Bike Buddies: Samo students cycle competitively

While team sports gain school wide notice via games and awards, Samo also is home to independent athletes. Tommy Musca (’14), who has raced bikes for two years, is ranked first in his junior division and 27th in the nation. Musca has introduced many friends of his to racing like, Arden Lassalle (’14), Tyler Hakomori (’14) and Thomas Lin (’15). Lin has raced for one season, to become a two-time record holder in the junior 500 Meter and 20 Kilometer.Musca and Lin are both members of the Velo Club La Grange, which is one of California’s largest and oldest cycling clubs and fields one of the top amateur racing teams in the United States. Musca said seeing the club practice in the mornings while driving to school inspired him to start racing.“I had always been an avid cyclist,” Musca said. “Seeing the team riding around always made me want a road bike.”Lin who had always commuted around town by bike heard about The Velo Club La Grange from Musca.“The first time I got on a road bike I realized it was much faster than a normal bike. The speed was what got me into it,” Lin said. “I trained on my own for a while but after Tommy told me about La Grange, I joined.”Musca has been racing for two years and has already made a mark in the Velo Club La Grange Hall of Fame.“The end of my first season racing wasn’t very good. At the end of my second season I ended up being ranked first in the nation for my division of 15 to 16 year-olds,” Musca said. “Overall in the Junior division, which is everyone under 21 years-old, I am ranked number 27 in the nation.”Musca’s younger brother, Alex Musca (’15), said that Tommy Musca always has his mind on cycling whether it’s training, repairing or getting other friends involved.“My brother gets up at dawn, gets his stuff ready, leaves, rides 80 or more miles and then he’s back before I’m even awake,” Alex Musca said. “But when he’s not on his bike, he’s cleaning parts. He’s convinced me to go on some rides with him, but I always just end up having to play catch-up.”Hakomori who is also a member of The Velo Club La Grange said that it was Musca who got him involved with cycling.“Some time during freshman year, Tommy convinced me to train with him for a 100 mile charity ride,” Hakomori said. “Once we accomplished that, I kept on cycling and haven’t looked back since.”Unlike Lin and Musca, Hakomori has not been able to race for the past season due to his prior commitment to Samo’s cross country team. He hopes to race this next season.Lin and Musca said that they try to make sure that training and racing don’t get in the way of schoolwork. According to Lin and Musca, their junior team goes through hours of training a week, usually at 5:30 or 6 a.m. in the morning. According to Musca there are about 12 to 20 hours a week of practice depending on whether it’s on or off-season. Lin said during the summer there are around 24 hours of practice a week.“We have a coach who is a former national champion, Haldane Morris, and he gives us a training schedule,” Lin said. “Generally we take Mondays off, Tuesdays are intervals which means we have high intensity workouts for short amounts of time, Wednesday is endurance and Thursday is back to intervals.”Musca said the workout consists of cardio and practice. According to coach Morris, cycling requires a lot of endurance training and self-motivation.“They have to wake up early in the morning or go after school to train for a sport that requires determination. There are times when cycling gets overwhelming,” Morris said. “I remind them everyday of the goal they set out to accomplish and they always perform to the best of their abilities.”According to Lin, there are three divisions of road cycling: time trial, road racing and criterium. Time trial is against the clock and is more of an individual effort, road racing is climbing mountains and criterium is all around. Hakomori said these divisions play to each rider’s strengths.“The three of us are pretty different riders,” Hakomori said. “Thomas has a lot of sprinting power, Tommy is really good all around, and I’m more of a climbing and endurance guy.”Musca also got Samo track team member, Lassalle to compete with him in the Muddy Buddy Race, held in San Dimas, California. The race was a switch-off of mountain biking and running. The Musca-Lassalle team placed fourth out of 440 teams.Lin’s records are club-held and span the history of the club’s 43 years.“Mine and Tommy’s fastest sprint was 41 miles per hour (mph) on flat land,” Lin said. “My fastest speed was 61 mph and that was down a very steep slope. When you descend down a slope you need to have total control and that’s where knowing how to handle your bike becomes important.”Morris said he is amazed by all that Musca and Lin have accomplished and said it is truly impressive for teens like them to have done so well in cycling while balancing their outside and academic lives.With victory comes many more races and despite all their training and knowledge of bike handling, Musca said there is always a possibility for injury when riding competitively. Musca said his worst injury was a concussion from mountain bike riding. Lin’s worst accident occurred while descending downhill, where he cracked his helmet, an event that put his head in danger.Both Lin and Musca said the injuries are only a slap in the face that helps them focus back in on the game.“Injuries don’t really affect my outlook on racing,” Lin said. “But since most of my injuries in the past have been related to crashes, they’ve made me become more critical of my bike handling skills.”Despite the risk of injury, the need for speed keep Musca, Lin and Hakomori riding. They have all found a passion that, though they will not pursue it as a career, they will continue to do in the future. Though Hakomori has not raced this past season he already understands the true passion and thrill people can get out of cycling, which he owes all to Musca.“The joy of cycling comes from the inherent sense of adventure that goes with each ride,” Hakomori said. “What we experience from cycling is something we never experience in our everyday lives.”nmunasinghe@thesamohi.com