This is the first of our monthly newsletters. Its goal is to keep friends, family, and sponsors up to date with what the team is doing as we strive to be one of the top teams in New England. These newsletters will be e-mailed out but they can also be found on our web site: www.dkcycling.com

I have taken the liberty of writing this first one, but in the coming months you will hear from all members of the team. Thanks to all our sponsors who made this team possible. It has been a great ride so far!

Andrew Knight
Team Director, Louis Garneau Racing

Team Members Update

The season got off to a tough start with Josh Dillon breaking his ankle in a skiing accident. The team will miss Josh for the first half of the season, but we hope for a strong return by mid season.

We have added a new member to the team! Local UVM speedster, Dan Cassidy, will join Damon and Bill on the development team. Dan has had a great season so far racing with UVM. Rumor has it that a cat 2 upgrade will be in the near future for Dan.

Damon graduated from St. Michaels last weekend and has returned home to Massachusetts to work at his local bike shop.

Mat has accepted a new job as an outside sales rep for SoverNet.

I have decided to leave Burton Snowboards and join Gardener's Supply as an E-Commerce Developer. I start at Gardener's on June 16th, until then I am looking forward to training hard!

Ride Reports

Marblehead / Adelphia Grand Prix
The “official” kick off to the season is the Palmer/Monson weekend, but Mat and I decided to do get our feet wet with a few races in April. Mat headed down to the Marblehead Circuit Race and although he missed the break, he turned in a strong sprint finish getting 25th.

The Adelphia Grand Prix was my first Pro/1/2 race. I was a little nervous, but Crystal calmed me down with a good line, “It’s just a group ride.” Mark McCormack from Saturn attacked right out of the parking lot and we never saw him again! I ended up finishing in the middle of the pack in 45th.

Palmer Library Road Race    photos | full results
The Palmer/Monson weekend is always seen as the start of the racing season in New England. Louis Garneau did an incredible job getting our clothing made up in time for this weekend. They had all of our clothing made in less than 5 weeks! Big thank you to the whole LG crew for making it happen. Unfortunately, the weather on Saturday morning was terrible: 50 degrees and pouring rain! Bill had a strong race in the 4’s and was in contention for the win, but in the final sprint for the line he got taken out by a crash. Luckily Bill and his brand new Serrota made it through ok with only a few scrapes and bruises.

In the Pro/1/2 race, Ian and I both missed the early break. Ian made some attacks to try to get a chase group off the front, but the peleton was rather lethargic given the conditions. With 6 miles to go, I attacked and was able to hold off the peleton to finish 19th just behind the breakaway. It was a tough 85 mile race in those conditions, but we both survived!

Monson Road Race    photos | full results
After Saturday’s terrible conditions, the sunshine on Sunday was a welcome change! Bill got the day off to a great start by powering up the hill to finish a strong 4th in the cat 4 race. He is already halfway to getting his cat 3 upgrade! Dan and Damon are looking forward to having Bill join them in the 3’s.

The Pro/1/2 race was fast and furious. I had the unfortunate luck of having a bottle pop out halfway through the race, which caused some bad cramping issues later on. Ian finished strong up the hill in 25th with me coming in a few places back in 28th.

Jiminy Peak Road Race    photos | full results
This race is a New England classic and always draws some very strong riders from all over the east coast. The Pro/1/2 race was stacked with top teams like Saturn, West Virginia, and Jelly Belly. After having a few races under my belt, my race strategy has started to get a little more aggressive as I gain confidence. This race suited my climbing abilities, so on lap 3 when I saw a group start to attack up the hill, I went with them. We were eventually caught on lap 4 but as the race came to a close I attacked up the final climb to finish a strong 20th. Ian also hung strong and finished 34th. Considering the amount of carnage (125 starters 72 finishers) we were both pleased with our performances.

In the 3’s race, Dan led a very impressive attack and was off the front for over 20 miles! The peleton ended up reeling him in but he was able to finish strong up the hill in 7th. Damon worked to block on the front and finished with the group.

Sterling Classic Road Race    photos | full results
The Sterling Road Race takes place on a hilly 8.5 mile circuit that the Pro/1/2 did 10 laps on. A lot of top riders were using this race as a warm up for the big Bear Mountain race on Sunday. My strategy for this race definitely changed from the “race conservative” approach that I have taken for most of the early season. In the first mile there were a number of attacks. By mile 3, I saw a good sized group gap the peleton and I decided this was the time to go on the offensive. I bridged up to the group of 12 riders and the breakaway was on! Ian and Mat saw me get in the break and did a good job of blocking on the front trying to prevent any kind of chase. It was a brutal race; I had to dig deeper than I thought possible to stay in the break, but we held off the peleton and I got 14th in a stacked field of pro's. You know you are racing against some good competition when Kevin Monahan (US Pro Champion, Team 7UP) comes along side you at mile 75 to join the break!

Lake Sunapee Road Race    photos | full results
Last year this race was snowed out! The weather turned out to be a little better, but it was a cool 38 degrees at the start. We were all glad to have our Louis Garneau Thermazone jackets on! The Pro/1/2/3 race was up first. We were to do 3 laps on a 23 mile hilly circuit. Dan decided to join Mat, Ian, and I in this race and it turned out to be a great decision! The race started off slow as a result of the cool temperatures, but at mile 15 on one of the hills I found myself near the front and quietly slipped away. What was so strange was this was not your classic “stand up and hammer” attack. I picked up the tempo a little and all of a sudden I had a gap on the field. I figured what the heck, let’s try and go with it. So I entered “Time Trial Mode,” got my heart rate up to 180 to see where it took me. I knew I still had a long way to go, so I had to be careful not to blow up. By mile 23, I was well off the front with the peleton out of sight. I continued to hammer, but by mile 30 I saw there was a chase group of 8 guys on its way to scoop me up. They made it up to me, and to my surprise, Dan was in the chase group! I thought to myself, “Wow that was a big move for a cat 3 to make in his first Pro/1/2/3 race!” With Ian and Mat blocking on the front and causing havoc at the front of the peleton we opened up a large gap on the field. By mile 60, we realized that the break was going to stick! Unfortunately, my legs were starting to cramp pretty badly. My 15 mile solo breakaway started to catch up with me. Dan on the other hand was doing well covering the attacks as we headed into the finish. I got dropped 3 times in the last 7 miles but was able to claw my way back on. As we turned the corner up the hill to the finish, Dan had the legs to go for it in the final sprint and took 6th with me coming in just behind him in 8th!

Other Notable News and Events:

North Williston Time Trial    full results
This past winter I decided to get serious about my time trials. Fitchburg’s time trial is so important to doing well overall that I decided to get a dedicated time trial setup: a Cervelo P3 with Zipp 909 wheels! After Ian from Fitwerx did a great job of setting me up and dialing in my aero positioning, I took the P3 out to the local Thursday night time trial.

To my surprise, it went really well! I broke the course record by 45 seconds and won by over a minute! I lowered the record to 22 minutes 34 seconds with an average speed of 27.62 MPH. I knew I was riding well and my form was coming around, but I did not think I was capable of those speeds this early in the season!