Off Season

     Before I begin, I would really like to thank Larry Nolan, my teammates, team parents, and sponsors for a great season in 2013 and I am excited for the upcoming season. Since Cross National Championships and the Specialized San Dimas Camp, I have been off my bike for an off season to recover and focus. In being between seasons I have done some things I cannot easily do during the racing season. The day after 'Cross Nationals I went skiing and night tubing with Campus Life. It was a ton of fun hanging out with some of my friends up on the slopes. In the recent weeks I have started to consistently take flight lessons at the airport near my house. The amount of checks needed to make sure a plane is safe to fly is amazing, from checking for fractures in the plane's fuselage to making sure your seat won't move on takeoff. Overall, I've had a lot of fun during the off season, but I cant wait to get riding again starting with Valley of the Sun.

-Gage Hecht

My first flight

Cold Weather Riding

        I live in Colorado. The coldest times of my life have been on my bike. I walk outside before almost every ride to check the temperature. Unfortunately I used to not account for the wind chill I would feel while riding, especially downhill. One winter in Durango, we were experiencing basically no snow. I was lucky enough to be able to ride almost every day outside. The temperatures were cold and I usually would wear three layers. I have learned that 3 is normally not enough for these winter months. I wear an under armor, a jersey, a vest, and a jacket now. My face is always the coldest part of my body however. Recently I have started wearing a bandana that covers my mouth and nose while riding. I not only feel warmer, but the bandana makes me look pretty cool if I must say. It's not just being cold while riding that I don't like, it's the experience of warming up that can be excruciating. Often I feel as though my hands and toes are being smashed under a boulder. The blood flow as your hands warm up seems to create a lot of pressure in your hands. Warming up should be a relief from the cold, instead it's almost as painful as riding in it. I bear the cold during these winter months because no matter what - it beats riding the trainer everyday. I know I'm not the only one who can't wait for summer and warm rides!!

-Christopher

Sorry to be missing Team Camp

I was pretty disappointed when I found out that I wouldn't be able to fly down to Nick's house for our second team camp. Instead I've been studying for finals. Doesn't that sound like so much fun? I thought the same. I feel like in every blog post time management seems to pop up somewhere and that's because it's incredibly challenging and sometimes you have to choose something you don't like as much over the thing you would prefer. In this case it's finals over team camp. Both these things are really important but in this case I only have two shots at finals every year whereas I'll be able to see my teammates at all the races I fly down to. Still that's not a lot and I really miss everyone when we only get to see each other once a month. Anyway, hope team camp was as fun as the last one!

Grant McElroy

                                                   
                                                                        Anaheim 1


          
        Recently I went to go visit my friend Sean near Lake Forest California. I was talking to Sean's dad Mike and he was telling me he had a few tickets to go to A1 or Anaheim 1. But while this was on Saturday, he also told me that there is a couple of bike rides before A1 that he wanted me to ride with his son Sean. Mike was explaining to me who was going to be on the ride, such as Cameron Wurf and Taylor Phinney. Both of these riders are very well known pros. Cameron rides for Cannondale and Taylor rides for BMC. The ride wasn't very long but it was very cool to ride with one of your idols. Now that just leaves one day till A1. The next days ride did not include any pros but it was pretty well known ride to have lots of people. Unfortunately I got a flat and not being able to catch back on to the group. So Sean and I just ended doing our own ride getting about 70 miles in that day. Now that day is over, it's time for Anaheim. Thanks to Sean's dad Mike, he was able to get us box seats allowing us to get a better view of the race. Seeing the best Supercross  in the world was just a incredible experience that won't forget it. Watching the rider Ken Roczen win A1 was amazing because he was one of the riders I was rooting for. Sunday the next day was the day I go home. After being picked up at the same gas station every time whether if it's me going to Sean's house or me going home, I realized it was a perfect week.


                   See you next time, Sean McElroy

Reflection on 2013!

Wow! What a great year! My first year on Team Specialized was definitely something to remember. Through the races, training, and support, I've progressed as a racer and human being.

 I started off the end of 2012 with cyclocross races and trained all the way up to Cyclocross nationals in January of 2013. Boy, was it an experience! My first time racing in snow was definitely the sketchiest thing I have ever tried to accomplish on my bike. Slipping, sliding, crashing, skidding. I eventually just had to through away my glasses in the middle of the race because they were so clogged with mud! I finished the race 13th, but man, was I glad to be done!

Here's a little video of my last race before cross nats.

After a bunch more training on the road and more less significant races, I come to another one of the highlights of my 2013 racing season. My first Cat. 4 win at Rosena Ranch! 

That's me out in front! Sorry if it's upside down.

Fast forward to April, and BAM, the stairs trip me on purpose. Just like that, I'm out for about a month. My left foot is fractured and I have to get a cast. 

But, I still got a little training in :) 

After I was out of that predicament, I had a while to train before road and track nationals (thankfully). But, first came track states, and just like the last few years, I won! I shaved out my last omnium points by half a wheel in the points race.  

The Langster Pro out-throws the competition!

At road nationals I placed pretty darn well and got 5th in the crit (Sean won all three events :o). I learned a lot about breakaways in the road race and crit at road nationals, which helped me greatly at track nationals.

So track nationals soon arrived and I decided to race very aggressively. I broke away in both mass start races and was barely nipped at the line on both of them. Larry had enlightened me before the races that sitting in the pack and waiting for the sprint at the end might get me on the podium, but most likely not a win. So that in mind, I brokeaway! Thanks Larry!

After a successful racing season, it was time to relax. I went up mountain biking at Snow Summit, a ski resort transformed into one for mountain biking in the summer, almost every weekend. Then, an unfortunate turn events occurred out of the blue one weekend. The sky was blue, the birds were chirping, and my leg gushed blood.

Thank God there were people behind me to help!

I received an avulsion from falling superman style on some sticks. Once again, out for a little over a month! My family was a huge part in my recovery and I can't thank them enough.

My leg recovered nicely, and I was back on the bike doing base miles and more mountain biking :) Great to be young, am I right? It was base mile training all the way up to the December 2013 Specialized camp (and I still am doing base miles for a little while more). 

Through the good and the bad, 2013 made me a stronger person and I am glad I experienced all of it. 

Thanks for a great year Team Specialized!

-Jules

Variety

          At different times of the year I am a totally different athlete. My summer is normally dedicated to road and mountain cycling and the fall is my bmx season. These two sports have few similarities other than the fact that they are on a bike. My training is far different, as bmx is explosive and road requires endurance. I have bmx raced since I was 5 and it has given me the bike handling skills to help in all types of cycling. Every year the window of my bmx season shrinks a little bit. Sean is another bmxer turned roadie and I'm sure he agrees it gets hard to train for both. My focus is definitely shifting over to road as I get older. I am not built like the prototypical bmxer, as the professionals are often built like football players. As I get older the competition keeps getting bigger and this makes it hard to keep the same power as I am built like an endurance athlete. I have been transitioning to road the last few years and it's been a natural transition. Bmx has helped my road cycling in many areas. Each one has also helped the other for me. This variation throughout my year and during my road off season is refreshing and fun. I will always enjoy bmxing even though I won't continue it at a high level years from now. These two types of cycling are so different and it's the variety that is so special in my life.

-Christopher

The Transition

     At the end of my 2012 season, I had achieved my long time goal, World Champion in XTERRA off-road Triathlon in the 15-19 age group, as well as Overall Amateur World Champion. Although I had been training to be a triathlete ever since I was 5 or 6, I found that my performance on the bike was superior to that in the water or running. 

    Leading into the 2013 season, there were many people who thought I should continue being a triathlete.  I was even offered pro status, but I knew that my time as a triathlete was coming to a close.  I had decided to focus on cycling.

     When my season started in the Nor Cal High School Mountain Bike series I had no idea that it would escalate to me racing on the National team in 4 different countries.  In the beginning of the season I had not yet decided to focus on mountain biking, so I decided to try out some local criteriums.  I continued to race on the road and on the World Cups including Germany and the Czech Republic.  I then realized I would have to spend more time focusing on the mountain bike rather than on the road for a little while. 

     Although I knew mountain biking would be my main focus for the season, I could not keep myself away from the thrill of racing on the road for half my season until I received the message from Marc Gullickson.  He offered me a position with the Junior MTB National Team in two world cups.   Not long after coming back from my first two world cups, I entered the Nevada City Classic Criterium and won the junior race, then followed it up with Leesville Gap Road Race (elite cat 3/4s) and won the day in a sprint to the line with 4 other men.  Well, after a fourth place finish in the Mont Saint Anne World Cup in Canada, I finished up my 2013 season with Cross Country MTB World Champs in South Africa.

     This brings me to today, finishing my High School cross-country running season with state champs, in which I placed 8th place in the division 2 varsity race and ran a 15:29 5k. My main focus is to have an outstanding season on both the Mountain and Road Bike.  I am so excited and grateful to be a part of the Jr. Team and I am really looking forward to working with my new teammates and coaches.