Itching to Race Again

The off-season will soon be over. I am wishing the summer to come faster, although when the summer does come I will again be wishing the winter to come even faster. You can never be happy with the weather here in Fresno, it is either cold and wet, or hot and dry. I think this off-season I may have lost a few thousand cells in the parachutes I call my ears, they catch wind like a sail and manage to almost receive frost-bite by the end of all my winter rides. I am ready for the base miles to end, and the hectic year of traveling and racing constantly to begin.

Early Birds will begin shortly. I will be reunited with most of team once again. I do miss them over the off-season, as they are the people I share many of my laughs with. Hopefully I will see all of the infamous Nor-Cal Pro's out at the Early Birds. Maybe we could manage to get Donut Boy (Rand Miller) racing his bike again, an early season comeback where we could constantly heckle each other, like old times. I look forward to finally racing again. Thanks for the read, hopefully I will get in touch with all my competitors soon.

Jack Maddux

A Season to Remember

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals" -Henry David Thoreau

As the New Year approaches, we reflect on the achievements we have reached in the 2012 season. With 100 wins, 220 podium places, and 451 top ten places this season, we have taken the results, good or bad, and learned from each of them. We also did not take our wins for granted either. I realized that each accomplishment the team achieved, it was not about the jersey we won or the Velo Promo t-shirt we received, but it was due to hard work, teamwork, and talents of the riders.

Team Specialized continues to teach their riders how to become the best cyclists they can be.  In addition, we are also being taught to become “men for others” by giving back to the community. I am looking forward to another season with the team.

-Matt Valencia 

Base Training

Late fall and winter mean base training.  Lots and lots of hours where your coach tells you to go relatively slow (but some how it still makes you sore!) This year my coach has me doing 2, 4 week blocks.  I am in the middle of the 2nd one currently; I will not be sad when it's over.

Learning to manage your time to schedule class, studying, big base hours, finals and of course your social life in college is definitely an important skill.  Training and just going out and riding while you are in college, especially when you live on campus, is a great way to get away from everyone and everything; the stresses of everyday life.

I planned on having a strong fall of racing; collegiate track, MTB and cyclocross.  But I got the illness known commonly as mono.  It only put me back for around 2 weeks of off the bike even though I was extremely sick.  I was planning on having an awesome cyclocross season but this illness hit me the first week of November.  So I was only able to race 4 cyclocross races: the Ft. Collins USGP and Boulder Cup UCI weekends.  As fun as these races were, they were some of the hardest races I have done and doing a few races where I had been competitive would have been nice or at least finishing on the lead lap.

Base is a good time to step back from racing and just go out and ride. You can plan your race schedule and contemplate the next year.  Racing season will come soon enough because the first RMCCC race is March 9.

I have found teams for next year.
Mountain Bike team where I will be racing mostly locally along with Nationals in PA and a few Pro XCT races: The Hometeam (New team for 2013 details to be released very soon) we have a factory sponsorship from Spooky Bikes, a custom fabricator in VT.

Road team is soon to be announced but it is very very likely I will be riding a Specialized bike in 2013.

Dean Haas

"Luck is where the crossroads of opportunity and preparation meet." Seneca 

The Late Ride

After years of early morning rides starting anywhere from 6AM to 7:30AM, I decided I would try to put together a so called late ride.  I always thought that an 8AM ride would be a little easier on me and anyone who wanted a few extra winks. So I decided, for fun, to see if anyone else had the same feelings regarding an early morning ride versus a slightly later ride. My first thought was to come up with a catchy name for this ride. After much thought it dawned on me, why not just call it “The Late Ride!” Now that I had a name, I needed to let my friends know of this new South Bay ride. I created a Facebook page for The Late Ride about a month ago and sent out the first announcement. Since there are several other Sunday morning rides in the South Bay, I naturally thought that I’d be lucky if I got more than a handful of riders to show up. Finally, on the first Sunday I left my house to ride to the start point of my new ride and was very surprised to see more than 30 people had showed up for the ride. It turns out that a lot of people felt that a later start worked for them too.

The Late Ride meets at the Ballona Creek Bridge in Playa del Rey (CA). The ride proceeds north thru Venice, Santa Monica, and ultimately onto Pacific Coast Hwy towards Malibu. This is just a tempo ride of approximately 60 miles with 5,000 feet of climbing up into the Santa Monica Mountains and back. We stop for a well deserved lengthy coffee stop towards the end of the ride for storytelling, laughs, lies, and camaraderie.

This ride has been a welcomed change after a long season of Sunday races, hard training, and the like. Soon I will be back to a full season of racing and this has been a lot of fun with my friends. We’ve been doing this ride for a month now and will continue for another week or two. I invite you to come along on The Late Ride if you live in the area or are in town. Check out The Late Ride Facebook page for current news and announcements.

Thanks for reading.  Diego Binatena, Team Specialized Junior Racing

 

Yes, it's still December!

December - you're either racing cyclocross, spending precious time with family, vacationing in far off lands, or gearing up for the new road racing season.  As one of the leaders of the Early Bird Training Series I am always amazed at how fit racers are in January.  On the one hand, they need to be fit to keep up with their peers.  On the other hand, I don't understand the rush.  Some of the absolute best racing is in the late summer and early fall, yet folks are killing it in January. 

I recently pulled some Strava data from the very first Early Bird of 2012 (Jan. 8th) and was amazed to see that the category 4's race at 8:30am averaged 25.6mph!  Besides the fast pace, most hadn't gone through a corner with a competitor leaning on their shoulder in a number of months.  January is the perfect time of year to practice pack skills before the real racing begins.  Mostly, it takes a patient person to stay within yourself and stay on track to your goals, whether they are to win in February or September. 

In closing, let's take a more detailed look at "fitness" and take a reminder that the "off-season" is the perfect time of year to work on any one of your weaknesses. 

Five Components of Health Related Fitness

1- Aerobic Endurance

2- Muscular Endurance

3- Muscular Strength

4- Flexibility

5- Body Composition

 

For me, I try to focus on the last three at this time of year. A bit of smart weight lifting, yoga and "push-aways".  Merry Christmas, Larry Nolan, Team Specialized

Are you up to the Challenge?

Team Specialized has been with Strava since 2009 and its been a fun ride.  As long time users we've been through it all.  When you first start up on Strava you see all sorts of "achievements" because you are earning personal best efforts on a lot of your rides, even if you have ridden the same segment for years.  As the saying goes "if your ride isn't on Strava, you didn't really ride".  After you've covered your local rides its always a blast to venture out into new territory.  With Strava this is as easy as going to "explore" and finding new routes.  A perfect feature for any traveller.  Strava is compatible with most phones, and its free, so if you are not on Strava.com you should check it out.

One of their upcoming challenges to their rider base is to pour out 500 kilometers between December 24 and 31, for a cool average of 62.5km (or almost 39 miles) per day.

I've been checking in with teammates to see if they are up for the challenge and thought it best to express my opinion on the team blog -

I LOVE the idea of riding 500km in 8 days IF you have time, the weather is good and the pace is right.  It can be the perfect time of year to put down a great base of endurance rides, especially if you head out to new and unfamiliar roads.  A chance to break the routine.

I HATE the idea of riding 500km in 8 days IF you have family obligations, cannot ride all 8 days, the weather is poor for a majority of the week, and you cannot back off on your normal pace.

Christmas Eve to New Years Day is usually a time with family and friends.  Talk to them before you head out the door! 

Weather and pace are related - if the weather is bad (cold and wet) you might be apt to skip a day and overdo it on another day.  Not good.

Best of luck if you take the challenge, but best to keep the whole of the 2013 racing season in mind as you set out for your 500km in 8 days.  Good luck, Larry Nolan, Team Specialized

http://app.strava.com/challenges

Ambassadors - part 2

In addition to saying a good word about your sponsors, there's a whole lot more to defining what it means to be an "Ambassador".  The ambassador role on Team Specialized starts with the selection process of teammates. We look for good sportsmanship, integrity, and for riders with the right perspective.  Winning is the goal on the bike, but how we get there is what defines us. We don't "win at all costs" and when we lose we have an attitude "oh yeah, this is our hobby, and we're not saving lives".

That said, when the effort is measured and you gave it your all and did not win, then we learn from our experiences and move on to the next event. So, there you are on the podium on the bottom step because you didn't win today. Are you still smiling? Did you congratulate the winner on their efforts?

As we finish off the fall charity rides and edge closer to the racing season we reflect back on the folks we help out on the road. For example, at the MCDS Tour of Marin we had teammates at the front setting a moderate tempo for the 50 mile ride and we have teammates scattered throughout the 200 rider group. Most importantly, we had riders dropping off the back to ride with and encourage those that could not keep up. So what if we finish ten minutes behind the lead group?   Most of the time you meet some very nice people!

Robin Williams and Wyatt Wiesel - 2005

Ambassadors

Team Specialized is supported by SRAM and we’ve been working together for the past six years.  Remember their “take the leap” ads?   We were there!  While combing through the 2013 SRAM price list this morning, their use of the word “ambassador” struck me.  We’re one of many supported teams, yet we can deduce that we are supported because of our stellar past, and future potential.  But, I was wondering about their definition of the term “ambassador” and what it meant to Team Specialized.  What role do we play in helping to grow the SRAM image and branding?  Surely, racing and riding on the latest SRAM components alone didn’t help SRAM achieve its 2012 sales goals(!)  No, this one goes much deeper.  Team Specialized has an commitment to help SRAM grow its name in the cycling community by passing along a good word about their products and their willingness to improve. 

In my opinion the relationship that Team Specialized has with SRAM and many of its sponsors should NEVER be taken for granted.  If something is given, something is required in return.  This is a critical lesson for our junior teammates to learn in their young and bright futures. 

For newly sponsored and seasoned athletes, what does “sponsorship” look like to you?  We all love the “bling”, but what’s to be given in return?  Got an opinion to share?

Larry Nolan, Team Specialized

I'm Melting

“Strength does not come solely from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” – Gandhi

Winter. Rain. Cold. Maybe some snow depending on where you live. All things that “get in the way” of riding.

Be wet. Be cold. Ride the rollers. The options you have to deal with winter weather.

Think about it though, unlike many other sports, bike races are run rain, shine, 30 degrees or 100 degrees.

So why not layer up, grab a Clif Bar or two and go out and ride? What, are you going to melt from a little water? Riding in the rain can be fun; go places you haven’t gone before because when it’s dry you have “better” places to go to train. Don’t want to have to descend in the wet, but still want to climb, do lots of short hills at threshold. Ride the rollers even; throw on a race DVD (this years Vuelta, Roubaix, or one of the many Eddy Merckx films). Or catch up on your favorite TV shows (I like CSI: NY). If it’s cold, layer up; Squadra makes some very warm long sleeve jerseys if you are lucky enough to have them as your clothing sponsor.

So what’s your excuse for not riding today? If you do a truly epic ride in the rain or snow, it’s a great story to brag about to your friends. Same thing if you’re crazy enough to ride the rollers for longer than an hour and a half or two.

Common this is a tough sport; we do what we love rain, shine, sleet or snow.

- Jason S

Honored and Thankful

Completed the 2012 USA Cycling "Team of the Year" application earlier this week and I'm filled with an enormous amount of pride.  For a "small" team we're helping the sport of cycling in so many ways... from grass roots ambassador efforts (charity rides, Early Birds, and every day training rides) to promotion (Little City Stage Race with a $2K Junior cash prize list, and Wed. Nite Track with no prize list :-), to junior and master racing at the local, state, national and world level.

We're closing in on another 100 wins season, but it will be "desperately close" as there are only so many cyclocross races in the month of December.  All the same, it's the competition and good times that we're looking for, not just the wins.

As we get ready to sail into the new year I wanted to pause and say "thank you" once again to our supporters, our sponsors (Specialized, Zipp, SRAM, Clif, Squadra, and Strava), to our teammates for their efforts on and off the bike and to the parents of our juniors that have helped to make 2012 a great year for the whole team.  2012 was a memorable year and 2013 is there for us to dream about all of the possibilities that a new year brings.

Thank you Team Specialized!  Cheers, Larry Nolan

Tour de Tucson

A couple weekends ago, I went out to Arizona to participate in the Tour de Tucson. It was a 111 mile ride/race. This was the largest cycling event I have ever done, with over 8,500 people competing. It was interesting because there was such a wide variety of people there. At the front, there were professional racers finishing in about 4 and a quarter hours. Towards the back, there were newer riders who are just trying to finish before nightfall.

I started about 600 riders back. I got in a group of about 50 and we finished in 4 hours and 39 minutes. It was a great opportunity to get in some base miles in and have a good time. It seemed like a logistical nightmare to get all these people through the route safely. The city of Tucson and the race promoters pulled off a miracle in getting everyone in and out of Tucson and through the outskirts safely. We did not even have to stop at a single light for all 111 miles. It was really nice to do this event to get a change of pace from my typical Southern California training routes. I hope to get out there again next year. 

Kyle Torres 

Cyclo Cross Racing

One of my goals for the off season is to have fun. This year I decided to race cross because it is such a entertaining part of cycling. My first race was Folsom Rodeo cross where I broke away with three other riders and held off the pack to the finish. I ended up taking second in the B's, barely keeping up with the leader after I botched the barriers. After the race I practiced barriers all week...I was not going to finish second ever again.

My second race was at the Rodeo grounds in Folsom. In the B's I opened a gap with the winner of the previous cross race where I took second. In a dark section of the course I dropped my chain and it wrapped around my crank arm. By the time I was ready to go again the majority of the field had lapped me. I finished the race and just focused on having fun.

Today was supposed to be my third race of the year, but I came down with Stomach flu last night and did not race. I am happy to report that my teammates who raced did very well.

I am looking forward to my next race in early December where I hope to win my first cross race.

See you on the road,
Jonathan Christensen

The End?

    Yes, this is my last blog as a junior on Team Specialized. When I joined Team Specialized back it 2007 I never knew where it would bring for me, nor the people I would meet along the way. The first 4-5 years I was never the one to win the race. I would usually get dropped, and after the race, I would almost feel this guilt that I was never able to help the team, even for a brief moment. Until I found a fire in my gut that would get me out on rides, not just to say I rode that day, but to go hard, and make myself stronger, for the good of the team.
     These last three years have been a turning point for my cycling. I have been able to get results both for myself, and my teammates. Being able to see a teammate with a big smile on there face, because they got top 3 or even won the race, is what makes racing my bike worth it. I can't believe the amount of progress I've been able to achieve, and I can't wait to race with new teammates next year. As I am aging out of the junior category, and also Team Specialized. I am very thankful for all of the support given throughout the years, by Wyatt, Steve, Fred and everyone else that is apart of making Team Specialized a great team. I would not be who I am today without your help.

Thank you,
     Christopher LaBerge

                                                 MY DAD
   
              My Dad loves racing. In fact my Dad has been around racing all his life, He's raced motocross, go-carts(@ age 4), road race bikes. He tells me all the time of all the racing he's
done he loves watching me race the most. My Dad started me racing BMX at age 7, and
we've raced BMX all over the country. Now he drives me all around the country to road
races.
             My Dad's been saying all year long he needs to get back on his bicycle. So at the
end of this 2012 racing season I finally got my dad back to riding again. Now that most of the
racing is over my Dad and I are starting to do alot of riding together. I can tell he's starting to
have fun with it, he's telling me how he's going to beat some of the guy's we ride with all
he needs is a little more time. I'am glad he's consistently riding everyday. It's good to see him
enjoying himself.
           You know I think we forget how much our Mom's and Dad"s give up so that we can
race. Because if my Dad is not taking me to the races he's working so I can race. So I think
we all need to stop and say a big THANK YOU to all the Mom's and Dad's out there for all
they give up for us. With that I can see my Dad sitting there planning what we need to do so
I can try to win another national title. He really wants me and the Specialized Team to do
great things in 2013. Like I said my Dad really Loves racing.

                                                                  Sean
                                                            PS.      THANK YOU, all you Mom's and Dad's you're the best

6 Years Later

Larry has formed a habit over the past few weeks of finding old pictures from the junior team and posting them to Facebook. Saying that I changed would be an understatement. The first year on the team (AMD - Discovery Channel) the team website had my weight as 87 pounds and I've grown close to a foot. As my final junior season ends I wanted to reflect on the past 6 years.

First photo: Actually racing my bike. It's been why I have been on the team, but probably one of the less import impacts the team has had on me.

Second Photo: I showed up to cherry pie with Larry's bibs for some reason. Luckily another junior had a pair I could use.

I may have joined the team to race my bike, but the friendships and experiences I have had around cycling are what have been the most important. Many of my best friends are teammates would I have traveled with, lived with, and suffered with. We have had to work together under pressure. As the 18s go our separate ways in terms of teams for next year we are always having conference calls to share stories.

The first year on the team I was 13 and we were each assigned a mentor (master teammate would we could ask questions). That was a huge challenge for me. It forced me to practice communicating with adults on my own. I struggled with taking full advantage of the resources the team has to offer for a few year. It was helpful that Team Specialized has the most generous masters. Each one of them has gone out of their way to help me and teach me. They have such a wide array of knowledge both on and off the bike that any question has an answer somewhere in the master team and it's just up to me to find it. This generosity is best exhibited this Summer when Craig Roemer coached us at Nationals and then took me and a few other juniors around Europe to race for 3 weeks.

Finally I want to thank the leadership on the team. Wyatt, Larry, Steve and all the other silent heroes of the team who work endlessly to ensure that each junior teammate can grow as much as I have. They are the motivation for us to preform in races and support who we enjoy sharing our successes with.

quick shout out

Happy Birthday Wyatt!

Thank you to every teammate (junior, master, and leader) who has influenced me over the past 6 years. I may be wearing a different jersey next year, but I'm going to continue to soak up as much knowledge as I can from these teammates.

Try Something Different

Greetings,

In late August I started my sophomore year at Upland High as well as my "off-season". I immediately started playing water polo for my high school team as I did last year. I was the starting JV goalie for UHS. My plan has always been to use water polo as a my off-season / cross training sport to stay conditioned. I found that water polo has been really good training for my legs,  lung, and stamina; elements that would help me get a good start to when I get back on the bike. Water polo has also helped me build a strong core due to weight training and lots of swimming each day.



Had fun with my polo team!



During the course of polo and the busy start to school, I began missing my bike and decided to reset my focus once again to my cycling goals. I decided between me, my parents, and coaches (water polo and cycling) that I would continue pre-season water polo and stop playing before league games began. I was fortunate enough to have great support from everyone on this decision and was able to play until the end of September. The timing was good because I felt that was enough to get a solid start on road training for the 2013 season while enjoying some good polo games with the team.



Now here I am...back at it! YES!!

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that it's OK to try something different in your off season and just have fun with it! Like me, I played polo for a couple of months and decided that it was time to start my training again. So, if you're really focused on your cycling or any other activity year round, I suggest trying something different not only to stay physically, mentally, and socially fit but also to not get so bored with the same old thing!

Thanks for reading,

Nick Castellano

2012 Season Fades, the Epic Off-Season Begins

Hey All,

I'm well into my off-season, and I am enjoying the break. This season has been a wonderful one, from winning races myself, to watching my teammates win. The highlight of my year though, would be having the opportunity to ride with the USA National Team in Europe, it was a true privilege. Although I encountered a series of unfortunate events, it did not phase me. This year I will train harder than ever before to make it back again to such a wonderful experience.

I will not be taking time off this year because it was too difficult to get back on the bike and so easy to lose focus. I have been running these last couple weeks to keep my bones strong, and to switch it up a bit. I have also been doing work in the gym trying to strengthen my muscles for more power. Core is something I have also been working on, it's hard but I enjoy it. And of course I am riding my bike, getting all that base endurance time in my legs. I will also be racing cyclocross, hopefully I see some of my fellow racing companions out on the dirt, and thank you to NCCF and Specialized for making the cyclocross possible. Hope all is well with everyone. :-)


Jack

Take Time Off the Bike

After 50 races and 8 months on the bike, it seems like the best thing to do is to take a break from cycling and enjoy some alternative activities that a cyclist can’t normally do during the race season. There are a few reasons, I have been told, to accomplish this goal of not riding my bike for two or three weeks. At the age of 16 it feels like there is no end to the energy, mental stamina, and desire to stay on the bike. But following the advice of family, coaches, and various elite racers, it seems like checking out of the sport for two or three weeks seemed like a good idea. 

So the next question is, what am I going to do for the next couple of weeks? There are a lot of things a 16 year old can do. I was lucky enough, after my last road race at San Ardo, to spend a week at Pismo Beach, 4-wheeling and fishing. It may not sound like a whole lot of activity, but the simple basic idea of putting a worm on a hook and casting out into the surf and catching a fish is not easy as you think. Driving a 4-wheel drive jeep in the Pismo Dunes on the other hand seems natural and easy for me. On the other hand, the simple task of catching a fish became such a challenge for me that for weeks on end it consumed my every thought. Whether surf fishing, casting off of a pier or bridge, using a net to catch bait fish, or buying blood worms, catching a fish is still one of the most challenging, interesting, and time consuming hobbies I have ever done.  I spent many days with my line in the water losing my bait, my tackle, my patience, for many more hours than I ever spent on the bicycle seat on any given day. I really grew to love the simple challenge of catching a fish. I spent many days until the sun went down and longer before going home empty handed. In my prayers I asked God to help me with my fishing. Somehow I sensed he was telling me to stick with cycling, but keep fishing too.

Now that I am back on the bike, my fishing days are over for now, but I know that at the end of next season, I know where I will be and what I’ll be doing. So after weeks off of the bike, I found myself really missing my bike and my training, so I think the break was a good thing for me. I am now preparing to attend the USA Cycling National Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, "ManTour5" (a 6-day bike ride from Santa Rosa to Redondo Beach), and Team Specialized's end-of-the-year BBQ.

Thanks for reading,

Diego Binatena, Team Specialized Junior Racing

THANK YOU!!

What a better way to start a blog than by telling the truth? This is my last Blog posted for Team Specialized as I will not continue to race on the team for 2013. However, I will race for a local team (Eden Bicycles) in hopes of having a great season or two with them, and developing into a great rider and also a great under dog. This year I have experienced many changes. I started my year poorly - lots of things had deep influence in my life but that helped me build character, which is extremely important.  "Its all in you" was the advice I received from teammate Kyle Torres. It was true, confidence is needed in the sport, which is extremely hard, but like a guitar, when all the strings are at the right tension it just sounds great. Or like my dad tells me "when you can get that brain of yours to work you can do great things". And I truly believe that. To conclude this blog I want to thank my old team "TEAM SPECIALIZED RACING" for teaching me a lot about racing, and also a lot about life, it is a super squad. It is a great team, but it was not my fit. As specialized is a good team I also consider myself a good athlete and hope to find luck in my current team "Eden bicycles" which I also want to thank for all their help and support. Finally I want to thank team director Larry Nolan for never doubting my capacity as a rider and always giving me space when needed. And telling me to "keep my feet close to the ground" which I always work on! And is also a team value. Also, a big thanks to my teammates esspecially the graduates. And all the sponsors!

Thanks for having me, I enjoyed the ride!
- Oliver R. R Barajas

Balancing School and Cycling

A friend at school asked me, “How do you it?”  I responded saying, “How do I do what?”  He said, “How do you balance school and cycling?”  To be honest, I had to think about it before I answered; because it’s not just school and cycling I’m balancing, I also work at a bike shop. This year I am a junior at Bellarmine College Prep.  Typically junior year is the hardest year in high school.  I spend many hours studying and doing homework every day; sometimes even working on homework ahead of time so that I can ride for a longer time.  Time management is a key component to my success.  Though managing my time is sometimes difficult, I continue to work on it every day.  Some people have a hard time balancing school and their extracurricular activities, so they  give up on the activity.  Luckily for me, the masters in Team Specialized inspire me to stay focus.  They are all successful cyclists and have great careers. I am fortunate to be on Team Specialized and to have them as our mentors.

Next for me are the BASP cyclocross races and national camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.

See you all on the road!

Matt V

                                                                 

Let's look at that nationals race again

Obviously, Team Specialized juniors and masters teammates are passionate about bicycle racing.  We're not professional cyclists, but we take our hobby seriously.  As the junior team director I love that the juniors benefit from the goal-driven masters teammates.  It's not so much that the masters have anything to prove, it's just that they have good perspective - a) it's a hobby!  we're racing our bikes, not saving lives, and b) spend as much time as we do training, and we might as well win.  Toss in a teammate or two to cover your counter-attack and we can have some fun together.

 

We all learn differently through a combination of visual, auditory and kinetic situations.  Cyclists tend to be keen on the kinetic learning, which is to say we'd rather experience a race ourselves than watch or read about it.  Since our juniors and supporters did not travel to Bend, Oregon for the 2012 USA Cycling Masters National Championships I thought I'd share one of the BEST races I have ever witnessed.  You probably already knew that our teammate Jason Walker is the main character in this story, but it's a story worth repeating, so here goes!

 

Bend, OR. - Saturday, September 8th - USA Cycling Criterium National Championships

Competitors were treated to a technical six corner, one kilometer downtown criterium course.  While we anticipated breakaway groups to last, each of the three previous mens races (masters 55-59, 50-54 and 45-49) ended up in field sprints.  Teammates Jason Walker and 2011 USA Cycling masters criterium national champion Dean LaBerge had a 4pm start for their masters 40-44 year old race.  80 starters on the line for this 50 lap/ 50 kilometer slugfest.  From the start Dean and Jason were at or near the front.  The race was fast but when Dean or Jason were in a small break the pace in the front would stay high while teammates or those not willing to expend energy so early in the race slowed and gaps would open.  Overall, the first ten laps were anything but smooth and consistent, which became a recipe for one of the breaks that both Dean and Jason were part of to stick.  It was a small group of six riders with a small ten second lead on the chasers and 35 laps to go, when a bit of non-cooperation split the small breakaway group and Jason squirted off the front.  He spent the next 35 laps, or about 47 minutes off the front away from 79 chasers.  Solo!  A great victory, but how does someone hold off a charging pack chasing a national championship, stars and bars jersey and gold medal?

 

Here's how - As mentioned, Jason and his early break had ten seconds on the field. When Jason attacked the chasers cooperated just long enough to keep their ten seconds on the field. Immediately, Jason had five seconds on the break and 15 seconds on the field and that became 20 seconds with 30 laps to go.  I also mentioned that this was a technical course.  So much so that turns one, two, three, four and five could be taken as fast solo as they could in a charging pack.  Jason (obviously) nailed this section of the course.  It was between turns five, six and one that the race favored the pack.  Slightly downhill to turn six, then a slight headwind into one.  I was at the start/finish line feeding the announcers facts about Jason (2011 USA Cycling national road race champion; 2012 Tour de Nez winner after 45 minutes solo) and overhearing the USA Cycling official mention that Jason ripped off seven consecutive laps in one minute nineteen sections.  Could he hold it?  The chase behind was on as Monster Media sent their team to the front.  The gap came down to the 12 second range but the chase lost steam.  In the final fifteen laps small groups would attempt to bridge to Jason only to see Dean on their wheel getting a free ride up the road.  Congratulations to Jason for the timing of his move, for his boldness in going solo for so long, for his expert cornering abilities and for having a former national champion teammate in the field who no one wanted to bring to the line.  This was by far the most exciting ride I have ever seen and I wanted to share it with people that were not there to see it. 

 

Cheers, Larry

 

 Jason Walker - 2012 USA Cycling Criterium National Champion

(and a picture of the REAL reason he won... he shaved his legs!)

 

Collegiate Track Nationals

This week I traveled to Frisco, Texas with the Fort Lewis Cycling team for collegiate track nationals. I was the only freshman on the team and this is my first collegiate race, collegiate nationals and first track nationals; that's a lot of firsts. I competed in the individual pursuit 4k, kilo 1k, points race, team pursuit and Italian team sprint. 

The pursuit went well and I was in an early heat. I rode a 5:13 which was good enough for 38th place. I didn't expect this to be my strongest event. One of my collegiate team mates got third by .1 seconds and missed first by .2 seconds. 

The kilo was about the same for me. I rode a 1:12 and I was happy with that time. This race was better for me because it was cooler outside and we were racing under the lights. 

The morning of the next day I had the points race qualifier. It was 15k which is 60 laps and was very fast. I tried taking a lap on the field but I only made it halfway. I missed points the first 2 sprints and the race was neutralized because of a crash on lap 27. I won 5 points on the next sprint and I thought I was in the finals that night. 4 riders took a lap on the field which gave them 20 points. I came in 5th in the final sprint and I missed the finals by 2 spots. Disappointing but there's always next year. But one of our riders won the points race even though he was alone with no team mates!

The team pursuit was in the morning of the final day. We had a strong team lined up. I was our starting rider.  We rode a 1:12 first lap which was too fast and by lap 8 we lost a rider and it started to get really hard. We weren't smooth and we finished with 3 riders. We came in 4th by 0.5 seconds despite how chaotic our race was. This is my first time medaling at nationals, so even though we were kind of disappointed I was happy. 

The Italian team sprint is 6 laps where 2 girls ride a lap each and then 4 laps with one lap each for each guy. We didn't start out fast enough with our girls and we came in 6th even though we rode strong with the men. 

We came in 5th in the team omnium so we medaled again, so I took home 2 medals. Griffin Easter of Ritte on our team was 3rd in the individual omnium so we were very successful at this nationals. I am really enjoying riding and studying in college because it is a lot of fun. 

Dean Haas

Because I Can

I have always been a little perplexed by the whole idea of blogging or facebooking or tweeting or whatever you want to call it. Why on earth would anyone want to spend their precious time to read about me or something I’ve got to say, usually about me. Now I do get it when it comes to impacting the world like it did recently in Egypt or other parts of the Middle East but if I wanted to be entertained by reading something I usually find it more interesting and worthwhile when I pay for it. That said, Larry seems to think there is value to our team in us telling stories that pertain to cycling so if you’re actually going to take time to read this, I’ll do my best to make it tolerable.

This one will only encapsulate the Masters Mountain Bike World Championship I did on Friday as opposed to be about it. It’s really going to be more about something that’s been whirling around inside my head for a few weeks now and, as is usually the case, song lyrics and common sayings become more profound to me when such whirlings happen.

In the last month I’ve been home for a total of seven days. I’ve raced five times but to do so I’ve traveled door-to-door 152 hours and crossed 26 times zones.

Now some might think it’s to win world championships and that would be a good guess but it’s not the real reason. The real reason is because I can. I’ve ridden my bike 365 days a year, year in and year out for the last dozen years. Everyone, bar no one, that hears that thinks I am either crazy or a fool and I guess they wonder why? The simple answer and only one is because I can.

Many years ago my sister-in-law’s mother died of a painful cancer (what cancer isn’t painful) at an age that I believe was much younger than me now. I have never forgotten how I sobbed in my office on the phone when I heard about it. My father-in-law died of prostate cancer at a young age a few years ago. I held him only days before he died and I felt the grapefruit-sized tumors in his abdomen. My wife beat breast cancer twice and lives in fear everyday that she’ll have to do it a third time. The last time, in 2006, she underwent chemotherapy and after the first treatment she got spinal meningitis. So if the cancer wasn’t going to kill her maybe the meningitis would or maybe just leave her paralyzed and in a wheel chair for the rest of her life. Oh yeh, she also had 10 surgeries that year including ones to remove the cancer, two mastectomies, a hysterectomy, an ovarectomy and multiple reconstructive surgeries. While she was going through all this she told me the worst thing about it all was the possibility she would not see her daughters graduate from high school.

A few weeks ago my teammate Chris Lyman gets hit by a car riding his bike and the first paramedic on the scene didn’t think he was going to live. Mick and I visited him in the hospital a week later and it was a sobering experience. He had survived but it was still questionable whether he would walk again. I’m really happy to report he’s on the trainer spinning the cranks with one leg waiting for the other one to heal and apparently using hand cranks to complete his workouts.

I went to South Africa and Brazil for world championships this year. In Pietermaritzburg we would drive past the shanty towns every day. That was another sobering experience. Most of the dwellings were nothing more than cardboard shacks, something you would think homeless people might seek shelter in. The second time we drove by I noticed there were numbers painted on the side walls (if you could call them walls) and realized they were actually postal addresses. These were people’s houses where they live, most likely their entire lives. Now I am not a religious person but the only thing I could think of was ‘there by the grace of God go I’. It also dawned on me that the two bikes I brought to South Africa were worth more than the people that live in these dwellings probably made in their lifetimes.

I guess I am more or less an agnostic in my understanding of the term. I just don’t think my brain is big enough to grasp the complexity of God but for whatever reason, I am eternally thankful that I was born to my parents and not one of those in a shanty town in Pietermaritzburg. It hit home again yesterday as I drove past the barrios of Sao Paulo.

On the plane home today I found myself thinking about the portion of the line in the Jackson Browne song The Pretender, “… get up and do it again. Amen.” As I thought about it, it was the first time I actually focused on the word amen. Yes, amen! Thank goodness I can get up and do it again. Because I can!

Oh yeh, the bike race on Friday. Does it really matter what happened? Not really. Not really.

I finished second but the best part about it was that I did it. Because I can.

Now go buy a book.

Thanks, Rob

So Long 2012

The 2012 season is over. It’s hard to believe, but its true. While I’m sad that there is no more racing left in 2012, I am grateful to be able to give my body a rest. This year was my first year on Team Specialized, and I am amazed at how quickly the year went by. But as they say “time flies when you are having fun” and that’s exactly what this year was… FUN! I enjoyed meeting a good group of new people that share my love and commitment to cycling. From teammates to sponsors, everyone involved with this team loves cycling and the pain, glory, excitement, etc. that comes with it.

Our sponsors have been extremely gracious and I would like to say thank you to Specialized for amazing bikes, SRAM for infallible drivetrains, Zipp for fast wheels, Clif for delicious food, Smith Optics for amazing glasses, Strava for training help, and Squadra for really comfortable clothes. Their amazing equipment allows us to do what we love. I also would like thank the Northern California Cycling Foundation (NCCF) and the founders of the team for funding and running a program where aspiring young cyclists can race as a team, and also continuously learn both about cycling and life.

I look forward to returning to racing in about four months time, stronger and more motivated than ever before.

So here is to a winter spent deep in the pain caves, hating and loving every minute of it.

Thank you Team Specialized for an awesome first year and many more to come.

See you next year,

Jason S

Teamwork makes all the difference

Before coming to Bend I had spent a lot of time trying to get information about the road race course. Lots of time was spent pouring over Strava data, speaking to guys who had raced Cascade and even getting a copy of a rider's GoPro footage from Cascade. All of that research led me to the conclusion that it was all going to come down to the final climb that ended 5 km from the finish. Here is the Strava segment. Larry and I had discussed the race on several occasions and felt that our tactic would be to make sure that nobody got away without somebody from our team and to set a hard tempo up to the final climb. At that point it would be up to me to basically try to ride everybody off my wheel.

Teamwork was going to be very important to our race. Even before the race started Larry loaned me his front Zipp 404 as mine got smashed in my crash and had not been replaced yet. It's cold at 6,000' at 8am and with 20 miles of descending to start we were pretty bundled up. Once we started warming up I took off my wind jacket and stuffed it under my jersey so that I could dump it at the first feed. Larry came up and took it from me so that I wouldn't have to deal with it. Teamwork. Then riders started attacking and Don and Larry took turns covering and chasing people down as appropriate. More teamwork.

After the 2nd feed the race really started as we hit the hills. Larry and Don continued to take turns keeping the race under control. Don covered the last break over the second to last climb and then Larry took over to drive the field and close most of the gap to the break as we hit the bottom of "the climb". Not just teamwork, but total self-sacrifice.

As we got to that final climb I was thinking about a lot of things. I was thinking about how much my legs hurt after the previous day's TT. I was thinking about my rivals who were looking really strong. Including the Boulder Orthopedics guys who I was convinced were letting us do all the work so that they could unleash at the end. I was also thinking that, wow, Don and Larry have done a ton of work to put me in a position to possibly win this race. They were throwing their races away to help me and I did not want to let them down. Yes, I was hurting a bit and yes, my confidence was not at its absolute peak, but my team had done their job and now it was up to me. It is great to be able to sit in like a princess while your team does all the work, but with that comes the responsibility to deliver. There would be no giving up, no excuses. It was time to put up or shut up.

I made my move and got my gap. With a lot of suffering on my part and a bit of “you go. NO, YOU go” in the chasing group behind I held on to win. As I was suffering on that climb I was thinking about what teammate Jason Walker said about making this move. He believed that I could pull this off and that helped.

It felt good to win. It felt good to have teammates who were willing to throw everything that they had into a race to help me win. It felt good to repay their hard work and confidence. But this is what we do. We are focused on somebody from Team Specialized winning the race. It doesn't matter who it is. We throw our lot in behind the rider who we think has the best chance. Just ask defending National Criterium Champion Dean LaBerge who gladly gave his race away to protect teammate Jason Walker as he crushed the field to win solo and take Dean's title for 2012. Dean's comment about that? He had fun thwarting the chase. That is team work. That is how we roll on Team Specialized.

Yes! Cycling is a team sport... especially at Nationals

I placed 49th in today's USA Cycling Masters 50+ Road Race Championships.  That fact may have given you the image that I am saddened by this result at such an important event.  Okay, not just an "important" event, but the pinnacle of our season.  The race that defines us and has defined Team Specialized for the 25 years that we've been in this sport.  This is my 19th year with this team and it has always been very clear that USA Cycling National Championships have always been our teams goal.  Okay, we've had a few world champions on our team and that's pretty cool, but this is our week at nationals, so let's stay focused!

So, why am I still smiling some 6 hours after our race?  I'm smiling because my teammate for the past 18 years - Kevin Metcalfe just defended his road race championship and I helped.  So did teammate Don Langley.  Kevin wanted the race to the last climb to be fast and together so that he could do his climbing thing in the last 9km.  That's not exactly the same as dropping teammate Dean LaBerge off with 200m to go, but Kevin capitalized on our work and made us look good for our sacrifices. 

What all may not know is that Kevin is bouncing back from two broken collarbones in the past eight months.  He was on the House of Pain ride in December for the first fall and at the Fast and Furious Crit just 32 days ago when he broke his other collarbone.  That's a lot of turbo trainer rides!  BUT, it's also a lot of time to zero in on a season long goal of repeating your national championship.

We ask, but it's never easy for our junior teammates and those that attend the USA Cycling West Coast Regional Camp to talk to their parents about teamwork.  If done correctly, a teammate may win because of sacrifices one makes to the team.  Telling a parent that you placed 49th (or whatever) should be easy because of the true feeling one gets when their teammate wins.  It feels as good as winning yourself.  I know this to be true today because I cannot climb like Kevin.  I was realistic and willing to help him, so that the team came out on top.

I missed the action when the final split was made but the results tell the rest of the story.  Kevin rode in solo, which is a feat unto itself, but it's also a tactic because he challenged other teams to work together to catch him.  Oh, that feels so good to win!

Three big messages in this post - the importance of our preparation and performances at Nationals; the importance of bouncing back from setbacks, and the importance of teamwork!  Thanks for reading.  Cheers, Larry

Congratulations on your win Kevin.  It was Don and my pleasure to help you win this one!  Cheers, Larry