Hello everyone,
In two days I leave for an opportunity of a life time in Belgium. I am mentally and physically preparing myself for the gruesome sixteen hours of traveling in one day. I have been crossing out the days on my calendar until the day I leave for Europe. This is my first time ever flying alone, so I will have to be responsible and self-dependent, I am up for the challenge. I will find new idiotic ways to entertain myself during my sixteen hours of flying. Hopefully I sit next to a cute girl to whom I will have an exciting and intriguing conversation with. ;-) I look forward to racing out of my comfort zone and trying new things. My goal is to make myself and everyone proud, and to have exciting stories to tell when I get back. Wish me luck everybody!
(Huge thank you to USA Cycling, Team Specialized/Founders, and my parents.)
Jack Maddux
Monday, July 30, 2012
Journey to Gold at Track Nationals 2012
Coming home empty handed from Road Nationals, I decided at
the last minute to compete at Track Nationals hoping to repeat my success when
I was 14 years old. My parents had to
scramble to work out the logistics for me.
Luckily Mr. Leong, Justin’s (SJBC) dad, offered to help and Ken
Carpenter was able to pull some strings to get me a place to stay until my mom
arrived. How lucky was I to stay at
Marty Nothstein’s house, an Olympic gold medalist, and be coached by him? I was stoked and it set the tone for my quest
for gold.
The last day was the 500m time trial. It was time to start, 10 seconds.... I was breathing hard; looked up at the track and took deep breathes to relax. 3 seconds.....2.....1.... A clean start. I pumped my arms, moved my hips fast and went as hard as I could for a lap and a half. I finished with the new best time but I had to wait to see how Chazmichael did. He came in 2nd and I finished 4th. This meant I won my second national championship in the 15-16 omnium.
Thank you Marty, Ken, Larry, Billy, Team Specialized, Mr. Leong, and my family! This win wouldn’t have been possible without your help and support!
The first race of the omnium was the points race. I stayed attentive and was ready to move
with any attacks. I knew I had to stay
consistent with getting points in order to win.
After the third or fourth sprint, a break of 4 went off the front. Chazmichael Morales drove the pace to get to
the leaders. I looked behind and noticed that the race was
breaking up, so I dug deep and bridged to the break away. The break consisted of Zeke Mostov, Broderick
Hartley, Jordan Marhanka, and Gavin Hoover. Marty yelled at me saying, "you are in
second place, watch number 73 (Zeke Mostov)!" We lapped the field and gained 20 points on
everyone. I won the race on the last lap
by winning the sprint. I was now in the
driver’s seat, leading the omnium with 7 points and I knew I was a marked man
for the rest of the events.
The next day was the match sprints. It had only been my second time doing it, but
no excuses, it was Nationals. First, we
had to qualify doing a flying 200m and only 8 moved on to the sprints. I got
4th with a time of 12.286. Luckily, I
was the only one who qualified with omnium points. I knew that qualifying would separate my omnium
lead from the others. After I beat the 5th
place qualifier in one ride, I had to face Chazmichael Morales, the 1st seed. I lost in 2 rides to Chazmichael, so I had to
face the 2nd seed for the 3rd place medal. I lost the 1st ride, which gave me only one
more chance for 3rd place. I played to my strengths, attacking the other rider
as soon as the official blew the whistle. He caught me and I held him to the rail for as
long as I could, but he had the strength.
He came over the top at turn 3 and beat me to the finish. I ended up fourth and extended my lead to 9
points over 2nd place Chazmichael Morales, who had 7 points.
 |
| Marty and I before my match sprints |
Determination was on my mind on day 3 of Track Nationals. It was the scratch race and we had the biggest
crowd that I've ever seen at T-Town. Team
director Larry Nolan warned me not to get overwhelmed and also not to veer away
from my race plan with a crowd so big. I
relaxed. When the race was about to
begin, Marty told me "C'mon kid, this is your race, c'mon!" A break went off right away, but I had to be
patient and let it go because I knew that someone would chase it back. After four laps, the break was caught and Zeke
Mostov (Garmin) countered, I followed and we opened up a gap immediately. Zeke was trying to drop me after I took my
pull, but I wasn't going to give up. Marty
at turn 2 yelled at me saying, "short pulls!" I did exactly what he said and conserved my
energy for the sprint. Coming into one
to go, I was leading Zeke high on the track.
In turn 2, I jumped putting Zeke behind me. Marty and I talked about how to win a sprint
on this type of track; it’s all about placement. I was in the money, leading through turn 3 and
4, but Zeke came over the top and got the win by a bike throw. I was pissed! I hate losing and especially by how close it
was. I ended up with 5 more points,
totaling 14 points for the omnium, and Zeke and Chazmichael were tied in second
place with 10 points each. That evening,
Coach Billy Innes called and talked to me about "leg speed and
speed". He also helped calm me down
with the reminder that I could still win the omnium.
 |
| Before the start of the scratch race |
 |
| 500 meter time trial |
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Junior Tour of Ireland
July 10th through the 15th was the Junior Tour of Ireland.
Marcus Smith and I joined two guest Specialized riders, Jackson Long and Stephen
Basset for the six stage race in Castlebar, Ireland. Masters teammate, Craig
Roemer, was the director of our four man team.
Racing in Ireland was an incredible experience. We raced
along roads with beautiful scenery next to the Atlantic Ocean, through the
green hills and small villages. It was interesting to see so many long haired
sheep in and along the roads in the countryside. They seemed to be used to the
cyclists because most of them did not care that we were passing feet away. We
were fortunate that the rain was not a big issue for us.
We found the people of Ireland to be especially friendly and
hospitable towards us. The townspeople were very happy to have this race in
their community. One person that was especially helpful to our team was Sean
McNicholl. He was our driver, mechanic, guide and good friend throughout the
race. We spent a lot of time with Sean and got to know him well. He helped to
make our trip memorable and so much fun.
As far as racing goes, we won the Overall Team GC.
Individually, Stephen finished 4th, Marcus 5th, Kyle 11th and Jackson 21st. We
had three podium finishes in the six days of racing, including a stage win.
I especially want to thank Craig Roemer for being an
enthusiastic and motivating director. He played a huge role in Specialized
Juniors getting the team GC. Craig was so organized with his race plans, course
recon, and logistics for the whole race. Thanks for being there for us Craig!
Kyle Torres
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
2012 USA Cycling Masters Track Nationals
As a former Apple employee (1982-1996) I love the old mantra
“The Journey is the Reward”. Tomorrow I
leave for my 17th trip in 20 years to the USA Cycling Masters Track
National Championship in Colorado Springs, CO.
Three quick stories:
Carson, CA (2010, 2011)
Skipped – Redmond, WA 2001; Kenosha, WI 2003, T-Town, PA 2011
1993 Kilo podium (l-r) Harvey Nitz, Don Scales, Rory O'Reilly, Larry Nolan, Glen Winkel
-
I started racing at the San Jose velodrome in 1992. I didn’t even know what a velodrome was until
1991, and I’m a 5th generation Californian. That’s pretty sad. Well, it took a good number of visits to get
comfy on a fixed gear bicycle, but once a rider relaxes, the faster they
go! At the end of the season, after Masters
Nationals had already taken place and results showed up in Velonews, I gained a
new level of hope. My 3km pursuit time in
San Jose would have placed me 2nd at Nationals. Fast forward to 1993 with Masters Track
Nationals in Colorado Springs… I walk away with my first two national
championships in the 3km pursuit and match sprints. A special “thank you” to teammate Don Langley
and Jeff Solt for their assistance with the sprinting. I was a good student back then and simply did
what they said to do (“take ‘em long”).
Later that year I was asked to join the Subaru-Montgomery master’s team.
-
2012 will be my 19th year with this
team. Subaru-Montgomery became
Montgomery-Bell, which begat US Postal, then Discovery Channel, and then
Specialized. We’ve been with Specialized
since 2008 and we’ve had a junior cycling team since 2007. My whole point for writing these blog entries
is to inspire the juniors, inspire our FaceBook fans, and to give me that extra
boost of motivation before Nationals.
Which brings me to my last point and will help to connect
all three stories…
-
I just finished reading Marty Nothstein’s “The Price
of Gold”. Perfect timing for nationals! An inspirational read. Marty’s stories, in a well written
format. Two highlights for me in this fun
and fast read,
o “control
the things you can control” – Marty Nothstein.
Match sprinting has a boatload of variables but Marty’s strength lie in
his ability to control some, and let go of others. For me, I love to points race, but I can better
control my 2,000meter pursuiting goals.
Get as fit as I possibly can with pursuiting, and perhaps I’ll have good
fortune with points racing(?),
o After
Marty earned silver in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics his perspective changed for
all other events. He trained through big
events, world cup events, and even national championships, because he was solely
focused on the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Our
team has had similar goals – work through the smaller races to prepare for Nationals
and Worlds.
Oh, the places I’ve been (National Track Championships)
Colorado Springs, CO (1993, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009,
2012)
Tallahassee, FL (1994)
Trexlertown, PA (1995, 1996, 2007)
San Diego, CA (1996)
Houston, TX (1997)
Redmond, WA (1998)
Frisco, TX (1999, 2010)
Indianapolis, IN (2000, 2005)
San Jose, CA (2008)Carson, CA (2010, 2011)
Skipped – Redmond, WA 2001; Kenosha, WI 2003, T-Town, PA 2011
Where to next?
COS tomorrow! Cheers, Larry Nolan, Team Specialized
2012 Cascade Classic, masters 35 1,2,3
Hi everyone,
Thought I'd give a recap of the Cascade classic from this past weekend. This is definitely one I circle every year and look forward to though I was a bit more subdued this year. Teammate and one of the GC favs for the race, Chris Lyman, crashed hard training the week before; we all know what Chris has endured the past week and we are all thinking of him. I must have had 15 different cyclists come up to me this weekend asking about Chris. Masters racers are pretty cool.
Disclaimer: I'm not going to proofread this thing so please excuse typos.
Stage 1 - Mt Bachelor RR - Nats Preview
Why did they have to change the nats course? I'm going to keep whining about this until I get myself into shape. Knowing I wouldn't be climbing with the likes of Phipps, J Moore, Bryant, Carinio, Sam K, etc, I told myself I should probably try and get in the break - it would be the only way to win the stage and/or the overall.
The race was pretty aggressive actually and a promising break went up the road right after I'd attacked. But ThirstyBear, Folsom and others weren't having any of it. They chased hard on the Cascade Lks Hwy and we caught the break just after the last feed.
I was feeling horrible, having almost been popped before the first feed zone (downhill mind you if that gives you and indication of my "fitness"). I hung tough and tried to get to the front. The 2 kickers before the real climb nearly killed me but somehow I managed to hang on.
Now to the real race. I was able to move up and get myself 4th heading into the Sparks/Todd Lake climbs. I would need every inch to gracefully float back to the back of the pack and hopefully attach to the "contender" group for the finish. I barely made it onto them before the flat in between climbs. But I made it. However, we weren't going to catch the leaders. There were 9 others in between us and the finish so I was sprinting for practice. Well practice makes perfect. I got tenth by winning our little group sprint. This really only mattered because of TT start positioning but that can be mentally important. Overall I was happy to be 10th overall. Carino won the day with Phipps a close second and Bryant taking 3rd. Studs.
Stage 2 - Skyliners TT
I really like this course and it seems to suit me, for about 5-8th every year. Wait, then maybe I don't like this course. Whatever. Nats TT is going to be pan flat and I needed some work on my position and fitness - this would be a good test. I've done some research on my TTs versus others and have really figured out I'm giving something away on the downhills. This needs to be improved so I've "practicing" it as well as trying to improve the position.
The race sets in and so does reality. I'm looking at my power meter and things must not be right. I'm barely holding 300 watts, uphill, and I have at least 12 min more of climbing. I know my power from the year before on the climb (330 watts), so I'm starting to get a bit depressed. I climb on. Near the top my minute man, Ben Thompson, catches me. Sucky but I know how strong Ben is and that he's been using a TT bike this year so I'm not too surprised. Now for the downhill. Ben was a bit of a carrot and it didn't take me long to catch and pass him. I was only running a 53 qring (Rob A had sent me his 56/44 qrings but they didn't work with my Spec/Quarq crank set up). Whatever again. I can pedal 125rpm. So I did. Ben and I swapped positions a couple times going down but my power felt steady and he didn't gain any more time on me. I finish 8th on the day. Not horrible though I felt horrible. Kudos to the bike, helmet and position. W/O them I would have been 32nd.
Sam Kreig, who says he can't TT uphill won the day, convincingly - 20 seconds over Phipps, who I thought was a lock for 30 seconds on everyone. Things were very tight for the next 3-4 positions. Then me.
Sitting 8th overall after the stage.
Stage 3 Crit - downtown Bend.
Same course they've been doing for 3 or 4 years, same course from last year nats. Nearly the same result I always get in this crit. In the promising break, caught with 2 laps to go.
This crit is way too short - 30 minutes this year after they decided to reduce by 5 min for some unknown reason. Tres sucky. Nobody ever gets away in this crit because anyone can hang for 30 min, especially when there's 1km straight stretches. Things will be different for nats though.
Knowing this I told myself to get in a break. Why? Because it's a lot more fun then sitting in with a bunch of dudes. I stayed near the front for the first 10 min of the race waiting for the right time to take off. Then it presented itself - hard man Dan Martin off the front solo, I'm sitting 5th wheel with field slowing down coming through start/finish and a tiny gap to poke through out of the wind where it wouldn't be easy to follow. I caught him quickly with Ben Thompson on my wheel and the three of us were off. This was looking good. This one has to work, right? Ben was sitting 5th overall I think with a lot to gain by potentially winning the race (10 sec time bonus plus whatever gap we'd have on the field) Of course, I didn't think he'd win but he should be motivated. He was and we all traded good pulls and established 20 seconds. Then come the $100 premes. Oh no.
Me: "Guys, let's split the premes. Don't sprint."
Dudes:
Me: Uh, wonder if they heard me. Oh god.
Dan and Ben go for the $100. Of course.
Me: "Guys, c'mon. We can stay win the race..."
Dudes:
Not good.
We had 2 more $100 premes. Same thing from both of them. I'm not happy. We are dicking around on the backstretch, partly because these guys are tired from sprinting, pointing fingers at each other, partly because I don't feel like I should pick up the pieces. Honestly, I"m not sure who was initiating the sprint but they were definitely both going for them. I still want to win the race.
3 laps to go, we have 8 seconds. Ding, ding, ding. Another $100 preme. Guess who's going to win this one? Kudos to Dan Martin for leading me out as 4 or 5 others had bridged up out of the pack. It wasn't close as I rolled through with 2 to go. Head down, I keep hammering thinking something may happen to keep me away, or the right guy will bridge. Nope. Not happening. I'm swarmed. I hold my position near the front and sprint in for 8th I think.
My wife went and purchased a new swim suit with the $100. She deserves it after playing mommy in strange confines for 5 days.
Stage 4 - Awbrey Circuit Race
I obviously love this race and was very interested to see how I'd perform knowing my current fitness, how I felt at LCSR with similar tough guys (I wasn't near them), etc.
500m into the race a break rolls away. It swells to around 10 dudes. I'm right there but can't go with it for a number of reasons (my reasons):
Things stay this way for awhile: We go balistic up the feed zone climb - I detach a bit knowing I will have to make a big move on the false flat - I get back on and rest up for Archie Briggs. Archie ended up not being as hard for me as the feed zone climb but I am still hurting.
We haven't seen the break forever. We've have a couple updates from the moto but nothing consistent and nobody really knows where they are. All we know is there's probably no chance we see them again. We take a right on the descent leading to the feed zone climb and moto tells us 2:45. Uh oh. This one is really going to hurt as the virtual race leaders are in the break and we only have 10K to go.
Phipps, et al go all out on the feed zone climb. I slide back and away from the group but don't panic. For some reason I decide I might as well try to get back on, so I push hard for 1:30 or so until I reattach. Ouchers. I have no idea why I'm doing this as our group is racing for 7th, I am out of the top 10 because of the break, etc.
Carino and Ben T attacked and got a decent gap off our group. Phipps in on the front doing his thing w/o much help. Things are pretty close between the top 5 and I decide I'd rather help to ensure NorCal hard men win this race (or Sam K), than the guys in the break or Matt or Ben (sorry guys). So I go to the front and put in a big dig for the group. I get some thanks. Back to the back. Rest. back to the front, go hard. repeata. One more big pull into the base of Archie and then I pull the plug and watch the group disappear.
Well, they ended up catching everyone in the break except Dan Martin who stayed away by 4 seconds. maybe I could have stayed in and sprinted for 2nd. Or maybe I pass out going up AB for the 4th time with what will undoubtedly be 5 2012 national champions.
I'm just happy to be close to them right now.
Good times guys and we missed you Lyman.
Jason
Thought I'd give a recap of the Cascade classic from this past weekend. This is definitely one I circle every year and look forward to though I was a bit more subdued this year. Teammate and one of the GC favs for the race, Chris Lyman, crashed hard training the week before; we all know what Chris has endured the past week and we are all thinking of him. I must have had 15 different cyclists come up to me this weekend asking about Chris. Masters racers are pretty cool.
Disclaimer: I'm not going to proofread this thing so please excuse typos.
Stage 1 - Mt Bachelor RR - Nats Preview
Why did they have to change the nats course? I'm going to keep whining about this until I get myself into shape. Knowing I wouldn't be climbing with the likes of Phipps, J Moore, Bryant, Carinio, Sam K, etc, I told myself I should probably try and get in the break - it would be the only way to win the stage and/or the overall.
The race was pretty aggressive actually and a promising break went up the road right after I'd attacked. But ThirstyBear, Folsom and others weren't having any of it. They chased hard on the Cascade Lks Hwy and we caught the break just after the last feed.
I was feeling horrible, having almost been popped before the first feed zone (downhill mind you if that gives you and indication of my "fitness"). I hung tough and tried to get to the front. The 2 kickers before the real climb nearly killed me but somehow I managed to hang on.
Now to the real race. I was able to move up and get myself 4th heading into the Sparks/Todd Lake climbs. I would need every inch to gracefully float back to the back of the pack and hopefully attach to the "contender" group for the finish. I barely made it onto them before the flat in between climbs. But I made it. However, we weren't going to catch the leaders. There were 9 others in between us and the finish so I was sprinting for practice. Well practice makes perfect. I got tenth by winning our little group sprint. This really only mattered because of TT start positioning but that can be mentally important. Overall I was happy to be 10th overall. Carino won the day with Phipps a close second and Bryant taking 3rd. Studs.
Stage 2 - Skyliners TT
I really like this course and it seems to suit me, for about 5-8th every year. Wait, then maybe I don't like this course. Whatever. Nats TT is going to be pan flat and I needed some work on my position and fitness - this would be a good test. I've done some research on my TTs versus others and have really figured out I'm giving something away on the downhills. This needs to be improved so I've "practicing" it as well as trying to improve the position.
The race sets in and so does reality. I'm looking at my power meter and things must not be right. I'm barely holding 300 watts, uphill, and I have at least 12 min more of climbing. I know my power from the year before on the climb (330 watts), so I'm starting to get a bit depressed. I climb on. Near the top my minute man, Ben Thompson, catches me. Sucky but I know how strong Ben is and that he's been using a TT bike this year so I'm not too surprised. Now for the downhill. Ben was a bit of a carrot and it didn't take me long to catch and pass him. I was only running a 53 qring (Rob A had sent me his 56/44 qrings but they didn't work with my Spec/Quarq crank set up). Whatever again. I can pedal 125rpm. So I did. Ben and I swapped positions a couple times going down but my power felt steady and he didn't gain any more time on me. I finish 8th on the day. Not horrible though I felt horrible. Kudos to the bike, helmet and position. W/O them I would have been 32nd.
Sam Kreig, who says he can't TT uphill won the day, convincingly - 20 seconds over Phipps, who I thought was a lock for 30 seconds on everyone. Things were very tight for the next 3-4 positions. Then me.
Sitting 8th overall after the stage.
Stage 3 Crit - downtown Bend.
Same course they've been doing for 3 or 4 years, same course from last year nats. Nearly the same result I always get in this crit. In the promising break, caught with 2 laps to go.
This crit is way too short - 30 minutes this year after they decided to reduce by 5 min for some unknown reason. Tres sucky. Nobody ever gets away in this crit because anyone can hang for 30 min, especially when there's 1km straight stretches. Things will be different for nats though.
Knowing this I told myself to get in a break. Why? Because it's a lot more fun then sitting in with a bunch of dudes. I stayed near the front for the first 10 min of the race waiting for the right time to take off. Then it presented itself - hard man Dan Martin off the front solo, I'm sitting 5th wheel with field slowing down coming through start/finish and a tiny gap to poke through out of the wind where it wouldn't be easy to follow. I caught him quickly with Ben Thompson on my wheel and the three of us were off. This was looking good. This one has to work, right? Ben was sitting 5th overall I think with a lot to gain by potentially winning the race (10 sec time bonus plus whatever gap we'd have on the field) Of course, I didn't think he'd win but he should be motivated. He was and we all traded good pulls and established 20 seconds. Then come the $100 premes. Oh no.
Me: "Guys, let's split the premes. Don't sprint."
Dudes:
Me: Uh, wonder if they heard me. Oh god.
Dan and Ben go for the $100. Of course.
Me: "Guys, c'mon. We can stay win the race..."
Dudes:
Not good.
We had 2 more $100 premes. Same thing from both of them. I'm not happy. We are dicking around on the backstretch, partly because these guys are tired from sprinting, pointing fingers at each other, partly because I don't feel like I should pick up the pieces. Honestly, I"m not sure who was initiating the sprint but they were definitely both going for them. I still want to win the race.
3 laps to go, we have 8 seconds. Ding, ding, ding. Another $100 preme. Guess who's going to win this one? Kudos to Dan Martin for leading me out as 4 or 5 others had bridged up out of the pack. It wasn't close as I rolled through with 2 to go. Head down, I keep hammering thinking something may happen to keep me away, or the right guy will bridge. Nope. Not happening. I'm swarmed. I hold my position near the front and sprint in for 8th I think.
My wife went and purchased a new swim suit with the $100. She deserves it after playing mommy in strange confines for 5 days.
Stage 4 - Awbrey Circuit Race
I obviously love this race and was very interested to see how I'd perform knowing my current fitness, how I felt at LCSR with similar tough guys (I wasn't near them), etc.
500m into the race a break rolls away. It swells to around 10 dudes. I'm right there but can't go with it for a number of reasons (my reasons):
- I'm solo.
- A break has never stayed away since I"ve done this race, at least not from lap 1.
- Even though I'm nowhere near the strongest, I'd be marked and if I jump Thirsty and others would chase.
- I want to see how I climb with the fast guys. Fun, huh?
Things stay this way for awhile: We go balistic up the feed zone climb - I detach a bit knowing I will have to make a big move on the false flat - I get back on and rest up for Archie Briggs. Archie ended up not being as hard for me as the feed zone climb but I am still hurting.
We haven't seen the break forever. We've have a couple updates from the moto but nothing consistent and nobody really knows where they are. All we know is there's probably no chance we see them again. We take a right on the descent leading to the feed zone climb and moto tells us 2:45. Uh oh. This one is really going to hurt as the virtual race leaders are in the break and we only have 10K to go.
Phipps, et al go all out on the feed zone climb. I slide back and away from the group but don't panic. For some reason I decide I might as well try to get back on, so I push hard for 1:30 or so until I reattach. Ouchers. I have no idea why I'm doing this as our group is racing for 7th, I am out of the top 10 because of the break, etc.
Carino and Ben T attacked and got a decent gap off our group. Phipps in on the front doing his thing w/o much help. Things are pretty close between the top 5 and I decide I'd rather help to ensure NorCal hard men win this race (or Sam K), than the guys in the break or Matt or Ben (sorry guys). So I go to the front and put in a big dig for the group. I get some thanks. Back to the back. Rest. back to the front, go hard. repeata. One more big pull into the base of Archie and then I pull the plug and watch the group disappear.
Well, they ended up catching everyone in the break except Dan Martin who stayed away by 4 seconds. maybe I could have stayed in and sprinted for 2nd. Or maybe I pass out going up AB for the 4th time with what will undoubtedly be 5 2012 national champions.
I'm just happy to be close to them right now.
Good times guys and we missed you Lyman.
Jason
Monday, July 23, 2012
Chasing Dreams...Cascade Classic Stage Race
The 2012 racing season is not over for me, not
even close! And so starts the race I having been looking forward to since
nationals; the race in one of my favorite towns- Bend, Oregon, with my favorite
RV parks.
I want to do well in this race. All training I've done in the past year has been for nationals, and also for Cascade Classic Stage Race in Bend, Or.
I’ve been told that Stage 1 can make or break my overall finish in this race. This is my first time racing “CCSR” and my plan in Stage 1 is to ride in the front and go very hard up the final climb and sprint for the line. I've studied the course on Strava, trained smart, and incorporated a sprint workout 1x/week specifically for Stage 1 of Cascade - the theory being that if I can make it up the last killer climb with the climbers then I can out sprint them.
So with 10k to go, I go and I go hard. I feel strong and I’m able to push the pace with the leaders up the final hill. Good, now I just need to set up for the sprint. With 2k to go, I’m in the lead group of 20. The road flattens out and the pace picks up. As I’m setting up for the sprint, I’m exactly where I need to be. We are about to enter the final 1k when my leg cramps up and I’m not able to even turn the pedal. There goes my dream. I feel crushed as I fall off the back of the lead group. To add salt to the wound, the chase group with 20 or more guys rides past me and I’m barely able to pedal and jump in. I roll through for 45th place, completely dumbfounded by what has just happened. Stage 1 is a huge bummer for me, but I’m determined to continue and I will not give up. Tomorrow is the time trial and the crit. Please check back to see how Stage 2 and 3 play out for me.
I want to do well in this race. All training I've done in the past year has been for nationals, and also for Cascade Classic Stage Race in Bend, Or.
I’ve been told that Stage 1 can make or break my overall finish in this race. This is my first time racing “CCSR” and my plan in Stage 1 is to ride in the front and go very hard up the final climb and sprint for the line. I've studied the course on Strava, trained smart, and incorporated a sprint workout 1x/week specifically for Stage 1 of Cascade - the theory being that if I can make it up the last killer climb with the climbers then I can out sprint them.
So with 10k to go, I go and I go hard. I feel strong and I’m able to push the pace with the leaders up the final hill. Good, now I just need to set up for the sprint. With 2k to go, I’m in the lead group of 20. The road flattens out and the pace picks up. As I’m setting up for the sprint, I’m exactly where I need to be. We are about to enter the final 1k when my leg cramps up and I’m not able to even turn the pedal. There goes my dream. I feel crushed as I fall off the back of the lead group. To add salt to the wound, the chase group with 20 or more guys rides past me and I’m barely able to pedal and jump in. I roll through for 45th place, completely dumbfounded by what has just happened. Stage 1 is a huge bummer for me, but I’m determined to continue and I will not give up. Tomorrow is the time trial and the crit. Please check back to see how Stage 2 and 3 play out for me.
Thanks for reading,
Diego Binatena, Team Specialized Junior Racing
Cycling 2012 Comes Closer to an End
As
this race season comes to an end, I want to recapture and reminisce some great
moments I’ve had this season with my team. My experience this year with the team
was a highlight of my life. I’ve learned many new things; from team tactics,
learning to be a good teammate and sacrifice myself for the good of the team. A
team quality that was so evident in this year’s Tour de France. Sea Otter, an
important race for our team and team sponsors, for example taught me to sacrifice
my weekend to travel and race for my teammates to put out a good result for our
sponsors. And indeed we did with podiums in both events we participated in.
That weekend out of many other weekends and weeks with the team is one I’ll
never forget.
Another lesson I learned this year is that not
everything is given to you easily in cycling and life. All the dreams you want,
you have to work harder than you’ve ever worked before for those dreams to happen.
Although not all of my dreams came true this year, one dream that did come true
and that was being a part of this team. The opportunity was an eye opener of
what is out there and what is yet to come.
As I begin transitioning into the off season, I plan
on trying to pull off some last minute results for my team, teammates, sponsors,
and parents for helping me get to where I am so far in my life. Once that’s over
with, I’ll take a break, play water polo for my school team, and hang out with
friends. Although I haven’t begun to assess the 2013 season, I’m already
getting excited for what is to come.
Thanks for reading,
~Nick
Thursday, July 12, 2012
NOT GOOD ENOUGH
It's been few weeks since the Nationals, and I've had time to think about everything. First of all,
I crashed in the road race, picked myself back up and managed to finish with the leaders. Shortly
thereafter I had to be taken to the hospital, where I spent the rest of the day being cleaned up. The
next day I ended up finishing 2nd in the TT although I was pretty beatup. My last day I finished 5th
in the crit. To some that seem like a pretty good week all things considered, but it's not good enough for me. I went to Augusta, GA to win. But in loosing I learned alot of things about myself and racing, things that I can use over the next year to get better. Because next year loosing is not option. See you next time.
Sean
I crashed in the road race, picked myself back up and managed to finish with the leaders. Shortly
thereafter I had to be taken to the hospital, where I spent the rest of the day being cleaned up. The
next day I ended up finishing 2nd in the TT although I was pretty beatup. My last day I finished 5th
in the crit. To some that seem like a pretty good week all things considered, but it's not good enough for me. I went to Augusta, GA to win. But in loosing I learned alot of things about myself and racing, things that I can use over the next year to get better. Because next year loosing is not option. See you next time.
Sean
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Chasing youth
I was the M45+ GC leader after the TT (3rd) and Crit (1st), so I was wearing the yellow jersey. Unfortunately, this race also had elevation (3,000 @ 5,000), heat (90s), a good distance (110km) and really keen competition. Thankfully I had a teammate in Rob Anderson, but Teammate and Team Specialized promoter Bubba Melcher had to skip the race because he was up to his eyeballs in logistics.
Six laps of this 18.5km road course. Lap one is gentle but a lead of three is established. Lap two see four more go off the front. Rob, I and others chase but we are not making progress. Lap three and we are at least four different groups on the road. Jonathan Laine gets his front wheel taken out and goes down. I wait for him as the follow vehicle is behind us. Jon and I ride the remaining three laps as if we are on our own "death ride". Thankfully I finish 11th and barely hold onto 3rd GC.
LCSR RR - That was the most I suffered in a single race!
Back to a positive note : Congrats to Cale Reeder for his GC win. I know I can't beat him in a TT or RR but that will never stop me from trying, including some suffering along the way.
Cheers, Larry Nolan
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