Kyle's Monticello Racing Diary

Cherry Pie Crit

4/19/07

Hello,
I thought it would be important to update everyone on my recent races. My most recent ones have been the Copperopolis RR, and the Sea Otter Classic. In both of these I competed in the junior category. The two races attracted the best juniors from around, mainly because of the severity of the courses.
Copperopolis is notoriously known for the terrible road conditions and is referred to as the "Paris-Roubaix of California." My race was 63 miles and there was a 2.5 mi. climb every lap which I did 3 times. Unfortunately, at the bottom of the last climb I dropped my chain and never caught back on. I ended up just finishing the race sol, but came in a respectable 9th. Levi Leipheimer raced and took 1st in the pros.
As for the Sea Otter Classic, I raced twice and had one great race and one not so great race. I don't think I have ever been in a harder junior field in my life. There were juniors there from around the country, and it really gave me an insight to what Nationals later this year will be like. On Thursday I did the Road Race with a field of 60+ riders. As for the course it never seemed to descend, and it was a race of pure climbing. It came down to the last 2 mi. climb to the finish and I was in the lead group of 11 riders. I had the finish line in sight but at the 200 meter line I just fell apart and ended up with another 9th place. Though it was 9th, I was very pleased. It wasn't a win but it was respectable knowing what juniors were there. Later in the day, it was nice for my dad and I to meet up with Rod Halsey and his family. We visited for a bit and discussed the race and course.
As for Friday, I really don't have much to say about the Circuit Race, except is was extremely competitive. Our first lap was one of the fastest laps ever done on Laguna Seca. The front group came through at 5 minutes after an incredibly fast break at the beginning of the race up the monstrous first climb. After that lap there was no way I could stay with them. I finished the race but I was nowhere near the front group. After the weekend was complete, it was nice to see that I was racing against some of the best riders in the west, including Grant Van Horn, from Bakersfield, who took 1st in the junior RR, 2nd in the junior Circuit race, and 26th in the pro 1/2 circuit race, against the likes of the Health Net and Jelly Belly riders.. Well that it basically my most recent races. This Saturday I have the Wente RR and I am still debating about the Madera Stage Race the weekend after that. I will keep everyone posted.
See you Around, and thanks for your support.
Kyle

6/21/07

With Rod H' breaking his collar bone mountain biking, we thought that Kyle's participation in the Elkhorn Classic Stage Race in Baker City, Oregon this weekend was in jeopardy. Kyle and Rod were registered, and had planned on heading up until the mishap. However, his Coach Jesse Moore (CAT 1 Racer) with Cal Giant stepped up to the plate and ensured that Kyle could still make it. Kyle will be wearing the colors and riding for Monticello as an Elite 3.
This morning, at 6 am, 8 riders, 15 bikes, and camping gear headed off to Oregon. I am not sure how they did it (they have arrived), as they had only a Suburbun and a Prius, with nothing in tow. I hear
that the Prius had four bikes on top. There goes that 60 mpg!! The Stage Race includes a 82 mile RR in the am, a 10 mile time trial and 40 min Crit on Sat, and then a 101 mile RR on Sunday...... .then the long overnight back.
http://www.elkhornc lassicstagerace. com/,

Once back, with only a few days off, he will be getting ready for the Vacaville Grand Prix, the Davis 4th of July Crit, the Carrera de San Rafael, and then he will be off to the US National Championship in
Seven Springs, PA

Please think good thoughts, and thanks for all the Monticello Cycling
Club Support

Jim, Alison, and Kyle

7/15/07

Kyle is hanging tough, though the crash in the junior RR shook him up a bit. They were descending a very steep grade in excess of 50 mph when a rider from the LA area went off the left side of the road and hit a pole. He was thrown into the pelaton and all hell broke loose. This happened in front of Kyle, but he was able to stay clear of the melee, though he lost his prescription sunglasses in the mess. About 20 kids were involved, and three were airlifted, many others were taken by ambulance. It delayed the next race by 90 minutes. A lot of kids are understandably subdued. It will be interesting to see how they all approach the Crit this afternoon.

7/7/07

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on my racing and how it has been lately. Since the four stage road race in Oregon, I have been pretty tired so I have been taking it easy. For anyone who didn't know how I did there, I did well in the two long road races, and the Crit, but blew my overall time in the time trial. In the final General Classification I took 40th in the Category 3's with a starting field of 97.
As most of you probably saw in the Vacaville race or read in the Newspaper I flatted with one lap to go and was pretty devestated. I felt great and had just bridged tot he breakaway, and then I ran over a nail. So I wasn't that lucky. Besides that I wanted to thank eveyone for the support there. I heard my name yelled at every corner which was exciting. The next race was the Davis Crit on the 4th of July, where I raced the Junior Category and the Cat. 3. I took 2nd in the Juniors among some of the best in California and was satisfied with that. In the 3's race I dropped with 10 laps to go. It was over 100 degrees and was too much to race again in.
Wednesday the 11th I am off to Pennslyvania for Nationals, so I will make sure to let you guys know how I do there when I get back.
See you on the road,
Kyle

2nd Place!

7/14/07

Hello everyone,
Well I just got done with my 2nd day of racing here in Pennslyvania and I was just letting you guys know how it was going. Basically, the main thing I have to say is, it is fast! Yesterday was the 20 km time trial with a large hill in it, and I ended up not doing so well. I had pretty bad luck right before my start time. With any UCI level race they measure your TT bike and make sure that you are not too far forward, which unfortunatly I was so I was in a scramble to find a tool to jam my seat back as far as I could. With 10 mins to start they measured me again and said I still didn't pass, so they held me up on my bike and measured me manually and figured I would pass. Anyways, I was pushed to the starting gate with no warm up and just had to try my hardest, and I ended up
104th place :( out of 160 or so riders. As for today in the 95km road race I spent the first
10 mile lap trying to catch the main group after getting caught in a horrific crash which lead to 3
juniors being air lifted out. I fortunatly didn't crash but the crash happened right in front of me
going 55 mph, and I came to almost a dead stop. Eventually I caught the field and tried to hang on for
my life and I ended up 64th place out of 175 starters. The talent here is incredible, but I am hanging on. So tomorrow I will race the crit. I will see how that goes...
See you soon,
Kyle

7/19/07

Hello again,
Well I am back from Pennslyvania now and left there on a good note. I still have to tell everyone about how the National Criterium went. Well to begin with, we started with 120 juniors and raced on a fast 1.7 km circuit. The whole race was 50 km and took 31 laps. As for the weather, we raced in a complete rain storm. Some of the corners where so flooded that the side walls of my wheels were totally submerged. With 5 laps to go, a split in the field happened and 11 guys got off the front and ended up holding it to the finish. As for myself I came around the last corner and pulled off a 5th place in the field sprint. This put me at 16th place in the end....Which I was happy with.
See you around,
Kyle