The Valley Preferred Cycling Center

To say T-town was well represented at the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships last week is an understatement. Several cyclists who call Valley Preferred Cycling Center home made the top of the podium at Home Depot Center Velodrome in Carson, Calif.

Bobby Lea: When the event kicked off last Wednesday, Topton’s Bobby Lea quickly rose to the top of the charts in the men’s omnium. Lea, in his familiar yellow and black LionofFlanders.com kit, won four of the six events to take the omnium. Lea easily established his bid on day one, winning the flying lap, points race, and individual pursuit. On Thursday, he added the kilometer-time trial to seal the win.

“It couldn’t have really gone any better for me,” said Lea, who won four of the six omnium events. “I wanted to do this omnium since it was the new format.”

With his success in the omnium, there’s a lot of buzz that Lea may return to the Olympics in 2012. Lea concurs, “This is a good first step towards making the London Olympic team.”

Giddeon Massie: Riding in his slick Bike Religion colors, Giddeon Massie also made his case as a great candidate for the London 2012 squad. Massie, a member of the 2004 and 2008 Olympic teams, won the kilo time trial on Thursday, posting time of 1:04.022, compared to the 1:04.313 clocked by silver medalist David Espinoza. Massie then added a men’s sprint gold medal on Friday, then took a silver in the men’s keirin on Saturday. On the final day, Massie joined Espinoza, Andy Lakatosh and Jimmy Watkins to win the team sprint. For Massie, it was a great week of racing.

“I’m very pleased with my results this week, equaling my performances from last years National Championships,” said Massie. “Hats off to the other competitors, they brought it from the very beginning. I had to fight hard to fend off David Espinoza in the Kilo on my opening day of racing. But that set the stage for the week to come. The match sprints became a battle of wills sending Jimmy Watkins and I to three rides and a total of 8 sprint rounds for the evening, before taking my second title in as many days.

“Saturday had us all meeting again in the Keirin final. I fought my way through traffic to come up just a half wheel short to another young T-town talent, Matt Baranoski. The final day of sprinting came to a close appropriately enough, as Andy Lakatosh, David Espinoza, Jimmy Watkins and I came together to win the team sprint title by another narrow margin. Many thanks to the T-town fans for their great support throughout the summer and a special thanks to Gil Hatton for his time during same. For some, the season has come to a close. For the rest of us it has just begun. Keeping our eyes on the prize, pressing on.”

David Espinoza: After narrowly missing a gold in the kilo time trial and settling for a bronze in the men’s sprint, taking gold in the team sprint was great for Espinoza.

“The whole experience was a great one for me,” said Espinoza. “Long before the event started, we knew our team would be hard to beat. We knew we had a good chance to win but we wanted to make sure we left nothing to chance. We raced hard and managed to qualify first, but not my much. I was confident going into the final that we would come out on top. Finishing the last lap hurt a lot but I felt strong and wanted to be the anchor for the team in the final. This was my first gold medal at a national championship and it feels great to finally win after so many attempts.”

Andy Lakatosh: In his return to Elites this year, Lakatosh was pleased to leave the week with a gold in the team sprint. The win was a bit of a relief, after settling for a respectable fourth in the sprints and keirin.

“For my first season back, I was very pleased to have placed in both the sprints and keirin, but the team sprint win was simply icing on the cake,” said Lakatosh. “It was a great week at Nationals for myself and for all of T-town. All of our performances are a testament to the superb coaching and racing we get access to everyday. I want to directly thank Pure Energy Cycling, Alliance Environmental, and Gil Hatton/Velo Precision Cycling for all their support, handwork, and dedication that made this season possible for me.”

Matt Baranoski: After winning four golds at Junior Nationals and a bronze at Junior Worlds, you might think that Baranoski would’ve already peaked. But the 17-year-old Alliance Environmental rider added another feat: Gold in the Men’s Keirin at Elite Nationals.

“It’s just amazing because this was not expected at all,” Baranoski said just before slipping into the Stars-and-Stripes jersey. “I was really just kind of aiming to make the final. If I did that, I was happy. So any kind of medal is icing on the cake for me. The jersey is just phenomenal.

“It’s an amazing end to an unforgettable season. So happy to be able to end it on a very high note and look ahead to another great season a T-town.”

Dana Feiss: Baranoski wasn’t the only young rider to turn heads in Carson. Twenty-year-old Dana Feiss grabbed two gold medals, in the women’s sprint and keirin.

“I’m absolutely elated,” said Feiss. “I’ve worked really hard over this past year, especially during the summer racing season. It’s been awesome getting to ride and race with such a great network of people both here and on the west coast. The experience and training all came together just right to make this a very special National Championship. I couldn’t be happier right now.”

Kim Geist: Kim Geist, one of T-town’s favorites continued her inspiring return to competitive cycling with a bronze in the the women’s points race and a gold in the women’s individual pursuit.

“It feels great to win the elite national pursuit,” said Geist, who rode for Team Alliance. “This win will probably be one of my most memorable. I had a disappointing year last year but made some positive changes, the biggest of which included becoming self-coached, and I was extremely motivated to come out to the first big track event of the winter season with the fastest time possible on the given day.

“I felt that I needed to show again that I am among the top female pursuit riders in this country. In posting near a personal best this early in the season on a considerably slower track than that on which I set my PR, I am very pleased with the time I was able to ride and am looking forward to continuing the hard work into the winter international season.”

Liz Reap: In the women’s 500-meter time trial, Liz Reap, decked out in Brad Ford’s Classic Cycling Essentials colors, was victorious with a time of 36.878, just ahead of Feiss. Reap capped her weeek with another gold in the women’s team sprint with teammate Cari Higgins.

“The time trial for women is similar to the kilo in that it’s the race of truth for sprint athletes,” said Reap. “The winner’s often recognized as the fastest man or woman at the competition; so I was psyched to start Elite Nationals with a win in the event. It may not look it to the observer, but the 500m TT is a really technical event that consists of the standing start, powerful acceleration and drive to the finish line. We broke the 500m TT down and focused on each element of the race in training this year.

“I spent more time on my start; pushed big gear accelerations and did some excruciating lactic tolerance work. Luckily, I had some great guys to train with in T-Town with Jon Chambers, Dale Phillips and Danny Matchett. Bob Beise and Jorge Romero helped out on the watch & motor. How did it feel? It felt great! Just awesome to put it all together on the day. The last time I won the 500m TT at Elite Nationals was in 2007 while racing for the T-Town Express; so it was sweet to get on the top step of the podium again–this time for Classic Cycling Essentials.”

Jame Carney: Jame Carney, at 42 years old, proved he’s still got the legs to be a national champion. Carney won the men’s scratch race, which came down to a bunch sprint, over Lea and Jackie Simes, another T-town rider. The win was Carney’s 20th national title in his career. If you think Carney’s close to retirement, you’re wrong. All he talks about is the next race.

“I’m looking forward to the World Cups in December,” said Carney. “Not quitting anytime soon. Racing the road season with RideClean next year and racing all the big West Coast track events on my Pro Track Team, Perimeter Performance. It should be fun.”

While not on the track, Carney was coaching a few other T-town regulars to success at Elites: Colleen Hayduk (2nd Scratch, 5th Omnium, 3rd Madison), Erica Allar (4th Scratch Race) and Shane Kline (2nd Points and 3rd Madison with Carney). Carney was even grooming up-and-comer Angela Weir for cycling success.

Want More Info? For a complete report from USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships, please visit www.usacycling.org/track/.

Photo from USA Cycling