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Inside this issue: Whole Athlete Community Involvement > Whole Athlete Sponsored Event: Carrera de San Rafael > |
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| Whole Athlete Community Involvement One of the Whole Athlete Cycling Team’s major goals is to give back to the racing community by sharing our time, expertise, and experience. In June, team members Dario Fredrick, Davey Simon, and Charlie Schneider all helped out the greater junior racing community at regional development camps. Dario and Davey headed up north to Lake Tahoe for the NorCal High School MTB League Invitational Camp, where they helped lead rides, give campers bike fits, and gave lectures on training, nutrition and yoga. Charlie took a week off from his usual job and worked as a mechanic at the USA Cycling West Coast Regional Development Camp held in Rohnert Park. In addition to sorting out countless mechanicals, Charlie raced with the campers at the Santa Rosa Twilight criteriums and came up with a rather cruel location for the camp’s hill climb time trial – up Sonoma Mountain Road which features pitches over 20%! Whole Athlete Sponsored Event: Carrera de San Rafael For the third year running, Whole Athlete is sponsoring one of Northern California’s premier races, the Carrera de San Rafael. Held in downtown San Rafael, this twilight criterium is unrivaled for its location, atmosphere, and level of competition. There are several amateur events, a kids race, a cycling expo, and the marquee professional men’s event which will kick off under the floodlights at 8:00 p.m. In addition to volunteering time to work behind the scenes, Whole Athlete Cycling Team is donating several fantastic prizes to the event, including gift certificates for Maximal Steady State Performance Testing and a Precision Bike Fitting. Naturally, we’ll also be out there racing – so look for our blue and white leading the pack at this exciting event. For more information, visit http://www.carrerasanrafael.com. Team member John Bennett is stoked about 2009. Why? Because he’ll be contesting his first season in the pro ranks of the National Mountain Bike Series on a totally revamped 2009 Cannondale Scapel! Word is leaking out from our excellent bike sponsor Cannondale (www.cannondale.com) about the rest of their 2009 product line. A new top level road bike, the SuperSix UL looks to drop 100g off their already lightweight flagship bike, while the benefits of their oversized bottom bracket and headtube trickles down to lower price point bikes, the Six and Six Carbon. Fashionistas will enjoy the fact that their Hollowgram Si/SL cranks will be all black next year – sponsor shop Sunshine Bicycles (www.sunshinebicycle.com) already hooked up team member Peter Nicholson with a set of SL arms and Mark V rings for his SRM and they’ve been the envy of all. Of course, Cannondales roll best on nice rubber – the Whole Athlete Cycling Team continues to appreciate the generosity of Panaracer (www.panaracer.com) whose Extreme Evo2 provide an ideal combination of durability and grip.
When did you start racing and what made you decide to give it a try?
I stated racing when I was 15 years old, my freshman year in high
school. One of my friends, who I looked up to, because he was a
sophomore, was on the ECHS mountain biking club. I quickly joined
as soon as I had the opportunity. In the mountain biking club at
El Cerrito High School, I met two extremely talented individuals,
Jeremiah Holland, and Michael Mejia. These two men shaped my view
of racing and what mountain biking means. Although I spend a lot of time training, I am still able to hangout with friends and make times for all of the other things that go on around me. I tend to get less sleep than I need, but you’re only a teenager once right? What's your favorite part of racing bikes? My favorite part about racing comes about 30 minutes after the start. Once the race is underway there is no longer the pressure of dozens of other racers around you. I like this because I can go as hard as I want and I only affect myself, and a couple of the people who are with me. Basically I like to know that I'm working as hard as I can, and see what the ground looks like as I pass over it. What's your favorite local trail and favorite local road ride? My favorite local trail to ride is Curran. It is a swoopy descent that has a couple rock sections and hip jumps along the side. My favorite road is Wild Cat Canyon. I like to ride here because it is a fast, mostly flat road with quick, bermed turns. What do you like about being part of the Whole Athlete team? My favorite part about Whole Athlete is the atmosphere that surrounds the racing. No one puts pressure on you to win, or to do well. All they expect is that you give it your all. In addition, all of the coaches are friendly and great people to ride and socialize with.
My
goals for the rest of the season are to have fun and do a few more
road races and mountain races. Next year I want to be racing at
a professional level and be placing mid-pack by the end of the year.
I also want to do well in the NorCal MTB league. My long term goal
for the sport is to try to make a living off of racing and just
riding my bike - hopefully Dario and Whole Athlete will be with
me the whole way.
Grant Ranch NorCal League Cross Country MTB Varsity 1st,
John Bennett |
