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Meet Tyler Coplea- a name to remember for the future.
12.05.2011
Tyler Coplea is a young rider who we are very happy to get to work with as one of his sponsors for cyclocross racing. Tyler's a young cross country MTB racing phenom and is poised to make an impact on the World Cup. He fills his entire year with racing, racing MTB as his main focus, but using cross as a way to continue his growth and development as a rider... as well as beat up on older elite riders. Tyler will be 18 in 2012 and is already one of the top talents in the US. He is currently leading the Arizona cross series for Pro/Elite men... before his 18th birthday!
Here's a great report from Tyler after one of his most recent cross races;
"This past weekend's cross race was absolutely brutal. I still raced the Pro men, but with the barriers being too high to bunny hop and the course having many long flat sections, I knew this was going to be a painful day. The race started off really well. Between me pushing the pace on the technical sections and barriers, and another guy putting some power down on the flat, the group turned into a 3 man breakaway after the first lap.
From here I could feel my whole body feeling pretty tired from my new/ upped gym workout sessions this week and I figured the best way for me to win this race was to sit in and conserve all I have and only go on the front during the barrier section which was one of my stronger points. The two other guys I was with were two super strong road racers who had fairly good tech skills and flew on the flats. With three to go I threw down a short attack on the longest technical section thinking I could get them a little more tired before the last lap without having to do much work. It went great except for once the fastest road guy caught me he kept the pace insanely high on the flat section resulting in dropping me and the other guy.
Luckily, I still had some gas in the tank and I was able to ride away from him, but unfortunately I just didn't have the legs to catch first. My BH RX1 handles so well and is super stiff when you have to lay some watts into the pedals. It is by far the best cross bike that I have ever had the pleasure to ride. I had to settle for second, but based on how I felt and the competition I was going up against, I felt like I raced a pretty smart race. The second place put me in the leaders jersey for the Pro Men.
Now there are only a few cross races left before I take a little break and start the 2012 Worlds MTB campaign again. Last year I was super stoked to get on the US National team and go to Germany and North American World Cups, but this year I plan on not breaking another collarbone and making it all the way to Worlds. Man I love cycling!"
We look forward to seeing Tyler make it to the World Championships too... but after he keeps winning a few more cross races on his BH RX1!
