USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships begin Wednesday
9/26/11 - The 2011 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships start Wednesday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.  Riders slated to compete, include Sarah Hammer (Temecula, CA/OUCH), who won the individual pursuit, placed second in the omnium, and helped the team place second in the team pursuit at the 2011 Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. Each of Hammer’s teammates in the team pursuit, Jennie Reed (Seattle, WA/OUCH) and Dotsie Bausch (Irvine, CA/OUCH), are also slated to compete. In addition to her silver in the team pursuit, Reed is a 2004 Olympian and a 2008 world champion in the keirin. Bausch, who has a number of national titles on the road, placed fourth at the 2010 World Track Championships in the women's team pursuit in Copenhagen, Denmark. Collegiate standout Jennifer Valente (San Diego, CA/GS Adams Avenue Bicycles) won the gold medal in the scratch race at the 2011 Junior Track World Championships in Moscow in August.
 
Among the men competing at the Home Depot Center are Bobby Lea (Mertztown, PA/Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA), who contested the men’s points race in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and has earned several national titles in on the road and track in his career. Lea’s 2008 Olympic teammates Michael Blatchford (Cypress, CA/Cody Racing) and Giddeon Massie (Cypress, CA/Cody Racing) are also scheduled to compete. Massie placed 11th in the men’s team sprint at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece before contesting the men’s keirin in 2008 in Beijing. Blatchford, who has a pair of track national championships to his credit, competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in the men’s sprint as well as contributing to the American team (consisting of Blatchford, Massie and Adam Duvendeck) placing eighth in the team sprint.