Details at Braden Romer had a successful weekend in Pennsylvania at the USABMX Stars and Stripes National. Taking home a 4th on Friday night and 6th (after contesting for 2nd but getting tangled with another rider☹️). This puts Braden 6th or 7th in points for the season, we should know for sure this week after the points are updated. We are looking good for two NAG plates this year with Braden and Kit Bjerk! Speaking of Kit, he showed up in PA to work for Camp Woodward and also to support Braden. Kit is spending the summer in PA coaching BMX for the well known action sports camp.
The u23 team +David left for the Tour of America’s Dairyland directly from the National
Championships. Here is their 2019 TOAD Recap, in their own words:
Mikki Whittington
Racing ToAD for a second year was another wonderful experience both on and off the bike. I got to race in a field of 75 women, the first time that ToAD has sold out a women's field, and it was so awesome to race with so many women. The races were fast paced, but I managed to find a group of eight or so women to race with. It is quite relaxing and motivating to take a week long break from all of my responsibilities and be able to just ride and race my bike. I look forward to racing in Wisconsin again and hope to be more competitive in the following year.
Will Hardin
06-25 Janesville- 1st
First day, I attacked twice followed by Marcel, who went for a 200 dollar prime and won, I bridged to his group and three of us maintained a 15 second gap on the technical course. It began to rain and then someone dropped a broom in one of the corners. The organizers offered a 1000 dollar prime to the field on the second to last lap and the field closed the gap quickly, I told Marcel to give it all he had at the beginning of the last lap and got about a third of a lap before I came around him, our other break member was gapped when I came around Marcel and wasn’t able to catch up in the rain, I came across the finish line about ten seconds in front of the field. Close race! And a good start to our series.
06-26 Muskeego Park- 13th
Course with a good hill, break got away and stayed away. I tried to bridge and was about 50 meters away when the pack dragged me back, then sat up. I went about 600m before the finish and a few from the pack came by me, I finished right behind Marcel who was in the pack sprint.
06-27 Shorewood- 4th
I played the same tactic as the fist day, spending most the race attacking, one prime saw the sprint jersey, overall leader, third overall, me and another rider in the break with over thirty minutes left, we worked well together until the last few laps which saw everyone cracked, I attacked at the beginning of the last lap when I saw the others loose my wheel looking at each other, the 3rd place rider (a membe. Of Joe carpassasi's team) attacked the other three, inadvertently bringing up the two sprinters and resulting in a third for him and fourth for me.
6-28 Bay View-6th
Technical day with sharp corner and a slick back section before the finish. Marcel and I both worked hard to establish a break but all attempts were unsuccessful, pack finish was sketchy but I managed to move up through the last two corners and finish in a decent position, the end saw a crash into the barriers right beside me.
6-29 Downer-17th
Four corner crit with one sharp corner, course triangular. The field would not let a break go, Marcel was in the longest attempt, lasting about two laps before being reeled in by a team with no reason to bring it back. The finish was tight and saw us bouncing off one another, weird moves saw us both go from the front to the back in the washing machine effect, riders were being unsafe but I moved up as fast as I could in the last lap to finish in the group.
6-30 East Tosa- 4th
Rain and lightning saw the delay of this race and many riders were cold and wet at the start, over 30 didn’t show up. We found out I was in 7th overall and 5th in the points classification after only racing half the race and my goal was to defend both titles for the series, there were a few crashes in this very wet race and the pack was timid all day, it was single file the whole day and there was a limited top speed on each lap a crash happened a few wheels in front of me and saw two riders go down mid race, Marcel and I tried to break away a few times but we were dragged back. I got second in the sprint competition, securing my spot. In the finish I heard a crash in the last three laps, it was Marcel. I was on my own and was caught in no mans land between a strong attack and two large sprinters. I burnt a match getting up to the attacker and the sprinters came around. I kept my overall place by one point.
David Davenport
Tour of America’s Dairylands (TOAD) was an amazing experience. I got to see parts of the country I had never seen before and get some really fast racing in. Finished top 20 in pretty much every race. These races were really competitive. The national road race champion was racing alongside me and multiple other nationals podium fillers. All in all, a great trip!
Marcel Gutierrez
ToAD was hard! There were so many hours simply paying attention to the wheel in front of you (or car, since we spent a ton of time traveling too) that the mental fatigue was more difficult to cope with than the physical fatigue. For the majority of the trip, I didn’t feel amazing, but I knew I had fresh enough legs to build into feeling good toward the end of the week. On day one at Janesville, Will and I sent it off the front close to the beginning of the race just after I won a $200 field prime. Our break consisted of us and one other guy with a field chasing us down for 30 min. With two laps to go, the announcers called a $1000 field prime (meaning that we weren’t in the money since we were off the front) and with one lap to go they were on our tail. I knew Will would be better for the finish for me, so I pedaled as hard as I could for the rest of that lap where Will was able to come around and smoke the rest of the peloton, snagging the win. The rest of the week resulted in many attempts of replicating that race which became much more difficult since we were now marked riders. We knew we couldn’t compete very seriously in the field sprints, so breakaways were our only options for results. My best chance for a win was on the last day at a rainy, four corner East Tosa crit with a little hill after turn one. I was flying that day, and after 30 min of attacks and counter attacks by me and Will, the group had diminished to about 15 riders from the 35 who started. At 3 laps to go, my back wheel slid out and I hit the pavement hard, breaking both my shifters. It was a sucky way to end the week, especially on a day where I truly thought I could win, but that’s bike racing and I’m only hungrier to make up for what I missed out on this year.
Also, check out new rider Uriah Valentine with his recent multiple wins in the Racing in the Woods MTB series! Way to go UU!
Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law National Cycling Center Ken's Bike Shop Rouler Sportswear MemoryPilot Pioneer Cycle Sports USA BOX Components FTB BMX
-Big thank you to Jenna Farris and Joe Carpisassi for housing the team during ToAD!
Wes winning the National Championship 2019!
Pic by Bruce Buckley www.brucebuckleyphotography.com/Sports/Cycling?fbclid=IwAR0hk6DD2iWyxxLoWO61DWTICRl6mumJHVME5_xG_...
In case anyone missed my fb posts, tweets, or texts from the last five days...
We had a very good showing at the USACycling National Championships in Hagerstown MD this past week.
Time Trial
The 17-18’s were the first of our riders to hit the course. We had David Davenport, Niko Salazar Garcia, and Jacob Bernas all racing on road bikes in this 20km event. But, with only clip on bars (Niko didn’t even have the luxury of those) and fast wheels. Not ideal but still they hit it hard and got more experience at the national level. In the 13-14 race, which requires road bikes and no aero bars or solid disc wheels, Will Zylstra and Wesley Haggstrom blazed through the 11km solo race and Wes brought home a bronze medal with his 3rd place finish!
Road Race
Our u23 racers Marcel Gutierrez and Will Hardin were up against a stellar field of young Pro riders, including the Aevolo team and riders from Elevate, Project 303, Wildlife Generation, and Hagens Berman - Axeon. Marcel was caught up in a lap two pile up but tried to claw his way back to the field with Aevolo’s Gage Hecht. He made it but, unfortunately, it was right at the verydifficult crosswind section and he was soon popped off the group. Will made it through the 111 mile race and managed a 53rd place finish! Quite a result in a stacked field. David Davenport also had rotten luck in the 17-18’s with an early flat that spit him out the back during the hardest moments of the race. In the 13-14’s Wes picked up the win, he is your new National Champion!!!
Criterium
Wes had the early race Sunday in the 13-14’s and spent the early part of the race trying to get a break established with his weekday sparring partner CJ Burford. The two spent a few laps off the front before being caught by the field. Later CJ made a big move with 5 to go but was caught with 2 laps remaining. It came down to a field sprint and our man Wes was 2nd, his third medal of the week! David Davenport made it into 72nd place in the brutal 17-18’s to notch up another national caliber race experience this year. While Will and Marcel managed 52nd and 50th, respectively, in yet another ripping race full of Pro’s.
Here is a look at Wesley’s new (Captain America) National Champion race suit!
Also, in BMX news, Vet Pro Braden Romer snagged a 4th place finish at the USABMX Midwest National in Rockford, IL. WAY TO GO BRADEN!
Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law National Cycling Center Kensbikeshop Rouler Sportswear MemoryPilot Pioneer Cycle Sports USA BOX Components
2019 USACycling National Champion Road Race 13-14 year olds, Wesley Haggstrom. We are so proud of you Wesley!
Also, so happy for local racer and team friend CJ in 4th!
Great race guys!!!
Big thanks to our team partners for getting us here!
Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law National Cycling Center Kensbikeshop Rouler Sportswear MemoryPilot BOX Components Pioneer Cycle Sports USA
And, Jamie Bennett, my friend for almost 25 years, you are the solid foundation of everything we do.
Wesley Haggstrom with the win!!!!! National Champion!!! Way to go Velocious Sport team! Big thanks to all of our sponsors Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law National Cycling Center Kensbikeshop Rouler Sportswear BOX Components Pioneer Cycle Sports USA MemoryPilot Velocious Sport
And, huge thanks to the Haggstrom family!
Fantastic
Fantastic racing this past week by the team!
It started with the Triad Crit Series at Dixie. We had a huge showing in the C Race. From the Junior team: David Davenport, Wes Haggstrom, and the Salazar Garcia’s Elizabeth, Niko, and Matthew; as well as u23 riders, Jake Grimes and Mikki Whittington. Jake attacked with about 10 laps to go and had a 15 second advantage over the group which was being patrolled by Niko, David, and Wes. While the field chased furiously, he held his gap to the line and took the C Race win with Wes 5th and David 8th!
Some race videos here:
https://www.facebook.com/VSJru23/videos/1786178054774819/
https://www.facebook.com/VSJru23/videos/1786236048102353/
And the finish here:
https://www.facebook.com/VSJru23/videos/1786187288107229/
The juniors then helped run the kid’s race, following behind to make sure no riders warming up on the course interfered with their race.
Later in the evening Will Hardin put in a tremendous effort at the front of the A Race to take a solo victory. Our first A race win this season and our second win of the night! And, I didn’t get pics again because I was racing with him 
😬 But, Zach Hosteler and I know exactly how much effort he put into that ride, ouch.
Back on the 20” wheel bikes, Kit Bjerk, Matthew Salazar Garcia, and Gus Hamblen did some BMX racing over the weekend at Powder Springs, GA and Tanglewood. At Tanglewood, Gus brought home his second trophy since graduating up from the balance bike category! 3rd on his big bike 
👍🏼 Matthew snagged a 2nd in 13 expert at T’wood after a hard fought battle with road/cross teammate Wes Haggstrom (C-Yaa Factory Team for bmx racing). Kit brought home 2nd place on Saturday in Georgia at the USABMX National Series race! He followed that up with an 8th on Sunday after slipping on the gate in the cold rain, still a great result to make it to his main again in tough conditions and in the toughest category in amateur BMX.
Thanks for supporting these kids! Come watch them race on Tuesday nights at the Crit Series, Saturday’s at Tanglewood BMX, or at the WSCC on May 26th in Winston Salem.
Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law National Cycling Center Kensbikeshop Velocious Sport
Updates
Hey everybody, a couple of updates from last week…
We recently picked up two new racers! Pic’s and a short bio below. The team raced the Triad Crit Series at the Herbalife plant and the NC State Series race at Tanglewood BMX.
Herbalife was a huge success this week. Peter Wallace grabbed the win in the C race with help from his junior teammates! At about 3 laps to go in the race, Niko and Wesley broke from the pack and strung out the field. They were caught with about a lap and a half to go but the move set up Peter perfectly for the sprint.
Zach and Marcel raced the A’s and Marcel was able to pull off 2nd place!
Later in the week we hit the BMX bikes for the State Series race in Tanglewood Park at the BEST track in North Carolina, Tanglewood BMX (totally unbiased opinion
😉).
Kit Bjerk took the win in 17-20 expert, Niko Salazar Garcia won the 15 expert, and Matthew Salazar Garcia was 2nd in 13 expert! Gus Hamblen also picked up 3rd in 5 novice.
Now the new riders, David Davenport and Jake Grimes!
image1.jpeg
My name is David Davenport. I have been riding with the purpose of improving for about a year. My main goal is to be the best, not just in cycling. I want to improve and meet new people. My goal for this year is to gain around 30 watts on my FTP, so I can move up in categories, before the end of the summer/fall. I am currently 15 years old; born on May 19, 2002, in Winston-Salem, NC
My name is Jake Grimes, I am a Sophomore collegiate cyclist at Lees-McRae College. I was born on August 5, 1998 and I have been riding a bike ever since! I have raced 7 seasons of cross-country mountain biking, and I have shifted my focus completely to road racing. My big goal for this up-coming season is to reach a Category 3 upgrade by the end of the summer. I am currently a couple of starts away from my Category 4 upgrade.
Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At LawNational Cycling CenterKensbikeshopVelocious Sport
Spring Break
We’ve had little break in racing with the juniors being on spring break and going on vacation. But here are the highlights this week:
The kid’s race at Dixie is steadily growing each week. If you have any under 12 bike riders, or know of some, bring them out for a one lap race at the Triad Criterium Series!
Jacob Bernas was our only junior racer on Tuesday in the C race. He had a good ride and stuck around to watch Marcel in the A race. Hanging around to watch the Pro 1/2 riders is actually a very smart move. These kids can learn a lot about tactics (and suffering) by watching the upper category racers.
And, Marcel and Zach were putting on a fantastic show in the A race. The field was deep with pro cyclocross racers Travis Livermon, Kerry Werner, and Alex Ryan, plus a special visit from Wake Forest Alumnus and super fast California racer Dr Stephen Vogel. Zach and Marcel put in huge efforts to get away but it wasn’t to be as the pack came together for a field sprint in the last few laps.
Meanwhile, Kit Bjerk has been tearing up the local BMX scene at the Tanglewood and Burlington tracks. Kit is heading to Georgia in a few weeks for the USABMX National where he has a really good shot at more podium finishes!
We are racing BMX Monday night at Tanglewood and heading to the third round of the Triad Crit Series on Tuesday (Herbalife plant off Union Cross Rd at 6pm). Then, it’s back to T’wood on Friday and Saturday for our State Qualifier race. Details on the website http://www.usabmx.com/tracks/1906/events/schedule?mode=list and FB Tanglewood BMX.
Come on out and watch the team compete this week!
Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law National Cycling Center Ken’s Bike Shop
Rock Hill BMX and the Love Valley Gravel Race
Kit Bjerk hit the Carolina National at Rock Hill BMX and raced Expert 17-20. This is an ultra competitive class with about 50 riders fighting for the win. Kit breezed through motos, quarters, and semis to make it to the Mains on Saturday and Sunday and picked up a 3rd and 6th in the 17-20 class!!! I think a move to A Pro is right around the corner this year. Big thanks to Potter Racing Products for getting our BMX jerseys done in time for the Carolina National! If you need BMX/downhill or pit jerseys MADE IN THE USA, talk to Doug!
Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law National Cycling Center
Ken’s Bike Shop
Meanwhile, Peter Wallace was suffering in the muck at the Love Valley Gravel Race and the other u23 riders were at collegiate road races. Peter rode most of the race with Mother Team (Carolina Masters) member Emily Shields, working together to make it to the line in 3:24ish! As you can see, conditions were awesome! Mud, gravel, slippery pavement, mud, and gravel.
Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law National Cycling Center Ken’s Bike Shop
Meanwhile, Peter Wallace was suffering in the muck at the Love Valley Gravel Race and the other u23 riders were at collegiate road races. Peter rode most of the race with Mother Team (Carolina Masters) member Emily Shields, working together to make it to the line in 3:24ish! As you can see, conditions were awesome! Mud, gravel, slippery pavement, mud, and gravel.Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law National Cycling Center Ken's Bike Shop
Posted by Velocious Sport Jr/u23 on Monday, March 26, 2018
Ace Again
The junior team raced at Ace Speedway one more time last week.
Why do we keep racing at Ace, it’s not a race series, it’s the only venue hosting races at the moment. We’ve lost a lot of good road and Criterium courses in North Carolina and there doesn’t seem to be anyone taking up the slack. Always remember to support your local race promoters!
Now, on to the fun stuff. The Salazar Garcia’s are well acquainted with Ace by now and know exactly how the race will play out. Their experience paid off, Niko and Matthew visited the podium again in first and third! — with Maria Salazar, Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law, National Cycling Center and Ken’s Bike Shop.
Bull City GP
Race report! The junior team raced the Bull City GP, at not Durham (?) but Ace Speedway on Sunday. Niko, Elizabeth, and Matthew Salazar Garcia joined Finn Hosey and Jacob Bernas for more laps of the now quite familiar speedway. The team did exceptionally well, taking the top three spots!
Niko and Jacob doubled up and raced the 4/5’s as well to get in some more fast training. It’s not easy riding in the senior category but that’s the point, they ride over their head a little and learn how to race with a larger faster group.
U23 rider Marcel Gutierrez teamed up with Senior rider Zach Hostetler for the 1/2 race and the pair made the big break of the day only to get caught shortly before the finish. Still, a good effort and great training.
Presenting the Team
We recently had our team presentation at Mullen Lowe in Winston Salem. Big thanks to everyone who participated and showed their support for the team!
Ace Race #2
The Velocious Sport Jr Team (Crumley Roberts, Attorneys At Law, @usnccws, Kensbikeshop) had a great day of racing Saturday, Niko Salazar Garcia won the Ace Speedway Criterium Series in the Juniors category! He was first on the day to secure the series omnium title after winning both events. Jacob Bernas was 3rd on the day and 3rd overall in the junior omnium.
Despite the freezing temps the guys doubled up and raced with the senior 4/5’s where u23 rider Peter Wallace led out the sprint and hung on for 4th, while Niko was 5th. It’s been a good start to the road season! Big thanks to Triangle Velo for the racing.
Learning how to cope with cold weather is not easy but thanks to some warm Rouler Sportswear fleece jerseys and leg warmers, everyone was well prepared.
