Rider Diaries

Race Report by (Marina, Lead MTB Parent) The first team race for Tokyo Joe’s Juniors/BJC mountain bike team was in

Rumble at 18 Rd- Fruita, CO Race Report by Wyatt I don’t know what it was about this race. Was

Rumble at 18 Road – by Chris, Cat 2 15-18 The course in Fruita had a lot of fire road, but

–

Monarch High Cross

The race this weekend, Monarch High Cross, was a good race. I had a good start, and by the first turn I was in second, only behind my teammate, Torin. He led into the sandpit. We both ended up running three quarters of the way through. We rode together for a while, and then I passed him. When we got to the first barrier, I ran my bike, but Torin tried to bunny hop it. He hit his back wheel hard, and I was surprised he didn-t flat. I passed him back in a few turns. After the race he said that he had blown up right then. I ended up towing him around until the short run-up. I think that I gained time on him there and he couldn-t close the gap. At the start/finish, I went almost all out there to keep him from catching me. I rode the whole sand pit, so I was happy. Then I carried my bike over the horseshoes backstop. Then there was the death spiral. When I was a little more than halfway through, I saw Torin coming into it. I hit the gas and railed the rest of the corners. Then I went over the barriers and the sidehill that felt like it was at a 45 degree angle. Then I came around the last corner, and won the race.

Last month I participated at the USA Cycling Road National Championships in Augusta, Georgia in the Junior Men 13-14 along with teammate Jacques de Curnou and my brother Torin who raced in the Junior Men 10-12.

We drove out there so we could bring our camper trailer and a lot of bikes. Jacques and his family drove out separately. -We left at 9:00 pm on June 19 on our 30 hour drive. -We took some breaks along the way including a stop in St. Louis where we got to see the Arch both at night and in the morning and got to go in it. -It was pretty cool, and at night it had lights shining like spotlights in a way that made a cool shadow in the air (yeah, that is how humid it was). -Finally after 28 hours of driving and being on the road for 2 and a half days we arrived in Marietta, Georgia at a friends house where we stayed the night then left at about noon the next day where we made the final 1 and a half hours of driving to get to Augusta.

–

The Wildflower Rush was a race I did on the side of road racing because otherwise I wouldn-t race for three straight weekends. I had been thinking about doing some mountain bike racing this summer, and when my friend-s family invited us to stay at their house in Crested Butte, it was the perfect opportunity.

As the U14 Junior Men jostled for position to roll out to the start line, the official announced that the start wasn-t until 12:46, sixteen minutes later than posted. I rode off to get in a little more warm-up. However, most people had stayed and I ended up against the barrier with a folding sign in front of me.

When the whistle sounded I clipped in quickly and was about third going into the first corner on the road. After a fast section on the road there was a steep dirt road. Several riders passed me, but I passed most of them before the start of the single track. My extra warm-up had paid off. I was in fourth when the rider ahead of me had to unclip on a technical section. I passed him and soon caught second place, who had gotten the hole shot. It turned out he had gone out too hard and I passed him as soon as I could. The leader, Jake Yakkle, had sat up and I recovered on my way to catch him. Since we were going slowly, I was afraid we would be caught and I passed him as soon as possible, when he tipped over.

I led the race for a while, making accelerations to try and drop Jake. He slowly faded until he was about twenty or thirty seconds behind. However, he still had something left in the tank and caught up to me on the downhill just after the top of Paradise Bowl. I consider myself a good descender, but I guess I-m just a roadie. I was absolutely flying to try and lose him, but he stayed with me.

At the bottom of Columbine Hill, where the Super-D and Cross-Country courses merge, Jake made a dicey pass, cutting way inside the course marker. At that point, I knew it would be super difficult to pass, and I was right. Again he cut a switchback, but I didn-t want to do the same thing because it would be bad sportsmanship and I would risk being disqualified. I was right, I couldn-t get back around him and I came in second.

They say second is the most disappointing place, and I agree. On the podium, my disappointment turned to satisfaction because there-s always room for improvement, and this is just the start.

Eric

–

The official announced the JM 10-12 category, and because that was mine, I rolled up to the start. Trevor Way and Peter Whitsel were the only other people who could beat me, so I thought that it wouldn-t be such a hard race, like responding to attacks and they weren-t great climbers so I could probably attack and drop them. The official warned us that there were 30 seconds to the start. I focused on the road ahead. I waited for the official to say 15 seconds, but he didn-t. He said -Riders ready? Go!- I got the hole shot, and I dragged everyone behind me. We got to the first flat, and I looked back and there was no one there. I let them catch up, and then I pulled. I hopped on the back, and let everyone else do the work. I got to the front, then I didn-t care if the pack could keep up or not. Peter was behind me and he fell off, so I was in the front. I increased my lead over the pack in the last, steepest climb. I passed under the finish line, and I saw Peter and Trevor were pretty far behind. I thought they would gain time on the downhill, but not catch me. I threw it in the big ring and hammered on the pedals. I got to the first flat going pretty fast, and when I got to the bottom, I still had a 40 foot lead. I knew that gap would get a lot bigger on the climb. I went a little too far to the inside on the turnaround, but that didn-t matter. I started up the first little climb and I probably increased my lead by about 5 seconds. When I got to the big, last climb, I decided if I wanted to win, I needed to go pretty hard on that hill. I did that, and I won! After I finished, I looked back and saw that Trevor and Peter were pretty far back.

Spot

–

Welcome to SpotOn! Spot is my nickname, and Nolan is my real name. This is my column for equipment advice, junior racing and any question you have that is cycling related. You can send me questions through the link on this page.

My first subject will be Shimano Dura-ace 7400 shifters. These are advantageous for a young padawan (me) because their shorter inner lever allows kids with small hands to reach the levers without going into their drops. Sadly, they started making them twenty years ago and haven-t made them for 10 or more years. Mine are still going strong after a lot of use. They-re older than me, which isn-t very common. They are often available on Craigslist or EBay and adults you know may have a set (or full group) that they don-t want anymore. They are compatible only with DA 7400 8-speed rear derailleurs. They were the first shifters mounted on the handlebars that were mass produced.

There was great racing had by all this week-end in Fruita. -The Cat 3 boys swept the podium. -Dominique was gracious enough to take 2nd due to a technicality. -Ksenia dominated the junior women’s field. -Lindsay took 2nd in a tough Cat 1, 15-19 field. And Quade and Garrett S. got in some good training races! -We even saw Cassidy on his new cool bike hammering the Junior men’s field. -The coach learned to ask more questions about the