As many people know, and some of the juniors I am sure do not know, I rode as a professional for 13 fantastic seasons.  I was lucky, in a lot of ways, to be part of some high powered programs.  Teams loaded with men oozing with talent.  More talent  in their small toes than 10 of me added together.  The lucky part for me is that these teammates recognized, and more importantly, acknowledged team sacrifices.  These men laid the ground work for who I was to become as a pro.  They all showed me the way. 

So when asked what my favorite win was as a pro that becomes more of a question of what was my favorite team win as a pro.  As a rider, I won my fair share of races, but I spent 90% of my time helping others win races.  In a 5 year period, with Mercury, I was part of a team that won nearly 500 races.  I, personally won very few of those, but I contributed to most of those wins in one way or another.  For me, many of those wins, although taken by other men and teammates gave me as much pleasure as if I crossed the line first myself.  Often my teammates were the ones who bestowed that importance on the teammates that contributed to the bottom line.  So with that, some of the most satisfying wins where those we took in Europe.  In races and against riders that we were told we could not beat; races like Criterium International and GP Denain.  But, by far and away, the best wins were the 3 times I was part of the winning teams at the First Union GP (also known as Corestates or USPRO).  Those were the crème of the crop.

As I left cycling as a full time rider, and moved to the director’s car, the idea of team work and racing as a team became the core of my belief system.  Those are the ideas that I want to pass to the riders I work with.  Those are the ideas that I try to bring to the table when I organize a race strategy, and those are the ideas that I hope I instill in riders as they move beyond me and my programs.

The thing about my belief system is the fact that it was not formed and nurtured by me alone.  It was formed and driven home by my teammates and men I still call friends to this day. Horner, Fraser, Vogels, Bouchard-Hall, Cooke, Peters, Wherry, Moninger….

My Own Little World

The “Pain Cave” is a place well known by most athletes. It is that deep, dark, dreaded place where one goes to push oneself to his/her physical and mental limitations.

But how crazy would you think I am if I told you that I enjoy the “Pain Cave”? If riding so hard that when I sit up, and I can’t breathe for 15 minutes is fun? Well it is... I absolutely love testing my limits and love even more when I exceed those limits and set a new bar to go out and try to beat again.

This past weekend I traveled with the eight other members of Team Specialized Racing Juniors to Valley of the Sun in Arizona. The race started out with a 14-mile time trial, “the race of truth”. In the weeks leading up to the time trial I spent hours on my Specialized Shiv, working on raising my power output for what would turn out to be a 32:05 minute test of ability to suffer. These hours were spent going out and seeing what wattage I could hold for 30 minutes, trying time and time again to suffer a little bit more, go a little bit harder, and sound even more like a vacuum cleaner with a cat stuck in it.

All of the time spent in the “Pain Cave” paid off; on race day I went out, found my own little world of suffering and rode 10 watts harder than I had at any point in time during training. My little trip to the “Pain Cave” ended 32 minutes and 5 seconds after its start, and put me at sixth on the stage (and GC), setting me up in good position to end up third overall two days later.

So next time you go out to ride, challenge yourself to enjoy the pain that comes with kicking your own a**. Because if you are anything like me, then riding yourself to the ground is actually enjoyable. And being able to show up to school (or work) the next day and trying to explain to your friends why you were so happy about going 1 watt harder or 1 second faster just adds to the pleasure.

Jason S

A NEW SEASON

The 2013 season is here, which means a new year and new teammates. First of all I would like to welcome to the team Gage Hecht, Grant McElroy, Owen Gilliot, and Julies Gilliam. Also I would like to say farewell and best wishes to Marcus Smith, Chris Leberge, Kyle Torres and Dean Haas as they have graduated from the Team, and went on to college or to U-23 Teams or both.  Next I would like to say farewell and best wishes to Oliver Barajas, and Jon Christensen as they have moved on to other Teams and I wish them great success.  This year we have a some what smaller team but my feelings are that it's going to be a very good team, almost everyone on the Team has been a National Champion or multi - time State Champion. 
     And as of this last weekend I got a little taste of how strong this team is going to be come Nationals time. We raced Valley of the Sun and had some good results. Jason finishing 3nd in GC and Jack winning the road race, Grant getting 5th in the crit, Owen getting 4th (17-18) in the road race, Gage getting 5th in the TT, and I finished 2nd in the road race. So if this is any indication of how good this team is, I think were going to have a pretty good season.
     In closing having had the chance to race and bond with my teammates new and old I feel that I am one lucky kid to be surrounded by such great talent.  Talk to you next time and have a great season, because it's all about having fun and the joy of racing .

                                                                                                    Sean McElroy

A nice gift from our friends at Specialized.

Big thanks to John Wilkening and the folks at Specialized for setting me up with these cool gloves to go along with my year in rainbow stripes!

Valley of the Sun Stage Race

Race Report: Valley of the Sun Stage Race
Date: Feb. 15-17, 2013
Teammates: Craig, plus Larry and the Juniors in other fields
Field: Elite 2, 69 riders
Results: TT - 27th, RR - 28th, Crit - 10th, GC - 23rd

I had been looking forward to this stage race for a couple of reasons.  This was the first time I headed down to VOS and the first time that I would get a chance to meet many of the juniors.  As for racing, Craig and I had made the decision to jump into the 2s to do the extra mileage in the road race.

Stage one was a mostly flat, 14 mi TT. It was slightly uphill to the turnaround and back with both legs featuring a gusty cross wind. The last time that I raced my TT bike was back in August (due to a slight UCI overlook on my part at Nationals in September). So I really was not well acquainted with my TT ride. I felt pretty good going out and held decent power coming back, passing a few guys and being passed once by my 30s guy. I came in at 32min for a slightly disappointing 27th place. 

The road race started just before noon, as the wind really started to whip up.  The race was 6 times over a 16 mi triangle, with a 400ft tailwind climb to the finish. At first thought it should have been easy, so I marked down some GC numbers to watch and rolled out. With a stiff headwind on the first leg, the pace was on/off the whole way. This led to a stupid crash within the first mile. I got caught behind but stayed upright and caught back on.

The second leg was a cross wind which could have easily lead to a split, but it never really came. No one really drove the race and it was just a matter of surviving the surges.  After suffering up the climb as the pack went full gas, I had enough on lap 3 and rode off the front in the windy section. Rolling up to a twosome up the road, we worked together for almost a full lap before being caught. Then it was back to trying to sit in.

Somewhere around 65 miles I really started to rue the decision to do the 2s and not the M123 race  I tried to stay near the front as best I could.  Unfortunately the miles took their toll and on the final climb to the finish I got shot out the back and rolled in a minute or so down. Moved a few spots up on GC due to the number of DNFs to 23rd.  Special thanks to Mike and Ian for working the feed zone.

The last day was a figure eight crit in downtown pheonix. The legs felt pretty good spinning around and the GC leader had enough of a lead that it was likely that the race would come down to a field sprint. So I looked for breakaway opportunities, but tried to psych myself up for some sprinting.

About a third of the way though the race I found myself second wheel on the final turn of a prime lap. The sprint is a straight 300m runin. I jumped shortly after the turn and just held off the guy on my wheel.  I was felling pretty good about myself until I ran trough some choppy pavement on the backside of the course and flatted my front.  After limping to the pit to snag Craig's spare wheel, I got reintegrated with 8 to go.

After sitting in for a while longer, I worked my way to 5th wheel with about 5 to go. They rang the prime bell again and going down the backstretch, Craig rolled up and slotted in infront of me and pulled me through the final turn. This time I timed my jump better and took the prime by a few bike lengths. I had visions of continuing solo, but the field rolled up quickly and I slotted in again.

Fast forward to the last lap and I started in good position, but got swarmed on the first part of the lap. I had to make an effort down the backstretch to get to about 10th wheel. Coming out of the final corner, a guy a few spots infront of me bit it pretty hard. I was able to slow and swerve and then opened my sprint. Never had a chance to run down the leaders (should have been 5th wheel or better), but I held my position for 10th. The GC positions didn't change with the field sprint.

Overall, decent showing for Feburary. It's a long season, but need to work a little on the top end (especially going uphill). Great fun racing with Craig and hangin out with the kids, Larry and Billy, and the families that made the trip. Now a little rest and time to hit it at Merco.

Cheers,
Jeromy

Larry is trying to make me fat

I did my first “real” bike race of the year on Sunday, the Cherry Pie Criterium. By “real” I mean a race that requires skills other than just groveling at your threshold like say, San Bruno. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact I kind of like groveling at my threshold, but this weekend we were going to do real bike racer things. Sprinting, cornering, changing speeds and going uncomfortably hard for uncomfortably long periods of time. Good stuff.

Since I decided not to break any bones this winter I came into the race pretty fit. My winter training is kind of odd due to work, short days and commutes, but in general it works for me. On the other hand I haven’t really done any of those “real bike racer” things since last September. Larry does his Early Bird mentoring and actually does those “real bike racer” things all year round so we knew he was good. Craig on the other hand told me before the race that he felt like he was coming down with something and might not race. So it was no surprise that there were at least two or three laps where he didn’t attack or drive the pace on the front. I hope that he feels better soon…

Since Larry is now officially REALLY OLD this year he was in the 55+ portion of our 45/55 combined race. It was theoretically possible for two of us to win in the same race. Larry in the 55+ and either Craig or I in the 45+. Think about that. TWO cherry pies! Larry has options. He can win in a field sprint or out of a break. Similarly, Craig and I also have options. We can win out of a small break (preferably a break of 1) or we can lose. Our goal was to get Larry and either Craig or I into a break. Even better if all three of us could get into a break. Craig was very aggressive and was in a number of small breaks. I was somewhat aggressive but never got off the front for more than about a quarter of a lap. Again, back to that whole changing speed thing that I’ve heard so much about. I may look into that a little further. In the mean time, Dirk Himley was like the energizer bunny. He attacked time after time after time.

I took my last dig at about two laps to go and got nowhere. Partway through the lap Larry pulled up next to me, said “escort” and pulled me most of the way to the front before I took over and got both of us into the top 5-10 riders with a lap and change to go.

This is where we get to the part about Larry wanting me to get fat. Normally I would take over and help set up Larry for the sprint so that he could win a pie that perhaps we might split three ways. Or better yet like a bunch of Super Models (Except for the tall, pretty and highly paid part at least.) Craig and I could let Larry have the whole pie because he “deserved it” and then snicker about him behind his back. Craig was already on the front keeping the pace high. I was ready to take over on the last lap and deliver Larry to the bottom of the sprint hill. Behind me though, Larry told me to ride for myself. Which makes total sense because I’ve won criteriums in field sprints SO MANY times. I think I’m up to zero now. Also, and THIS is REALLY where he was coming from. He knew that if I won a pie my wife would only learn about it because there might still be some of it on my chin when I got home after I stopped on the side of the road, somewhere in American Canyon and just ate the whole thing right there in my car. We don’t need no stinking forks!

So, on the last lap I was fresh and in good position. With visions of burying my face in that cherry pie I remembered the headwind up the sprint hill and thought that I needed to not open up my “sprint” too soon. As we went through the chicane I was still in a really good position and started thinking that I might actually be able to win this thing. I was “The Little Engine Who Could”. “I think I can. I think I can.” Then shortly before I was ready to start my sprint I nearly got blown off my bike as Larry “jet waked” past me.

I figured that must mean it’s time for me to open up my “sprint” and I started “sprinting”. And basically stayed in the same position all the way to the line. I was partially right. I was in fact, “The Little Engine”.

But I was really charging towards the end and if the race would have only been another 250 or so meters longer I might have gotten all the way up to the front wheel of the guy in front of me. I totally had him in my sights… (That’s the kind of things that sprinters say, so I’m practicing. Don’t ignore the mental aspect…)

Larry finished 2nd, but easily won the 55+ race. I finished 6th on the line for 5th in the 45+ race.

Maybe I should have had Fruit Loops for breakfast instead of Shredded Wheat.

On a more serious note, even after having raced since 1985 I still learn things when I race. At Cherry Pie I learned (a bit too late) that I probably should have opened my sprint up sooner. My top end is actually not bad, but my jump is not so good. If I could have made up a bike length or two before the guys in front of my got going I might have come around one or two of them. Taking that thought further even though I was pretty highly placed I probably should have moved up a bit further. Maybe 4th or so. Maybe even 3rd the way it worked out. Less guys to come around to get to the front.

Speaking of sprinting it is something that I should work on more. It’s not my strength and never will be but you can’t win every race alone. I don’t want to come to the final 500 meters at nationals in a group of three with the thought, “you know, maybe I should have actually done some sprint training this year…”. And besides getting better at it, you need to at least train your neuromuscular system to fire efficiently for that kind of an effort.

Afternoon daylight is coming back soon. That will give me the opportunity to round my training out and do the kinds of things that “real bike racers” do. I can’t wait!

My Escape

In life there are many adventures to experience that are good and bad. The joys of being with friends and family to the stressfulness of school; educationally and socially. As there can be many distractions in high school, especially for me as a 16 years old, it's important that I keep what's most important first in my life: family, cycling, school, and occasionally when there is time, hanging out with friends. As distractions can get in the way of these priorities, the one action I do take to let go of these stresses and frustrations is my bike. Instead of taking these feelings to heart and being in a bad mood, I just go out for a ride and use my energy on quality riding time instead of wasting it nonsense. I realized this past week that my bike has been my most helpful way to escape from society and just have "me" time out in the open and let myself just feel and be free. This type of escape is a heck of a lot better than just staying home and being in the not so best mood. Riding to be free from society has helped me collect my thoughts and calm myself better than I normally would. For these escapes, this is truly why I love riding my bike and that it's not always about the set interval workouts that need to be done or the amount of tempo riding that is needed for endurance to help someone become better. Sometimes just going out and spinning the legs is all I need for that mental boost and to re-assure myself that all these distractions are nonsense and that they should not be getting in the way of what I love most.

Thank you for reading,
Nick Castellano

18 reasons why you should "Never Give Up"

My very good friend John Ramatici died from ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease at the very young age of 47.  From the time he was diagnosed to the day he died he lived about 18 months. He was married, had four awesome kids and a beautiful wife.  John was a very successful businessman and an unbelievable person. He owned a huge airplane was partners in a yacht and sailed many parts of the world.  I got John into cycling and he was hooked.  He had millions in the bank.  In our world he had it ALL!  John always reminded me to never forget the people who helped him become successful or helped him to make it to the top.  One of our last times together he told me that other then his family he would give it all away if he could live to see his first daughter graduate from high school, to watch his son play his first high school football game.  He told me that he would live in the alleys if he had to.  With that being said John never gave up!  He never one day felt sorry for himself or said the words "Why me".  Johns last days of his live he was bed ridding on a morphine drip.  He died shortly after watching the 2007 Superbowl.  This is the short version.  John inspired many people.

      At some point in the various journeys we embark on in our lives, we get to a part where we feel like giving up. Sometimes we give up before we even start and other times we give up just before we are about to make that huge break-through that we have been putting so much effort in to achieve. You never know when that time might come when you ask or tell yourself to quit.  In the sport of cycling I have learned and seen first had that you never give up until you cross that finish line. 

This is a list of 18 reasons why you should never give up.  I hope that you will find that before you give up, think of someone (maybe like John) to inspire you to keep on going!

 As Long As You Are Alive Anything Is Possible
The only valid excuse you have to give up is if you are dead. As long as you are alive (and healthy and free) you have the choice to keep trying until you finally succeed.

 Be Realistic

The chance of mastering something the first time you do it is almost non-existent. Everything takes time to learn and you will make mistakes. Learn from them.

Michael Jordan

Arguably the best basketball player of all time. He attributes his success to all his failures. He just never gave up even when he knew he had missed over 300 shots and had missed the  winning shot of the game many times. Every time he got knocked down he got back up again.

Muhammad Ali

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”. Muhammad Ali is one of the best boxers the world has ever known. He suffered only 5 losses while having 56 wins and was the first boxer to win the lineal heavyweight championship three times. This is a guy who literally knows how to get knocked down and get back up.

Chris Gardner – The Pursuit of Happiness

Have you seen the movie “The Pursuit of Happiness”? It is based on the life story of Chris Gardener, a man who went for the lowest of the lows in an environment where most people would give up (no money, no job) to the highest of the highs (A millionaire with his own investment firm). If you ever think about giving up, watch this movie!

Nelson Mandela

Campaigned for justice and freedom in his South Africa. Spent 20 years in jail for his opposition to apartheid. On release he healed the wounds of apartheid by his magnanimous attitude toward his former political enemies.

You Are Strong 
You are stronger than you think. One little setback is not enough to stop you from achieving your goals. Neither are 10 or 100 or 1000 setbacks.

Prove Yourself
You don’t want to be known as someone that is weak and gives up. Go out there and prove yourself to the world and to yourself. You CAN and WILL achieve what you set out to do. The only time you fail is when you give up.

Has It Been Done Before?
If someone else can do it then so can you. Even if it is only one other person in the world that has achieved what you have set out to achieve, that should be reason enough for you to never give up.

Believe In Your Dreams
Don’t sell yourself short. In life there are going to be many people who will try to bring you down and tell you what you want to achieve is not possible. Don’t let anyone destroy your dreams.

Your Family and Friends.
Let the people you love and who mean the world to you be your inspiration to persist and persevere. Maybe you need to try a different angle, study more or practice more but don’t give up!

There Are People Worse-Off

Right now there are many people who are in a worse situation and environment than you are right now. Are you thinking about giving up running 5 miles a week? Think about the people who are unable to even walk and how much they would give to be able to run 5 miles every day.

Improve Our World
When you achieve whatever you set out to achieve you can use your success to make a difference to the world or other peoples lives.

Get Rich or Die Trying
Like Fiddy (50 cent) says, “Get rich or die trying”. 50 Cent is rich, he made it (although he did get shot 9 times). Face your fears and don’t take the easy way out by giving up.

Let The Haters Hate
There will always be haters. There will always be plenty of naysayers  and people who try to tear you down. Don’t pay attention to them and don’t take what they say to heart. Let the haters hate and you keep believing in yourself.

You Deserve To Be Happy
Don’t ever let anybody tell you otherwise. You deserve to be happy and you deserve to have success. Keep that mindset and never give up until you reach your destination!

Inspire Others
Be an inspiration to others by refusing to give up. Who knows what someone else can achieve because you never gave up and in turn inspired them not to give up.

You Are So Close
Often when you feel like you want to give up and you are about to give up you are so close to making a huge break-thru. Seth Godin has written an awesome book about this called “The Dip” – a riveting read that teaches that at any given time you are always just a heartbeat away from success.

P.S. NEVER GIVE UP!

My license plate NVRGVUP    my email is short for never give up john ramatici    

Thanks Bubba

Life is filled with choices.  

God will always give his very best to those who leave the choice with him.

PDX to Larch Mt. Ride

In Oregon there are many great rides with climbs, views, rivers, and oceans but above all my favorite ride is the Portland to Larch Mountain ride. This ride starts at a little coffee shop on the east side of Portland. After a nice cup of coffee the ride takes off through the east side until you finally reach the Troutdale area. Once in Troutdale, the ride goes into the forest and starts climbing. You pass through small, beautiful bridges and hardly see many cars. At the end of this long climb, there's this great view over the Columbia River, when you're with a group it's a great place to stop and take pictures. About a mile away from the view you hit Larch Mountain and then you go up and up for 16.5 miles. At the top there is another incredible view and then everyone turns around and heads back to Portland. This ride is great to do in the summer because the mountain can be climbed and it's much more fun to spend at least four hours on the bike when the weather is nice!

Grant McElroy