Tour of White Rock 2008

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

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

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

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

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

2008 Sea Otter Circuit Race Report

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

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