The 2017 time trial season is now in the rear view mirror and it’s time to take a look back to see how Canyon Velo faired in this year’s racing.
We are very pleased to report that once again, Canyon Velo made an strong impact on the Time Trial racing scene. As we review this year’s racing, we will take a look back at the 2017 Master’s National Time Trial Championship, the 2017 SCNCA (State) Time Trial Championships for both individuals and teams, the 2017 climbing time trials, and finally, the 2017 Southern California Time Trial Series.
Before we talk about the racers, it is important to give a huge thank you to all of the Canyon Velo members who support the racers all year long in all kinds of ways. We also want to particularly thank those who came out to lovely Lake Los Angeles twice this Spring to assist with the State championship races which are co-sponsored by Canyon Velo. We could not be associated with a finer group of people than we have on Canyon Velo. Thank you. Now on the the race reports:
2017 Master’s National Time Trial Championship
At the Masters Road National Championships in Augusta Georgia on June 1, 2017, David Stanton made the national podium and with a fine time of 41:03. This effort placed him in fourth place on a five person podium, and only six seconds off of third place. This result also put him ahead of last year’s first, second, fourth and fifth placed riders (and third did not ride this year)! Congratulations David! This is a fitting result and we look forward to you moving up on the podium in future years.
2017 SCNCA Individual Time Trial Championship
At the SCNCA Individual Time Trial Championships this year, Canyon Velo netted three individual State titles. Bill Langstaff won the State championship in the Super Masters Men’s 70 to 74 category with a time of 44:19 over the Super Masters course. David Stanton repeated as State champion in the Masters Men’s 60 to 64 category with a blistering time of 51:22. This was, however, the first time since his first race here that David went into the race as somewhat of an underdog. This was because one of last year’s National podium finishers recently moved to Southern California from Texas. This rider finished on the National podium at last year’s Masters National Time Trial ahead of David, so David had his work cut out for him. David, however, would not be denied, and he delivered a fantastic ride to take the State championship jersey by nearly 50 seconds.
Christy Frazelle broke an hour with a time of 59:59.9 to win the Women’s Category 4 State championship jersey by two minutes over her closest competition. This was a dominating win for Christy in her first time out at the State championships. This was a fantastic result for Christy and for Canyon Velo. It’s been great to watch Christy develop as a time trial rider over the past year. We all thought that she had this kind of ride in her, but thought that maybe it would be at next year’s championships. Christy, of course, had other plans and took it too them! Congratulations Christy on your fantastic result!
Clint Shaffer (45+), Glenn Wells (50+), and Paul Leek (Cat 4) all rode their individual races and competed well representing Canyon Velo.
In the Men’s Tandem 90+ category, Ryan Mongan and Ed Kissee experienced a beautiful day riding in the desert, only to have a rear tire puncture within sight of the finish line. The greatest challenge at that point in time became how to get a ride back to the start finish line. After standing alone on the side of the road for what seemed like a half an hour, we were pleased to see Carl drive up in his truck, only to hear Carl ask, “Hey guys, doesn’t the desert have a beauty all its own?” Carl acted as though he took great delight in making that statement, although I know he was just trying to return the favor of keeping us upbeat because our race ended in that way. That being said, we had a great day on the bike while it lasted. We worked hard, we were on a very good time, and just came up a little short, thanks in large part to a piece of sharp debris on the road. There is always next year.
2017 SCNCA Team Time Trial Championship
Canyon Velo also made a fantastic impression on the SCNCA Team Time Trial Championships. This year Canyon Velo participated in four races. Christy Frazelle, Glenn Wells, Grace Choe, and Paul Leek were victorious in the 4 Person Mixed Team Time Trial, winning State jerseys by finishing with a time of 55 minutes and 23 seconds.
Clint Shaffer, Martin Venturino, Ryan Mongan, and Steve Ferriera braved an entry into the 4 Man Open category. This put them against much younger competition and even against pro riders. These guys put in a valiant effort, finishing sixth with a time of 53:10. This was a day of lessons for the team, since this was the first team time trial for all but Ryan. In fact, it was the first time trial of any kind for Martin. Steve said later that he learned that one needs to prepare for this kind of effort by racing more time trials in advance so you can learn how your body reacts in a race situation. Martin learned a valuable lesson and showed what he is made of by taking a strong pull to what he thought was the finish line, only to learn that they still had a few miles to go. Because he is such a strong guy, he was able to pull it together and get to the finish with the team.
Bill Langstaff raced in the 2 Man 120+ category, finishing on the podium in third place with a time of 57:31.
The team of David Stanton, Joe Peterson, Ed Kissee, and (friend of Canyon Velo) Bruce DePriester faced very tough competition in the 4 Man 240+ category. The tough competition came particularly from two teams, one of which had a couple of World champions and an individual State champion from the previous week, as well as a team of very accomplished road racers from Las Vegas. Our team discussed the situation, including the possibility of moving down to the next younger age group (220+), which if we had done so, our time would have easily won that category by five minutes. But our team decided that we all had enough State jerseys, and so we were willing to take on the challenge before us. From the beginning of our race it was apparent that David Stanton was on a great day. He was stronger than we’ve ever seen him in a team time trial. The rest of us had good rides as well. All four of us finished together in a very fast time of 50 minutes and 31 seconds, over two minutes ahead of the Las Vegas team, but 30 seconds and some change off of the time of the other team, so we ended up with silver medals. It was an amazing race. We can certainly say that we laid it all out there that day. It was great to see several of our Canyon Velo teammates helping out at the race in each of the corners, at the start line, and at the finish line. The presence of our teammates cheering us on gave us the inspiration to work all the more to put in a great time.
2017 Climbing Time Trials
Not to be outdone by the flat-landers, Canyon Velo climbing specialist George Tomasich has dominated the hill climb time trials this year. On April 1st of this year, George put in a superb effort at the “Big Bad Hill Climb TT,” a race up Glendora Mountain Road over Glendora Ridge Road and finishing at the Ski Lifts on Mount Baldy Road. George won the Men’s 45+ category at that race with a time of 1:54:29! And then, for good measure, George won the Men’s 45+ category of the GMR TT on June 3rd, with a sub 40 minute performance, winning the race with a time of 39:40. Several Canyon Velo riders were on GMR at the blockhouse on June 3rd to cheer George for the last Km of the race. It was impressive to see how fast George can go up a hill, err… a mountain.
2017 Southern California Time Trial Series
Canyon Velo again made an impact over the entire racing season in the Southern California Time Trial Series. The Southern California Time Trial Series is a composite competition which covers results from the entire time trial season at the three regular time trial venues in Southern California (Fiesta Island TT – San Diego; Piru TT – Ventura County; and Santiago Canyon TT – Mission Viejo). Canyon Velo ended up with two Southern California Time Trial Series champions, and three other Canyon Velo riders who finished on their respective podiums.
David Stanton (Men’s 60+) and Ed Kissee (Men’s 55+) both defended their 2016 series championships by winning 2017 Southern California Time Trial Series championships. David Stanton had company on the podium as Bill Langstaff finished second to David in the Men’s 60+ category. Clint Shaffer finished in third and on the podium in the Men’s 45+ category, and Paul Leek finished second in the Men’s 35+ category.