Thursday, November 29, 2012

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

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

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 

Sunday, November 18, 2012

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

Thursday, November 8, 2012

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