Chris Niesen on his First Major Race Podium

Story and photo above by Vicky Sama

Chris Niesen joined his JAM Cycling teammate Al Donahue and former teammate Anthony Clark on the podium at Saturday's Black Fly Challenge... Niesen's first-ever podium finish at a major race event. Niesen stuck with the leaders through the 40-mile gravel grinder in the Adirondacks, finishing third, less than two minutes behind winner Clark, who now races for Squid.

"A group of maybe seven of us got away pretty early," Niesen said. "Anthony attacked like a crazy person and eventually got away. Al chased. I was in a group of four and attacked going into a wooded double track into the finish for third."

Anthony Clark, Al Donahue and Chris Niesen go 1-2-3 at the Black Fly Challenge on June 13. 

Niesen joined JAM last summer as a category 4 racer, what he calls "a big ol' noob." He has since moved up to cat 2 in cross and 3 on the road. He's making strides toward a successful cross season. 

How'd you get involved with JAM?

Chris:  I was kind of a bike commuter bum and a friend brought me to a cyclocross race in Cincinnati, and that night I fell in love with racing. I didn't even know at the time I was watching legends like Powers, Johnson and Trebon. I just knew it was f'n amazing. So I tried to figure out how I could pursue my dream. I stumbled across JAM online, and for two years, on and off, I sent emails to them with no real response. But I just stuck with it (or until I annoyed them enough), so they could see I wasn't going away.

Did you meet Jeremy Powers then?

Chris: I met him as a fan... just standard, "Hey man, that was an awesome race," and for sure got a picture. That was me pre-actually-knowing-who-he-was.

Who contacted you about receiving a JAM grant?

Chris: I talked to Al Donahue on Skype and there were no promises. He simply said you can come up here if you want; this is for sure the place to be if you want to be good.

So you moved from Ohio to Massachusetts without a sure deal? That was risky. What did your friends and family say about that?

Chris: They were very supportive, but I think they knew I would do it regardless. Cycling is my thing, my passion. There is no second guessing what I'm here to do and what I want. I would have figured it out if JAM was like, eh no. But JAM is the best thing to happen in my life and pursuing this dream, that's for sure.

When did you start racing?  

Chris: I was a commuter, just huge into cycling scene in Milwaukee... but spandex free. I'd been commuting by bike year 'round for about five years-- simply riding bikes. I never really owned a car. I knew I wanted cycling in my life forever, just wasn't sure how yet. Then I moved to Ohio and went to watch a race, and a week later I was racing. So I was racing for about a year and a half before I joined JAM.

What was your first day like "on the job" with JAM?

Chris: Ha ha. Nerve wracking. Exciting. All of those people I look up to-- I was riding with them. It became clear very fast how little I knew. It was intimidating. It was a battle for me because I'm so shy, so I don't think they took me super seriously at first. But Anthony is one of my heroes. But getting to race in a JAM kit? Holy crap! That's the proudest I've ever been. But those moments keep happening.  

Did they take you for a ride?

Chris: Yea. So the first day in town Al meets me for a ride, and he says just try and keep up. So Ohio has maybe four-minute climbs. Our first ride consisted of 6, 8, 10-minutes climbs? It was a big slap in the face. I got dropped so hard. I think Al could do the hill twice before I got to the top. So it was two days of me and Al riding hills, then I rode three days in a row with Al and Powers doing 70 to 80 mile rides doing stuff I didn't know existed like crazy huge climbs and the gnarliest gravel roads.

Tough introduction!

Chris: It was absolutely brutal, but it was just motivating. So to podium a race a year later with Al and Anthony? Huge.

Yes, that is huge. Congratulations. So what have you learned being part of this group?

Chris: Oh man, where do I start? I've learned a lot. But for me, it's just never quitting. Sweating the details. Paying attention to everything. How to race bikes and be a good person. I could go on.

Was that your first podium finish?

Chris: Yea, it was. I podiumed some small cat 4 races, but that's not really anything. This is the only podium in my mind that I was like, holy sh--, I worked for this! 

What's the best part about JAM?

Chris: Best part? Just really, really good people. They are supportive in every aspect. They create the best possible environment for someone to learn and pursue their goals and dreams. I wish I had the grammar to write how awesome JAM is, ha ha.

Speaking of goals, what are your goals for cross season?

Chris: I usually set my goals pretty high. But I'd like to podium some local elite races, and if I'm lucky, get some good results in a few UCI races. Getting UCI points is my biggest goal for the next year or two.  

Stephen Hyde: From BMX Shredder to CX Pro

"It was the most terrifying thing anyone has ever told me. You grow up and you ride bikes and you’re like, 'I totally want to be a pro.' Then someone says do you actually want to be a pro? It was scary."

-STEPHEN HYDE

Stephen Hyde graduated from the JAM program in spring 2015 to join the Astella Pro Road Cycling Team. The story of his cycling career and growing up with the JAM Fund is well told in The Bicycle Story.

Ellen Noble is a National Champion

Story by Vicky Sama

Ellen Noble at the top of the podium in the U23 Cyclocross National Championships in Austin, Tx on January 12, 2015. [Photo courtesy Cyclocross Magazine.]

What does it feel like to be at the top of a nationals podium? Ask Ellen Noble (JAM/NCC/Vittoria), who was crowned the U23 National Cyclocross Champion in Austin, Tx. She was the first U23 rider, yes, but the even more impressive story is how she finished 6th among 46 women in the pro field-- less than two minutes behind winner Katie Compton (Trek).

At 19-years old, Noble's future is looking very bright. She joined the JAM Fund Cycling Team in 2014. In her first major race in her JAM kit, she finished 2nd on both days at Nittany Lion Cross-- out of 50 elite racers. 

Noble is not new to cycling. She started riding a bike when she was 5 years old living in Kennebunkport, Maine. Her parents were elite cyclists and took her to races even before she was born.

“My mom would ride while she was pregnant with me. It’s really good for the baby, releasing endorphins and oxygen,” Noble said. “And even when I was really young, they couldn’t leave me at home, so they brought me to races.”

Noble’s dad was instrumental in her early, unusual training techniques.

“I was nervous to ride without training wheels, so I made him attach a surf leash from my bike to his ankle, and that somehow made me more comfortable,” she said.

By the time she was 7, Noble was entering races with the big girls.

“Back then, the kids races were a circle in a grass field. I’d outgrown that,” Noble said. “I was serious about mountain biking. When I was 7, I entered an adult Cat 3 beginner mountain bike race. It was the Clifford Park Assault in Biddeford, Maine. My dad rode with me the entire time. It went well until the last hill and I endoed, but I rolled across the finish line. I very well could have beat somebody. I have no idea.”

Despite some falls, Noble always got back on the bike.

“In other sports like snowboarding, I got injured and chipped all my teeth, so I didn’t want to do it anymore. Cycling, whatever happens my response is ‘yea, I’ll do it again tomorrow,’” she said.

She slowly moved her way up the ranks in mountain biking and took a season off to race mass start dirt bike events called “hair scrambles.”

“Why do they call it that? Maybe because it’s so stressful and terrifying and makes your hair stand up? After getting back to mountain biking, I appreciated how light my bike was," she said. "When I fell over on a dirt bike, I couldn’t get back up because the bike was so heavy.”

Noble says dirt biking helped her technical skills when she returned to mountain biking still as a young teen.

“That experience on the trails furthered my knack for technical riding. I consider that my strongest point as a cyclist.”

By the time she was 15, Noble was racing mountain bikes in the elite women’s field, winning the overall in the New England MTB series. It was at that time she discovered cyclocross and starting working with Al Donahue of Cycle-Smart coaching and JAM Cycling Team.

“He was like well, if you want, you’d be a great fit for JAM,” she said.

Noble started training with JAM in August 2014, as she was entering her freshman year at UMass/Amherst. Noble says she noticed instant improvement.

“I don’t make any secret in that all my success last year is because of JAM, and it wouldn’t have happened otherwise,” Noble said. “Living near my coach, having a mentor like Jeremy Powers who is so helpful, my teammates who are willing to share, all those things came together and helped me grow leaps and bounds as a racer.”

In the year since she joined JAM, Noble has garnered 13 UCI podiums, 4 UCI wins, a 6th at nationals in the elite race and the U23 championship title.

“In terms of history, the year before I didn’t get on the podium at a UCI race,” she said.

Her secret to being fast?

“Listen to Al. And sleeping. If there was a sleeping contest, I would crush it,” Noble said. “I could sleep 11 hours a night and not have trouble getting to sleep again. Al says I can sprint well because I’m rested. Oh, and I eat a lot of beets. But that might not work for someone else. If Taylor Swift said putting a hot pan on her tongue makes her a good singer, it would not help me be a good singer.”

Noble made drastic changes in her training.

“I didn’t train hard and think like an elite level athlete until I joined JAM,” Noble said. “I always thought I was doing things right and my parents were local riders and riding hard… and told me to just go out and ride hard. Now I have structured training and that’s really important, as is nutrition and recovery.”

Ellen Noble and Arley Kemmerer tackle one of the hardest climbs in the Supercross Cup in Stony Point, N.Y. on Nov. 23, 2014.

Her recent success came after a difficult and somewhat embarrassing moment during last November's Supercross Cup in Stony Point, N.Y. Noble was having one of the best races of her life. She put in enough digs to drop the rest of the field and she appeared almost certain the victory. But in the last 100 meters, Noble zipped up her jersey and put her arms in the air to celebrate, unaware that Arley Kemmerer (Charm City Cycling) was close enough behind and sprinting like a diesel engine. Kemmerer threw her bike across the line and beat Noble by inches.

“I balled my eyes out I was so ashamed,” she said. “I will never make that mistake again. So glad I was able to do something dumb like that at 18 rather then when I’m 30 and don’t have a chance to make up for it.”

Noble got over that rather quickly and the following weeks, won three UCI races.

“If it wasn’t for that awful moment, I wouldn’t have come back like that. I went from embarrassed to be able to win a bunch of races. It was a low and a high moment.”

A month later, Noble was crowned the U23 national champion.

“It’s amazing. I won the 17/18 nationals two years prior to winning U23 this year. And it’s an amazing feeling and it changes very time I win,” she said. “The year I won 17/18 was the year my dad passed away. It meant a lot to me because my dad was such a fighter who pushed me to be good at cycling. It’s what I loved about him so much. It was really special.”

Noble’s father died suddenly of colon cancer when he was 46 years old. She said her victory in Austin was for him.

“When I won the U23 national title, my grandmother who was my dad’s mom and my mom were there to watch me win,” she said. “I remember hugging them and they said, ‘I’m so proud of you,’ instead of ‘your dad would be so proud of you.’ And that was the first time I heard them say it that way. We were feeling joy for ourselves instead of feeling joy in grief. It really hit me when I thought about it more. My wins are all for my dad because he pushed me to be who I am. But to feel joy-- being happy-- is something that is important. Having that moment is really special and hard to put into words.”

As with all the challenges she seems to face, Noble becomes stronger because of them. Following her father’s death, Noble is studying public health and hopes to work at a foundation to help families cope with cancer.  She returns to school in September.

In the meantime, Noble has a contract to race mountain bikes with Competitive Cyclist this summer.

“This is like an internship,” she said. “I’m going through the motions, seeing what it’s like, testing the waters before I jump in head first and join a big team next cross season.”

And you can bet that other teams will be eyeing Noble for their program.

“I think I’ll stick around here while I’m in school,” she said. “New England is such a hotspot for cross, so it actually works well to live here. If I were asked to move to Europe, I would definitely do it.  That would be fun and help me progress.”

She has big plans for the upcoming cross season.

“I don’t think I qualify for World Cups, which is kind of a bummer. But it will allow me to focus at doing well at bigger, domestic races. So that’s a big goal—to perform well at the C1s and C2s.”

When she’s not riding, Noble works for the Mass Bike Coalition visiting elementary schools and teaching kids about bike safety. She loves dogs, likes to bake vanilla-frosted cup cakes and listens to audio books.

“So this is my grandmother confession: I listen to audio books while I’m walking, on campus or lying in bed or driving in the car,” Noble said. “My all-time favorite book is Jacob’s Ladder. I like it because it’s a story about second chances.”

Follow Ellen Noble's race season here or on her Instagram.

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Get ready for the 2015 Fundo

Jeremy Powers and the JAM Fund Cycling Team present the sixth-annual Grand Fundo on Saturday, July 25. This year’s edition features big route changes that take in fresh roads but keeps the classic highlights of the old course. The ride starts at Black Birch Vineyard at a new, earlier time at 9:30 a.m., which let's us pack more into the day. We're upping the excitement this year with live music at 6. The yearly fundraising ride, based in the gorgeous Massachusetts Pioneer Valley, will once again give all of its proceeds to the JAM Fund, a charitable organization committed to helping young cyclists grow and achieve their goals.

“It’s got everything you could ever hope for in a ride. It’s got some tough climbs, it’s got some great dirt roads, but most importantly it’s got some amazing views, and you get home afterwards feeling like you’ve really had an experience,”  said Cyclocross National Champion Jeremy Powers, the creator of the event and one of the co-founders of the JAM Fund.

The Grand Fundo comes in three distances: the Grand Fundo, Grand Hundo and Mini Fundo. The grand Fundo is the event’s signature distance, and at 68 miles long, will challenge anyone with its 20 miles of dirt and gravel and serious climbing. The Grand Hundo lays down the gauntlet for the fittest riders out there, adding another 20 miles and big climbs. At 38 miles, the Mini Fundo is engineered to give riders the Fundo experience but not leave them out on the roads all day.

The Grand Fundo treats riders to the best roads and scenery that Western Massachusetts has to offer. Midway through, riders can stop at the Fundo’s unique ice cream truck for a tasty snack.

The famous Fundo Barbecue returns this year, with plenty of food and refreshments as a reward for a hard day in the saddle. Relax and spend the rest of your day socializing with members of the JAM Fund and the Pioneer Valley cycling community.

Also returning to the Grand Fundo in 2015 is the much-anticipated Grand Fundo Raffle where you can win one of Powers' limited edition Focus bikes! Raffle prizes are available from Rapha, Giro, Oakley, Thule, Fi’zi:k and more.

As in years past, all of the proceeds from the Grand Fundo go directly to the JAM Fund. Its mission is to enrich the lives of young and determined cyclists in the Pioneer Valley through financial and equipment grants as well as coaching and mentoring. The JAM Fund is the co-creation of Powers and his longtime friends Alec Donahue and Mukunda Feldman.

“Our mission is to give back the same kind of nurturing environment I was in earlier in my life to the kids that are out there now," Powers says. "Too many good riders get lost early in their careers because they don’t have the support and structure they need. The JAM Fund is all about making sure these youngsters can focus on their training and learn how to be good riders and better members of the community.”

Please join the JAM Fund and Jeremy Powers at this year’s Grand Fundo on July 25. Registration is available at the Grand Fundo BikeReg Page where you can also buy your raffle tickets!

JAM Fund Named "Best Domestic Team"

We're proud to hear that cyclocross readers like us. Cyclocross Magazine published its annual poll of editor and reader's picks for the best of cross in its April edition. This year, JAM Fund Cycling Team won the Reader's Choice Award for Best Domestic Team. Ellen Noble was named Best Racer to Watch. And Jeremy Powers received the Editor's Choice Award as the Best Domestic Cyclocross Racer. Now that deserves some cow bell! See the full award list here.

“As all teams, this group is far more than one rider. With team captain Stephen Hyde firing on all cylinders last season (although he has now signed with Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com), Anthony Clark making gains, and a solid group that includes Christina Birch, Rebecca Fahringer and Victoria Gates, the JAM Fund is a young team with one of the most respectable presences on the American cyclocross course.”

— Cyclocross Magazine

Victoria Gates Earns Silver Medal at Cross Nats

Victoria Gates finished in second place during the women's junior 17-18 race at the Cyclocross National Championships on Jan. 11 in Austin, Texas. See the full story in gazettenet.com.

"Amazing," says Ellen Noble after 3x UCI Win

It's three UCI wins in a row for Ellen Noble, who won days one and two last weekend at Baystate and now captured her third consecutive win at NBX. She is having a great cyclocross season and will be one to watch at the Austin National Championships in January.

“It feels absolutely amazing. I know how much it hurts to be on the other end, and it makes me appreciate this win even more. At first I wondered if I could see how long this could last. Now, I’m starting to take Nationals a lot more seriously. I have a great coach and a great team.”

— Ellen Noble

Frosty Podium at Jingle Cross