Au revoir à la région de l'Abitibi. July 26th, 2010
Au revoir Val-d’Or, Barraute, Preissac, Amos, Cadillac, Senneterre, Malartic, Dubuisson, Rivière-Héva and Rouyn-Noranda! These are some of the small towns of the Abitibi region that we raced through this week. We want to thank the citizens of these towns for organizing such a high level race for junior riders and being welcoming hosts. The efforts of the volunteers in these communities to serve on planning committees, contact sponsors, control traffic, and cheer at the ends of their driveways and along the barricades made the Tour de l'Abitibi a well run, unforgettable, world-class event. Thank you!
What is next for the riders on the ProChain Junior Cycling Team?
Neal Forbes, 18 years old, is from Columbus Indiana. Next year he will complete his senior year of high school. Since he will be 19 next year, he will have grown out of the Junior category of racing and will be racing at the U23 level. Neal writes:
The two most important people in my Junior cycling career were my parents. They supported me 120%. They where always helping me look for races to go to and they where willing to take me anywhere to race. When you are a Junior cyclist it can be hard balancing school, cycling, and a job. That’s where my parents helped out the most. I mowed lawns, but If I came up short and ever needed additional money for races or to replace broken equipment, they where always there for me. That made cycling all that much easier because I could focus on my school work and my training. I would also like to thank Mike Murdock because without him, there would be no ProChain Junior Cycling Team. He registered us for the Tour de l'Abitibi and was able to drive us up to Quebec. He also has provided us with team uniforms and team bikes along with a follow car to use in the race.
The most memorable moment of the week of the Tour de l'Abitibi was the Individual Time Trial. I can not think of any other time trial that starts underground in a gold mine. It was an incredible experience to go down the mine in a mine cart and then race out of it. It was extremely challenging but a lot of fun.
My advice to young Junior riders is to not give up. It takes SO much work, time, and sacrifice to become a competitive Junior cyclist. While your friends are having fun on the weekends you have to travel to race your bike. There are some teams that take younger guys but not too many. I can think of the Red Zone Cycling Team out of Louisville. However I do not know much about the team other than I always see tons of kids in Red Zone kits rolling around at races. Unfortunately there are no group rides in Columbus, Indiana so I do all of my riding alone.
Brian Lark, 17 years old, is from New Albany Indiana. Brian is the only rider on the team who will still be a Junior category rider next year and able to compete again in the Tour de l'Abitibi as an 18 year old. Brian writes:
My name is Brian Lark and I am a rider for ProChain Junior Cycling. This year I had the opportunity to travel to and compete in the biggest junior cycling event in North America, Le Tour de l’Abitibi. It has to be one of the hardest stage races I have ever done, yet one of the most exciting and I can not wait to go again next year.
I’d first like to thank everyone who made it possible for me to go to Canada. This race is not your everyday race; it is seven days of intensity and a lot has to be done in preparation for going and while we are there. Mr. Murdock, who started our team, paid for us to go to the race and took time out of his busy work schedule to drive us up to Canada and back home. During that week, he had to fly back to the states for work. Thank you, Mr. Murdock for all of your time and effort to keep this team racing! A big thank you goes to Mr. Dewart and my dad. Thank you so much for also taking the time out of your work schedules to support the team! These two men helped transport the team to Canada, and while we were there they washed our clothes, bought groceries, went to the manager meetings, drove us to the races, wrote this blog, and constantly made sure we had our stuff ready to go. Another big thank you goes to my coach. Curtis Tolson has helped me tremendously in my cycling. He is always willing to talk to me and does his best to answer any questions I have, whether they are training related or not. He is also almost always open to doing a ride with me! My mom has supported me more than anyone else. She is always there on the sidelines cheering me on and is really disappointed when she can’t come to a race. She prepares all of the race food and generally is the one who drives me to races, gets me registered and handles all of the logistics. Thanks, Mom!
I had a great time at the Tour de l’Abitibi and experienced many memorable moments. One experience was very sobering, yet showed great character and the will to press on. At the beginning of the first race there was a big crash that everyone on our team, minus Nathaniel, was involved in. I was the last one to get back in the saddle. After Cory got my bike in working order, I drafted off team cars, working to get myself back up to the main field. Eventually, I passed by Jonathan, who was raising his hand to show that he had a mechanical. The race continued and with no teammate in sight, I figured he either gave up or wasn’t going to make the time cut. Watching at the finish, I was surprised to see Jonathan coming in, a couple of minutes off my finish time. He had ridden 60 miles with what we thought to be a broken elbow. An examination at the hospital revealed soft tissue damage, not a broken bone. Jonathan raced all seven stages of the tour and worked hard to help the team (continuing with pain in his arm all week.)
For any junior that is reading this blog and is looking to get into cycling in the Louisville, Kentucky area, there is a great Junior development team called Red Zone Cycling. They work with kids, ages 5-18, teaching them the basics of bicycle racing and safety. The team does many group rides and focuses a lot of its attention on cyclocross (a combination of road and mtn biking.) Red Zone is an awesome way to jump start one’s cycling endeavors and have fun!
Graham Dewart, 18 years old, is from Indianapolis Indiana. This fall Graham will start his freshman year at Indiana University in Bloomington. Since he will be 19 next year, he will also advance out of the Junior racing category and begin racing at the Collegiate and U23 level. Graham writes:
The Tour de l'Abitibi was an experience I will never forget, and it was a great way to cap off the past 5 years of my dedication to the sport. There have been different members throughout the cycling community, each with a different way of helping me get to where I am today, that I would like to thank. Mario Camacho, Team Director of the MOB Squad Cycling Team in Indianapolis, gets thanks for the support he gave me at a young age. He gave me a spot on a racing team, a group of riders to train with over the winter, and the introduction to a sport that I knew nothing of. When I was older and had experience riding in large groups, Indianapolis rider and coach Bob Brooks, and the adult riders on the Wilkes-Raynor, Smokey Row and Nebo Ridge local group rides pushed me even farther. After numerous years of riding with these people, and gaining race experience in Dan Daly’s Indiana Race Series, you had a rider that could handle the tough 8 days of racing at the Tour de l'Abitibi. Without the support of my current team, the ProChain Junior Cycling Team, I would not have been able to travel and participate in as many distant spring training camps and junior races. Mike Murdock, Team Director of the ProChain Junior Cycling Team, found the sponsors that helped the team travel to the big junior races like the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic and the Tour de l'Abitibi. All in all, each person who I have met through cycling has helped me get to where I am, and thank you’s are to everyone who has ever crossed my path in this amazing sport.
My most memorable experience at the Tour de l'Abitibi were the crowds that would scream as you went passed the finish line, beating on banners as hard as they could. I now know what it feels like to be a professional cyclist racing at the front.
If there are young riders ages 13-16 in the Indianapolis area that are interested in getting into road bike racing, you could do what I did and go watch local bike races. USA Cycling can also help you find local races. There you will run into Mario Camacho, the team director of the MOB Squad Cycling Team . If you want a great start to the sport, Mario will help any junior who is determined to meet their goals and train hard.
Nathaniel Beams is 18 years old. He is from Lexington Kentucky. This fall Nathaniel will begin his freshman year at Fort Lewis College in Durango Colorado and ride for the Fort Lewis College Cycling Team.
Taylor Gaines, 18 years old, is from Bloomington Indiana. This fall he will start his freshman year at Marian University in Indianapolis and race on the Marian University Cycling Team. Taylor writes:
Despite crashing out of the Tour de l’Abitibi with a stage to go, on the way home I felt a great sense of contentedness. The race had been the culmination of my U-19 cycling career and the biggest race I had, and most likely ever will compete in.
I entered the race in 2010 as a veteran of the 2009 edition. However, due to complacency regarding training late last summer and a certain amount of timidity navigating the peloton, last year I floundered each stage, barely making the time cuts. I did not enjoy the tour in 2009. For this reason, I promised myself that I would not return to the race unless I was as prepared as possible.
For me, this preparation began in January of this year. I got a new personal coach, Dean Peterson, in the hopes that that would help me stay motivated throughout the year. Dean has been a fantastic coach, guiding me through plateaus in training and motivating me to continue working hard all year long.
After a winter of training mostly indoors, the preparation for Abitibi continued with an early spring training camp in Tucson, Arizona organized by team ProChain director Mike Murdock. This camp rejuvenated me after a winter of grinding it out on the trainer and offered an opportunity to fraternize with my teammates. The camp was a fantastic start to the cycling season in earnest. I am extremely appreciative of Mr. Murdock for taking the time to organize the camp despite already having to juggle a busy work schedule and spending time with his family. The camp was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Mr. Murdock’s sacrifices to help out the team this year. ProChain has been a fantastic experience because of his financial support and ability to organize the team. Without Prochain and Mr. Murdock’s support, I would have never been able to make my own way to the race.
My fantastic teammates Brian Lark, Charlie Rabinowitz, Neal Forbes, Nathaniel Beams, Johnathan Freter, and Graham Dewart made the team all the better. I predict that I remain in contact with them all for the rest of my life. They all helped me to strive to become a better cyclist and work hard at all times. Despite the vast differences between all team members, I became friends with all of them. SUUU!!!
In addition to those directly associated with the team, a myriad of local riders helped me to get to and do well at the Tour of Abitibi. Some of these include Adam Rodkey, Geraint Parry, Tom Saccone, and many more. These local cyclists taught me how to race better and organized local group rides that offered me a place to practice racing skills.
Due to this superior preparation, this year, I was able to thrive at Abitibi. I no longer struggled to finish each stage and, in fact, participated in breakaways and raced quite aggressively. This year, I had fun at the race because I had prepared better. My favorite memory this year was riding in a large move with several different national teams represented as well as several extremely strong trade teams. The times relaxing in the high school with my teammates were also quite enjoyable.
I would not sacrifice my experiences at Abitibi for anything. In order to get this experience, I would recommend that juniors search for local junior-only cycling programs. Everyone will have the rest of their lives to race for local adult teams but now is the only opportunity to race with and chill with people of their own age.
Johnathan Freter, 18 years old, is from Columbus Ohio. This fall Johnathan will be a freshman at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky. The Tour de l'Abitibi was one of Johnathan’s last Junior races. Next year, Johnathan will race during the collegiate racing season on the Lindsey Wilson collegiate team and during the summer on a U23 team. Johnathan writes:
I would like to thank first of all my parents! Without all of their time, money, time, and effort I would never have been able to get into cycling or at least get to the point where I have. Thank you again mom and dad. Secondly I would like to really thank my coach! Coach O'B Forbes. Recently I have been going through a rough time and he has been there for me and kept me on track. Without him I would still be a Cat. 3 or 4 racer, still doing local races (there is nothing wrong with that!) but with O'B's guidance I have been able to become a Cat. 2 racer, get good results, and race in races that as a Junior cyclist I could only dream of racing! Thank you O'B! Next I would like to thank Mr. Murdock, Mr. St. Clair, and everyone else that has made the Prochain Cycling Team such a success! There are only are handful of Junior teams around the US and as far as I am concerned, with all the time and dedication they have invested in to our team, they have made the ProChain Junior Cycling Team the best Junior team in the nation. I would also like to thank my good friends and fellow cyclist, Thomas Hanley, LuAnne, Marco Aledia, Ralf Medloff and many more but this list is just too long to name everyone (sorry). I would like to thank them all for helping me into the cycling world I love, and pushing me forward on and off the bike to make me the cyclist I am as well as the world class cyclist I dream of becoming (hopefully someday). Almost last but not least I would like to thank both Mr. Dewart and Mr. Lark. Without them both Fitchburg and the Tour de l'Abitibi would have absolutely impossible. They not only did a majority of the driving but they also washed clothes and bottles which gave all the riders more time to recover for the next day. Also I would like to thank Cory St. Clair and Charlie Rabinowitz for making sure all the bikes were ready to go and doing great bike changes! THANK YOU AGAIN EVERYONE! If I did not mention you I am truly sorry!
Picking out my most memorable experience from the 2010 Tour de l'Abitibi is very hard for me since I had so many memorable experiences both good and bad. It is impossible for me to narrow it down to just one so I am just going to say the whole event was memorable! Everything from going down in the first 300 meters in Stage 1, losing 18 minutes, then riding the better part of 94 km with 1 arm and then, if that wasn't bad enough, messing up the muscles in my elbow and forearm. Then, there was laughing at my team mate, Taylor, for forgetting his shoes and then, on the next stage (the time trial), I forgot my shoes (talk about karma). To all the great friends I made with both locals and race staff (mainly on the medical side...which I would not have been able to finish without them.)
One thing that can not go without mention, is the feeling that I got when I realized that I had finished the Tour de l'Abitibi! Yes, I was upset about how the final stage went but all the stuff that we as cyclist had to go through between all the crashes, the oil on the road, and all the off bike distractions, it is a miracle that we are not more banged up and that as many of us finished as we did. Sorry to be blunt but, point blank, there is simply too much to put into words so the only way to explain the experience is by experiencing it your self and having your own memorable moments. Results may vary but I highly encourage it if the opportunity is given.
As far as the Junior bike racing way of life, the ProChain Junior Cycling Team is the best thing you will find! As we have talked about a number of times cycling is not always a Junior friendly sport. A lot of times we are thrown into a ring of fire, that is where our friends come in and no matter what you have done, they can help you out so what ever you do, DO NOT BURN BRIDGES! In this world the more friends you have the better. To be honest I do not know of a group ride in the Columbus area that I would suggest to a 13-15 year old for their well being. If there is anyone in the Columbus area that would like to ride just let me know I will do my best to ride with you before I head off to college, or set a ride up with people I trust and I know won’t let anything bad happen!
This blog has chronicled the experiences of the ProChain Junior Cycling Team at the 2010 Tour de l'Abitibi. We wrote down our experiences here so families and friends of the 2010 Prochain Junior Cycling Team will know the story of the 42nd Tour de l'Abitibi. We hope that our friends and families will help us share this story with other young riders so they will hear glowing accounts of the Tour de l'Abitibi the way we did when we were young.
The photograph above was taken by Paul Brindamour. Used with permission.
If you are fortunate enough to hear the stories of the Tour de l'Abitibi while you are young, you too may respond to these stories the way we did and become a strong rider and earn a spot on a Tour de l'Abitibi team. Then, you too will get the chance to experience first-hand the magnificence of this event and the beauty of this part of the world, the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of western Quebec.