STOKED for First Race of the Season!

The day has finally come. The day of the first race of the year. The day of the infamous Ontario Grand Prix. The season is finally starting to roll around and I am just too excited that racing has finally begun here in So Cal. As I sit here writing, I wonder to myself what kind of race and day I am going to have on and off the bike. I will keep wondering this as I go for a easy 3 hour ride before my actual race. As it is still early in the season and after all it is the first race of the season, I will only be racing the pro 1/2/3 race for some race fitness, speed work, and get used to the old bumping and rubbing in the pack once again. For me, this race will be a test as to where my fitness level, how much endurance I have, and what I need to work going into this season and some important races I have for the early part of the season. As the season rolls around today, I can't wait for later today and the season ahead.
Excited as always,
Nick Castellano

Lemons Into Lemonade

I’m not sure who first said it, at my age it especially haunts me as I recall it (I am the oldest racer on Team Specialized Racing), but youth is truly wasted on the young. I’ve realized it for several years now too that life catches up with you. For musicians it’s the drugs and alcohol and the hard living that goes along with it, just look at Keith Richards. For lifelong athletes it’s the inevitable injuries we all sustain along the way that catches up with us.

I hobbled around for the last year and a half as my hip degenerated into unbearable arthritis finally putting me on crutches to move around the house. More than a couple of hours on the mountain bike only once a week and my bone-on-bone shoulder joint makes me pay for the pleasure of riding single track for the next two days. And any more than two hours on the dirt leaves me at risk for being unable to brake as the pain from the nerve impingement in my elbow causes a seemingly unconscious decision to not squeeze the brake lever because of the knifing agony in my fingers and elbow. But like Keith Richards who is still ripping it up on stage, that’s never stopped me from doing that which gives me great pleasure, riding my bike. Never, that is, until last October when I could no longer put pressure on my pedals because of the pain in my hip. Thank goodness for medical technology.

On November 16th I had a new hip joint installed and today, seven weeks later, I feel like a kid again. I found a really good surgeon who literally did a perfect job. His name is Peter Callander for those out there who might be having the same problem that started a few years ago in my left hip. I am completely pain free and walking like I did when I was a teenager.

Before the surgery I thought there was a real possibility that I had raced my last race. Now I’ve booked flights to South Africa and Italy in August and September to once again race in both the mountain bike world championships and road and time trial world championships. Life is really, really good again. It will take a few more months to reach the fitness levels I need to be competitive but the suffering needed to get there is something I relish.

So fear not fellow masters racers, the risks we accept and all seem to realize as we pursue our passion on the bike is fixable. I was encouraged to take the chance with my hip surgery because of advice I received from other athletes that had their hips overhauled. Their advice and stories helped me overcome my trepidation. If you’re having problems with your hip on the bike and want to talk about it, let me know. It’s the least I can do to pay it forward.

Rob Anderson

It's Really Treated Me Well

This off-season has treated me very well. I took a break played some water polo and got right back into my rhythm of riding my way through the off-season. My off-season started slow with a knee injury that occurred from starting off to hard. I worked my way up to some good base mileage. I've done lots of fun riding with exploring, adventuring, and finding new places to ride in. I have also grown to start to like riding in the dirt. My dirt riding came from a buddy of mine in San Diego, Eric Oien. Ever since he told me about his adventures in the dirt, I tried it out and grew too really like it and have fun with it. These adventures and explorations helped me get the base miles I needed along with a couple of 20 hour weeks and helped me really love cycling even more. Along with these adventures, Strava has been a great tool for me in helping me get back into shape with the endurance my body requires to refuel for this coming racing season. The monthly Strava challenges have helped me to keep my endurance up along with lots of fun, long weeks. Although I did not complete the most recent Strava challenge by completing 500 km in a week due to a weekend stomach flu, those 333 km I did complete were worth the try and still kept my endurance up and where it needed to be.

I end my base work this week and finally move on to intensity and power training. As the season comes closer to our very eyes and with all the adventures, explorations, founded areas to ride in, and Strava, I can say that this off-season has treated me well and I look forward to finally racing again in what is expected to be a very competitive year of junior racing here in so cal and amongst all of the nation’s best juniors.

Take care,
Nick

Itching to Race Again

The off-season will soon be over. I am wishing the summer to come faster, although when the summer does come I will again be wishing the winter to come even faster. You can never be happy with the weather here in Fresno, it is either cold and wet, or hot and dry. I think this off-season I may have lost a few thousand cells in the parachutes I call my ears, they catch wind like a sail and manage to almost receive frost-bite by the end of all my winter rides. I am ready for the base miles to end, and the hectic year of traveling and racing constantly to begin.

Early Birds will begin shortly. I will be reunited with most of team once again. I do miss them over the off-season, as they are the people I share many of my laughs with. Hopefully I will see all of the infamous Nor-Cal Pro's out at the Early Birds. Maybe we could manage to get Donut Boy (Rand Miller) racing his bike again, an early season comeback where we could constantly heckle each other, like old times. I look forward to finally racing again. Thanks for the read, hopefully I will get in touch with all my competitors soon.

Jack Maddux

A Season to Remember

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals" -Henry David Thoreau

As the New Year approaches, we reflect on the achievements we have reached in the 2012 season. With 100 wins, 220 podium places, and 451 top ten places this season, we have taken the results, good or bad, and learned from each of them. We also did not take our wins for granted either. I realized that each accomplishment the team achieved, it was not about the jersey we won or the Velo Promo t-shirt we received, but it was due to hard work, teamwork, and talents of the riders.

Team Specialized continues to teach their riders how to become the best cyclists they can be.  In addition, we are also being taught to become “men for others” by giving back to the community. I am looking forward to another season with the team.

-Matt Valencia 

Base Training

Late fall and winter mean base training.  Lots and lots of hours where your coach tells you to go relatively slow (but some how it still makes you sore!) This year my coach has me doing 2, 4 week blocks.  I am in the middle of the 2nd one currently; I will not be sad when it's over.

Learning to manage your time to schedule class, studying, big base hours, finals and of course your social life in college is definitely an important skill.  Training and just going out and riding while you are in college, especially when you live on campus, is a great way to get away from everyone and everything; the stresses of everyday life.

I planned on having a strong fall of racing; collegiate track, MTB and cyclocross.  But I got the illness known commonly as mono.  It only put me back for around 2 weeks of off the bike even though I was extremely sick.  I was planning on having an awesome cyclocross season but this illness hit me the first week of November.  So I was only able to race 4 cyclocross races: the Ft. Collins USGP and Boulder Cup UCI weekends.  As fun as these races were, they were some of the hardest races I have done and doing a few races where I had been competitive would have been nice or at least finishing on the lead lap.

Base is a good time to step back from racing and just go out and ride. You can plan your race schedule and contemplate the next year.  Racing season will come soon enough because the first RMCCC race is March 9.

I have found teams for next year.
Mountain Bike team where I will be racing mostly locally along with Nationals in PA and a few Pro XCT races: The Hometeam (New team for 2013 details to be released very soon) we have a factory sponsorship from Spooky Bikes, a custom fabricator in VT.

Road team is soon to be announced but it is very very likely I will be riding a Specialized bike in 2013.

Dean Haas

"Luck is where the crossroads of opportunity and preparation meet." Seneca 

I'm Melting

“Strength does not come solely from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” – Gandhi

Winter. Rain. Cold. Maybe some snow depending on where you live. All things that “get in the way” of riding.

Be wet. Be cold. Ride the rollers. The options you have to deal with winter weather.

Think about it though, unlike many other sports, bike races are run rain, shine, 30 degrees or 100 degrees.

So why not layer up, grab a Clif Bar or two and go out and ride? What, are you going to melt from a little water? Riding in the rain can be fun; go places you haven’t gone before because when it’s dry you have “better” places to go to train. Don’t want to have to descend in the wet, but still want to climb, do lots of short hills at threshold. Ride the rollers even; throw on a race DVD (this years Vuelta, Roubaix, or one of the many Eddy Merckx films). Or catch up on your favorite TV shows (I like CSI: NY). If it’s cold, layer up; Squadra makes some very warm long sleeve jerseys if you are lucky enough to have them as your clothing sponsor.

So what’s your excuse for not riding today? If you do a truly epic ride in the rain or snow, it’s a great story to brag about to your friends. Same thing if you’re crazy enough to ride the rollers for longer than an hour and a half or two.

Common this is a tough sport; we do what we love rain, shine, sleet or snow.

- Jason S