June 21, 2006
Well, we just rolled in from travels today. Charlie, Tristan, Mike and I made the haul up to VT after NC for another national.
You've probably already seen the results.
Sugar was impressive for our team. I hope I dont forget anyone....
Jansen, Seth and Ethan all won their classes.
Mike was 2nd after a flat tire debacle and Tristan, at his first national, was 7th. Charlie didn't care for the climbing and finished 24th.??
At Vermont the next weekend the weather was perfect and conditions were marginal with the typical muddy sections found at VT and the very technical descending. And early break in the Jr Ex race saw a non-cycleyouth rider get away. Mike flaundered as he couldn't find his form, but Tristan was on. Tristan closed the gap all day but at 10 seconds back and on the downhill he tumbled and lost the chance to catch the leader. Tristan was 2nd and Mike 3rd.
other note, Travis Livermon who was tied with Mike going into this event also lost form and finished way back if he finished at all. Mike is now the clear leader in the NBS series. Tristan is now in 3rd.
Big for Tristan is that this impressive 2nd puts him in position to make the Worlds team which competes in New Zealand this August at the World Championships.
Unless Tristan wins Sonoma Nationals he will have to fund the New Zealand trip. USAC only pays for the series leader and the winner of the Sonoma race. We are guessing Mike will be both; no plan B from usac if this happens either. Donations welcolme to help our riders, see home page.
The short track saw a reversal for Mike and Tristan who got 2nd and third. The race was supposed to be 15 mins plus 3 laps, but randomly during the race it was shortened to 12 mins+. Mike and Tristan chased the leader the whole race and caught only at the end; another two laps would have made the difference. The winner, Travis, shot out from the gun as a wise move with Mike and Tristan starting mid-pack.
Back home at the Helen race the rest of you competed. I only heard from Seth, who won his first Sport Sr race. The Sport Sr racers have to be getting tired of CycleYouth on the podium.
below:
the XC podium from VT. Tristan 2nd, Mike 3rd.
Sonoma
Cross Country:
Tristan Cowie in 7th, Mike in 11th.
Mike retains his series lead by a mere 10 points by our calculations. His closest rival, Tristan Uhl finished 8th today making up only 15 of the needed 25 points on Mike. Mike was suffering a little from over-training, or under-recovering, both of which have the same effect.
Tristan Cowie took his 7th place finish after crashing last week in Utah and getting 9 stitches to his knee. Duct tape is just the thing to hold the skin and keep the stitches for ripping during the race.
This course was the worst XC course imaginable from what they report. Everyone explains it as 80% pavement and 20% grass & bumps. This is not worthy of a national championship course.
Tristan was easily in 3rd even with his injuries, but two seperate groups of two were able to work together on the long pavement climbs and reel him in - tactics seen in road racing, not off-road racing.
Ethan Quehl raced Saturday and placed 6th. This course was made to defeat Ethan. It was all power and strength and nothing on the skills, climbingor decending side. Ethan kept up with the lead group for the first lap, but fell off after that.
In the Short Track the next day Tristan finished 3rd in a 3 up sprint for the win.
As of this writing it looks like USA Cycling has not made any coaches selections for the juniors. USAC does such a poor job across the board. Mike is the only junior on the list that will attend Worlds in New Zealand as he made the automatic selection. There are three other junior experts that we expected to see on the selection, but did not.
If I had 2 pair of arms I could give usac 4 thumbs down!
