12 months ago
DAVIS, CA - At least five days a week, rain or shine, you'll find the Davis Bike Club's Junior Racers on the road, clocking miles. The team of young racers has been training particularly hard this month in preparation for the Davis Junior Criterium race that will be held Sunday, Feb. 15 in Davis Central Park. The race is slated to begin around noon, not long after professional cyclists take off in Stage One of the Amgen Tour of California that begins at noon. April Rosas-Willett, 14, has been bike-riding all her life and started racing with the Davis junior racers about three years ago. "It's really fun and everyone's really nice and you get a good workout," Rosas-Willett said. Zach Wick, 16, trains at least five days a week, for at least an hour or two a day. Wick enjoys the camaraderie and motivation that comes with the sport. "From January to September, I race pretty much every weekend," Wick said. "It's mainly self motivation to get out and ride your bike and train for races." Andreas Freund, who is 16, also trains almost daily, riding mostly with friends and family. "It's really challenging, and it's nice to find something that you're good at," Freund said. Junior racer coach Shawn Miller said the club started out eight years ago with just one racer and now there are at least 15 young cyclists who compete. Recently the club started turning out professional young cyclists. "We have had young men come out of this program the last couple of years, one of which is now riding for Lance Armstrong's development team. So that's very exciting," Miller said. Miller also said the sport is catching on, with more and more young people showing interest. "Not every kid is going to be great at baseball or football or basketball, your core sports," Miller said. "This is something that you can do with those things or in lieu of those things and I would encourage it just as an activity."
