Folsom High Cycling Team Kick-Off

Here I am with one of our future racers listening to Coach Jason McMillen.

Well folks, race season is here with the first race this Saturday (January 22nd) and the Folsom High Cycling team got quite a kick-off. Held at the Folsom High School multi-purpose room, the tables were packed with blue and red clad riders and their families ready to soak up a lot of good information and some good eats provided pot-luck style.

First up to the podium was Coach Jason McMillen. As dishes were being delivered to the long buffet tables coach spoke on the importance of proper nutrition and eating “safe” on race day.  Stick to what you know gang, no trying out the new habanero omelet recipe mom got off mrbreakfast.com and no harking down a whole bunch of Jimmy Deans to weigh you down as your running the gauntlet either. When asked by a rider about burritos as pre-race fare Coach responded with a quip about “mosquito abatement” (take note Vector Control).  The talk quickly turned to race strategy with coach encouraging the riders to stay at the front as long as they can, “and when you can’t stay out in front any longer, just tell yourself that you can!”

Ummmm... speaking of bike repair.....

The importance of bike repair and maintenance was also touched on with Coach stating that riders should keep their bikes clean admonishing that they should be able to “eat breakfast off of the drive train” and that clean bikes would get serviced first on race day. (I’m still trying to picture eating a Habanero omelet off of a drive train, hmmmm, maybe I should stick to bagels.)

Coach then introduced the Sierra Nevada High School Racing Series; a project close to Coach’s heart -especially since he is the main driving force behind it. The Sierra was created for Northern California youth racing after McMillen recognized that travel and race costs of the NORCAL series was financially punishing for riders families. Coach encouraged riders to consider racing the NORCAL series as well. “Treat NORCAL like sectionals. They are optional.” For those looking for the challenge of racing with serious competition, Coach recommended the NORCAL races and was especially encouraging of riders who were considering attending the Sea Otter Classic; a massive cycling event “with over 60,000 people and every kind of biking you can imagine.”

 

Next up was Mavis Lombardi with some tips for parents taking their riders to events. She stated the importance of proper hydration; urging folks to bring plenty of water and Gatorade (as well as “carb snacks”) in their own coolers for Saturday’s race. In addition she encouraged folks to bring seating for themselves and their riders as well as a comfortable change of clothes for the riders to change into when their racing is done.

She also asked that parents be willing to help set-up or break down if they were able. Mavis encouraged folks to visit the website http://www.sierranevadamtb.org/ if parents need information about race times, etc. and gave kudos to hard-working Carrie Cane for all of her work on the group’s non-profit status and encouraged parents to pick up fliers for the upcoming meeting of the Sierra group on January 24th. Right along side those nifty fliers was a table load of shirts and water bottles courtesy of one of the team's sponsors, Bicycles Plus.

To give a short talk on the perspective of race-day from a rider’s perspective was Kayla Bruce, Folsom High School Cycling Team Captain. Kayla again encouraged riders to have their “safe breakfast” to fuel up because race day is not like an ordinary ride. “You go harder and use more energy because of nerves and adrenaline.” She cautioned parents that their riders will want to rest the rest of the day after the races and “we are tired and grumpy” and want to have a place to chill and relax and talk to the other riders as they decompress from the excitement. She ended the talk with entreating families to treat the riders to a big “favorite meal” to end the day.

Mayor Andy Morin, wearing a red Folsom Bulldogs hooded sweatshirt, spoke to the crowd discussing plans for even more local  trails to make the mountain biking populace happy as well as how proud the community is of how well the Folsom High School cycling team represents its community.

 

The dinner, coordinated by Bridget Bruce, Tammi Sevy & Connie Wamhoff – thank you, ladies!, was held during a break in the presentations with the food tables quickly becoming inundated by waves of hungry riders and their families. Pizza, pasta, salads, chili, cookies, brownies and, of course, Gatorade proved to be pretty darn edible fare with only a few scraps left by the end of the night.




Carrie taking a break from paperwork to refuel.




My wife caught me on film eating one
of her awesome brownies before dinner.

 

The real highlight of the evening was an amazing video presentation put together by Coach McMillen. A combination of photos and videos put together in a stunning graphic and musical display served as a documentary of the team’s experience and showcased pictures of most of the team riders and ride leaders. When asked how he managed to find time between his busy work and coaching schedule to put something like that together Coach replied that he subsists off of only three or four hours of sleep a night. (Yep, McMillen and Martha Stewart: working hard, sleeping less, changing the world.)

So now that you know that this epic series is happening right in your backyard, come out and join the GroveTribe and as we experience the inaugural race of the Sierra Nevada High School Race Series to root for the Folsom High School Cycling Team!



Coach McMillen & Mayor Morin.

Well-dressed dignitaries abounded,
including Principal Kathryn Allaman.

Even the clean-up crew had class...

The Good, The Bad and The Muddy: Folsom High Cycling

Angus painted up after Saturday's ride with FHS Cycling Team.

One of the things that has continued to impress me about the Folsom High Cycling Team is that many of the kids have great attitudes and work really hard.  Today was no different as I saw a number of kids - many faster than me- working their tails off powering through sand and mud, aggressively descending, and pushing their bodies to the limits. There is a lot to be proud of and it is great to see. They are definitely in the “Good” column of Folsom High Cycling.

Then there was the group that I was with today…  Meh, not so great. About three quarters of the way through a long loop a sub-group of kids stopped (the other group was far ahead).  I was running sweep so I stopped as well.  I mentioned to them that the rider leading the group was starting to get out of sight.  Nothing… They just stood there. When I tried to encourage them to get moving again they mentioned something about waiting for the fast group to come around again and joining them. None of them seemed in the least bit interested in getting back on their bikes and doing what they had come there to do: ride.

I had a tough dilemma before me:  the kids didn’t want to ride and I couldn’t leave them.  I decided to wait to see how long it would take for them to get going again.  15 agonizing minutes dragged by before one of the kids mentions something about getting cold and wanting to ride again.  Taking advantage of that I told them it was time to get going. Finally, the group was on the move again. 

We finished the long loop and then we were supposed to start doing several loops on the short track.  After one lap (about a mile) they stopped again.  The rider leading the group mentioned he was going to do another lap with a strong and obvious implication that the group was to follow.  No one moved and he ended up riding the first loop alone.  He came back and did another lap, as if expecting at least some of the kids to join him on the second lap.  Again, no one followed.  In yet another attempt to get the kids moving again, another ride leader and I mentioned a few times that we were going to do part of the short track, climb a hill, and then return.  We repeated it several times with the expectation that the group would follow and we began riding away slowly.  And guess what!...  No one followed.   

Honestly, the ride left me a bit disappointed. I know that all can’t be sunshine and roses, I’ve seen so much to be proud of in the Folsom High School Cycling Team, but it was a blow to the joy of it all to see a group of kids not appreciate what they had before them. If there were high school cycling teams when I was in school, I would have been all over it, riding as often and with as much heart as I could.  Most of these kids aren’t riding cheap bikes, many of their parents were able to invest a lot more money in these bikes and equipment then my parents could invest in mine.  I could only have dreamed to have such opportunity and equipment handed to me when I was their age!

From my perspective, I saw this one group of kids unwilling to participate in an awesome opportunity.  Their parents cared enough to go without money and time so that their kids could have something good in their lives and they were wasting that opportunity, squandering that token of affection from their parents and right along with it wasting my time –as faithful readers of this blog know is incredibly precious for me, especially with a baby son waiting at home wondering where his dad is- and limited resources.  I have kids at home that would love for me to spend the day with them.  Instead I am out sitting in a valley with a bunch of kids with expensive bikes and gear that don’t want to ride. 

I can only hope that something, sometime –hopefully soon- will click for these kids and they will see that this is a time and opportunity in their lives to seize and live to the fullest. I can only pray that something that I can do or say may inspire at least some of them to make the most of what a community of caring adults can give because very few things in life can give the fierce and primal satisfaction of coming home with a bike so wonderfully painted with mud.