6/3/2007 Hummer Hammer Criterium Mt. Joy, IA

1st Place: Andy Cornelison

Andy Cornelison went on the attack early at today’s criterium and for the first twelve laps he held the field at bay with just one other rider for company. Eventually the move was brought back and many counter attacks ensued. Andy road hard at the front keeping the breaks within reach and on the last lap he led coming out of the last corner. At this point Andy turned on the jets and won the race by multiple bike lengths. Hummer vehicles were the race sponsor and along with the winners check Andy was presented with a miniature model of a Hummer H2.

6/3/2007 Commerce Bank Lancaster Classic - Elite Race Lancaster, PA

5th Place: David Guttenplan
16th Place: Johnny Hayes

A full Sakonnet team of Gavi Epstein, David Guttenplan, Chris Kuhl, Guy East, Phil Gaimon and Johnny Hayes were present for the first elite amateur event of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown. It was a hard day for the field as thunderstorms and pouring rain blanked the course. At the front the Sakonnet riders had four men in an eleven man split and the team had the numbers. In the end it was the experience of two retired pro’s that undid the boys as they speed away from the break. In a slip and slide finish David Guttenplan was the team’s first finisher, the winner of the U23 jersey and Johnny Hayes also cracked the top 20.

6/2/2007 Big Creek Road Race Polk City, IA

2nd Place: Andy Cornelison

In Andy’s own words – Editor: "This was a flat loop around a state park. The race was very boring until the last two of ten laps when one strong rider attacked. I looked to the other teams to chase and they tried but couldn't get it done so I had to help. We brought him back on the crosswind section and I instantly guttered it to get rid of him for good. I dropped all but three and thought I had it in the bag. But the Mercy team (which had two riders in my group) didn't want to pull. The other guy was waiting for his teammate who had just been dropped so I sat up as well. They caught us with 1k to go and a near crash put me at the back of our group of 6. The other strong sprinter in the group was second wheel and he jumped early so I waited for the riders on his wheel to jump. But they couldn't hold his wheel so I had to come around all of them. I was gaining on him fast and we threw our bikes at the line and he beat me by a tire!"

6/2/2007 New Jersey State Road Race Championships South Jersey, NJ

5th Place: Gavi Epstein

A hot flat 98 miles awaited the peleton in today’s NJ State Championship RR. Gavi Epstein was looking for the NJ State title and the much coveted Cat 1 upgrade points. During the race Gavi bridged to the final move of the day and had the win at his grasp but in the end it was the team work of a local New Jersey team that did him in. Soloing with a mile to go was the winning move but in the end Gavi was swarmed by the sprinting remainder of the breakaway.

5/27/2007 Gilbert Road Race Gilbert, IA

3rd Place: Andy Cornelison

In a near identical race as the day before the race was calm in the opening laps. The wind was strong and it cut the field reducing the first group to six riders. A local Midwestern team and the numbers in the six man group and Andy was forced to lead out the sprint. In the end he had a great result after opening it up early.

5/17-20/2007 Tri Peaks Challenge Russellville, AK

12th - Overall G.C: Phil Gaimon
11th - Stage 1: Phil Gaimon
18th - Stage 2: Guy East
19th - Stage 4: Guy East
13th - Stage 5: Phil Gaimon

A small 3 man team comprised of Phil Gaimon, Guy East and David Guttenplan ventured into Arkansas for the Tri-Peaks Challenge (NRC). Racing together the team was able to out ride some of the big names in U.S. Cycling. Below you’ll find a recap of each stage from Phil Gaimon.

Stage 1: Magazine Road Race
Today’s plan was for Guy and I to cover the dangerous break. I was just getting over a stomach bug that kept me out of Collegiate Nationals and I was starting to feel good. I held back for most of the day watching the Pro teams sit on the early moves which tired out all the attack-hungry amateurs and locals. Guy had been off the front in a group and after he came back the band snapped. I then followed a 18-man move with all the big guns: Baldwin & England (Toyota United), O’Bee, Menzies, Pipp (all HealthNet), Bajadali & Cody (Jelly Belly) among others. I didn’t recognize everyone, so I pulled through for a while thinking I could hold the pace. I started sitting on when Baldwin lit it up on a steep hill and sent 5 or 6 guys back to the field. The break went hard up the climb and I got popped a little after Justin England did. He got motorpaced up to me and we worked together to the finish. I ended up 11th on the stage and overall. Guy stayed with the lead group 4 minutes back and David took it easy as he was recovering from the same bug I had. Aaron Tuckerman won the stage.

Stage 2: Epic Road Race
As Healthnet, Jelly Belly, and Toyota had riders high on the GC and confidence that they could drop Tuckerman, this stage was destined for a field sprint. HealthNet chased a break all day and set a hard tempo leading to the hard uphill finish. Guy fought his way to the front and pulled out a top 20 (17 or 18) for the stage. The field blew up and I lost a few seconds.

Stage 3: Arkansas Tech Criterium
David did his best to help me today and he kept me as close to the front as possible on a super fast day. He definitely got me in better position than I could have managed by myself and I was only a few spots too far back when the decisive split of about 30 occurred with 10 laps to go. I sprinted around a few guys and dangled off the back of the leaders, but they never slowed enough for me to get back on. I settled in with the 2nd group of 40, where David drove it hard to minimize the time gaps. Guy wasn’t feeling it either and pulled out after missing the split, but it wasn’t all bad news as I ended up only losing about a minute and a half, still good for 13th overall.

Stage 4: TRS Time Trial
They seeded the time trial based on the GC before the crit, so I got to chase Peter Fairbanks, a rider I knew from collegiate racing who was now actually beating me on the GC due to a strong crit finish. I caught him halfway through and put myself within 30 seconds of 12th place overall, riding a satisfying 26th to complement Guy’s 2nd impressive top 20 finish in as many days.

Stage 5: NEBO Road Race
The final stage was similar to stage 2, as the Pro teams were happy to let their GC riders battle it out on the 18% slopes. David took care of me of all day, riding in the wind, moving me up, making sure I was up front, and never letting me out of his sight (or even off his wheel). Guy made the early break, but HealthNet kept a tight leash on it and started chasing hard as soon as the gap reached a minute. Leading up to the climb, some fighting for position led to a big crash that almost put me on the pavement and led to a pit wheel and chainring-shaped gash for Guy. As a full-on leadout progressed for the GC guys starting the climb, I didn’t expect to see Scooby Doo again (that’s Guy), but 2 miles before the climb, with blood dripping down his arm, Guy got David on his wheel and towed me up to the top 20. David threw down hard to keep me there, and I think I hit the base of the climb at about 35 mph. That didn’t last long, as some riders sat up while others fought to keep with the leaders. I kept them in my sight most of the way up, and watched the drama as Menzies pulled the parachute and blew backwards off of the podium, and Tuckerman finally cracked out of 2nd place. Bajadali dropped Baldwin, who collapsed over the finish line. I felt awesome and kept a decent pace the whole way up, and was able to climb with Ivan Stevic and nip him at the line for 13th.

Race Recap:
Thanks to the team’s positioning work, I put tons of time on my collegiate rival, and took his 12 place spot on the GC. David had a great climb himself given the work he did, ending up 37th on the stage, and Guy limped his way across the line well within the time cut (unlike most of the other riders who had crashed) and got patched up at the medical tent. Overall, Sakonnet made all the major breaks, had someone in the top 20 or better on 4 out of 5 stages, showed some awesome teamwork, and held our own against the Pro teams.