I learned so much at La Primavera Lago Vista, a stop on the USA Cycling Junior Road Cycling National Series. Coming off the Valley of the Sun Stage Race, I was put in many race scenarios that I hadn’t been in before. I’ll try my best to describe them and what I learned.
Max and I both raced in the 15-16 field, even though Max’s racing age is just 13. Had he competed in the 13-14 field, he would have faced only seven other riders.
Time Trial
The first tricky race scenario was the 10km TT. This wasn’t a conventional out-and-back TT. Instead, it took place over 3.75 laps of a go-kart track with many turns. This made the race favor riders who had cornering skills in addition to power. Max finished 36th and I finished 13th in a field of 43 riders.
Road Race Clockwise
Next up was the first 95km road race. We raced the course on both Saturday and Sunday, just in opposite directions. On Saturday, we raced clockwise, with milder climbing but steeper descents. The race dynamic was weird because it had many hard five-minute periods where people would try to get away, and then we would ride really easily for 10–15 minutes. I really didn’t like these slow parts, but at the same time, it was impossible for me to get off the front.
There were many moments when a few others and I nearly got into a breakaway, but the remaining in the field were too fresh from the extensive easy riding. The race ended in a field sprint, and I finished 20th. I wasn’t that satisfied, since my poor position limited how hard I could sprint, but I quickly directed my focus to the next day.
Road Race Counterclockwise
The event culminated with the Sunday road race, which had the steeper climbing because we raced it counterclockwise. The first half of the race consisted of constant attacks until three riders got away and were never caught. We chased for a while, but kept getting neutralized, so our hopes of catching the breakaway were gone.
By then, there were roughly 20 riders left in the field. We continued getting neutralized around five times, which put the field in a stalemate, since making the race fast could risk catching another field and getting neutralized even more. So, for the remainder of the race, we rode really easily, which allowed many riders to recover and even let some riders catch back on.
I stupidly led out the field sprint and finished 17th. In retrospect, I probably should have pushed the pace without worrying about getting neutralized, to reduce the number of riders I’d have to face in the sprint, even if I wasted more energy than the others.
Can’t Wait to Be Back Next Year
Overall, I can’t really complain, since I am the “under” in the age category and still finished third, second, and second among the 15-year-olds in the three races, respectively. More importantly, I gained valuable race experience that will help me for the rest of my career.
I can’t wait to be back next year. And thanks to whoever made La Primavera Lago Vista possible—it definitely lives up to the hype.
