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La
Grange Wins USA Cycling Club of the Year
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USA Cycling announces 2007 'Club of the Year' recipients Colorado Springs, Colo. (December 14, 2007)—USA Cycling announced today the recipients of its annual Club of the Year awards. Ten USA Cycling-sanctioned clubs received recognition for outstanding programs throughout the 2007 season and will receive complimentary registration fees for the 2008 racing season. Clubs were judged on several key areas including race promotion, membership composition, instructional clinics and seminars, club activities and charitable contributions and racing performance. Of USA Cycling’s 2,139 member clubs, approximately 60 applied for consideration in 10 separate categories. Three primary clubs were recognized based on membership size (Division I = 76+ members, Division II = 30-75 members and Division III = 1-29 members), while seven additional clubs were awarded with the Club of the Year designation based on specific categories – mountain bike, collegiate, track, new club, women’s, master’s, and junior/high school. Receiving Division I Club of the Year honors was the Velo Club La Grange Westwood program (Santa Monica, Calif.). Velo Club LaGrange Westwood exemplified a model cycling club across several categories including bicycle race promotion, the hosting of clinics and seminars, community service, programs dedicated to junior, women and master riders and much more. The club promotes the West Los Angeles Grand Prix which features a challenging course and a wide range of race categories including a full range of juniors. From an educational perspective, Velo Club La Grange Westwood conducted multiple clinics and seminars that focused on several key areas including development, skills, competition, nutrition and fitness. The club also held introductory track classes at the Encino Velodrome. Velo Club La Grange Westwood also held regular weekly training rides five days a week and hosted several annual club rides – some of which doubled as charitable fundraisers. Community benefits included the Meals on Wheels Annual Thanksgiving Day Ride, the Start to Finish MS Bike Tour and the Annual Volvo City of Angels Fun Ride benefiting the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Velo Club La Grange Westwood also administers the Scott Bleifer Scholarship Fund and regularly provides volunteers for major events at the nearby ADT Event Center Velodrome. Additionally, the club donates clothing to needy cycling communities and supplies the Bicycle Kitchen with unused bike parts in order to make bicycles more accessible to all people. Velo Club La Grange Westwood boasts 458 members including Coryn Rivera (Tustin, Calif.) a six-time national champion in 2007 alone. Members of the club captured a total of 37 victories this season, including 11 state championships as well as 94 podium finishes and 244 top-ten performances. The Tri-Power Cycling Club (Virginia Beach, Va.) received the Division II Club of the Year. The promoter of the Conte’s Cycling Classic, the Amphibious Assault Criterium and the Mt. Trashmore Cyclo-cross Race also received high marks for its contribution to the sport of cycling through educational clinics and seminars. Tri-Power was also extremely active in charitable causes, sponsoring its members’ participation in the MS 150 and Bike for the Cure fundraisers as well as contributing to various organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross and Bikes for the Homeless. The club also features strong initiatives on behalf of juniors, women and master’s cyclists. The Cross Creek Cycling Club (Fayetteville, N.C.) was named Division III Club of the Year. No stranger to awards, the club also earned the Best New Club of the Year in 2004 and Master’s Club of the Year in 2005. Also this season, the Cross Creek Cycling Club was named the 2007 USA Cycling Master’s Club of the Year for its contributions to programs that cater to riders aged 30 and up. Cross Creek promoted the Dragon’s Challenge Omnium and the North Carolina State Criterium Championships and featured 36 educational clinics and seminars that focused on cyclo-cross instruction, bike fit, winter riding, bike safety and maintenance, beginner development and nutrition. Cross Creek also prides itself on its contributions to several charitable organizations including the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the Special Olympics, Bike to Iraq, Habitat for Humanity, Ride Without Limits and Operation One Voice. USA Cycling also chose the Cross Creek Cycling Club as its Master’s Club of the Year this season because of its master-related programs and initiatives. Cross Creek features a master’s program that places juniors under the watchful mentorship of several master’s riders. Following the completion of each race, the club’s master members provide valuable feedback to the developing riders. The club also conducted three master-specific racing clinics. Black Bear Cycling (Sussex, N.J.) earned USA Cycling’s Mountain Bike Club of the Year distinction. The promoter of the Wawayanda Spring Cleaning mountain bike race in Hewitt, N.J., Black Bear Cycling featured four clinics throughout the season that focused on bike safety, maintenance and technology. The club’s members enjoyed several competitive successes throughout the season with podium finishes at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships, the 24 Hours of Allamuchy and the Campmor H2H MTB Race Series. Most notably however, the Black Bear Cycling Club scored bonus points for its high-level of trail advocacy. Club members completed 203 hours of volunteer trail maintenance in 2007 while the club emphasizes responsible mountain biking through promoting exercise, stewardship of resources and volunteer activities. Colorado State University (Fort Collins, Colo.) was named USA Cycling Collegiate Club of the Year. The school hosted the Rivalry Race Weekend and the Beaver Meadows Mountain Bike Festival in addition to a bicycle tune-up and maintenance clinic that was attended by 200+ riders, a bike handling clinic that attracted 100+ attendees and weekly presentations on nutrition, physical therapy and training techniques. Colorado State also featured the Fifth-Annual Horsetooth Double Dip ride, an event that benefited the Rist Canyon Fire Department. Additionally, the club oversaw 400 volunteer hours of trail maintenance at Beaver Meadows. From a competitive standpoint, CSU captured one national title courtesy of Phil Mann in the criterium at the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships. The squad also earned a bronze medal in the team time trial and a silver medal in the women’s cross country race by Amanda Miller at the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships. For the fourth consecutive year, the Track Club of the Year award went to the Hammer Racing Team (Littleton, Colo.). The club annually promotes its Hammer Time Trial Day at the Track – an opportunity for beginners to expose themselves to track racing without the intimidation factor of mass-start racing. Hammer Racing also works with the Colorado Velodrome Association to conduct beginners’ and women’s clinics. At the 2007 USA Cycling Master Track National Championships, Hammer Racing Team members came home with eight national titles, a pair of Best All-Around Rider awards and its sixth-consecutive team championship. The squad also earned a silver medal at the UCI Master Track World Championships in Sydney, Australia. Hammer Racing also donated its time to assist with regional bike races for the Special Olympics and the Wheelchair division of the Colfax Marathon. Project Velo Racing (Troy, Ohio) was recognized as USA Cycling’s Best New Club of the Year for 2007. The club promoted three races this season and conducted a series of bike skills, safety, nutrition and mechanics clinics throughout the summer. Project Velo Racing athletes also collected over 100 top-ten finishes in local and regional races including several state championship medals. The USA Cycling Women’s Club of the Year went to the Northeast Bicycle Club (Billerica, Mass.). The club boasts 100 women members – nearly a third of its total membership – and supports the NEBC/CycleLoft Elite and Category 3-4 Women’s Teams. The NEBC also has a successful junior women’s contingent and a strong corps of master’s riders, including the 2001 master’s world time trial champion in the 60-64 age group. In 2007, women competitors also claimed seven USA Cycling national titles. Finally, the National Capital Velo Club (Washington, D.C.) was named the USA Cycling Junior/High School Club of the Year. The club claims 40 junior members and hosts a series of junior-based training clinics and seminars including the Tucson U19 Training Camp, the Lost River U19 Training Camp, Pre-National Championship Training Camps and a pair of cyclo-cross clinics. As part of the National Capital Velo Club, juniors participate alongside their senior counterparts to support several charitable causes including the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Inova Fairfax Hospital and the Chris Sander College Scholarship Fund. In competition this season, the National Capital Velo Club boasted several victories and top-ten finishes in local, regional and national-level races. USA Cycling would like to thank the 2007 Clubs of the Year for their exemplary conduct in areas of race promotion, membership composition, clinics and seminars, club activities, racing performance and charitable contributions. 2007
USA Cycling Club of the Year Recipients |
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LA GRANGE IN THE NEWS |
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Velo Club La Grange Velo Club La Grange is one of California's largest and oldest cycling clubs with over 400 members nationwide. The club was founded by Raymond Fouquet in 1969 and fields one of the top amateur racing teams in the United States. Past members include a Tour de France stage winner, an Olympic gold medalist, and numerous U.S. National and California state champions. La Grange is the recipient of the USA Cycling 2007 CLUB OF THE YEAR award. La Grange promotes a doping-free competitive environment. Elite racers sign the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's 'Athlete’s Pledge for Clean Sport & Fair Competition'. La Grange has arranged to have a cardiac screening and assessment provided to Club members and elite racers for no out of pocket expenses. Along with the Club's dedication to bicycle racing, the club welcomes new and inexperienced riders with a passion for cycling. La Grange is very active in the cycling and fitness communities. Our continuing public policy work with state and local government has led to major improvements in safety for all users of California roads. In addition, the Club has partnered with the Association of Blind Athletes and Meals on Wheels and sponsors an annual scholarship with the help of the Union Bank of California. La Grange enjoys the financial support of several corporations committed to promoting healthy and active living including Kahala Corporation. 501(c)(3)
California Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation 95-4000746
United States Cycling Federation Number 1232 |
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