Vacaville GP

I showed up to the Vacaville GP not really sure of what I was getting myself into. I had overheard on local group rides that there was a hill in the course. When I got there my dad and I walked around the course once. The course itself is over a mile long! When I saw the hill I wasn't too worried at first as I knew that it was a straight up power hill. After walking around the course and doing the usual warm up/goofing around with teammates, we lined up at the start. I was already not feeling to well, I had a stomach ache and was tired and nauseous all over. At first I thought it was the usual stress you get at the start of any race ( I later realized that it was because I was sick). When the race started, the first lap was pretty contained with almost no attacks or surges. A few laps in a break of 4 including local junior Sam Bolster. I had watched the previous race and saw that the winning break went very early on. I decided to make my move and bridge up with 13 laps to go (out of 15). Within 1/2 a lap we got brought back. I stayed middle/front of the pack for most of the race until 5 laps to go when on the back side my bottle came lose and I had to slow down to fix it, this brought me to the back of the pack. With 1 lap to go I managed to move up to top 2o on the hill, but unfortunately I was pinched between two riders in the last turn who just could not hold their line. That meant that coming out of the last turn I had fallen back to about 30th. Realizing that sprinting for 25th would be stupid and dangerous, I just shut it off right there and drifted back to about 40th. Hopefully next week at the Giro di San Francisco I can do better and get some upgrade points!

Thanks for reading,

-David

First race in Belgium

Lovendegem, Belgium. The course was a 5KM loop with narrow roads and a 700 meter stretch of nasty cobble stones. The finish was near the end of the cobble section. We did a total of 12 laps, 60KM and I think 114 riders started. We went out really fast with everyone fighting for position on a road that could only fit about 3 cars; then we had a narrow right hand turn where you could barely fit 1 car. Right away a big crash happened right there and I was forced to go off road to get around them. I then had to stay in a group of riders trying to catch back up to the pack. When we got to the cobble stone section, it was the roughest and bumpiest road I had ever ridden on. I followed rider's wheels to save energy and eventually we caught the peloton. More crashes happened -there was a crash on every lap. I eventually cramped up after trying catch back on again and lost the peloton half way into the race. A small group of riders caught up to me and for the next 3 laps I stayed in that group as we caught rider after rider that had been dropped. At 9 laps done our group was pulled from the race because we had lost too much time on the peloton. Hopefully next week I will have a better race with no cobbles (thank God) and several climbs (in Ooike).

Alistair

15-16 National RR

The road race was a long, hard, but also annoying road race. We started our 75 km road race. It was 14 laps around this 5 km loop, including a roundabout , that we had to take the long way around (I have no clue why they made us do that). 2 km into the race, Allistair unfortunately crashed, and we were hoping it would be a good day for him. Chris also got in the thick of this crash, so his race was over too. Then, 3 laps into our race, Andrew got a flat, and the neutral support guys took over a minute to change a front wheel! it was surprising for a national event! He tried to chase back on, but couldn't. then, it was Marcus, David, and I. 4 laps into the race, Paul Lynch attack out of the group and I followed him. Right after me, it was Yannick Eckmann, and David Kessler( both 5280 squad) followed me. We got into a break, and 3 km later, we got a 40+ second gap! We were flying! After about those 3 km, I could hold on. I popped off and went back to the field. Eventually, that was the winning break, with Kessler winning the road race.Then, about 5 laps later, there was a crash on the back stretch, and David got in that crash, so his day was done then too! After that group of 3 were up the road and gone, nobody wanted to do any work. with about 5 laps to go, somehow a group of 4 formed up the road, and so, I tried to catch them by attacking out of the group, but couldn't catch them, and nobody would help me catch them at all! It got really annoying! So, it came down to a sprint for 8th place, and I finished up there in 12th, and Marcus finished 21st. It was an okay day for the team, but there was some bad luck with 4 of our guys crashing, or flating, and with me not being able to hold on to the wheel in the breakaway.

--James LaBerge

James's 15-16 National Crit

After a little misunderstanding between James and I we each wrote entries about the National Crit. As you all know, two people never see the same race the same way. So here is James's view of the Crit.

After the race, this race was definitely the hardest, but the most fun race to watch throughout the whole day! Even USA Cycling said that our race was the most exciting race of the day! We had a field of about 70 guys, ans part of the course goes through a brewery, so the road was really small. The race started, and as I guessed, there was a huge pile up going around the first turn. This probably took out about a quarter of the field including 3 of my teammates( David, Chris, and Allistair)! Right after the crash, Yannick Eckmann(5280) attacked and had a gap. He had the field strung out for 9 out of the 25 laps on our 1km course. Our lap times were a speedy 1:30 about every time we went through those first 9 laps! Eventually, we caught Yannick, then Andrew put in some good attacks and brought back a lot of guys that would try to break away. While Andrew was doing all the work, Marcus and I were sitting in the pack waiting for the sprint or the right time to attack. The race settled down, and with one lap to go, there was either a split in the field, or a crash, but I do know that all the sprinters were up in the lead group , including me. Marcus then bridged up to my group of about 10, and went straight by us and attacked out of the group, and surprisingly, nobody jumped onto his wheel! Then, two 5280 guys were on the front, just keeping Marcus in striking distance with me right behind them and Cory Williams behind me. With about 300 meters to go, Marcus was still right in front of us, and I started my sprint! Unfortunately, as I started my sprint one of the 5280 guys started moving over, moving me into the sidewalk. So, I had to slow down. As I shad to slow down Cory Williams started his sprint, and there was nothing that I could do. I had to take the last bend on the very outside. Cory Williams eventually won the sprint. I ended up finishing in 4th, and Marcus 6th; best for 15 year olds! Congrats Marcus! As I look back now, I should have followed Marcus when he attacked because I could have started my sprint in front of everybody else and not have to worry about trying to get around anybody to start my sprint. In Conclusion, it was a great team effort, and this 15-16 squad received a medal at nationals!

Nationals Crit 17-18

On the day of the Nationals 17-18 Criterium things were going very well for the team. Charlie had won the 17-18 Time Trial and Marcus and James both got close to the win in the 15-16s Criterium, not to mention that we had achieved a season long goal of shaving everyones head. Joel and I were the only two racing in the final junior event at Nationals and I hoped to continue the team’s success. The start was faster than I expected, but I soon found a comfortable place in the field. Joel moved me up on a couple occasions when I moved too far back in the field. This type of teamwork is rare at Nationals where everyone wants a good result for themselves. With twelve laps to go a break of three riders that would end up staying away was about 15 seconds up the road. And 10 seconds up the road was another chase group of three. I bridged up to this group, but our group was caught by the field with 5 laps to go. I recovered for the sprint and finished 9th to cap off a successful Nationals.

15-16 National Crit

On Saturday we had our 15-16 crit. The course was short with a small hill on the back side. I was called up to the line because of last year's results. David Benkoski lined up next to me. In the first turn there was a crash and David almost went down, but kept both of us up. We had to unclip and get around the crash before sprinting up to the pack again. For the rest of the race small attacks went up the road with Andrew and James, while sat in and followed the wheels. With two laps to go, Andrew and I were set up well about 10 back, but a crash pushed both of us in 20th. James was in front of the crash and I worked my way up to him. On the last lap a 9 man break with all the sprinters (including James) got a small gap on the climb. I jumped across the gap and caught the sprinters who were looking at each other to work. I attacked them and got a gap through some turns. James got in 3rd spot and waited for the sprint. I don't remember much more then with 50m have 5 riders pass me. I finished 6th and James finished 4th. It was great teamwork because Andrew and James early attacks set up my attack and James's sprint.