Sunday, July 27, 2014

Cascade Cycling Classic Wrap-up

Cascade Cycling Classic Wrap-up

After visiting Bend, Oregon the last two years for Master's Road Nationals, I have been looking forward to racing Cascade.  This year the schedule worked out and I was able to make the trip.  Since it was only Craig and I making the trip (plus Jason who was guest riding for Bear Development), we decided to jump in the 2s race instead of the Masters race.  I was looking for upgrade points and the 2s stage race was spread over 4 days instead of the 3 days for the Master's race.

Stage 1: Crooked River Time Trial

This TT was on the same course at the Master's National TT for the last two years, just a shorter distance.  This was great for me as I knew the course well.  Looking at my previous files, I set a goal time of 33 minutes, based on times for the previous year and what I thought I could do this year.  The course is mostly rollers, so I broke the course down into 2 mile blocks (for 8 splits total).

There was a slight tailwind out and head wind back, so I was a little ahead of my splits on the way out, catching my 30 man.  At the turnaround, however, I was struggling a little in the wind.  After 2 slow splits, I started to get back on top of my gears.  I also started picking off a few more riders, helping with my motivation.  Coming into the final few kilometers, I knew that I was a little behind my goal time, but emptied what I had left in the legs.  Across the line I had the best time so far, but I was early in the start list and had to wait through some 80 more riders.

In the end, my time was good enough for 3rd, 4 seconds off the leader.  I was super stoked, despite missing my goal time, sitting in a perfect GC position.

Lesson 1: Know the course (and use it to your advantage).


Stage 2: Cascade Lakes Road Race

This year they decided to run the road race in the opposite direction compared to previous years.  This made for a 96 mile road race with a 10 mile grind of a hill to the finish.  I have been in a few larger stage races, but this was the first time in a field of 110 riders with the centerline enforced.  This was especially important in the first 20 miles, which included a high speed descent down from the Mt. Bachelor ski resort.

Early, a small group got away and got a bit of a gap.  The GC leader did not have any teammates, so there was no real control in the peloton.  Instead there a few minor attacks and some moderate tempo in between.  About 25 miles into the race, the moto that was leading the peloton turned the wrong way!  As a result, SO DID THE PELOTON!  A few riders that were on the right of the road continued on the correct course, while the rest of us had to stop and turn around.

Since it was an official error, the moto neutralized both the lead break and the impromptu break that had formed and reset the original gap.  With racing back on, we slowly reeled in the lead break before the first feed zone.  Again a few attacks went of, but nothing of note really happened.

Passing the second feed zone and starting our way back towards the finish, Craig appeared at the front to start driving the pace.  After a long stretch of rollers and a mild climb, we were fairly strung out and rolled through the final feed zone at the base of the climb.  The final climb is a long big-ring climb.  There were a few attacks again, but nothing stuck and basically came down to attrition.  At this point I knew the GC leader was struggling, but I was not sure where the 2nd place guy was.  I was able to follow wheels as the Bear Development riders were pushing the pace.

We finally made the summit as a group of maybe 30 riders.  Unfortunately I expected the finish to be at the main ski lodge (where the National finish had been), so the real finish came up before I was ready.  I was able to dig and stay with the lead group, but was out of position to get a high placing (and any time bonuses).  After rolling over the line, I took stock of the riders to find that both the GC leader and the 2nd place rider had been dropped from the lead group, putting me in yellow. 

Lesson 2: Know the course (so you know where to go).


Stage 3: Downtown Twilight Criterium

The crit was in the afternoon, so I spent the morning pre-riding the final road race course.  Once at the crit, I got set-up and put in a good warm-up.  With the yellow jersey, I got a call-up to the front of the pack, which was essential for this 4 corner crit.  I was able to patrol the front fairly easily as minor attacks would go, but nothing dangerous ever materialized.  In the final lap, I was actually leading the peloton down the backstretch.  Into corner three a rider took a flier with no one else reacting.  I was slow to react, but still went through the corner at the front of the group.  Sprinting out of turn four, I did my best to power to the line, but was passed by two other riders.  Finishing 4th, I missed out on the time bonuses again, but still maintained my lead.

Lesson 3: Riding a crit in the middle of a hilly stage race is pretty easy (since there were no real sprinters).


Stage 4: Awbrey Bette Road Race

The final stage was four laps around a hilly 16 mile circuit, culminating in a 1K hill climb.  After pre-riding the course the day before, I knew where the danger areas were (where breaks could go, when I needed to move up, and where the decisive climbs were).  Craig did a great job patrolling the front and keeping the pace up for the first three laps.  I took one flier in the middle of lap two to bridge up to a small break, but everything came back together quickly.  The rest of the lap was spent staying near the front, suffering up the main climbs and marking the few riders within striking distance.

On the last loop, the team of the 2nd place rider (13 sec back) came to the front and drove the pace towards the final hill.  While it was nice to have someone take control of the front of the race, I knew that the last time up the main climb would be decisive.  Predictably, the 2nd place rider hit the climb hard and I did all I could to follow his wheel.  Cresting the main kicker, followed by several smaller kickers we were down to maybe 15 riders, but most importantly we were still together.

There was a short descent down to a left turn for the final 1K.  I did my best to recover and stay near the front of the group as the pace started to quicken.  Setting up for the left hand turn in the middle of the group, riders on the right side of the group went straight!  Meanwhile guys on the left side riders were jockeying for position and went down!  Fortunately I made it through and pedaled squares up the hill trying to hold position.  I knew that I had the second and third placed riders behind me, so I just kept pushing.  I ended up 10th on the stage, good enough to clinch the leaders jersey.

Lesson 4: Know the course!


Big thanks to Craig for all of the effort he put out to get me into yellow and stay there.  It also payed off to have friends in the peloton as a number of NorCal riders were up racing and would pitch in here and there.  Lastly, thanks to all of our sponsors (for both the Masters and Junior teams), including NCCF, Touchstone Climbing, Specialized, Clif Bar, and Zipp/SRAM.

Cheers,
Jeromy




 

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Multiple subject lines


"Sharing", "Development", "For the good of the athlete" or "I love those voicemail messages!"

I'm having a tough time with a subject line for this one so I'll just take the machine gun approach and hit them all... they are all connected

Late last summer former world Xterra champion and Junior World MTB competitor Neilson Powless and I connected about his racing on the road.  He was quickly added to our roster.

When the Garmin junior cycling team folded last year we connected with 2013 National MTB Champ, BMXer, and roadie Christopher Blevins and he joined our team.
Both Neilson and Christopher race mountain bikes for Whole Athlete.  Late spring 2014 and Whole Athlete teammate Sean Bennett saw how much fun Christopher and Neilson were having on the road, so we added him as a guest rider.  All three race for Whole Athlete and NCCF/ Team Specialized.  Common thread being Specialized Bicycles plus Dario and my belief that a junior loving to race any type of bike is good for their development and longevity. 

2014 road nationals saw Christopher working with his 15-16 teammates to pull out wins in the road race and time trial, Gage won the time trial, while Neilson pulled off an impressive 4th in the individual time trial then made the decisive breakaway with teammate Jason Saltzman in the criterium.  Unfortunately, a crash with two other riders extinguished the move.  Fortunately, Sean Bennett was ready and in good positon for the next move.  This one turned out to be the winning move and Sean finished 4th in a super competitive race.  Even more impressive was that this was Sean’s 4th ever criterium!  Nick led Matt out for the field sprint win and 5th overall so we saw every teammate play in the outcome of the race!

Fast forward to USA Cycling Junior Mountain Bike Nationals.  Last Friday Christopher Blevins won his 2nd consecutive 15-16s MTB National Title and Sean Bennett won his first 17-18s stars and stripes jersey.

On Sunday Christopher, Sean and Neilson teamed up in the short track championships.  One of the benefits of being director to this great group of juniors is the voicemail messages and e-mails I get after their races and here’s one I got from Christopher “It was a great weekend overall.  Especially today.  You would have enjoyed watching this one.  Sean and I were trying to get Neilson the win after his bad luck on Friday in the cross country.   We treated the short track like a criterium.   We went one-two and four.  It was great teamwork.  Everyone was wondering why mountain bikers were using teamwork.  Yay, that was kind of fun!”

Larry Nolan, Team Specialized Junior Director
(17-18's plus Christopher... l-r Matthew Valencia, Jason Saltzman, Christopher Blevins, Nicholas Castellano, Sean Bennett and Neilson Powless)

Saturday, July 12, 2014

An unforgettable ride


“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters in the end” (Ernest Hemingway). In 2007 at the age of 11 my cycling journey began thanks to my dad. I remember my first ride with him riding down Foothill Expressway and falling because I didn’t know how to clip out of the pedals. From there I was determined to get better. I soon started riding at the track and quickly fell in love with everything about the sport. At the age of 14, I was invited to join Team Specialized, which furthered my journey. I will be forever thankful of the opportunities this team has provided for me.

Last week I completed my last Junior National Championship. I first started at Track Nationals in Carson, California at the Stub Hub Center. I competed in the International Omnium, 3k Pursuit, Kilometer Time Trial, Points Race, Scratch Race, and Team Pursuit. Winning the omnium when I was 14 and 16, I targeted the omnium again this year. The omnium started extremely well, winning the flying lap and setting a new Jr. National record. On the third event, the Elimination Race, I unfortunately crashed twice. This put me down on the overall omnium and at the end I finished 6th. I had to learn how to quickly move on from disappointment. My next two events were the Points Race and Scratch Race where I finished 3rd and 6th respectively. Track Nationals ended with another national title. This time it was in the Team Pursuit. Thank you Ken Carpenter for your guidance and support, not only at Track Nationals this year but throughout my junior career on Team Specialized! I will always be grateful.

Straight from Track Nationals, I flew to Madison, Wisconsin with the team for Road Nationals. Some of my greatest memories with the team have been at Road Nationals and this year was no different. Along with the fun times, the team displayed great teamwork all week long. The 17-18’s teamwork approach got put to the test in the criterium because we all felt we could either win in a field sprint or a breakaway. The first half of the race went as planned, my teammates followed attacks and we were all attentive at the front staying safe and away from crashes. Teammate Nielson Powless then got into a breakaway of 6 for about 20 minutes before a crash ruined it. After the long breakaway got pulled into the pack, Noah Granigan and Jake Silverberg countered and stayed away till the finish. Teammate Sean Bennett then made a move with one other rider with 5 laps to go to bridge to the breakaway but came within a few seconds short and finished 4th.  Back in the field, Nick Castellano was looking after me and leading me out for the field sprint. With 2 laps to go, Nick and I were towards the front. I was giving him directions because I didn’t want to lose his wheel on the last lap. Coming into 1 to go, Nick and I didn’t panic instead we decided to be patient. I didn’t want him to run out of gas and I also wanted him to be attentive in case we were going to get swarmed by the field. Coming into turn 3 on the last lap, Nick hit the front at about 33mph and led me out to win the field sprint for 5th place. Although we didn’t win the race, Team Specialized displayed great teamwork, sacrificing each rider’s own goals for the good of the team.   

As my junior cycling journey ends, I would like to take this opportunity to thank NCCF for their endless amount of support they have provided for the team every single year. Without their help, the success of this team would not have been possible. Thank you to Larry Nolan for being a great mentor to me on and off the bike. The memories we created each year will definitely never be forgotten.  I would also like to thank my coach, Billy Innes, for helping me achieve many successful seasons. To my teammates, thank you for pushing me to be a better leader, rider, and person.  Wherever the road may take you, I wish each of you success. And last but not the least; I want to thank my parents. Thank you for always telling me what I'm capable of, for giving me the support that I needed to build a dream to chase after, and for believing that I have the talent to reach my goals.  Without each of you, I'd be nowhere near the person I am - and the person I'm still working on becoming.

Next for me is to finish the season out strong and then off to college where I will be studying at the University of Hawaii!

-Matt Valencia  

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Goals and Expectations

At our December 2013 team camp we spent time talking about team goals and expectations.  A day after the 2014 USA Cycling Junior Time Trial National Championships and on the eve of the final day of racing in the criterium, I wanted to share this publicly.  We talked about it again tonight and it’s healthy to keep this perspective whether you are on our team or not.  With such a high turnover in our sport its important to share tips to help keep the rider numbers up.

While we have goals to win certain races, we do not expect to win.  We expect best efforts and that we learn from every race, but we do not expect to win.

This is not to say that teammates don’t put pressure on themselves, or that they don’t feel pressure from others (we tend to have a pretty big target on our backs), it’s just a reminder that this is our hobby, that we’re not saving lives here and winning a national championship, while bringing a very good feeling to you, your teammates, and your supporters should not change the person that you are.  Driven to improve, having some fun along the way and setting some lofty goals that you hope to reach... but not expected to.  These are some of the things that make our sport so wonderful!

Larry Nolan, Team Specialized Junior Director
 

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

It's here - Junior Road Nationals!

Junior Track Nationals ended on Sunday.  Two days later I'm up past my bedtime letting you know that road nationals starts tomorrow.  But, first, a summary of track nationals:
+ Jules Gilliam was 6th in the 15-16s omnium.  He did very well at the bottom of his age group and hosted the team at his house.  Well, his parents hosted us and Jules made a few meals!  Jules won the team pursuit and team sprint on the final day.
+ Matthew Valencia was 6th in the 17-18s omnium.  He broke the national record in the flying lap and was looking good for the six event/ two day competition but was crashed twice in the 3rd event.  He's banged up and bruised but still ready to roll.  Matthew won the team pursuit and qualified for the Junior World Track Championships in South Korea!
+ Gage Hecht and Grant McElroy flew in to help win the team pursuit national championships.  This was important for the team as we fought for the event to be added and we want to support team competition!
Final day of competition article: http://www.usacycling.org/team-competition-closes-out-2014-juniors-track-national-championships.htm
Article from Guam sportsnetwork website: http://www.guamsportsnetwork.com/2014/valencia-shines-in-usa-cycling-nationals/
50+ pictures: https://www.facebook.com/TeamSpecializedRacing

2014 has been a great racing year for our team.  Teamwork brought us this far, and we are planning for it to see us through these next five days of racing at the 2014 USA Cycling Junior National Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. 

Teamwork is an easy thing to talk about, a bit more difficult to pull off.  Yet, Teamwork is the core principle of this junior cycling team.  Ten teammates go to the start line of their road race on Wednesday with the intent of working together to achieve more than they could ever achieve alone.  Five teammates in the 15-16s race with a 9:45am start, five teammates in the 17-18s race with a  12:30pm start.  Friday, the 4th of July sees them tackle the individual time trial and Sunday sees them racing around the state capital (criterium).

So, what exactly does teamwork look like for Team Specialized?
- sponsors that give generously, not necessarily for a great return on their investment, but for the greater good of how they are helping to grow and develop young men
- junior teammates that give more than they get, that help in their communities and enjoy spending time together
- 5500 Facebook fans that "like" what we are doing in the sport
- junior teammates that planned and traveled to each other to practice and execute teamwork
- parents that choose to support and sacrifice for these young men in the exciting sport of bicycle racing
- junior teammates that love to learn and patiently listen and practice new skills and ideas
- parents that help to grocery shop and stock kitchens, drive team vans across the country, clean them too, update Facebook photos and stories, and shuttle junior teammates all around "God's green earth"!
- and, a team director with a willingness to serve and help develop

Here's the final 5.6km of the road race.  It's a brutal climb, yet when combined with heat and humidity it will shatter the fields... http://www.strava.com/segments/650892

17-18 roster
- Matthew Valencia (18) Los Altos, CA
- Neilson Powless (18) Roseville, CA
- Sean Bennett (18) El Cerrito, CA
- Jason Saltzman (17) Menlo Park, CA
- Nick Castellano (17) Upland, CA

15-16 roster
- Gage Hecht (16) Parker, CO
- Christopher Blevins (16) Durango, CO
- Grant McElroy (16) Portland, OR
- Jules Gilliam (15) Manhattan Beach, CA
- Sean McElroy (15) Palmdale, CA

Seven of ten teammates are current and past national champions so we are confident that they head into their racing relaxed (we are not saving lives) yet willing to sacrifice and execute some great teamwork.  Stories and race results to follow. 

Larry Nolan, NCCF/ Team Specialized Juniors Director