Here is an excerpt from an email I got from Nelson.
Hey Guys -
Just a quick update to supplement the news Max has been passing along by phone. The competition here, at all levels, is absolutely incredible. I'd forgotten how nationals brings so many talented riders from all ages/cats from all over the country to put out their best efforts of the year.
One of the very cool things is that Max is right in there with the top riders, even riding without all of the huge technical/financial/coaching support that about 75% of these kids have. All the top junior development teams are here: Fraziers, Major Motion, Hot Tubes, 5280 (the Garmin-Chipotle junior team), Mesa, Team Swift, etc., etc. These teams have RV's, team cars/vans, massive shade tents for warming up and hanging out at the race venue, trained/experienced coaches, multiple bikes per kid, mechanics, boxes and boxes of energy bars/drinks, hotels, etc., etc. The kids from Fraziers even have matching backpacks and sweat hanky's! The 5280 kids had Cervelo tt bikes, the latest aero helmets, full skin suits with ice packs on their backs to keep cool during the tt (Max beat all of them but one). Many of these kids have taken part in USA Cycling junior development camps, and know each other from the camps and big junior races. So there we are with our van and a few wheels, camping out at the local co-housing, swimming in the Deschutes river to stay cool between races, and Max's one trusty Bataglin, and the kid is beating a bunch of these riders with off-the-chart support. We're having a blast, and whether he decides to pursue this nationals stuff again next year or not it's been a great experience.
The crit is early this afternoon, and Max said he's planning to take an early flier to shake off the weaker riders, hopefully getting the top 10 strongest guys to go with him and lap the field so that lapped riders are pulled and the risk of a crash is reduced. With 67 juniors on a tight crit course, avoiding crashes will be key! We'll see what happens, and in any case we'll call when it's all over.
Hopefully I'll be able to hook up with some other junior teacm managers/coaches after the crit and talk a bit. The coaches have been so focussed on their riders' support that I've not really been able to engage any of them yet, and the kids all take off for the hotels after races. We have been hanging out with some of the para-cycling folks, including a blind woman stoker from the co-housing, and that's been very cool. David Swanson is up here on a tandem with a blind stoker from Maryland; those guys killed it yesterday, won the national championship, and will be going to the para-cycling worlds in Italy. Seeing blind, parapalegic, and other "differently" abled cyclists compete gives one a much better sense of what it means to be challenged as a competitor.
Just a quick update to supplement the news Max has been passing along by phone. The competition here, at all levels, is absolutely incredible. I'd forgotten how nationals brings so many talented riders from all ages/cats from all over the country to put out their best efforts of the year.
One of the very cool things is that Max is right in there with the top riders, even riding without all of the huge technical/financial/coaching support that about 75% of these kids have. All the top junior development teams are here: Fraziers, Major Motion, Hot Tubes, 5280 (the Garmin-Chipotle junior team), Mesa, Team Swift, etc., etc. These teams have RV's, team cars/vans, massive shade tents for warming up and hanging out at the race venue, trained/experienced coaches, multiple bikes per kid, mechanics, boxes and boxes of energy bars/drinks, hotels, etc., etc. The kids from Fraziers even have matching backpacks and sweat hanky's! The 5280 kids had Cervelo tt bikes, the latest aero helmets, full skin suits with ice packs on their backs to keep cool during the tt (Max beat all of them but one). Many of these kids have taken part in USA Cycling junior development camps, and know each other from the camps and big junior races. So there we are with our van and a few wheels, camping out at the local co-housing, swimming in the Deschutes river to stay cool between races, and Max's one trusty Bataglin, and the kid is beating a bunch of these riders with off-the-chart support. We're having a blast, and whether he decides to pursue this nationals stuff again next year or not it's been a great experience.
The crit is early this afternoon, and Max said he's planning to take an early flier to shake off the weaker riders, hopefully getting the top 10 strongest guys to go with him and lap the field so that lapped riders are pulled and the risk of a crash is reduced. With 67 juniors on a tight crit course, avoiding crashes will be key! We'll see what happens, and in any case we'll call when it's all over.
Hopefully I'll be able to hook up with some other junior teacm managers/coaches after the crit and talk a bit. The coaches have been so focussed on their riders' support that I've not really been able to engage any of them yet, and the kids all take off for the hotels after races. We have been hanging out with some of the para-cycling folks, including a blind woman stoker from the co-housing, and that's been very cool. David Swanson is up here on a tandem with a blind stoker from Maryland; those guys killed it yesterday, won the national championship, and will be going to the para-cycling worlds in Italy. Seeing blind, parapalegic, and other "differently" abled cyclists compete gives one a much better sense of what it means to be challenged as a competitor.
Hearing about all the stuff, gizmos, and toys everybody has makes me want one thing. A team bus. Yeah like a school bus that we could use to drive the team around. That's the one thing I dream about having for the team. That we transportation is not an issue and we can go have fun all over the place. I like our bikes, our style, and everything else. I just want it to be easier on everybody to get the team to where it wants to go play.
Ignacio
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