July 20-24 by Jimmy MacDonald
First of all, the camp was not as we had expected. They changed the rules a lot from last year to allow kids who didn't qualify through a regional camp to come if they had good race results and a coach recommendation. There ended up being 20 kids overall; 6 cat 4's, 13 cat 3's, and a 2. I was lucky enough to have Andy Moskal from PVR Bike Club show up.
Day 1 on Thursday was a 50-mile crit in Sheboygan. The course was 4 corners, .8 mile, with a slight incline and a dogleg after the start/finish. For the 3's race it was pouring down rain, and tons of standing water on the course. I got a good start position but when the two guys in front of me failed to clip in, I got pushed towards the back. I spent about 10-15 laps working up to the front, avoiding crashes, and getting soaked. The front was pretty nice. Thankfully, everyone turned it down a notch on the corners to keep it safe, although that did not prevent crashes. There were plenty. I took a flyer with another guy countering a prime and we stayed out for a little over a lap. Andy countered us and got away for a while and then I countered him again just to be brought back in. After that the pace shot up for a while. At the end of the race a small break got away just long enough and Danny Summerfield won. He is a 16 year old from Boulder that just recently won all three national events, and he is freakin strong. I was just about toast in the sprint and ended up 37th of around 70 or 80 starters. The average speed ended up being 26 mph.
The weather was a little more forgiving for Friday, but the course was not. A 4-corner, flat, .6 mile crit with two long straights and 2 150meter ones. Turn two was sharp and had a dip on the inside that led to a sewer grate, and it was all accompanied by a headwind on the backstretch. Many of us know how little I like these courses. The junior race served as our warm-up for the three race, as it was only a 30-minute deal. The pace was fast for a junior race at an average speed of 24mph. One of the kids from the camp got in a break with another kid so the rest of us from the camp just sat up to give them the win. I took a solo break for 2.5 laps and grabbed a $10 prime. After that I just sat in and finished 7th of the 22 starters. The cat 3 race, however, was brutal. 70 laps, about 45 miles. I was hearing an estimated 120 riders started. I spent most of the race in the middle and front of the race, but advancing was very hard because of the 120 riders, not one was content with sitting in the back. Lots of people were doing stupid stuff to gain a few places. I was almost taken down by another junior (who crashed the day before, and would crash the next day), and a few other guys. With about 7 laps to go I completely bonked and finished the race off the back in 80th place. Before I got dropped, the average speed for the race was 27.5 mph. 27.5!! Just let that soak in for a bit. Not your typical cat 3 crit. The winner, once again, was Danny Summerfield, in another break that barely avoided getting caught.
I was looking forward to Saturday's race. It was a 2.4-mile "Road Race" loop with a short and steep switchback climb and another short and steep winding descent. The 3's doing 25 laps, so the race was 60 miles. I would drift back from the front to the middle and then big-ring the hill to get back up. I was conserving energy pretty well. There were lots of breaks and one got away, which included Summerfield, and got a 2+ minute lead. There was not much other action in the race and nothing else was going to get away. I was positioning myself well for the sprint but got boxed in. Now I hardly ever use the excuse that I get boxed in, but if anyone ever got boxed in that was it. I was going up the left side and when we approached the barriers the whole front fanned out to about 15 riders wide, shoulder to shoulder, to cover the entire lane. I moved up as much as I could but was not able to open up into a full sprint. I did place fairly well in 26th place.
My overall impression of the camp was not quite as high as the one in Pennsylvania. The dorm rooms were much better, but for lunch and dinner, all we could have were sandwiches, apples, chips, and a brownie. The coaches did some 1 on 1 coaching but I didn't gain as much as the other camp. The races were probably very useful experience. They were pretty much the extremes of crit riding. They will defidently help me out with moving amongst the pack in Altoona.
The best part, though, was having the opportunity to race with some of the best kids my age in the country. I should be receiving the results of the camp as well as pictures in around a week.