What I Do It For

In February of this year, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It was the week going into the teams first target race of the year, Valley of the Sun, when I found out about this. Fast forward to today, October 26, my moms birthday. As I reminisce on this past year, I realize how much this year really meant to me to be victorious in life. With my mom going through treatments all year long, she still managed to support me with everything I do. It has made me realize that this is another reason why I race my bike. It has taught me to help me face challenges in life just as she has. I thank her everyday for what she does for me. Today I thank her even more for all that she has done for me. Happy birthday mom!

 

-Nick Castellano

My Season In Review

I would like to start by saying thank you to everyone I interacted with during my 2013 season for an outstanding year. I enjoyed every minute (there may have been some seconds that weren’t so great though) of racing and training whether in sub 30 degrees or 100+ degrees.

I want to say thank you to Team Specialized for all of the support and the great memories. We shared the “successes” and the “failures”, the glory and the pain that make cycling the sport we all love.

Thank you to Specialized, Sram, and Zipp for the bikes and components. Thank you to Clif for fueling all of our riding and shenanigans. Thank you to the NCCF for funding it all. And thank you to Larry for making it all possible.

This season taught me many lessons, from teamwork to how to truly put my head down, grit my teeth and suffer to the importance of preparation. Each of these lessons have their own story or stories, which could be whole blog posts in and of themselves, but none of it would have been possible without the support I received from the team, our supporters, and the guy who decided to spend 20 minutes of his day, and create a traffic jam driving behind me and shouting encouragement while I did hill repeats.

The season saw me learn the importance of dedication, humility, flexibility (both kinds), etc. The season saw me get into countless (respectful and half-joking) arguments with my P.E. teacher on any given Monday, when I tried to explain why I couldn’t and wouldn’t run the mile. The season saw me ride on two continents, four countries, and five states. The season saw me ride for over 600 hours and 10,000 miles.

As I enter my offseason and continue to reflect on my 2013 in preparation for 2014 I am excited and intrigued for what lies in store, as I know that 2014 can only be better.

Again, I want to thank everyone that was involved in my 2013 season, especially my teammates and supporters on Team Specialized. Here is to all of the pain, learning, fun, victories, losses, and joy that the 2013 season brought and that 2014 will bring.

See you all during the offseason or next year, I will be wearing the same shit-eating grin on my face and the same Specialized “S” across my chest, so wave, say “hi”, or if you happen to be in a car spend part of your day driving behind me, honking, blasting music, and shouting.

Jason S

Growing Up Stinks

Famous basketball player Michael Jordan said it all when he said, "In reality, I never want to grow up." At 16, I can say growing up sucks. I realized this as I rode the Grizzly Century this year. I've ridden the Grizzly many times before. I first did this ride when I was only 12. I was the little guy surrounded by many young mentors. These mentors were all young, single guys just out for some friendly competition. In 4 years so many things change. Now those young mentors are all married and becoming fathers. I'm no longer the little guy who needs a push up the climb. I'm now the guy to chase up the climb. My parents no longer have to take me to the rides, I'm now driving the carpool to the rides.

Things change, circumstances may change, but somethings will always be. Team Specialized will always be a part of my story. I grew into the person and rider I am today because of Team Specialized. I learned how to have fun both on and off the bike from Larry Nolan.

 I learned how to race with integrity, dignity and competitive intensity from the masters on my team.  I made mistakes over the last 4 years (remember our first Snelling Road Race, Matt?)  but I also shared some of the sweetest victories with my team, the most notable victory  happening in July when Matt and I won the Madison at Track Nationals. Matt and I practiced so much, I thought my arm was going to fall off.

 Besides winning the Madison, the other victory I'm very proud of was when  Matt won the state crit in 2010. We surprised everyone with a leadout out of  the last turn. Matt won and I got 10th. That was the sweetest 10th place ever.

Things may change, but the fact remains that I will be forever grateful to Team Specialized for giving me the opportunity to be a part of a racing family that helped mold me into the person I am today.

More than just the Bike

Cycling entails a grueling work ethic, and countless of hours on the bike. Throughout the year the team travels all over the nation to race, yet what many people may not know, is that Team Specialized is involved with a lot of charity rides. One of the many charity rides that our team is involved with every year is the Cure The Cycle Ride for the Urea Cycle Disorder Foundation. The first time I rode this ride was in 2010 in San Francisco and I was able to ride again with them last August. UCD is a rare disease and the UCD Foundation uses the Cure the Cycle Ride to raise awareness and money for families that suffer from this disease.

The importance of charity rides teaches Team Specialized riders to be grateful for the opportunity to race their bikes, but also to be thankful for the lives they have off the bike. Our life outside of cycling is sometimes overlooked as we spend most of the year racing, but it is just as important to be thankful for the friends and family that support us in whatever we live to do.  

Matt Valencia 

Ending the season, starting the next

   When my 2013 road and track season come to a close, I look back to observe my strengths and weaknesses throughout the season. A strength could be my improvement on TT's and a weakness could be that I couldn't stick on the climbs with Adrien Costa at Road Nationals. I also look back on achievements and if I reached my goals for the season. 

 

   At Road Nationals I rode what turned out to be a great time trial for me, coming in 12th, which is a great improvement from the other TT's I did earlier this year. In the Road Race I rode as best as I could for the team and for myself. I chased down attacks early in the race taking some of the pressure off of our team's climbers. I also paced Nick back into the break after he was separated on the very technical descent.   

   At Track Nationals I was pretty upset when my 200m time was just a tenth of a second away from qualifying for the match sprints. After that I was pretty much out of the omnium so I decided to focus on getting Gage the omnium win and just go for individual wins. I ended up 6th in the points, 5th in the individual pursuit, and Gage ended up missing the omnium win by one point. On the bright side we ended up winning the 3k team pursuit with Chazmichael Morales. 

   Overall my season wasn't great but I had a lot of changes, a new team, a new coach, and just starting high school. Next year I'm hoping for a MUCH better season seeing that no big changes are hopefully going to happen in the next year. But even though my season didn't go as planed I still met some incredible teammates, and had the most fun I've ever had in a racing season!

Grant McElroy

 

  

What a year!

With the racing season coming to an end, I'm taking time to look back.  I've had a very good year, and so has the Team.  I've had my up's and down's but all in all it's been a very good year. I won San Dimas with my teammates taking the next's three placing's.  At Sea Otter I didn't ride so well, but my teammates managed to get on the podium.  I won all my State Championships, then rode poorly at the Punch Bowl race. But for some perspective - we train all year to do great at Nationals.
                   
That's a story in itself, because Larry, Nick, Dad and I drove back to Madison, WI in the team van. It took us four days of driving. In those four long days we learned the art of eating out at gas station's. Nick (the city boy) cracked in the middle of Wyoming, not that I kept it together myself. But we made it to Madison in one piece, thats when all the fun began.
                   
When all the racing got started we had some great and not so great thing's happen.  Matt got hurt in the road race and had to go to the hospital. Gage finished 2nd in the TT and then finished 3rd in the road race with Nick and Jason finishing in the top ten. I won the TT, road race and criterium championships, but not without the help of my great teammate Jules.  He alone set up the move that allowed me to win the criterium, in which he finished in 5th place!

When Nationals finished up Larry, Nick, Dad, and I set out for the long drive home.  It only took us two days of driving to get back to California.  Larry and Nick had a Camp to get to, and I had my Grandma waiting for me. She came out for a family wedding. I don't get to see my Grandma but maybe once a year as she lives in Kansas, we had a great time together.

My teammates Gage and Jack went off to Belgium to race for the USA Team in August.  I checked on their results every day, and wished that was me over there with them. But I am not old enough yet so maybe next year. Gage and Jack and the US Team did great in Belgium by winning races and placing well in their races.

My teammates Gage, Jack, Jules, Matt and Grant all did great at the track Nat's, winning eight more National Championship's, and so did the Master's.

The team and I have had a very good year but none of this could have never taken place without the help of our sponsor's.  So at this time I would like to thank all of our sponsors: Specialized, Openwave Mobility, Clif, Touchstone, Squadra, Smith, Fit Kids, Zipp, and the NCCF who are the ones who make it all possible.  And thank you Larry for all the help you made me a better rider.
              
Yesterday I got my Cat 2 upgrade approved, now I've got my work cut out for me. My Dad say's "now we will see what you are made of".  So through the winter I'm going to be training hard so I can
make this a better team next year.
               
And one more thing - today was my Dad's Birthday, So HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD, I Love You. Sean

Breakaways

Road and Velodrome Nationals had really tough competition in the Juniors 13-14 this year, which made for some great racing! I chose to race in breakaways, which greatly raise the chances of winning, or even getting on the podium. 

Coming into Road Nationals, I knew that there were some phenomenally fast sprinters in my field, so it would be risky to wait and sprint at the end of the road race or criterium if I wanted a place on the podium; I decided to try to get into a break. In the road race, my teammate Sean Mcelroy first went for a break sometime in the middle of the race; The pack must have been really nervous, because they were hauling after him. At the small hill in the course, I laid the hammer down and broke away from the pack, trying to bridge the gap to Sean. There he was, lingering a few hundred meters away, but for some reason, I just didn't have the energy to bridge the gap. I eventually returned to the field and had a middle pack finish of 8th (many riders were dropped). The next day in the criterium, I broke away first, but unfortunately I was caught again. Sean then pounced on the other riders that chased me and he broke away to a solo victory. I learned something about the art of counterattacks that day and was ready to use them in the upcoming Velodrome Nationals.

Velodrome Nationals arrived two weeks later, and I was rearing to win. I was still a little wary of breakaways after my two failed attempts at Road Nationals, so my plan for the 4k scratch race (the first mass start race) was to wait and sprint at the end. When I talked to Larry about it though, he told me that my plan could get me a spot on the podium, but might not be enough to win; he thought I should breakaway. I thought about this, but the memories of my breakaways at Road Nationals still sat fresh in my mind and made me nervous. Then, an amazing thing happened in the 15-16's scratch race; Gage, one of my Specialized teammates as well, broke away to a solo victory! It really pumped me up and I started to fantasize doing the exact same thing in my race. My race began, and I sat back and waited until it was my time to shine. With 8 laps to go, the announcer excitedly spoke, "It looks like Jules Gilliam from Team Specialized has broken away from the field!" A rush of adrenaline shot through my body and time seemed to stand still, but when I came back into reality, I had 2 laps to go. I pedaled and pushed all the way to the line, but was barely beaten by Sandor, who had been one of the top sprinters at Road Nationals. Man, was I disappointed  But, I was also very glad to have made that move; Larry and Gage both inspired me to breakaway in that race. Through all the excitement, I was determined to win the next day in the 10k points race. 

When the race started, my plan was to try to lap the field, so I went right after a sprint when everyone around me was tired; In a way, it was a counterattack. Another rider, Samuel, was up the road a little ways, and when I caught up to him, we both worked our fair shares of effort. Yet, right before the next sprint, I whipped up the pace and dropped him to make sure he didn't lap the field with me (he was ahead of me on points). My tongue felt like cotton from the effort I had given so far. I kept going and pushed away all doubts and worries. Down to 1 lap to go, and I was 1/8 of a lap from the field. I finished without lapping the field, but winning the sprint and getting third in the points race. If I had lapped the field, I would have won on points. Another slight disappointment  but I was so glad I didn't take any chances in trying to win a national title.

I definitely learned the cold, hard truth of breakaways this year; They are risky and don't always work out. But, that being said, field sprints have an even greater risk of crashing, getting boxed in, or just not having the pop in the legs to podium. Breakaways broaden the chances of winning, and are overall much safer. Hopefully someday I will win in one, and that will be my greatest victory yet.

To racing and learning,

Jules