Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Roanoke cyclist wins world title
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
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For nearly two hours bike racer Bernie Sanders had been doing everything right.
Racing in the Union Cycliste' International Road Masters World Championship, the 60-year-old financial planner from Roanoke had stayed near the front of the 56-rider pack.
When other riders had attacked, Sanders had stayed with them.
Now he was approaching a spot on the course where it was his turn to take action.
Sanders' coach, Michael Carter of Colorado, had told him to attack at a specific traffic island not quite 3 miles from the finish line of the nearly 50-mile race.
"He said, 'I want to you sprint for 10 seconds, and don't look back,' " Sanders recalled of his coach's instruction.
Reaching the spot, Sanders put his head down and took off.
"It was either going to work or it wasn't," he said Monday, back in Roanoke after his trip to the race in St. Johann in Tirol in Austria. The move could work, Carter had said, because Sanders had done the necessary work and preparation to make it work.
A former college football player -- Sanders was a kicker and backup fullback at Lees-McRae and Gardner-Webb in the early 1970s -- Sanders started cycling in the late 1990s to get back into shape.
He soon started competing in local races and established himself as the state's top road rider in his age group.
In 2005, Sanders won the U.S. criterium championship in his age group, and felt good heading to Austria for the first time for the World Championship.
That year he finished seventh in the time trial, in which riders race against the clock, and in the 30s in the road race.
He returned to Austria in 2008 and 2009, and his results continued to improve.
Because a world championship remained elusive, Sanders said he decided to take a somewhat different approach to training.
About 18 months ago he started working on his strength with Che' Torry at Lifewise Fitness in Roanoke County.
Torry had Sanders use resistance training, as opposed to free weights, to build core strength.
"Bernie was an absolute monster," Torry said. "He's one of those athletes who, whatever you ask him to do, he's going to give it 100 percent.
"If you ask him go outside and stand on his head and put grass in his mouth, he's going to do it, and do it well."
Three months ago Sanders connected with Carter, a former pro cyclist who is now a top masters rider, for cycling-specific training.
Sanders said he usually rides two or three hours a day, six days a week.
Most of his training is done alone, in part because its less complicated than trying to plan group rides. Plus, it's not like Sanders has friends beating down his door begging to go on the intense rides.
"Most people don't want to do it," said Sanders, who is 5-foot-9 and weighs about 155 pounds. "And why would they?"
After arriving in Austria, Sanders quickly got on the bike, competing in a UCI world cup road race on Aug. 21.
In that race he attacked about 2 kilometers from finish and, after taking the wrong line at a traffic circle, was easily swallowed up by the best sprinters and finished 13th.
Wednesday, after a few days of rest, Sanders competed in the time trial, where bad luck hurt him.
First, his chain fell off while he was getting ready to start, costing him about 12 seconds. Then when he got on the road he realized his front tire was low on air.
"I almost quit, because I didn't want to crash," Sanders said.
But he decided to keep going and managed to finish 12th.
The road race was the next day.
After his attack, Sanders heeded Carter's advice and didn't look back. Finally, about 25 yards from the finish, he sneaked a peak behind him.
The pack was way behind Sanders, whose winning margin was 18 seconds.
That evening at the awards ceremony Sanders stood atop a three-tier podium as the "Star Spangled Banner" played. He got a medal, a trophy and the rainbow-decorated jersey that goes only to world champions.
"I can't put it into words," said Sanders, who said he races in honor and support of people who don't have the opportunity, including a couple of friends who are cancer survivors. "It's way beyond what I deserve.
"But I do this for others who can't. I'm sure some of it is the motivation and blessings I get from what they're going through."
Having finally achieved his goal of winning a world championship, Sanders said he isn't sure what will come next, other than spending more time with his wife, whose support he said has been critical in his success.
Time to retire from competitive cycling?
His rivals certainly hope so.
