National Sports Center Blog

Track racing hasn't stopped for all of us here in the tundra!

By James Tainter, NSC Systems Programmer/Master's Track Cyclist

The fall colors have started to sneak into the trees here in Minnesota, and for most of us who ride the track at the National Sports Center in Blaine, now is a time to swap out the fixed gear for a mountain or cross bike and get out on some of the great trails we have in and around the city of Minneapolis (yes, there are some GREAT off road trails in and around Minneapolis, some of the best just a 5 minute ride from downtown!).  But for one of our master's riders, the season isn't quite over yet. 

Pat Whalen stuck both feet into the fire this year.  In August he traveled out to Colorado Springs to his first Master's Nationals (earning a 4th place in the points race) and if that weren't enough, he figured he would go down to Sydney Australia to race the Master's World Championships for his first time.  Pat will be contesting the 60+ age group races all week long down under in the land of 'Oz' .  He's doing a good job of sharing his adventure on his blog.  You can check out his updates and photos at:  http://2008downunder.blogspot.com/

Good luck Pat!

On The Road Again

by Colleen Bourdon, Director of Team Relations

Every fall members of the staff at the National Sports Center (NSC) get the travel bug.  The need to go out and talk to our soccer people about the programs at the NSC.

You can learn about where we are off to by clicking on "Meet A Rep" on the website www.usacup.org - but incase you haven't been there for awhile I will give you an update here.

October 5 - 12, 2009 Vicki and I will be off to North Dakota, Canada (Saskatchewan & Alberta) and Montana.  Our destination cities are:  Grand Forks, Minot (North Dakota); Regina, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon (Saskatchewan, Canada); Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary (Alberta, Canada); Great Falls, Helena, Butte, Billings, Miles City (Montana) and we will end the circuit in Bismarck (North Dakota).  Vicki says we will travel about 3,300 miles.  I grew up in South Dakota where it was 50 miles to town, so no big deal where this road trip is concerned.

We are looking forward to meeting with clubs and teams that have been at USA CUP and folks that are interested in coming to the tournament in the future.  If we haven't contacted you and you would like a meeting, please let us know market@usacup.org and we will meet you.

While we are on the road the rest of the folks at the soccer office will be working on Fall Cup, October 10-11 - http://www.nscsports.org/sports/soccer/tourneys/fall_cup/index.htm - check it out we are still accepting teams.

October 22-25 - visit with us in Madison & Milwaukee, Wisconsin and in Chicagoland

Happy Trails!

Goodbye, but not really by Colleen Bourdon, Director of Team Relations

Four times each year a very energetic group of volunteers come together to help in the planning for the next USA CUP.  Teri Vogt, our tournament director, runs a good meeting with loads of information and updates.

Last night we honored three key players that have been with the tournament for many years - Tom Spindler, the king of gift packing; Larry Ragland, the brain trust of scheduling and Roy Evans, referee mainstay. These three gentlemen have given endless hours of time and added tons of humor and fun to the areas they volunteered in.

We salute them, but we do not say good-bye as they will remain in the USA CUP family of volunteers, just not in the leadership roles they have vacated.  Beware, some other area of USA CUP will probably recruit you and you will end up back in hectic world of full time USA CUP volunteer.

But in the meantime - kudos and thank you's all around.

Visitors from Brazil - What An Excellent Surprise by Colleen Bourdon, Director of Team Relations

Vistors from Brazil - what an excellent way to begin the week.  Yesterday, September 21, I had surprise visitors for my USA CUP co-workers.  Sha did her usual excited scream and Vicki gave out warm and fuzzy Vicki hugs.

Who stopped in?  Katia Hijjar and her husband Rick.  Katia works with Gelda from Rio de Janerio, they bring many soccer teams each year from Brazil.  Katia came with beautiful rocks from Brazil for each of us - what a special treat.  Mine was ametista - gorgeous.

Katia and Rick are on an extended holiday to Canada and some US destinations and made time to stop by the National Sports Center and to visit with guest players from White Bear Lake.

This is what USA CUP is about - bringing soccer players together for many opportunities.  Over the last few years it has been a goal of the teams from Rio to add Minnnesota players to their rosters so their teams can have a bigger experience and build long term friendships with players from Minnesota.

It was great fun for Katia to see the National Sports Center fields with only the players in the photo below, because during USA CUP she and Gelda are responsible for many players, coaches and chaperones.  It was a quiet during the day yesterday on this field so the Candian geese had the pitch, but the evening brought practices, league play and all the usual activity that happens each day at the NSC.

 

 

Master's Track Nationals, Day 6 - Conclusion

By James Tainter, NSC Systems Programmer/Master's Track Cyclist

When we first arrived out here in Colorado Springs over a week ago, this day seemed SO far away:  the final day of racing.  Team Sprint, Team Pursuit and the Madison are the events on tap for the day.  I teamed up with Ted for the team sprint along with Chris Barbaria from New York.  We crossed the line with a time that would eventually place us 3rd. 

As soon as that event was over I had to take my sprint bars off and throw on my pursuit bars in prep for the 4K team pursuit.  This is an event that has sunk its talons into me.  There is just something about it that I really like;  it hurts, yet its short enough where you can suffer through it and there is also the fact that you are a cog in a 4-man machine and you have three other guys relying on you, and you don't want to let them down.  That fact alone sometimes is enough to push yourself to places you haven't been before.  Local time trailer Dan Casper (MN), Scott Kasin (CO) and Mike Miller (PA) made up the other parts of the team.  One interesting fact about Scott is he, at age 40 - just over a year ago, suffered a heart attack after Master's Road nationals.  So to have him out there burying himself in a team pursuit after something like that was incredible.  Hats off to Scott!  Since his incident Scott has set up a non-profit to help educate people who may not think/know they could be candidates for heart problems and to help them identify the symptoms.  The organization is called "MI Aware".  If you believe you, or someone you know, may be susceptible to heart problems, please check out Scott's foundation.

Going into this event I figured we had a great chance to post a good time.  The team to beat though was the Texas Roadhouse crew, comprised of Kenny Williams (you've heard that name before here), Curtis Tolson, Jason Sprouse and Steven Carol.  These guys are heavy hitters; Kenny and Curtis, between the two of them, have more national jerseys than I can count and Jason is the current world record holder for the Hour attempt for 35-39 year-olds.  The man of the day on our team was local Dan Casper.  Dan definitely was 'feeling it' as he took a full lap pull on his final turn, accelerating the entire way pull us in at 4:39.  After everything was said and done, we were able to secure a silver medal behind the Texas Roadhouse crew.  Hats off to those guys for putting together a great ride.  This was Dan's first year of working on the pursuit and he blew the doors off of it.  I predict big things coming out of this guy next year, mark my words.

Kevin Schaeffer and Dave Gray put together a team at the last minute to participate in this age group as well.  I believe this was the first time they had ever done one and they started out on the conservative side, lifting the entire way and finishing strong.  Their effort secured them a 4th place finish and a spot on the podium!  For not planning on even doing this event, this was a big surprise to them.  Congratulations! 

Next up:  Madison.  Dan teamed up with team pursuit member Mike Miller in the 'young' age group, while Kevin teamed up with Franco from Kenosha WI for the 'old' age group.  After a full week of racing and the day being the hottest of the week (temperatures were touching 90 and the asphalt infield and concrete surface of the 7-11 velodrome made it seem even hotter) my hat goes off to these guys for going out there and mixing it up for 120 laps!  Everyone stayed upright (no crashes) and raced hard and they got to test themselves against some very seasoned (and FAST) Madison teams.  Nice job guys!

Special thanks go out to the follow:

Hollywood Cycles and HED wheels for unsurpassed service and support.  The NSC Registrar Sponsorship group, Bob Williams and the Nationals Sports Center for support and help and for allowing me the time off to prepare and race.  The Bike Line team out of Trexlertown PA, always willing to help out and always good for teaching me something new each year.  Team WUSH for bringing back the fun in road racing, time trials and criteriums for me this year.  And to Kevin's girlfriend Olga for letting us take her brand new car out to Colorado on this trip (if you've ever seen Kevin's truck, you would know how much of a commitment this was for Olga!).  To all the other local racers who came out, I hope you come back next year too, it only gets better.  And to all the friends and family that have offered up so much support behind the scenes (way to many to list) - THANKS!  This would not be possible without your help and support.  And a special thanks to Tiffany for everything you do - those medals are as much yours as mine.

So that's it, 2009 Master's Track nationals are done and in the books.  Thanks for reading.  Check back soon for updates regarding the Blaine track, upcoming racing and yes, Master's Nationals 2010!   

Master's Track Nationals, Day 5 - short recap

By James Tainter, NSC Systems Programmer/Masters Track Cyclist 

This is going to be short because its late here and I've been in a skin suit for most of the day racing, and for those of you who have never had the pleasure of being in one of these skin tight lycra outfits, sweating all day, its not very pleasant.

Today we had Ted Schmid and I match sprinting and Pat Whalen riding the points race. 

Pat narrowly avoided being taken out by a crash about half way through his point race.  Pat went on to earn 4th place finish, scoring points in three of the sprints and finishing strong.  Pat earned his first nationals medal! 

Ted and I both road personal best times in the 200 and both qualified to sprint.  There were three guys in our group UNDER 11 seconds!  And Ted had the 'pleasure' of having to sprint one of them the first round, not an easy task.  But Ted went on to ride a great 5th-8th final to win the ride and take his first individual national medal! (Ted won a silver last year in San Jose in his first attempt at National competition).  I was able to some how get through my sprint rounds and after the dust settled, snuck out a bronze.  I still can't really believe it.  Totally unexpected. 

So all three Minnesotans that raced today, medaled.  It was great having all the guys/gals there who weren't racing - helping out and just being there for support.  We have a great group out here. 

More coming tomorrow - for now I have to eat and get to bed. 

Master's Track Nationals: Day 3, 4

By James Tainter, NSC Systems Programmer/Masters Track Cyclist

A few more of the locals raced today, including myself.  Dave Gray and Kevin Schaeffer participated in 45-49 3K time trail.  Dan Casper and I participated in the 40-44 3K time trail, Linda Sone-Casper in the points race and Greg McCrea (50-54) and Pat Whalen in (60-65) 200TT and match sprints.  Linda raced tonight and I haven't heard how she made out yet, but I did hear she scored some points.  The performance of the day goes to Pat Whalen.  Pat shaved a HALF a SECOND off of his personal best 200 time, and in the 200 meter time trail that is HUGE.  Pat qualified 7th and the top eight go on to match sprinting, so Pat made the cut.  In the first round he had to race the 2nd fastest qualifier, a guy who posted a time an entire second faster than him, but that didn't deter Pat at all.  Pat road the sprint rounds like a pro even though he doesn't have much match sprint experience and this is really his first 'big' competition.  Watching him you would have though he was and old, surly pro at it.  Pat unfortunately lost both of his rides (best 2 out of 3) and went on to race in a 4-up sprint to determine 5th-9th place.  At nationals, medals are given to the first 5 places.  Pat had to win this ride if he wanted to medal.  Again, he road smart and strong, and it came down to a two man race for the line, with Pat closing on the leader, but running out of room to the finish line.  Pat finished 6th other all.   Hats off to Pat -  congratulations!!  Greg also threw down a 200TT but did not make the cut for the sprinting.  I didn't get to chat with him to see if it was a personal best time for him or not, but today was Greg's last day of racing - so hats off to him as well for coming out and performing in the 500 (personal best time), 2K and 200!

The 3K is a new beast to sprinter-type Dave Gray.  But you wouldn't have known it today - Dave set a schedule and target time he wanted to ride and stuck it.  I think there will be more pursuits in Dave's future.  Kevin also road a 3K - but Kevin went out a little 'hot' in his first 1000m and it took a little out of his legs.  But for going out as fast as he did, he was able to hold it together and post his fastest pursuit time since he was out here with me back in '06 for nationals.  Kevin has been working hard and this was a great time for him.  Though if you ask "Skibby" he more than likely won't be that happy with it - even though, as I mentioned, it was is fastest one in 3 years!  I don't know where their times placed them with the other participants - I didn't have time to look because Dan and I were preparing for our 3K efforts that immediately followed theirs on the program.

To put it bluntly, Dan and I have an 'anomoly' in our age group called Kenny Williams.  You may remember the name from my first post (Kenny won the kilo on Tuesday night).  Not to sound like I have a defeatist attitude, but being realistic, I pretty much knew Kenny would win this event.  I also assumed that Jason Sprouse (new comer to our age group who handedly won the pursuit last year at Nationals in the 35-39 bracket) would be a solid second place.  But after that it was a crap shoot.  There were 4-5 of us that could end up in any order, we are all that close. 

Dan road in the 5th heat (there were 8 total).  Dan put together a GREAT ride, shaving 2 seconds off his personal best time, putting himself atop the leader board.  A rider in the next heat bested Dan's time bumping him to 2nd overall.  Heat 7 were the big guns - Kenny and Jason.  These two were incredible to watch, both reeling off top times for the day - Kenny setting a WORLD RECORD for our age group in the process!  So with one heat left (mine) Dan was sitting in 4th place.  If we both bested Dan's time, he would be out of the medals. 

I was pitted against Mike Hutchinsen, a road rider who has recently discovered the track.  I beat Mike by a 100th of a second last year in San Jose and he reminded me of that when we ran into each other at the track the day before!  I figured I would have a hard ride on my hands.  I had a schedule and time down I wanted to hit.  There was no way I was going to touch Kenny's time, so I didn't try to adjust anything for my ride; I would stick to my schedule/plan and try to lift at the end if I had anything left in the tank in order to try and catch Jason.  I ended up riding 'close' to what I wanted to - being cautious not to go out to fast and burn myself up prematurely as I had seen a number of riders do prior to my heat.  Like Dan, I too shaved 2 seconds off my personal best time.  Mike was off his game a bit and I was able to better him this time around.  Dan's time withstood Mike's challenge so the two Minnesota guys ended up 3rd and 5th!!  It was great to have us both up on the podium.  Going in I didn't really care how it sorted out, just as long as we were both up there.

Kenny (3:26)

Jason (3:31)

James (3:34.2)

???? (3:34.8)

Dan (3:35)

I will try to post pictures soon.  Tomorrow:  200TT and match sprinting for Ted Schmid and myself. 

Will have an update for you tomorrow after the dust settles.

Master's Track Nationals, Day 1, 2

By James Tainter, NSC Systems Programmer/Masters Track Cyclist

The racing has begun here in Colorado and it's been hard to keep up on how every one is doing, which is a good thing!  I believe we have EIGHT people representing the NSC/Blaine Velodrome.  Kevin Schaeffer and Dan Casper survived their point races tonight.  Both of which were scorching fast!  After watching the 40-44 age point race, Dan and I both came to the conclusion there are going to be some FAST pursuiters in our age group on Friday.  Greg Mcrae mixed it up in the 2K pursuit today after posting a personal best time in the 500m time trial the previous day.  Linda Sone-Casper just missed the podium in her 2K effort and Pat Whalen posted a best time as well in his 500, though when I asked Pat he admitted he didn't really have a 'best time' since its an event he just stepped in to do - but you have to start somewhere, so nice job Pat!  I had today off after racing the kilo time trial last night.  I admit, even after shifting focus from this event to the pursuit this year, the kilo still means a lot to me.  After seeing who showed up to race and who stayed home, I figured I had a pretty good chance to actually take a shot at winning this year.  I couldn't have asked for a better stage:  I was paired up against Kenny Williams in the last heat of the night.  Kenny is the 'iron man' of track racing and is just getting back into master's racing after having to have sat out for 2 years due to participating at the Pan Am games in '07 and I believe a UCI World Cup (masters loose their 'masters eligibility' if they participate in UCI elite sanctioned events).  He's a multiple national champion as well as elite champion and master's world champion.  So to be paired up to face him in the last heat of the night was the best scenerio I could have.  The best time of the night in our age group was a 1:08.8.  I figured I could eclipse that, but just wasn't sure if I could eclipse whatever it was that Kenny was capable of this night.  But training had been going well and my fitness was better than in years past, and unfortunantly, Kenny had crashed earlier in the season and was coming coming back from surgery to repair a broken collar bone.  Maybe there was a chink in his armor...

I'll spare you the blow-by-blow of the actual ride, but I had that national championship jersey on my back up until the last 170 meters of the 1,000 we had to cover.  Kenny put in a monumental 'push' over those last meters.  That, coupled with me fading a bit was enough for him to catch me and take the championship.  Kenny finished with a 1:07.6, and I was .5 seconds back at 1:08.1 - a personal best time for myself, but somehow the sting of losing overshadowned that for me.  Hats off to Kenny, he's a true hard-man of the sport and a great competitor. 

As mentioned, today was an 'off' day for me.  So, to shake out the legs we got out on a nice road ride that took us up to the Garden of the Gods.  The rock formations up there are fantastic and it was a great diversion from the stress of racinig.  I think everyone here has tomorrow off, but I'm not sure.  Keeping track of everyone's schedule is tough.  I do know that Friday is a big day for Dan and myself - we will be competing in the 3K individual time trial.  With all the big guns here, its going to be a knock-down-drag-out brawl.  We will both need to ride personal bests just to even have a chance of getting on the podium.  

I have pictures to post as well, I just need to get them uploaded.  

Thanks to everyone who has offered encouragement and support - it all helps.

Masters Nationals. Has It Been a Year Already? by James Tainter

You wouldn't have thought we just finished up July here in Minnesota.  Not ONE day above 90 degrees!  Many of the nights the past few weeks up here at the Blaine velodrome have required knee warmers and arm warmers on the infield.  Unheard of here in July.  But July is gone and August is now here.  And with August comes Master's Track Nationals.  This year they are hosted by the 7-11 Velodrome located at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  A few more of the locals have decided to give Nationals a 'go' this year which will add to the fun.  So, in the coming week I am going to try and find my way around the this blog again and try to remember how all this works (posting photo's, etc.).  Check back soon and often for updates! 

The adventure begins August 15.  Racing kicks off August 18.

And I can't wait...

Thank You by Colleen Bourdon

It is always amazing how the National Sports Center (NSC)campus is transformed for 10 days every summer into the most fantastic soccer destination in North America. 

In a matter of a few days and loads of long hours by NSC Operations the signage goes up, the Puma store is created, the Puma lab is installed, the inflatables are put in place and Schwan's USA CUP begins.

From the arrival of the first team at the airport, through final team check in to the start of games and activities everything runs like a well oiled machine.

This happens because of the teams that attend the tournament, the volunteers that give endless hours of time, the fantastic interns, the schedulers that make getting all the games played in a seamless style look easy, the sponsors that believe in USA CUP, the referees that keep coming back because they love the event...it is about family.

Because I go out and talk to teams all year about USA CUP when I see it all come together every July I need to say a personal thank you to all the teams that let us come and meet with them, to my international friends that work everyday to help bring international diversity to USA CUP, to the Minnesota coaches that organize their teams in spite of scheduling conflicts, to my colleagues at the National Sports Center - thank you for sharing the same passion that I have for USA CUP.