Sunday, February 24, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
13 year olds winning adult races, really?
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Small world
2013 Valley of the Sun wrap up
- historically the final general classification of this 3-day stage race is set after the stage one time trial. Owen placed 3rd in the 17-18's, Gage was sitting 5th in the 15-16's. The winning times (Seth Veenbaas - MRI at 28.4mph for 14 miles and Ethan Reynolds - Hot Tubes at 28.1mph) put gaps on our teammates that we could not bring back.
- coaches opinion - generally, on any given day a racer can do 95% of their best time. Our teams goal has and always will be Road Nationals in July. We'll be looking for 100% of their best on that day, as we were not expecting 28mph rides in February.
- Matt and Owen contested the 17-18's stage race. Owen was taken down in the criterium on Sunday and ended up 5th on GC. Matt sacrificed his race and did a lead-out for Owen's sprint. Matt finished 21st on GC
- seven Team Specialized Juniors contested the 15-16's race. We sat 5th, 6th, and 8th after the stage one time trial. The attacking paid off in the stage two road race where Jack won and Sean was 2nd. Jason was 5th, Nick was 6th and Gage was 8th helping Jason to move up to 3rd, Gage to 4th and Nick to 6th. Jules and Grant played an influential role in the road race. Great racing as we were looking for "contrast" in the racing and the team delivered!
- going into the final stage in the downtown criterium we had a plan to a) control the beginning of the race so that the juniors could experience the smoothness of the teamwork, the "chase" as riders went off the front and to warm-up together. That was supposed to last three laps, then over to the b) finish the race with an attempted lead-out. Well, the seven teammates had so much fun controlling the race and setting tempo at the front that they forgot to save some energy for the finish. As most know and have experienced, the end of a criterium is fast and furious. Our lead-out should improve the next time we get together.
- final 15-16 GC - Jason 3rd, Gage 4th, Nick 6th, Sean 7th, Grant 11th, Jack 15th and Jules 20th.
- HUGE amounts of teamwork on and off the bike. A special thanks to Mike Valencia and Norm McElroy for their coordination and hard-work (they re-packed the trailer and cleaned the van when we went on our 3-hour ride on Monday; to the Castellano's for their hosting the juniors; to Brooke Gillott, our new Facebook photo-journalist (check out the Facebook updates) and for the juniors for racing their hearts out!
Picture - 2013 Valley of the Sun stage three downtown Phoenix criterium and the Red Thread of Team Specialized 15-16's Juniors
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
My Own Little World
A NEW SEASON
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
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
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
Saturday, February 16, 2013
2013 Valley of the Sun - Stage two summary
Friends, family and Team Specialized supporters - I've been fortunate to have witnessed some great racing over the quarter century that I've been bike racing. Strangely this one has happened twice now, to the same rider. Back in 2011 Jack Maddux hit the ground hard at the USA Cycling Road National Championships. He bounced back the very next day to win the time trial and his first national championship. Well, today, less than 24 hours after Jack met the asphalt at 30mph in the stage one time trial, he went LARGE and won the 2013 Valley of the Sun road race. Large, as in two laps solo, or 30+ miles solo against a full 50 rider field! So impressive.
The GC shook up today in our favor thanks to the efforts of our seven 15-16 teammates. Oh wait, Jules and Sean are only 14! Well, with Jack winning solo he moved up to 15th place. Sean McElroy was 2nd today and now sits 7th on GC. Jules (12th place, now 20th GC) and Grant (11th place, now 11th GC) helped the race unfold. Grant was in the break with Jack and helped him press his advantage. Jules attacked which helped draw out the 3rd place rider, which Sean followed into his breakaway. Behind Jack and Sean we had Jason (5th place, now 3rd GC), Gage (8th today, 4th GC) and Nick (6th today, 6th GC) driving the pace after 2nd and 4th GC had been dropped. They picked up valuable time.
15-16s Summary of stage two - Jack 1st, Sean 2nd, Jason 5th, Nick 6th, Gage 8th, Grant 11th, Jules 12th
15-16s Summary of GC after two stages - Jason 3rd, Gage 4th, Nick 6th, Sean 7th, Grant 11th, Jack 15th, Jules 20th
For the 17-18 race, or 63 miles of road racing Owen took out the KOM sprint (3 second bonus) and 5th in the final sprint. Owen slid from 3rd GC to 5th. Matt was in a two up breakaway for 16 miles and finished 20th. He is sitting 21st GC. While this doesn't sound like much of an update I have two reflections on this one - firstly, that Matt and Owen had a plan to work together and that they both tried to win the race. Better to race your bike than to spectate on how a race unfolds!
17-18s Summary of stage two - Owen 5th, Matt 20th
17-18s Summary of GC after two stages - Owen 5th, Matt 21st
Craig finished 24th on the stage in the category two race, yet moved up to 12th GC. Jeromy was 28th on the stage and is at 23rd on GC. I won the 55+ road race and still stay 6th on GC.
Tomorrow is the downtown criterium where GC is unlikely to change.
Larry Nolan, Team Specialized Junior Director
Friday, February 15, 2013
2013 Valley of the Sun - stage one summary
- Sean McElroy (14) rode his brand new Specialized Tarmac because of new USA Cycling rules which only allow for under 14 year olds to be on "mass start bikes". Sean rode duel Zipp 404 wheels. Without aerobars he still averaged 24.69mph. Sean also won our little "prediction" game as he was 18 seconds faster than he thought he would be. Sean placed 22nd.
- Nicholas Castellano (16) rode his Specialized Transition with 808 Zipp front and Zipp disk rear. He improved the most from last year with a whomping 2 minute, 13 second improvement. Nick placed 8th.
- Jack Maddux (16) rode a Specialized Shiv with front Zipp 404 and rear Zipp disk. This is Jack's 4th consecutive trip to VOS. Unfortunately, Jack crashed in his time trial. He hit one of the cones that were being moved for the younger juniors. He received the slowest time and should start the road race. As Jack said "I was on fire" (before the crash)
- Matt Valencia (17) rode a Specialized Transition front Zipp 404 and rear Zipp disk. This is Matt's 4th consecutive VOS. Matt's rear disk slid into his seat post and slowed him way down. He and Owen will go into the road race with a 55 second disadvantage to make up on 1st (Seth Veenbaas). Matt placed 33rd of 50 starters.
-Jules Gilliam (14) also rode "Eddy Merckx" style without aerobars and placed 23rd. He raced on his new Specialized Tarmac with two Specilized non-aero Roval wheels. He averaged 23.88mph for this 14 mile effort. Both Jules and Sean are racing with their older teammates for the experience and competition.
- Grant McElroy (15) rode a Specialized Transition with a front Roval wheel and a rear Zipp disk. Unfortnately we didn't pack our hacksaw as Grant was on a newly fitted bike and the seat post was too long (he sat too high). Even still Grant toughed out the course at 25.65mph for 14th place.
- Gage Hecht (15) rode a Specialized Shiv with a front Roval wheel and a rear disk. Gage was a minute, 40 faster than his prediction, took out an average speed of 27.13mph and is sitting 5th on GC, 1:16 behind Ethan Reynolds. We hope to shake up the GC in the road race, but it's short and not difficult so we shall see. Gage came to VOS last year but did the short course so we can't compare times.
- Jason Saltzman (16) rode his Specialized Shiv with front 404 Zipp and rear Zipp disk. While this is Jason's first trip to VOS he had a smoking fast time trial at 27.07mph. He is sitting 6th on GC, so with 5th, 6th and 8th on GC we have plans to attack GC.
- Owen Gillott (18) rode a Specialized Transition with front HED tri spoke and rear Zipp disk. This is Owen's first time to VOS. Owen averaged 27.53mph for 3rd place.
- Craig Roemer 18th in the elite 2's @ 27.9mph
- Jeromy Cottell 27th in the elite 2's @ 27.14mph
- I was 6th in the 55's @ 26.19mph
Road Racing Saturday, Feb. 16th
Cheers, Larry Nolan, Team Specialized Junior Director
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Larry is trying to make me fat
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!
Monday, February 11, 2013
Fruit Loops
Friday, February 8, 2013
My Escape
Thank you for reading,
Nick Castellano
When did you learn how to draft another cyclist?
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
18 reasons why you should "Never Give Up"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.