May 18, 2006 – Hey everyone, well I have a little bit more news for all of you. I know it’s been a while but I am now settled in the Quebec City area, near my team’s headquarters for the summer. We have a pretty good setup that allows Jamie Lamb, David Veilleux and I to train and race and live under the same roof for the summer. Not only has this been great for training it is showing in our results as well, with our team putting a guy on the podium every weekend since our Team announcement in April.

This past weekend was honestly the best team weekend I’ve seen in a long time. On Saturday we headed to Granby, Quebec for a 20km Individual Time Trial – having my brand new time trial bike I was anxious to see how the stealth machine would roll. I did not disappoint averaging 46.5 km/h and finished 2nd behind our 18-year-old phenom David. So 1-2 for Garneau Optik was a great result for this time trial.

As soon as the podium presentations were finished we hopped in the car for what was to be a long drive to our Sunday race at Bear Mountain, 35 miles north of New York city. We got in late (1am) and headed straight to bed with the echoes of our manager saying he hoped the trip was not going to be a waste, in my mind. To my surprise I awoke with great legs and decided that I had a game plan for the race. After a neutral 3km descent we switched back and began the long climb of the day. I took a risk attacking at the start of the climg and quickly found myself in a group with two Americans, and my teammate Alex Lavallee.

We rode the climb as hard as we could and to our surprise, after a quick look over our shoulders, we saw a lonely pink rider bridging to our breakaway. It was a huge risk with 155km left in the race and many good pro teams were behind us – our work was cut out for us. Coming into the final lap there were three of us and one American. Our gap on the other hand was decreasing and we knew that it was the former baby Giro d’italia winner Colavita climber, Davide Frattini, and the Kodak strongman Scott Ziwanski leading the chase group behind. Alex not having the legs and knowing that if we didn’t get caught we had the race, fell off on the last climb, leaving Dave and I to battle the American racer. With 5km to go I launched an attack into a head wind and quickly opened a gap – then looked back to see only Dave riding as we had both left the American rider asking questions. We crossed the line 1-2, as I took my second win of the year. We were over three minutes ahead of the elite climbing group and to our surprise Alex snuck in for 5th place. Jamie Lamb, my Atlantic Canadian roommate and training partner, come in with the lead pack finishing 11th.

So Garneau Optik, with two wins on the weekend, shows how teamwork really pays off. Up next is the Lake Sunapee Road race in New Hampshire on Saturday, and the North Stonington Classic in Connecticut on Sunday. Then I will continue my preparation for the Tour de Beauce and the National Road Championships which are two goals of mine this season.