Pouring rain and gusty winds gave the Trek-Livestrong under-23 cycling team a chance to sit down and talk about their weeklong training camp in Solvang. While wet weather drove the team inside, it did little to dampen their enthusiasm for Solvang. “There’s lot of passion about cycling in this town. This place is special because it has been the training destination of teams like U.S. Postal and Discovery. The best in the world train here. We are following in the footsteps of Lance (Armstrong),” said Glenn Kasin. “It’s cool to come to a town that is so excited about bike racing.”

Kasin was amazed at how nice the residents of the Santa Ynez Valley were. Kasin said during a bike ride with sponsors, a car pulled up next to him and thanked him for bringing the team to Solvang. He said Solvang makes the team feel at home and especially thanked the Bulldog Café for keeping the team well fed.

The team’s director Axle Merckx shared a similar sentiment. Before the rain started to come down in sheets, Merckx said the team had enjoyed a very good first day of riding through the Santa Ynez Valley. He said the area lives up to his expectations for California but still reminds him a little of Europe.

“I keep feeling like I’m riding in some European countryside, until I see Jack in the Box with an ad for 10 piece mini-churros” said Taylor Phinney a 19-year-old world cycling champion who rides for the Livestrong team. When asked if the “mini-churros” were on his racing diet, he responded, “Not when Axle is watching.” Apart from European charms, Ben King – a 22-year-old team member from Australia – finds something else he likes in the Valley: quiet roads. “Riding down south, you only travel (300 feet) and then you have to stop for traffic,” said King.

Those quiet roads have been a controversial issue in the past. Some Valley residents find cycle racing a nuisance because of the road closures and crowds. Merckx says he is confused by the backlash against cycling. “It’s our culture in Europe” he said. He also added that it usually lasts only one day and it brings an economic surplus to the area.


Future of cycling

The combined resumes of Livestrong’s riders read like a schedule of some of the most prestigious races in cycling. Not to mention a retired professional as a team director whose father happens to be one of the most legendary figures in bicycle racing. Top it all off with Lance Armstrong as the team’s owner, and you have a mixture ready to create tomorrow’s top cyclist.

In fact, that is Merckx’s goal for this year – to move as many of his riders to pro teams as possible. He said the Livestrong team was the right fit for him because it was brand-new at the time he was invited to come aboard. He had received other offers, but they were asking him to fit a mold already in place. He says when Armstrong called to offer him the position, he accepted because it gave him a “fresh start” with a new team.

King also likes the ability to learn; it “is a great opportunity to grow and succeed.” The team is a mix of riders from all over the world. King says he likes the diversity and the various backgrounds the riders bring to the team. Phinney says the Trek-Livestrong is “the best group of guys I have worked with.” Both Phinney and King share in Merckx’s goal of moving up to a top-level team, but they say the message of Livestrong is important, too. “Winning races is always a goal but so is promoting global cancer awareness,” says Phinney. Riding for Livestrong is unique because, as far as Phinney knows, his team and the Radio Shack team Armstrong rides for are the only ones that promote awareness while racing.


Rain, rain go away

The team spent most of Monday and Tuesday training indoors in the conference room of the Hadsten House. “Rain is one thing, wind is another,” sMerckx said of his concerns about the safety of his team. He said the unit was still evaluating how to reschedule their training due to the storms.

Although the team spent the early part of the week on roads around town, participants were a little sad their visit to Solvang would have to be a wet one. The team will have a chance to dry out upon visiting the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar for the next race. Perhaps in the blasting heat of the Arabian Peninsula, team members will even miss the rare rain in Solvang.

brookshire@syvjournal.com