Secret Team

WE GOT READY WHEN WE GOT READY

Joshua off the front!

Arrival at the confidence, speed, and prowess required for a bike racer to train well, is elusive. Racing safely is predicated on the success of training.

How do cyclists get to be race ready?

In part, the requirement is clear goal declaration. By stating out-loud to others that we want to be fast, and maybe win the State Champs at that, is how we get locked in to our goals.

Clearly stated goals help others to get involved in a positive way.

New Talent get a lot of misleading information from other good looking - seemingly accomplished competitors who talk loud and fast with nebulous, if not destructive intentions.
Racers find a clear path from a trusted coach. Using honest and knowledgable feed-back is a sure way to add depth and clarity to the goal-oriented racer's training path.

Dubble D - there for Jake in '11. There for WORD in '17.

However, coaches are challenged by beginners who don't know yet what their options are for goal making.
Coaches suggest the options, but racers must hear the voice of wisdom.
Sometimes a new person who in the moment wants to be in our practice, will then in the next week wax unsure.

Ironically, confidence comes most easily from the crowd. The team dynamic.

This year our team had many of the same building blocks as so many successful Cyclisme teams in years before.
They enjoyed a "Rocky Rabbit" traditional winter road ride promoted weekly, so a larger group could train together working on the general tactics of road racing. But this year, finding a quorum of participants who had the confidence and clarity to show up week after week, without break for 6-10 weeks, was impossible.

Cobbled together with intermittent appearances, the group improved anyway. Maybe not at the rate the most competitive OBRA Teams do, but small improvement for some was more encouraging and useful than for others.
Finally, near the end of 2017, some of the interested found a place to showcase their improvement in racing's "low lying fruit" individual TT competitions out at the velodrome called "PVC TT's" on Tuesday Nights. Low and behold, they even found some old Cyclisme Leadership out there, waiting ready to serve.
Dan Dubble D Dhonau had been honing his individual TT program for more than a few years. When our 2017 graduates of the Winter Program arrived as a gaggle at Alpenrose Velodrome, Dubble D looked up, smiled, and decided to really train. He made a voiced goal.
His clarity led our success. And though we got ready to race about the time the racing season was over, at least we got ready.

The preparation will only prepare us for next year.