I sent my racing results for the season into Carl the other day and he replied that I should write an article for the club website on my results. As I thought about this, I thought about a couple of other riders on the team who are having great results this year, so I decided to write about their racing season and then to include my results at the end of the report. I will start with Ryan Mongan’s year.
Ryan Mongan
This year Ryan’s focus has been on short course triathlon and duathlon racing and, since he moved up to a new age group (50-54), the second half of the year is going to be full of National and World Championship races. Ryan has been racing locally and doing very well while getting ready for those high profile races – where Ryan says he will get his hat handed back to him (don’t believe it, Ryan will do great). Ryan has been doing so well in his racing this year, that he has finished first in his age group in every race! According to Ryan it has been the best start to a season that he has had. Below is Ryan’s summary of his triathlon races this year:
Zot Trot Triathlon: This is predominantly a collegiate race where the local colleges and universities send their teams. I finished as the 1st age grouper (non-collegiate).
Race on the Base: This is in Los Alamitos on the base and draws a large crowd. Because it finishes in a pool, it is a reverse triathlon where the order of the disciplines is flipped to run-bike-swim. Out of 906 people in total, I finished 6th overall and 1st in the age group.
Seal Sprint: This is in San Diego on Coronado island and I managed to pull off an overall win. Typically I find myself behind after the swim and this day was no exception. But I felt really good on the bike and was able catch everyone by the start of the run. Then, being scared that I was going to lose it on the run, I buried myself on the run to have the fastest run split of the day and hold on for the win.
LA Championship Tri Series (Race #2): This is in San Dimas around Bonelli Park and is a real nice venue. I finished the course in 1:50 and the next person in my AG finished 16 minutes back.
The format for each duathlon race is slightly different but the bike leg is typically 20km with runs before and after the bike. One of the runs is typically a 5k but it could be either on the beginning or the end of the event. The other run leg is usually around 2.5k. Below is Ryan’s summary of his duathlon races this year:
Pasadena Duathlon: The runs and the bike course is on a loop around the Rose Bowl. I won my age group.
Spring Sprint Duathlon: This happens down by Sea World in San Diego. I was able to manage a 3rd overall while winning my age group.
Congratulations to Ryan Mongan for his undefeated season so far! He will soon be off to the Nationals and Worlds, so we will be looking for great results from these races as well!
David Stanton
David’s focus again this season has been on the Southern California Time Trial Series, the State Championships, and on the National Championships. In pursuing these three focal points this year, David has had some brilliant results.
David raced in thirteen races this season, and came out of that with 12 age group wins and two overall wins, one overall win at the Fiesta Island Time Trial and one overall at the Piru Time Trial. The only age group race he did not win this year was the National Championship Time Trial, where he finished in the top ten, but I will say, that was after a week of being ill. He almost was not able to attend that race, but as a true champion, he did go and gave it his best effort to finish ninth.
The day that he won the overall at Fiesta Island was magical, as he not only won the overall, beating the Cat 1-2s and all of the lower age groups, but he also destroyed his own age group by finishing five minutes faster than the closest competitor! David also set personal records (PRs) this year on all three of the Southern California Time Trial Series courses (Fiesta Island, Piru, and Santiago Canyon).
David finished the season off with his third consecutive Championship in the Southern California Time Trial Series for his age group, his third consecutive State Championship in the Individual Time Trial for his age group, and we also won our third consecutive State Championship in the Team Time Trial for our age group. Now that is a triple three-peat!
One last thing, which is almost unbelievable, is to note that David raced the National Championship Time Trial on Friday in North Carolina at noon, then got on a plane and flew to LAX in time to arrive at Lake Los Angeles and take the start with our team (me, Joe Peterson, and “friend of CV” Bruce DePriester) at the State Team Time Trial at 8:16 AM on Saturday morning! What an amazing feat of teamwork and team spirit.
David has had another great year. I will say it is a joy for me to have the opportunity to train and race with David.
Ed Kissee
Although I have been splitting my time between the road and the velodrome for the last couple of years, this year I decided to focus all of my training on the road. I did that because I felt that I had a shot at the top step of the podium for the Southern California Time Trial Series this year, particularly since David was moving up to the next age group. I also wanted to be at my best for the State Championship Time Trials. Although I continued to ride and race the track, where I have had some decent results, I did not focus on it.
I am pleased to say that I accomplished both of my major goals for 2016. One was to win my age group in the Southern California Time Trial Series, winning the 55+ category for the title of 2016 Southern California Time Trial Series Champion. The other was to win another State Championship jersey, which was accomplished by our age group victory in the State Team Time Trial Championship on Saturday, which, as stated above, was also a three-peat for our team.
This year I also won age group races on all three of the Southern California Time Trial Series courses (Fiesta Island, Piru, and Santiago Canyon). I also won at the velodrome.
Our Stagecoach 4-person mixed team had a great time in winning that 100 mile team time trial event, both in the age group and the overall. I want to give a shout out to my teammates Christy Frazelle, Glen Wells, and Paul Leek for a great time training for and racing in that event.
Also at the track this year, I clocked a 12.105 second “flying” 200 meter time, without any specific training, which means that my sprinting days may not be over just yet. I am interested in what I could do with a little more focus there.
At the start line of the State Team Time Trial Championship race, I quoted Proverbs 21:31 to our team, which says, “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.” I do believe that and want to give credit where credit is due.
I also want to end this report by saying thank you to all of our Canyon Velo teammates who do so much to inspire and motivate each other. I appreciate all of you. Your friendship and support means a lot. After all, what we do on the bikes ultimately means little, but friendships and our relationships with one another are really what this is all about.
