“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
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