Napa Gran Prix

Saturday was the Napa Gran Prix in Napa, CA which is where I live. It's my hometown race and I finished 6th last year in the category 3's field. In Saturday's racing, all the races except the pro/1/2 race was a win-n-out, which mean the 1st person to cross the line with 4 laps to go finishes 5th place and is neutralized is done with his/her race. This goes with 3 laps to, 2,1, and the final sprint for 1st place.

I raced the category 2's race with Eamon Lucas. There were many attacks going up the road, but none stick very well on the short .4 mile course. It got mostly back together until Eamon followed an attack and he got in a break of 3 up the road. With Eamon on his own, on the front, I knew I had to be at the front to follow any possible bridges up to that group. Eamon stayed away the rest of the race, and with the win-n-out situation, he finished 4th. I was still in the pack, but laps were going by very quickly in these closing laps...so quickly that I did see a 2 lap to go sign. I found my self way too far back with 1 lap to go. I went straight to the front, caught the front group in the head wind section before the U-turn and the finish and sprinted for the win. I finished just about 3/4 of a bike length behind the winner and now with not winning the sprint, it resulted me to finishing with a did not place (DNP).

I then raced the pro/1/2 race with my dad (Dean LaBerge) and it was very fun for my dad to watch that day. I was at the very front all day, until Nate English and a Metromint rider got a good gap and nobody was wanting to chase. I attacked and got the field all strung out, and as I went around the U-turn I heard a crash behind me. It was the guy right behind me; the field was stopped. I knew this was my chance to go solo across and I did. I caught up with the breakaway riders and started working together with them to increase our lead. Meantime, my dad is following any surges or attacks, making sure nobody else gets up the road to join me. Our gap increased to as much as 20 seconds and we knew with 5 laps to go, that we were going to stay away. All I could think of is winning the race because no junior has won a pro/1/2 race since Taylor Kuphaldt, and we has a very strong junior. We kept on working together, until 1-2 laps to go. Nate chose to drive it around half the course, before the head wind and the U-turn. And as I got around the turn, I made my move in the head wind, got around the U-turn, and sprinted as hard as I can because I wanted to make no mistake in losing this race, even though I didn't see anyone when I looked back. I had won my 1st pro/1/2 race!! And the best thing about it was that my dad was able to see it from the back side of the course when I won! My dad took 4ht place in the race.


It was a great day for the team overall as Eamon took 4th in the cat 2's, Chris LaBerge took 3rd in the cat 3's, Dean won the 35+ race, Larry and Kevin took 2nd and 4th, respectively in the 45+. Just overall a great day for the team! And I still can't believe I had won my 1st pro/1/2 race! Just can't thank the sponsors enough for how much they help support our team! Thanks for reading!

recent racing

well, it's been a while since my last post! So, I guess I'll give you guys an update! I've been racing a ton lately! I raced at Snelling raod race...that was horrible. I got behind a crash 500 meters into a 75 mile road race, in a pro/1/2 field!! My next race was Merco...I won the jrs! I then raced the pro field, filled with pros and finished 46th! The next day I raced merco foothills road race. I finished!! 120 miles!! Then was madera Stage race...I raced the pro/1/2 field and that was very hard for me. Lot's of climbing and TTT's, and to add on Cal Giant were drilling it the whole race in the crit and RR!! My next was San dimas Satge race, which was last weekend. I finished 76th in the  hill climb. Then it was the circuit race, I battled and got in a break, but got caught. I finished 14th. Then, it was the crit, and I finished 2nd!!I could have won, and I should have won because I chose to slide out and brake because the guy in front of me did and I was afraid he was going to crash and I was going to have no way to get out of the way.

Overall, it was been some good, hard racing! Can't ask more than that! haha. Thanks for reading!!

Valley of the Sun Stage Race

Last weekend, I was in Arizona! It was beautiful weather; upper 70's and just great weather down there. The 3-day stage race started with a time trial. It was 13 miles...I manage to finish with a 9th place result with a time of 34:20 in the 13- mile course. My teammates: Eamon, Andrew, and Torey went 1-2-3!! The next day was the Road Race. It was mostly flat. It was 57 miles long and I got in a break literally 2 km into the race. I eventually got caught , got in another break and more...by the end of the race, I had been away for about 45 of the 57 miles!! Also, with 1.5 laps of the 3.5 lap race, Torey got away and soloed to the line! It came down to a sprint and Eamon got that...I cramped up pretty bad with 2 km left in the race, but I definitely got in a great workout!

The last day of the stage race was the criterium, which means it's my day to win! Except there was one guy in the way: Cory Williams. He's the current National criterium champion and I have been waiting for this moment for a while now. We started ur 30 minute race, both of stayed in the group and whenever attacks would go, somebody would follow...it was clear that people wanted a field sprint. With one lap to go, we started our leadout...got through all the turns...2 more turns left until the finish and it slows up when Torey is still on the front trying to drive the pace. Unfortuanatly, it wasn't fast enough and so Erik Volotzky attacked going into the last 2 quick turns...I was too far back (8th or so). I gt out of the last turn, ansd started my sprint...I caught some guys, but 2 guys were far enough ahead ( Eamon OLucs (my teammate) and Ryan Gadow (SJBC). With 1st and 2nd taken...it was between Cory and I for 3ed. We both sprinted...he started coming around me at the last second and bam!! Bike throw!! I thought I had 3rd and beat Cory, but wasn't 100%...I eventaully saw results and noticed I did in fact finish 3rd! I still haven't seen a photo finish of in the bike throw, but I'm sure it was very close!!

Thanks for reading
James LaBerge

Cherry Pie Criterium

Yesterday was my 1st race of the year in Napa. It was a great day for the team! In the juniors race I sat in the whole race, moved up to the front in the closing laps and started my sprint, but when I started my sprint my chain fell off! I got it back on right away, but by that time it was too late. I eneded up finishing 5th. Specialized went 1-2-3-5!! :)

My next race of the day was the pro/1/2 race. There was a good 70 guys or so, and it was pretty fast with the wind picking up in the later part of the day. A break of about 10 got up the road and with about 12 laps left in the race, I followed an attack and only one other guy followed me. So, it was a group of 3 of us trying to get away from the pack, but chasing the group of about 10 up the road. We got halfway across the gap and I was dead...my heart rate was up to 195 bpm! One of the guys in my break sat on because he had a teammate up the road. Just after that, I blew up, got caught, and went to the back of the field. As I was getting reeled back in from the pack, I started getting some really bad cramps. I could only think of to drink drink drink (water) and it paid off. I got better as the race continued on, and was ready for the sprint (the break of 10 or so stayed away). I was sitting a little too far back, but started my sprint and finished about 5th in the field sprint; about 15-20th overall.

After the race, I found out one of my breakaway companions was Tim Farnham (Adageo Energy Pro Cycling), and a Yahoo! cycling team guy...both are pros. In the end, it was a good day and I'm looking forward to next weekend down in Arizona for Valley of the Sun Stage Race!!

1st training race

Well, I just got back yesterday from a team ride the whole weekend, but I had a ton of fun! I also had my 1st training race! I mentored other races prior to my race (pro/1/2/3), which was fun and got miles in.

So, we started the pro/1/2/3 race very good and I went off the front a few times...great workout though. The race was coming down to a sprint and it was 1/4 lap lap left and I was sitting about 12 guys back. Except after getting around the 2nd to last turn, my seat drops down, which doesn't help at all! I try to fix it, but can't due to the massive speed that we were going. I got out of the last turn about 10th place (little far back), but I tried the sprint but didn't have any energy left...plus, my seat was still messed up. I ended up not sprinting and finished about 30th.

Good race, good workout = January racing.

My coach was able to find out was wrong, and I fixed it right away so that it won't happen again!

Great weekend! Thanks for reading!

cycling season coming up!

It's December 8th now, and my 1st race is only 25 days away! I have so much excitement inside of me and I just can't wait for it to start! It's really tempting to go out there and kill myself right now, but I think I will save that for nationals in June!

Anyways, it's just about time to start doing some harder training to prep for these races coming up! I'
ll keep you posted later!

1st blog!!

Well, here's my first blog!

Well, off season for cycling has been great! Except, I have recently just gotten sick yesterday...let's hope I get better soon! :)

School has been good and now looking into colleges.

anyways...1st blog done!! I'll keep all you posted...