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US MTB National Championships 2008

Momentum Endurance athletes competed at the US Mountain Bike National Championships at Mt. Snow, Vermont July 17th – 20th.  Each had unique goals for the weekend and a lot of focused training was done in preparation for the weekend.

Chloe Forsman of the Luna Women’s Professional MTB team successfully defended her U23 XC National Championship title. Shortly into the race Forsman established her lead and it grew each lap until the finish.  Excitement and satisfaction were the emotions after scoring a hard-earned champion’s jersey once again.

Perry Roper of Richland, WA placed third in the Expert Men 45-49 XC on Saturday. Not resting on his strong XC result Roper went on to finish 2nd in the Expert Men 30+ STXC in a race that came down to the very final lap. Though a championship jersey eluded Roper, he was pleased with his performances, knowing that his training efforts proved to be fruitful. With some added motivation for 2009, expect to see him racing even faster.

 

Dan Smiley of Burlington, CT competed at the National Championship in his first-ever year of competition. Racing in the Beginner Men 50+ category, Smiley came through successfully with his top ten result.  Mt. Snow’s course is more demanding than any other and Smiley showed that he’s catching on quickly with his skill and fitness. At 53 years young, we still haven’t found a limit to his progression. With a balanced plan of hard training and ample recovery Smiley continues to love what he does while improving every month. A strong finish at the National Championships was a rewarding confirmation that the training can keep him young and enjoying the bike more than ever.

With motivation stemming from the successes of my athletes, I went on to finish a personal best 22nd place in the Pro Men’s XC. It was an excellent day and a bit of redemption on a course that’s had me struggling in each of my three prior attempts. It’s very rewarding when everything comes together for one of the season’s biggest events.

You can full results from all of the US MTB National Championship events here. Thanks keeping up with Momentum, -Coach TJ


Coming to a Race Near You

Momentum Endurance will be attending numerous races in the upper Midwest this season so be on the lookout. Stop by and say hi or ask a question or two if you have the chance. It’s our goal to enhance the experience of all participating athletes. Look for Momentum Endurance  at  WORS events and also the ‘Triple Crown’ of the Ore to Shore, Chequamagon, and Iceman. Best of luck with your training and preparations. Enjoy the ride,


Serotta Cycling Science Symposium

The 2nd annual Serotta Cycling Science Symposium in Denver, Colorado was a great opportunity for researchers, coaches, physical therapists, and bike fitters to gather for a three day conference of lectures and presentations applicable to cycling performance. Presenters shared their scientific endeavors and provided us industry folk with some extremely valuable and applicable information. I was able to take notes on cycling issues such as knee pain, low back pain, dynamic bike fitting, and saddle pressure amongst several others. It was valuable to gain insight from those who have studied such issues first hand and have great amounts of experience to share. As a coach, much of the conference further reinforced what I already do, but of course I picked up a few new skills too. It’s great that I’m able to use some of these new skills here in Tucson with our 3D Dynamic Bike Fit services.

To read the full write up, check out the CTS Tucson blog at: trainright.com/tucson



Arizona at Collegiate MTB Nationals

Here’s what the Wildcat, student newspaper of U of A, has to say about the event. The newspaper talked about online site that will help college people more about English skills such as advanced synonym and etc. There are more things that college students and even athletes would need to have. You can click here for the full linked version. It was great that Momentum Endurance got to volunteer with the club for the race weekend. Keeping busy with bike repairs, numerous bike washes and of course feedzone and start/finish line duties was the story. There wasn’t a single mechanical mishap for our riders and everyone finished well despite the horrendous course conditions. Collegiate cycling is alive and well!

Cycling

Sophomore Chloe Forsman and the Arizona club cycling team had a banner weekend among the mud and muck of North Carolina at the 2007 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships.

Forsman successfully defended her 2006 cross country title and also won the Omnium National Championship. The Omnium title is awarded to the athlete with the highest combined scores from four different mountain biking disciplines – cross country, downhill, short track and dual slalom.

Dual slalom is a head-to-head race down a man-made course, usually with grated turns. The course frequently has man-made obstacles such as jumps or berms.

The five-person team rolled into Banner Elk, N.C., on Thursday afternoon, and the rainy conditions made for a rocky, slippery weekend of competition – which meant much discussion about mud, tires and bike modifications.

Despite the possibility of climate shock moving from the sunny Southwest to the more sodden Southeast, Arizona coach Travis Woodruff felt the team performed well.

“These Wildcats performed well in the muddy conditions,” Woodruff said. “Coming from the dry conditions of Tucson, this was a big success.”

Forsman had the biggest weekend, winning the cross country race by over a minute. Forsman also finished 10th in the dual slalom, second in the short-track event and 26th in the downhill. She was the only Arizona athlete to compete for the Omnium award.

Other high finishers for the Wildcats included mechanical engineering doctoral student Kyle Colavito, who placed 17th in the men’s cross country race, and civil engineering graduate student Evan Hyde, who placed 14th in the short-track race.

As a team, Arizona finished seventh overall in a field of 38, with a combined score of 346 points.


University of Arizona Cycling Earns 2007 SWCCC MTB Title

The University of Arizona Cycling Team won the SouthWest Collegiate Cycling Conference Championship for mountain biking October 6-7 in Sonoita, Arizona. Not only did the U of A team take the podium in convincing fashion, but the entire event was organized and run under the direction of student team members and recruited support. In a developing collegiate cycling conference such as the SWCCC, it is ever important that such events continue to go off with such great organization. This event was something that other SWCCC team can, and likely will, model in the future for their own events. Evan Hyde did a fantastic job as Race Director in making the weekend a true success. 

The racing action was fast and action packed with a two-mile TT race Saturday morning followed by an afternoon Short Track. The TT featured a rugged 4×4 dirt road climb going out and a fast big-ring descent coming back to the line on the single loop course. Short Track was contested on a technically challenging course that featured several tight corners which demanded both a rider’s concentration and finesse. Fox 11 captured the full effort STXC action for the weekend sports news recap. The cross-country was contested on a long 9.25 mile course that was relentlessly undulating and rough. Racers completed either two or three laps depending upon their race category.

It was Kyle Colavito who swept all three events in the Men’s A category, taking victory in TT and also a hard fought win over Evan Hyde in the STXC. Kyle went on to win the cross country event after catching early race leader and eventual second place finisher Alex Luce.  In the Women’s A category Melanie Meyers took victory in the TT and also the XC event. Teammate Chloe Forsman came around Meyers just before the finish to win the STXC in a close sprint. Brian Meyer collected third place in men’s A TT. Other notable results achieved by University of Arizona racers in the B categories were Rob Cyrek and Jon Burin taking the top two spots in the STXC race. Kelly Clifton earned wins in both the women’s B TT and STXC.

As SouthWest Collegiate Cycling Conference champions several U of A racers will go on to compete at the Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships hosted by Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina October 26-28, 2007. Momentum Endurance will be there to support these races and encourage them along the way.

All the Best to Collegiate Cycling!