17-18 National Road Championships

The 17-18 Road National Championship Race held in Bend, Oregon was 113k consisting of four 27k circuits with two climbs per lap. This was to be my last chance to earn a national junior championship and I was determined to give everything I had. Team Specialized fielded a team of eight: Andrew Lanier, Andrew Bennett, Daniel Tisdell, David Benkowski, Eamon Lucas, James LaBerge and Torey Phillip.
Knowing there would be over 125 starters, I made sure to get a spot on the front row to avoid all the craziness that usually accompanies a neutral start. There were no crashes in the neutral section, but almost as soon as the race started and, unfortunately, Torey got caught up in a bad crash that took him out of the race. After this, I made sure to stay up front for the rest of the first lap to stay out of any trouble. On the first climbs everyone surged as usual. In an effort to conserve as much as possible I spun up the climbs and would drift nearly to the back, wait for the pace to slow down to move to the front and then stay there until the next climb. My teammates, David Benkowski and Andrew Lanier, both moved me up on several occasions, so I could spend as little time in the wind as possible. Thanks guys.

Coming into the first climb on the third lap there was a group of 7 two minutes ahead and Andrew Bennett and a chase group of ten had just been reeled in. Andrew Lanier and I tried to sneak off the front before the climb, but we were immediately chased down. Our move was countered on the climb and a group of 8 very strong riders had a ten second gap on the field. I traded a few pulls with Juan Carmona before moving back to rest when I saw that this group was going to get caught but Lawson and Tanner Putt countered immediately they were caught. They got a lot of time very quickly so there was no time to try and bridge. On the final lap I saw Daniel Farinha, SJBC, making a move. With nine riders up the road there was nothing to lose and so I bridged and we started to work together. We got out of the field’s sight, but were brought back within five minutes. On the second to last climb I attacked again just about where Billy had advised and didn’t look back. I made sure to push really hard after the top of the climb as both Charlie Avis and Billy had said I could pick up a lot of time this way. At that stage the motor said we were 1min and 25 secs behind Craddock’s lead group. Charlie yelled encouragement to me and Daniel Farinha who was the only rider who stayed with me. Over the last climb we caught the remnants of an earlier break. I jumped as hard as I could before catching them, however, two riders were able to stay with Daniel and me. I felt that if we worked together we had a good chance of catching the leaders and knew that Lawson was about twenty seconds in front. At this point, I was still racing for the win and worked harder than the others who may have been racing for 3rd. With 700m to go I realized I had worked too hard and would not factor in any sprint so I tried an attack over the last little roller; I didn’t get a large enough gap and finished 6th place overall but we had pulled Craddock, possibly the best rider in the USA, back over a minute.

This was my last National’s junior race. I gave all for the win but missed the podium as a result. I want to thank Larry, Billy Team Specialized and my teammates for all their support.

2010 road nationals

My first race was the road race, which was about 25 miles. We started with no immediate crashes and the pack stayed together until the third lap. There was a break that included Phillip O'Donnell, Daniel Parks, Dylan Drummond and me but there were many surges that I ended up falling back. I decided to stay with the pack to try and chase the leaders down but the gap was over a minute. At 200m to the finish line, I took off and won the field sprint getting fourth. The next day was the crit. Jack and I didn't get a good start because we were not in the front. Jack was pushed to the fence and he was also behind a crash at the first turn. This caused us to miss the lead group of 2 that stayed away. I was in the second lead group of four riders, which included Dylan, and Jack was in the main field. The lead group of two lapped the main field. I didn't want to get caught so I asked Larry what the gap was between us and the 2 leaders. Since the gap was 15 seconds, we increased our speed and never got caught. At the end, there was a field sprint and I finished in 5th place. Jack, on the other hand, at 2 laps to go he almost bridged up to my group getting 7th. The last event was the time trial, I didn't feel as fresh as the other two days because I did most of the work in the crit. I did though push my pace for the first half of the time trial at a fast speed but couldn't maintain it as I approached the hill. I got 7th with a time of 18:40.

-Matt Valencia

junior track championships

Sunday was the Track State Championship at Hellyer Velodrome. The 13-14 category had three events which counted as an omnium. My first event of the day was the 500m time trial. After a false start, I placed 3rd. The next event was a 12 lap scratch race and I finished 2nd. I was tied with Zeke Mostov in the omnium after the first two events. The last event was the points race that consisted of 24 laps and sprints at every 6 laps. I got 3rd, so I ended up 3rd in the omnium. It was my 3rd time at the track this year, so I didn't have high expectations.

-Matt Valencia

Sattley Time Trial

Eamon and I went to the Sattley TT to get some good training before the Nationals TT. He raced in the Elite Mens and I raced in the Mens U23. This was my first time ever competing in a 40 km time trial. I made sure to not go too hard at the start. I felt great all the way to the turn around averaging 47.6 km/h. I realized after going through the turn around that the way back was a headwind. With 5km to go, I started to REALLY HURT. I crossed the finish line with a time of 52:14 and averaged 46 km/h. I was incredibly happy with my time. I ended up 2nd in my race. Evan Huffman from Yahoo! Cycling beat me by 41 second and Chris Stastny from Cal Giant Cycling finished 3rd. Eamon rode very well and finished 9th in the Elite Mens.

Thanks to all the Masters on the team for the TT tips! All the advice has helped me so much.

District Criterium and TT

Hey Everyone,

The district criterium was a windy race. We started, and of course there was a attack right at the line. Attacks, attacks and attacks. We covered them all. It was bell lap, Dylan Drummond "sprinted" because he thought it was the last lap. It was half a lap to go, I started my lead out for Matthew Valencia. I was at max, attacked out to the left in the final turn and Matthew flew by me and claimed the State Champion Criterium title. We put Larry's teachings in to the race, and it worked! One of our best races this season. Teamwork is the key.

It was the District TT, I started my warm up on the rollers. It was 100 degrees, but living in Fresno, I was acclimated to the heat. We were lined up, I saw Matthew go out of the starting ramp looking strong. I started my race, it was so short so I decided to leave everything on the course. No "vacations". I finished, catching my 30 second man at the finish line. Results are up, Mrs. Taylor comes up to me and the rest of the team to announce that I was the State Champion. I was so excited, I won last year, so I had to defend. It worked! It was a strong effort made by the team at Dunlap TT. Specialized podium-ed in EVERYTHING. Every TT and the Junior Points Series. I placed 4th in the JPS and Matthew placed 3rd, beating me by 1 point. Marcus got 5th in the 15-16 JPS James got 3rd and Andrew won 17-18 JPS. I think we can all be proud of what Team Specialized did today. Congrats to everyone.