Persistence

Bicycle racing tests our favored characteristics.  Mine happens to be persistence.  I’m not the most talented rider, but I work really hard at what I do.  For me, persistence has paid off.

Thirty-one years ago my wife and I were married and I moved to her hometown of Fremont, California.  This is not a story of my wife, although she has been a great supporter!  I was a runner in high school and college, moved to triathlons, and eventually found bicycle racing (via a triple trailer truck).  The best advice I ever received as a triathlete was “swim with swimmers, run with runner and race with cyclists”. 

I took out my USCF racing license in 1988 and my first race was the Early Bird Criterium in Fremont, California.  I was a nationally ranked triathlete, so sitting in a field of 50 of more riders scared the crap out of me.  I attacked.  A rider bridged across, I did the majority of the work for the remainder of the race and (yes, you guessed right) he won the sprint.  In my third bicycle race I was automatically upgraded to a category three for winning a race, yet I still had no pack skills!

Twenty six years later I find it apropos sharing this story and the plans that we have for tomorrow at the 2013 Early Bird Training Series.  For twenty years I have been involved and have helped to lead the Early Bird Training Series into a nationally recognized training ground for new racers.  What begat in 1993 as a way for me to coach along new racers, learn more about bicycle racing, and log some extra miles has turned into a very good thing.  Tomorrow we will have temps in the 60’s and new racer turnout is expected to be very high.  Last week we had 378 racers of which 300 were newly or recently licensed.  Together with four other “Early Bird Directors” we strive to create a great first racer experience.  It’s working!  That’s close to 2000 riders for the five-week training series.

Twenty years ago I got nervous when I instructed, and I got upset when new racers crashed.  But, bicycle racing is an extremely dangerous sport.  We all need to take the time to work on our skills.  At the Early Birds we teach new racers to be mindful of safe racing, concentrate on their performance during the mentoring session, and training race, and not to worry about their finish.  Finishing well in races will come in time.  If, they are persistent!

I feel that I am qualified to instruct 300+ new racers each week because I’ve taken the time to break down each and every skill required to sit in a field of racers going through a corner at 30 miles per hour, and have practiced it to the point where the skill is second nature to me.  Not every new racer is that patient with their skills.  They want the result immediately, yet bicycle racing is a sport that rewards persistence (and an attitude to learn new things).  Persistently practice your skills! 

 Finally, twenty years ago I would have laughed if I was told that I would be teaching a sprint clinic to new racers.  Logically, twenty years ago I was still new to racing and with the running and triathlon background I was strong, but not quick.  At 54 years old, I’m still not quick, but I’ve become a good sprinter (criterium nationals, track nationals, and world championship) mostly because I train my sprint pretty much every time I get on the bike.  Tomorrow, we’ll dive into the basics of sprint training, practice a good number of sprints and hopefully walk away from the finish with all of our skin!  This will happen only if new racers come to realize that they have the technique, have trained their sprint and are fast enough to win bicycle races.  The rest of the new racers will be wise to understand that they have some work to do and will avoid the temptation to sprint at the end of a training race!

There are two ways to win a bicycle race – solo or in a sprint.  Not long ago I could win a race solo.  Nowadays, I teach others how to win with their sprint.

I hope to see you tomorrow at the Early Birds!  Cheers, Larry Nolan, Team Specialized/ Early Bird Director

Early bird info: http://www.ncnca.org/ncncaevent/early-bird-criterium-training-series-1-0