Use the Force Luke Correale

Ry Sanderson, a friend and the Junior regional champion for New England and a cross country runner got Luke Correale into cycle racing.  Before Luke began racing, he would ride around new England with Ry, building strength on the challenging hills and cranking out the miles with Ry the far into the cold Northern nights. 

Hard, long, cold miles were how Ry became a champion.  He was the Obi Wan Kenobi to our Luke, but it was a graphite racing bicycles, not light sabers, that were their weapons of choice.

Luke brought strength to his early training with Ry from being a High School wrestler and working on sports fishing boats operating out on the Atlantic from Montauk, NY. 

When he moved South to study economics at the College of Charleston, Luke missed the camaraderie and strength which came from competitive cycling.  He was invited to join the Lowcountry VW racing team.  He’s now 20 and lives in downtown Charleston.

He began training for his first race with the team in last fall and premiered in the Greenville classic on Oct 13 – 14, 2007.

New racers begin in Category 5, where nerves and ambition can make turns and riding in the pack dicey.  It’s tough for novice racers to find the groove and tougher still to stay on the bike when everyone else is having the same problem.  Luke tried to use the force, but he was not a Cat. 1 Jedi yet.

Luke crashed in his first lap in that race, cracking his helmet and tearing up his hand.   As the racers sped ahead of him, he remounted his bicycle and finished his first race.  For Luke there was no “try” only “do.”  He would not fail.

In training he’s reached speeds of 27 and over 30 mph in competition.   He’s been climbing in his finishes, just like he used to climb those cold, tall hills in Connecticut.

Luke says, “Racing is nerve racking at first, but you get used to it.  You’ve got to watch out for handlebars and keep your elbows out so people don’t pass you.  Get up front and stay up front.”  He’s been learning from the team.  He likes being in the company of the other riders.  He enjoys getting the hard training miles in and its fun to go to the race with a team.  He appreciates being mentored.   He knows his training is not complete.

As of this writing, Luke’s still in the Cat 5 races, but he’s hoping to qualify for cat four by the I’On Races.  He has to complete 10 category five races to move up to category four.

The real challenge has been adapting to the flatness of the Lowcountry landscape.  Luke’s gradually learning to level out the effort.  He’s still happiest on hills.  He finished in the top ten in a race for the first time in Greenville on March 8.   It was a hill finish, but it was ahead of most of the pack, a fast climb from the disaster in October.  The Force is strong in this one.

There are some little hills on the I’On course, crossing the bridges on Ponsbury and they’ll advantage Luke.

Luke’s X-wing fighter is a black Felt racing bike with black tires and wheels and yellow handlebar tape.  It’s a combination of carbon fiber and aluminum.

After college Luke hopes to continue racing.  He’s also started doing Triathlons and is preparing for his first Ironman next year.  He wants to keep training and keep his mind clear.  He won’t be exploding the Death Star with his eyes closed, but our Luke is building strength and skill with the help of his friends on the team, moving up in the ranks and getting ready to race faster and harder in I’On.