Karnes rides way onto national junior cycling team

    Sixteen-year-old Tyler Karnes of Chesapeake, Va., grandson of Edna Karnes of Houlton, has been selected as one of 10 nationwide cyclists under 23 years of age (U23) for the George Hincapie Development Race Team.   

    George Hincapie is America’s most well known and prominent cyclist racing on the international circuit, including the Tour De France.
    George Hincapie was Lance Armstrong’s right-hand man in his seven Tour De France victories.
    Karnes, a junior honor student at Hickory High School in Chesapeake, just completed his third year racing in the sport of cycling.
    Four years ago, Karnes was a four-foot, six-inch tall overweight seventh-grader whose primary interests were computers, video games, and listening to music. After less than stellar attempts at playing baseball and lacrosse, with minimal success, Karnes’ seventh-grade math teacher let him watch Tour De France tapes during lunch, and he was hooked.
   Karnes bought his first bike (a Trek for approximately $400) and occupied his time riding around his neighborhood by himself. After his parents moved to Virginia, Karnes joined a cycling club (All About Bikes) and started racing.
Contributed photograph
IN THE LEAD – Tyler Karnes, far right, leads a pack of cyclists around a corner during a recent race. Karnes, who has family ties to Houlton, has been selected as one of 10 nationwide cyclists under 23 years of age (U23) for the George Hincapie Development Race Team. 
    On his first Saturday morning training ride with the club, Karnes felt fatigued by the time he left the parking lot. In the sport of cycling, the level of competition is based primarily on the category of experience the racer has, as determined by the racer’s race results. The entry level for racers is category (CAT) 5.  The category of racers proceeds up to CAT 1, which is the pro level. The race season goes from late February to the end of October.
    His first year racing (2005) for All About Bikes (from Virginia), he raced as a CAT 5 Junior and ended up fourth in the state of Virginia for Juniors 12-14 years old.  The second year (2006), he raced for Snow Valley (from Maryland), moved up to CAT 4, and ended up second in the Virginia for Juniors 15-18 years old.  This year (2007), he raced for SR Racing (from Virginia), moved up to CAT 3, and finished in the top 10 in numerous races.
  After three years of racing, Karnes has accumulated dozens of medals and ribbons, including the 2007 Virginia State Criterium Championship for 15-18  year old Juniors. After a two-day, four race weekend in Greenville, S.C. in October, Karnes was introduced to the Hincapie Organization to discuss possibly being selected for the U23 Development Team.
    Two weeks later, Karnes received the call notifying him that he had been selected as one of the 10 nationwide U23 racers.  For those unfamiliar with the sport of cycling, this step is the equivalent of playing for the Pawtucket Red Sox (the Boston Red Sox’s farm team).
    Today, Karnes is five foot, 10 inches tall, weighs approximately 120 pounds, and has an extremely low body fat index ratio.  Karnes has several bikes for various types of race events, each valued at between $5,000 and $10,000. Wheels for these types of bikes can cost upwards of $1,000 each. Karnes trains seven days a week, regardless of the weather. A normal day for a cyclist like Karnes is up at 7 a.m., eat breakfast, school until 4 p.m., come home, change into cycling gear, and ride for one to three hours at 25-30 miles per hour (mph), return home, eat, and study until 11 p.m.  On the weekends, training consists of 50-100 mile rides at 25-35 mph each day.
    For those unfamiliar with the sport of cycling, races consist of four different types of races – a Time Trial where racers race against the clock on a 25-mile long course at 20-30 mph; a Criterium (Crit) Race, where racers race around a course less than a mile in length for 60 minutes at 25-plus mph; a Road Race, where racers race around a five-mile long course for 50-100 miles at 25-plus mph; and a Circuit race, where racers race around a 1-5 mile long course for 30-40 miles at 25-plus mph.
    There are a lot of similarities between cycling and NASCAR, particularly with respect to aerodynamics, drafting off of other racers, and racers racing inches apart from each other. Unlike NASCAR with all the built-in safety features for the racers, the cars, and the tracks, cyclists race inches apart from one another, on the edge of being out-of-control, wearing spandex clothing and a plastic helmet with styrofoam inserts and racing on two tires three-quarters of an inch wide, with only one-quarter of an inch of tire actually making contact with the road.
    At a recent four-day stage race in Fitchburg, Mass. (one of the largest, most grueling stage races in America that combines all four types of cycling races), Karnes and more than 100 others, racing inches apart from each other while descending a two-mile stretch off of Watchusett Mountain with a 90-degree right turn at the bottom, were clocked by a policeman with a radar gun at 54 mph. Racing in the sport of cycling is not for the faint of heart. It requires dedication, focus, athleticism, endless training, and competing on the edge of being out-of-control.
    Karnes has excelled at all levels of cycling, which is even more outstanding when you realize he suffers from sports-induced asthma and competes against racers, who are bigger, stronger, and faster than him with limited gearing on his bike (a U.S. Cycling Federation regulation to protect the knees of Junior racers). In reality, having to race on limited gearing on his bike means he loses a foot of distance for every revolution of his bike pedals.
    For Karnes, cycling is more than a sport, it’s a way of life; his motto for life is “Ride to Live, Live to Ride”.
    Karnes’ current goals are to graduate from high school, race for a collegiate team, get a degree in journalism and write for an international cycling magazine, race in the U.S. Nationals in 2008, get a pro contract and race in the “big show” (the Tour De France).   
    On the wall of Karnes’ bedroom, you will find the following quote from Lance Armstrong painted in black letters: “Everyone wants to know what I’m on. What am I on? I’m on my bike … six hours a day.”   
    For readers with a computer, you can keep up with Karnes and his cycling journey by logging onto his blog http://www.tkarnesblog.blogspot.com.
    Karnes is the son of Steven and Susan Karnes  of Chesapeake and the nephew of Gerald Karnes of Hodgdon, Chalmer Karnes of Houlton, and Gilbert Karnes Jr. of LaGrange.