Cycling Prepares for Season with Young Team
The 2014 cycling season concluded with a New England Championship win for Phillips Exeter Academy during the NERC Championship race. After the successes of last year, Big Red’s cycling team holds very high expectations for the 2015 season.
Last season, nearly all of the top cyclists were returners and had prior years of experience under their belts. This year, however, many of the riders are newcomers and although talented, will have to race a couple times to gain practice.
“This year, we are fortunate enough to have a good amount of new talent. Half of the new riders are set up to race in the top racing categories after cycling for only a few weeks.”
“A strong group of boys graduated last year, but I think that the returners and the new kids this year are up to the challenge,” returning cyclist and upper Stajz Saar said.
Senior and captain Erick Friis expressed a similar view. “This year, we are fortunate enough to have a good amount of new talent. Half of the new riders are set up to race in the top racing categories after cycling for only a few weeks,” he said. ”If we can get similar team strategies as last year going, we will be quite a force in the New England Road Cycling League.”
Even with a talented squad, the team must prepare in order to repeat as New England champions. So far, in the first three weeks of the season, they have trained intensely, riding more than 6,000 miles and climbing more than 200,000 feet in around 400 hours. According to Friis, that’s the same as one person riding to California and back while climbing from the base camp to the summit of Mount Everest 17 times.
The mileage that they have acquired and the altitude which they have climbed all amount to a high level of training. Not only have they gotten into good shape, but they have also developed a greater sense of team chemistry which will become even more important as the season progresses. “So far, we have gone on high intensity rides to help get into great shape,” lower Erik Carlson said. “In addition to this, we have been helping everyone learn how to ride safely and effectively with other people around.”
Racing smartly amongst other cyclists is one key to winning races. Like Carlson, Friis believes that endurance can only take you so far without intelligence. “Everyone’s hard work in practice yields strength as well as intelligence,” he said. “Being smart in a race is as important as being strong because you need to know when and how to attack in order to break away or place well in the final sprint.”
A balanced combination of intelligence and controlled strength, as well as the development of the new cyclists, will be the keys for yet another successful season, as the Big Red cycling team chases a second consecutive New England championship.
Friis, as this will be his last season with the team, expressed his sentiment for the atmosphere of the team. “Cycling season has been a highlight of my years here at Exeter, and this one is no different. I am particularly looking forward to my final ride on Profile’s ‘Hell of the North’ race course,” he said. “And of course, I love spending time with the team during practice every day.”