Masters Track Worlds - reflections

A 16 year old tradition of hanging medals and jerseys over the motel/ hotel lampshade.

I wanted to close out this world championship diary with a few additional thoughts.

While four world titles seems excessive please remember that I was shooting for a world record in the 2km pursuit. While I fell short of Ian Hallam's 2:18.371 record, training for that high mark proved to be the best thing I could do to prepare for worlds. Besides, I remember the battles that Kent Bostick, Ian Hallam and Danny Clark went through in 1999. Basically, I didn't know what the competition would be like but I chose to prepare for the 2km world record. I was also helped along when the 2007 sprint and scratch race champion pulled out of the competition.

I'd like to encourage track riders to dream big and try to attend nationals or worlds. Hopefully it will change your perspective of the local races in a good way. In some respects the competition is better at worlds than at nationals, but not in all events. That should give one hope that on any given day, in any given event, the odds can swing in your favor. In that regard, travelling to Australia is not cheap, although I used miles for both Aubrey and me to go, and I mention this because the mix of athletes changes year after year. For me, I had not been to masters track worlds in 3 years I was an unknown to some of my competition. The defending champion from the pursuit and points race did not show and the sprint champion dropped out after his 200m qualifier. Had they both showed the racing would have been completely different.

The Dunc Gray (Australia's first Olympic gold medalist) velodrome is a world class facility and the organizers/ volunteers/ supporters put on a world class event. We are lucky to have events and venues like this but it was the efforts of a lot of people that helped to make this event a success. Thank you!

Finally, I would like to express a special thank you to my wife Debbie for her neverending love, Dr. Peter Block for the massages and chiropractic care, Peter Bohl for the super motor pacing sessions, Alan Farian and Fred Chang at the Bicycle Garage, teammates Mike McCarthy and Harvey Nitz for their years of advice, and to the whole Specialized team for pushing us to new heights!

Day 6, points race = 1st

USA Sprinters (l to r and home track) Roger Hernandez (Ft. Lauderdale), Michael Paulin (Colorado Springs), Rich Voss (Colorado Springs), me (San Jose), Chip Berezny (Trexlertown), Mark Rodamaker (San Jose), Andrew LaCorte (Trexlertown), Anton Quist (Trexlertown) and Brian Abers (Portland)

Points Race write up- 60 laps, 6 sprints, first place with 17 points. Bernardo Figueroa (Colombia) in second with 15 points and Didier Ramet (France) with 9 points.

Sorry, no color commentary on this one, I believe there is a beer out there with my name on it!

Thank you to everyone that has written, called and prayed for me. What a week, what a season, what a way to celebrate my 50th!

Larry

Day 5- semi-finals and final match sprints = 1st

Team win #100 for 2008! How is it possible for a time trial frame that has been raced in the Tour de France to also be such a sweet match sprint frame? I’m not sure of all the possibilities, but the Specialized Transition helped me to win the individual pursuit, the scratch race and the match sprints.

I like this new sprint format! With a possible 8 to 12 rides in two days this tournament format is well suited for sprinters with endurance. I originally signed up for the sprints so that I would have a shot at the “Best All Around” competition, but I had so much fun that I just kept riding until I found myself in the gold medal round. Earlier this afternoon I faced Steven Darracott (Australia) and beat him in two rides. Steve Cronshaw (Great Britain) outsprinted David Wilmott (Australia) in three rides so Steve and I met in the finals. I won the first ride, the second ride but was relegated for an overly aggressive move and then won the third and final ride. David Wilmott scored the bronze.

A shake of thanks go out to Kenny and Annette Williams, Warren Geissert (long distance call); Rich Voss and all the other Americans that pushed, prodded and lifted me up for this one.

Oh, and I was drug tested too ;-)

Coming up: Day 6, a 60 lap points race! Lar

Day 5, sprints = into the semis

Joe and Sandy took a vacation to Australia and New Zealand.

The morning session match sprint quarter finals just ended. I did two rides and won both over Paul Jackson of Australia. As the top seed I face Steve Darracott (Australia) who bested Rich Voss (USA). Last years winner Steve Cronshaw (Great Britain) goes up against Dave Willmott (Australia) in the other semi-final rides.

More to come, Larry

Day 4, sprints = qualified

I know, poor lighting on this picture but these cute little Koala's live in the trees!

Shortest post yet... shortest day at the track (yay)

Match sprinting, round one of five is the flying 200m time trial and I qualified first with a time of 11.387

I had a nice nap... hey, I'm on vacation!

Match sprinting, round two of five is number one seeded rider (me) against number twelve seeded rider and I won in a three lap match sprint.

Moving on to tomorrow and the sprint tournament continues (quarter finals best two of three rides; semi finals best two of three rides, then the finals best two of three rides). Since I'm not really a sprinter I'll see how my energy levels are because Sunday is my absolute favorite event: the points race!

Cheers, Larry

Day 3, 7500m scratch race = 1st

This poster was at the Yagoona train station here in Sydney. I thought it was appropriate for tonight’s scratch race. There was a good amount of aggression in this fast and furious race.

Numbers wise there are fewer Americans at this year’s world championships. Four women and twenty two men from the USA, almost 10% of the 278 riders from twenty two different countries.

Tonight the Americans beat the odds and won four of the scratch races. Mark Rodamaker (Alto Velo/CA) won the 60-64 category, Chip Brezny (Bike Line/PA) won the 55-59 category, Bert Glennon (BMG/ CA) won the 44-49 category, and while you were sleeping back home I won the 50-54 scratch race.

At 30 laps on a 250m track this one goes quickly. The 2008 USA criterium champion Aubrey Gordon (Squiggles/ NY) went up to Steven Darrmott (Australia) and Bernardo Figueroa (Colombia) and the breakaway looked good for the USA. James Host (PACT/ IL) and I clogged up the front but then Steven dropped Bernardo and Aubrey and was about to take his lap so I drilled it at the front, found myself with a gap and then went into purgatory in my attempt to catch the group. Fortunately the pack slowed so I was able to gain my lap. Unfortunately there was only 10 laps to go and I needed to take the sprint from Steven and Bernardo if I was to win this. I did, I’m a happy camper and now I’m off to bed.

Live stream and delayed videos are posted here: http://www.cyclingmasters.tv/stream.aspx

Sprints tomorrow and Friday. Aubrey (my daughter, not Aubrey Gordon) and I went on a day trip to Bondi beach today and she is going surfing tomorrow. I may drop out of the sprints on Friday to spend more time with Aubrey and to save my legs for Sunday’s points race. We’ll see how the day goes.

Cheers, Larry

Day 2, 2000m pursuit = 1st

Aub, Jolly and the old birthday boy!

What a way to celebrate my 50th birthday with a win at masters track worlds in Australia. I qualified first in the morning session and then came back in the evening to take the gold medal ride over fellow American James Host. Either way, the star spangled banner was going to be played at the awards ceremony. As far as individual pursuiting goes, this was an exciting race as we were evenly matched after 5 of 8 laps before I pulled out a close win.

I hope my teammate Dr. Steve Johnson (CEO of USAC) sees this post and I hope that my junior teammates read this too because this is the cool part. I wasn’t nervous tonight, and I wasn’t rattled by my lame start last night. You see, when I first joined this team back in 1994 Steve taught me some important lessons in cycling. He had already won a masters road world championship and many national championships by this time but he has always helped to keep things in perspective. While I am elated to have achieved my 2008 goal of winning, in the greater scheme of things this is not all that important. My wife doesn’t love me any more or any less. I’m not saving lives and I still pay about a buck to refill my double gulp at 7-Eleven. Keeping this perspective helps me to take cycling seriously, but not take it too seriously.

Cheers, Larry

Drug test me!

Sure, I’m competitive and like to win but I’m not a win at all costs kind of guy. Here are a few things that drive me to win.

In 1999 I won two world titles on the track and anxiously looked forward to reading the coverage of the event in the next issue of England’s Cycling Weekly (which was the events sponsoring magazine). Instead the once a year article focused on a former great rider that had put his dentistry business on hold to make a comeback, won a race and was now going back to work. This just rubbed me wrong. This is masters racing and while some folks are fortunate enough not to work, I have been driven for a good many years by my attempt to balance employment, family and sport. Focusing on just one never sat right with me. England’s Ian Hallam holds the world record for the event that I will compete in just a few hours from now. I am not sure if I have the fitness and speed to get the world record but I know that I get a lot of encouragement from riders that also work, spend time with their families and love to play hard.

I’m also okay with being a weirdo. I’m not like other people and that’s okay by me. Not many people choose to wake up early on a cold and wet morning for a long ride before a long day of work. But, in doing so the workout gives me energy for the day and helps to fuel my next workout or my next race. For my 2008 training year (Oct-Sept) I had only two days where I didn’t get at least 30 minutes of exercise. Some would call that obsessive or silly, and I’m okay with that.

Twelve months ago at masters track nationals I was crashed, dislocated and broke two bones in my shoulder. It took over four months before I could put my arms above my head. Regardless of racing I wanted to be healthy again. I started taking Yoga with Debbie. Even though it was a long recovery the classes were of great help to my strength and flexibility.

I’ll write more about this later but being on Team Specialized for the past 15 years has been a wonderful experience. I have former professional and Olympic teammates as well as accomplished masters and junior teammates. World and National events have always been a goal of this team which has helped to keep my racing in perspective. When you shoot for a big event like worlds all of the races leading up to it serve a different purpose. Our team training for the masters nationals team pursuit was any absolute treat and a great training tool for our individual events as well. But mostly, I’m driven not to let my teammates down. Our sponsors have come to expect our winning ways but it’s my teammates that help to hold such a high standard of performance that I would never want to let down.

Finally, I’m driven to shoot for the highest honor in the sport of cycling, WORLD CHAMPION. But, I’ll not compromise my integrity by taking drugs. I had a fellow Nor Cal competitor accuse me of taking drugs earlier this year. He just did not understand how consistently hard people just like me work to achieve their goals. It was easier for him to assume that people that beat him badly were taking something than it was for him to get on his bike and train… year after year, hour after hour visualizing winning a world championship. It may not happen today, on my 50th birthday, but winning worlds is a goal worth shooting for. Hopefully, I’ll give the UCI a reason to drug test me.

Peace out, Larry

Day 1, 500m time trail = 6th

Well, my throwaway event was just that. I either false started or was held up at my start. Since this is an electronic gate the officials didn’t see the later but I didn’t think I jumped early either. As you can guess when this mechanical start gate is holding your wheel and frame and you jump away from the machine it won’t let go of you until the start time. I wanna see this one on video.

I had a nice second lap so I’ll take some confidence into tomorrow’s 2km pursuit. I finished sixth, 6 tenths of a second slower than my ride at masters nationals (38.3). Steve Cronshaw (GBR) won the event with Australians David Wilmott in second and John Kennedy in third. Americans Jim Host (Chicago) was 5th and Rich Voss (Colorado) was 7th.

Nor Cal riders Mark Rodamaker (Alto Velo) placed 4th in the 60+, Lorraine Jarvis (Proman) took 7th with the women and I'm not sure how Craig Parker (ZTeam) faired.

Pic of Aub in the harbour. Hair blowing in the wind was a requirement to be in the photo!

2008 masters track worlds- Day 1

I’ve been in Australia for 48 hours and I just got connected to the internet. The direct (14 hour) flight was uneventful, just the way it’s supposed to be. On Sunday, Aubrey and I took a train to downtown Sydney, had a nice dinner and caught the bat show at sunset which was quite exciting to see as they make their nightly run from the botanical gardens to centennial park. Yesterday we took the bus/ train/ ferry/ bus/ ferry/ train/ taxi to the Sydney Zoo and back w/ Joe and Sandy Fineman. We enjoyed another nice dinner in downtown Sydney.

My first event, the 500m time trial starts at 1pm today. This event is not my specialty because I don’t have the explosive power that is required to go from a standing start to a full speed as quickly as possible. That being said, last years winner (Dave LeGrys from Great Britain) is not here to defend his title so the game is wide open.

I feel NO PRESSURE for this event. I signed up so that I could get in a good warm-up on the track, dial in my bike and practice that electronic start gate. And since this is a time trial then the whole event, the whole day is quantifiable. I mean, if I do the absolute best ride that I can and I don’t win I’ll still feel good about my ride. Conversely, if I don’t even do a personal best (35.7 seconds in San Jose at USA track nationals, in my one and only 500m ride ;-) and still place well, I won’t necessarily feel better. Today will also be a test of my eating, warm-up, cool-down routines, as well as my mental preparedness for a week that I have been targeting for three years.

My race write-up will be short… coming soon. Peace out, Larry

2008 UCI Masters Track Worlds log

My father accompanied me to Manchester for my last track world championship in 2005. Well, I am hoping that it will not be my last, which is one of the reasons I want to send a few updates from my travels to Australia.

Firstly, we have nine juniors on our team and I hope if they read this they can learn a few tricks.

Secondly, instead of sending post cards, which would arrive after I fly back, I'll update our team blog so that friends and family can see what Aubrey and I are up to.

Thirdly, my daughter Aubrey will be joining me in Australia. Huh? Yes, Debbie and I have been happily married coming up on 27 years but she's also had her fill of bike racing. Debbie doesn't join me on these trips because I'm going to Australia to do my absolute best. For me to do that its not likely that I will play tourist while in Sydney. That means a lot of time at the 2000 Olympic velodrome (indoors) and in the hotel room. Boring? If that's what it takes to win... I think its worth it. Like every one else, I travel for the memories, so I'm hoping to make some fantastic new memories!

I fly in a few hours. Its a 14 hour direct flight. Hopefully I don't break my personal record when it took 24 hours to fly from San Francisco to Birmingham, Alabama in 1996. Wait a minute, our team went 1-2-3-4 at Cyclismo, so I think it was worth it!

Finally, I want to thank everyone that has lifted me up. After track Worlds in 2005 I was bold enough to put out my goal of winning a world championship for my 50th birthday present. About 4 months ago I found out that the one event that suits my physiology the best will be contested on my birthday. That is so cool but what is even better is how many people have held me accountable to my goal, how many have pushed me to my limits and given me an encouraging word. Thank you all. Larry

last race of 2008... not yet

It's early October and the team has been racing (and winning) since the Mount San Bruno Hill Climb on January 1. Kevin, Craig and I braved the light rain last Saturday during the 10 mile Calaveras time trial and scored a first, second (both in the 1/2/Pro event) and a first (in the M45 event). Time wise, Kevin set a new course of 23:21 (with 400 feet of climbing on this out and back course) besting Craig by 2 seconds and me by 15 seconds.

I'm heading to Masters Track Worlds in Australia where I'll be competing in the...
- 500m on Oct. 14th (too short of a race for me but I'll get to train and practice on the 2000 Olympic velodrome in Sydney, including the electronic start gate)
- 2000m on Oct. 15th (what better gift to give myself on my 50th birthday than a gold medal in this event?)
- 7.5km scratch race on Oct. 16th (anything is possible in this relatively short mass start event)
- match sprints on Oct. 17th and 18th (I may go to the beach instead!)
- points race on Oct 19th (ah yeah!)

If I have a good internet connection I'll send updates from Sydney. Cheers, Larry