2010 Season

2010 USA Elite Track Nationals - photo credit Mike Gladu

As the NCNCA upgrade coordinator I see a good number of requests (avg. 100 a month) and think about this often... "when is it time for a 52 year old to downgrade?"

I especially pondered this question at the Madera stage race (March) when the 1/2/Pros whomped on me in the hill climb. I'm really not sure how much longer I should hold onto my category one road license. It's safe to say that 2011 will be interesting.

For my category one track license, I now have a new 2011 goal: I want to compete at the 2011 USA elite track nationals in the omnium. I placed 9th this year in the six event format (flying one lap, 30km points race, miss and out, 4km, 20km scratch, killermeter). Doing this event was such an eye opener. A superb mix of suffering and fun! I was under prepared for how frequently these young pups attack and for how hard the racing would be. I'm not saying I'll place any higher but I plan to be better prepared next fall! oh, and I want to hold onto that category one track license too!

Masters racing was fun and very competitive in 2010, but just like the juniors that I coach, we need to be appropriately challenged in "category" races so that we are best prepared for "age-graded" races. I was able to earn my 42nd USA National Championship in the points race this year, so my 2011 goal is to win the National crit championship and to help Kevin win the road race in Bend. Goal #3 is to win at masters track nationals.

Overall, the 2010 racing season was all about the juniors. Thirteen young athletes came together to form a team like I've not seen before. They worked hard, they listened, they won, and they had fun. They take a new level of confidence and humbleness into the 2011 season that will be contagious for new teammates. Managing this team has been a fantastic experience for me. Lots of learning and we all hope to make 2011 an even better year than 2010!

Thanks for following our team. Cheers, Larry Nolan