In April Team Swift ran a 3 day camp in Sonoma County. The goal was to practice a Time Trial, Road Race and Criterium as a single day race and also as a multi-day race. It has been a long time without many races so we needed to practice not only from an individual standpoint but also learning how to race as a team. We have many new members which is exciting to see. Aside from the training races we were in the Redwoods and we had a great time off the bike as well.
2021 looks to be exciting so welcome back and we will keep you up to date on events and results!
From Matthew:
Everyone on the team was extremely grateful that Coach Laura was able to put together a team camp this year. Everyone had such a fun experience on and off the bike during camp. The team was able to have fun through the activities we did like garbage ball or during our campfire s’mores. We had alumni’s from the team (Ryan Eastman and Ethan Frankel) stay overnight at the camp, and they would hang out with us when we played garbage ball out on the field or played basketball on the courts. The team enjoyed all the alumni’s that were able to come out and ride with us during camp because not only did they bike with us, but we were able to joke around with them and have fun with each other.
Time Trial
Course Description: The time trial course was a 5.7 mile out and back course. The road conditions were smooth. The course itself was pretty consistent in that there were small rolling hills on the way out and back. Keeping the power on the bike was hard because you would power up the small hills but then ease off the power on the downhills making it hard to keep a consistent power/heart rate.
Matthew
For the time trial I wanted to pace it properly because I knew it’s super short, but it’s super easy to blow up at turn around due to the small punchy hills leading up to the turnaround point. In time trials I usually go out way too hard, so I tried to hold back a little on the way out and then go full gas on the way back. I went too easy on the way out, but went all in on the way back. Time trials are definitely one of my weaknesses and it’s something I’m still working on.
Travis
I knew the time trial would be short, I figured between 11 and 13 minutes. Unfortunately my power meter stopped working right at the start line, but I think I still did a great job pacing myself just by feel. While I wasn’t looking at my heart rate while riding, it gradually climbed to max which is what I want to see. I think I paced it evenly throughout which is okay, but I think I should have hit the climbs harder and rested a little on the descents. Like Coach said, “Go hard where it’s hard.” or something along those lines. I’m happy I was also able to keep a super aero position on my road bike throughout the whole time trial.
Aiden
This is the first time trial I have ever done, and I didn’t really know how to pace it. Went out way too hard going a solid 75-100 watts above my 20 min power and just couldn’t bring my heart rate back down. Still was able to hold an ok time to the turnaround, but unfortunately got passed coming back. One thing I can work on is definitely trying to hold a more aero position while still being comfortable.
Corey
The time trial course was a really interesting course because of the constant rollers and the unique terrain. I went all out from the beginning and was trying to put out more watts on the climbs and recover on the downhills. Looking back, I definitely could’ve spun lighter on the downhills and let my heart rate lower. I tried to stay aero most of the time but stood up on a couple of climbs which I wasn’t too sure if it was the right move. Overall it was a great experience and I learned a lot through my performance and my fellow peers.
Antonio
This time trial was a lot hillier than I had anticipated and I felt like I did a really solid job pacing it by resting on the descents and hitting the hills and headwinds hard. I went in thinking that I was going to maintain an aero/pseudo TT position on the road bars but I wasn’t able to do that until after the turnaround. Overall I was happy with my time but not so much with the power which shows me that I have some speed work to do.
Oliver
I hadn’t ever done a rolling time trial like this before I’ve usually only done uphill time trials. Overall I learned a lot about pacing and focusing on speed over power. I learned that it’s much more important to rest when it starts going slightly downhill and then hitting the uphill much harder because barely any time is lost on the descent and a lot more is saved on the humps.
Road Race
Course Description: The road race course was super fun because it had features that suited climbers and sprinters. The course was about 13.6 miles per lap (the race was 3 laps). The course had super short hills, with the longest hill being the KOM hill and only lasting about 2 minutes. There were also a lot of false flats that would hurt if the pace was fast enough.
Matthew
At the start of the road race the KOM hill is the first hill we get to. Ryan Eastman and Ethan Frankel attacked on the hill and I thought it would’ve been a good idea to follow them (it was not a good idea). Everyone came together on the descent after the KOM hill, but then the attacks came and eventually split the group up. I was able to ride with the front group for about 2 laps before Eddy Huntsman and Tyler Williams attacked one of the hills and I got popped. I ended up finishing the race with Antonio after we both had mechanicals.
Travis
This race was full gas up every single climb, and the descents were difficult with junior gearing, but Oliver and I still managed to hang on to the front breakaway of 5 (Tyler Williams, Eddy Huntsman, Oliver, Aria, and I). At the beginning of the race I heard 48 miles so that’s what I was planning on, but the race ended up being 41 miles. About 150m before the last corner I was confused because it looked like we were coming up on the finish but I thought we still had 7 miles left so I asked Oliver how many miles left. He kinda laughed and said “Dude it’s right around the corner.” and then Tyler and Eddy started to get ready for the sprint. Overall, super hard race and super fun to be in the break with Tyler, Eddy, and Aria who are all Pros. After the race, Tyler told me and Oliver that we need to do less work and not pull as hard which is a good tip and we will definitely work on that.
Aiden
This race was a great learning experience for me. Just like the TT this was my first road race and I was really happy with how I performed. I was dropped by the lead pack up the first climb, but was able to bridge up to a couple of the younger Swift riders and a pack of masters. Instantly we all started to work together for a really fast and I even pulled in the paceline. This paceline mainly stuck together besides a couple dropped guys. Then the group splintered up the second climb where I followed Ben Chi’s attack. We were brought back and stayed together in rotation. Throughout the second lap our pack caught almost all the Swift riders that dropped off the front pack. All in all I’m happy with how I performed and excited for Copperopolis which will be kinda similar to this practice race.
Corey
The road race was a new experience for me and I learned so many things from it. From the start, everybody gunned it up the climb and I was mid pack. On the downhill following the climb, I was able to join with a group of ~8 filled with masters along with Aiden. Ben Robledo and Benjamin Chi were with us for a little bit but got dropped and we picked up with Javier, where we kept a strong paceline even in the open wind section. I was definitely hurting as I didn’t have much time to recover and got dropped on the second lap. After that, I rode by myself but missed a right turn and ended up riding ~4 miles extra. Despite that costly mistake, I was really happy that I was able to work with the masters riders and my teammates for most of the race.
Antonio
The road race started off really well for me, I was a bit surprised by the first climb but I later settled into the lead group. I was bridging more attacks than I should have been as I was too nervous about letting them get away. I completed the first lap and a half with the leading group until I got a flat tire which put me into the second group. The time gap between the 2 groups was large so I knew I was not going to be able to catch up to them solo but I still wanted to make an effort. The moment I joined the second group I attacked and solo time trialed until the last hill of the 3rd lap when I found Matthew and we kept the pace up until the finish. Overall I was happy with the effort I gave but was disappointed with the mechanical.
Oliver
The road race was really fun but extremely challenging. The first KOM of the day broke things up into a group of around 10. Then on the second lap on the second climb Eddie made a strong attack and I follow him. Eddy went a bit early and the two of us were brought back. Right that Tyler attacked. Tyler’s attack ends up breaking the whole race apart and leaves only me, Travis, Tyler, Eddie, and Aria in the break. The 5 of us then hammered to the finish. For the last lap every KOM climb I was doing 500 watts and Tyler was still able to hammer it harder. Something I had never experienced before. At the finish of the race Tyler tells me and Travis what he thought of our riding and where we could have improved. For example, he told us to do less work on the front and that we should have tried to make a break in the last few K’s of the race.
Casimir
This was my first road race (with more than three people), and it was a great experience to be able to race with such talented people. I managed to hang with the crazy speeds of the front group until the second climb of the second lap, where I got dropped partly due to my bad positioning, but mainly because of my legs. Then a chasing group formed with Riley Mullen, Gavin Murray, a master and I. We chased the front group for the remainder of the second lap and almost caught back on, until we hit the major climb where we were distanced again. We caught up to Cassius who was suffering from cramps, and paced to the finish. I decided to attack with about one mile to go, and was able to solo away from the group to be the next rider to come behind the leading group. Overall I learned a lot, had fun, and can’t wait to pin on a number again.
Criterium
Course Description: The criterium course was pretty simple in that one lap was only 0.65 miles and was in the shape of a square. The only feature of the course that stuck out to me was that the finish line was super close to the last corner, meaning that whoever was first wheel out of the last corner was almost guaranteed the win. The criterium was set up as a points race in that first place would get 5 points, second place would get 3 points, third would get 2 points, and fourth place would get 1 point. We would sprint every other lap for about 35 minutes, and the last lap sprint would be worth double the points.
Matthew
The criterium was fun because I got to see everyone work together as a team. For one of the sprint point laps, Antonio led me out and I was able to get first place. For the second to last sprint Eddy Huntsman led me out and got me first wheel through the last corner, and I was able to get another 5 points. On the last lap it was worth double the points and Eddy said he would lead me out again, Travis also helped me and Eddy by leading us out for the first half of the lap. Coming into the last corner I told Eddy to swing out wide so I can cut his inside so I was first into the last corner and the fastest. I was able to pick up the last sprint which got me another 10 points.
Travis
I got 3rd in one of the Double Points Laps, and 2nd in a regular lap giving me 7 points, and I think 4th overall. Sprints aren’t really my thing, so I was working for my teammates a lot. On the last lap, I led Eddy Huntsman and Matthew out. Eddy gave me some great pointers when I was leading him out about staying to the right side of the road, then swinging left to set up for the corner. That way you only have to look on one side for attacks, and you can block the inside of the corner so no one can take the inside line from you.
Aiden
I learned so much from this crit and already doing way better and hanging on more and more compared to my first crit in chowchilla. I was able to win a couple bunch sprints, attack, learn to corner, move up, be aggressive, and so many other things. This crit taught me so much and I’m so excited for the crits to come.
Corey
This was my first ever crit and I learned numerous things from different people. Ryan Eastman told me I was cutting into the corner too much and that I should take a wider line and even showed me what to do. One thing that I struggled with was getting back with the group after corners because of the rubber band effect. I had to sprint to catch up around most of the corners which wasted a lot of energy. My favorite part of the day was when we had a mentor ride with us. Gianni and I stayed in the front the first few laps and it was much easier when I was able to take smooth lines and not have to sprint after each corner every time. I’m glad Gianni came out because he gave many useful tips and showed me what to do.
Antonio
I was able to win the 10 lap crit by jumping onto Eddy’s wheel with 1 corner to go and took him in the sprint. I thought that the points race was a lot more fun though because we got an opportunity to work as a team. With there being so many sprints we decided to exchange lead outs for one another. They weren’t very long lead-out trains but it gave us a better feel for working and communicating with teammates during a race.
Oliver
I got 2nd overall for the points Crit behind Mathew. I used tips that I learned from Tyler in the road race the day before to conserve my energy and then in one of the points sprints Ethan Frankel led me out with about half a lap to go so that I could win the sprint. Then for the final sprint of the points race I see that Eddy and Travis were leading Mathew out for the sprint. So I slotted in right behind Mathew to get in on the lead-out. Travis pulls off and then Eddy takes it to the last corner and hits it hard. Mathew starts to go out of the corner and I sit behind him and try and out sprint him but his sprint is much better than mine. I ended up getting 2nd right be Matthew
Casimir
This was my first criterium ever, and it was cool to compare the laps between my first and second races, to see how much I was able to improve in such a short amount of time. In the first race I was taking the laps very poorly, by pulling my brakes before each corner, and having to sprint out of them each time. In the second race I decided to hold Ethan Frankel’s wheel for the entirety of the race, and I barely had to use my brakes, and was able to keep my power mostly consistent throughout the corners. In the second race I was able to do the same lap times as the first race, but average 70 watts less which was really cool to see. For the mentor race I paired up with Matthew Amara, who gave me a lead-out for the win, and I managed to finish near the front for each bell lap of the points race, which I was content with.
Thank you to all our graduates that came out to help mentor:
Ryan Eastman
Tyler Williams
Eddy Huntsman
Ethan Frankel
Gianni Lamperti
Isaiah Chass
Riley Mullen
Blake Macheras
Eddy Huntsman’s ReCap:
Dear Coach,
It was a pleasure to provide pro support for your spring Team Swift camp in Sebastopol this past week and weekend.
The opportunity to teach and model your junior’s skills and drills for racing was fruitful.
Based on what I saw, your Team Swift will continue to be a dominant force in junior cycling and young athlete character development. I will always look forward to your invitation to provide pro support in the future.
All the best,
Eddy
Edward. M. Huntsman
Professional cyclist,
Elevate-Webiplex Pro Cycling
A BIG Thanks to our cycling sponsors who make our Team Swift Program possible:
Team Swift: http://teamswift.org
Clif Bar: http://www.clifbar.com
Eliel Cycling: http://elielcycling.com
Sidi: http://www.ciclista-america.com/
Lazer: http://www.lazersport.com
Bianchi USA: http://www.bianchiusa.com/
SockGuy: http://www.sockguy.com/
FSA: http://www.fullspeedahead.com
Thule: http://www.thuleracks.com
Spinergy: http://www.spinergy.com
Sonoma Creamery: https://sonomacreamery.com/
Bici Sport: http://www.bicisportusa.com
Echelon Cycle & Multisport: http://www.echeloncycle.com
Trek Bikes Marin: https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/retail/corte_madera_marin/
Spoke Folk: http://www.spokefolk.com
USA Cycling Foundation: http://www.usacdf.org
Crashtag: http://www.crashtag.me
Santa Rosa Cycling Club: http://www.srcc.com
And our generous donors at http://teamswift.org/donors/
Thanks for your support!
Contact Information:
Laura Charameda
Director/Coach, Team Swift Junior Development
teamswift@aol.com
www.teamswift.org
