Dynaflo Battles Heatwave, Tough Races

Dynaflo Racing lined up for the Grandview Grand Prix in Lancaster, PA and the Liberty Criterium in Malvern, PA the past weekend.  The temperatures were again setting records near 100 degrees.  And the racing was not letting up either.

A tough field with New Zealand Pro Cycling riders, local pros, and a 2008 Olympian in attendance led to a race with no punches pulled.  The race shelled nearly half the contenders while a breakaway was establishing off the front.  An early break of 10 riders was brought back with the help of Jeff Salvitti.  This led to the winning break of 4 riders establishing shortly after the catch.  After pitting with a flat rear tire and cracked rear rim, Andy Munas made it back into the race and went solo in chase of the leaders with 2 laps to go.  Getting caught on the last lap by one chaser, Andy ended the race in 6th place.

The heat did not let up for the Liberty Crit, but with the easy course the plan was to lead out Jeff Salvitti for the sprint.  It all went to plan, except for a near crash with 1 lap to go, bumping Jeff from Andy’s wheel and disrupting the leadout.  No result for Dynaflo at Liberty Crit.

Rider Profile – Aaron Meyers

Aaron ‘Fixed Gear’ Meyers is a first year racer for Dynaflo.  He comes to Dynaflo after racing for Iron City Bikes based out of Pittsburgh.  He raced Collegiate for Bucknell Cycling and was Jeff Salvitti’s teammate during his time there.

Best Result: 3rd Grant’s Tomb, Collegiate, Men’s A. “The weather was terrible. It was raining and the wind was knocking over barricades. There was a rider who attacked after the first lap and I jumped the gap after the second lap. A break of four formed and we stayed away. Although a wind gust almost took out a kid with deep dish wheels with four to go. I ended up third and celebrated by shivering for a half hour in the car.”

Long Term Goals: “As an amateur racer my focuses are more personal. In a race I am more content if i ride well and help the team than if I got a lucky place. I guess my goals are to just have fun and be satisfied with my racing.”

Short Term Goals: “My goals  for this season are to continue improving throughout the season and to get another podium finish before the season is out.”

Rider Profile – Nick Price

Nick Price is the founder of Dynaflo Racing and has been its main director and organizer since 2003.  He continues to keep racing well in the elite field despite having a son at the beginning of the 2010 racing season.

Best Moment as a Bike Racer:  Not my best result, but Habitat for Humanity Men’s Pro 1/2/3 in 2009.  12th overall.  We got a teammate in the break with a few of the pros and I was in the main field working to protect it along with Mark Walters(2002 US Pro Champion/4 time Canadian National Champion) and a rider from Colavita.  I still managed 3rd in the field sprint, needless to say it was behind Mark and the Colavita rider and it was the hardest sprint I can remember in my career.

Long Term Goal: To keep racing year after year and never get tired of it.  Hopefully someday I’ll be racing against my son.

Goals for this year:  Consistent top 20 results while being able to help teammates.

Not my best result, but Habitat for Humanity men’s pro 1/2/3 in 2009.  12th overall.  We got a teammate in the break with a few of the pros and I was in the main field working to protect it along with Mark Walters(2002 US Pro Champion/4 time Canadian National Champion) and a rider from Colavita.  I still managed 3rd in the field sprint, needless to say it was behind Mark and the Colavita rider and it was the hardest sprint I can remember in my career.

Dynaflo gets Revenge at Fitchburg

After a sickness and crash infested 2009 Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, Dynaflo’s Andy Munas tackled the 2010 Edition with an extraordinary first stage.

Andy played his GC cards to perfection in the first stage circuit race with a late attack to force a breakaway of 11 riders out to a 35 second gap over the chasing field.  Andy positioned well for the sprint, but fell short of getting on the podium and took 6th on the first day, and assumed 6th in the GC.

Andy ended the stage race in 10th place overall after a 13th place finish in the road race.  Read about the rest of the stage race here.

Rider Profile – Jeff Salvitti

Jeff Salvitti is new to Team Dynaflo this year.  He comes to us after racing for Human Zoom last year.  He is currently racing for the Bucknell Cycling Team as well, and he is headed into his Senior Year at Bucknell after this racing season.

Best Moment as a Bike Racer: “This would definitely be the 4th stage of the Tour of Pennsylvania, which was a 105 mile stage with 10,000 feet of climbing. My Team Leader and I rode with the leaders until we hit a massive climb with 50 miles to go, we lost time on the climb. As we began to descend it poured rain, I chased the leaders for 25 miles with my teammate in tow in the rain, eventually catching back to the group and finishing with the leaders on the hardest stage of my first UCI race.”

Best Result: “The best result was the 2010 Collegiate season as a whole, finishing 6th overall in the ECCC and finishing 2nd in the Bucknell Cycling Classic Road race, finishing almost 3 minutes ahead of the field in front of family and friends from school was just a great feeling.  Though, missing the win by so little was bitter sweet to say the least.”

Long Term Goal:
-Podium at next year’s Collegiate National Championship

Short Term Goals:
-Get my Category 1 Upgrade
-Win a stage race with a total team effort

Lean Racing Calendar Scatters Dynaflo Teammates

The past weekend of racing was perfect preparation for the stage races that lay ahead.  However, one of those stage races has been canceled.  The Giro di Jersey 2010 has been canceled.  The focus for Dynaflo has shifted to other events with some riders opting to travel up to Fitchburg and take on the Longsjo Classic in what has become the best place for Category 2 riders to make the next jump in cycling.

The weekend of racing split the team into those racing in New Jersey and Aaron Meyers tackling the Tour of Mount Nebo solo in Pennsylvania.  Aaron claimed 12th place in a hard fought attacking style race.  The New Jersey crew of Dynaflo tackled both the Bob Riccio Memorial Tour de Pitman and the legendary Tour of High Bridge.

The Tour de Pitman was a decidedly un-challenging course, so Dynaflo hit the front early and often to better the odds in an 75-man field.  Trading turns in the breakaway, every teammate was involved until Jeff Salvitti found himself in the move with just 15 miles left in the race.  Putting himself into the red, Jeff motored the break that barely held off the chasing field and got himself 7th Place.

The Tour of High Bridge was a completely different story.  With a challenging 1 km climb with pitches in excess of 15%, a technical downhill, and a torrential downpour for nearly all of the race, The Tour of High Bridge 2010 was a race of attrition.  With 85 starters and only 20 finishers, it was certainly one of the hardest races of the year.  Everyone stuck it out for as long as possible, with Kyle Centrella and Jeff Salvitti coming unglued with under 10 miles remaining.  Andy Munas was the sole Dynaflo survivor and suffered his way over the last climb and tucked into the small field and waited for the field sprint for 6th place, and got pipped at the line by a few riders to end the day in 9th place.

Early Season Coaster

Dynaflo is preparing to compete in the Giro di Jersey on June 25-June 27th in Flemington, Rocky Hill, and Trenton, New Jersey.  The early season criteriums showed that the fitness is there for all of the team, but results have been hard to come by.  Teammates have been plagued by month long sickness and multiple crashes.

Here is to getting back on Track.

Battenkill Results

Dynaflo’s Andy Munas took 9th at the 2010 Tour of the Battenkill, while Marty Mrugal took 19th.  Early breakaways slipped up the road to claim the first 5 spots, while Dynaflo played their cards on the last climb putting Andy in the small group of 12 contesting for 6th place.

For the full play-by-play a link to Andy’s race report can be found here.

Team Dynaflo departs for Battenkill

Dynaflo is sending a small squad to Battenkill to tame the gravel roads of Upstate New York.  Check out race information here: http://tourofthebattenkill.com/

Starters:
Andy Munas
Kyle Centrella
Martin Mrugal

Dynaflo Racing Searching for New Sponsors

Dynaflo Racing is searching for new sponsors for the 2010 Season.  There are multiple levels of sponsorship.  See the attached Sponsorship Packet for more information.

Dynaflo-Sponsorship-Packet