Texas Norba Nationals March 4th - 6th.
The week started out good with Andy Johnston competing in the Open Men Marathon race (62 miles off-road).
Weather was a little cool and foggy, but the ground was mostly dry. Andy suffered 3 flats during the race. Fortunatly this race is under the new UCI rule that allows outside assistance so Andy could get spare tubes in the feed zone. The three flats easily cost him 3rd place, but 5th is still a very good result at a National.
Saturday saw over an inch of rain fall.
Jansen Lindner bloggeg through the mud to take 3rd in his division.
His mom, Kari, also raced in the conditions.
Christian and Mike both fell victim to the conditions. After dropping all but one of the field Mike and Christian found their shifting difficult. The mud and water got in the system and siezed up shifting. Riding with only the hardest gear on the climbs and mud was not easy. Christain furtherd his handicap when his brake rotor seperated from his bike leaving him with no back brakes. He finished 13th, far back from the top 2 position we all expected. Mike, unfortunatly, abandond at the instruction of an official. He could have walked in and still got points.
The team is a little underfunded currently so we did not have the proper equiptment under these riders soon enough for this race.
Jessica Thomas came into this race just reovering from a 103 tempature. The Doc said not to race, but she felt up to it. Her breathing worsened and forced her out of the race.
Well, I think we got all our bad luck out of the way early, so the rest of the season looks good.
From what we could see, our junior look fit enough to be the best in the nation. Time will tell.
aj
NORBA NATIONAL, AZ. MARCH 20th 2005
This one, being far away and during the school year, was attended only by
Mike Cummings. Mike lost his best chance to make the Worlds team two
weeks earlier when he suffered bike troubles and did not finish the race (an
official told he he had to quit). The Worlds Team is comprised of the best
Junior, U-23 and Senior athletes in the US who compete at a one race event
for the title of World Champion.
Now, with one race down, Mike needs to make the 2nd spot on the Worlds
team in order to get the paid trip to Italy where the Worlds will be in September.
By making the strongest showing at the next 4 events he can do that.
The weather prevailed in sunny Arizona, and the course was very suited for
the powerful Mike. The first lap was a mere warm-up lap for Mike as on the
second lap he attacked on the big climb and easily put a gap on the rest of the
Junior Expert field. They had no responce for his power attack and each lap
just put the other kids farther back.
Mike won the race with ease, and commented that he needed his team-mate Christian Fontaine there for competition.
Mike will begin his training for the Worlds now, but will have to compete at three
other Nationals and do well to make the 2nd team spot. top
Park City Utah NORBA Nationals, June 17th -19th 2005
Just hear the news. Mike placed third at the first altitude race of the season in Junior Expert 17-18. Congradulations Mike!
The altitude did play a part in this event. Arriving on Wednesday before a Friday race was not the first schedule choice, but Mike hoped the lower elevation of Salt Lake City, at 5,000 feet, would make the transition easier. Mike felt horrible after the race so he must have suffered quite a bit during the race also.
Check back for full story...
Sand Point, ID NORBA National, July
Short summary. Riders traveled out to ID to compete. The course was lacking everything, but the elevation changes suited southeast riders well. Cycleyouth rider, Christian Fontaine faired the best this weekend with his 4th place finish in junior expert 16 and under. Leading the race, Christian flatted on the first lap with 3 miles to go. The junior race was regulated under the UCI rules which allowed for technical support at the feed zone. Christian ran his bike in to the feed zone and made the repair to continue the race.
Mike Cummings was expected to do well in the junior 17-18 race, but was suffering from sinus problems and felt terrible.
Andy Johnston also was suffereing, probably from the long drive and locak of sleep brought on by auto troubles on the way. We think he was 38th or so...
Snow Mass, CO. Norba national, July
The riders felt a little better, having some rest and being adjusted to the high altitude of the some 8,000 foot start. The course took the riders up for about 25 minutes
of climbing before dropping them quickly to the bottom of the course. Most felt
that this was not a real race course, in that it contained so much climbing,
steep climbing, which was made worse by the altitude. The single track was
all descending and did not really add much to the racing expeirence.
Andy started the pro race towards the back of the back of the pack and moved
up to the top 40 quickly. Any more passing would only cause him to blow.
After that passing was difficult as all the pros were fast. Andy flatted on the last downhil in the pouring rain and hail. He was about 2 miles from the finish so
thought it quicker to just ride in on the flat tire than to fix it, but loosing 8
positions in the process.
Christian did well to maintain a 3 minute gap on the leaders of his race in the
junior expert 15-16. Christian finished 3rd.
Mike was the big winner of the day taking 3rd in his junior expert 17-18 race.
Mike was really racing to land the 2nd spot on the Worlds Team. His big
competition for that beat him today by only 30 seconds, but Mike had the
results in hand to take the spot on the team. We do not know yet wether
USAC will fund our athlete to go to Worlds.
Mike was still suffering from the sinus problems a little.
Junior Cyclist Competes at Worlds
by Andy Johnston 9-7-05 more
Standing room only at the Livigno Junior Mountain Bike World Championships. That was the perspective of Mike Cummings, the young Georgian who attended the Italian race on September 1st. Based on the poor results of the American junior team who attended last year's Worlds our Americans this year had to start near the back of a 100 plus rider field. When you have the absolute best 17 and 18-year-old riders from every country racing at their peak it's hard to get to the front of the race.
Mike, who races for Cycle Youth/ Kenda Tires, was part of the American contingent who competed at the national series events throughout the year to qualify for the Worlds Team which consisted of the 5 juniors, the U-23 (which are professionals under the age of 23), and the professionals; both men and women teams went.
Plans for Mike to make the top spot on the junior team vanished with a disheartening DNF at the first of the qualifying rounds in Texas. He and coach Andy Johnston had to refocus their year-long plans for Mike as they reformulated a training schedule that would allow him to make the team and still be at peak form for the Worlds.
Things got a little more panicked when doctors found a giant mass in Mike's sinus cavity. This was undoubtedly the cause of his unexplained fatigue, but everyone was relieved when it turned out to be complications from a deviated septum. Doctors were amazed that Mike could compete, much less compete at that level with the sinus problems he had. One month before the World Championship event Mike underwent minor surgery to correct the problem. "It was a big decision whether to risk the surgery before such a big race," says coach Andy Johnston. "I knew he had not been riding at his full potential for several months, but didn't know if surgery just weeks before his event would help him or not."
Two weeks after the World Championship, however, are the National Championships, and everyone knew that by then Mike would be back to good health. The National Championship should be a better race for his future career in cycling. "They got me a Colorado Altitude Tent that simulates the high altitude that the National Championships will be at and I think that will help me at Mammoth," says Mike who has been sleeping at a simulated 5,000 - 7,500 feet every night for the past month. The decreased oxygen at altitude stimulates you body to produce vital oxygen-carrying red blood cells which in turn boost performance naturally. "I would like to win and be National Champion this year."
Back in Livigno (say, La-veen-yo), Mike stayed with the American team at a hotel NORBA rented out, NORBA is the national sanctioning body of mountain biking, and made all the travel and logistic arrangements. "I learned a lot just by seeing and talking to everyone," Mike reported upon his return home. Mike is a very quiet and laid-back kid. He is tall, fast on the bike and because he is also shy can come across to the local Georgia racers as being snobby. But that would not be a problem with his American teammates; he could relax and be himself without worry.
Mike wasn't real happy with his result at the race. "I was expecting him to finish in the 30's, so when I saw he finished 59th, and he did not call home for several days we knew he was dissatisfied with his performance." No one knows Mike's abilities better than Andy, who has taken him from mediocrity to greatness in just 18 months. Andy continues, "there is a picture of the first minutes of the race which shows Mike about 30 positions behind the top finishing American who did finish in the 30's; that tells me that Mike did race about as well as the other kid, but just had those 30 riders in between, which is what the finish results showed."
Mike reported that starting in the back he could still pass OK but, "...when a guy 20 riders up would get off on a climb it forced us all to have to walk up the climb... and a few times it got bottle-necked going into the single track and I had to stand and wait." The climbs were short, but severe and numerous. Most all riders had to use their "granny gear" in order to have a low enough gear ratio to be able to pedal up the steep stair-step climbs. The down hills were as steep and could be nerve-racking just to ride. Mike crashed his light weight KHS bike at the bottom of one steep drop where the course took a hard left, "the racers were all so close that 10 people passed me before I could jump back up." The 50,000 plus fans at this European event were incredible. They would know Mike's name and scream it loud cheering, which made a big impression on the youth.
The main goal for Mike this year was to learn, and to get used to this type of event. Mike will be a junior still in 2006 when he can compete at the Worlds in New Zealand. "Hopefully it will all be old-hat by then," says his dad George who is active in Mike's career.
With this great learning experience behind him Mike now prepares for the National Championship in Mammoth, California on September 16th. It will be a close race between him and Collin Cares, the other top junior, for the stars and stripes. Mike will be back to racing for his team Cycle Youth/ Kenda. Cycle Youth has been a big part of Mike's rise. The team is dedicated to helping aspiring junior cyclist in the southeast, and has spear-headed the fundraising to help pay for Mikes trip to Worlds. Donations are still needed to help off-set the expenses of the trip. The team has raised $800 of the expected $2,500 that NORBA will bill Mike for his trip to Italy.
Mike Cummings wins National Championships
With the starter's pistol still smoking 3 Junior Expert racers already had the medal spots wrapped up. Mike Cummings of Snellville Georgia was in this decisive lead group and stayed relaxed as the other two traded off the lead. The course had some tough climbs that pushed the racers to the edge at this thin-aired venue. Mike tested his legs on one of the steeper climbs and the others knew then who would win the day and take home the Stars and Stripes.
Mike says he was breathing "crazy hard" on the 1st lap, but his legs felt good, and he knew then he would win. Mike just sat in for the first 3 laps waiting as planned, but feeling that he could surge away from his competitors at anytime. His family watched from the bottom of the mountain as Mike's group started the climb on the final lap. They could see Mike already beginning to put a dust cloud between him and his rivals. He felt good that day, and everything came together perfectly just as planned. "I caught all but 2 semi-pros", said Mike, whose time beat the semi-pro winner and also compared to 13th in the pro men's field.
When Mike attacked on the last lap he went all out. "I just put it in the big ring; it was kind-a rolling, like home, I just hammered the turns," said Mike. I could hear the "congrats" in the background as I talked to Mike on the phone. He won by 1 min 23 seconds over 2nd. "Walking away with it, " according to his dad.
Tires: Kenda Kozmik Lite II front and rear.
