New Team for 2014 - Hagens Berman U-23

We are proud to announce Jordan Cullen will be racing for Hagens Berman U-23 Development Team in 2014. The team is new this year, and based out of Seattle, Washington. It is run by Todd Herriott and David Richter, co-owners of Herriott Sports Performance.

After 9 years of racing as a Junior, Jordan has finally graduated to the U23 ranks, and Hagens Berman U-23 is the perfect team for Jordan. The team provides a much needed bridge between the elite and pro ranks for young riders. The roster of 11 riders includes 9 U-23's (ages 19-22), and 2 Juniors (ages 17-18). On top of having a rock star roster, Jordan re-unites with former Slipstream Craddock teammates (and fellow Junior National Champions): 1st year U-23 rider Michael Dessau, and juniors Zeke Mostov, and Adrian Costa. The other riders include 1st year U-23 riders Stephen Bassett (formerly Texas Roadhouse), Daniel Gay (formerly Get Crackin), Owen Gillot (formerly Specialized Juniors), and Veteran U-23 riders Jeff Perrin and Eamon Lucas (both formerly Cal-Giant), Colby Waite-Molyneux (formerly Hagens Berman Elite), and Argentinian Sebastian Trillini.

The team will be racing many of the top USA National Calender events, as well as working in conjunction with the USA National Team, to provide riders with the opportunity to compete in Europe.

Jordan plans to graduate from High School this December, then move to the west cost to train full time. Next fall, he will be attending the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, majoring in Kinesiology, through the College of Education and Human Development. He plans on taking a full load of classes in the fall, and then attend classes on-line in the spring, allowing him to travel for bike racing.

My 2013 Junior Track Worlds Experience

I flew over to Glasgow this past week for the 2013 UCI junior track world championships.  I went into this trip just looking forward to riding an indoor track, as well as racing in my first world championship.

After settling in at the hotel the whole US squad headed over to the track.  Simply walking into the cabins where all bikes are stored was a bit of a shock.  Each country is given their own cabin to store bikes and supplies.  Many countries who are prepping to ride the track have their bikes prepared outside of the cabins, a dozen bikes, all identical to one another, all worth in excess of $10,000 each.  Having raced for many years, there's the obvious "the bike doesn't win the race" that you tell yourself.  Even with that, there's still the sense of awe when you see twelve BT track bikes painted in Aussie colors, for a group of juniors.

The two days before the team pursuit go well.  We get some team pursuit practice in, as well as become familiar with the track.  We wake up the day of the team pursuit and everything's good.  All of our warmups go well, we go up to the start area and ready for the race.  The first 3,000 meters of the race go well, never far off schedule.  Then with 1 kilometer to go we lose a rider, and only I see it.  The next man takes his exchange believing their to be 4 riders, not 3.  This causes him to fall off the back a bit and by then it was too late to recover so we finish in 4:27, 18th place.

During my cool down I watch the Great British, Russian, Kiwi, and Aussie teams ride.  Their rides are executed with such precision that it seems like a video game.  Leaving a space no wider than the width of a deck of cards between one another, all while riding at 35 miles per hour.  These 4 teams were so smooth that they made it look not like a race, but a dance of sorts.  In the gold medal round the Aussies ride a 4:02 to win, a breathtakingly quick time.  Watching these teams ride is one of the highlights of my worlds experience, and something I will remember forever.

The next day is the individual pursuit.  I feel good in my warm up and I am excited to race my last 3K ever.  In the ready area before my race I just think about the splits I am about to run.  Having trained at a pace well above what I was shooting for here I was not too concerned about being able to do it.  Then in the race I am not able to come even close to my splits.  Eventually I am struggling to hit splits more than a second slower than what I am used to.  I roll across the line at a 3:31 for 26th place.  A rush of disappointment floods into me, leaving me almost speechless.  I am not sad or upset with my ride at all. Just disappointed.  I still can not think of any reason that I rode so far off the pace I have been hitting for over a month.  All I can come up with is I had a bad day on the bike.

Aussies qualify 1st and 2nd with a 3:20 taking the top seed.  Watching these two guys ride was interesting as well.  I am used to trying to hold constant splits the entire race.  As anyone who has done a pursuit knows, attempting to ride a constant pace the entire race becomes near impossible in the last kilometer.  The Aussies approach this dilemma in a way that I never even thought of.  Simply ride the first half of the race extremely conservative.  And by conservative I mean outside of the top twenty.  Then in the last 1500 meters they accelerate, well above the pace they have been riding for the previous 6 laps.  And by the end they have made up all the time lost, and then some.

Coming home from this trip I reflected on the trip a bit.  I am not super satisfied with my results, but you can't always ride as fast as you want, so I'll live.  I also take away exactly the experience that I could only gain from coming to Glasgow.  How would I know about this different way to pace pursuits if I had stayed at home instead, I wouldn't have.  In no way do I consider this trip as a whole to be disappointing.  I actually find it extremely motivating, but I've always been someone who is motivated more by failure than success.

I can't express how grateful I am for everyone who helped me experience the 2013 UCI junior track world championships.  Without you guys supporting me I never would have had such an amazing experience as this was!  Thank you so much!

Team USA Announced for Junior Track World Championships

Team USA for Junior Track Worlds

Headed To Jr Track World Championships

Based on his performance at US Jr Track Nationals, Jordan has been selected for the World Championship National Track Team. He will be competing in the 3K Individual Pursuit and 4K Team Pursuit. His Slipstream Craddock teammates Michael Dessau and Jonathon Schilling have also been selected.

The Junior World Track Championships are next week, Aug 7-11, in Glasgow, Scotland. Jordan is qualified for Level 2 funding from USA Cycling, providing half funding of the $4000 trip fee. He still needs to raise $2500 to cover the other half plus baggage fees.

Jordan has setup a gofundme site for family, friends, and fans to donate to his World Championship Campaign. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated!

Repeat at US Junior Track Nationals

Repeat US Junior National 3K Individual Pursuit Champion

Rolling to a 3:31.333 in the Individual Pursuit

Repeat US Junior National 4K Team Pursuit National Champions

Rolling to a 4:35.015 in the Team Pursuit

3:29.10

Jordan celebrated his 18th birthday by annihilating his personal best 3K pursuit time by 6 seconds, clocking a 3:29.10. That's an average speed of 51.6 km/hr or 32.1mph.

He was lifted to this new district track record by the current record holder, Dan Casper, in a grudge match at Thursday Night Lights at the NSC Velodrome in Blaine, MN. Casper also set a personal best of 3:32.97.

Most of Jordan's family was present to witness this historic pursuit, which made it even more exciting.

The 2 pursuit champions are good friends, working to lift each other to new heights for the upcoming National and World Track Championships. Good luck to both! 

Junior Nationals Road Race

This year's nationals road race was a very enjoyable, and extremely challenging race. With a large climb every lap, coupled with a screaming descent, the race was guaranteed to split.

With such a strong team, we knew that it was possible to have multiple riders in the front group. The first lap was uneventful, with the group rolling around very relaxed. The fireworks went off the second time up the Blue Mounds climb.

The eventual winner of the race, Logan Owen (California Giant Berry Farms), attacked at the base of the climb. This caused a small split with myself, Justin Oien (MRI Endurance), Curtis White (Hot Tubes), and Geoffery Curran (Get Crackin') to get a small gap into the descent. It all came together into a small group at the bottom of the descent. I was extremely lucky to have two strong teammates in the group (Michael Dessau and Zeke Mostov).

The group worked well together for the following lap, but coming into the climb, every one was watching a single rider, and this allowed a group of 5 to slip of the front, and stay away for the remainder of the race.

The final lap was just a relaxed ride, for what remained of our group, before the final time up the climb. Going into the climb the final time, I knew riders would go early, blow up on the finishing section, and fade back hard. So I played the waiting game, and sat at the back of our group until 500 to go, I jumped, and was able to come in 10th place.

I am extremely happy with not only my performance, but the excellent rides from everyone on Slipstream-Craddock! Huge congratulations to Logan Owen on riding a near perfect race and coming away with the win, it was well deserved!

2013 USA Junior Road Nationals Success!!!

Slipstream Craddock sweeps the Jr 17-18 Time Trial Podium: (L-R; Zeke Mostov - 2nd, Michael Dessau - 1st, Jordan Cullen - 3rd)

Jordan finished an impressive 3rd in the USA Road National Time Trial Championship out of 115 riders. Even more exciting, his Slipstream-Craddock team swept the podium, with Michael Dessau 1st, and Zeke Mostov 2nd.  The team also placed Jake Silverberg in 8th, and Jonathon Schilling in 11th. Amazing performances!

Jordan followed that up with a 10th place finish in the Road Race, on a very challenging course, worthy of the national championships. His team gave them his full support, with Mostov and Dessau both finishing in the top 20. Congratulations to Logan Owen on dominating the road race, and winning his first National Road Championship!

The team capped the week off with the Criterium, where they rode aggressively, culminating in another podium, with Michael Dessau  finishing 3rd. More congrats to Logan Owen on taking his 2nd National Road Championship.

Both Zeke Mostov and Michael Dessau have met the automatic selection criteria for the 2013 Junior Road Worlds in Florence, Italy late September. Congratulations and good luck!

Jordan came into his final Junior Road Nationals with confidence, but no expectations. Needless to say, he was thrilled with his performance. He finished on the Time Trial Podium at each of the last 5 Jr National Championships, and finished with a total of 9 top 10 finishes overall. Congratulations to Jordan on his great cycling success!

Up next are US Junior Track Nationals in Trexlertown, PA July 24th-28th. He will be competing in the 3K Individual Pursuit, 4K Team Pursuit (with Dessau, Mostov, and Schilling), and the Madison (with Dessau). Jordan and his teammates are shooting to qualify for Junior Track Worlds, Aug 7-11 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Back in the Game

Lots of people have been inquiring "Why no updates on Jordan since Paris Roubaix?". Those close to Jordan knew, but we chose to let him heal and recover on his own terms, in preparation for his final US Junior Nationals.

As many of you know, Jordan sustained a use injury to his right knee while racing in March/April for the US National Team. Given this is his final junior season, with aspirations of going pro, he felt a lot of pressure to maintain a rigorous training program in spite of the injury. Unfortunately, this led to a series of setbacks, limiting his ability to train effectively for 5 weeks after his return from Europe. This ultimately led to his return home from Texas, a cortisone shot, and more rest.

His training program to build for road nationals started with 2 - 30 minutes rides a day on May 13th, less than 8 weeks before the event. This included several physical therapy sessions, developing the habit of extensive stretching 3-6 times per day.

After 3 weeks, Jordan started racing again in local Minnesota critierums. As nationals approached, a couple of his teammates came up to stay with us. This proved to be invaluable for all 3 of them, as they lifted each others spirits, and re-discovered their love of the sport together. The visit culminated with the 3 of them performing very well at a couple local Time Trials, providing them an excellent lead into Junior Nationals in Madison, WI.

I extend a personal thank you to all Jordan's family and friends for supporting him through this recovery process.

Paris Roubaix Juniors Re-cap - My hands are Effed-up



USA National Team: (L-R) Curtis White, Jordan Cullen, Tyler Schwartz, Miguel Bryon, Justin Oien, and Seth Veenbaas



Entering the famous Roubaix velodrome for the finish. You can see the 3 leaders on the far side of the velodrome. The group of 14 in the foreground include USA rider Justin Oien. Jordan is just entering the track a couple seconds behind the group



Post race. All 6 Team USA riders finished!

Jordan finished 18th out of 121 riders in the 2013 edition of Paris Roubaix Juniors, 34 secs behind the winner. Only 66 racers finished the brutal race.

After the race, Jordan stated "Good luck, bad legs." and "My hands are effed!"

Jordan's legs felt heavy and lethargic from the start of the race. They came around a little later, and he even made an attack later in the race, drawing out the eventual race winner, but they were bought back. He lost touch with the front group on one of the final tough cobbled sections, almost regaining them upon entry to the velodrome (as indicated by the photo above). Part of his chase was through the caravan, including bouncing off one of the follow cars.

During the race, he negotiated his way through at least a dozen crashes and pile-ups, where he managed to knock down a lady spectator, and ride over the hand of another rider.

The Juniors raced on the same course as the Pros, at the same time, doing half the distance. Therefore, after they finished, they had the privilege to stick around, and watch the spectacular finish of the Pro race. What an amazing experience.

The video below shows the front group whittled down considerably part way through the race. Jordan is the USA rider passing through the picture at 0:41 secs, with the blue helmet, and yellow sunglasses.

Jordan returns today to Williams Cycling Academy in Texas, in preparation for his next big race, The Tour of Gila in Silver City, New Mexico.

Success at Ster van Zuid-Limburg, 3rd Stage 2 TT, 4th Overall

Stage 1 - 105K Circuit Race

Stage 2 - 10K Time Trial

Stage 3 - 120K Circuit Race

Jordan finished 4th overall in his first race with the USA National Team this past weekend in the Ster van Zuid-Limburg 3-day stage race in Belgium. His stellar 3rd place finish in the Stage 2 10K time-trial solidified his overall position.

This was Jordan's largest race to date, with 170+ starters. He towed the line in stage 1 with his American teammates, Miguel Byron, Curtis White, Justin Oien, Seth Veenbaas, and Tyler Schwartz. Half way through the 1st stage, Jordan suffered severe right knee pain, and struggled to stay in the field. He said "Had to dig deeper than I ever have mentally, just to stay in the group." He finished 99th out of 173 finishers, in the same time as the main field. A solo rider broke away for the win, with the 124 rider deep field following 21secs later. USA riders Miguel Byron and Seth VeenBaas finished 8th and 13th, respectively. Stage 1 Results

Stage 2 was a 10K time-trial. Jordan could hardly walk after stage one. His knee pain was due to the saddle position on his USA team bike being set lower than the height he specified. Not a problem for the TT, since he brought his own TT bike to Europe. The knee didn't stop him from ripping a time fast enough to place him 3rd. USA rider Tyler Schwartz finished 7th. Jordan's time was just 8 seconds off the current European and Danish junior TT champion, Mathius Krigbaum. Krigbaum was 5th at last year's Junior World TT championship. Jordan's time was faster than Belgian's Nate Van Hooydonck and Brent Luyckx, who were 6th and 7th at last year's Junior World TT championship.

Jordan's time moved him up to 4th overall in the stage race general classification, with USA teammate Tyler Schwartz moving up to 7th overall. Stage 2 Results

The final stage was a 120K circuit race, with 3 1K climbs with 15% grade, and 35kph winds. Raising the saddle resolved most of Jordan's knee pain, but then he flatted 50K into the stage. Thankfully, his generous USA teammate, Curtis White, swapped wheels with him, a truly classy move. Jordan was able to catch up to the main field after a 15K solo chase. By the time Jordan regained the field, the riders in 1st and 3rd place overall had broken away, and were gone for good. Jordan finished in the field. USA rider Justin Oien won the field sprint for 3rd, taking the final time bonus, solidifying Jordan's 4th place overall. Tyler Schwartz maintained his 7th place overall as well. USA also finished 2nd on overall Team GC. Stage 3 Results

Congrats to the USA National Team on a great race, and good luck and Sunday's Paris-Roubaix!

Slipstream Craddock prevails at Fayetteville Stage Race

Jordan wins Stage 3, solo

Slipstream Craddock in control of Stage 3



Slipstream Craddock Junior Development continued their dominance of the Cat 2 races in Texas, winning all 3 stages, and taking 1st-4th in General Classification at the Fayetteville Stage Race.

61 starters in the Cat 2 field for Stage 1, a 70 mile road race, over rolling terrain. It was Slipstream Craddock rider, Imari Miller, taking the win in a sprint finish. Zeke Mostov was 5th. Noah Williams, Jordan Cullen, Michael Dessau, Adrian Costa, Carlo Villarreal, and Jonah Tannos finished in the field.

Stage 2 was a 9 mile time-trial, with Slipstream Craddock taking 1st - 4th:

1st Jordan Cullen 18:19

2nd Adrian Costa 18:59

3rd Michael Dessau 19:18

4th Zeke Mostov 19:22

Jordan's winning time was the fastest of the day for all riders by over 30 seconds, including the Pro/1/2 field.



Stage 3 was a 90 mile road race, also over rolling terrain. Slipstream Craddock raced with patience, and eventually Jordan got away with another rider with 10K to go. Jordan let the other rider do most of the work, to keep the rider from leap-frogging his teammates on overall GC. With 5K to go, Jordan attacked, and finished solo. Adrian Costa caught and passed the other rider, to finish 2nd solo. The rest of the team finished well, easily hanging onto 1st-4th overall on GC.

Congrats to Director Christian Williams and the team on another successful weekend of Texas racing!

Slipstream Craddock Dominates La Primavera Lago Vista

Slipstream Craddock teammates Jonah Tannos and Jordan in an early break at Lago Vista Day 1. Photo by Philip Shama

Imari and Jordan in the 80 rider Cat 2/3 field at Lago Vista Day 2. Photo by Philip Shama



Noah Williams and Jake Silverberg 1st-2nd at Lago Vista Cat 2/3 Day 1. Photo by Chloe Williams

 

Noah Williams does the double, at Lago Visa Cat 2/3 Day 2, this time solo. Photo by Biff Stevens

La Primavera Lago Vista is the premier, non-stage race in Texas Bicycle Racing. Slipstream Craddock fielded a six man team for the Cat 2/3's, Imari Miller, Jonah Tannos, Jake Silverberg, Jordan Cullen, Grayson Brookshire, and last year's Day 1 winner, Noah Williams.

The team took control early on day 1, with an early break by Jordan Cullen and Jonah Tannos. This setup the team beautifully, allowing Noah Williams and Jake Silverberg to breakaway with a small group later in the race. The pair finished 1st and 2nd, with Noah repeating his win from 2012.

The team was even more dominant on day 2, with Noah Williams doubling up on the weekend, with a solo victory. Even more amazing, the team placed all six riders in the top 12 places, in an 80 rider field.

Congrats to Sliptream Craddock and Williams Racing Academy!

The Road to Paris Roubaix - Appreciate the Journey

Jordan received an e-mail from USA Cycling on Feb 18th, inviting him race for 2 1/2 weeks this spring, for Team USA in Belgium and France. He will be competing with 5 other elite American 17-18 year old juniors in 3 events:

24 March: Meer (Hoostraten) kermesse, Belgium

30 March- 1 April: Ster van Zuid Limburg, Belgium http://stervanzuidlimburg.be/index.php?cat=2

 7 April: Paris Roubaix, UCI NCup, France

This marks Jordan's first opportunity to race for the Junior National Team. This will be Jordan's 3rd cycling trip to Europe, after going to EuroCrossCamp in 2011-2012, and Racing in Belgium for his trade team, Slipstream Craddock last summer. We are so proud of Jordan, and wish him the best of luck!

It's far too easy to get caught up in the thought of achieving your dream, that you fail to appreciate the journey. The road to greatness is challenging, and if you focus too heavily on the final destination, you will fail to gain happiness and satisfaction from the intermediate successes along the way. If you have great day on the bike, celebrate it, and wait till tomorrow before contemplating what if means for your future.

As Jordan's father, other parents of junior cyclists often approach me and ask how they can help their child become the best they can be. I think the best advice I can give them is help their kid dream big, set intermediate goals, and appreciate the journey.