Farewell and Thank You

As my final year as a junior and member of Team Specialized comes to an end, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone that is part of the team for all the support they have given me the past two years. It was such an honor to be chosen for this program. I have made so many great friends that I will stay in contact with for a very long time. I have developed so much as a rider because of the expert advice we get from Larry, Craig, Billy and all the other masters teammates.

I will miss all the fun team trips. I have really great memories of team camps, San Dimas Stage Race, L’Abitibi, and the Tour of Ireland. The first thing I remember about being a part of the team is getting picked up in the team van at the Oakland Airport for our camp at the Smith’s house. Getting in this van, that was all decked out in sponsor logos, made me feel pretty special.

Thank you so much to all the founders of Team Specialized Juniors for making this team possible. Thank you to Larry for being such a positive influence on me and for all the guidance in my cycling career. Thank you to all of the wonderful sponsors for backing up this team.  Being on this team for the past two years has been one of the highlights of my life. I will be on a U-23 team next year and I look forward to seeing all the riders and their families at the races.

Kyle Torres 

Winning: as a family

Two weeks ago was the 2wheel/ Early Bird Women's Criterium (long name) which was hosting the Masters Men Criterium Championship. For me the day started early at Larry Nolan's house. We got up ate breakfast walked out to the van and started driving. Only to have to take a quick stop for Larry's morning Double Gulp, then again to re-tighten Jon's bike after having it almost fall off the van going 50 on the Highway! After those two quick stops we smoothly made it to the race. We got there before most of the race sponsors arrived to set up their tents for the day. I was not preregistered so I first filled out the registration sheet, and handed them the $28ish to race the junior race. The race was 30 minutes long. The race started and the stacked field of four smoothly rolled together for nearly 10 minutes. Until there was a prime, which is where I sprinted to get the prime, and heard the bell for a second prime. I thought to myself, why not keep going? So, I held my pace for a quarter of the lap (1.5 km) and eased off so my competition could catch back up because he was the only 3 bike lengths behind, and I wanted to set myself up to take the prime again. I did, and the two of us (the only 17-18s racing) rotated until the last half a lap. I had already tried to get away a few laps before.  I prepared myself to sit on his wheel until the final 200 meters over the small hill.  As we came around the final corner (400-550 meters) I could see Jon, and his competition going slowly into the chicane. As we rolled into the chicane they were about to come out of the chicane. We were at 250 meters and I knew I needed the inside as we sprinted through the left-right of the chicane. I sprinted and got the left side and crested over the hill and saw Larry on the far left. I slowly drifted to the left so he could get a better picture, and this is how it came out:

I shook my competitors hand, said "good race" and made my way to the finish to see how Jon would do. He ended up getting second my a quarter of a wheel. After results were posted I was reminded that there were still prizes to be picked up. I ended up winning $60, and much more in merchandise. It seems the $28 was worth it. When I got home I looked On face book and found out that my dad finished just in front of Chuck Hutcheson, who is a fierce competitor.

After I heard the result I decided that I should go for a ride to loosen up my legs from racing my heart out at San Ardo Road race the day before, and working hard earlier in the day in the Junior race. I came home and looked at the clock, and realized that the P12s are racing then, and I was anxious to find out the results. After waiting over an hour I did not see anything on Facebook, or Twitter. About 45 minutes later my mom comes home and tells me that my brother James won the P12 race. It took me a while to put the pieces together that all three of us one in the same day. When James got home we said congratulations to each other, and called it a great day!

Thank you for reading,
Christopher LaBerge

Cascade Stage Race & Rapha Northwest Classic Stage Race

Cascade Cycling Classic Stage Race
This would be the biggest stage race I ever competed in with more than 100 riders.
The road race was 72 miles, starting with a descent and ending with a six mile climb. At the start Diego and I bundled up. After the descent I fell off the back of the pack to take mine and Diego's arm warmers, knee warmers, and jackets to the follow car. It was nice to stay warm on the descent without worrying about overheating on the flats.

When we hit the final climb Diego rode near the front and started attacking. The pack immediatly blew up and I paced myself up the climb trying to follow wheels. Coming into the finish I was caught by a large group and finished 49th. Diego charlie horsed with 3k to go and went from being in the front group to having to unclip and losing a minute to the leaders.

In the time trial I set a new PR but still did not finish near the front of the pack. Diego finished 13th with a very fast time. In the Criterium I finished with the same time as the pack, happy that I did not get caught up in one of the crashes. I knew the Circuit race would be the most important stage of the four stages for Diego and I.

The Circuit race was really fun. Diego and I stayed near each other and would help each other out when we could. At one point I was following Diego's wheel up the feed zone hill and when I looked back our small group had gapped the rest of the field. We were brought back but it was a good sign for me because it meant the rest of the field was hurting just as bad as I was. On the last lap I barely suffered over the top of the feedzone hill. I knew if I was going to make it to the finish with the field I would need to start the last hill in the front. We hit the final climb and it was an all out sprint to keep up. I made it over the steep part near the back of the now small field and found myself chasing gaps over the false flat. Eventually the field got away and I chased them to the line to finish about one minute down. I finished mid pack in the GC, much better than last year where I was dropped hard in the road race and circuit race and barely finished top 70.

Diego ended up top 20 in the GC after he attacked on the final climb in the circuit race and got brought back near the finish.

Rapha Stage Race
After Cascade the Lansing family and I headed down to the Northwest Classic Stage Race, sponsored by Rapha and many other generous supporters. The promoters only allowed road bike for the time trial to make it easier for racers travelling long distances. That was okay with Diego and I since we were on the fastest road bikes out there, Specialized road bikes.

Diego won the TT and I took 11th. The field was very competitive and you could tell everybody wanted to win really bad. It was like Nationals with a smaller field of only 35 riders. In the Criterium later in the day everybody attacked us trying to take the yellow jersey from Diego and I. We would not let them take control of the race from us and managed to keep the group together for the most part.

To conserve energy I would do most of my pulls on the technical downhill section. I would bomb the turns and bring my speed into the uphill. Using this technique I was able to use minimal energy while helping the field stay together. The pulls took their toll on me though and in the later part of the race Diego had to do a lot of work to bring back breakaways while I tried to keep up. We definitely gave it our all and walked away from the race still holding onto the jersey...with Diego managing to take 3rd in the criterium at the same time!

The road race was where the competition had the best chance of gaining time on Diego. It was still not a very good chance because Diego was riding like a monster, plus I was dedicated to help Diego win and was ready to give it my all for him. With two laps to go there were two 15-16's with a couple minutes on the field, somehow they got away unnoticed and we only knew there were off when the motorcycle referee notified the field. It was go time.

Diego and I chased hard for a whole lap. Every time I thought I could not keep going I would go harder. Qoutes from Jens Voight were ringing in my head. Near the end of the second lap I had that feeling where your legs are full of lactic acid and you feel like they will not move anymore. "Shut up legs!" I screamed in my head while heading up the base of the final climb. When my legs felt like lead the field came around me and finished off the breakaway, while I floundered off the back.

Despite being by himself the last lap and pulling back a few more breakaway attempts, Diego managed to hang onto the yellow jersey. After a strict diet of pasta, chicken, and other healthy products assigned to us by our professional nutritionist on the trip it was time to celebrate with apple cider and pizza.

Diego and I napped peacefully all the way home while our professional chauffeur drove over the rolling roads of Washington, the long and tiring highways of Oregon and California, and navigated the traffic of L. A, where we finally reached home at the beach house where I would stay thanks to the hospitality of Diego and his parents. Later in the week I would race Brentwood GP, hit up Disney Land, and then fly home to Nor Cal.

Huge thank you to the Lansings for putting up with me for three weeks and for their hospitality, my parents for letting me leave home (and my chores) for three weeks, and Diego for being a great friend.

Thank you for reading,
Jon

Tour de L'abitibi

Back in July I raced the Tour de L'abitibi in Quebec, Canada.  Team Specialized had attended this race as a team in 2010 and 2011.  Instead of racing with Marcus and Kyle in Ireland I went to L'abitibi instead.  The race was 6 days July 16-22.  The race consisted of a very flat and consistently fast 600km of racing.  I raced for a composite team, Mid-Atlantic Development Foundation instead of Team Specialized.

This race was special also because it is my last race as a junior and before starting college August 23rd at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO where I will be racing Collegiate Road and Mountain (starts September 2nd!).  I started racing cyclocross when I was 10 years old and at the time was the youngest age one could enter a sanctioned race.

The race was held in Rouyn Noranda, a new town for the race instead of the usual Amos or Val d'Or.  Each team fields 6 riders and there were several national teams there among Canadian and American Regional teams.  No European teams attended this year but it still was not an easy race.  The race is almost completely dictated on the 9.6km time trial on stage 3.  The race went well the first two days where I had top third finishes on the final 5km circuits into town.  The circuits and I become less of friends and more of enemies as the week progressed as it was riddled with road furniture and potholes.

Stage 3 was the time trial around a lake in town on a bike path.  This is one of my favourite TT's to date because it was technical and fast.  Our director didn't allow us to bring TT bikes so it hindered my performance.  I was in 28th in the TT 44' off the winner.  My aero setup was this: TT helmet, skinsuit, clip on aero-bars and 35mm Roval Carbon wheels.  Where 95% of the other riders were on full TT setups.   10 seconds faster and I would have been in the top 15.

The other stages all finished together for the most part until the last day.  Stage 7 was 50km into town and 10  5km circuits to finish the stage.  2 laps into the circuit race a group went up the road and I tried to bridge across.  I spent over one lap trying to chase on but I couldn't quite make contact with the group, along with being pulled back by Team USA for some reason.  This would have brought me up in GC several spots but I didn't make it.

All and all the race was a good experience and I believe I did the best I could considering the circumstances and the race not playing to my strengths (no climbing!).  I had a lot of fun racing with my Mid-Atlantic team mates and it showed me what being a real pro would be like.  It also capped of a very successful and very fun career as a junior cyclist.

                                              Getting aero on the foam pad in our classroom

                                                                          The team

                                        A true Canadian Meal, my daily dose of Tim Horton's!

                                               Stage 4 50KM circuit race in Malarctic, QC

                 A little customization I did to my Specialized Tarmac SL3 (her name is Jess Gysin) the Canadians                 absolutely loved this!

--Thank you for reading, Dean Haas

                                                      HAVING FUN
      
               In the sport of cycling having fun is very important. I mean sure you have to take this
sport seriously. But whats the point of doing any sport if you're not having fun. Especially when
your a kid like me, oh trust me I take my racing seriously, but I'am having a blast while I'am doing
it. At my age 13 cycling should not be a job, although some day I would Love to race in the Tour
and the one day Classics. And when and if that day comes I need to be willing to make sacrifices
and be willing to train everyday. But you should still make it fun.
            Greg LeMond told me a year ago, kid make cycling as fun as you can make it, it'll become
a job soon enough. So that's what I'am going to do. Believe me I'am still going to race hard and try
to win all the races I can, but if I don't win I'am still going to have fun. After all that's why I started
riding and racing bicycles its fun. I'am lucky I'am on a great team (SPECIALIZED) I have great
teammates. Having them as teammates makes racing all the more fun. So in closing go ride with
your kids,your parents, a friend just go ride its fun and good for you. Besides it's something you
can do the rest of your life. And it's fun. See you next time.

                                                                                           Sean

Any Given Wednesday

      Hi, I recently got back from taking a trip to Europe to celebrate my dad's 50th birthday, and one of the highlights was doing the weekly mass start time trial up Le Alpe D'Huez. For 5 Euros you get a number, a timing chip, and a chance to feel all the pain and glory that comes with climbing one of the most majestic climbs in the world with a bunch of random strangers.
      You show up for the start of the "race" at 10 and instantly see the differences of the types of people that show up. The riders abilities range from the local pros who show up on race wheels and skinsuits, to the tourists who show up just to get the chance to ride up the mountain only known to them as a legend of the Tour De France. As the race starts you get a neutral roll out behind the timing car from the tourism office in Bourg D'Osains for 3 kilometers to the base of the climb. When you hit the base of the climb and the clock on the timing truck emits a loud beep the strong riders instantly ramp the pace up. For the first and hardest kilometer of the climb I was putting out 330 watts which is about what I can hold for 5 minutes. Instantly I knew I wouldn't be able to keep the pace up for the whole climb and neither would the other riders in the group with me so I "sat up" and started to ride my own pace knowing that I should be able to bring back at least a few of the riders who didn't know any better to sit up and ride their own race. Once I recovered a little from the huge energy use from the first kilometer I found my rhythm and started to claw time back from the leaders. Every few kilometers I would catch and drop another rider who had cracked themselves trying to follow the leaders. When I hit the second to last switchback (great thing about Alpe D'Huez is that the switchbacks are numbered in reverse order so you can gauge how far you have left) I started to ramp up the pace with the little extra that I had left. As I crossed the line it wasn't more than 50 meters after that I cramped and came very very close to throwing up, the sign that I gave it my all. When I looked at my Garmin I saw that I had done a 48:50 which loses only 11 minutes to the course record holder Marco Pantani and 6 minutes to the local pro who was the winner on the day. At the end of the day I ended up 7th out of 63 and the best placed junior, which I am very proud about because there were at least 7 or 8 juniors that participated and if you rule out the local pros I was 4th overall.
      So if you are ever near Bourg D'Osains on any given Wednesday you could do worse than to spend 5 Euros to race up one of the most legendary climbs in the world.

Jason Saltzman

p.s. I am also proud to report that I only lost 2 minutes to masters teammate Kevin Metcalfe and am 43rd overall on Strava.

Half Dome

As we move through Summer and near the end of the race season we try to mix up the racing with other activities. As teammates we have spent much of the last 8 months and the past years traveling, riding, and racing together. We form friendship that are both on and off the bike. Last Monday the Laberges and I hiked Half Dome in Yosemite. Chris recently became an Eagle Scout. We have been on the team together for the past 6 years and he has been constantly working towards this goal.

We planned to do Half Dome Monday, but cycling is our passion, so we all raced different criteriums on Sunday and drove up to Yosemite right afterwards. Probably not the best way to recover or prepare for the hike, but that's ok. We arrived at the camp site late on Sunday night and we up and moving before the Sunrise. The hike was hard, but with all the talk of how epic of a journey would be, it was nothing in comparison to most road races. Doing other sports and activities is fun, but it really makes me appreciate cycling.

As the saying goes:
Pic or it didn't happen

or for cyclist:

STRAVA or it didn't happen

Top 10 Reasons Why I Enjoyed the Rapha Northwest Classic Stage Race

10.  Got to spend over two weeks RVing in the North Pacific with my parents, teammate Jonathan Christenson, and my two dogs, “Stinky” and “Foxy”. By week two, Stinky and Foxy owned him! 

9.  Racing in the Cascade Classic Stage Race was a great primer for the Northwest Classic Junior Stage Race. Between races we had a great time white water rafting and inner tubing in the Deutsch River, fishing, and just plain relaxing. 

8.  Racing in the small town of Elma, Washington, which is located 30 miles west of Olympia. Unlike many races that take place in generic industrial parks or bleak deserted roads, the location of this event was awesome! Beautiful open roads, steep challenging climbs, green towering trees, and two gigantic nuclear towers that could be seen from miles away! 

7.  Meeting race promoters Eric Anderson and Jim Brown, two stand up guys for putting on the first all exclusive junior stage race on the West Coast. Over 90 juniors, including several national champions in road, track, and cyclocross came from California, Idaho, Utah, Oregon, Washington, and Canada to compete.  

6.  Racing under the shadows of the ominous nuclear power plant cooling towers from the never completed nuclear plant. Kinda eerie... 

5.  The Rapha Espresso Bus. Need I say more?  

4.  A great prize list including- Mavic wheels, Schwalbe tires, Giro shoes, Oakley Radars, Rapha swag, great primes, and cash for stage and GC wins.  Plus, a hefty travel incentive for out of state teams. 

3.  Having Jonathan, a great teammate, that sacrificed for me, and who gave it his all for a Team Specialized VICTORY! That’s what you call teamwork! Thanks again, Jonathan! 

2.  Great podium atmosphere, including flowers, prizes, cash, and sparkling apple cider so the winners could shake the bottles and spray the crowds in celebration. 

1.     Winning the 15/16 GC for Team Specialized Junior Racing!

Thanks for reading.

Diego Binatena, Team Specialized Junior Racing

2012 Tour de Nez Masters 35+ 1,2,3

Mom, Kerri and Lander all screaming for me.

Hi folks,
I thought this was a great pic, not because I'm in it but because that's my wife Kerri in the black Specialized hat on the far left holding our son Lander, and my mother directly behind me with the visor and her arm in the air (I think she's cheering for me). 

Quick re-cap of the race on Sunday:

• Whistle blows and we go ballistic
• Buckley attacks 7 times in first 5 laps
• $50 preme bell rang
• I win preme and am solo
• 40 min to go
• Teammates, fans and equipment help me stay away

It was fun and hard but enough about that.

Sunday was even more important for one reason:
It would be my son Louden's first bike race.


Course recon, looking for best line.

He's been training extremely hard, resting well and staying hydrated - he was ready.

Okay, I'm not looking to be this guy but I do want to be heavily involved in my children's activities -Even better if those activities are ones that I love. 
Louden and I talked about his competition before the race.  We knew Jason Boyton's son, Alex, was tappering for the event and would be tough to beat but Louden was confident.  Here's something he said to me before the race (kind of scary really):

"Dad, my power's been good these past 2 weeks; my leg speed has improved and i've really been doing my homework on the course and competition.  When I looked at the course on strava there's a 10meter stretch that suits my abilities and I think I can break away there.   Also, given the sustained efforts I've been putting in at LT the last 40meters should be no problem."

What the...

As you can see from the video Jude Mayne's son (current under 4 Italian crit champion) deviated materially from his line and crashed out Louden.  Louden took it well and we did a full debrief later over a beer.  I told him I think he needs to work on his start, especially for these shorter events (he started babbling about a mechanical, missed his pedal, or something.  I pointed out he doesn't have pedals.  He went quiet.).

Anyway, here's to many more exciting firsts for him and Lander.  Thanks as alway to my lovely wife Kerri and my mother Billie who took the brunt of the day by carrying the boys around in the heat.

Strava file from the race here.

Jason

2012 Junior Tour of Ireland

International racing is one of the most important steps for junior development not only because of the caliber of the racing, but also for the transition into the next level of the sport.  Without an introduction to this type of racing, the juniors are unable to experience these specific challenges and decide if a professional is within their grasp.  
I have recently returned from the Tour of Ireland, a highly competitive international junior stage race, where I was the director sportif for four Team Specialized Racing Juniors 17-18 year old race category riders.  Not only was this valuable and memorable experience for these racers, but it was equally rewarding for me.  With bags packed and bike boxes filled, we were ready to embrace a week full of the unknown.  Soon we realized that included narrow grass shrouded courses, roaming sheep, unpredictable weather in an Irish summer, and the versatility of potatoes (thank God for Nutella).

The race was impeccably organized and the staff, which comprised entirely of volunteers, made the riders feel world class. The organization put in an effort that was renowned and it far exceeded some stage races with paid employees.  Their passion for cycling and generosity showed how much they wanted this race to succeed.

Not only did I get to introduce a great band of juniors into this next level of racing, I was able to witness the incredible development of some of our Team Specialized Racing juniors not only through the years of my involvement with the team but especially during this event. I have had the opportunity of working with one of the riders, Marcus, for the last six years, and being able to see him enter a highly contested international race and succeed was not only a great achievement of program, but also personally very rewarding.  Each of the riders evolved throughout the race not only as individuals but as a team.

We entered this race with a focus on gaining critical cycling experience as well as the rewards of accomplishment.  Each rider was able to state their personal goals, and we were all able to establish team goals.  Not only did we meet these goals, we matched them, and then succeeded beyond them.

Stage 1—Prologue 7k: Non aero time trial, slightly downhill and downwind. Winning time was 9:20. Jackson 10th (19s). Kyle 14th (23s), Stephen 18th (26s), Marcus 19th(28s). All riders in the top 20 of the 66 starters. There was threatening weather but it never rained.  Morale was high and we were ready to start racing

Stage 2—Westport to Westport 110k: Point to point.Marcus rode aggressively and attentively to establish himself in the winning break in windy conditions.  He placed 2nd on the stage, losing a very close sprint for the win. Even after an unfortunate crash, Stephen fought his way back into the group to finish 11th on the stage, showing a lot of grit and toughness.

Stage 3—Castlebar to Ballycastle 113k: Beautiful route along the Atlantic coast, and the race was hard and fast from the start. Stephen was in an 8 man break for most of the day in order to chase the KOM jersey.  The finish was a 1k sprint uphill on an average gradient of 10%.  Marcus 6th, Kyle 9th, Jackson 13th.  All the riders had same time finishes with the field.

Team meeting and video reconnaissance of the KOMs and finish in Ballycastle. 

Stage 4—Achill Island 98.5k: A barren, remote, blustery seascape with continuous rolling hills and a lot of wind to make the short steep climbs even more painful.  Goal was to keep it together over the last KOM.  The severity of the hill and the crosswinds shattered the field with less than 20k to go.  Stephen found himself in a break with 15k to go, and Marcus and Kyle worked cohesively in order to maintain the team’s GC options.  Stephen had a tremendous effort to finish with a great sprint for 3rd place.  After this stage, the team was 8s off of leading the overall team classification.

Stage 5—Castlebar to Castlebar 88k: Relatively neutral race as most riders were tired and saving their legs for the final stage.  Marcus got 9th in the field sprint.

Stephen, Jackson, Sean (Irish Driver and Racer Support), Kyle, and Marcus ready to roll out .

Stage 6—Windy Gap Road Race 106k: Our goal was to improve in the GC by isolating the GC riders, and to win the stage.  As planned, Marcus was in a threatening break that forced other teams to chase, and it was eventually absorbed.  The final 2k climb determined the race, and when Stephen realized he wasn’t going to get the time necessary to overtake the Young Rider’s jersey, he conserved energy and was able to throw down a massive sprint and win the stage! With all four riders finishing in the top 20 on the stage, they secured the team GC by 1:29.

Overall GC: Steven 4th, Marcus 5th, Kyle 11th, Jackson 21st. 64 finishers. Team Specialized Racing Junior won theoverall team general classification.

Final GC for the 2012 Junior Tour of Ireland

 Leaving Ireland, I could not control the smile on my face for the accomplishments of the week, the friendships developed, and memories gained.  I could not help but be happy because of the race, but also have a little twinge of sadness that I was saying goodbye to such a great experience.  There will be many more.

Bunratty Castle, Shanon, Ireland.  Then a visit to The Original Durty Nelly's of a post race Pub Feed.

Marcus, Stephen, Jackson, and Kyle, you all made me very proud.  Thank you. Also, thank you to everyone on the Irish side for your involvement and making this race happen.

Craig Roemer - Team Specialized Masters