Thursday, September 26, 2013

2013





To explain the past racing year you first have to realize that my 2013 journey started in 2012. In the early part of June 2012 my family and myself were gearing up to move to America. In between packing and the generally stressful ordeal of moving houses, I came into contact with Larry Nolan, to us he was just the NorCal junior selection coach. We kept in contact and in early July 2012 our family made the initial move to America. It wasn’t until I finally met Larry at the Davis Criterium that I realized how strong the junior Specialized team actually was, from that moment I knew I wanted to spend my final junior year on this team. During a short visit in July I competed in the Little City Stage Race and the Junior State Championships all of which Larry was watching me, it wasn’t until late October that I was offered a contract with Specialized for the 2013 season.

I spent November through January and into early February in Adelaide racing the Australian National Track calendar, so when I landed in the states for the 2013 season I had good speed with me. I showed this by winning my first race at Cherry Pie, fresh off the plane, with Jet Lag in my legs. I followed this up with a string of wins from Snelling to Land Park and Copperopolis. Then in July this year the team provided me with the opportunity to achieve my first big international win, this was in the Junior Tour of Ireland. I then followed this two weeks later, with a win at the Tour de l'abitibi. My string of wins kept up all the way to the Elite State Champs two weeks ago where I logged my 77th race and achieved my 22nd win of the year, I have 40 podiums and 59 top ten places out all my starts.

These wins ranged from State champs to UCI level races, I wouldn’t have ever achieved such a good season without two people that have been so crucial this year. Firstly my coach Larry Nolan, without him believing in me and coaching me I never would have been able to do the things I have. Larry has provided me with all the support and mentoring a good coach should, but he has also provided me with something I never expected, an amazing role model, both on and off the bike, Larry conducts himself with a dignity and authenticity I haven’t experienced in an official coach. The second person is my Father Ian, Most of you know him but some of you don’t. He has been coaching me on and off the bike for the last 8 years of my racing career, he supports everything I do and this year became a founder for Specialized. Even though he has fully committed the last 8 years of his life to train and educate me he is still finding ways to help me and my team to do the best we can.

Being part of a young development team is such a big learning curve, it’s a time when the riders have to learn how to be a “team”. This program helps to develop racers in so many different ways, by showing them how a team functions and should race, by creating training plans that the riders can set themselves, learning to cook and live away from home. This team lets you experience every different position on the team no matter what your strengths, it also allows you to bond with your team mates, and that is something I can take away from this year. My team mates this year were something special, they all helped me do my very best and I hope I brought out the very best in them. I thank all the riders on this team but especially Matt Valencia, Matt and I were the only two riders in the 17-18 class. Matt helped me out more times than I can remember and I would like to say how grateful I am for his help. If I you don’t have team mates to call your mates then what is the point of being a team?

As an 18 year old I am too old to continue in the 2014 season with Specialized, so shortly I will be graduating the development program and moving on to a new U23 team. I would like to especially thank Wyatt Weisel for all his help in the time I have known him, and the sponsors for our team. Because without the sponsors of this amazing junior development team riders like myself would never have the chance to develop and achieve their goals.

Thank you to the parents and to all involved with the Specialized junior development team.

Regards
Owen Gillott



Sunday, September 22, 2013

Coming back from injury...

Two stories in one...

I am scheduled to fly to Manchester, England for the UCI Masters World Track Championships on October 5th.  I'm 55 this year and quite notivated to compete at my 7th world track championship.  More specifically, I was gunning for a new 55+ world record in the 2 kilometer pursuit.  Sadly, the current world record holder, James Host of Chicago. IL (2:20.413 or 31.9mph from a standing start) broke his hip in Indy at the USA Masters National Track Championsips, but that was also my opportunity... until I crashed.  I crashed in the scratch race at the NCNCA State Track Championships on September 13th.  The past nine days have been a roller coaster of emotions.  I was tough guy after the crash, asking to be carried off the track, tough guy in the ambulance and at the hospital letting them know I was "3" on the pain scale.  That was an accurate assessment until I moved, then I'd feel "9" and "10".  How the heck am I going to make it to England in three weeks, let alone start a bicycle from a dead stop?  Fast forward to yesterday, day eight, and the roller coaster was at the bottom of the ride.  I had seen my chiro, gotten a deep tissue massage, walked too far on crutches and pushed it too much on my turbo trainer.  Saturday, Sept. 21 was a bad day.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap6NIh85Hsg&feature=youtube_gdata_player - Sept 13 crash via Alex's goPro camera

Dr. Block had encouraged me to be patient, that the swelling in my hip would go down over the weekend.  Lana Hemenway had encouraged me to be patient, that the pain she inflicted would eventually help me.  Today, Sunday, Sept. 22 is a good day.  I woke up after a restful ten hour sleep and was filled with the hope that I might be able to race in Manchester in two weeks... for this goal driven guy, that's exactly what I was looking for!

to be continued...



Weeks ago teammate Rob Anderson took off to Africa for the MTB World Championship.  As a former world champ he feels the same pull that I do to return to compete.  Unfortunately, Rob took a nasty fall during his recon ride.  Unfortunately, he was going through the same things that I was going through, both in his head with doubts and confidence and with his body in the fits and spurts of feeling progress and set-backs.  Thankfully, he's really good about communicating his far off adventures so I've benefitted from his lessons.  Or, as he calls out in his update from Trento, Italy - "trials and tribulations"

Today was the end of an interesting journey and I have learned much from the experience.
I did my last race for many months today, the world road race championships. On Tuesday I will be in France and about 48 hours from now I will have a new shoulder. That is something that excites me. Then I can't wait to get back on my bike and start the long journey that I hope leads me to next years world championships.
Yesterday I had my last physiotherapy session, it was the 26th day of the last 27 days in a row of physiotherapy where I suffered through the painful experience of the therapy. I learned that I needed to accept that pain to heal, the therapy was essential for me to get on the bike today and race.
Today I also learned how brutal a world championship race is when you aren't at your best. The race was in and around the stunningly beautiful area of Trento Italy.
Every time I have raced in the world championships I had done the type of training I thought was necessary to compete against the worlds best and when I did those races I was fully prepared both physically and mentally. I have had the great fortune of winning 3 times and until today, didn't really realize how special it is to win.
 
My last road race was 6 weeks ago and I was close to being at my absolute best. There was still a little room for improvement and my coach, John Hunt had it carefully mapped out on how to get that last increment into me to win here today. Of course that all changed in a split second on the dirt in South Africa.
Nonetheless, nothing was broken or damaged enough that maybe, just maybe, I could race a month after the crash. So began an eye-opening 30 days.
Racing in a world championship and being able to ride a bike are two very different things that became overwhelmingly obvious to me today. My coach knew it but me, being as stubborn as I am, refused to accept it. After the crash in South Africa I couldn't ride outside because I could not hold a bike upright or control it due to my injuries . The only alternative was to put my bike on the trainer indoors and gingerly mount the bike and pedal easy. Along with this mode of training came severe muscle spasms around my injured ribs, neck and scapula which required an uncontrollable verbal expression of pain each time it happened which was about every 5 minutes of pedaling. This went on for 10 days. Oh yes and shallow breaths were my only choice as anything but was impossible.
As the physiotherapy really started to change things for the positive I began riding outside. The muscle spams continued but it was better than being stuck indoors in such a beautiful place. I found an amazing place to ride and this allowed me to start putting a little effort into the pedal stroke and trying to rebuild some fitness. For the next two weeks my coach constructed workouts that he knew I could handle but they revealed a degradation in fitness and strength of about 15 to 20% initially from my numbers right before the crash and after 14 days improved to a loss of about 10 to 12%. The injuries made it pretty much impossible to be on the bike for more than 3 hours and he knew what that meant and so did I but what's the sense of not giving it a try.
 
There were two world championship races here, a time trial two days ago and the road race today.
I got on my time trial bike for the first time since the middle of July two days before the time trial on Friday. I feared getting on the TT bike because the position has always been uncomfortable even in perfect health and I couldn't imagine how it was going to hurt under the circumstances.. Wow, was I wrong. As it turns out it was much less painful than riding my road bike. The best I could surmise was the horizontal position on the time trial bike was making the mechanics of the muscles around the injured areas more relaxed than the more vertical position of the road bike. Regardless, I was happy and really looked forward to Friday. It wasn't going to be three hours on the bike, only about 40 minutes of pain. I could certainly handle that.
Although he didn't say it, John new what to expect. I finished 5th and the 4 guys ahead me had found themselves slower than me on several occasions in the past. That said, it made me smile, not bad for what had been going on.
In the back of my mind, I was kind of dreading the road race. I knew it would be about 4 hours and anytime I got to about 2 hours on the road bike here the wheels started to come off. The debilitating muscle issues would start kicking in and the more time on the bike after 2 hours, the more severe the pain. But maybe I had improved enough to make a go of it.
The race started easily enough as the first 10 or so kilometers were on flat road. Then came the first climb, 8 kilometers averaging maybe 6%. The race went ballistic. The guys I knew I had to watch hurt me badly. I hung onto them for the first half of the climb and then slipped back to a chase group. We went over the climb about 30 seconds back. I led the group down the descent and within 4 kilometers of some more flat road we were back at the front. Phew.
It was now about 30 kilometers of flat road before the second climb. All I had to do was sit in and get ready for the second climb. The average gradient would be slightly less, than the first one, maybe 5 to 6%, but it was about 3 kilometers longer. In an interesting twist of fate, we arrived at the base of the second climb 1 hour and 55 minutes into the race. I made sure I was right up front and with the 3 or 4 guys I knew were the best in our group. It went all out right off the bat again.

I hung on for about 5 to 7 minutes and then I was fried. The pain began to build, I ignored it for a while. I looked down at my power meter and what had been 300 to 310 watts on the first climb was now only 270 watts. As a side bar, I knew to be truly competitive in this race, I needed to be able to race on each of these first 2 climbs at about 325 watts.

A few minutes later, the same level of pain could only produce about 260 watts. My competitors were leaving me behind. I was now about 10th in my age group and slipping back more and more.
 
Now over 2 hours in, that haunting pain was building and I still had about 2 hours of racing ahead of me. My courage was leaving me and for the first time in my life I thought I should stop racing.
I had finally stopped the back sliding as far as the competition was concerned as I could stay with the guys that were now with me but another glance at the power meter and I was seeing 250 watts. The husband of the husband and wife roommates I have here in Italy that have shared living quarters patiently with me for the last 3 world championships was the man-extrordinaire, Rob Van Houweling who was at the top of this climb to feed us. He had driven there and I knew what I had to do. The race today would end for me at the top of the second of three climbs. Going on to the finish would be very painful as it would require 2 more hours of racing including the last brutal climb, the famous Monte Bondone and if I were as good as I could be without having crashed, it alone would take about an hour and 10 minutes. It was no longer a race for me it was masochism (but what race isn't?). A few minutes later we were in the car and that was the end of my ride.

That's it. I pushed my body as best I could and this time the mind could not overcome the body but that doesn't mean I have to accept that in the future. Remember how stubborn I am.
 
Over and out.

Larry Nolan and Rob Anderson, Team Specialized Racing



Friday, September 20, 2013

Post Nationals Ideas

Team Specialized aligns under the philosophies and intentions of USA Cycling.  In our 26 year history we strive to have our best performances at our USA Cycling National Championships.  This is true for both the juniors and masters teammates.  So, now that the 2013 National Cross, Road and Track Championships are in the books I thought I'd share some of my ideas from my travels...

Firstly, let's review what we ask of our junior teammates, consistent to what USA Cycling is looking for in any junior wishing to represent the USA in their European Racing Adventures with the "National Team"
1) good attitude - including willingness to learn from experiences and others; confident, yet humble; not a "know-it-all"; and always appreciative without a sense of entitlement
2) crazy skills - criteriums do not prepare Americans for grand tours, but they can prepare athletes to improve or hold their position in the closing laps of a tight downtown course.  How often do you practice your skills?
3) get along - coaches may be with an athlete for a month and everyone needs to get along.  This one is easy to practice, go to work on your relationships with your parents, siblings and teammates at home before you go abroad.
4) teamwork - your bike is on the roof rack, your bag is close to the door.  Do you offer to help the rest of the "team" unpack?
and,
5) results - thankfully, cycling is filled with really good people, folks that like to help each other and be a part of success.  Not every sponsor or supporter cares how you perform, but some do.  Give the USA Cycling coaches a reason to select you for their next trip to the World Championships!

Secondly, here's some random ideas to improve the Nationals experience, along with reflections of what already works well for those that might attend in the future...
+ on-line entry, listing of competitors and no forms to sign at # pick-up is just briliant!
- queuing juniors up to one hour before their start, in 40 degree (Madison, WI) or 90 degree (Madison, WI) weather without shade is a great opportunity for a sponsors tent (or ten!)
+ time gaps between events for officials to wrap up one race before another, for competitors to preview a course or for an awards ceremony (see below)
- Track omnium points need to slide with the number of competitors so that the majority still have a shot at the podium (e.g. 50 Jr 15-16s with only the top five places scoring over five events)
+ Jr 15-16 Team Pursuit as a new event!  Unfortunately, there were less Jr 17-18 teams than Jr 15-16 teams.  I propose combining for one Jr 15-18 team pursuit national championship.  The 15-16's may not win but they have years to try again.  I'd also propose opening the team sprint to Jr 15-18 as well as the madison to Jr 15-18.  For the madison, riders would need to be a category 1, 2 or 3 -and- produce a letter from their upgrade coordinator or track president proclaiming their madison skills for Nationals.
- five year age groups with five national individual national championships at Masters Track Nationals waters down the "National Champion" title.  I propose we move to ten year age groups, or go back to five year omnium formats.  As well, team events championships ought to be for 40+ and 50+ not 35+, 45+, 55+ and 65+.  Let's make this competitive again!
+ award ceremony needs to change.  If in the evening then expect no-shows, if after the events then shortly after is best.  Criterium award ceremony ought to be staged after the conclusion of the next race, not seven hours later.  I missed my crit awards ceremony because I had a funeral to attend the next day.  I wish I was there.  I meant no disrespect to USA Cycling or my competitors but 7 hours after an event!

Larry Nolan, Team Specialized