Interview: Sarah Pritzker

1.   How did you get into cycling?
   My beginning in cycling was not exactly glamorous. My dad had always been an avid rider and through him I sort of “caught the bug.” I was also an extremely avid Tour de France watcher and the combined influences made me want to see what was available to me with road racing. Initially, I played around on the internet looking for a cycling camp and it was during this time that I came across the website for the MN Junior Cycling club. That spring, I showed up for one of their team rides and have been racing/riding for them ever since.
   
   
2.   Tell us about your team MN Junior Cycling
   MN Junior Cycling is a unique program for the area in that it caters solely to junior athletes and, starting this past year, U-23 athletes. We are coached by Dag Selander, a former member of the Norwegian Olympic team who really knows his stuff. He is a great coach and has what I see as a unique ability to coach beginners all the way up to super elite riders. The team has probably about 15 riders with all different sorts of experience. Some of the kids have been biking for a really long time and others are new to the sport. Out of that, there are four girls who ride for our team. We are really trying to expand as a team and especially put forth stronger junior girl’s fields for the races. Our team mainly does road racing with some mountain biking and track riding mixed in (plus many of us race cyclocross in the fall). For road season, we begin training in late March to early April and ride into the end of August. Road season is pretty busy for us; we train together about twice a week and race 2-3 times a week. Even though we work hard, we still have a lot of fun together and are constantly learning and growing.
3.   Did you do any school sponsored sports in high school? How did those sports help your cycling and how did cycling help them? What are the pros and cons of school-sponsored MSHSL sport versus a club program like MN Junior Cycling?
   I began my high school experience playing really traditional team sports. I swam, I played basketball and I played softball. By the middle of high school, my focus had definitely changed and I quit basketball to join the Nordic ski team at my school, St. Paul Academy, and run track, for a brief and embarrassing time! Skiing really became my passion, however. I had great coaches who encouraged me even though I was a sophomore in high school who had never even been on Nordic skis before. Eventually I got more serious about skiing and began working out with Minnesota Valley Ski Club. That off-season training really helped me become a better skier, as did going to the West Yellowstone Ski Festival. I think my skiing and cycling formed a mutual relationship. The stronger rider I became, the more my skiing improved as well. There is a ton of overlap between the two sports and the cross-training is beneficial no matter what your primary focus is.
   There is definitely a big difference between competing in a club sport vs. competing in an MSHSL sponsored event. One really isn’t better or worse, but you really do notice the variation. High school sports are great to get you started and an amazing opportunity to get good coaching free or at a reduced fee. But if you do want to really become competitive in whatever you pursue, I don’t think purely the high school training is enough. It is enough in volume, but to excel at something, you need to be practicing/training more than just three months out of the year, which is what most high schools offer to you. Club sports are great to get you to the next level or to give you exposure to sports that the Minnesota State High School League doesn’t offer (such as cycling). I think the main issue you have to overcome with club sports is the intimidation factor. Be it soccer, skiing or cycling, many of the people involved with club sports have centered a lot of their life around those sports and subsequently are good at what they do. My best advice: learn from them and don’t let it bother you. Everyone had to start somewhere.
   
4.   How can one find out more about MN Junior Cycling?
   Our team has a website you can check out at www.mnjrc.com or come see us ride at the local races!
5.   Where did you go to high school? Where are you going to college? How did you select your college? Do you plan to continue with sports there?
   I just graduated this past spring from St. Paul Academy. In a few weeks, I am heading out to Bowdoin College in Maine to start college. I chose Bowdoin because it had great academics while still being collaborative and not competitive. Plus Maine is a just a great place to be and I can ski and ride there! Even though I won’t ski my freshman year out there, I hope to ski for Bowdoin starting my sophomore year. Right now I am still focused on the bike. I will continue racing out there as much as possible both on the road and cyclocross.
6.   You just bought a new cross bike. Is that something you are hoping to compete in this fall?
   Yup it is! I just bought a new Ridley and I love it. Even though I will be far from home, I will be riding for the Ridley team out there. I am going to try to race cross as much as possible and perhaps might make an appearance at some of the local races back here in Minnesota.
7.   What is your favorite type of racing and why? What is/are your favorite Midwestern race/races?
   I love a good road race. I definitely am all about endurance. I still have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with criteriums. For a long time, I really struggled with the faster pace and more technical riding, but now I am coming to really like them a lot.
8.   What is a typical training week like in February, May, and August?
   In February, I am most likely still training on snow, but just beginning to look ahead to the road season. I usually do a bit more interval work on snow then I would on the bike. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I will do some interval work; by that time in the season, I would most likely be on to longer intervals. One of those three days would also focus on hill work more than the others. Saturday, I would usually try to spin inside on my bike for an hour and Sunday would be my off day.
   May is really the month that everything picks up for me. Most likely in May, I would do one crit during the week and let’s say Saturday, I would have a road race anywhere from 30-50 miles long. Sunday I would do an easy ride, spinning my legs out for 1-2 hours. If I were going to race Tuesday, Monday would be spent also doing a relatively light ride for 1-2 hours incorporating about 4 relatively short sprints to get my legs prepped for the next day. Tuesday, I would race and Wednesday, I would probably do about 2 hours at a mid level 2. Thursday, I would usually ride with the team. This could mean anything from doing intensive one mile hill repeats over in Afton to a relatively relaxed ride, depending on how the team is looking and feeling. Usually we get in around 30-40 miles as a team, though it definitely varies. Friday, I would most likely take off.
   A training week in early August would be pretty similar to May, but with less racing and a little bit less focus on prepping for a race. Towards the end of August, racing really dies off and it becomes more riding for enjoyment rather than focused training.

About the author... Corey Coogan is the author of One Week in March: A Manual for Prospective Collegiate Nordic Skiers (3rd Edition Anticipated Publication Date: November, 2007). As an elite skier, she competes for Alpina/ONE WAY/Rottefella/Madshus and MN Nordic Project. In the last year, she has fallen in love with the challenge of mountain biking and cyclocross and begun racing for Gopher Wheelmen and Ridley Factory Team.