant

2009-06-15T15:01:00.000-04:00

Race Report by Graham Howard:

This past weekend I attended the tour de mont pleasant, in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan with the Bissell elite masters team. The race featured a Saturday criterium in downtown Mt. Pleasant as well as a Sunday road race through Isabella County. Saturday's race was fast and aggressive. The Kenda Pro cycling team along with the Panther / RGF cycling team and the Jet Fuel team came for the weekend of racing in Mt. Pleasant, so the Michigan field had the opportunity to sample racing with a little more horsepower. Despite a fairly aggressive criterium, the field stayed all together and came down to a field sprint. I miscounted the laps and went for the finish one lap too early, so I didn't place. Jason and Derek however managed to get into the sprint and both managed to place in the top ten.

Sunday's Road Race, at 105 miles, was a longer affair than is often encountered in Michigan. The Bissell team decided that we didn't want to do any more work than we had to for the first 70-80 miles. Other teams had different tactics, however, and a break of eight formed about 10 miles into the race after a hard cross wind section. I found my way into the group, along with Greg Christian and David Campbell (Panther / RGF), Ben Renkema and Jake Rytlewski (Kenda), Tom Burke (Lathrup / Giant), Mark Olson (Priority Health) and a rider from the Mad Anthony Brewery team. Jake, Greg and Tom immediately got to work. Mark Olson and I, having full teams sitting in the field, and no interest in flogging ourselves for 95 miles, sat on the back of the group. Undeterred by our disinterest, the other six pressed on with full strength. Slowly but surely the peloton disappeared behind us until they were no longer visible. Time gaps were hard to come across, but from what we were able to gather from feed zone hollering, we were roughly six minutes up on the peloton and more than likely would stay clear to the finish. The two Panther / RGF riders proved strongest and most aggressive as they began attacking the group, still 20 miles from the finish. I had fresh legs from sitting on all day and followed two or three efforts before one finally stuck with Greg and Mark. Greg and I rolled hard until the last kilometer when I dropped behind him and forced him to lead out the sprint. He put in a couple of good digs, but I managed to come around in the last 100m to take the win. The rest of the Bissell boys all came in strong at the front of the field kick a few minutes later.

This was a first year event, but a really spectacular one. The courses were terrific, the community support was wonderful and everything ran smoothly. Thanks to all those who helped put it on, I hope it happens again next year.

Another Good Day for the Pro Elite Combo

2009-05-22T13:46:00.001-04:00

From Tim Farnham:

We just did the Grattan Speedway race Wednesday evening. Sheldon and I spent the whole time in breaks and attacking hard. Close to the end of the race, Sheldon, myself, and a Priority Health guy were in a break but when the PH guy decided not to roll through, Sheldon attacked. Myself and the PH guy were then reabsorbed into the back and Sheldon stayed away for the remainder of the race for the win. I did a suicide at 2 laps to go while the PH team chased. At about 1k to go, Birdman (GH) started out the lead out train but ended up catching me. Fortunately, Jason (Elite Bissell) won the sprint for second and we also got 3rd, 4th, 5th, and I got 7th.

So another good training day for me and good results for the Elite team.

Later, Timmo

Mayor's Bike Ride

2009-05-11T10:05:00.004-04:00

From Graham Howard:

Last Wednesday I attended The Mayor's Bike Ride, a community event held at John Ball Park in down town Grand Rapids. This gathering built on the success of a Grand Rapids Bicycle Summit, an event aimed at making Grand Rapids more bicycle friendly, which was held a week earlier at the GVSU campus.

Local cycling supporters, enthusiasts, businesses, racers and families came by John Ball Park on Wednesday to support and to help showcase what is a very strong and enthusiastic cycling community in Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell attended the event as well and led two bicycle rides, a one mile kids ride around John Ball Park and a 5 mile ride through downtown Grand Rapids.

Roughly 150 people attended the event and probably about that many brought out their bikes and went on the ride around downtown. There were kids on training wheels, BMX racers, mountain bikers, fixed gears, tandems, bikes with dogs in crates strapped on the back and even a few guys perched up high on old fashioned bicycles. The event was a great way to get Grand Rapids bicycle lovers of all sorts in the same place at the same time and will hopefully lead to steps towards creating bicycle lanes on Grand Rapids streets, among other things, and a more bicycle friendly Grand Rapids.

Photos by Josh Duggan
Lots more here

Dana Point Grand Prix

2009-04-28T11:49:00.007-04:00

Recap by Eric Wohlberg:

Great location, course.

After watching pretty much every field crash in the last 2 corners and plus the fact that Rock had a full contingent, we weren't too keen to contribute to a field sprint.

From the gun, we were very active with Andy/Frank applying pressure to Rock. There were several small moves but nothing would get more than 10-15 secs as both Colavita and Rock were controlling for a field sprint.

With 10 laps to go, Kirk made a excellent surge, and a 5 man move went clear.

The gap opened quickly as Rock got organized behind it and started riding.

However, they were having trouble pulling it back and got some help from OUCH and Garmin (which is mystifying).

The field was back together at 2 to go, and Colavita had control with Cody sitting nicely at the back of their train.

On the final stretch, Rassan Bahati smoked the last two corners, the Colavita lead out train, and the field for the win.

Cody had a great finish for 5th overall.

Eric

West Coast Collegiate Cycling Conference Championships UC Davis

2009-04-28T11:45:00.001-04:00

Report by Paul Mach:

Had some good racing this weekend at the collegiate conference championships in Davis. Here is the 411.

Saturday morning team time trial. My team has been winning without me by minutes all season so we weren't too worried. We won, I don't know by how much

Saturday afternoon road race. 4x20 miles with a 4 mile gravel section. UC Davis had 1of 2 guys off the front with 1 lap to go. 3 Davis guys bridged up to make it 4 of 5. We worked the other guy over and us 4 rolled across the line together. I got second.

Sunday's Crit, 60min, 6 corners in downtown Davis. Rode hard. Spent the second half in a break, attacked with 5 to go. Soloed to the win.

Ended up 2nd in the season long individual omnium even thought I only did 5 regular season races, that was unexpected. UC Davis won the team omnium.

Yeah, I know it's no NRC racing, but it sure does build the confidence before Gila.

Tour of the Battenkill – Day 2

2009-04-22T08:45:00.005-04:00

Report by Frank Pipp:

Day 2 of Battenkill. The big one. Yesterday was the “warm up” and Zirbel did his part for the BISSELL team. The rest of us weren’t much help sitting in the bunch about 20 minutes back! Today we hoped to stack the odds a little more in our favor.

Race started out with plenty of attacking and eventually a little move went clear with 2 riders. No problem, not a chance a little duo was going to stay away on this course. This course being 2 laps of 100 km. Each lap containing about 4500 feet of elevation gain and 25 km of gravel roads. A total of 9000 feet of climbing and 50 km of gravel. Good times!

Back to the race... First lap after the 2 riders departed from the peloton the rest of us got to know the course a little better (we did one lap of it yesterday.) There was some splitting up but most everyone regrouped after the more difficult sections. Unfortunately on one of those rough sections, first Sheldon and then Zirb’s flatted. Sheldon got a wheel change and was able to get back on but Tom was left standing on the side of the road with wheel in hand. Apparently a spectator was kind enough to give him a tube so that he could ride back to the hotel. Hitting the showers early!

Second lap the pace heated up with one of the teams sending all of their riders to the front. Eventually they must have decided this course was too much for a chase because they started launching their riders off the front one by one. Eventually one did get clear and that was the end of the chase. The pace slowed way down and I began to wonder if we were now racing for 4th place. Others must have been asking that same question because soon enough the attacks started again and a group of 3 got away. And that was when the bunch decided enough was enough- the pace became steady as a chase began. We sent first Omer, then Sheldon, to take part. The boys did well and brought this group back and that’s when the real fireworks started.

30 km to race, and not an easy 30 km! Of the 8 dirt sections, 4 of them were left with plenty of climbing in each one. And at 170 km in, every time the road turned upwards or the tires slipped on the gravel you felt it! With Sheldon and Omer having done their work, Graham and I took turns covering attacks. The group rapidly trimmed down and soon there were only a handful of us in the front with dozens of others always trying to catch up from behind. With about 20 km left to race, we caught one of the original 2 that had gone away early in the race. Only 2 up the road now, both solo, one somewhat fresh and one that had been away all day. Back in the dwindling group the bombs never stopped. Everyone was taking their turn. Soon Graham was playing the catch up game. 2 gravel sections left and my legs were feeling every pedal stroke. Knowing the suffering everyone was going through I attempted a couple of digs, but nothing happening. Then it was my turn to be calling wait up! Coming from behind is never the way to race and after several efforts doing this the legs were no longer there. Before entering the last dirt section I could only watch as some of the favorites rode away from our group. One of those ended up catching the 2nd place rider on the road, but no one ever saw the one sole leader- out front all day, much of that solo. Impressive. I finished in a group of 15 or so, what was left of the “peloton.” Good for a mediocre 13th place on the day. Graham ended up 32nd. Omer and Sheldon finished the day together in a group further back. Not quite what the Bissell team was hoping for but I think this race turned out more difficult than most of us planned! Of the 160 starters there were 62 finishers. We are already looking forward to some redemption next year!

More photos here.

Tour of the Battenkill

2009-04-21T18:12:00.003-04:00

From Tom Zirbel:

A small contingent of racers were sent out to NY to race the Tour of Battenkill this past weekend. It was just Graham and the CO boys: Omer, Sheldon, Pipp, and myself. We're talking old school style here - no massages, cleaning and maintaining our own bikes, hauling ourselves around, etc. The kind of stuff that Glen and Eric did back in the day when they would carry extra inflated tubes around their shoulders and have to flip their wheel around if they wanted to use the other gear. Anyhow, racing unsupported is a good way to help us spoiled pros realize how good we've got it for the majority of races. Plus, we did have an arrangement with the Empire Cycling Team so they would hand us bottles in the feed zone - that was crucial for those long brutal courses. So being as Sun. was the premier event, the plan for Saturday's race was to be represented in all breaks, get a good look at the course (same as Sun.) and try to conserve energy if possible for the 200km throw down the next day. 2 out of 3 isn't bad, is it? Unexpectedly, the 2nd attack of the day stayed away to the finish and I was the lucky winner from the Bissell team to be represented in it. There were 13 of us at first and I was a little outnumbered with 5 different teams having more than one rider in the break, so I had a good excuse to just sit on for the first 40 min. or so. Then BMC started to get wise to the situation and sent Jon Garcia up the road solo. Though only halfway through the race, people were already starting to get tired so I started pulling through to keep his lead in check. The course started to take its toll on the riders little by little be it the long gravel sections, the steep climbs, or just flat tires and soon the break was whittled down to less than 10. With less than 20 miles to go, I took a long, slightly uphill gravel section to do some "visualization" where I pretended that I was Boonen turning the screws on the lead group at Roubaix. It was about a 3 min. effort and when I looked back everyone was still there and I had a "Well, I'm not quite a Boonen just yet" thought. But on the next riser, I attacked again and it was quickly down to 5 guys, so I'd like to think that my visualization did some damage. :) Beyer from BMC and I took turns attacking after that and it came down to Josh Dillon, Beyer and myself with 4k of flat to go. Unfortunately, Dillon flatted out so it was left to Beyer and me, and Beyer played the team card saying that his teammate (Garcia) was chasing so he couldn't pull through. Garcia was sitting on a group of 3 coming back to us fast so instead of trying the sprint in a group of 5, I took the initiative to make it a 2 man sprint and after pulling the last 1500m, Beyer came around me in the end to take the win. I was bummed not to take the victory, but I knew that I would have to come to the line solo if I wanted a sure win and Beyer showed his strength by not getting dropped during my attacks and fighting to the finish. A podium is always nice though and the quart of local chocolate milk that they gave each of us on the podium was so creamy and delicious that it helped wash away that bitter taste in my mouth from getting 2nd.

Tom

BISSELL Team Dominates Copperopolis

2009-04-15T14:49:00.001-04:00

From Ben Jacques-Maynes:

The BISSELL pro cycling team headed out to remote Milton CA for the Nor-Cal Classic Copperopolis Road Race. Sunny skies belied cool temps and breezy conditions making for perfect racing conditions for the five grueling laps and a total of 105 miles. Toeing the line for team BISSELL was Andy and Ben Jacques-Maynes, Tim Farnham, Pete Latham (in his return to the road after the track world championships) and a rare appearance by director Eric Wohlberg.

A group of three attacked from the gun, but experienced racers knew that this was not the course to spend too much energy too soon. We sat in for the first lap and part of the second, at which point it was time to start racing. I hit out after a previous attack and bridged up directly, and when no one else came after us we set about tracking down the original breakaway, now three minutes up the road. We combined with them and stayed away for another 60k, when defending champ Levi Leipheimer of Astana rode across on the main climb, taking three riders with him including AJM. Over the next half lap the race came slowly back together, and a disinterested peleton of 25 was together. It seemed most were content to wait for Levi to hit out on the final climb, so I attacked again and got a quick gap, this time with Scott Nydam of BMC. We extended our gap to 1:30 before Levi was curiously DQ'd for a centerline violation, at which point there was not enough firepower to close down the gap on such an arduous course. Scott and I worked evenly but the sting was out of our legs and so we waited for a sprint to the line. Scott lead out but I had enough to come around him for the win, tired but triumphant. To cap it off, Andy attacked his chase group to finish a clear third, putting two BISSELL riders on the podium at the "Hell of the Nor-Cal". Pete showed his fitness by finishing in the top 15, a great result considering the highest climb he's done recently was up a track banking, and Tim and Eric showed their never say die attitudes by fighting to the finish.

Copperopolis

2009-04-13T19:44:00.001-04:00

From Ben Jacques-Maynes:

We rode well, I was in 2 breaks and ended up going to the line with nydam, came around for the win. Andy attacked the chase and came in solo for third. Tim and pete were in the group for top 15 or so, and eric got all our flat mojo out of the way by double flatting in the first 5 miles.

Cherry Blossom Classic Final Report

2009-04-08T18:18:00.003-04:00

From Paul Mach:

The rest of the Cherry Blossom Stage Race went pretty well for Team Bissell. There were three more stages with a double day on Saturday and a road race on Sunday.

Saturday's morning TT was an 8 mile out and back with a head wind and steady 2% climb on the way out. The first half was a suffer fest, but the way back was like a bobsled track, you kept going faster and faster. Jeremy finished 2nd, 8 seconds back and I was 7th, 50 seconds behind the winner.

The crit in the evening was a four corner rectangle with a tail wind on the home stretch. We started late and since it was getting dark they shortened it from 50 to just 28 minutes. We all raced really hard and attacked a bunch but the field was too fresh for anything to stay away. One lap to go came out of nowhere and we all just cruised in with the pack.

Sunday's road race was 3 times up a steady 7 mile climb for 84 miles total. The pre-race plan was simple; keep the GC placings and maybe go for the stage.

For the first two laps Jeremy and Omer rode tempo on the front. There was some arguing between them as Jeremy wanted to make sure he did just as much work as Omer, but other than that it went pretty smooth. I just sat 3rd wheel the whole time.

Omer, just coming back from his injury, was killing it on the climb. The first time, half way up, 5 miles into the race, people were already making bad choices. Some bumping, shouting and spokes into quick releases. The second time up Omer did the same thing. He'd look back to see people suffering and that just made him go harder.

With a lap to go the group was down to about 20 and they told us it was 3:30 to the break. It was clear the field was hurting since the group was so small. So the third time up the climb I attacked with the intent of catching the breakaway. A few of the GC contenders went with me, so I attacked again. I was going deeper into the pain cave as I went up the hill but finally caught all but one of the exploding break.

That guy still had 1:30 on me at the bottom of the decent so for the last 15 miles I chased and chased and chased. The gap got shorter and shorter. 30, 25, 20, 18, 15, 12 seconds. In the end I ran out of pavement and he won by 5 seconds. Almost. Jeremy was in the chase group and finished 4th.

It was a good weekend. Me and Jeremy Vennell went 1 and 2 in the GC with 1 stage win and 2 second places. That night we barbequed with our host family in Hood River. Can't wait to see them again when we head back for Mt. Hood Classic in June.

Santa Cruz Classic Criterium

2009-04-07T13:21:00.001-04:00

From Ben Jacques-Maynes:

Four team BISSELL riders participated in the Santa cruz classic criterium on historic beach hill this weekend. The action started quickly and Andy J-M was immediately in the move of the day, with super-sougneur Jono, myself (BJM) and Timmo covering moves from behind. The race dragged out over 2 hours with some serious attrition, and when the front group split in the last 5 laps Andy was caught behind. I jumped into action, bridging the 45 second gap to the front of the race with a few others and then immediately hit out in search of the lead quartet. I had them in sight but the finish came a lap or two too early, and so I finished a solo 5th position. Andy sprinted in the diminished chase group, finishing 9th, while Tim blasted to 11th out of the pack. Jono pulled the pin but backed up the team with info from the sidelines.

BISSELL kicks off the three day Cherry Blossom Classic taking 1st and 2nd in the opening stage

2009-04-03T21:29:00.000-04:00

From Paul Mach:

This weekend a few of us Bissell boys, me, Omer, Morgan and Jeremy, headed up to The Dallas for the Cherry Blossom Classic. It is Omer's first race back after his crash at the Tour of California and he wanted some company.

The first stage today was a road race, 4 loops for 75 miles, up and over a hill. Tomorrow has a TT in the morning and Crit in the evening. There is another road race on Sunday.

Even before the start Morgan had some drama. He caught a stick on the way to the start line and tore the derailleur hanger right off his Pinarello Prince. It was pretty sad but he was a good sport and ended up as our only guy in the feedzone.

I was expecting the race to roll out pretty mellow but the local teams were out in force and a break went away early. Jeremy made it into a chase group and Omer set me up for a bridge attempt on the climb. The two front groups came together over the top so we had 2 Bissell out of about 15.

We rolled well for the rest of the lap. The second time up the climb Jeremy and I worked the front and the group dwindled down to 7 guys. At this point we decided that I should try to get up the road since Jeremy is the only one with a TT bike and I could use the extra time.

Thus, I attacked the third time up the climb and my Easton EC90 Aero wheels rolled so well I stayed away for the whole last lap. It was a little early but plan B was for Jeremy to sit on and sprint so I think we had it pretty good. That is just what he did and finished second.

Official results haven't been posted yet but I think I'm a couple minutes up on Jeremy and maybe another minute up on third place. A pretty good way to start.

Andy Jacques-Maynes 3rd at Menlo Park GP

2009-03-10T12:35:00.005-04:00

From Jonathan Coulter, Soigneur:

Bissell Pro Cycling's Andy Jacques-Maynes continued in fine form at the Tri-Flow Menlo Park GP with a 3rd place to Garmin Chipotle rider Daniel Holloway.

On a sunny Nor-Cal afternoon, Andy put on a show for the spectators as he continually attacked the 100 rider field in an effort to shake the Garmin sprinter and BMC's Jackson Stewart, who lined up as favourites for the event. With all of Nor-Cal's top teams represented at the GP, Andy used his savvy and pure speed to be in every breakaway attempt and win a mid race priem.

In the tumultuous finale, Andy stayed away from a multi rider pileup by hitting out early with a select group of sprinters, and holding his speed down the final straightaway to place a respectable 3rd.

- Jono

Omer Kem on Sacramento Today

2009-03-05T11:46:00.002-05:00

From Omer Kem:

The Tour of CA is the biggest race of the year for Bissell Pro Cycling. The amount of press and media time for our sponsors is almost overwhelming at times. I was lucky enough to be asked to do a television spot on Sacramento Today, the local morning show. This was a huge oppurtunity for the team to show itself to the people of Sacramento.

On Friday morning, the day before the race, I woke up early to get picked up by the TV station. On arrival I was taken back stage and introduced to everyone involved. For Bissell this was huge media exposure, so I brought along a jersey to wear during the TV segment. Once we got started I felt comfortable talking about the Bissell Corp and its commitment to healthy living. The hosts also had questions about racing and what it takes to be a professional rider. I made sure to explain how Bissell emphasized the importance of community involvement, an example being the visit to a cancer ward at the Sacramento Children's Hospital that I was doing later that afternoon. Of course we race our bikes too! My time on TV was fun and I think it was a great event for Bissell Pro Cycling.

Tour of California 2009

2009-02-27T18:49:00.004-05:00

From Jeremy Vennell:

You only have to look at the start list of riders, with riders such as Levi Liepheimer, Fabian Cancellara and of course the legendary Lance Armstrong, to list a few, to realize that getting a start in the Tour of California is a big deal. The race is recognised as one of the biggest races in the world and is America’s equivalent to the Tour de France.

There are a lot of similarities between the two:

the huge crowds (2.6 million watched on the side of the road alone);
the huge ascents with nick names such as the Alp de huez of California ( a huge 21 hair pin climb gaining 1500 vertical metres), which is very similar to its counter part in France
and riders who are the best in the world without a doubt a start list that only gets seen in other races such as the tour de France

9 Days of racing starting in Northern California and working its way down to Southern California finishing in San Diego. It even crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Maybe not as long as the 21 days of the Tour de France but with only one flat stage (being the longest and not flat at all just no mountains) and with over 1200km to ride it was like the race organizers had tried to fit a grand tour of 21 days into 9.

If the race wasn’t hard enough the weather decided to throw in an extra challenge. The first road stage started in freezing rain and it didn’t stop raining till the end of the 4th stage. And when I say rain I mean rain. My team mate even went as far as to wear a wetsuit under his clothes to stay warm.

The Prologue, a 4km blast around a circuit as an individual rider kicked the tour off. The excitement was high. With Lance Armstrong coming back from retirement after winning 7 Tour de France titles, the American crowds were massive. The mad crowd crammed along the course to watch us go as fast as we could for 4km. When Lance did finally have his turn to start, the crowd went into a frenzy of utter madness. This was to set a common trend for the rest of the 9 days.

The spectators were like they had all taken crazy pills. With costumes like the Borat swimsuit (worn by many but I remember one man that was so fat you could only see the very top of the G line, he was also fast!, making the torture of seeing his arse run in front of you last alot longer than you want), helmets with huge antlers, superhero costumes and many more original ideas. Nudity actually became mundane and some were even up for running with their babies and kids held stretched out in their arms in front of us, shaking them with excitement.

To make things harder for myself, I managed to scratch my eye after I got some piece of glass or sharp grit in it while riding the first stage in the muddy rain. This added to the discomfort and almost made it impossible to sleep for a few nights afterwards. Quite possible the most uncomfortable thing I have ever had. Lucky your eye can heal very fast. I was however luckier than two of my teammates who crashed heavily due to the bad weather; Andy Jacque-Maines crashing into a parked car, being taken away with concussion; and Omer Kem falling on a decent, slipping out on a plastic road reflector which are deadly when wet. He managed to fracture his pelvis but is making a good recovery. Our team sprinter Kirk O Bee was finding the mountains very tough and had to abandon on stage 2. Starting with 8 riders Team Bissell was down to 5 after 3 days in the tour. If we kept that up we wouldn’t have any left before we got to the last days.

Just when I thought I had it rough enough with my eye being cut up, I got a nasty virus that made me have chronic diarrhea. This had to happen also the morning of the Tour’s longest stage. 6 hrs in the saddle and every minute I was riding I was fighting with myself to stay in the race. I was absolutely wasted at the finish and I can easily say that this was one of the hardest days of my cycling carrier.

With the battle of survival in the first 5 days over I had the last three days of the tour to get amongst it. The Time Trial was a great way to start on stage 6. 26km long and with the national champion skin suit on my shoulders I was wanting to fly the flag for New Zealand proudly. I managed to get 17th which was awesome. My team mate Tom Zirbel was 7th and my other team mate Ben Jacques-Maynes was 11th. Bissell was the 5th team on the day. Which was huge for the team.

The last two days were the shortest stages of the tour but maybe the toughest due to the huge mountain passes we had to ride over. Stage 7 had such a hard start and never let up. An hour long climb was a little too much for team mate and New Zealander Peter Latham, who was told not to suffer anymore and to pull out of the race. On the decent there was a big crash which put two team mates Tom Zirbel and Frank Pipp on the road. Frank was able to get back to the bunch after spending some time in the follow cars. Tom however took a little longer to get on his bike and had to ride to the finish alone. Not such a great day for the Bissell team.

The last day and with only 4 of team Bissell starting and only 90 of the 136 rider field left in the race, the survivors were going to throw everything they had left into the last stage. The race organizers had also left the hardest to last it seemed. With the biggest climb of the tour half way through the stage and a total of 4 climbs throughout the 160km. The crowds lined the ascents screaming and yelling with barely enough room for us to ride through them. The insane ones tried to run beside us before they either got taken out by the lead motor bikes or ran out of steam. The hills kept coming and in the end there was only me and 30 other riders left. The rest of the field still battling behind or pulling out. The epic stage was a great way to finish the tour. Finishing 26th overall I was happy to get a sleep in the next morning.

Tour of White Rock 2008

2008-07-24T13:33:00.002-04:00

From Scott Zwizanski:

For the Tour of White Rock, Garrett and I were joined by the teams newly graduated construction manager, Morgan Schmitt. The race was set up as an omnium, starting with a Hillclimb TT, then a crit and ended with a tough RR held on a 10k hilly circuit.

The Hillclimb TT was just under 1k long and morgan finished up in 10th and I ended up 13th, both of us just missing points for the omnium competition.

The crit was a cool little 1k course with a nice little hill on the backside. The race was fast with lots of attacking and small groups getting small gaps, but no one in the race watned to miss a move. So it ended up coming down to a field kick. I had some bad luck in the final lap and had another riders skewer take out several of my spokes in the front wheel, so I never made it to the finish line. Morgan battled his way to a 10th place finish.

The final race was a 134k RR, held on a 10k circuit and ending on a smaller 4k circuit for 6 laps. After 10 laps on the big circuit, the field was together and chris horner hit out on the big climb. We missed the front group of 6 riders and the 3 of us chased like mad on the front of the field. On the small laps, the chasing field was down to just 20 riders. Garrett set me up to try to bridge across, but it was too little too late. And I crossed the line in 7th place.

The racing for BC Superweek was great, and it should set us up well for the upcoming races in August and September.

BC Superweek

2008-07-18T09:55:00.003-04:00

From Garrett Peltonen:

This year Scotty Zwizanski and myself are representing the Bissell Pro Cycling team at BC Superweek held in picturesque Vancouver, British Columbia. BC Superweek is compilation of four different races…two separate crits sandwiched between two three day stage races. Basically it is a lot of racing…eight races in ten days to be exact!

After five of the eight days of racing complete Scotty and I have had some success but also some disappointment! The first race on our schedule was the Tour of Delta which was a three day stage race. Despite not having any aero equipment we managed a solid third (Scotty) and sixth (me) in the tt and held on for two top ten finishes in the overall.

Following the Tour of Delta was the historic Gastown Crit held in downtown Vancouver. The crowds were huge and the race was crazy hard with only about one-third of the field finishing the race! Despite both of us being there at the end we could only muster up Scotty’s nineteenth place finish.

That brings us to last night’s crit….the Giro de Burnabi. Once again the race came down to another field kick and once again Scotty and I came up a bit short. However, there is still the Tour of White Rock which starts today and I think this race is more up our alley?

At the end of the day it is my first time in Vancouver or British Columbia for that matter and I am really impressed with the area and the racing! Now hopefully we can get a win a the Tour of White Rock to make the trip complete!

Nevada City Classic Race Report

2008-06-24T08:40:00.004-04:00

From Graham Howard:

Sven and I flew in to Reno to meet Burke and Omer for the Nevada City Classic, a race described to Sven and I as the hilliest crit ever and also, not surprisingly, as the only crit that Burke has ever won. Neither Sven, Omer or I had done the race before, but we liked everything we heard. That night we went out for dinner where Sven wowed the locals and won the first challenge of the week - eating six, count 'em SIX 1/2lb burgers. Properly fueled up we retired for the evening at the National Hotel in Nevada City. The race the following day was in the evening so the four of us got out in the morning for a short spin. We all lined up hoping to set Burke up for another Nevada City Classic win, but the Ninja was a little under the weather having recieved a tetanus shot just a day or two earlier and pulled out feeling ill. Sven flatted two laps in and with no free lap his race was over as well. Ninjaless and sprinterless Omer and I had to put something together on our own. By mid race Justin England (Toyota) and Scott Nydam (BMC) were twenty seconds in front of the group containing Omer and and with little help from other riders, Omer was unable to bring the two back. England and Nydam stayed out front to take first and second while behind Omer kept the pace high which allowed me to take the sprint for third. All in all we were happy with the day, though with a sprinter with aired tires and a healthy Ninja, I think we would have been a couple of steps higher on the podium.

Bank of America Wilmington Grand Prix Report

2008-05-19T09:27:00.001-04:00

From Scott Zwizanski:

I raced today along with Joao and Sven, who was fresh off his last final exam on Thursday in Michigan. The race was in downtown Wilmington, DE, 56 laps of a 0.9-mile course. The race is just a 40min. drive from the town I grew up in, so I raced the Wilmington crit several times as an amateur. I was excited to come back home and race the grand prix now that it has NRC status.

The race was strung out and aggressive from the start. Wind was a big factor; it funneled between the buildings in a couple spots to add difficulty to the course. About 15 laps into the race I went on the attack and a break of about 5-7 riders formed. All the big teams there were represented. I was in there along with Colavita, Kelly Benefits, Battley Harley Davidson and Rite Aid. Within 4-5 laps the break quickly ballooned to about 14-riders, this move had the right combination to stay away the whole race. We held a 25-45 sec gap most of the race while Sven and Joao patrolled the chasing peleton.

With around 10 laps to I went on the attack again and slimmed the front group down to just 6-riders, Borrajo(Colavita), Veilleux(Kelly), Hamblen(Time Pro), Dewald and Fuentes(Harley). With all the teams, with multiple riders in the breakaway, represented in this 6-man group we gained time quickly and some cat and mouse began once we were under 5 laps to go. Lots of little attacks going off but no one wanted to let one guy go. With time running out, I started to think that we were going to go to a 6-up sprint. Borrajo, the fastest sprinter in the group, was a little winded from towing back 2-3 attacks in a row and I saw an opportunity with 1.5-laps to go to get away and I gave it one last shot. I attacked on the backstretch in the windiest section of the course and with the effort I was putting out I knew I was either going to win or get 6th place. It worked out and I soloed the final 1.5 laps to get my first NRC win.

Aaron's New Machine

2008-04-28T10:33:00.000-04:00

Aaron is trying out his newest machine...you won't find this in the wind tunnel...

2008 Sea Otter Circuit Race Report

2008-04-22T10:35:00.001-04:00

From Morgan Schmitt:

This is now my second year racing the Sea Otter Circuit race. After this year, I am beginning to wonder if the race is ever held under calm weather conditions. Last year torrential downpours flooded the track and delayed the race. This year 40 mph wind gusts blew race fencing and dust clouds in the paths of the racers.

BISSELL brought a smaller team compared to the full 8 rider squads of Kelly, Rock, Successful Living, and Colivita. In attendance for Team BISSELL were Graham, Burke, Joao and myself. The race was held on Laguna Seca Raceway and consisted of 31 two and a quarter mile laps with a total of 7000 ft of climbing.

The break went surprisingly early containing Grabinger, Jensen, White from Successful Living and Clinger from Rock Racing. Many of the riders did not know there was a break up the road until we started hearing time gaps of two minutes. Halfway through the race a split occurred, containing around 25 riders. I was the only BISSELL rider who made the split. Right away the four Colivita riders in the split started chasing hard but were unable to take time out of the four-man break. After this no one else chased and there was very little action from the split until one lap to go. Coming through the start/finish on the final lap two riders successfully attacked up the right while I was boxed in on the left. At the base of the hill the reining champion Daniel Ramsey from Time Pro Cycling attacked. No one went with him until I bridge a gap to get on his wheel. The two of us had a gap until the top of the climb when the group clawed their way back onto my wheel. The counter attack came on the descent from the Healthnet rider John Murphy. Murphy then managed to bridge up to the two riders racing for 5th. Our last half lap was filled with attacks none of which stayed away. Our group then came down to a sprint that Colivita's Alejandro Borrajo won. I finished 16th, Joao 28th, and Graham 44th,

The team has the form, we just need some better luck. Expect big results at Tour of Gila. Until then…

-Morgan

Brad Lewis Memorial Criterium Report

2008-04-22T10:32:00.001-04:00

Photo courtesy of wheelsinfocus.com

From Morgan Schmitt:

Sunday, the 13th, I scored my first local win of the season at the Brad Lewis Memorial Criterium in Seattle. This race is one of the major criteriums in Washington that all the local racers and sprinters want to win. The course is a relatively flat three corner course that is less than 1k in length. It was against all odds for me to win, as flat crits are among my biggest weaknesses.

Shortly before the start, rain began to fall. It is in conditions like these where I rely on my cyclocross background to maintain traction in the corners. The first couple of laps I noticed I was ridding through the wet corners better than any one. I was opening a gap on the field coming out of every corner, and early in the race I went on a solo breakaway that lasted 10 minutes before I rejoined the group. The last 20 laps a break finally went away with me and three other riders. Our break worked well together, keeping our distance from the pack. With 2 laps to go, our group started attacking each other. I made the last attack, which strung out the group and I was able to hit the finish line first!

Winning this race tells me I have pretty good form. I can't wait to see what the racing holds in the next couple of weeks.

-Morgan

Graham Howard Wins the Tokyo Joe's Spring Crit!

2008-04-16T09:55:00.001-04:00

From Graham Howard:

This past Sunday Garrett and I attended the Tokyo Joe's Spring Criterium held near Golden Colorado. The course was a simple 1k loop with half the course being slightly uphill and the other half slightly downhill. Garrett and I were active early and about 15 minutes into the 75 minute race were both off in a group of about ten others, including Frank Pipp of Health Net, Henk Vogels of Toyota United as well as riders from Vitamin Cottage, Slipstream and Team Type 1. The break stayed out all day, but was never very clear of the field. Attacks started to go from within the break with about five laps left in the race. Slipstream had numbers and they did the bulk of the chasing. Inside the last lap the break was all back together just dangling in front of the field, and as everyone let up to set up for the sprint, I took off. I came around the last corner knowing it would be close and just held off Vogels and Pipp at the line. Ohhhhhhhhh it feels good to win. I'm off to Seaotter this coming weekend with Joao, Burke and Morgan as the rest of the team heads to Georgia. Hopefully we can keep the momentum rolling.

School Talk

2008-04-09T11:44:00.000-04:00

From Teddy King:

Pretty poor picture but it documents that we were in fact there!

Jeremy, Tom, and I talked everything bikes to a few hundred 3rd and 4th graders this morning. Tom was worried that they jump him in the playground so he wisely wore his helmet all day.

Santa Cruz Classic Crit

2008-04-07T16:24:00.001-04:00

From Scott Zwizanski:

Raced solo again today. About 75 riders lined up for 50 laps of a hard circuit with a little climb every lap that was made extra hard because of a big headwind. Several breakaways happened throughout the race, but none got further than about 15-20 seconds up the road. I got into a breakaway of 9 riders with about 12 laps to go that finally got a big gap. There was lots of attacking out of this group but nothing getting away until i launched an attack at the 5-lap to go mark. Finally everyone was out of gas and no one wanted to chase, so i was gone. I started catching groups of lapped riders with 2 laps to go. And i held on to win solo. It was cool crit course, super hard. And the course has been used since 1970, so it has some history too.

Also, here is the newspaper article:
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/sports/ci_8837205

Jeremy's First American Race Experience

2008-04-07T16:20:00.002-04:00

From Jeremy Vennell:

San Dimas was the first race in America with my new American team, Bissell. Having ridden in just about every other country that holds bike races, I thought at least I should be able to adapt to the scene in America without too much trouble. I was told all the inside information on the way American’s race - what to expect, what to do, and what not to do. I started my first race with a fare idea of what was going to happen.

Still, I had some nervous feelings in my stomach. Just how much of what I had been told was true? If it was all accurate, I was actually about to start one of the most dangerous races of my carreer. So I was a little relieved to find out that, for the most part, the race was what I would normally get, anywhere.

It was a highly strung race, especially the Circuit race. The criterium was like watching a hedgehog playing with a balloon. The riders just got faster and faster around the circuit until Bang, down they went!

I guess Americans show their commitment by putting it all on the line.

With many friends I haven’t seen for a long time, the same old friends, and adding new ones every day, I am finding American racing to be the friendlest place to ride.

I am looking forward to more racing and more fun times. Who knows, I might just become a little American (without the accent I hope!)

Martinez Bay Front Classic Criterium

2008-04-07T16:15:00.001-04:00

From Scott Zwizanski:

The two teams with a lot of decent riders in this race were Rock and Cal Giant. Cover a ton of moves that got nowhere in the first half of the race. With 30minutes left to race i bridged to a group of 3 riders, one Rock, Cal Giant and a BPG guy. We had a good gap and everyone was working, this was the move. Much to my disappointment, i look back and Rasaan Bahati is bridging and he makes it. So now we have five guys and 2 are Rock and Rasaan will win a sprint. I assume they are all sprinters and i start trying to get away. It doesnt work and then i get worked on the last lap. Jeramiah Wiscovich from rock gets away solo with a half lap to go, cal giant second, bahati 3rd, me 4th. Ugh.

The Bright Side

2008-04-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

From Tom Zirbel:

What's the best part about crashing during an early spring local race???

It's usually cold enough that you're wearing lots of clothing (ie. protection) if you eat pavement.

So yeah, my crash-less streak (369 days for those of you counting) came to an end on Sat. during a local business park crit. I clipped a pedal going around a round-about because I was sick of the Pippster gapping me off every corner we went through. Kinda backfired.

Little road rash, little collarbone scare but turned out fine, considering. And I clotted!!! Yay!

Casualties included bib shorts, jersey, left glove, left knee warmer, and right arm warmer - not to mention scrapes on shoes, left pedal (duh), skewers and shifters. Sorry Mr. Olson. Pretty sure I was going to win that race, too. Hadn't decided how I was going to beat Frank Pipp, Pete Lopinto, Henk Vogels, and a few others to the line but I still had 6 miles to figure that out. I'm pretty sure it wasn't going to be by out-sprinting them though. :) I decided to jump back on my steed on Sun. for another business park crit in boulder. It was just your run-of-the-mill local crit with 7 Toyota Uniteds, 2 Health Nets, 2 Slipstreams, 2 Team Type 1's, 2 THF Realty, a Jelly Belly, a slew of super strong amateurs....and don't forget the 2 Bissell riders! (Garrett and I)

A little aside: not only was Toyota fielding an entire team with 2 team directors at this local college crit, they were also radioed up. I guess they really wanted that $200 first place prize. Sounds like someone is bitter... As you could probably guess, I didn't do all that well in this
one either. My main objective was to make it really hard and get a good workout by attacking at every opportunity - which I did to my own peril. After my 3rd attack got reeled in, the break that stuck countered and I wasn't able to follow. A few minutes later my 5 or 6th attack resulted in a gap over the field along with Ben Day.

We were making ground on the lead 5 (which he had 3 teammates in) when he attacked me after a pull into the wind and I had no response. I was little irked at this (mostly at myself for getting dropped) so I let the field catch me and made it my mission to help pull back the break so Garrett could contend for the sprint win. I rotated on the front with 3 other dudes for a few laps until it got to 4 laps to go. I then put in a really hard lap on the front, pulled the break to within 8s or so, and looked back to pull off and had 3 Toyota guys right behind me just smiling. It was clearly on me to bring it back at that point so I went all out for another lap but I made no dent in the advantage and so when I pulled off w/ 1 to go, the field was left to contend for 6th. Grrrr. I was really irritated w/ myself for a) getting dropped by Day during our bridge attempt, and b) not being able to pull back the break. BUT, looking at the bright side - I felt really strong again, I got a really good workout in, I'm not going to race w/ reckless abandon (r.e. like an idiot) in our team races coming up, and Toyota is not going to have a numbers advantage on us at the big races. Oh, and it's a LOCAL MARCH CRIT.

Oregon Race

2008-04-01T13:23:00.001-04:00

From Omer Kem:

Hey all. I won a race in Oregon! Here is how it unfolded. Oregon has a spring series of races called the Banana Belt. It is basically 3 races over consecutive weekends that get longer every time. Graham and I made the trip from my home for the 3rd race which is also part of the season long Oregon Cup.

The race with the typical cast of Oregon characters. Pros from Jittery Joes, Rock Racing and Jelly Belly were in attendance and when combined with the locals and some pro mtn bikers, it was a tough field. A break went early and rode about 1 minute off the front for 3 of the 7 laps. A big effort by Graham set me up to bridge with 3 laps to go. After riding for a lap with the original break away, I thought it would be best to whittle things down. I attacked on the main climb of the race on the next 2 laps and dropped everyone except a super tough pro mtb racer. Luckily for me, his sprint was slower than mine.

All in all it was a fun day and great way to introduce the local Oregon scene to the Bissell Pro Cycling Team. Thanks for reading....Omer Kem

Hanford Criterium Race Report

2008-04-01T13:16:00.001-04:00

From Ben Jacques-Maynes:

I participated in the hanford crit this last weekend, a local figure eight course that served as a last tune up for the opening NRC races next week.

The start was fast and I immediately made a break with my brother Andy, his teammate and defending champion ken Hanson, and symetrics strongman svein tuft. We rolled hard for about 45 minutes and when the late race attacks opened up we caught the third group with 2 laps to go. With 2 giant strawberry riders we were hard pressed to overcome their combined efforts, and a few heroes from the lapord group also confused things. In the end I battled through lapped traffic and came just short at the line for a second place finish.

New Blog from Benno

2008-03-14T16:36:00.000-04:00

Our own team mechanic, Ben "Benno" Oliver, has started a new blog to answer your questions. Does your bike make strange noises? Does it shift when you don’t want it to and not shift when you do? Is it filthy? Do you feel uncomfortable when you sit on it? When you push down on the pedals does it not give you a commensurate amount of forward momentum? These are all problems he can solve for you.

Check out the blog here, and leave a comment with your questions. Don't be shy!

Back to the Root

2008-03-10T10:32:00.001-04:00

From Tom Zirbel:

So I raced locally this past Saturday. And it was my forte: a nice and long (23k), windy, rolling TT. The last TT I did was up against some of the best in the world and I fared pretty well. I was 20s or so from the current World Champion in the discipline and Ben and I were the top domestic pros. And even though the Boulder area is filled to the brim with pros, I was the only pro to show up for this TT. I’ve got this one in the bag, right? Nope.

Let’s start from the beginning: I wake up early Sat. morning (at the crack of 7a!) so that I have time to eat, pack the Tercel, drive to Ft. Collins (consume coffee along the way), park at my friend’s place, use her facilities, ride to the race start (approx. 25 mi away), sign waivers, pin #s, do some openers, yada, yada, and still have a little time to chat or whatnot. Good plan, eh? Just like in years past, I think to myself. Going solo. It wasn’t so long ago, I think. Stuffing bikes and gear into my compact car and heading off to the next big race. Every bike racer knows what I’m talking about, it’s just that pros sometimes forget (or want to). The days when you drove yourself to races, you filled your bottles and pockets w/ the race food that you bought, you raced on the bike that you paid for, cleaned, and maintained. For the aspiring pro this is called The Starving Cat. 1 Racer Sydrome. Because of all the time and energy it takes to train properly for this sport, an aspiring pro will usually not be able to hold a ‘real’ job while trying to make the jump to the pro ranks. And what little money the cat. 1 does earn will go to replacement parts, race food, gas money, entry fees, etc. The remainder goes toward various flavors of Ramen and generic mac&cheese.

So as I start off on my warmup from Ft. Collins to race start, I’m about 10 min. behind schedule. Talked a little too long w/ Jen, I think to myself. Ah, good thing I budgeted extra time! I’m feeling very self-sufficient at this point. Then I turn north. Holy cow, it’s windy!! Hmmm, I’m definitely too stubborn to turn around and drive to the start, but on the other hand, 20 of the 25 miles that I have to ride will be into this 30mi/hr headwind. Grrr. Better go harder. So I’m slogging away, “warming up” which is more accurately “starting my workout” so that I’m not late for my start time when my crank arm starts to come loose. Crap! I don’t carry an 8mm allen key w/ me! Dang it Steve-O! You’re going to make me miss my start because YOU didn’t tighten my……oh wait. I guess I was the one who tightened that bolt after taking off the cranks to fly back to Denver w/ my bike. Ugh. Guess I have to blame myself. So I find the nearest farm house (I’m way out in the country by now) and come upon a man who is working on his bike (though his is of the motorized variety) and after much digging and beard scratching, he finds the tool I seek and I’m pretty sure that that was the first and only time his 8mm allen key will be used. I thank him and am on my way again after only 6.5 minutes. Ooh boy. Better give it some stick now if I want to make that start time. More headwind. I’m not going to lie to you, I can think of a few occasions where my morale and motivation has been higher. Driving me now is pride. I don’t want to miss my start, and I sure as heck am not going to scrap this race and turn back now. Ah finally, the registration tent! O.k., I check my start time – 11:19a. I check the official race time – 11:14. Hmmm. “Ahem, sorry to be rude, but I have 5 min. to get to the start house, do you suppose I could cut in line?” Yep, I was that guy. “Whoa. You better get going! Here, I’ll pin your number.” Thanks, I respond. Kinda feeling like a tool here. She finishes pinning my number and I turn to shake her hand and thank her. She looks very familiar so I ask her name. “Georgia”. Oh. Georgia Gould. The woman who has been ripping legs off in the mountain bike scene. No time for small talk, must get to start ramp. I roll up to the line, “Are you #81?” Yup. “Heck, you have 43s to spare. Why’d you get here so early?” Sarcasm. If he only knew. Honestly, at this point I’m just happy to be here on time. Ok, time to race. 7mi south w/ massive tailwind, flip it, and finish w/ 7 miles of pure fun. I didn’t catch a rider until about 8mi into the race yet I caught my minute man at the ToC TT about 6mi in. Bad sign. Don’t think, just go hard, I tell myself. As I finish that interminable last 7 mi, I am struggling to keep breakfast down while getting oxygen to all my screaming muscles. I’m a wreck. I’m always a wreck after a TT but I never get used to it. My minute man, whom is a strong TTer and whom I didn’t catch, tries to carry a conversation w/ me minutes after my finish. He’s going on about average speeds and whether I closed on him and all I can think about is extracting this giant loogey that is starting to block my breathing passage. I don’t care who won or how fast I went on the way out – just let me breathe! I’m starting to return to the living now and he goes on to tell me that he’s basically retired from racing but had been training a bit and decided he’d give this TT a try. He also tells me he’s working more and spending more time with his kids. Huh. Me who gets paid to ride my bike and more specifically to win TTs, didn’t catch this dad who has a full time job and “retired” from racing last year. I don’t dwell on this line of thinking. I’m in a good mood now. My legs are no longer filled w/ acid and my breathing rate is fairly normal, and you know what the best part is? I get a tailwind back to my car! This racing business is pretty cool. And man does this little episode help me appreciate Steve-O, Kaycee, Glen, Mark and everyone else who helps me do everything except pedal at the races. I’ve got it good.

Epilogue: I finished 3rd on the day. My minute man, Kevin Nichol, won the race in convincing fashion. However, top 3 in each category get medals mailed to them. I’m going to be checking the mail with enthusiasm every day until I receive that hard-earned medal.

Results can be found at: http://americancyc.web152.discountasp.net/Results/FrostBiteTT.htm

Downtown Greenville Cycling Classic: Results

2008-03-10T10:21:00.001-04:00

From Teddy King:

I won my race today! Sure it was only a training series race, but these southerners take their racing seriously. Same as last weekend, it's put on by Hincapie Sports and it's the most legit training series race I've ever seen; there's decent prize money, a whole slew of local pros showed up, and there were about 75 people in our pro/1/2 field. Plus I won it in fairly impressive fashion. I wasn't planning on doing anything until about half way into the race, so that people would have cooked themselves early and I'd still have some gas in the tank. But following wheels, I ended up in a breakaway of 4 strong guys half way into the first of 10 laps. So we rotated strongly for the remainder of the race and held our chasers at bay. It finished up a 2-ish minute climb that we saw every lap. I just out powered people for the win. Booya. Like I said, training series or not, it's pretty legit. And in my book, a win's a win.

http://www.teamhincapie.com/results3.php

Teddy's Race Report

2008-03-04T17:32:00.001-05:00

It's funny to start the season with the Tour of California, because everything afterwards seems, well… smaller. Everything about ToC is just so darn BIG, that it seems to leave everything else dwarfed in its wake. Furthermore, it occurs so early in the season, that when I returned home in late February, most of the country's local races are training series. Thankfully for me, here in the southeast the local training series is put on by Hincapie Sports, which runs a very tight ship. I was thrilled as I was driving towards the start and see well organized "BIKE RACE" direction signs, a peloton leading police car, and an official on a motorcycle. Clearly this is a very well organized event. Moreover, the local training series draws the co-namesake of Hincapie Sports, George Hincapie. It's definitely not every day that your hometown weekend race draws ProTour riders, but this Saturday happened to be that day.

I must admit that I was pretty psyched when George approached me in the race and congratulated me on a good ride from Seaside to San Luis Obispo (110 miles in a freezing wet breakaway with George). I'll also admit with my tail between my legs that he clearly rode better than I did on that particular stage of ToC. He finished 2nd while I popped at the end of the race and, shiveringly cold, was content crossing the line in fourth-to-last-place. We chatted a bit, which was fun. He wasn't going to race Sunday and instead was opting for Paris-Nice over another training series race. Whatever..

Saturday's race was 75 miles over six rolling circuits. While some teams lined up with a dozen riders, I was BISSELL's lone representative. With the yellow line rule in effect, it was easy for three of the biggest teams' riders escape up the road, and then have those teams post three or four riders on the front and block. Ugggh… negative racing at its finest. After that breakaway was established, I proceeded to attack as much as I could and hopefully draw a chase group, but I was continually marked. With about half of the race remaining, it was clear George wanted some good training so he sat on the front of the peloton and dragged us along at 25mph for about 20 minutes. After recovering from my repeated attacks, I pedaled up to George and put in a high-tempo effort on the front as well. Mind you, at this point, I figure the race is basically over with those three well up the road. However, the gap was dwindling down to the point that the three escapees were within sight with one lap to go. With some more fine work by George, the Time Factory Team, and me, we reeled back the break, and had the race come down to a sprint. George led it out for about a mile, then Thad Dulin of the Jack Kane pro team went. I jumped on his wheel, drafted a bit, pulled out to pass, but was halted by a ferocious headwind, and was content to finish 2nd. Awesome training all day. Pretty good result. Talked to George. Fun day.

Sunday was 56 miles over the course of seven windy and exposed laps. After an onslaught of attacks by yours truly and lots of the other more populous teams, there was finally a successful breakaway with two laps remaining. It was fun for me because of the five breakaway riders, three are New Englanders: Dan Vallaincourt (Toshiba), Adam Hodges-Myerson (Time Factory), and me. Thad Dulin and a rider from the Hincapie team were the other two guys. With one lap to go, there were various attacks, chases, counter attacks, and the like. I countered an attack, was caught, and then was countered by Thad. I chased for a while with Adam until I decided to go it alone in the pursuit. Unfortunately Thad had the mustard in his legs to stay away and win by about 5 seconds. Once again, I settled for 2nd place and some great training.

-Teddy King

Ben's Merco Race Report

2008-03-04T09:16:00.001-05:00

The Merco Credit Union Downtown Grand Prix was held March 1st in downtown Merced, CA. Traditionally the season opener for the domestic racing season, the 2008 edition did not disappoint with fast racing action for the full 90 minutes.

The attacks started with the gun and within 10 minutes a break of 11 had established itself. Representing BISSELL Pro Cycling was Richard England and myself, Ben Jacques-Maynes. Also present were Cam Evans, Canadian road race champion; Chris Horner of the Astana team; Kayle LeoGrande of Rock Racing; Daniel Holloway, US Elite Crit champ; two racers from Colavita and a smattering of strong amateur racers.

This group quickly grew a gap and the pace was solid, though a few games were played concerning $100 primes. With 18 laps to go in the race, a few riders said "enough is enough" and attacked the group as the cohesion fell apart. A new group of three were left to fight for the win, containing Chris Horner, myself and Alejandro Borrajo of Colavita. Borrajo was the strongest in a sprint, and you could not underestimate Horner for a last lap attack.

it was not to be, as with 7 laps to go, the tail end of the pack was within sight. I was not interested in lapping the field, as a three up sprint seemed to be my best choice. Horner had other ideas, and personally rode the pack down, making contact with 2 laps to go. From that point on it was all about making up ground through a battling pack, keeping two other guys within sight as swarms of riders thought of personal glory.

With half a lap to go, two tired racers crashed into each other in a particularly tight spot on the course, taking me straight to the barriers and heaping more riders on top of me. I emerged unhurt, but my race ended in an uncharismatic heap, and I rolled across the line escorted by my teammates. The finish was completely anticlimactic as I was looking forward to trying my strength down the finishing straight, where Borrajo beat Horner to the line for the win.

-Ben Jacques-Maynes

Aaron's Merco Race Report

2008-03-04T09:03:00.001-05:00

Team BISSELL rode great in the RR on Sunday in Merced.

Although we didn't come home with the win, it wasn't for lack of effort.

I thought with most guys a bit tired and still under the weather from ToC we had a good showing and rode really well as a team. We covered attacks all day until about 25 of us went clear halfway into the race. We were fortunate to have 3 riders from BISSELL: Morgan, BJM and myself all made the group.

Attacks started with 2 laps to go which was still 50 miles to go.

Half of the guys were working, the other half looking for a free ride.

Ben Jacques-Maynes decided to try and split the 25 man group into a more select group, so we started to counter each other and slowly got the group down to 10 by the finish.

Eric Wohlberg rode away with one lap to go, hats off to him for a great ride!

I managed to get into a group on the final lap with 4 guys behind Wohlberg, we were caught by a remaining group with Ben and Morgan with half a lap to go and then started the attacks again.

The group split into the final 10 of us and with 3km to go split into two groups of 5, Ben in the front group and myself in the second group of 5 about 10 seconds behind.

With 500meters to go, our group caught the first group.

Ben jumped on my wheel and I was able to take him to about 250 meters to go where he took the group sprint for 2nd.

We ended up with 2 guys in the top 10 and Morgan showed he has lots of talent today. It was good to see.

-Aaron Olson

Ben and Son

2008-02-24T09:55:00.001-05:00

Ben warming up for the time trial with his son, Chase.

Photo by Michael Darter

Adorable Legs!

2008-02-24T09:47:00.001-05:00

The "adorable" legs that carried Teddy through hell and high water!

Photo by Michael Darter

The Adoring Teddy King Fan Club

2008-02-22T09:19:00.001-05:00

From Teddy King...

This is from Cyclingnews.com live report. I had some friends who were keeping tabs on me today tell me that I'm very well adored.

14:42 PST
We've got a break of three in the "Most Loved Rider" classification. Teddy (Edward) King, Roman Kilun and Dominique Rollin are all quite popular today. More popular than Gorgeous George Hincapie? We haven't gotten a single "Go George" yet today!

15:12 PST
The riders have been suffering with this massive headwind all day, and they're about 45 minutes behind the slowest schedule at the moment. It's a miserable day for all of us, but we're trying to make it fun with silly contests. George Hincapie surged ahead in the most loved, but Teddy King is giving him strong competition.

15:43 PST
So far, according to the officials, King, Rollin, Hincapie and Kilun are still in the break - all our most loved riders.

(...and I don't know how they know I have an affinity for cooking, but...)

16:47 PST
Maybe the boys are trading recipes. We're sure that Teddy King has shared his banana bread recipe with the Bissell boys, so perhaps they're sharing with this with the Euro riders.

Byebye,
tk

Camping

2008-02-11T13:22:00.000-05:00

Training Camp is always fun because it makes you feel like a little kid again. I think all of the riders can attest but won’t admit that it seems like Christmas for “big kids” because of all the new clothing and equipment. This year each of the riders were welcomed with a large duffel bag that I call a “body bag”, full of the very good looking Giordana and Merrell clothing. With all of the diversity in the types of race clothing, I think I wear a different outfit for every temperature degree change. I may also never have to do laundry again. Just kidding.

The new Prince bike rides and looks amazing. I thought it would be hard to improve on the Paris from last year, but Pinarello seemed to do it again this year. I almost don’t want to train on the new bike back in the bad weather in Seattle.

It’s impressive how well the team and staff get along. I have heard and would be willing to believe our team has one of the best team atmospheres in the domestic peloton. Everyone who is part of the team is very approachable and willing to answer questions that younger riders like myself often have. I can’t wait to see the results that our team unity will bring this racing season.

My 10 days spent at training camp in Santa Rosa were great. There’s nothing like training in a good place amongst great people. After witnessing all the great new things, it is evident that Team BISSELL will take it to the next level this year.

-Morgan Schmitt

This Thing Sucks

2008-01-30T12:46:00.001-05:00

…sucks dirt, that is. And various other pieces of sand, hair, grime, and home dander.

Yup, I got me a brand spankin’ new vacuum cleaner thanks to the fine people at Bissell! Truly, she’s a thing of beauty with unparalleled sucking power, a sleek comfortable ergonimical handle, a very stylish light blue color scheme accented with shades of gray, plus much more.

What really blows me away is how it compares to the previous Bissell that I found and adopted from my Grandmother’s house and took with me to Asheville. That previous model - probably about a decade old - got the job done just fine, but pales in comparison to the current Healthy Home Vacuum. Basically, it looks like they took the previous model, gave it a gym membership, and told it to get massive. It also has characteristics that make it look like the Terminator - kind of muscular and robotic looking. For in-home safety reasons, it obviously runs on electricity… but can you tell it really wants to be a diesel.

Here they are head to head:

The new one’s on the right. It’s easy to pick out between the two, being that it’s taller, wider, has smoother lines, and some wicked features, like the TurboBrush, Multi-Cyclonic System, a Telescoping Crevice Tool, and the Microban Anti-Microbial Protection. Sweet!

Check out the rims on this beast. They’re sixes, yo! Makes the older model’s threes look just plain sad. I definitely like the wheels a lot, but I might take it to the shop and put some spinners on for extra bling.

No comparison shot of both vacuums here, but that’s a 15 inch wide sucking path. Really gives you a sense of power. I’ve never driven a bulldozer, but I imagine it’s the same sort of feeling.

It arrived the day after I’d used the older model to clean the apartment. I could hardly contain my excitement and had to immediately take the new one out for a whirl. What’s crazy is that I took an already clean apartment, and was still able to yank two inches of dirt out of the rug. No lie.

-Ted King

Indoor Training

2008-01-15T12:50:00.000-05:00

Well, due to the specific nature of the region I live., ie we get lots of snow and whatnot, well, I've been spending quite a bit of time on the indoor trainer.

Surprisingly, I've been able to surpass my fitness level of past winter's where I spent more time on the actual pavement.

Specifically, I've taken the "quality vs. quantity approach" and have been focusing on addressing each training zone rather than limiting myself as in years past to the much heralded "base" approach.

The only drawback I can see at this point is that I'm carrying around a little more weight in the ol' mid-section due to overall reduction in energy expenditure that you achieve riding for shorter durations inside.

Looks like I've got some dieting to do in the next month.

-Burke Swindlehurst

SSPSTYNBLTIM

2008-01-15T12:48:00.000-05:00

With all the talk of illegal substances in the sport, it's wise be wise to avoid speaking of LSD in this first sentence. Thankfully, in this instance, LSD refers to Long Slow Distance rather than lysergic acid diethylamide. Duh.

This time of year is definitely chalk full of these sorts of rides. It's typical to be on your bike for a third of your waking hours! In fact, I just finished a week of training where my shortest ride was four hours, and the week's total was just shy of 30! LSD is a slight misnomer though. "Long" and "Distance" are fairly accurate, but "Slow" isn't necessary the exact truth. Now don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not going out and trying to crush it with tons of sprints, TTs, huge power outputs, hill climbs, and the like. When the weather is cool and the race season is bobbing just out there on the horizon ( i.e. now), I simply like to find a strong, steady pace that I can maintain for a whole bunch of hours, yet still know that I'm pretty darn worked when I pedal into my driveway. If slow were the operative word, I'd be leaving too much in the tank and not making enough gains for my base. For me and the majority of other riders out there, this time of year is all about boosting our base endurance. With a race season that kicks off in full force with the Tour of California in mid-February and runs through September or even October, it's vital to get in this base training so that we're not burnt like toast in May.

In fact, that's maybe what it should be called. Steady Strong Pace So That You're Not Burnt Like Toast In May… or that well known acronym: SSPSTYNBLTIM

-Teddy King

Family Heirloom

2008-01-15T12:42:00.000-05:00

I was unaware of my family’s long history with BISSELL until a recent trip to my Grandmother’s house. While I was visiting, I relayed to my Grandmother how excited I was to be racing for my new team, BISSELL. After several hours of explaining my excitement, my Grandmother told me to wait where I was…I did…On her return, she presented me with one of my family’s most prized heirlooms. Now, I am a proud owner of a (not sure what year?) BISSELL product. Check it out.

-Burke Swindlehurst

Ode to Benno

2007-10-04T08:24:00.000-04:00

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

From Garrett Peltonen

2007-09-25T08:53:00.000-04:00

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

2007-09-25T08:50:00.000-04:00

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

2007-09-25T08:45:00.000-04:00

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