4/20/08 - Tim Drier collects Yankee Springs bounty! Tim Drier, new to TVC in 2008, won the 1st race of the season at the Yankee Springs Mtb time trial on Sunday April 20th. Prior to the race the Healthy & Fit Magazine Mtb team was feeling VERY confident in their chances to take home gold. For this reason the team Director, John Harris, posted a bounty on a 1st place finish. The bounty consisted of a pair of team gloves and other sponsor-related material. Dennis Lessard (Expert div), Cam Kohn (Sport div.) and Andy Lee (Sport div.) all came close to capturing their own bounty by placing 5th, 4th and 6th respectively in their divisions.
With the victory Tim will be moving up to the Sport division.
3/1/08 - TVC announces 2008 sponsors. The 2008 racing season is quickly approaching and the team is ready to go. To assist us in our quest for multiple victories and championships, we are proud to announce the following sponsors:
Spin Street Bicycles of Old Town Lansing.
Healthy & Fit Magazine
Ingham Regional Medical Center (IRMC)
bebuydrive.com
Speedplay
Excellerade
iZook.com
American Classic
8/25/07 - Sheehan takes a 3rd place finish at Rockford! Bo Sheehan, in his typical fashion, stayed safely within the peloton throughout the Priority Health/Advatage Rockford criterium in Grand Rapids. The course is as about as technical as crit courses get, but that did not stop Bo from surging to the front on the final lap and make a valiant effort for the win. It was a very close finish with several riders involved in the sprint. Also competing were Byron Boyer who took the lead with 2 laps to go and finished 14th and newcomer Mike Williams who struggled with the climb, but showed great effort throughout the race.
Cat 5 rider Cam Kohn was in an early race breakaway of 5 riders and won a mid race prime. His race went downhill after that and struggled with the repeated climbs. Cam finished the race with the stretched out peloton.
7/29/07 - Sheehan and Boyer compete in International Cycling Classic - Sheehan takes a 1st! Bo Sheehan and Byron Boyer spent the week of July 23rd through July 29th competing at the International Cycling Classic (or better known as SUPER WEEK) in Wisconsin. Over the past week the duo have competed in 6 races throughout Wisconsin. Boyer has had a good tour and has finished as high as 6th place in the Sheboygan race on the 26th. Sheehan started out the week with tired legs, but finished strong with a 1st place finish in Kenosha on the 27th. Good job guys! We're all proud of you!
7/22/07 - Kohn / Kissman capture gold at Ithaca. After a dominating race at the Common Crit in Lansing the week before. Cam Kohn and Tim Kissman followed that up with a victory at the 6 Hours at Ithaca Mountain Bike Race this past weekend. The duo teamed up to capture 1st place in the 2-man team event (Sport Class). Kohn and Kissman went into the event with plenty of confidence by actually telling us prior to the event they were "coming home with a 1st place". The guys kept their promise and indeed brought home the gold!
6/30/07 - Team Venom crowns first State Champion. Saturday June 30th saw Byron Boyer win the Dexter Criterium, cat 4, State Championship race in Dexter Michigan. Throughout the prior week the team worked and discussed several strategies to claim the prize. Andy Lee, Bo Sheehan and Sean Forbes were to stay up front and respond and create attacks, leaving Byron within the pack conserving his energy for the sprint. Andy Lee was taken out early in a "bone-head" manuever from another rider, but was able to remount and chase down the pack and rejoin the peloton. On the final lap Byron, Bo and Sean were at the front and in position for the sprint until another crash took out Bo and Sean. Luckily, Byron was able to get off on his sprint early and avoid the crash, crossing the finish line as the 2007 cat 4 State Champion.
In the other catagories. Ryan Nagelkirk (cat 5) took 8th place, with Cam Kohn right behind him in 9th - Both of which were great finishes for our future cat 4 riders. Matt Prygoski (cat 1-2) rode a good race and finished in the top 25.
5/20/07 - Bad luck, carnage and victory greets Team Venom at Kensington Valley! The Team Venom/Holt Pro Cycle Team arrived at the Kensington Valley Stage Race in Brighton Michigan with high hopes of capturing the cat 4 and cat 3 championship. Bad luck started their day on Saturday morning when Jr. road racer, Chaise Harris (11 years old), was brought to the start of the time trial 4 minutes late. Chaise was given the mandatory 4 minute penalty and finished last in his age group. On a brighter note. Had we gotten him to the line on time his actual time would have been good enough for a 2nd place finish.
More bad luck struck the team as John Harris (cat 4) suffered a sever injury to his lower back at the finish of the 1st stage time trial. John was unable to continue the remainder of the races.
Later that day at the 2nd stage, the team was sitting pretty on the final lap of the crit. with all 6 remaining cat 4 riders in position to compete for the final sprint. Things began to get rough and careless (by a team we will not mention) as teams battled for position for the sprint which ultimately caused a massive crash - 4 Venom riders went down. Shortly after that crash another crash took out another Venom rider leaving only Byron Boyer to compete for the sprint. Byron came in 7th. Andy Lee sustained massive abrasions from shoulder to toe in the crash and although limped across the finish line but was unable to start the 2nd day of racing on Sunday. Bo Sheehan, also involved in the crash on Saturday, was able to start the race on Sunday but his injuries did not allow for him to finish. The remaining 4 survivors, Byron Boyer, Dan Smith, Sean Forbes and Tony Konkol all finished the final road race on Sunday, with Boyer coming in 10th place.
Matt Prygoski (cat 3) had an impressive weekend of racing at Kensington Valley. See story below.
5/20/07: Prygoski captures Team Venoms 1st championship at Kensington Valley!
Matt Prygoski (cat 3), fresh off an 8th place finish at the Collegiate Nationals road race (div 2) last week, rolled into Kensington Valley with his sites on taking home the yellow leaders jersey. On Saturday mornings time trial Matt came in 3rd, just 6 seconds off the leader. After a very late start to the cat 3 crit (due to all the carnage left on the course from the cat 4 race) on Saturday evening, Matt took a close 2nd place, with a time prime win earlier in the race. This was enough to take over the leaders jersey going into Sundays grueling road race. Matt stayed up front throughout the final race on Sunday keeping himself out of trouble and ready for any attacks on his leaders jersey. On the final uphill sprint finish Matt attacked early leaving the rest of the field unable to respond. Matt came across in 1st place defending his leaders jersey and winning the overall cat 3 Tour of Kensington Valley Championship.
Racing Results: Willow Time Trial 4/28/07 - This was the first race of
the "Michigan Challenge Series", and the team had it's share of ups and downs.
The event was held in Romulus, MI under cloudy skies and cold temps.
Some mental mistakes were made and some didn't perform up to their own
expectations. However, like all good teams, others pulled up the slack and
helped us to a successful overall race.
Chisom Wilson (cat 2) - Chisom finished in 27th place with a time of
34:01. His time would have been a full 3-minutes faster if it were not for an
unfortunate 3 minute late penalty.
Andy Lee (cat 4) - Andy had a near flawless ride as he crossed the line
in a solid 3rd place and a time of 31:15.
Dan Smith (cat 4) - Dan finished in 13th spot with a time of 32:40.
Although Dan was unhappy with his time, it was a very solid finish for his first
USAC event.
John Harris (cat 4) - John finished in 22nd spot with a time of 35:11.
His goal of a 33 minute time was missed by 2 minutes. Needless to say, John is
not a happy-camper with his effort!
Bo Sheehan (cat 4) - Bo actually had a good solid ride, unfortunately he
raced for 7 laps rather than the 6 required laps. His time was 40:21 for 28th
place. Had he gone the required 6 laps, his time would have been closer to the
34 minute mark or better.
Byron Boyer (cat 4) - Like Bo, Byron made a mental mistake and crossed
the line with only 5 laps completed. He was unfortunately disqualified even
though he immediately realized his mistake and finished the 6th lap and notified
the officials.
Tony Konkol (cat 5) - Tony had an outstanding race in the cat 5 division.
He placed in 6th spot with a time of 32:18. We need to get Tony moved up to cat
4 ASAP, as he would have had a top 10 finish in the cat 4 division and given us
valuable team points in the cat 4 Michigan Challenge.
Alex Benikov (cat 5) - This was Alex's very first race. He finished with
a respectable time of 36:51, which was good for a 37th place finish. Good job
Alex! Now that the "butterflies" are out of the way, it's all uphill from here!
So, after the first race of the cat 4 Michigan Challenge is in the books, Team
Venom/Holt Pro cycle sits in 2nd place overall behind a strong Detroit team.
Wolverines - 30
Team Venom/Holt Pro Cycle - 21
Cycle Fit - 21
South Lyons/Jittery Joes - 12
Tri City - 7
Flying Rhinos - 6
Ann Arbor Velo - 5
A Few Good Women Wanted! Team Venom is looking to start a women's team for the 2008 season. If your interested in racing with a hi-profile, dynamic and exciting racing team, then we want you! We are looking for enthusiastic, hardworking and motivated women to fill this newly formed team. Contact John at: johnharris@teamvenomcycling.com for more info.
Andy Lee takes 7th at Waterford. The Holt Pro Cycle Team
performed well as a team at the 3rd and final Waterford Hills Training Series on
Saturday. The Team included, Andy Lee, Cam Kohn, Tony Konkol, Bo Sheehan and
John Harris.
Andy Lee kept up front and out of trouble for the entire race as he kept himself
in position for the final sprint. Andy finished in 7th.
Cam Kohn stayed up front and helped maintain the tempo and pace of the race, as
well as covering any attacks. He finished in the peloton, just behind the
sprinters.
Tony Konkol, like Cam, spent his time up front and maintained the race tempo. He
also made a valiant effort for the mid-race prime, just missing out in 2nd
place. He also finished in the peloton.
Bo Sheehan rode close to the front with the strategy of being in a position at
the end of the race for the final sprint. He unfortunately had a flat tire on
lap 8 and was out of the race. This is unfortunate because the Team would have
had him in perfect position to sprint with Andy at the end.
John Harris must have had something in his Wheaties this morning because he held
the race lead early, then at mid-race, then again on the 2nd to last lap. Of
course, it may have been because the rest the field was afraid to be next to him
because of his race number - "666" (this was confirmed (in fun) by several
members of the Wolverine Team that had to keep responding to John's attacks -
They also affectionately referred to him as "SATAN"). Not being a sprinter, John
finished just behind the sprint with the peloton.
Team Venom leader lands cover of Healthy & Fit Mag: Be sure to check out the April issue of Healthy & Fit Magazine. Our own John Harris is on the cover of this special cycling issue. Healthy & Fit can be picked up at most Health-related, fitness and medical facilities.
Team Venom/Holt Pro Cycle Team starts off season: An early season time trial at Fisk Knob opened the inaugural season for the boys of Team Venom/Holt Pro Cycle. Fisk knob is an extremely challenging 17.3 mile course filled with hard rollers, several difficult climbs and one huge 1/2 mile climb at the finish. Riders Andy Lee and John Harris finished 12th and 17th respectfully in their age group brackets. Fisk Knob does not observe the normal USCF Cat divisions, so ALL riders compete head to head (Cat 5's with Cat 1-2's). Both John and Andy were happy with their finish times and are right on pace to have a successful season.
In other weekend racing, two of our high-powered Collegiate riders had very impressive finishes for their respective schools. Matt Prygoski (Collegiate "A") racing for Notre Dame placed 2nd at the MSU Road Race on Saturday (March 24th). Then followed that with a 10th place finish on Sunday at the University of Michigan crit.
Dan Smith (Collegiate "B") racing for Central Michigan University had a 6th place finish at the MSU Road Race, then followed that with a 7th place finish at UofM. We are very excited to have both these riders racing for us and look forward to them returning to the Team later this Spring.
2/23/07: iZook.com to Sponsor Youth BMX Team: Holland-based, iZook.com has become the primary sponsor for our youth BMX team. We are pleased to announce and welcome iZook to the Team Venom family as they come aboard to help support our young racing warriors. iZook.com is an internet magazine featuring 4-wheel drive Suzuki vehicles and after market products.
2/22/07: New Cat 5 rider signed: Team Venom and Holt Pro Cycle Racing would like to welcome our newest member to the team. Andrew Lee from Lansing was signed today and we feel he will make an immediate impact. 2006 was Andrews 1st year in USAC racing and placed 3rd in the cat 5 division of the Common Crit. and had 2 other top 10 finishes in 2006. "Welcome Aboard, Andy!"
2/19/07:
Sponsorship dollars help purchase youth team equipment:
Thanks to our sponsors, we were able to purchase a nicely used BMX bike and
helmet for our youth BMX team. The Diamondback bike and helmet will be
used for those youth riders that are unable to afford their own bike and
equipment. We hope to purchase 2 more bikes and helmets in the near future
for our young athletes.
2/7/07: Shaklee Health Nutrition products have come aboard the Team Venom family. Through an independent distributor, Shaklee will help sponsor the team, as well as set us up with our own product site. This product site can be visited by consumers to purchase all the Shaklee products, which in turn will generate an income to support the team. Over the next week, or so, this product site will be available through a link from our main page. Just click on the "Shaklee" logo, or click on the "Support the Team" button on the main menu. It's simple on-line shopping for all your health nutrition needs - Plus your helping to support the Team Venom youth team, as well as the elite road team.
2/2/07: Team Venom and the Holt Pro Cycle Team has signed their first Junior road racer to the development team. Chaise Harris (11 years old) was supposed to be the teams equipment manager, but instead was just hit by the USCF racing bug. Chaises mom and dad, who are also the teams Director and Team Manager were nothing short of ecstatic over Chaises desire to start competing in USCF-style racing at such an early age. Chaise began his winter training in February and will hopefully be ready to compete in a couple Junior time trials later this summer in the 12 year old div.
2/1/07: The 5th grade basketball team at Kendon Elementary school had a surprise in store for them after their Thursday practice. The kids are preparing for a big City-wide basketball tournament later this month and were in need of some extra motivation and fun. Members of the Team Venom / Holt Pro Cycle Racing Team met with the kids to discuss teamwork, sportsmanship and the benefits of good hard work and focus. The event was started off by Team Director John Harris introducing the team and what they do, as well as the importance of listening skills, practice, teamwork and sportsmanship. John also gave a brief lecture on a good healthy diet and exercise. Cat 5 rider Kurt Crandell did an excellent job talking to the kids about their goals and having an inspiring and interactive discussion on a number of fun topics that kept the kids laughing and interested. Team Manager Jenifer Harris was also in attendance snapping pictures and making sure John did not go off in an over-technical discussion on cycling and other health issues (which he tends to do!). The 5th graders were allowed to ask all sorts of questions, get up & close to some of our road bikes and time trial bikes (which they loved), as well as pass around a medal won at a past cycling event. Afterward they gave the team a wonderful applause and some of them even helped us load our gear back into the truck. We had a blast and look forward to attending more of these youth motivational demos.
1/13/07: Today we received our license as a USA Cycling Club/Team. We are now an officially licensed club/team and we look forward to many years of racing with USA Cycling!
1/13/07: Team Venom proudly welcomes ENERVIT Energy to our Holt Pro Cycle racing team. ENERVIT is the manufacturers of an entire system of energy gels, bars and other supplements. They are now the official energy and food supplement provider for our 2007 cycling team. We are happy to have them aboard and look forward to using their fine products in our efforts to become the strongest and most successful team out of mid-Michigan.
1/2/07: Look for Team Venom in the pages of one of Michigan's' premiere magazines sometime in the early spring of 2007. Tim Kissman, the Editor of Healthy & Fit Magazine has been in contact with the team and is interested in running a feature article. To say the least, we are very excited about this coverage. It is a great opportunity for the team and our sponsors. Stay tuned for future details.
12/21/06: The new Holt Pro Cycle Team is preparing to makes it's 2007 debut at the Fisk Knob time trial. The Fisk Knob is typically a 24k time trial located at the Fisk Knob County Park in Sand Lake Michigan. We hope to make a strong impact in the men's 5,4 and 3 categories. For more info on this annual event contact paul_bybee@hotmail.com
12/12/06: The re-scheduled team meeting as been set for; December 23rd 2006 at 6:00pm. This meeting is open to all signed riders, riders interested in joining Team Venom, support personnel (and those interested in a support role), sponsors and potential sponsors. Please contact us for your invitation and directions to the team meeting.
10/21/06: Our first team meeting has been scheduled for Saturday November 11th at 6pm. We will be introducing the staff, sponsors, already committed riders and prospective riders. We will also be discussing our goals, schedules, licensing, training and a whole host of other information. If you are an interested rider, sponsor or supporter of other means, feel free to contact us to get an invitation. We still need more sponsors, riders and team support personnel. Parents of our youth BMX team, we look forward to seeing you at this meeting to answer any questions you may have and assist you in getting your child licensed and guiding you through the process of getting the correct gear for your child.
10/12/06: The Team Venom website is published and put online. Stay tuned for team updates, news, exciting photos and a lot more cycling fun.
10/4/06: Team Venom Cycling officially receives it's corporate documents - Operating under the name; Team Venom Sports. We look forward to producing the areas strongest cycling team, as well as providing instruction, education, sportsmanship and team work to not only our teams, but also the entire community.
10/1/06: "We're looking for a few good men and women" We plan to carry a 10 rider roster for the USCF road team and 5-10 youth BMX riders. If your from the mid-Michigan area and have a strong desire to be part of an up and coming racing team, then feel free to contact us. We still have a few slots open on both teams.
8/10/06: Team Venom secures Holt Pro Cycle as a valuable sponsor. Our first rider races under the Holt Pro Cycle name at the Hines Park Time Trial on August 13th 2006.