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A note from the Coach
by Roger
Roger wins the
Coupe Des Ameriques
Stage Race
We
are at the halfway mark of the season, is it time to keep going or take a
break?
We
did a lot of racing already and not to mention the training we have been
doing. How are we feeling? We all have different goals and some have
already been reached, but how do we going on and finish the second half of
the season? Then there is always Cyclocross, but
that is another story.
I
am a big believer of mini breaks throughout the season, especially if you
race from March to December. 3-4 days away from your sport could be very
refreshing mentally and physically. You will not lose any fitness in a few
days; you could rather gain some and even
re-ignite the spark to train and race better once you “get back on the
horse”. A planned break is the best kind and you will benefit the most from
it. A perfect time to sleep in, get stuff done around the house, get a
massage, spend time with the family (surprise them and go to the beach or
water park, tell them you are taking a few days off from your training to
spend time with them) This creates a nice balance and you will race and train
more at ease later. Talk to your coach about these little breaks and see
when it is the best time in your training plan.
Athlete's profile
Mark Pohndorf
 
Mark Pohndorf in action and on the
podium at the Coupe Des Ameriques TT
Since
I met Mark at the Glouster Cyclo
–Cross race in 2009 he has won several NJ State Championships and
transformed to a TT machine. Mark won this year’s NJ State 40K TT and last
weekend he took 3rd in the Coupe des Ameriques TT
in Canada
only a few seconds behind.
Mark
went thru many changes since I started coaching him; job situation from not
having a lot of time to train at all, to riding 3-4 hours a day and then
back to a tight time schedule with a new job again. He has participated in
races that were not in his comfort zone before, he has done the “FinKraft Grand Tours” (camps) and transformed into a
well rounded athlete that can deal with whatever is thrown at him. To be
able to adapt and adjust to things changing around you, like family, job or
just becoming a better athlete (like upgrading to the next Cat) is
invaluable; something a bike racer will experience every time he or she pins
on a number in a race, nothing goes according to the plan and you have to
be able to adapt to what is happening at present time.
Mark has gained a lot of experience and has become a
lot stronger mentally and physically in the past couple of years. He is
now using his strengths to win races. He went from Average to Elite,
maximized his potentials.
Rebooting after the crash
by Evan Cooper
One month removed from
the worst crash of my career so far, and hopefully the worst I'll ever
have, I'm happy to say that I'm finally back on
the bike. After four weeks in a cast, which relegated me to nothing but
trainer rides on my TT bike in front of the TV, I am finally free. Though
not fully healed yet and still a week or two away from being race-ready, I
can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was not easy to get
here, though.
There were some dark times over the course of those four weeks when I was
very down and had to look hard for reasons to keep at it, plugging away on
the trainer day after day. Bad things like crashes happen to all of us; and
while those around us to feel fortunate that things could be much worse,
it's tough not to take pity on yourself. It sucks
when you can't do the things you love. There is just no other way to put
it. But when you truly love them, you do the best you can and you survive.
You find inspiration all around you and you realize that soon enough things
will get better.
Recovering from a skull fracture just two months ago, Sylvain Chavanel returned to racing with gusto and love during
Stage 2 of this year's Tour. The tears he shed as he crossed the line and
captured the maillot jaune were not just the
tears of some overly emotional athlete, like the ones we've seen from World
Cup players the past few weeks. They were the tears of redemption. They
were tears that proved how strong the human heart and will are, and they
were the tears that will get me through this last leg of my recovery. As Chavanel said himself after his win, "It just goes
to show that you should never give up."
Though unwanted and at times utterly demoralizing, a forced break from
riding is not the end of the world, and can sometimes be a blessing. In my
case, it caused me to take a step back and reassess my approach to training
and my connection to this sport. Not only has this change in direction
helped me get through this time and stay in shape, but I am confident that
it will both bring me back in better form than ever before and serve me
well in the future as I continue to apply it back on the road.
Windham to
host international mountain bike finalsTop
cyclists from across the globe to compete in Greene County
this summer
Windham, N.Y. -- The world’s best professional
mountain bikers will converge on Windham Mountain this August as the resort
town plays host to the prestigious international Windham Mountain Bike
World Cup finals, presented by Shimano, marking the event’s return to the
United States after a five-year absence.
Local
organizers who were successful in luring the Union Cycliste
Internationale (UCI)-sanctioned event have also
planned a large number of diverse community events to coincide with the
competition to create a four-day festival in Windham, Aug. 26-29.
“The Windham World Cup and Festival will be – arguably
– the most important international sporting event to come to Upstate New
York since the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid,” said Race Director
Nick Bove, owner of a local bike shop and a
member of the Windham World Cup Group, the all-volunteer committee planning
the races. “This is an incredible opportunity to showcase the best
mountain bikers on the planet, while also promoting Windham
and Greene County, and we plan to make the most
of it.”
more details at:
http://www.racewindham.com/
Great races
to do in July!
7/11 Pawling Road Race
, NY
7/17
Tour of Flanders TT, NJ
7/24
Tour of Hilltowns,
MA
7/30-8/01
Tour of Catskills Stage Race, NY
Every
Thursday the Rockleigh Crit
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