[NCNCA] Sprints, Classics, and your vote- part 2

[Larry Nolan]

Excuse me for the re-send... we noticed that the Tour de Nez masters race MOVED from its originally scheduled 3:30pm start to 2:30pm.  Please follow the website and be there on time!  
 
I've had several responses to this e-mail about "hard" racing.  Yes, both TdN and TNC are very difficult races and you may get dropped because of their speed and intensity.  I'm not certain but sometimes the officials will not pull riders at TNC.  Anyway, My intent was to encourage riders to show up, not to scare them away.  Here's a true story: I started racing in 1988 with the Fremont Freewheelers.  We had a race team of 70 racers and a coach (John Tarbert) that was willing to show up EVERYDAY for training rides and monthly team meetings (where we mostly discussed tactcs and up coming races).  Good times.  Well, there was a Cat 1 rider on the team that impressed everyone because he could win almost any sprint (he was that fast) but I went up to Nevada City to watch the race and this rider was dropped (and pulled out) in the first two laps!  I was a lowly cat 4 then (cat 5's were added in the 90's) and I assumed a category 1 could be competitive with that field on this course.  Instead the lesson that I learned is that every rider has their strengths and weaknesses.  Maybe Nevada City is a course that suits your strength?  Maybe it's not yet your strength, but once you experience the race you might be inspired to make it your strength?
 
LarLarry Nolan <teamnolan at hotmail.com> wrote:

Last night marked the 17th consecutive Tuesday of sprinting in 2007 so we prepared for races like the Fremont Crit (June 30) that features a 180 degree hairpin. I wanted to send this note out because I plan to lead only 3 more sessions this year before I get back to promoting the Thursday Night Points Race series at the San Jose velodrome (August 2, 9, 16, 23, Sept. 6, 13, 20 and 27). The last three sprint updates (June 19, 26 and July 3rd) will be posted to the www.AMDMasters.com blog.Please note that my teammate Wayne Stetina is up for re-election as a USA Cycling Trustee. Wayne’s campaign statement is posted on the blog as well. Voting begins July 15th for all USAC members. Personally, I just spent the Memorial Day weekend with Wayne and his family. I really appreciate his efforts for our sport and know how much he cares to see it grow and prosper. I’ve known Wayne for the 14 years that I’ve been on this team and he has my vote. Oh, and he helped to drive our breakaway at the Dana Point Crit, so he definitely knows how to race his bike!Another great weekend of racing is coming up. In addition to the Crit in Folsom, we have the 15th annual Tour de Nez on Saturday in Reno and the 47th annual Tour of Nevada City on Sunday (Father’s Day). All three are great races but I’m writing this because the Reno and the Nevada City races are truly “classics”. I’m talking downtown courses here, not our typical industrial park. Downtown courses equate to large chunks of time spent by the promoters on our behalf. The number of volunteers alone is amazing. The competition, the flavor of the racing, and the great courses help to make these events fun. These are the kind of races where you simply soak in the surroundings, suffer through to the finish and then look back on the experience with pleasure. Pre-race reg looks to be skimpy. Yes, these are HARD races, but they can also be something that inspires you to update your goals and improve your training. We’re planning to have fun. I hope you have fun too.Larry NolanAMD-Discovery ChannelUSA Cycling Level 2 coachThursday Night Track Promoter