last updated 11/19/2009
junior mountain bike racing team
2009
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Our goal with CycleYouth is to bring racers, coaches and sponsors together in a unified program in order to develop the skills and abilities needed to succeed!
CycleYouth
Asheville, NC
CycleYouth copyright 2009
CycleYouth trademark 2009
Thank you to our sponsors, patrons, parents and team for making us a success
A Look Ahead
The Cycleyouth program will make a small change for the 2010 season. With the help of sponsors and patrons we will be able to implement a cycling program that we need.
For 2010 we will front a U-23 team from the East. Our goal here is to develop racers into the pro ranks.
The junior program will continue, and with increased support.
Interbike was a success and we have new sponsors in the works.
WHO's COUNTING?
Out of the CycleYouth Program:
Junior National Super-D 2009
Junior National Champ 2005 2008
Junior Downhill National Champ 2008
Junior Super-D National Champ 2008
Masters National Champ 2001 2003 2008
Collegiate National Champ 2008
Junior National Series Champ 2006
WE ARE!
What would your symbol be
by Wes Lamberson
an essay on love of cycling
Videos in the works - some DEVO 12 Hours of Dauset Vids and Clemson Collegiate Champos posted to Yahoo! Video. check these seven out from Clemson
Summer Travels
Seth, Jesus and Wes are en route to Canada for two Junior World cup rounds. This is the first year the UCI has had official junior classes for the World Cups. They will have their hands full with elite competition from around the World.
where are they now
see where CY grads are now and what they are doing. [coming soon]
on test
SKINS
A favorite in the CycleYouth wardrobe are out Travel/Recovery tights by Skins read more
May 09
bike frames
Both GT and Storck are helping with bikes. Following being dumped suddenly and without cause by our former sponsor we are glad for the mid-season assistance from GT and Storck. We will narrow down to one bike sponsor for 2010.
where the money is
"I'm just a product of my environment", says A Johnston as he races age group now instead of the pro class. "I have asked, in the past, for the promoters to fix the glitch in prize money." After placing 4th in a "pro" class race and going home empty handed as the 4th fastest rider of the day, while 20 other slower riders get paid and 50 other racers take prizes the realization settled in. To make money racing he had to go where the money was. Some people say, just get faster and place top 3 in the pro class, but this retired pro racer retired from training at that high level already. For those in the "expert" class who complain of getting beat perhaps take the same advice - get faster!
"I would rather race where there is more competition, but then the whole not making money thing would lead to not racing at all."
You can blame the promoter for not prizing the fastest rider properly, but he will blame the "experts" for complaining so much if he allocates the prize money according to ability.
The solution? For a would-be pro rider the solution is easy; race where the money is. After all isn't that what a pro racer does?
April 09 CycleYouth experiences it's first let-down of the season as the bike sponsor breaches contract. No fault of ours, but this has taken a lot of effort to overcome and has left CY riders out in the cold without the support they need. Mid-season is a bad time of year to have to find and negotiate with new sponsors.
Juniors
Cycleyouth will be attending the new Kenda US Cup for the East Coast.
We are excited that this new series format has taken over and grateful for Kenda, our own sponsor, getting behind the sport so well.
The main goal for Cycleyouth is US based events and personal goal-reaching, for our mission is to produce quality Pro/Elite racers.
MTB CAMP 09
June 22nd-27th
Cedar Mtn, NC
DuPont Forest
The 2008 Home page is archived here
Tumbling Creek 6 Hour Race
DEVO riders field two teams with a great showing. more
Junior Teams
12 Hours of Dauset
The South gets an official Junior team at 12 Hours of Dauset. This race originally scheduled for Sept 19th was moved to Oct 3rd due to week-long rains. CycleYouth fielded 3 4-man junior teams at this event. While the 12 HoTsali team is now busy at collegiate events the DEVO squads are in charge of the results. Captian Jansen led his team to another solid CY victory while CY also took 4th and 5th. pics
Rimmer burst onto the collegiate scene
[pic left] with a 3rd place finish at his first college event!
Cory's late season for will serve his new school well as he joins former CY rider Tristan Cowie at Brevard college.
Not too far away former CY Brad Nelson is joined by Wes Lamberson at Union College. Wes suffered a lost fight with a tree and dnf'd this event but was showing strong form also. This was race #2 for the conference. ETSU hosted this round in Johnson City TN, while most schools missed the Ga Tech event in GA the week before due to first of semester activities.
US Kenda Cup Finale:
Rimmer and Johnston win NY round and secure series wins
This was the shortest race of the series with CY riders finishing in an astonishing time of 1:18.
Neither rider was challenged, but they had fun keeping an eye on each other as Johnston's class started 1 min back and both riders rode similarly.
Rimmer broke his collar bone in the spring, but made a great come-back to not only win the Kenda Cup Series, but win everything in sight on the way. "The first few KC Rounds were challenging, then Nationals came and I had a good race from there, and confidence grew and I
started to pick up wins, now with 4 in a row!"
Neither rider was challenged, but they had fun keeping an eye on each other as Johnston's class started 1 min back and both riders rode similarly.
Rimmer broke his collar bone in the spring, but made a great come-back to not only win the Kenda Cup Series, but win everything in sight on the way. "The first few KC Rounds were challenging, then Nationals came and I had a good race from there, and confidence grew and I
started to pick up wins, now with 4 in a row!"
US Kenda Cup, VT round.
Cory and Seth both take wins in their class for the XC.
Seth wins Super-D
Typical muddy conditions for the Mount Snow, VT course, but by Saturday's race time most of the course was drying out, but the muddy sections still filled the jerseys and bikes with mud. This was "an easy race" for Seth coming off World Cups where the pace started fast and got faster.
Also for Cory the race was fairly easy, "pretty easy" to be exact and Cory occupied himself racing the two groups ahead of him, at least until
he passed and dropped them too. Cory is coming into great form after a few early season set backs. He will now be a contender on the collegiate scene where he will be racing for Brevard College in a few weeks as he starts his freshman year.
Next up is the US Cup East finale. Racers Cory and Andy will make the trip to secure their wins in the series. For those wondering, Andy skipped racing the VT event as a high entry fee and no prizes were not tempting enough to get money out of his wallet. For the series this race would have been a drop event anyway. Look for reports on NY event around Aug 16th.
Also for Cory the race was fairly easy, "pretty easy" to be exact and Cory occupied himself racing the two groups ahead of him, at least until
he passed and dropped them too. Cory is coming into great form after a few early season set backs. He will now be a contender on the collegiate scene where he will be racing for Brevard College in a few weeks as he starts his freshman year.
Next up is the US Cup East finale. Racers Cory and Andy will make the trip to secure their wins in the series. For those wondering, Andy skipped racing the VT event as a high entry fee and no prizes were not tempting enough to get money out of his wallet. For the series this race would have been a drop event anyway. Look for reports on NY event around Aug 16th.
*COACHING*
Coach Andy Johnston
Customized personal plans for your MTB racing
UCI's first official junior MTB class
for World Cups
7-26-09 Wes, Seth and Jesus are enjoying the cycling-friendly town of Mont Saint Anne in Canada. First reports are ecstatic. They love the World Cup venue there and even like it better than the race courses in Germany and Switzerland!
The excitement of the venue did Wes in at least as he spent much of the pre-race day taking in the atmosphere. Wes still managed a 16th place finish ahead of recent National Champ and another American, while Seth takes a top ten with his 9th place finish some 5 min's earlier.
Jesus suffered a bad day back in 20th.
8-2-09 At Bromont things went better. Seth moves up two spots to 7th, Jesus 11th, but Wes has his first dnf. This was round #6 for the World Cup XC series and the junior event saw riders from New Zealand, Mexico, American and of course Canada in the top spots. We were hoping more Europeans would make the trip over given that there were two World Cup rounds back to back here, but they seemed to mostly stay across the pond. Since the World Championships will be held at the Mont Saint Anne venue this give us North Americans an advantage having already raced the course.
SERC Finale at Fontana Resort, NC
8-2-09 Cory and Andy take wins in the XC. On a very muddy course, thanks to all night rains, both riders win their class - 19-29 and 30-39 Expert. The course played to their technical strengths to give them just a bigger gap over their rivals. While not unridable the mud made things challenging and did put space between competitors based on their willingness to let the bike roll. This course is always fun rain or shine so racers had a good time and enjoyed the banquet after hosted by Gone Riding.
Haw Ridge, TN
7-26-09 Cory wins! Taking the pro class, Cory has finally found his form for the season. This after a podium in the Sr Men's class at National Championships. Cory will be ready for the college season his freshman year soon.
The troops head to the high mountains in Colorado for July
The National Championships could just as easily been called the High Altitude Rockies Championships as the course topped out at over 10,000 feet. For most of the nation's riders this proved to be a disadvantage as the thin air made efforts difficult. A two-week stay in Colorado was a minimal amount of time to acclimate to the conditions but CycleYouth made the best of it.
In the Junior XC race Seth and Wes took 5th and 7th. Andy 2nd in the chaotic Masters race (having no idea what place he was in during the race), and Cory 4th in the Senior race. While Jansen comes from the back to place 2nd in the Junior 13-14 age group.
The Super-D saw Seth take a National Title with a sound win and Andy taking 4th in his race on this downhill style course.
The short track was exciting for the junior race. Local resident R Finsterwald walked away with the win as others fought for the podium. Seth and Wes took 4th and 7th at the finish.
In Cory's race we saw him in great form and Cory finished4th for the day.
From there riders will split off and head to the Canada World Cups or back home to ready for the final rounds of US Cup East, then off to the World Championships for others.
See video blog from the team
Germany
Wes and Seth compete and train in Germany. They are over there getting international race experience and seeing how the euros compete.
Seth wins the marathon and Wes take 9th in a 30 strong junior field in Switzerland.
In 2nd race, which was huge, Seth 20th, Wes writes a report on this race.
In 2nd race, which was huge, Seth 20th, Wes writes a report on this race.
Final German race: Seth 11th, Wes 22nd
Photo Gallery of Germany here
Read more here
CycleYouth gives back
CycleYouth team is collecting and donating prize schwag to the race promoters in order that prizes can be awarded deeper into the junior classes more
US CUP, Cowbell Challenge NC
6-21-09. A hot and humid day at this lowest of events. Half woodsy singletrack and half grass/open field this course was set in a balmy 96 degree heat. In the Expert race our boys took their spots winning Jr Ex and the 30+ race.
Seth and Wes go one-two, while Andy debuts his new GT rig with a win also.
This race may not be seen again on the US Cup as it left many prize winners empty handed. A first place win was awarded the US Cup number plate award and three pretzels. Quite an insult to the racers and a black eye for the race series to have such an disgraceful prize list. The US Cup is to be better than the previous "national" series events, and has lived up to that expectation until now.
GSC at Heritage Park, GA
6-14-09. The first waves saw the Devo racers tear it up. Zach 3rd in kids, Carter, Joe and Hayden 2nd, 3rd and 4th in 11-14, and Andy taking the win in 30+ Expert.
Bump n Grind US Pro Cup
5-31-09. This is the biggest Eastern race for the year so far. With all the pro's and team in attendance the South got a show.
Missing are Seth and Wes who are in Germany, so it was up to Jesus to control the junior field. Despite his common flatting issues Jesus still pulled off a decisive win, rolling right in after Andy's win in the 30+ class.
For Devo Joe, Carter, Hayden and Matt bled the field - see Devo page for more
12 Hours of Tsali, Tsali NC
5-23-09. CycleYouth wins again! This marks the 3rd consecutive year the team has taken top honors racing the 4-man team in the Open/Money class. Official team name: Kenda/mtbandy.com
For the first time the winning team has been comprised of an all teenager squad. This has always been the plan, but last minute issues always kept the team mixed with over-18 riders having to substitute these last two years, and was almost certain to happen again when Cory Rimmer broke his collar bone in two places just 5 weeks ago.
Cory's break was bad enough to require a titanium plate and screws so the bone is stable enough to use now, but against his doctors wishes - that's bike racing!
This was the closest race in history. CycleYouth riders did not take the lead from the start and keep it, rather lost the lead and switched back and forth until early evening when they managed to hold onto what mathematically was the final lead change.
more
Camp Thunder, Thomaston, GA
Andy takes epic long XC race win. Three eleven mile laps. they said a sub hour lap was not possible and that no one would finish under 3 hours. Andy defied both with a finish time of 2:52. Held on a massive Boy Scout property, this is one of Georgia's most challenging courses and has been on hiatus for many years. It is back for good the promoter says.
Kenda Cup #1, SERC #5 Ducktown, TN
5-3-09 Junior Expert sees clean sweep with Seth, Jesus and Wes taking the podium spots.
Andy takes 30+ win, and exciting races in the Devo field.
SERC #4/GSC #3 Fort Yargo, GA
4-26-09 Another beautiful day. In the pro Seth continues his planned rise taking a medal spot with 3rd. Andy follows with a medicore day in 7th.
Wes win Sr Expert race soundly. Cory out due to injury. In the Devo field Carter and Joe go 1st and 2nd with Hayden somewhere in the mix. Zachery in 4th and results from Nutt and others pending.
SERC Round #3, Tsali, NC
4-5-09 Beautiful conditions. Seth takes 8th in another stacked pro/ex field and Cory 21st. Wes, after Saturday's expenditure, finishes 6th in Sr Ex. Andy 2nd, 30+.
4-4-09 On Saturday Andy and Wes competed in the 6 Hours of Warrior's Creek taking the class win in Duo and the overall win. This is why Andy and Wes raced the expert class at Tsali the next day, usually racing pro anyway. Both reported tired legs in Sundays Tsali event. more
SERC Round #2, Chickasaw, TN
A cold day in Tennessee after days of rain and a tornado just a few miles away led up a decent race for us. Sethy and Andy fought the wind, hill, grass and huge pro/ex field to enter the woods in the top 5. The race officials clocks were running fast so Cory and Wesley barely made it to the start line. Actually Sethy just made it but somehow still managed a decent start position. Only Bradley was prompt today since Andy made it with just 2 minutes to spare and without a number plate.
Sethy finished 4th, with Cory in 12th after a long chase and Wes behind him. Brad in the Cat I class, but Andy, probably due to his unusually short warm-up of 1 minute, succumbed to issues and had to pull out.
In the lead were Sam Korber and T Turner. Sam riding strong and appearing to ride Turner off his wheel on a last lap surge. Sethy not far off them show his form is right on track for season's goals. The other guys are yet to show off their form. more
Jesus Martinez in 5th for Men's standings for National Endurance Series.
SERC Round #1, Florida.
3-8-09 Seth Kemp makes a solo trip to FL for round one. This year Seth, age 17, is racing the pro class (pro/open) to enhance his fitness and training. This was a stacked field as every pro in the Southeast wanted to head South for warm sunshine and test their early season form.
Several pros from FL had been racing the FL winter series so were already at peak form. Seth placed 8th, which was a great finish for the field he was in. more
2001-2008 CycleYouth rider and National Junior Downhill Champ Ethan Quehl has been selected to represent the United States at the Pan American Games March 20-23 in Santiage, Chile.
Ethan is one of 6 American Professional downhillers to be selected. 2009 is his first season as a pro and his 12th place finish establishes him as one of America's premire downhill racers.
below: Lamberson and Kemp attend US National Camp in Colorado Springs at the US Olympic Training Center.
Seth (bottom left) & Wes (top, 2nd from left)
at the USOTC Camp
Seth, Jesus and Wes
go 1-2-3 at Kenda Cup #1, TN
Junior Expert
Cory Rimmer 4th at the National Championships in Colorado
Cory Rimmer takes his speed to college with a podium placing in the A mens event at ETSU
Johnston winning the Kenda Cup Series
12 Hours of Dauset (GA)
Andy with the clipboard tracking 3 CycleYouth junior teams
