Junior Track Cycling

The sessions for ages 10 to 15 are winding up for the year. The last session will be November 5th, and sessions resume on the third Sunday in February.

MikeJ of Chain Reaction Bicycles took some pictures of the session. It looks like quite a good group.

I’m pleased to see that the sessions I helped start (with Steven Woo) are going strong.

I admit it; this is just an excuse to point at some non-junior pictures on Flickr.

Best wishes to Daniel (a junior until last year). It sounds like he’s going to have some pain, but recover fully.

Daniel Holloway hits the deck in the Keirin championship

Seven riders from northern California rode at junior track nationals this year. It was the first track nationals for all of them, so this was very much a year for gaining experience.

In 10-12, Claire Jensen was the only 10 year old, riding well but without the power to follow the big moves. She can come back stronger next year with more experience than anyone else her age. Nick Jensen (13-14) rode on a “because he was there anyway” basis, and still set a personal best at 500 meters by almost a second.

Marcus Smith earned a bronze in the scratch final, applying his fitness from other forms of cycling to the track.

In 17-18, Ben Barsi-Rhyne and Blake Anton both had solid results, finishing in the top half of their events. The highest placing so far was by Ben, who made the podium with a 5th in the Kilo, in spite of having what he felt was a bad ride. Blake had personal bests by over a second in both the Kilo and Pursuit, taking 7th in each.

In 13-14, Andrew Lanier, Jr. had a personal best in the 500, but missed qualifying for the scratch and points finals by just one place in this huge 34-rider field.

Joel Shaffer (13-14) took bronze in the 500, but took a lower place in the scratch race after initiating at least one attack and chasing down many others. Perhaps the most exciting finish by our local riders was in Joel’s points race, where he tied on points for silver. A photo finish on the last lap gave him bronze, only 3 points behind the gold medal winner. It must have been a hard-fought race all the way through.

Here are a few photos from districts taken by Kathy and me. We only found time to grab the camera occasionally, so there aren’t many shots of the mass start events.

For results please see this JuniorVelo article.

The podium for the 10-12 omnium.

The 13-14 women, Clair Sprock (gold) and Taylor Meilahn (silver)

In the biggest field of the day, 13-14 men, these 5 rose to the top.

The 13-14 field straggles out from the wall for another good race.

Claire Sprock starts her 500 meter TT.

The 10-12 women medalists.

Jim Ryan and Blake Anton just after the bell in the match sprint bronze medal ride.

The racing intense, but the infield was relaxed.

Can you tell Ben and Jim have the same coach? They made all the same moves from this point to the start. Ruggy Holloway and Farid Abraham are holding.

Officials Luther Pugh and Peter Bohl.

JP LeClair just before the start line in his 200 meter sprint

Taylor Meilahn 340 meters into her 500 meter TT.

Nick Jensen starts his 500 meter time trial

The results are in. As co-promoter of this race, I found that good results listings don’t just happen. I can sympathize with (but not condone) those promoters who take weeks to post results. I have done better when I attended as a spectator and had no other responsibilites, but I have pieced together what I believe is a correct results list. The medal winners are certainly correct, but I’ll be checking a few details with the officials.

As always, the time trial events are automatically entered in the timed event database, for comparison with other events around the world.

For photos, please see this JuniorVelo article, or Flickr.

• 17-18 Men
• 13-14 Men
• 13-14 Women
• 10-12 Men
• 10-12 Women

USA Cycling State Championship Medals