-By Canyon Emmott
The Strike Cycling Development Team asked me to write about my experience at the Texas Road Race State Championships. The weekend was composed of two races. First, on Saturday, was the category based race and then Sunday was the age based race. September 15th and 16th became a weekend that I will never forget with both family and friends!
Day 1
On day one of racing I had a 5am wake up call to start my very first road race as a Cat 2. I knew that my fitness was good and that I had the support to win but wasn’t really sure what to expect. The road race would be my longest race yet, 99 miles with almost 6,000 feet of climbing. It was going to be a long day of being patient. The race consisted of 3 laps with the last 15 miles of each lap having a nice tailwind perfect for a solo break. I made it my mission to keep my legs as fresh as possible until we were in the tailwind section. My teammates, Johnathan Spangle and Shane Poncik, did an amazing job supporting me throughout the day and making sure that I was with anything that could have gotten away. Also, the two of them continued to remind me to stay patient, that can be the most difficult part of winning a bike race and it helps when you have people in your corner keeping you in check. The time came for me to attack the field and I knew my legs were strong and I had to give it everything I had to stay away. After 10 all out minutes, the official on a motorcycle, was giving me split times to the chase group and for the first 10 miles I was sitting around one minute ahead. Then with about 3 miles to go, he drove up next to me to tell me “the chase group is in pieces and you have over a three minute lead.” This gave me a big energy boost until the end! There is something special about riding away from a pack and winning solo. Strike raced a perfect race that day and it couldn’t have gone better. We had a strategy and executed it almost exactly as we had planned for it to happen.
Avg speed: 22.6 mph, 47.9 Max
Max Heart Rate: 188bpm
Day 2
Sunday was the shorter age based race it included all categories (Professional to Category 5) from the ages 23-29. The U23s (19-22) also race with us as well. The competition in this race was much tougher, but the race was a bit shorter at 2 laps and 66 miles (compared to 3 laps and 99 miles the day before). Sunday’s tactics were a bit different. Pick a wheel that you knew would be racing for the win and stick to them like glue. The course is very difficult and the shorter distance made it very fast. Coming to the end of the race there was 8 of us in the front group. It became a true tactical game to the finish line. I was able to play my cards right at the end and win the sprint finish; making it a two for two weekend. I am blessed to have the ability that God has given me on the bike and to have the entire Strike team in my corner.
Avg speed: 24.6mph, Max 49.0mph
Max Heart Rate: 192bpm
Canyon is currently a student at Texas State University majoring in Geography Resource Management with a minor in Business. He balances his school work with racing professionally on his mountain bike and racing on the road with our team. His favorite Miley Cyrus song is “Malibu” and he like to play soccer, run, camp, and rock climbing in his spare time.