Seven Tucsonans competed in the USA Cycling Junior, U-23 and Elite National Championships this weekend in Bend, Ore.
Tucson Velo caught up with three of them to talk about their races.
David Glick, 28, Ride Clean
Glick competed in the time trial and road race, skipping the criterium to rest for the road race.
He finished the time trial (47:15.30) a minute faster than he did last year and was happy with his ride, but wished he had placed higher.
“Everybody else went a lot faster too,” Glick said. “I ended up 24th so it was a little bit of a disappointment as far as placing goes, but I thought the time was good.”
Glick said he skipped the criterium because his Ride Clean team didn’t have a sprinter so they decided to rest and focus on the road race.
Glick said he and a teammate Jared Gilyard were in the main pack at the end of the race, but couldn’t get organized enough to place higher.
“We were there and in the final group sprinting for second place, but we weren’t aggressive enough fighting for position at the end,” Glick said. “We should have gotten together and gotten to the front no matter what. It was just really fast and kind of chaotic at the end and we lost our spot. We rode a good race until then.”
Glick said he is going to lay low until the start of the six-day Cascade Cycling Classic, which starts in Bend, Ore. on July 20.
Results:
- Time Trial: 24th place, 47:15.30
- Road Race: 18th place, 3:53:55.60
Robert Chorost, 18, Ride Clean
Chorost said he was happy with his performance in the trial especially considering it was an uphill course.
“I am pretty good at time trialing, but I am more of a power guy on the flats,” Chorost said. “So for it being uphill and getting 23rd I was pretty satisfied.”
He said he wasn’t thrilled with his 52nd place in the criterium, but has happy that he finished because many riders were lapped and pulled from the course.
“It was pretty fun, pretty intense,” Chorost said. “We had a 129 guys in the field and there were attacks everywhere, left and right, both sides of the field. I fell off the back and got 52nd unfortunately, but that is OK, I survived the entire crit.”
Chorost said the course for the road race wasn’t particularly challenging, but there were a few short hills that people were constantly attacking and that made it tough. Chorost finished 89th.
Chorost made a USA Cycling regional team and will be riding at the Le Tour de l’Abitibi
Results:
- Time Trial: 23rd place, 36:41.90
- Criterium: 52nd place, 1:08:04.40
- Road Race: 89th place, 2:57:28.20
Thomas Jondall, 18, White Mountain Road
Jondall had the best finish of any of the Tucsonans, finishing third in the time trial.
“Third place is definitely a satisfying result,” Jondall said.
Jondall said he skipped the criterium because he thought it might be too chaotic.
I signed up, but I didn’t even start,” Jondall said. “I thought there would be too many crashes.”
In the road race, Jondall said he missed the first break and had to chase the rest of the race.
“I tried to bridge up and failed so I just kind of mingled in the pack,” Jondall said. “The race was definitely full gas the whole way. I was pretty limited in what I could do, I didn’t have many tools in the tool box.”
Jondall will be competing in the Le Tour de l’Abitibi with the USA Cycling National team, which he said he has been working hard to make the team.
“I’ve been trying to get on the national team for a while so it was good to finally make it and get some good starts and experience,” Jondall said.
Results:
- Time Trial: 3rd place, 34:57.60
- Road Race: 52nd place, 2:42:58.20
Other Tucsonans:
Paul Thomas, 42, Ride Clean
- Time Trial: 32nd place, 48:21.40
Judy Jenkins, 30, Specialized Designs
- Time Trial: 30th place, 56:04.90
- Road Race: 60th place, 03:08:55.50
Tulio Weber, 14, El Grupo
- Time Trial: 5th place, 18:32.30
- Criterium: 12th place, 20:09.60
- Road Race: 21st place, 1:08:25.30
- Time Trial: 38th place, 38:44.20
- Criterium: 46th place, 35:31.90
- Road Race: 55th place, 1:37:1.90
Editor’s note: All ages are racing ages, which is how old the rider will be on Dec. 31, and may differ from the cyclist’s actual age.