San Dimas Stage Race

This weekend Team Specialized headed to southern California for the San Dimas California. The 14 juniors filled out three fields. Willy Zellmer, Dean Haas, David Benkoski, Andrew Lanier, Marcus Smith ,Torey Philipp and I lined up for the Category 2 field. There were 4 Juniors in the 15/16 field Jack Maddux, Matt Valencia, Diego Binatena and Phil O'Donnell. And in the Junior men 17/18 field we had James Laberge, Chris Laberge and Kyle Torres.

The first stage was a 4 mile uphill time trail averaging about 5%. The fastest time by the team was set by a 14 year old! He did the climb in 14:17 averaging about 16 miles and hour and his ride put him in the leaders jersey. Kyle Torres was not far behind at 14:22 and the team now had 2 leader juniors in the lead of their categories. The category 2's didn't have quite so much success but everyone got some good efforts in.

Saturday was a road race on an 8 mile circuit with a flat finish. All the juniors categories started together and so we had two yellow jerseys in one race. There was a crash early and Phil was caught up in it but the team rallied and came back and got him back to the field. In the field sprint James was second and the team kept both leaders jerseys. In the category 2 field the team patrolled the front but let 2 guys escape on the second lap thinking the race was long and we would get them back. Then the field got neutralized on lap 4 of 8 because we were being passed by the pro field and the lead of the now 4 leaders ballooned. In the sprint David came away with 8th.

The final day was the criterium on a mile "L" shaped course. The junior race was wet and fast. A break of 5 went up the road containing both Phil and Kyle. But with 4 to go Kyle slid out in a corner and crashed. He got to the start and was told he would get the same time as the break who he was with. Phil stayed in the break and they both came away with the overall wins. In the Cat 2 field we attacked and attacked but nothing was going away but it kept the pace fast. We planned to lead out David but when we got burned with still about 2 laps to go. Then on the last lap on the second to last corner someone slid out and forced Marcus, David and I outside the cones and we couldn't get back in the race.

The race was a great race experience for the team. We learned a lot and the team had success.

Local Racing

My name is Phil O’Donnell. This is my first year on Team Specialized Racing. I’m a little different than the rest of the team though. I live on the east coast about 45 minutes north of Atlanta, Georgia. This weekend I did a local race in Union City, Georgia. Because it is still early in the season and everyone has not gone off in different directions to race, the race actually drew a descent field. Team Type 1 fielded 8 plus riders, not to mention riders from Kenda, Hincapie Devo, and Chemstar Pro cycling.

The racing started Saturday with a short time trial. I ended up winning the Pro ½ TT! This came as a surprise to me because some of these guys done the UCI race in Uruguay a couple of weeks ago. Later in the afternoon was an hour long Crit. I played it cool. Tried to get in a few breaks but after a while I realized nothing was going to stick. I tried to stay consistent on someone’s wheel so I picked Matt Lipscomb, a junior on Hincapie Devo. As the finish approached the bumping increased. The highlight was when a TT1 rider did a “stoppie” in to the 3^rd to last turn. That dropped me back a few spots so in the sprint I had to settle for 15^th.

On Sunday the road race started in downtown and headed out for 73 miles around central Georgia. The race was fairly uneventful. Realcyclist.com rider Oscar Clarke set up a long 5 man break that we did not catch until 5 miles to go. Just like Saturday though most breaks were not sticking. Eventually though a group broke away from the lead group before we caught them. It contained two TT1 riders, Ty Magner and Tanner Putt, and an EDA/Aerocat Procycling rider. The EDA rider took the win followed by Magner and Putt. When the field hit 1 kilometer coming through downtown I hopped on what was left of TT1’s leadout train. Spinning on my junior gears I managed 6^th in the field sprint putting me in 9^th. As of Sunday night the omnium results had not been posted but hopefully I’m still in the top 5.

Great weekend for me! Glad to have the S on my chest. Specialized has been great!  Next up for me is San Dimas Stage Race in southern California! Heading out on Thursday to hang out with teammates and race our bikes! Stay tuned…there is much more to come!

-Phil O’Donnell

Racing in the Almond Blooms.

Hey there,
During this past month I have encountered some wonderful racing, which included Merco and Madera Stage Race. Merco GP was a great weekend and experience for me. At the beginning of the season, I had encountered crashes, such as getting hit by an SUV on a training ride, that almost scared me out of the peloton. In the Merco elite 3's crit, I started to get back my assertive racing skills and started riding in the front of the pack. The race started and for about 15 laps I was stuck near the back but managed every lap, to move up at least 1 or 2 spots, By 12 to go I was riding in the top 15, which helped me get the placing I received. 7 to go, Kyle just dropped back to the peloton after being in the break for most of the race, Chris, Matt and I got on the front. Dave Towle was going crazy at the sight of the Specialized train on the front driving the pace. We sat back in the pack, I attacked attempting to bridge to the break at 7 to go. I made the break with one other guy and start doing my share of work to keep us away from the peloton. Bell lap and the finish came down to the sprint, my legs were wrecked after bridging to the break; I finished 7th, being the last of the breakaway. Matthew finished a fine 8th place,winning the bunch sprint. I was extremely happy with my results and wanted to do another 3's race after regaining my confidence in the peloton.

The following day was the Merco Almond Blossom Road Race. There were disappointments to my race. At about 18 miles into the first lap of the road race, my teammate Kyle got a flat. Matt and I stopped to assist him and to help him chase back to the peloton. The follow car was far behind so Kyle told Matt and I to go. It was hard efforts to get back in the pack, but we made it. Matt and I were in fine position after the feed zone, then I started to hear the disappointing sound of my front wheel losing air. I flatted on the 2nd lap! I waited for my replacement wheel and back to the car. I agreed that Saturday's race made up for the losses in the road race. This was my hardest race of the year, but I grew and learned through it. I can't wait for next year.

This last weekend I woke up in the early morning excited to race in beautiful Madera. I was ready for a world of hurt in the mornings time trial. I started my warm-up after watching the successful attempt by teammate Marcus, to flatten the coins under the train on the railroad tracks, which were on the other side of the road. That's one to go in the scrapbook. I was extremely warmed up for my time trial and eager for the pain cave. 5,4,3,2,1 go! And I was off, reaching high speeds due to a nice tail wind. A right turn, I came blazing in and accelerated out of the turn, getting back in rhythm. Then another right turn where we came onto a false flat which was hard after 6 or 7 miles of the time trial. Riding by one of the houses I saw a strange, black, loud animal come running out of the driveway; Time to kick it up 2 gears and get away from the vicious animal! It did get me closer to my 30 second man. I finished, completely dead, grinding in in my 52x14. My final time was 24:07.58. We refueled and headed to the criterium. Matt, Chris and I warmed up with the infamous Lar Bear on the streets of Madera. We came to the start line ready to race. And we were off, all squeezing into the first turn. It was about a 1/4 done and I attacked, getting followed by Cody Tapley, we had a gap but the peloton didn't feel like letting anything go so we were caught and fell back in to the pack. I tried to stay at the front but was gassed by my recent efforts so I sat comfortably in the pack. It was all together now and I knew it was going to be a bunch sprint. I heard the loud bell, "ring ring ring, one to go!". I attacked at full effort, trying to breakaway and get a good place in the race, but I was caught, on the backside of the course in the headwind. Matt and Chris were at the front ready to sprint, Chris 3rd wheel out of the corner, sprinted to a wonderful 2nd place in the 3's field, Matt and I finished in the pack.

The next day was time for the road race, and I couldn't wait for the 68 miles that waited ahead for me. We led through the neutral section, preparing ourselves for the acceleration out of the neutral zone. We were in the front sitting safe, when there was already a break away that had a big gap so me and about 4 other people bridged to the gap, with 3 other riders following. The peloton closed the gap and we sat in the pack for rest. We hit the "Paris Roubaix" section, where I planned to attack and was followed by 3 friends. Unfortunately, we were caught yet again at the end of the "roubaix" section. Now I sat in and waited for the finish. There was a break up the road that had approximately a minute gap on the field. They started the chase, I tried to stay protected out of the wind while the other contenders did the work. It was almost 1 lap to go, Matt flatted! It was now only Chris and I left in the group. We hung on while the group blazed to the finish. I thought my legs might absolutely fall off. I finished with the first group, which put me 16th overall in the GC. I couldn't ask more of my body. All I could say was, "shut up legs!". I am pleased with my recent results and am ready to kill it at the next stage race. See everyone in San Dimas in 2 weeks.
-Jack Maddux

Shock to the System

Home Depot Center Velodrome, Carson, Califronia
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Photo Credit: Steve Ryan www.JuniorVelo.com

Home to America's only indoor track, the Home Depot Center track certainly gives most track racers the chills when you walk in. Especially when you are used to an outdoor, low banked track. Although not the fastest track in the country, just being in the presence of a facility that is mostly dedicated to track cycling is like a candy store for a trackie. With banking that reaches forty-six degrees, and heights of almost two stories, it is certainly a thrill to ride and race. Especially when you are one a nice set of Zipp 404 tubulars.

This lat weekend I was unable to do Merco because of the amount of school that I would have had to miss so instead I made the trip down to LA to race at the track and a local crit in Long Beach. I was very quickly reminded why I love track racing so much, especially on a track like this one. Feeling the G-force through the turns is quite a sensation and pulling straight up the track in the turns and then diving back down is quite an experience, and with a reasonably small field, ~17 riders, there was a lot of speed and also tactics involved in the racing. One rider in the field that has some notable accomplishments was the current women's track world champion, and with worlds coming up she was on good form! The first race was a 60 lap points race with sprints every 10 (every 2.5k). It took awhile for me to get into the mindset of paying attention to laps and getting into position in time for the sprints. Although it did come back to me, but I then realized that this was a bit of a shock to the system. So when it came to the sprints I did not have that much of a jump compared to everyone else. I was able to race aggressively and almost won the last sprint, but got caught on the last lap. Even though I did not score any points for the omnium from this race, I was happy with that I was able to race aggressively. The next race was a miss 'n out, which I normally do well in, but I failed to establish a spot in the top 4 spots of the pack and was forced to play devil at the back, which is not a good position for me. I was able to get by for a bit, but was roughly the 6th rider pulled. Really early into the race. I was not too happy with this, but it is March and just a low-key race. The next and final race was a 20 lap (5k) scratch race. I knew that this was going to be a relatively active, fast and short race. The Guatemalan national team started the race attacking, but they also sent riders to the front to block which made me fairly upset and when teams use tactics such as blocking I usually change my tactics for that race to make sure they do not win. So at about halfway through the race when they had two off the front and the pack just slowed I rolled to the front and pulled the two in (~half a lap gap). They then sent two guys to the front and started to do a lead out, with about 2k to go. Just a bit early, but I was sat third wheel and the rider at the front was moving fairly fast so I wasn't complaining. But with ~2 laps to go the raced slowed and there was a shuffling of positioning and I lost my positioning. Overall it was a good weekend of racing and speed. Definitely a good start to starting to work on the top end speed that is going to be needed for the big races in June, July and hopefully August! The being in a smaller gear than most of the field was also great because by doing that I get used to riding at 120 RPMs consistently and having to accelerate above that and hold it for a while, which will be needed at races such as track nationals and also l'Abitibi. In addition, it was a great start in seeing how much I need to work on my top end speed and what areas of it I need to work on.

It was definitely a trip worth taking and also great to race on the track and cannot wait for racing to start at Hellyer!

Merco Stage Race

This past weekend was Merco Stage Race in Merced County from Thursday to Sunday. Besides the extremely hard competition and domination by Bissell Pro Cycling Team, I had a lot of fun and learned more than I have ever learned in cycling in a 4-day span! I got the oh so valuable time to get to sleep in the same hotel room as "Fast Freddie" Rodriguez.

No matter what time it was in that room, he was always available for questions and he would be ready to answer in a heart beat and be able to provide an example and relate it to his career and eventually something to learn from for me. Now, with me staying with Freddie for 4 full days, this gives ample amount of time to ask plenty of questions and get lots of answers and learning in just the 4-day span. If there was something I could take back from this past weekend, it would be the results and the racing, haha. But it was still a great weekend despite not having the legs to compete.

Thank you Freddie for letting me stay with you and be able to share all of your stories. It was really fun and I'm looking forward to get to know you more as the year goes on! Your a great example of American cycling and it was great to get the information straight from your words in front of me. Unbelievable. If for some reason you have the chance to room with Freddie, take it! You will learn a lot and will be a very valuable experience.

Thank you for reading.

Merco Grand Prix & Road Race

The highlights of yesterday's Elite 3 race were Kyle Torres in the break for over 20 laps, Chris and Kyle with a prime, Jack, Chris and I formed a train trying to bring the break back, and Jack bridged to the front leaders at 2 laps to go. I ended up getting 2nd in the field sprint (9th overall), which was a nice finish after nursing injuries from Calville the previous weekend.

Sunday's road race was wet, cold and windy. At 500m to go, one of the Clement brothers attacked and Erik Volotzky and I followed, but we took off to early and got caught. I ended up finishing in the middle of the pack.

The best part of the weekend was spending time with Freddie Rodriguez at dinner and at the race. Thank you Freddie for sharing your race stories and pre-race advice. You're a great mentor! Hope you heal quickly from today's crash.

A thank you also goes out to our sponsor, ClifBar, for our water bottles!

Matt Valencia

Snelling Road Race

Just for fun I thought I’d do the Pro/1/2 race at Snelling this year. It was going to be way too cold for the 8am Master’s 35+ race and getting into early season 45+ races is like getting Springsteen or Stone’s tickets and that race was long sold out. Besides, it’s fun to race with the Pro’s and it’s also great training. The sleeping in angle was not to be ignored either…

I love this race, especially when it is windy. It brings me back to my formative years of fighting in the cross winds at the Sacramento South River Ride. (In it’s hey day, one of the greatest group rides anywhere.) I love that stuff! It was still cold for our 12:15 VPST (Velo Promo Standard Time) start, but much warmer than in the morning.

David, Andrew and I spoke briefly before the race. We made two decisions. One, David would be our guy to finish it off in a sprint. If he was around we would work for him. Two, if I got up the road, the plan was, don’t chase, but also don’t block. Let the other teams bring it back together and we could set up David for the sprint. And finally, with 14 riders pre entered, no break was going to stick if it didn’t have at least a couple of Giant Strawberry riders.

The first lap was nervous. It was a little windy so we spent some time groveling in the gutter, dodging puddles and everybody and their brother wanted to get up front. Half way through the second lap, just past the Merco RR finish a group got away. It had been aggressive and guys were a bit tired and looking at each other. I followed a few wheels to get to a good position and was able to jump across alone. Two more riders came up shortly afterwards and we were off to the races.

There were about 12 riders in the group. Eric Wohlberg (Form Fitness), Andy Goessling (Clif Bar), John Bennett and Jesse Moore (CalGiant), David Albrecht (Chico Corsa), Joe Innarelli (Yahoo), Hendrick Pohl (Webcor), Sam Basseti (Firefighters), and a rider each from Garmin-Cervelo, Divine Electric and HDR Lombardi. We had good horsepower and the required 2 Cal Giant riders, and that was the last we saw of the main field. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the group worked well together the whole rest of the race. Usually breaks that big don’t cooperate so well.

Nothing of note happened until the fifth lap. After the “big hill” towards the end of the fifth lap you could tell that there were some tired legs. A couple of guys took digs on the next rollers and when we paused it seemed like a good time to go and make something happen. I attacked and got a nice gap. Partly because it was a good time to go and probably at least partly because not many of them knew about me and figured that I was not a danger. Which is at least partly true. Even my ego isn’t big enough to think I was going to solo the last lap and change and hold off THAT group. But I did hope that it would cause a reaction and perhaps three or four guys would bridge up to me. Alas, that was not to be. I got just enough gap to tempt me into thinking “just maybe”. Maybe they’ll start looking at each other…

The reality was that I spent the next five miles beating what little I had left out of my legs and I was caught just before the feed hill. Thankfully nobody attacked when they caught me and I made the feed hill without much trouble. The drag up to the Merco finish was something else though. I made it, but just. The final “big hill” was a concern for me. We did hit it very hard, but I made it over the top in pretty good position. Yeah for me! But it cost me. The next roller was a bridge to far and I could not follow the next surge. I chased the rest of the way in with Albrecht, Innarelli and another guy, but we never got very close. I felt like Randy in “A Christmas Story”, “You guys! Wait up! Wait up!” I think that there were still two t-shirts on the line, but I totally blew the sprint, going way too early and I think two of the three guys with me came around. Final place, maybe 11th or 12th, but I’m not positive. John Bennett of Cal Giant won.

I have mixed feelings about the end result. Part of me was happy to be on the pointy end of a pretty good pro/1/2 field and at least trying to go for the win. But part of me wishes I would have cooled my jets and waited for the fireworks at the end of the last lap. I wasn’t going to win that sprint by any means, but a mid top 10 was probably possible if I played it right.

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