Road to Recovery

It has been about 10 weeks since I had surgery on my hip. My problem started in the 2011 season with a labrum tear and bone impingement in my hip. I knew there was a problem about half way through the year when my power kept going down and down. It wasn't diagnosed until August. I have not been able to ride my bike since the surgery.  I get to ride for the first time on December 19th. I cannot wait. During the last 10 weeks, I have been going to physical therapy 2 times a week, using the elliptical machine, swimming and doing a lot of core work. It has been a big challenge to be patient through this whole process. My doctor and physical therapist say that I am doing really well, much better than expected. The doctor even said I should be the "poster child" for the type of surgery that I had.

I go to a physical therapist in my hometown, Laguna Niguel. It is called Rausch Physical Therapy. They have been doing a great job of getting me back to 100%. One of the really cool things I get to do at their office is use an Anti Gravity Treadmill. This treadmill was originally developed for astronauts while on prolonged space flights. They used it so they would not lose bone density in space. It is now used for people to recover from injuries. It is pressure controlled from the waist down. It allows patients to maintain cardio fitness and range of motion without putting too much pressure or weight on the injured area.       

Should be back to normal in no time!

Kyle Torres

Clif Bar Buyers Guide

We are in the middle of the offseason and at this point many riders are sick of whatever they are eating on their long rides. Maybe you have eaten too many bars that are neither solid nor liquid. Or you have become too accustomed to a flavor from over eating it that you need a change. Here is your guide for which Clif products to eat and when.

The first product line is Clif Bar Blox:

This years I raced and trained mainly on Strawberry and Mountain Berry. Both of these flavors are relatively sweat and are great for the first 1-2 hours of a ride or race. The Strawberry taste better as they warm up and soften in your pocket, but I recommend eating the Mountain Berry while they are still relatively solid.

Recently I have experimented with the Orange and the Black Cherry. Both of these flavors are a little more tart. I prefer to eat these in the later parts of a ride. I feel like I'm eating something with more substance.

The second product line is the Clif Bar:

There are 18 different flavors, but there is one clear winner. Crunchy Peanut Butter is hands-down the best. The flavor varies drastically depending on it's temperature, but I haven't had a bad one. I love this flavor, because I know, no madder how tired I am I will always want to eat it. This is huge, because the worse thing to happen is when you are close to bonking, but you don't want to eat what's in your pocket.

Some close seconds are Chocolate Almond Fudge, Chocolate Chip, Cool Mint Chocolate.

I was going through the list on Clifbar.com and saw the flavor Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch. I haven't tried it yet, but I am going to make a point of tracking one down and testing it out. I'm salivating just thinking of the possibilities.

The third product line is Clif Roks:

These are bite sized balls with a solid surface with a softer core. The three flavors are: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate. My favorite for a post ride recovery is the Peanut Butter. My taste buds changed when I exercise and they want more of a bitter/tart taste. The Peanut Butter satisfies those needs. The Chocolate (taste like a Tootsie Roll) and the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough are really good for lighter workouts where your taste buds haven't changed as much.

If you have already, go explore Clifbar.com . There is information on each product, nutrition, and the many flavors and variations. I barely scratched the surface of their products, but hopefully now you will know where products to try. These are my favorites, what are yours?

Thank you Clif Bar for your amazing support this year.

Thanks, Marcus Smith

What A Year

On my flight back from the Olympic Training Center I had lots of time to think of how successful this year has been. This year has been an amazing experience. Our team started bonding right away at team camp. Everyone got along great. That platform launched us in to the racing season. The 15-16 team had an amazing early season. We put out a great team effort to win the yellow jersey at the Valley of the Sun Stage Race and San Dimas. Not to mention our double win at Sea Otter. Time flew through the rest of the season. Last week Jack, Diego and I were in Chula Vista, CA for the USA Cycling Junior National Camp. We had a great time. It was cool to see the guys again. We had a fun week. It was nice to be able to ride in 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We even got to ride with Chris Horner of Radioshack. Also the week included other rides, skills, and two field tests. We all had a fun time under the sun of Southern California. Thank you USA Cycling for that!

As the year draws to end I'd like to thank Team Specialized and all of our supporters. Thank you Wyatt Weisel and Steve Cassani.  Thank you Larry Nolan for directing this incredible year! Cannot wait to go back to California!

Phil O'Donnell

No More Junior Racing

This year was my final year racing as a junior rider, although, I raced more category races than junior races. It all started back in February where I took 13th overall at Valley of the Sun in the 2's before crashing on a training ride a few days later. Once I was back on the bike after the crash, then sickness came knocking on my door. This was not the ideal way to start out the year but after slowly regaining fitness and confidence, I came back and won Cat's Hill Classic, State Road Race Championships, and also the State Time Trial Championships.

Next stop, Augusta, Georgia for Nationals. I don't think I have ever gone to a place more humid than Georgia! You just feel sticky when you walk outside. My best result was 11th in the TT. After Nationals, teammates Jeff, David, James, Willy, Kyle and I all headed to Tour de l'Abitibi in Quebec. The team rode great. James got a stage win and Willy finished 6th overall.

After l'Abitbi, I came back home and raced almost every Cal Cup race. I had some good results finishing 9th at University Road Race and 3rd at Esparto Time Trial before finishing off my season at Folsom Cyclebration where I finished 3rd overall, grabbing my final points needed to upgrade to a Cat 1.

I definitely had my ups and downs this year but overall, it was a pretty great season and I couldn't have done it without the help of all my teammates as well as Larry Nolan, Billy Innes, Wyatt Weisel, all the founders and sponsors, and also my parents! It has been a great two years racing with Team Specialized and I look forward to seeing the team continue to create some of the best junior riders in the country.

Now that I am done with junior racing, that means it's time to say goodbye to those annoying junior gears! Now I'll be racing with a nice, 53x11 in the elites where I will be riding for Team Mike's Bikes with another graduating Specialized Junior, James Laberge.

Thanks again to all who have been a part of my 2011 season!

Torey

2011 Season and Beyond

2011 has been a one of a kind year for me and the team. It's also my last year on the year as I am graduating from the program and onto an Elite team for 2012. 

I started my year on the wrong note by getting sick, and staying sick for over a month. I still raced the races in February but I still wasn't getting better as we reached late March when we went to San Dimas Stage Race. I ended up finished 2nd in the road race, which wasn't too bad but the team held a perfect lead out for me and I didn't cap it off. Sure, the teams' season might not have started off as good as we hoped but that's why we are road racers; we have months up to races to prepare for and training and riding as a team to practice for. We eventually had 6 guys (including myself) race in Amos, Quebec, Canada from July 19th-24th. This was the only UCI Juniors races in North America and obviously it was one of our big targets to go good at. We did exactly that with getting Willy Zellmer in the winning breakaway on the first day and finished 5th! We were all happy but we were eager for more. The next day it came down to a field sprint, but there was a steep hill in the last 300 meters which made it much more difficult. I was able to follow the French lead out train and jump out of the turn the steam up the hill to the finish with my hands up! It was my 2nd win in 2 years at this race and I couldn't have done it without my awesome teammates of: Kyle Torres, Willy Zellmer, Jeff Perrin, Torey Phillip, and David Benkoski! They brought me behind the French riders and their job was done from there; it was up to me. By the end of the race, we finished 6th overall, multiple top 10's and 15's, and won an award for "The best non-national team!

After the Canadian racing, I traveled back home and got some rest after the long stage race. I kept racing after, racing most criteriums and some road races and was able to cap off 4 top-6's in the pro/1/2's in the closing month and a half of the season. Overall, I want to thank all of our sponsors that help us get to where we are now. Also, I want to thank Wyatt Weisel, Larry Nolan, Fred St. Goar, and the list goes on forever...and all of the masters!

It has been a great 6 years being along with the program but it is my farewell to the program and I'm looking forward to being old and joining the masters team and helping grow this amazing sport.

Thank you again and I will be racing for Bikes Bike Cycling Team next year, where I will be continuing with my teammate Torey Phillip. 

Thanks for reading.

--James LaBerge

USA Pro Cycling Challenge

Being a resident of Colorado I was able to spectate the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, or Tour of Colorado.  For those of you who don't know this race was huge because it is the first big tour in Colorado since the Coors Classic ended in the late '80's.  The race was in the mountains most of the week after the start in Colorado Springs on Monday.  The last stage started in Golden and ended with circuits in Denver.  Where I live in Lakewood is pretty much sandwiched between Golden and Denver.  This is the biggest race I had ever been to. The final stage that I watched had over 250,000 people spectating.  The coolest part about the race was that it went up Lookout Mountain, around the two mesas in Golden and then downtown into Denver on the roads I ride all of the time!  I watched the start of the race in Golden and I got to see the Schlecks and Tour champion Cadel Evans among other top level pros.  The finish of the race was at the Civic Center Park which is across the street from the Capitol building.  I couldn't really tell what was happening most the time in the race because the barriers were lined 5 deep for the last straightaway.  It felt like the Tour de France.  

Finishing circuit in Denver 

Aerial View of the finish

Riders going up Lookout Mountain

Just like the AToC Levi won the overall

This race was so much to watch that I can't wait until next year!  The race got upgraded so there will be even more teams and riders next year.  Hopefully one day I can race the USAPCC in my home state!

-Dean Haas

Trip Of A Lifetime

Last Thursday, after school was out, five Assistant Scout Masters, one Scout, and I drove to Yosemite for the trip of a lifetime. We got into our campsite at about 9:30Pm. I guess you could say it was "dark out". We quickly set up our tents and went to sleep, because we knew what was awaiting us the following day. We woke up at 5:00am, so that we could get started on our 16+ mile journey. As soon as we parked and got out of the car we all took out our cameras, and took a picture of our goal. This is the shot I got:

We divided into two Groups. One that was going to the top and another that was going to the furthest point anyone can go without a permit. Two ASMs were going to the furthest point without a permit. The rest of us were going to the top. The group that was going to the top had a faster pace than the other group, because we knew just how far we had to go. As we hiked up the mist trail we stared in awe at the falls we were passing, along with the stairs that constantly beat up our legs, one step at a time. We got to the top of the falls, and took a few pictures, but we couldn't stay long. We had to keep moving. Once we found the trail we continued on to be confronted with another water fall. Like the previous one, we stopped to take pictures. We got to the top of the final water fall and had about a mile and a half of flat land to walk on. Then the fun would start. We got back to the climbing and back to the seemingly endless view of trees. Before we got to the line where we needed our permits, we stopped for some lunch. Yummy, a ham sandwich on a bagel. We grabbed our permits and headed up half dome. We got to the base of the ropes and got ready for a steep climb.

We found a few people that were staying behind from another group and asked if they could watch our packs as we climbed Half Dome. They generously accepted. We got our Carabiners, and ropes, strapped ourselves in, and headed up the 45 degree rock face. We got up to the top and breathed a sigh of relief. We took many pictures, and headed back down knowing that the hardest part was still ahead. We got down grabbed our packs and headed down the mountain. One of the scary parts about going downhill was twisting an ankle, or getting dehydrated. We safely got down to the first falls, having already changed our socks to try to prevent blisters. We approached the falls and met up with one of the other ASMs. We were quickly informed that the other ASMs had to go back because of fitness reasons. We were all tired and wanted to be back at the cars, so that we could get some victory pizza. We had 4 miles left, and a lot of switch backs. The other scout and I decided to have some fun by running. That joy lasted about a mile. So we had to walk, because we knew we would have to wait for the rest of the group. We walked very slowly, and the pain started to kick in. We waited for the rest of the group at 2.2 miles to go. When we got going again it was at a very slow pace, but it was faster than the rest of the group. As we got roughly 1 mile to the valley floor I noticed that I was pulling the map out every 3 minutes. Each time hoping there would be a "you are here" dot, but there wasn't. We finally got to the valley floor. We knew that the car was half a mile away. I got into my racing mindset. I ramped up the speed and when the car was 100 meters away I leaped from the huge pack of 2 and won the race back to the car. That win made the pizza 10 times better. I would then pay for that win for the next 4 days, with constant pain throughout my entire lower body. That really was the "Trip of a lifetime".