Last 2 races summarized.

My last two races in Belgium were GP Hassalt and Superpresige Asper Gaverè. Here are my thoughts and reports on both.

Saturday - GP Hassalt.

     I had watched this course before and new it would be very fast because it was so flat. The course had several 180 degree corners, 2 logs, sand pits, a ditch almost a bike length long that people ran/hopped, and a set of logs with a muddy section after, making the logs near impossible to hop. Near impossible ;) I pre-rode the course and felt very confident with what I could do. The first lap I was back in the high 20s because the race didn't use UCI points so I was at the back of the staging grid. I picked my way through riders and made it to a group of 3 battling for 13th. I stayed there, kept attacking and attacking. Top 10 was just 15 seconds up the road. Going into the last lap I felt fresh and knew I could get the group sprint if that was what it came down to. 

     I have never been more in shock like I was moments later. While riding up a slight climb my left pedal ripped off. I looked down and couldnt believe it happened. I was thinking "please be an allusion... A dream... COME ON!" I ran to the pits because the threads on the pedal were stripped, I couldn't screw it back into the crank arm. Just like that I found myself in 30th. A very emotional day for me because I was having my best race all trip and to have such a freak mechanical like that... was crushing. I finished the last lap and decided I would be a crowd pleaser. Remember when I said the logs were "near" impossibleto hop haha. Well the last lap I hopped them, I just had to live up to my twitter name "@Hoppin_Haley" 

                                          That ditch I was talking about...

Last race in Belgium - Asper Gaverè 

     I had the chance to pre-ride this course a couple days before with a local friend. He showed me helpful lines, where I should be at the start and such. He knew what he was talking about because I used everything in the race. The funny thing about the these courses is how hard they are. All trip I kept telling myself... "Ok, that was the hardest" one race later... "Ok, now that has to be the hardest it gets". I can now say, this was the most brutal course I have ever ridden. Mud that would rip your shoes off, make your bike 30 pounds, and flip you over the bars if you got out of line by an inch. The course had a lot of running, climbing, and descending. There was one decent that was famous on the course. It was off camber, steep, and turns all the way down. In fact, years back at this race Niels Albert put himself in the hospital for 2 weeks from a crash here. My good friend Tom gave me some advise for the  decent. He said "just close your eyes.. It will be over soon" haha that's about what I did. This was yet another feature that has made me scared. 

     I was 2nd row at the start. I found myself in the mix right off the bat. In top 20. Belgian and European champion Yanick Peters didn't have the best start so I sat on his wheel. He deserves the jersey he has. The man child ripped my legs off. I went into the long climb in 20th and got to the top in 12th. After the first lap I was 10 seconds back from the lead group with 7 guys. Yanick had slipped away from me and I was alone with 4 guys right in front of me. I have never been this close to the lead of a big European race. Down the pavement stretch I latched onto the battle for 8th but wasn't going to let the lead group get away that quick. I passed the 4 man group on the first mud section. I told you about how think this mud was, that was no lie. I took the wrong line for a second and found myself face first in mud. I got up quick but the 4 guys were already around 10 seconds up. A big difference about racing here is you can't make mistakes. I feel like in America you have time to recover, but here in an instant you can lose 10 spots. I was back in 16th on the second lap and stayed there for another lap. After my first wreck I couldn't seem to have a clean race, I kept making stupid choices and it bit me in the butt. I finished 21st. Although the placing wasn't what I wanted this race was mentally, very strong for me. I saw the lead of a Belgian race and I know what I need to do to make it there. 

     I have training on and off the bike to do if I want my goals to be a reality. Honored to go back In a month for EuroCrossCamp XI. Excited to do more European racing soon, and see that top 10!

Stay classy

-Gavin

My Trip to Belgium

    The past three weeks spent in Belgium have been incredible. Being able to have this opportunity to come here and live, breathe, and sleep cyclocross has been crazy. Coming into this trip, I was focused just on the racing, spending all my time and energy thinking about how I could go faster and finish better. The more I stressed about it, the worse I would race. After my finish at Zonhoven (27th), I told myself I needed to stop worrying about racing so much and just have fun. I spent more time at races finding new people to meet, and having a good time. After my first three races here, I really started to enjoy my trip.

People believe the most difficult part of coming to Belgium is the racing. I now know this isn’t true. Although the racing is top notch, the best in the world, it’s the everyday part that is hard. Finding roads to train on, trying to get the right food, being homesick, and other details most people would overlook. Some guys can handle it, others can’t. For me, it’s been an adventure. I’ve loved exploring how to talk in Dutch, and living the life of a typical Belgian teen. I walk into the town of Oudenaarde, Belgium, at least once a day, usually at the time all the kids get out of school. I try to eat at the places they eat, shop at the same places, and meet new people at the same time. It’s been enlightening to meet so many people who all know about cyclocross. I haven’t had to explain the usual, “Well, it’s mostly a race in the grass, and sometimes there’s sand and mud… Oh yeah, and you run over these planks called barriers…” Every kid already knows the sport and even have favorite riders and courses. Crazy, right? Above all, the training in Belgium is one of the best things. Bike paths are on every road with cars passing safely, and the drivers even give you thumbs up occasionally. It’s just awesome to live in a place where cyclists are respected.

Just out for a ride. © Gavin Haley

With my trip coming to a close, I’ve been racing better and enjoying it more and more with every race. American Juniors and others are having trouble because they expect coming to Belgium to be an easy transition. The truth is, it’s not. If you can handle being away from family and friends, you’ll excel here. Personally, it’s been fairly painless for me. I love the culture, rain, food and of course, the racing. I could live here one day for sure, and this is where I need to be if I want to be great. My time in Belgium has been stellar, and I hope I can come back in the near future. So when you hear people say “Belgium is an experience,” well, yes…yes, it is, but it’s up to you to make it amazing or terrible. My trip has been amazing.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

First 3 races in Belgium

Superprestige Ruddevoorde-

     This was my first ever race in Belgium and I couldn't wait to get to it. The course was awesome! It had several turns, flyovers, whoops, and staircases. The day of the race it was wet and windy. The tempature around 45-50 degrees. The race was  at 1:15 so at 1:00 sharp the call ups started. I was 4th called up in a field of 60 juniors.. Great! Nobody was expecting an American to be at the race. The race was started by a "green light" the officials said within 30 seconds it can turn green whenever. It began. I was having an amazing start, 3rd position when all the sudden I missed a shift, although It was a quick fix, there were still around 15 guys that passed me. The thing I love most about racing over here is how much contact you make. I bumped a kid off the course and after he was like "that's just racing man!" It's sweet. The first lap you couldn't pass to much, it was really just stay with the group because it was so fast. The 2nd lap I past a couple people moving up to around 18th. I ended up catching a group with 7 guys all fighting for the top 10 I was with them until 2 to go when the group just split apart. I stayed in 14th and finished the race strong. Was happy with my first result in Belgium. Josey ended up 19th.

B post KoppenbergCross-

     Koppenberg was probably the hardest course I have ever raced on. When talking to Niels about it he said sarcastically "ohh it's not hard, half up and half down". Which is true. You start at the bottom of the cobble climb (koppenberg), go 1/3 of the way up on cobbles, go back down, then go all the way back up in a grass field. After the grass climb I'm pretty sure you have 0 oxygen in you're brain, then you go onto a crazy decent with several 180 degree corners that are off camber. You're supposed to "recover" on this decent... Whatever. Then you are at the bottom again, ready to start another lap! 

     I had a bad hole shot considering the  front row call up. After the first corner I was maybe 20th, but after the first mud section I was top 8. Right were I wanted to be. We got onto the koppenberg. I passed maybe 2 people going up the climb sticking right on Yanick Peters wheel. When we made the corner off the climb some guy flew by me. Seconds later he slid out, I hit him and flipped. When I got back up my bike was attached to his and he was dragging it away.. I chased my bike down and got back on. The leaders were gone. I just fought the rest of the race finishing 19th and out of breath. Josey had some problems too and ended up 27th,

Superprestige Zonhoven-

 

     To describe this course all I'm going to do is give you a picture. I have never been scared to ride anything in my life until this day. Truth be told.

     

     I pulled up to that sand downhill and stopped. Just stared and took a deep breathe. I've learned with things like this you can't think to much, if you do you're probably in trouble. I turned around and just went into it as fast as I could. It was awesome. 

     I had an amazing start today, was 5th in the hole shot then passed two guys in the first corner. 

     After the 2nd corner... I looked up and I was in the pits. The rule is if you're in the pits you have to get off and take 2 steps. After that, once again I was 25 spots back. So instead of going into the sand downhill top 5 i was now 25 spots back. I found out half a lap later that my legs sucked as well. Josey flew by me the second lap and just destroyed me. I went back to 34th and stayed there until 2 to go when my legs actually started to feel normal. I made my way to 27th the last lap and finished there. I will be honest and say that i was disappointed with my race. I learned a lot though and that is important. I'm ready to go out and kill it Sunday at Hamme Zogge.

Trek CXC Cup 2013

     Before I start this blog. I want to personally thank Thomas (mechanic) Joe Collins (mechanic) and Jeff Miller (Owner of Vo2 Multi-Sport) for getting my Focus bikes to feel identical. They are awesome guys and everyone who comes down for (Derby City Cup) if you are having bike issues  DROP BY. They will fix you up. Even if you are not, you should still stop in.

Day 1 Trek Cup:

    

      We arrived Friday afternoon before the Trek Cup; the weather was amazing. We got the chance to pre-ride the course, which is always an advantage. We rode a few laps then went to some sections that were difficult. The coolest feature on the course had to be the "Trek run up" which most people ran. We finished up at the course and headed to the hotel for some rest before all the fun started.

     The cat 2 race started in the afternoon but I was up and at it by 7 a.m. because my little brother was racing  the juniors 10-14 at 9 a.m. Watching my brother Paul shred the juniors up, brought back awesome memories from when I was 9. It was just amazing to watch him and almost see myself at that age. It really reminded me of how much I love the sport and what it's all about. After watching his race I was fired up!

     My new teammate (Josey Weik) and I got to the line and everything in my mind just seemed to quiet down. Then the whistle blew. The feeling of adrenaline is something special. I shot down the hole shot like there was a rocket attached to my Focus bike; and  never looked back. Half way through the 2nd lap Josey had almost bridged the gap. We we connected and we worked together taking pulls on different sections of the course.                           

 

     We rode very well together and in the end we came across the line hands in the air.

Day two, Trek Cup:

     Today would be slightly different. The course was changed a little, but the bigger change was our competition. We had to race with David Lambardo, who is a very successful junior cross and road racer. Josey and I would have to use very good team tactics to make this work out for us.

     I had a good start, getting the hole shot. It wasn't surprising to look back and see David locked onto my wheel. Josey was about 7 seconds off due to a bad start. After 2 laps a gap had been made and it was just Josey, David, and I. Josey and I worked as a team attacking David right and left making him work to catch back up. He kept on pulling us back. Man, that kid is strong. 

     We came through the start/finish with 3 laps to go. Several chasers within 30 seconds of us. As the race had progressed I found some sections I felt very strong in. One of those happened to be an off camber set of turns after the barriers on a HARD downhill. My Challenge tires, hooked up amazing. I attcked hard into the barriers jumping them as fast as I could. Halfway down the decent David wrecked taking out Josey with him. It was time to go. 

     Coming through the line with 2 laps remaining, 2nd was only 15 seconds behind. I didn't look back and just told myself "screw it or do it" I put my head down and turned it on. That lap my lead extended about 7 seconds. With half a lap to go I new I was going to make it to the line first. I stopped taking chances and just tried to stay smooth.

          Riding onto that finishing stretch was amazing. I don't think I've been that happy before. All this hard work has finally started paying off. I saluted God and put my hands in the air. I was stoked! Despite Josey's wreck, he still fought for a strong 6th place. It was an awesome weekend for Red Zone Elite taking the win on both days.

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About Me

     My name is Gavin Haley. I am a 16 year old cyclist and musician. I was born March-28-1997. I amcurrently a Junior in high school. I have 6 siblings: 2 brothers and 4 sisters. 

     I started riding my bike when I was 2 years old and got off my training wheels half a year later. I have grown up in an athletic family, cycling has been a huge part of my life. 

     Other than cycling I have a passion for music. Guitar and singing are two things I appreciate on the daily basis. My sister taught me how to sing over the years without me even knowing. We love to jam!

     I am home educated and have been most of my life. It allows me to do awesome things and get the same education as any other school at the same time. 

    I race for Red Zone Cycling during the cyclocross season and for IScorp Elite Cycling during the road season. 

     My goal for this 2013-2014 cyclocross season is to make it to the world championships in Hoogerheide, a small village in the Netherlands. It would be a dream come true.

      I also plan to pursue my music at the same time all this is happening. It is really amazing, because I get to study so many different styles of music everywhere I go. 

     I hope to graduate high school with good grades and get a full scholarship to a school with a good cycling program as well as medical program. 

     My blog will let people follow my cycling as well as music. I will post pictures while I am in Europe as well as several other locations around the country. Thanks for reading.

     

     

     Tag along! It's going to be an awesome ride!

     Quicker than the wind~

Road Nationals 2013

     The Road Race at Nationals was a crazy experience. I had never hit such speeds before in my life. I found myself at the start line an hour before the race began (typical). The sun was blazing down on me, it was incredibly hot. The race starts and 3 laps of crazy begins. The start is neutral until we make it to the bottom of the start finish hill. The blood was pumping at a rapid rate through the 15-16 field on a hot Saturday morning. Before we could make it to the end of the neutral zone there was already 2 wrecks. The officials decided to extend the neutral zone until half way down the 2 mile decent so wrecked riders could catch back on. This caused our rims to get very, very hot; Therefore tires started exploding left and right. After the neutral zone ended, the pace went from 20 mph to around 55 mph in a grand total of 5 seconds. I'm not going to write down some of the words that were going through my head, but you can imagine that for yourself. We hit a hard right corner near of the bottom of the hill, I look over to see 2 kids fly off the course and my good friend, Spencer Petrov, tri-podding in the grass like a total boss. I didn't know if he made it out alive, and that's not an exaggeration. I legitimately thought he was dead. At the end of the decent nothing too special happened. We road as a group for the rest of the lap except for some brave riders who tried an early break with my friend Ian McShane (who, by the way, had an amazing ride the day before, taking 3rd place at the TT) Everyone in the field had an eye on him. 2 miles before the base of the climb I am relived to see Spencer, who is alive. Cyclocross came into play for him today!
     We hit the climb and I just sit on Adrien Costa's wheel, knowing that he was the best climber in the field. We get to the top of the climb

first lap on climb.

and already more than half of the field had been shattered. The decent was not as bad this time. No one was working together, so a group of around 20 guys caught back onto the field. The 2nd lap was near the same. No moves went, the break-away was caught except for a move that had been away from the start. The second time up the climb I was dropped with around 200 meters remaining. I hit the decent and looked over to see Jonny Brown, who also didn't make it to the top with the lead group. We were working together for half a lap and then FINALLY caught back up to the lead group. Moments later there was an attack from Adrien that dropped me and 6 other riders. The lead group was now only 7 guys. Jonny attacked out of the chasing group to bridge back up again to the lead group. What a stud. I just tried my best to survive the last lap up the climb. It hurt.
     I ended up finishing 18th out of around 90 juniors. It was the hardest race of my life.
HUGE thanks to my team ISCorp cycling and ALL my sponsors. I would like to give a personal thanks to team leaders Billy Jones, Doug Close, Doug Zell. Also to my awesome coach, Matt Weik for getting me this far. It was an amazing season.

Finish.

Back in the Dirt, at Camrock.

     You could say I was raised in the woods. While that statement may be an exaggeration, my first discipline in cycling I learned was mountain biking. It made me the happiest kid when my Dad told me "Gavin we're going mountain biking". Knowing that, you wont be surprised with how excited I was to be getting back to racing again after "turning" into a roady this season :).

     On Saturday June 16th My coach, Josey and I drove from Duluth Minnesota to Madison Wisconsin to participate in the WORS series. The biggest mountain bike series in America. We arrived to the course in the early evening and went for a pre-ride to learn the trails and its features so we could shred race day! 20 minutes in on our pre-ride Josey and I were flying, loving the trails. They were fantastic, flowed well and had many corners (which fits my style of riding). Unfortunately I came into a corner way to hot and slid out landing on my wrist hard. We finished the pre-ride. Afterwards we got ice on my wrist right away.

     Thanks to the Swartz family, who opened up there home to us, I got a great night's sleep. Waking up to that warm and humid weather I've learned to live with in Louisville for so long was great. No doubt, I was ready to race. We made a stop to a local bakery as a result of my coaches constant begging for a Chocolate Croissant. I got a blackberry scone myself; it was awesome.

     Long story short we arrived to the race. Josey, Andy and I started to warm up. Andy's Mom gave us ice to put down our backs and necks as it was a very hot day. We finished our warm up and road down to the start line where hundreds of riders were already gathering. We were in the "junior elite class" so the actual "elites" staged in front of all other juniors riders. When everyone was all set, the officials did there thing. Then the announcer started a count down from ten. It was tense.

He randomly stopped at 5...

I Pause... (i didn't know what the heck was going on)

"GOOOOOOOOOOO" the announcer screamed for at least 10 seconds. This was strangest start I have ever done. Glad I experienced it.

     The field was very large, so it made it very hard to pass people. When we got to the first section of single track (the woods) we were not moving. just sitting on our bikes for at least 15 seconds waiting for the people in front of us to go. After the riders had spread apart I was able to settle into a rhythm and keep passing people as much as possible. Half way through the first lap my coach told me I was was 36 seconds off of 2nd and a minute off of 1st place. I picked the pace up a notch and by the end of the first lap I caught 2nd and was now only half a minute down from 1st. I kept pressing on slowly closing the gap on the leader.

     Half way through the second lap Josey caught up with me and we started trading sections to pull and work together. At the end of the second lap we had caught the leader. Josey flew past him in a grass section. I tried doing the same but was elbowed and couldn't get by. The rider sprinted in front of me and Josey right before the next section of woods, getting there first. So Josey and I were stuck behind the rider for the time being. He climbed the switch backs very slow, causing me to bobble on a switch back. So I had to run the rest of it. A gap formed between me and the leaders.

     The start of the 3rd and final lap I was 15 seconds off first and in a lot of pain. My coach handed me a bottle of water along with a Cliff Shot to help me keep my nutrition and hydration at the right level. I also received a bag of ice from Andy's Mom which was then stuck down my back. It cooled my whole body off and made me feel re-energized. The whole last lap I was struggling to gain time on the leaders and found myself instead losing time throughout the last half lap. My legs started to cramp and I realized making the podium (top 3) was the only realistic goal I could pull off. I was able to stay away from 4th and placed 3rd. It was a super fun race and would love to return next year! It was another successful day with Josey getting the win and myself 3rd. Happy with how things went and to finally get back to Mountain Bike racing! The WORS series lived up to expectations.






Josey Weik 1st, Gavin Haley 3rd.



freinds after the race.

Snake Alley Weekend

     I was very excited coming into this weekend as it has always been super competitive but also just a great time with family. For those who don't know of the snake alley. it is a criterium with a cobble stone hill built in 1898. they call it "The Snake" because of it winding turns. so long story short I arrived in Iowa the afternoon before my race feeling happy how I felt and with how the weather was. However, when I woke up Saterday (snake alley race day) I looked outside to find that wet stuff falling from the sky people call "rain". While most people flip out at the idea of racing in the rain, I was over joyed! I looked at the radar and it showed "50 degrees and raining" for most of the day. I knew the race would favor whoever had the most skill and guts. I say this because the criterium has a BLAZING fast decent with 3 hard 90 degree corners right after the snake. Hard enough as it is, Now we get to do it in the rain!
 
  I get to the course and begin warming up with my good friend and teammate Josey Weik. We both do several laps on the course until we feel confident  with all the features of the course. I get to the starting line and the officials give us the rules for the race. I am super stoked to race! This was my teams (ISCORP Elite Cycling) biggest team race so far with almost 10 guys out of 50 junior riders in the same field. I look around and realize how most of the riders are shivering because of how cold it is. I was one of the only riders warm because of the great warm up my coach (Matt Weik) gave me. I was ready for the 8 laps of pain!

     The Race is off! I felt like I was back in cyclocross season again! Every rider sprinting full speed into the first corner, all of them ignoring the slick road conditions. I did not have the best start. I tried not to panic knowing that the race just started and we had lots of time left to pass. We all get on to the alley, I am in about 15th position, first corner 1 rider slides out! Second corner, another rider slides out and stretches his bike out making it super difficult to come around. It's Funny because I expected the crashes to be on the downhill, not going up. I get to the top of the alley, despite the conditions people are still out cheering, screaming their heads off. I loved it. I started descending passing as many people as I could to try and catch the lead group. They were about 5 seconds ahead. At the bottom of the hill I was able to latch on to the lead group. By the end of the first lap there is already a main group formed of around 8 guys. We were flying. I looked back to see the rest of the field just shattered all spread out.

We all stayed together for the next few laps my teammate driving it up the snake lap after lap! Putting the hurt down on me and all the other competitors in the break. With around 3 laps to go in the race, my Teamate David Lombardo brought the pace UP on the snake and got a small gap with Stephen Basset (last years winner of Snake Alley) they stayed away for around a half lap but was then brought back from a strong pull by Spencer Petrov. We hit 1 to go. I could see the tension in the group, all waiting for someone to make a move. All eight of us eying each other. I was lucky to have 2 teammates there.I made a tactical error of not being near the front on the last lap. The acceleration up the Snake was simply to hard and i got gapped because of how fast the pace was! I tried my best to close back the split between me and the front group. Unfortunately I couldn't pull back up to the lead. Ian McShane and I sprinted in but he got the best of me. I ended up 7th out of 50 fast juniors! It was a great day of racing! Though I didn't make the podium my Teammates Josey Weik and David Lombardo were able to pull off 5th and the win! I was happy with how I finished. Later on that day I did the cat 3's and finished  4th with my Teammate Josey getting 3rd. As always it turned out to be a great day and an awesome team effort with 3 ISCORP riders in the top 10 in the crazy junior race!