Sunday, July 28, 2013

Matt and Jack win the madison Jr Track National championships


2013 USA Cycling Junior Track Championships.  here's how the 100 lap madison went down: eleven teams started, sprints every 20 laps, crash at 92 laps to go.  Crash at 81 laps to go.  Our heroes restart at 86 to go and take 5th in the first sprint (no points).  They set up the next sprint (60) perfectly and Matthew takes it over Tyler Nothstein.  4th at 40 to go so Matt and Jack have 6 points and sit in 4th.  At 20 to go they take 3rd (two points) but they are sitting 4th place.  They roll after the sprint, get a small gap with one other team but the team is disqualified for going under the exchanges (cause of first two crashes).  Jack goes solo and quickly gains half a lap.  They go to work in not only keeping the gap but opening it. If they win the final sprint they may get 2nd, but the pack is slowing.  Taking a lap looks possible.  They see the pack and bridge across at two laps to go sealing the win in the last minute!

Larry

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Day three - USA Cycling Junior Track National Champions

Saturday, July 27, 2013 - Trexlertown, PA

Success... Gage Hecht, Jack Maddux, Grant McElroy and Chazmichael Morales team up to win the 3 kilometer team pursuit national championships!

1 minute seventeen seconds over the first kilometer, 1 minute eleven seconds over the second and third kilomter led to an almost perfectly paced race.  Congratulations young men!

66 pictures of today's action posted on Facebook... you don't have to be one of our 5000+ fans to browse the photos.  Just go to https://www.facebook.com/#!/TeamSpecializedRacing

Details, stories, summary to follow after tomorrows final day of racing.  Cheers, Larry

Friday, July 26, 2013

USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships - Day Two


Friday, July 26 – Trexlertown, PA

“7-Eleven” is one of my old nicknames.  It may have something to do with the amount of diet coke I buy from the store(?)  Today was a 7-eleven day, not because of my favorite soda (which I am trying to wean off of) but because that’s how long I was at the Trexlertown velodrome today.  Up and at ‘em for the 2013 Track National Championships at 6am, over to the track and 13 races later I’m back at the hotel showering and then posting pictures to Facebook. 

No complaining here, I love this stuff!  Really, today was a very special day to be a bicycle racer, to be a Team Specialized teammate and to be the director of a small team of dedicated and driven cyclists.  Three quick stories…

Jules Gilliam (14) had an upset stomach before his scratch race qualifier and in his final.  Safe to say, that’s a loss of power.  He qualified easily top-ten late in the “morning” session (3pm!) and then waited for hours for his scratch race final.  We ate a light dinner as a team between sessions and returned to the track, where Jules promptly attacked his 19 competitors after just four laps of racing and went solo all the way to the line, getting caught by the winner just at the line.  2nd place tonight plus his 4th last night has him sitting 3rd in the omnium going into his points race qualifier and final tomorrow.  He’ll need a big result to pull out a national championship.

Way back in 1991 our masters team petitioned USA Cycling to add the team pursuit to Masters Nationals.  Our team has since ridden to twelve team pursuit national championships.  Fast forward to 2013 and a 15-16 year old championships is added for the four-man team pursuit.  With Gage and Grant already planning to go to track nationals I persuade Jack Maddux to join us for the team pursuit.  He agrees, spends a solid week of training and racing on the track and becomes more than proficient as a track rider.  That’s my point of view.  Jack’s point of view is that he’s having a blast!  As soon as Gage popped up on the omnium scoreboard (placing to just five of the top places, of 52 starters!) Jack and Grant have been faithful teammates to Gage’s effort to win a National Championship.  One event remains.  If Gage comes top four he should win his first track title.  

Oh wait, we have a team pursuit to win first thing in the morning!

Matthew Valencia (17) won the 15-16 Track National Championships in 012.  He bested 41 starters over four events.  It was very impressive, and it’s even more special to him this year.  Matthew has really good form this year but was not able to win his first event - the international omnium, six events over two days, an Olympic event.  Matthew was very good in the events he spends less time practicing (flyer one lap – 4th, 3km – 5th, kilo – 2nd) and he gambled a lot with his strong events (miss and out – 4th, points race – 9th, scratch race – 7th).  He ended up 5th on the omnium.  He’s not complaining, or reminiscing, but sometimes not winning helps us to appreciate when our efforts pay off with a victory.

Off to bed as we have team pursuits in the morning.  Maybe a nap in the afternoon(?).  Cheers, Larry Nolan, Team Specialized Junior Director

100’s of pictures posted to our Team Specialized Facebook page!

Thursday, July 25, 2013

USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships - Day one





Trexlertown, PA - Day one of the 2013 USA Cycling Track National Championships just ended. Team Specialized has five teammates at this years championships. Four days of racing in total.

13-14's have 29 male competitors going for one National Championship - Jules Gilliam, 14 years old, made the trip from Manhattan Beach, CA for this one. He'll compete in three events and hopes to score in the top five for each event to win the championship with the most points. Today he rode to 4th place in the 500m in 39.04 seconds. Tomorrow he's up for his scratch race qualifier and final. Saturday is his points race.

15-16's have 52 male competitors going for one National Championships - Gage Hecht, 15, Parker, CO; Jack Maddux, 16, Fresno, CA and Grant McElroy, 15, Portland, OR racing together. The 15-16's have five events and today they sprinted and competed in a points race. Match sprints included a 200 meter time trial to seed themselves in the match sprints. Only the top eight moved to the match sprints. Gage placed 7th, Jack 16th, Grant was 17th. In between some of this action, Gage was 4th in the 48 lap points race, Grant was 7th and Grant was 8th. Top 5 scored omnium points so Gage is sitting 6th with 2 points. Tomorrow they have their 3 kilometer pursuit/ time trial and scratch race qualifier and final. Saturday they finish up with their 500m time trial.

17-18's have a mixture of individual, team and omnium championships. Matthew Valencia, 17, Los Altos, CA is competing in the six-event omnium for starters. Today he finished 4th in the flying one lapper; 9th in the 48 lap points race and 4th in the elimination race. Tomorrow Matt will contest the 3km pursuit, scratch race and one kilometer time trial. Tomorrow night he'll compete in the points race. Saturday he'll enter the scratch race and Sunday he will team up with Jack for a madison.

Jack, Gage and Grant will join Chazmichael Morales on Sunday morning for a 4 person 4 kilometer Team Pursuit.

Lots of racing ahead and it's time to get the darlings off to bed. Cheers, Larry

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Teamwork


In the past month of racing I have learned a lot about teamwork. Racing at Nationals and the Little City Stage Race, has given me a new knowledge of just what it means to be part of a team.

At Nationals road race, we started the day with 5 riders, all dedicated to get one of us across the line first. We were well prepared as a team and had amazing support from Larry, and our parents. The feeds and ice bag hand ups made a huge difference on the hot day.

The race started and immediately attacks started flying; one would go, one would get brought back, and then another would go. Finally one Garmin rider got away solo, and established a big gap. After we hit the main climb the first lap and the field exploded, 25 guys were left in the front group. We had all five teammates in the mix; having one fifth of the front group put us in good position for the rest of the race.

The next time up the climb our group of 25 shattered yet again, yielding a front group of 6 (with Gage), then Jack chasing solo, then a group of three (including me), followed by the fragmented remains of the peloton. On the descent my group caught Jack, and the two of us worked together relentlessly to get up to Gage so that we could help him fend off the three Garmin guys in the group of six and help chase the one Garmin rider who had been on a solo break since the first lap. Going into the smaller climb on the last lap there was a group of about ten, we hit the hill and attacks started flying, a Garmin guy went across to the man they put up the road on lap one, and the group exploded yet again. This time the front chase group consisted of two Garmin riders, a Hot tubes rider, Gage and me.

The Garmin riders attacked one after the other. At that point there were two choices, let one of the Garmin guys get up the road (putting the first 3 steps on the podium up the road) and hope that either Gage or I could catch them on the climb to the line, or go to the front and chase them down so that Gage could go into the climb as fresh as possible. I chose the later, realizing that this was the best strategy to put a red jersey on the podium. My work was rewarded when I crossed the line and learned that Gage had won the bronze medal. I learned exactly what it meant to sacrifice your own chances for the greater good of the team, and just how rewarding it is to see someone else succeed due, in part, to work that you have done.

At Little City Stage Race (an omnium style stage race), the roles reversed for me. After winning the time trial, I was wearing the leaders jersey going into the afternoon criterium. The whistle blew and Nick attacked on the first lap, riding off the front solo for over half the race. A few laps later, I went with a move by one other rider. Nick slowed up and waited for me to come across, and then rode selflessly to set me up for the win.

Little City was my first time wearing a leaders jersey in a stage race, and I learned from my mistakes. I had a commanding lead going into the road race and Nick was second on GC. In retrospect, given my lead the primary goal for the day should have been defending Nick’s second place. I found myself in an early break with a lower placed rider and should have discouraged the break so that Nick could defend his position. While I’m sure that I will make other mistakes in my racing career, I definitely learned from this one.

I cannot express in words how grateful I am to have been a part of the success at Nationals, and to win Little City with Nick’s help. I am looking forward to continuing to hone our teamwork, so that we can share more successes as a team.

Jason

Sunday, July 14, 2013


HOW'S MY DRIVING: (800)COM-PLAIN

I am a cyclist.  I race and ride my bike because I like to eat, I crave the competition, I love the friendships and camaraderie of my team and community.  I'm not in this for freebies or entitlement.

I race with Team Specialized Racing Masters because it is about developing the next generation of cyclists.  It is helping a cyclist grow through the ranks as they not only become better cyclists, but better people as well.  I can only do this by leading by example, and the rewards come from seeing riders I have worked with line up at international professional races, or receive their high school and college diplomas.  Development extends beyond the boundaries of bike racing, and is most importantly an education of character.  I sacrifice my time and my results in order to assist, but it is for the spirit of the sport.  We build friendships and bonds, as well as some great bike racers.  

Recently, I was humbly reminded how much your actions speak much louder than any words or wins.  This is a valuable lesson that I felt the need to remind my teammates, and the cycling community.  I challenge myself, and I challenge you to remember why we do this.  We race bikes and ride bikes, all for the love of the sport and spirit of competition.  Think twice about your actions on the bike, both in and out of competition.  We are all a part of a huge family and every day we represent our sport, our sponsors, and our community.  We have a big billboard on our backs, and we should always try to race and ride above reproach.  Similar to the 1-800-COM-PLAIN number on the bumper of a truck, we have responsibility to honor and uphold our dedication to the sport while maintaining the integrity of our sponsors.  Although, I have struggled with this, I challenge you to remember we all represent a bigger entity.  Let our legs do the talking, and show good character on and off the bike.   

I once had a negative encounter with a motorist while riding my bike to work. It turned out the driver was my scheduled meetingthat morning. Rather than confront the situation with anger, I completely ignored the matter even though the gentleman knew I was the cyclist from the morning interaction. Ultimately, the meeting proved to be very business worthy, we became friends, and I brought about cyclist into our realm.  You never know who is watching, or who you will meet.  

Embrace the community of cycling by respecting your sponsors, fostering development, and living with character.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Iron Man Norm and Strongman Larry Nolan

As most of you know, Junior Road Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin came to a close last week and was locked away in the books. I was not surprised how competitive this years nationals were. The team had a good run coming away with three national titles, with Sean McElroy sweeping the 13-14 race, two podiums with Gage Hecht, and top tens from the rest of us. However, the big surprise of this week was that I realized how strong Norm McElroy (Sean's dad) and Larry Nolan are not only physically and mentally. Norm and Larry drove the 2500 miles to and from Madison, Wisconsin. We started in the mornings and drove as long as we could before it got dark to get a ride in. On the way back, we all agreed to get home ASAP. It took us 2 days to get back compared to the 4 days it took us to get there. On the last day coming back, Norm pushed through the sleepiness and drove through the night while the rest of us were sleeping in the van. Because of his strengths to drive for that long, Larry nicknamed him Iron Man Norm. As for Larry, let's just say he is one strong man. Throughout the whole week, he was constantly doing something for the team. He woke up early for the races everyday, made sure we were all doing well and got us what we needed before and after our races, and stayed up each night at late hours updating team sponsors and supporters via email. With all this business, the man hardly got any sleep/rest and still managed to keep our team spirits high. He is one strong man. So Norm and Larry, thank you for all the hard work and strength for getting me to and from the race. Also, thank you to my parents, all the supporters, and team parents who made this trip exciting and possible for me.
Cheers,
Nick Castellano

Nationals


 I just got back from Road National Championships and what a great week thanks to Larry Nolan and all the parents who made it possible!  Thanks also to Specialized and the NCCF for the equipment this year and to Clif for keeping me hydrated/energized.  I had so much fun with my teammates and racing friends.

The first couple of days my teammates and I rode around, previewing the courses that would be raced in days following. I raced the Nationals TT first and surprised myself with my ride, taking second only to Adrien Costa. The next day we headed out to Blue Mounds State Park for a great road race.  It had the most climbing of any Nationals road race I’ve ever ridden. Within the second lap the field was shattered but I was lucky to be off the front with some of the strongest riders in the race along with a couple of my teammates. As a result I finished the race in third place.

During our day of rest we rode our bikes to Waterloo to see Sean and Jules race. It was good to have a rest day between races and also see our teammate finish with a solo victory. The final day of nationals I raced one of the most intense junior criteriums of my life.  There was at least one attack every lap for twenty-five laps and a few crashes.  I was happy to finish in the top ten after working hard with the team. It will be difficult to beat this nationals in the future, I loved the courses and teamwork we had this year!  Track Nationals, here we come!  -- Gage Hecht

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Winning

I was in Ennis Ireland last week for the biggest junior tour in the world. It was an amazing race - cold (obviously) and windy. I managed a stage win with a few second place finishes.  After being beaten the day before by bad luck, then watched (from second place) the winner scream, shout and slap his muscles life a fool, I thought "if I win there is no way I would want to do anything so outrageous like that". After the stage people were saying how stupid he made himself look. Modesty in winning is a big thing and you should be excited, but never go over the top with celebrations.

Owen Gillott