Cesar Valenzuela made a name in the fixed gear crit scene with his impressive performance during Mission Crit IV wherein he was too strong for top riders like Colin Strickland, David Santos, and Addison Zawada. During Red Hook Criterium Brooklyn No.10 it looked like Cesar was fulfilling his new status as super talent as he was continuously racing in the front of the pack. However, a rookie mistake by Cesar himself caused him to crash out of the race and break his collarbone. This injury meant the start of a 3 month long recovery period. Now Cesar is ready to make his comeback in Red Hook Criterium. He is picked up by Colin Strickland’s Intelligentsia Racing for which he will make his debut during RHC Barcelona No.5. We spoke Cesar to ask him how he experienced his recovery, how he feels for Barcelona, and what he expects from it.
Text: Brian Megens
Header Image: Tornanti.cc
“I was off the bike for three months, not completely… but crucial enough for me to have to work myself hard to get it all back, so I chose to use the time wisely and do so much studying and catching up with friends and my irreplaceable family and trying to get my groove socializing again.. I didn’t want to speak about anything for the first two months. I know I’m not as sharp as I was like in San Francisco or Brooklyn, but I am definitely feeling the memory muscle in my legs coming back which makes me so happy.”
“I feel really confident and strong rolling with Intelligentsia Racing has sparked a fire in me that won’t go out anytime soon. We’re all working, can’t give out to much info on that but as everyone knows Colin is in the overall lead, we look forward to him keeping that up till then end of the Red Hook Crit series.”
“On the question how Colin helps him, Cesar is clear. “He’s helped me out build my bike and has put me on to studying more about little advantages that can help me improve in going faster and longer and just more efficient overall, not just fixed gear as well he’s a very intelligent person so here in Texas he’s not just racing. Also teaching me how to be smarter while racing and just kinda sharing each other’s knowledge of racing which is only going to be great for both of us.”
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“My expectations for Barcelona are really simple. Race my legs off and finish the race nice and smooth. Not looking for any ending position, but I’m hitting Barcelona with everything I have and we’ll just have to see till the end of the race on how I do.”
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