2020 La Grange Board of Directors Nominees

Here are the six candidates, in alphabetical order, that are running for the four open seats for the 2020 La Grange Board of Directors

Jaycee Cary

Hey LG,

I am running for re-election for the La Grange Board of Directors. It has been my honor to serve you for the last two years. I am proud to represent the LG membership and as always, I will act with integrity, transparency, and honesty as I advocate in the best interests of Velo Club La Grange, now and in the future

Thank you.

Jaycee Cary

Jan Datomi

I see cycling as the cherry on the life’s sundae. It’s freedom from life’s other hardships and burdens. And being part of La Grange makes it even better. I see being on the La Grange board as an opportunity for me to help facilitate La Grange’s substantial and positive influence in the local cycling community. I would say I represent the non-racer part of the club, and my focus as a board member, is to bring as many fun events to the all the club members. I also am committed to promote safety and inclusiveness to all cyclists regardless of their experience level. Being on the La Grange board is about volunteering to organize and run club events. I believe my track record has shown my willingness and ability to do so. I ask for your vote so I can continue to work for this amazing club.

Jan Datomi

Robert Efthimos

2013: Joe Camacho encourages me to run for the LG board of Directors. With a demanding job, a baby on the way, and training commitments aimed at Cat 4 masters racing glory, I tell him "no way." Joe says I can just show up to meetings and offer up pearls of wisdom to help manage the club. I say "OK."

2014, one year later: Like a scene out of the movie "Dave" or the TV show "Designated Survivor," I somehow end up President of the club and find myself doing everything from sorting and bagging kit, to answering emails from overseas fondo promoters, to arbitrating disputes over sock lengths. While these tasks are of course mission critical, at the same time our deep and talented cast of La Grange contributors manages to expand and democratize our race program, completely redesign our website, bring back La Voix, design some badass kits, organize a variety of all-club rides and off-bike events, and get our club's kit on Zwift, all while maintaining core values of community, generosity, inclusivity, and respect for our fellow cylists and other humans. And coyotes.

2018, one year ago: While there were no calls for my impeachment (that I'm aware of!), I step down as President in advance of 2019, La Grange's 50th anniversary year. It was important to me that my successor be poised for success. I hope you will agree that Rich, the rest of the board, and the entire La Grange membership really stepped up and made LG50 not only a great year, but a time to be proud to be a La Grange members.

Today: While I'm happy with what we've accomplished, it's important that we keep up the momentum and always ask ourselves how we can do better. I promise I'll ask the same of myself if elected to continue to serve on the club's board of directors.

Robert Efthimos

Renee Engelhardt

Hello LaGrange! I've been cycling (racing and recreational) for 11 years. In the past 2+ years that I've been a member of LaGrange and new to LA cycling, LaGrange and its members have been so welcoming to me with bountiful opportunities to be a part of the community including the race team, group rides, skills training, and the awesome 50 for 50 rides. I've witnessed the sport evolve over the years, and I believe I have the experience and perspective to contribute to the board to ensure LaGrange stays ahead of the sport and continues to deliver the experiences, opportunities and community that is its legacy. Simply put, I want to help create the most positive experience for what we all love: riding our bikes.

Renee Engelhardt

Marco Fabrizio

Like many I found cycling and racing, and in some way’s it saved my life. When I say cycling, I really mean La Grange. In 2012 I joined the club, after delaying in 2011 because of that infamous Herbalife jersey that no member wanted to wear let alone prospective members. Through my journey with La Grange I rode thousands of miles, raced dozens of crits, fell off the back of many road races, podiumed some stage races, and even did a few track events. Over this time, I made friends and acquaintances; found this identity as a racer, and was even able to tie my other passion of design with the club. Some of you may know that for the past couple of years I have been the club’s liaison with Castelli. I process any of the issues that members have with their kits, and make sure that our wonderful sponsor Castelli takes care of it. Some of you might also know that in tandem with my good friend Jaycee Cary we designed the coveted La Grange 50th Anniversary kit, and along with that we also gave our prestigious LG Cup winners jerseys a facelift and created the La Grange Grand Prix winners jersey. Stay tuned because Cary-Breezy has a special surprise for the LG2020 Kit!!! In this process I have attended countless board meetings and really started to find my way deeper behind the scenes of what makes our club so great. I would like to continue to work for this club, and bring our members more of what they want. I have plans to bring members more cool LG apparel like hats, t-shirts, hoodies and more of the casual apparel that everyone loves to sport while representing the club off the bike. Jaycee and I also have plans to introduce some limited edition items that you’ll be sure to want to get your hands on. In short, Vote for Marco Fabrizio!

Marco Fabrizio

Rich Hirschinger

When people ask me what I like about cycling, I like to say, “it was the first thing that sets you free as a kid.” A great quote from Robin Williams is, “It’s the closest thing I have found to flying.” I have been riding with La Grange since the late 1980’s. I think I am one of the half dozen members who can still say they rode with Raymond. I have always enjoyed being a member of the club and when I was asked to consider being on the Board, I wasn’t sure I would be able to contribute much. When Robert stepped down, and I took over as President, I thought it would be like trying to replace a legend like Vin Scully, Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, etc. Well, the Board has made it very easy for me and the fact that it was our 50th year also made it easy since we had so many events to create. I truly have enjoyed serving the club and would be happy to continue to serve if y’all like what we are doing.

Rich Hirschinger

La Voix

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2019 Piuma Hill Climb

2019 Annual Picnic

September 50 for 50 Ride

Board Elections

Annual Banquet November 10th

2020 Kit Design

Race Report

2019 LG Cup Piuma Hill Climb

The 2019 LaGrange Cup Piuma Hill Climb was held on Saturday, September 14th. Naturally, since the gradient is not enough to cause pain, the weather spiked and the day was very hot, which increased the suffering. Jason Siegle won the men’s overall with a winning time of 34:52, and Tracy Paaso won the women’s overall. with a winning time of 45:17. Everyone who did the climb suffered. Everyone. But that’s way we do it.

Art courtesy of the Cycling Art Project by Dan Chapman.

The Applegates suffered together.

Leo clearly knows how to suffer.

The final few meters can be painfully long.

Robert Yates….contemplating.

Robert Efthimos and Jaycee Cary trying to get more oxygen into their lungs.

Some of the participants.

2019 Annual Club Picnic

The annual club picnic was held on September 14th right after the Piuma Hill Climb. Catering was provided by Richard Friedman Catering. Many thanks to Jan Datomi who coordinated the event for the club.

Sept 50 for 50 Anniversary Ride

The September 50 for 50 ride route needed to be modified due to the weather. As I was picking up Peet’s Coffee to have at the start, it was raining, and the streets were very wet. It was so wet that if I had not been in charge of planning the route and getting the refreshments, I know I would not have ridden. I thought that maybe six diehards would show up and we would have a conversation about riding versus not riding. As I got to SVO at 7:20 am, some of the diehards were already there and more and more were starting to congregate. There was no discussion about not riding especially since the rain stopped. I announced a detour since Franklin Canyon was going to be too wet, and the planned route into the valley included about a half a mile on dirt. Instead, we would climb to Mulholland via Benedict Canyon and descend into the valley via Beverly Glen. The rest stop was at Encino Park with SAG provided by Tom Brynes. The valley was very dry. The 2nd stop was at Katie Rollins’ mom’s house, which was off Old Topanga Road. Fresh baked cookies, fruit, and coffee were served. Some stayed and the rest of us rolled home via Topanga Canyon, where we encountered wet roads again. It was “spitting from the sky” kind of rain. The bottom line is that the ride turned out to be an extreme joy. I’m not including any photos from the ride since the video created by Tina Grant, the current La Granger of the Year, sums up the ride perfectly so please watch and enjoy it.

The feedback we get from the 50 for 50 rides is that the members really enjoy them since it is a “bike ride.” It’s not a hammerfest. It’s not competitive. It’s a club ride and we stay together and regroup when needed. We have been asked if the rides will continue into 2020 and the answer is yes. Anyone can take the lead on planning a route and anyone can volunteer to provide SAG.

2020 Board of Directors Elections

This year, in accordance with the bylaws of VCLG, we will be holding elections for four (4) seats; each seat holds a two (2) year term on the Board of Directors. The four seats are currently held by:

• Jaycee Cary

• Jan Datomi

• Robert Efthimos

• Rich Hirschinger

Current seat holders may choose to run for re-election to the Board but any Club member in good standing may run for one of the open seats. If you are passionate about La Grange and would like to be involved in shaping the direction of the Club I strongly encourage you to run.  You can “enter the race” simply by submitting a self-nomination statement – nothing fancy, just a few words about yourself and why you’d like to be on the Board. (Since this is a volunteer position you can’t nominate someone else.) Send your nomination statement along with a photo to marc.lewinstein@lagrange.org by Monday October 7th.

Annual Banquet is November 10th, 2019 at noon.

Save the date. The annual club banquet is Sunday November 10th, and will be at the same location as last year

HOTEL MdR ~ A DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel
13480 Maxella Avenue
Marina del Rey, CA 90292

2020 Kit Design

The 2020 kit will again be designed by Jaycee Cary and Marco Fabrizio. The kit design will be announced in the next few days so stay tuned.

We guarantee the kit will look much better than this kit. 😎

Race Report by Tom Hill, National Champion Gran Fondo Series

This past Saturday, September 28th, was the Jensie Gran Fondo in Half Moon Bay. It was also the last of ten races in the Gran Fondo National Series. The races are held across the country in many states. You can enter as many as you like, but you must enter at least three to qualify for the overall results. Your three best placings are used to calculate the overall winners. At the beginning of the year I set a goal to try and win the championship in my age division of 55 to 64 year olds. I targeted three events in the western states. Having finished 2nd in the Malibu Gran Fondo and 3rd in the Cache Gran Fondo in Logan, Utah my point total was at 5, with Jensie's Gran Fondo being my last race. The leader in my age division had entered 7 races and his best placings were a 1st, 2nd and 4th for a total of 7 points. I had to win the final event to take the National Champion title from a rider on the East Coast who figured he had probably won already. The scoring is based on 1 point for first, 2 for second, 3 for third etc. 12th place is twelve points. The lowest score wins.

At 7:45 a.m. 560 riders reluctantly lined up the for start of a full day of suffering. It was 52 degrees with hurricane ice cold winds of over 40 mph blowing off of the Pacific Ocean. Everyone was huddled behind cars and in tents with bone shivering chills before the start. I am not a cold weather person so this was a real challenge, not to mention my deep dish carbon wheels that threw me around like a rag doll all day long. The race was 83 miles with 8,500 feet of climbing making the course challenging. My one advantage was that I grew up near the area and regularly climbed up Tunitas Creek and Old La Honda Roads which were two of the climbs on the course.

The races consist of timed sections that include climbs, rollers, and sprint sections, which makes it more fair overall for all riders. This eliminates true climbers from winning or riders sitting in wheel sucking and sprinting at the end to win. With five timed sections it made for all out efforts which for me totaled just under two hours. All riders must complete the course and cross the finish line to have their times count. I felt strong and climbed well, I used other riders for assistance when I could draft and pace off of them on the climbs. The last timed section was into a very strong headwind and I was in a group of about 25 riders. It was hard to draft and sit in as the wind gusts swirled around us. There was a pack split and I was towards the back. Once I looked up it was too late. Ten riders had gotten ahead and we could not bring them back. I was worried how much time I would lose to the lead group and just hoped they were all younger riders and not in my age division.

While standing in the food line after the race, not knowing the results, a rider I rode with most of the day came up to me enthusiastically and told me I won my age division! I wasn't sure I could believe him until he pulled out his phone and showed me the results, which were live and updated after you crossed each timed section. Technology is very cool especially when you get to see things in real time. The wait was two hours in the cold wind for the awards ceremony, but it was well worth it. It was a great day, winning my age division in the Gran Fondo and earning the National Champion title for the Gran Fondo Series by just one point.

Tom Hill

Jens Voigt, Tom Hill 1st place, Finn Cappe 3rd place, and David Leece 2nd place.

La Voix

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2019 Piuma Hill Climb and the Annual Club Picnic

Member Spotlight - Rusty Redican

New Board Member - Marc Lewinstein

2019 LG Cup 500 Meter Sprint Results

August 50 for 50 Ride

All City BBQ and Wanky Awards

Welcome New Members

2019 Piuma Hill Climb and the Annual Club Picnic

Registration is open for two events, which are the final event of the La Grange Cup, the World Famous Piuma Hill Climb, and the annual club picnic. Both events take place on Saturday, September 14th at 9 am and 12 pm respectively, and are free but you must pre-register for both. You will be assigned a race number for Piuma and we need to provide the caterer with an accurate headcount so that we have enough food and beverage for everyone. So, now is the time to register instead of waiting until registration closes, which is on Thursday, September 12th at 9 pm.

Piuma registration is at https://www.lagrange.org/member-calendar/#!event/2019/9/14/lg-cup-piuma-picnic

Picnic registration is at Picnic https://www.lagrange.org/member-calendar/#!event/2019/9/14/la-grange-annual-picnic

You must log in to register for both events and your dues must be current. If you have a family membership, please use the email address to log in that you used to sign up for your membership. You will be able to register multiple people for Piuma and for the picnic. If you are unable to log in, please contact Mikki Ozawa at mikki@lagrange.org

Cycling Art Project by Dan Chapman defines the pain that is part of Piuma.

Member Spotlight

A new feature this month is Member Spotlight. The first member to be spotlighted is Rusty Redican, who works for the LAPD in West LA. Rusty is a fine example of the best of the best. He was the one who arranged the escort the club had on Bastille Day. He is the one who will visit drivers who are caught on our cameras breaking the law. He cannot cite the drivers but he can make a house call to get their side of the story and hopefully let them know the right way to operate a vehicle in the vicinity of cyclists. Here was a recent post Rusty wrote on the La Grange Facebook page.

“So I put up a post on this Felony Hit and Run, of Mr. Lopez last week..... I was shocked that he survived the accident, and like most, it angered me that it occurred in the first place.

The suspect was caught in days, due to the excellent work of the investigating Detective and LAPD Central Traffic Division, as well as the many tips from the Community.

I reached out to the Detective and told him I wanted to speak to the Victim, if possible, because I had a bicycle that I wanted to give to him, if it fit, or I intended to buy him one that did, if it didn’t. The bike he had, was his only form of transportation, to and from work.

Yesterday I spoke to Mr. Lopez, and he’s doing very well and healing up. He’s not able to ride for a while, but told me he rides his bike everywhere. And that he loves riding.....🚴🏼‍♂️🚴🏼‍♂️🚴🏼‍♂️

He was very happy that the LAPD caught the man. He believes that the suspect would have possibly killed someone if he ended up getting away with this Hit and Run.

Turns out he is my height, and he was very appreciative of my offer to give him a bike. I told him I will be equipping it with racks and panniers so that he can put his belongings and work things inside. Apparently his bike, his trailer and all his belongings were stolen after he was struck, so he has none of his property.

I have a lock and a few other things..... but if anyone would like to pick up some lights, a helmet or any other items...PM me or comment below....

I’m going to link up with him next week to set up a time and date to go by his place and give him the items...

Anyone who would like to donate money to purchase items with, or give to Mr. Lopez? I set up a Venmo account to make that option available, due to private messages from folks looking to donate money to the cause.”

Please contact Rusty via Facebook if you have any questions or wish to donate. Thank you Rusty!

Club member and LAPD Officer Rusty Redican took a day during his vacation to escort club members throughout the usual Sunday Nichols Ride.

LAPD officer Rusty Redican at the club’s Bastille Day celebration with Raymond’s daughter, Zizi and Raphaele.

New Board Member - Marc Lewinstein

Marc Lewinstein has joined the Board of Directors of La Grange to replace Alex Miller. Marc has always liked riding bikes, but it wasn't until he discovered La Grange in 2012 that he became a cyclist. It's been a love affair ever since. In 2018, the loss of his beloved son Brian has led him to seek pedal therapy as a means of coping. "This community has been so good to me and to my mental health, I thought I should find a way to give back." Marc joined the board in August 2019. The Board wishes to thank Alex for his time and dedication to the club. Most members do not know the time and effort that goes into serving the club and our heartfelt thanks goes out to Alex for serving the club.

2019 LG Cup 500 Meter Sprint

The 2019 LaGrange Cup 500 Meter was held on Sunday, August 11, 2019 at the World Famous Encino Velodrome. The weather was perfect; warm but not blazing hot and of course, the track was DRY! Yes, Zach and Kate really did their laps on mountain bikes! Other impressive achievements included Marc Thomas' son Alden who managed to shave 10 SECONDS off of his time from last year (keep in mind Alden is well under 10 years old!)

Fast time of the day goes to Brian Duff who managed a tidy and smooth 38.16. Also impressive was Encino Velodrome's track master and caretaker, Henry Shibata. Obviously Henry has been doing this for a while and when he asked if he could take a run we said sure. Henry's time was 42.49. Henry turned 70 on September 1st!!!

Thanks to all that came out, especially all of the volunteers who helped make this happen: Marco Fantone, Jan Datomi, Geoff Loui, Tom Byrnes, Bruce Tsai, and Marc Thomas.

The warm up begin for the 500 meter sprint.

Glenn Savarese

Marco Fantone

Tom Brynes

Go Alden!

Patrick Barrett

Sarah Jones

Tina Grant

Monty Zuniga

Ellen Shinogle

Zach LeBry

Kate Wymbs

Some of the members who participated.

2019 All Clubs BBQ

The 2019 All Clubs BBQ was held on Sunday, August 18th at El Dorado Park in Long Beach. La Grange won a Wanky Award for Best Event, which was for the La Grange Grand Prix, and Patrick Barrett won Best BBQ for the 2nd year in a row.

Dan Chapman presenting one of his wonderful Cycling Art Project to a Wanky Award winner.

The dogs of the All Clubs BBQ. Photos by Sam Selfridge.

Jaycee Cary as lead singer entertaining the gathering.

Ellen Shinogle playing an amazing trumpet. Did you know Ellen is studying for a PhD?

And, yes, that is none other than…Jaycee Cary. A man of many talents and wigs.

August 50 for 50 Anniversary Ride

The August 50 for 50 ride was sponsored by TriFit in honor of Jeff Rothschild a La Grange member and a Registered Dietitian (RD) with a Master’s degree in Nutritional Science and a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD). Jeff is leaving soon to start a PhD program in New Zealand in sports nutrition.

The ride was led by Jaycee Cary, the brainchild of the 50 for 50 ride. We rode PCH out to Trancas with some nice detours thought neighborhoods most of us never knew existed since we always just rode PCH to Trancas. The SAG stop was next to a Chumash Village for even more culture. The ride ended at TriFit where beer and tacos were waiting for us. Thank you to TriFit for their sponsorship of this ride and of the club and all the best to Jeff on his doctoral journey.

Another great turn out for the August 50 for 50 ride!

Marco Fabrizio leading the charge up one of the hills in the neighborhood before Trancas.

Jeff Rothschild and David Bernstein. Thank you David for the SAG support!

Departing the SAG stop.

Gina Bersentes Baski from TriFit leading the group back to tacos!

Free food and beer courtesy of TriFit! Thank you Gina and Bernard.

New Members

We are pleased to welcome the following new members: Juan Manuel Delfin, Darren Spicer, Hamid Namazie, Jeremy Moroff, Slater Ferguson, and Jeff Kolodny

La Voix

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The Gift - A Film about Raymond Fouquet

July 14 Bastille Day with a Proclamation by the City of Los Angeles

2019 LG Cup TT Results

July 50 for 50 Ride

Race Report

Welcome New Members

The Gift: a film about Raymond Fouquet

If you want to know about the founder of Velo Club La Grange please click the Vimeo link to watch the movie. https://vimeo.com/132171897

Raymond Fouquet, founder Velo Club La Grange

July 14 Bastille Day with a Proclamation by the City of Los Angeles

Sunday, July 14th, which was Bastille Day, was a very special day for Velo Club La Grange. Eric Bruins, representing the City of Los Angeles, presented the club with a proclamation recognizing the club’s 50th anniversary at the start of the World Famous Nichols Ride at 8 am. There were well over 150 riders present and we received an amazing police escort through the streets of Los Angeles courtesy of LAPD officer Rusty Redican. Post ride crepes were served at San Vicente and Ocean!

Eric Bruins, Transportation Policy Director for Councilmember Mike Bonin, City of Los Angeles, presents Velo Club La Grange a proclamation honoring the club for its 50th anniversary.

Cycling Art Project graphics were placed throughout the ride by Dan Chapman.

Club member and LAPD Officer Rusty Redican, escorted the large group of riders throughout the usual Sunday Nichols Ride.

Raymond’s daughters, Zizi on the far left, and Raphaele, on the far right, were able to join in the festivities. LAPD officer Rusty Redican escorted the club through the streets of Los Angeles and was able to enjoy the festivities at the end of the ride.

2019 LG Cup TT

The 2019 LaGrange Cup TT was held on Saturday, July 13 starting at 9 am. “The race of truth,” included a nice tail wind, which is unusual and it led to some very fast times on the 20k course and many PR’s were set by the participants.

Big congrats to Sam Selfridge for cranking out a smoking time of 26'35". On the women's side, Cara Applegate showed all of the women how a TT is run with a super time of 31'41". Hero of the day award goes to Sarah Jones who flatted at the start, managed to make the needed tire change and finished the TT.

Finally, a big thanks to the volunteers who made this event possible:

Marco Fantone, Jan Datomi, Frank Whitelock, Scott Lipe, Kathryn Arnold, Guy Dutton, Geoff Loui, Bill Birrell, Marc Thomas, and Dan Chapman.

July LG 50 for 50 Ride

LG Board member Jaycee Cary, the ingenious mastermind behind the 50 for 50 rides, was in charge of the July 50 for 50 ride. The route was up Benedict and down into the valley to the San Fernando Mission with support provided by Tom Byrnes. Thank you Tom!

Jaycee welcoming everyone to the July 50 for 50 ride.

Race Report

For the CBR finale Liz and myself were at the race.We didn't talk about any strategies because we were not on the GC CBR finale. It was another Sunday race race for us. There  were some accelerations but nothing serious. At the second and fourth lap they ran the bell for a CBR bar points, which I decided to go for it because I was in seventh place in the CBR points. No one contested the points prime and I keep going solo for two or three laps. When the group caught me Liz counter attacked forcing the group to chase and making the pace a little faster. We were covering some attacks until the group let one rider go. We were chasing for a couple of laps but we couldn't catch the solo rider off the front. Liz and I were forced to wait for the final sprint and fight for the second position. In the final straightaway some rider did a hero acceleration trying to stay in the front for the sprint, we got boxed in, making it really difficult to stay in position for the final sprint. I ended up in 3rd place and Liz got 4th place.

Daniela Garcia

Daniela Garcia lining up for women’s P 1, 2, 3 race at CBR 7.

New Members

We are pleased to welcome the following new members: John Wike, Daniel Steinberg, Ran Geller, David Cranston, Mark Jean, Andy Lau, Susan Stahl, Basile Radisson, and Elie Braun.

La Voix

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July 14 LA City Proclamation Day, 2019 LG Cup TT, La Grange Grand Prix, La Grange Happy Hour, June 50 for 50 Ride, Santa Barbara Century June 22, Grand Tour Double Century, Race Report

July 14 LA City Proclamation Day

Save the date! Sunday, July 14th, which is Bastille Day, the City of Los Angeles will present the club with a proclamation recognizing the club’s 50th anniversary at the start of the World Famous Nichols Ride at 8 am. We expect a huge turnout for this so be sure to mark it on your calendar now. Post ride crepes will be served at San Vicente and Ocean starting at 10 am!

A food truck serving fresh crepes will be at SVO at the end of the Nichols Ride on Sunday, July 14th

2019 LG Cup TT

The 2019 LaGrange Cup TT will be help on Saturday, July 13 starting at 9 am. “The race of truth” as Phil Liggett would say! The 20K time trial follows the Pacific Coast Highway from Trancas to just south of The Rock. Like the sprint, you will be held in position, and then counted down to zero. The key to the time trial is to find the maximum speed you can maintain for the next 25+ minutes. PCH is mostly rollers with no real hills. Wind can be anything from a nasty headwind to an awesome tailwind! Bring your aero gear out for this one or borrow what you can. Every last bit of “go-fast” will help with your elapsed time!

Registration is open now. Click here to register. Registration closes on Thursday, July 11th at 9 pm.

La Grange Grand Prix

The La Grange Grand Prix  on June 2, 2019, was an extraordinary bike racing experience. Everyone seemed to have a very positive experience from a racer’s perspective and a spectator’s perspective. Race Director Zach LaBry did an outstanding job and Race Czar Joe Duerr made it happen. Many many thanks goes out to thankless club volunteers who showed up starting at 3 am and many stayed until 8 pm to clear the venue of any trace of a bike race….and congrats to Steven Walter for winning the men’s 4/5 race at LGGP

Congrats to Steven Walter winning the men’s 4/5 race at LGGP

Congrats to Steven Walter winning the men’s 4/5 race at LGGP

Liz cruising around turn 1 at LGGP.

La Grange Happy Hour Monday, June 24

Hotel Shangri-La at 1301 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90401 hosted the happy hour last month.

June LG 50 for 50 Ride

LG member Troy Huerta was in charge of the June 50 for 50 ride. It was one of the largest turn outs we have had and support was provided by Dan Chapman. Thank you Dan!

Santa Barbara Century June 22

The annual La Grange Santa Barbara Century was another big event for the club. We started with around 35 people with some turning back at the Rock.

Everyone took the train back…except Leo. Leo not only rode 42 miles to meet the group at Van Nuys he rode home for a total mileage of 238 miles for the day.

Grand Tour Double Century By Edgar Burcksen

After a suffering a broken femur on my right leg in April 2017, crashing on the ledge of a bike path ramp and six weeks later back on the home trainer getting brain surgery after an undiagnosed subdural hematoma caused by the crash, I got back on the bike end of September. Slowly I starting building up my strength until in February 2018 after climbing Nicols Canyon I went down again at the infamous “crash corner” at the start of the descend and broke the femur on my left leg. You can imagine that after this second crash my dear wife Jana was not very supportive when I got back on the bike. She relented when I promised I would take it easy now and at my 71st birthday I would not do these crazy long bike rides called double centuries anymore; before my crashes I had done 24 of them.

But when you ride your bike regularly, you still try to push yourself and at my age now 72 years old, you do not have speed anymore but endurance is still strong. So in the back of my head I started to boil a plan to do at least one more double century to reach the 25th mark. I started to do longer rides like to Las Posas and back (90 miles). When plans with riding buddies fell through to go to Santa Barbara for burgers and beer, I decided to go by myself and take the train back: another 91 miles ride. These rides were pretty flat so when Jana went to Northern Cal for a short outing to meet friends, I planned a long climbing ride. I went up Encinal, down Latigo, up Malibu Canyon, up Mulholland to Coldwater and down to SF Valley and finally up Sepulveda to go back home into Rancho Park: 90 miles and 6700 ft of climbing. I knew I was ready for a double century and signed up for the LA Wheelmen’s Grand Tour Highland Double Century. Jana was not happy about it but she gave her OK if I would be careful and text her at all the rest stops so she could follow my progress.

The Grand Tour has always been a 200-mile ride from Malibu to Ojai and back. But in my two year absence from doubles, it has shifted from Malibu to Port Hueneme. When I got the paperwork back from the organizers, I first noticed this change. For me it was always an easy half hour car trip to the start. When I took the trip to Port Hueneme on Friday for registration, it took me 1 ½ hours in heavy traffic to get there. If I wanted to start at 4am it meant getting up at 2am to get there in time for an early start. It would have been better to get a hotel room and start fresh without a long car ride before the ride.

On the way from LA to Port Hueneme there was construction on PCH in the middle of the night with a flagman and only one lane available. I waited at least 20 minutes before they let me through. After this delay and all the prep before you can start your ride, I rolled out at 5.15am. Because the elimination of the route from Malibu to Port Hueneme, the distance from Malibu on PCH had to be replaced. So they designed a loop from Port Hueneme and back ranging around 40 mostly flat miles through the strawberry fields of the Oxnard plain. I connected with a group of riders who were lead by Tony a guy on a fixy and they went at a crisp 22 mph. I was able to barely hang on with them through the first 35 miles but when Tony ramped up the speed to 24 mph I had to let them go and I hooked up with some stragglers of his group who also had fallen behind. We rode along at 18 to 20 mph to the first rest stop in Port Hueneme around 7am. I texted Jana that everything went fine.

The Grand Tour has two options, the Lowland and the Highland and after the first rest stop is where they diverge. I like to climb so I had chosen the Highland as always and it takes you from the Oxnard fields to the infamous Portrero Hill climb that maximizes out at 17%. When you stop at that grade you have to walk up because you cannot get back on your bike. Traffic is too dense to zigzag or go down and make a U-turn and get back up. I do the wall on Westridge every Thursday so these grades are not unusual for me. At the top of Portrero was the second rest stop: 60 miles. From there it was a rather easy and moderate climb on route 23 through Thousand Oaks to Moorpark to rest stop #3 at 87 miles.

Starting in Moorpark you have to climb the Santa Susanna mountain ridge into the Santa Clara Valley. The continuation of route 23 goes via the Grimes Canyon climb into the exhilarating technical descend into the Santa Clara Valley. At the bottom of the descend you have make a left turn on the way to Santa Paula. I always hated that left turn because it puts you smack into a strong coastal headwind. Even though I’m originally from a very windy flat country The Netherlands, I hate going against the wind, I rather climb. Well, the left turn did not disappoint and I battled the headwind into Santa Paula. I was looking forward to climb Hwy 150 from Santa Paula to Ojai. It’s a moderate but long 8 mile climb and it ends with another exhilarating technical descend into Ojai’s rest stop #4. Here is the Grand Tour “Café” where lunch is served. I connected my Garmin to my emergency battery pack so it would last until the finish. It was now 3pm and as usual on my doubles at the lunch rest stop that’s where I take a nap.

I woke up at 4pm and mounted my bike to leave Ojai and on to Rincon where Hwy 150 connects to the 101 freeway. I hooked up with two Randonneur USA riders on our way to the Lake Casitas climb. Randonneurs are long distance endurance riders for whom 200 miles is nothing. They are steady grinding machines so it is very comfortable to ride behind them at a pace of 18 mph. When we reached the Lake Casitas climb I passed them because now I had to go uphill on my own pace and they were going too slow for me. I reached the Rincon rest stop #5 at around 5pm and I thought that I would finish the ride maybe even before 9pm. But there was another surprise: before they changed the start of the ride from Malibu to Port Hueneme this was a straight ride home along the 101 and into Ventura to the Port Hueneme rest stop.

I looked at my road slip and it directed me North instead of South. In order to make up the lost mileage on PCH they had added another loop from Rincon through Carpentaria to almost Santa Barbara. Having done the ride to Santa Barbara many times this was familiar terrain but where was the turn around? With some other riders we climbed Ortega Hill road into the Santa Barbara suburbs before we realized that we missed the turnaround. On my Google Maps I found the cross street and we headed back to where the sensor for the turnaround would be; hey, a few extra miles and an additional climb when you do a double, who cares? From there it was an easy ride with a comfortable tail wind into Ventura where I stopped for a cup of tea. When I reached Port Hueneme my Garmin warned me that it had “low battery”. I stopped, saved the ride and started another one; on Strava it showed up as a short night ride. When I arrived at the finish at 10.15pm and wanted to sign out they asked me if I had passed the sensor; I had entered the Hilton parking lot on the wrong side and had missed the final sensor. So I went back on the bike and looped around the parking lot to enter on the correct side so the sensor could record me: Double Century #25 is in the bag!

Edgar Burcksen

Edgar Burcksen

Edgar Burcksen

Race Report

2019 California MTB Series #6 – Big Bear – aka Danie’s Second MTB Ride Ever 

Result: 1/1 Beginner Women

I hear them coming but it takes several seconds to unglue my sights from the sweeping spread of single track. On the road looking back is no problem, but I’ve never done it this close to hitting a tree on a mountain bike. “Keep one finger over the brakes,” Kate had said, and it’s all I can do not to hold them with three. I am almost track standing in the sharp, sharp switchback. Before accelerating out I take a deep breath and look back up the hill. 

The Juniors field is all knobby knees and elbows and streaming ponytails and I admire for a moment how closely they manage to ride behind one another, like a pack or swarm – coming for me fast. Out of the next turn, I stand up. 

Soon I am baffled by an uphill rock step and the kids are on me. I let them pass and finally have a piece of course to myself. OK. Breathe. How do I ride a bike? And – I belong here. I am not just in the way. This is my race. I’ll adapt. I can do this.

Every 15 minutes out there on the course something new clicks about the bike and my body. I loosen up and gain some speed. After a rock chute of a descent, the course hits its first and only stretch of pavement before turning sharply up a gravel embankment twenty yards from the finish. This, like almost everything today, takes me by surprise. “Shift shift shift!” the man on the corner yells. I mash the levers, realizing I have no idea whether Kate’s bike even has a gear that will get me up that thing (note: it does). But the chain clunks home deep between the frame and inner cog and I (gently) eat the dirt. At least the crowd of parents is cheering when I run across the line with an armful of bike, no rips in my San Remo, and a big silly grin.

State TTT

Pinning circle at State TTT Tina, Danie, Renee and Emily.

Emily, Renee and Danie at State TTT.

2nd place at State TTT for Renee, Tina, Danie and Emily.

La Voix

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2019 LG Cup 500M Sprint, La Grange Grand Prix, La Grange Happy Hour, May 50 for 50 Ride, Santa Barbara Century June 22, July 14 LA City Proclamation Day, Race Report

2019 LG Cup 500M Sprint Rescheduled

The 2019 LaGrange Cup 500M Sprint at the World Famous Encino Velodrome has been rescheduled to Sunday, August 11th due to rain. The 500M sprint is comprised of two laps of the Encino Velodrome. You will be held in position at the start line by an official. Countdown to zero and you’re off! The key to a good time is getting off the line and up to speed as fast as possible and then holding that speed for the next 35+ seconds. You don’t have to be a trackie to get a rush from this experience and your standard road bike is just fine for this event.

This year, we will be holding the event from 10am to 1pm so anyone who wants to get their warmup on the Nichols ride can do so and then ride over the hill to the track. Like last year, there will be no start times. Arrive whenever you like, get your warm up and then let us know when you’d like to take your timed run.

More reminders to come. Registration is up on the our website.

La Grange Grand Prix

The La Grange Grand Prix  on June 2, 2019, was an extraordinary bike racing experience. Everyone seemed to have a very positive experience from a racer’s perspective and a spectator’s perspective. Race Director Zach LaBry did an outstanding job and Race Czar Joe Duerr made it happen. Many many thanks goes out to thankless club volunteers who showed up starting at 3 am and many stayed until 8 pm to clear the venue of any trace of a bike race.

Sarch Jones takes a podium in just her second bike race ever.

Sam Selfridge waving to his admirers on the back stretch.

Zach LaBry and Joe Duerr, the two people that truly made this event happen.

La Grange Happy Hour Monday, June 24

Hotel Shangri-La at 1301 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90401 will be the site of the next La Grange Happy Hour from 6 pm to 8 pm. Come spend some time with your old friends, new friends, fellow cyclists and teammates off the bike. We will be on the rooftop bar enjoying drinks and watching the sunset. DRESS CODE NOTE - NO FLIP FLOPS :)

Come early, the first few drinks are on the La Grange tab!

Happy Hour will be on the rooftop bar from 6 pm to 8 pm.

May LG 50 for 50 Ride

LG member Lee Ziff was in charge of this month’s LG 50 for 50 ride. The group met at SVO (San Vicente and Ocean) and rode down to Palos Verdes and out to the far side of the peninsula to White Point Beach where SAG was provided by Amy Weiss, the wife of club member Jonathan Weiss. A lunch was hosted by Lee back at his house at the end of the ride.

Santa Barbara Century June 22

Please join us for another La Grange Century as we ride north to Santa Barbara. The ride starts at the Van Nuys Train Station and departs at 7 am sharp. We will be stopping at San Vicente and Ocean for our first stop for those that don’t want to ride over the Sepulveda pass. We will roll from there around 8 am.

Route:
https://www.strava.com/routes/8714909

Ride Rules:
This is a group ride, which means we stay together, and you should be able to ride at an average pace of 18 MPH. There will be four stops approximately every 20 miles for food and drinks from the truck. If someone has a mechanical, the group will stop so that we all stay together. You should not be riding ahead of the group.

Cost:
$20, which includes the meal at Casa Blanca in Santa Barbara and and transportation of your bike back to Van Nuys. You must prepay via PayPal by Sunday, June 16th at 10 pm so that we can confirm restaurant reservations and purchase goods based on the number of riders. The club’s PayPal email address is paypal@lagrange.org. Please choose "send money to a friend" so the club does not have to pay any transfer fees. If you do not have a PayPal account, please send $20 to:

Rich Hirschinger, DDS
9615 Brighton Way Suite 323
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Train:
You are responsible for your own train ticket, and most people purchase a coach seat but you can buy a business class if you so desire. Please buy a ticket for Amtrak 792 Pacific Surfliner departing Santa Barbara (SBA) at 4:40 pm arriving Van Nuys (VNC) at 7:09 pm.
https://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak

Duffle Bag:
You can bring a duffle bag with a change of clothes, which will be transported to Santa Barbara on the truck. Please plan on carrying your personal stuff back on the train. If there is room in the truck we can transport it but bikes take priority.

July 14 LA City Proclamation Day

Save the date! Sunday, July 14th, which is Bastille Day, the City of Los Angeles will present the club with a proclamation recognizing the club’s 50th anniversary at the start of the World Famous Nichols Ride. We expect a huge turnout for this so be sure to mark it on your calendar now. Post ride crepes will be served at San Vicente and Ocean!

A food truck serving fresh crepes will be at SVO at the end of the Nichols Ride on Sunday, July 14th

Race Report

Nick Gillock Wins the Tour of the Gila

Succeeding in a stage race requires a careful balance of training, recovery, strategy, and will. This year, at the 2019 Tour of the Gila Stage Race, Nick Gillock put it all together and won the Men’s B 50+ Category and came in 3rd in the entire Masters B field.

The link contains an incredibly detailed race report with phenomenal photos for Nick’s 4-day adventure as an amateur stage racer in Silver City, New Mexico. For each of the 4 race stages (2 Road Races, 1 Time Trial, and 1 Criterium) there is an individual report.

Please take the time and enjoy the report as Nick takes you through his highs and lows, trials and tribulations, rivalries, near-catastrophes, and small victories. View the report here.

Nick Gillock during Stage 1

La Voix

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2019 LG Cup 500M Sprint, La Grange Grand Prix, LG 50 Camelbak Water Bottles, LG 50 T-Shirts, April 50 for 50 Ride, July 14 LA City Proclamation Day, Camera Angle, Race Report, Tour of California May 17 Stage 6 Mt. Baldy

2019 LG Cup 500M Sprint

The 2019 LaGrange Cup kicks off on Sunday, May 26th. The action will begin with the dreaded 500M Sprint at the World Famous Encino Velodrome. The 500M sprint is comprised of two laps of the Encino Velodrome. You will be held in position at the start line by an official. Countdown to zero and you’re off! The key to a good time is getting off the line and up to speed as fast as possible and then holding that speed for the next 35+ seconds. You don’t have to be a trackie to get a rush from this experience and your standard road bike is just fine for this event.

This year, we will be holding the event from 10am to 1pm so anyone who wants to get their warmup on the Nichols ride can do so and then ride over the hill to the track. Like last year, there will be no start times. Arrive whenever you like, get your warm up and then let us know when you’d like to take your timed run.

More details and reminders to come. Registration will be up on the our website shortly.

La Grange Grand Prix Sunday, June 2, 2019

Thanks to the relentless work and dedication of Joseph Duerr, Velo Club La Grange will be the very first cycling club to negotiate a cycling race on a 53 acre CLOSED course race track at the Porsche Experience Center in Southern California! For those of you that do not know about this race track, it is a location where Porsche USA allows owners and guests to race around this enthusiasts play-land https://www.porschedriving.com/porsche-experience-center-los-angeles.

The La Grange Grand Prix will offer an extraordinary bike racing experience. Several club members have had a chance to ride this course, and it is spectacular. 1.4 miles of straights, turns, hills, and descents on an immaculate high-speed unblemished tarmac. When you ride on it, you will know that with every turn of your crank it will test everything you’ve got. This race is incredibly unique and will not be missed.

Sunday, June 2, 2019, is the date. Keep it free and get ready to race or just attend to watch your fellow members and friends race this spectacular course. Plus, all Juniors will race for free, so we want to see you all out there!

LG 50 Camelbak Water Bottles

The LG 50 anniversary Camelbak water bottles have landed. Y’all ordered 272 bottles so the Board will sort each order, at the next Board meeting, into a bag with your name on it and you will be able to pick up your bottles from Helen’s in Santa Monica starting on Thursday, May 9th. Do not call Helen’s and ask them if the bottles are ready for pick up or your order will be donated to someone who needs bottles.

The bottles have landed. The bottles have landed. But do not call Helen’s. They will be ready for pick up on Thursday, May 9th.

LG 50 T-Shirts

Now is to your chance to celebrate 50 years of Velo Club La Grange in style. For a limited time, we are offering an LG50 Logo T-shirt. These are in limited supply and are available to first come, first served. Shirts are unisex but fitted so may run small on bigger bodies. Limit 2 shirts per member. All shirts may be picked up at Helen’s Cycles in Santa Monica starting Thursday May 9th. Order at https://www.lagrange.org/lg50-shirts#!form/Shirts

April LG 50 for 50 Ride

Board member Katie Rollins was in charge of this month’s LG 50 for 50 ride. The group met at SVO (San Vicente and Ocean) and rolled up PCH to Latigo, climbed up Latigo for the SAG stop stationed by Jaycee Cary. It was a cool, brisk day with heavy gloom at the top of Latigo, which means it was perfect cycling weather. The 50 for 50 rides, which were conceived by Jaycee, have been very well attended. They are “no drop” rides with several regroups and, as a result, they are very social. The past few rides have ended at Tacos Por Favor for some great tacos, burritos, etc. Stay tuned to learn about the May 50 for 50 ride.

July 14 LA City Proclamation Day

Save the date! Sunday, July 14th, which is Bastille Day, the City of Los Angeles will present the club with a proclamation recognizing the club’s 50th anniversary at the start of the World Famous Nichols Ride. We expect a huge turnout for this so be sure to mark it on your calendar now.

Camera Angle

Many of us ride with cameras. Why? I like riding with cameras “just in case.” Just in case I need it to show what happened. Just in case I need evidence. Just in case. A great example of the need for cameras occurred this past Sunday. Casper Casperian was riding with a group of cyclists on PCH when a motorcycle rider aggressively buzzed him. Fortunately, Reese Sylvester had camera and caught the incident on video. The license plate of the driver was captured and the incident is being reported to law enforcement. Helen’s Cycles is still honoring the amazing discount on Cycliq units that they offered to us on Helen’s Night so please contact them and ask them for the La Grange member pricing.

Race Report

Sea Otter by Clark Duncan

Sea Otter road race is a brutal event with a ~2.5 minute climb that the P12 field would go up 9 times before finishing on a 7 minute climb with a savage kick to the line. There wasn't much time to settle in with bombs being dropped on the first climb by the Wildlife  and Illuminate guys, it had turned out to be a pretty strong field with a fair few bona fide and talented pros racing. I made the selection on first climb and spent the next few laps hanging on, or just managing to catch back on on the flat exposed section at the top of the climb. I always find racing at midday tricky, not knowing how much breakfast to eat, I definitely had one bagel too many and spent much of the first half of the race trying to digest my breakfast. By the time the second half had come along and I had managed to hang on, but a break with some ridiculously strong guys was long gone, I thought there were 3 but apparently 6 were off the front. I did feel myself improving for the second half of the race, and even managed a dig on the climb to try and whittle down my group a little. After 9 climbs the final longer climb came around, it was weirdly gentle for the first 5 minutes, then everyone remembered we were racing when the 1km to go came up. I tried to just ride at my own pace knowing the last 200m was a double digit gradient,  got there opened up to give whatever I had left, passed a few people, crossed the line, and crumpled in a heap, for a middling finish in my group. 

I finished 12th / ~40 , but was actually really happy I managed to stick as long as a I did and finished knowing I really couldn't have given it much more - the best feeling ever!

CBR

Emily, Renee, Tina and Danie are race ready.

Emily, Danie, and Renee cheering on the club racers.

Not even a mechanical mid race can get Emily down.

Renee and Jaycee, so grateful for our volunteers.

Steven floating into turn 1 at CBR 5.

Tour of California Stage 6 Mt. Baldy

La Grange will likely have a presence on GMR so look for us if you ride up. Here are some details provided by Ryan Ung. He says it’s a bit more complicated than previous years because the women’s race is taking place 2-3 hours before the men’s which makes a lot of the mountain inaccessible for cars (bikes ok). 

Maps: https://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/route-2019/2019-route-overview

STAGE 6

Finish Location: 8401 Mt Baldy Rd, Mt Baldy, CA 91759

Women’s Race Start: 9:45am (course only follows the final 25 miles of the men’s route from Glendora Mountain Road to Glendora Ridge Road to Mt Baldy)

Women’s Race Finish: 12:09pm

Men’s Race Start: 11:55am (traditional 80 mile course)

Men’s Race Finish: 3:41pm

Tips:

• Lower Mt. Baldy Road (below the village) will be accessible all morning through about 11:00 AM (closure is at CHP’s discretion). This is probably the best place to park in one of the dirt pullouts. No parking is available above the village because women’s teams will need to utilize all the parking in the previous Manker Flats area 1 mile from the summit

• Glendora Ridge Road will not be accessible to cars after 9:30 AM

• Ride with caution, CHP may ask you to get off the road as the races are approaching

La Voix

La Grange Grand Prix, March 50 for 50 Ride, 2019 LG Cup Dates, July 14 LA City Proclamation Day, Track Report, Race Report

La Grange Grand Prix Sunday, June 2, 2019

Thanks to the relentless work and dedication of Joseph Duerr, Velo Club La Grange will be the very first cycling club to negotiate a cycling race on a 53 acre CLOSED course race track at the Porsche Experience Center in Southern California! For those of you that do not know about this race track, it is a location where Porsche USA allows owners and guests to race around this enthusiasts play-land https://www.porschedriving.com/porsche-experience-center-los-angeles.

The La Grange Grand Prix will offer an extraordinary bike racing experience. Several club members have had a chance to ride this course, and it is spectacular. 1.4 miles of straights, turns, hills, and descents on an immaculate high-speed unblemished tarmac. When you ride on it, you will know that with every turn of your crank it will test everything you’ve got. This race is incredibly unique and will not be missed.

Sunday, June 2, 2019, is the date. Keep it free and get ready to race or just attend to watch your fellow members and friends race this spectacular course. Plus, all Juniors will race for free, so we want to see you all out there! 

March 50 for 50 Ride

The March 50 for 50 ride route was changed the day before the ride due to the closure of Topanga Canyon for hillside damage repair. The turnout was awesome. The route went south to Marina Del Rey, east on the Ballona Creek bikepath, north through Beverlywood and into Beverly Hills via Rodeo Drive with a stop at the Witch’s House, then into Franklin Canyon with SAG provided by Jan Datomi, down into the valley to the Orange Line bike path then up and over Sepulveda and into Santa Monica for lunch at Tacos Por Favor. We hope you join us for the April 50 for 50 ride!

The start of the ride at SVO.

The Mastermind behind the 50 for 50 rides, Jaycee Cary.

The Queen of SAG…Jan Datomi. Thank you Jan!

Riding on the Ballona Creek bike path. Photo by Leo…who else?!

Caleb and Dan turning in front of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Rolling up Rodeo Drive.

The iconic Witch’s House in Beverly Hills.

SAG by Jan Datomi at Franklin Canyon Lake.

The 50 mile mark at Tacos Por Favor.

La Grange Cup Dates

500M Track Sprint - Sunday, May 26th
Trancas 20K TT: Saturday, July 13th
Piuma Hill Climb: Saturday, September 14th immediately followed by the annual club picnic

July 14 LA City Proclamation Day

Save the date! Sunday, July 14th, which is Bastille Day, the City of Los Angeles will present the club with a proclamation recognizing the club’s 50th anniversary at the start of the World Famous Nichols Ride. We expect a huge turnout for this so be sure to mark it on your calendar now.

Track Report

A little background…

This year, as part of its commitment to developing track racers and as the club with one of the largest contingents of track racers in LA, La Grange sponsored a set of race-focused women's track clinics earlier this year. The first clinic on January 26 introduced racers to basic concepts of racing on the track and the different types endurance races. The second clinic, held over two days on March 9-10, was geared toward intermediate racers with a focus on skills an tactics for the four events of the International Omnium. The clinics were taught by Chris Birch, a two-time US Elite National Champion and member of the US National Team.

Katy's race report

A couple weekends ago I participated in the LAVRA Women’s Race Clinic on Intermediate Mass Start Racing on the Track. I was hesitant to register as the event was advertised for Intermediate track racers, and I’d only ridden on a velodrome three times before, but eventually Zach LaBry, who organized the event, set me up with one of the track’s rental bikes and coaxed me into it.

A mix of women showed up for the clinic – masters racers who had earned stripes on their kits, women who’d been racing track for a few years, women who had ridden on velodromes for years but had never raced, and a few women who – like me – had only been on a track a handful of times.

The clinic consisted of two 3.5 hour sessions lead by Chris Birch and Zach LaBry. Over the weekend we covered all four international omnium events – tempo and elimination on day 1, followed by scratch and points on day 2. We talked about tactics as Chris drew diagrams on a whiteboard, then we’d break into drills for attacking, moving around the pack, and defending position that were tailored for the specific situations we’d discussed, but applicable to any mass-start track race.

Everyone at the clinic was extremely supportive. Chris and Zach did a phenomenal job of making sure everyone was getting something out of the drills – not an easy task with that spread of experience levels. The racers who had spent a lot of time on the velodrome were helpful and respectful of those of us who were brand new, encouraging us and making us feel welcome to share the boards with them.

The clinic culminated in a mock omnium in which we raced shortened versions of all four events with a quick rest and debrief after each. Again, I was hesitant to participate in the mock races, fearing that I’d inadvertently get in the way of the more experienced racers, but they insisted that wouldn’t be the case. It was a huge mental hurdle for me to race in close proximity to other people on a bike with no brakes, but knowing that all the other racers wanted me there helped me get over it and boy, was it fun! While I can’t say I did particularly well in any of the mock races, I got a glimpse of what it would be like to actually race track – blistering speeds, people on all sides of you, and –of course – a lot of left turns.

Over the course of the clinic, I faced fears, made friends, learned a ton, and got in a workout. What a way to spend a weekend! Next up for me: buy a track bike and sign myself up for a race!

Katy Olesnavage (right) attended both intro and intermediate track clinics that were coached by Chris Birch (second from left) with help from Zach LaBry (left).

Race Report: Tour of Murrieta

This year 18 members of the race team traveled to the Tour of Murrieta. Held the weekend before Redlands, this race gives amateurs the chance the rub elbows (sometimes literally) with pro riders who are just warming up their legs. As a cat 3, I had the chance to race hard in the women's 3-4-5 crit and then start again shortly after with the pros. With the Mexican national team, a pro canadian team, and numerous others it was an unprecedented chance to see how it's really done. Spoiler: it's done FAST. 

After that crit, Daniela Garcia reports: "The Mexican team was leading the overall and I knew they will control the [circuit] race. I was covering the brakes because Liz was on the overall. It was a hard race.. I suffered bad cramps on the last lap but was still able to get 7th on the stage." Her teammate Liz Ureno took 8th overall in the women's P12. 

As for the men, Duncan Clark returned to take first place in the 2/3 omnium for the second year running! Patrick Barrett and Victor Ayala, each racing in different categories, raced super hard in the circuit race. "I broke rule #1 of being in a break," says Victor with a huge grin. "Don’t get dropped from the break." As Patrick's breakaway - it's all on video. After many laps of gaining reputation by attacking the leaders ("two Dutch brothers"), he sees the winning break and bridges up. By the time the break passes Ft. La Grange he's on the back of the break with his tongue hanging all the way out. Then on the back stretch he blows up.

It's races like these that help riders grow their skills. Acacia Shyr writes: "A highlight was watching the amazing talent in the other races! I realized that I could have pedaled through many more of the corners than I did while I was watching the other races. I think this skill comes with lots of practice." Acacia also describes working together with teammates Emily Conant and Ellie Perry, who passed her a gel when the going got tough. Emily is new to the team, and agrees on the importance of bike handling. " I slowed myself down a lot at the turns and had to expend a lot of extra energy catching up." Another tip from Kim Kopenhaver: "It's important a few laps to go start moving up. I had the strength at the end but hesitated too long and the window to move up closes very quickly!" 

Having your teammates around is the best part of a travel race weekend, especially for all the new racers. "Unfortunately for my legs, I could not disappoint LG’s cheer-leading squad, let alone let down my teammates. So I stuck through." "The atmosphere and camaraderie was motivating!" says Liz Fu. In the W345 circuit, "I even managed a little (accidental) breakaway! In fairness Dani was shouting “go go go”, so who am I to ignore instructions?"

Race Day Boss Ellie Perry, who booked the house and shopped for food, has maybe the greatest racing lesson of all: "Racing isn't only fun if you do well in the race - if nothing else it's just fun to ride your bike somewhere different and spend quality time with some of the best people around!"

Sebastian Garduno, Ellie Perry, Kim Kopenhaver, Danie Monahan and Liz Fu

Victor rocking the #LG50 kit.

Lizbeth Ureno on the line.

Ellie Perry, Emily Conant, Ben Forrest, Acacia Shyr, Liz Fu, Sebastian Garduno, Mohammed Asgari, David Arnold

Duncan Clark, first place omnium Men's 2/3

Duncan Clark, Liz Fu, Acacia Shyr, Charlie Herndon, Frank Wyer and Ellie Perry

Baking cookies at the La Grange house.

La Voix

February 50 for 50 Ride, Helen's Night, LG50 Kit on Zwift, LG Kit Donations, Race Reports, Haute Route Social, LA City Proclamation Day, Operation Firefly, LG50 Anniversary Items

Needless to say, February was a busy month for La Grange. Read all about what happened and what is happening below.

February 50 for 50 Ride

Marco Fantone led the February 50 for 50 ride to Griffith Park. The ride started at Peet's Coffee in Westwood Village. It proceed up Sepulveda to the Skirball Center to Mulholland Drive, down Barham and onto the Griffith Park Observatory with a well earned lunch at Tacos Por Favor in Santa Monica. Look for an announcement for the March 50 for 50 ride soon!

Thanks to Jan Datomi for providing much needed SAG.

Helen's Night

The annual Helen’s Night was extremely well attended. Did you know that Helen’s calls it La Grange Night? Food was served from Pitfire Pizza and, as usual, there wasn’t much food left over at the end of the night. Thank you to Jay Wolff and the entire Helen’s team for working late and making the night so special.

LG50 Kit on Zwift

If somehow you missed it, our 50th anniversary LG50 kit is now available to “wear” in-game on Zwift!

Check out this amazing LG50 Zwift video on Vimeo!

I’ve seen a lot of discussion regarding the virtues (or absence thereof) of virtual riding/training, and like all things in life, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and there is no accounting for taste and variety is the spice of life and etcetera, but I can tell you that in my own n=1 situation I have found two things:

· Pre-Zwift, I hated riding indoors. HATED it. I would literally stare at the workout timer and count down the seconds. Slowly. Excruciatingly… slow. With Zwift’s gamification of the indoor riding experience, I actually enjoy riding indoors. I don’t plan on giving up riding outdoors anytime soon, but I find Zwift a nice complement to the outdoor riding we all grew up with.

· Zwift, or any indoor riding for that matter, it ultra-efficient. No stopping and with today’s smart trainers, you can nail intervals with clinical efficiency.

· Dopamine. Yes, in the same way that smart phones, video games, and slot machines all seek to manipulate your brain chemistry to make you come back for more, the game aspect of Zwift may well cause you to ride “one more mile” or ride “just a little harder.”

If you are not on Zwift already, you can sign up and demo FREE (no credit card required) at zwift.com and if you need a smart trainer, head over to Helen’s Cycles. Their Santa Monica location even has two trainers set up with Zwift running at all times, so you can check it out for yourself!

If you are a current member in good standing and want access to the LG50 kit on Zwift, please email racedirector@lagrange.org and we’ll get you set up!

Thanks to Zwift and Rahsaan Bahati for bringing our 50th anniversary kit to the world of Zwift. See you on the (virtual) roads!

Robert Efthimos, LG Zwift Ambassador

LG Kit Donations Collected on Helen’s Night are Going to Armenia

Report by Michael Kludjian

Armenia is a former Soviet republic in the mountainous Caucasus region between Asia and Europe with around three million people. Coming out of the Soviet breakup, a devastating earthquake, and striving for democracy, money is extremely tight especially for recreational sports like cycling. The country is very mountainous, which makes it ideal for hiking and mountain biking. A few years back the Asana team was training in the mountains of Armenia near the Lake Sevan area.

I started biking there in 2012 with a charity organization called Bike for Hope. In 2013, we invited the local youth cycling club to join our annual charity tour (6 days) around the countryside. The youth cycling club kids range in age from 11 to 22 years old. There are two main cycling clubs in Armenia with about 70 members each and then various cyclists in the village towns around the country. There are also a few masters clubs plus a TriClub. They have very little money for sports so any donations are greatly appreciated – especially for the kids. Most are fairly poor and appreciative of whatever we can gather. One time one of the boys had a flat and I helped him fix his tire and was amazed when he pulled off his tube and it had over 12 patches on it! It is also quite common to see riders with duck tape holding up their helmets and shoes. A few of the boys from the youth team have made it all the way to some Italian pro minor teams. They also compete in the European, Russian, and Iranian cycling competitions. Below are some photos of the youth team.

Again, all clothing is greatly appreciated and will be distributed and used. Thank you to Jaycee Cary for coordinating these donations.

Race Reports

CBR Men’s 3/4

Report by Patrick Barrett

"Jeff it's me. It's Sunday the 24th. I'm in Carson. I have the song Mr. Blue Sky stuck in my head by..." Oh gosh I should say ELO but it's actually the new Weezer cover album I've been listening to on repeat. "...ELO." Phew. I'm a liar but at least the race director knows I'm coherent.

My assailant looks distraught, ashamed, and guilty, which is enough for me to wrap him up in a hug, letting him also know I'm OK. His SDBC kit ensures their director and my friend Wells Wang will be paying me a visit, which helps to level out the pain in my bloody hip, elbow, shoulder and maybe broken bike.
Record Scratch. Freeze Frame. You probably wondering how I ended up in this situation...back up 50 minutes.

"I can win today." - Charlie Herndon
"I can't. Only top ten. When it's time, I'll help you get you that win." - Me
"I LIKE BIKES!" - Steven Walter

Fast forward 32 minutes. Charlie and I are on the back of the Men's Open Cat 3/4 race of what started with 100 racers. No words exchanged, we just begin moving up.

Fast forward 13 minutes. One lap to go. Charlie's 6th wheel, I'm 9th. The contenders are all in the front. I go full suicide, UCLA BBQ fueled, speed demon lead out which has delivered Beards, Baby Faces, Sausages, Head Downs, ShoeBums, Gooches, Roaches, Duncans and Frankels to the podium many times over. Turn 1, Turn 2, Turn 3 and PAYLOAD DEPLOY! The grind of a hill with headwind will blow the top 4 racers out of contention leaving Charlie for his podium.

Where is Charlie? The pack is around the corner and Charlie is puttering up the hill, his chain with a bent link, struggling to keep his machine in the race let alone getting to the finish line. Poor guy. That's bike racing. No regrets as we did right.

I sit up on my saddle, bringing my hamster heart some relaxation. This is always a welcome calm period after the lead out. There's nothing to be gained by trying to hold on for 30th place, so just take it slow and cool off while looking at the crowd who still have expressions on their face spectating the end of a bike race! Smile about staying upright through a race that had too many, grateful you get to race again in a few hours.

The impact that hit me on the left hand side, of a racer who had his head down sprinting up the hill for 60th place, takes me off my bike then bouncing my hip on the asphalt. Instantaneously I'm bloody and bruised and flabbergasted that this happened. My heart rate is close to max, my adrenaline is high, and my verbal filter is off, shouting at the culprit that he is a less than decent individual. Then I collapse and rest for a few minutes while the moto-ref keeps me company waiting for Jeff to scrap me off of his racecourse. The racer turns his bike around, giving up his prized results-sheet line item, and stands by my side until I finally make it to my feet for his idiot-hug.

Ricky Bobby: If you ain't first, you're last.Jaycee Carey: You're racing for the top spots or DFL, everything else is reckless and not being a good teammate.Todd Schoenbaum: Podium or GTFO.
I'm fine. The San Remo is ~fine. The bike works great. I'll see y'all on the start line of Tour de Murrieta.

UCLA Road Race Photos

Haute Route Social with Special Guest Fränk Schleck

La Grange is proud to present a private evening with Haute Route with special guest Fränk Schleck at Stella Barra in Santa Monica on Thursday, March 14 from 6 pm to 8 pm. Please RSVP to Gail Thalmann at gail.thalmann@ocsport.com

July 14 LA City Proclamation Day

Save the date! Sunday, July 14th, which is Bastille Day, the City of Los Angeles will present the club with a proclamation recognizing the club’s 50th anniversary at the start of the World Famous Nichols Ride. We expect a huge turnout for this so be sure to mark it on your calendar now.

Operation Firefly

Velo Club La Grange made a sizable donation to Operation Firefly through the Bliefer Fund, and VCLG members helped distribute the lights to those that needed them. Operation Firefly (Operacíon Luciérnaga) is an education and bike light distribution program of LACBC intended to make sure people riding bikes in LA County are riding safely at night. So far, we’ve equipped over 12,000 people across LA County with bike lights. Your can learn more about Operation Firefly by visiting https://la-bike.org/our-work/operation-firefly/

LG50 Anniversary Items

Orders for custom LG50 bottles are now open! Please click the link to place your order. https://www.lagrange.org/lg50-bottles

In the next few days you the LG50 socks will be available.

La Voix

50 for 50 Rides, Helen's Night, 50th Kit Reorders, Race Camp, Race Reports, and Annual Club Photo

Dear La Grange members, we hope you enjoy this months La Voix.

50 for 50 Rides
All this year La Grange will be leading "50 for 50 Anniversary Rides." These are 50 "mileish" rides that will celebrate our clubs 50th anniversary, and they are meant to be social rides that crisscross the wonderful city that we live in. These rides occur on the last Saturday of each month throughout 2019.

The first ride was lead by Jaycee Cary, who conceived the rides. Here is a video from the ride along with some photos. 

The February ride will be held on Saturday, February 23rd. Ride details to be announced. 

50th Anniversary Kit Store Reopens
The 50th Anniversary Kits are available....again until Sunday, February 10th at 11:59 pm. All members should have received the custom link to the Castelli store.

We did make one design update, which was to add the "circle 50" logo to the right glove and to move the logo off the left edge so that the full "circle 50" logo is visible, which you can see in the image below. The original design was intentional and some people liked it and some did not. We do listen to you so if you like the updated design, then order new gloves.

Helen's Night

Helen's Night is a special night that La Grange takes over Helen's Cycles. Pizza, pasta, salads, beer, beverages and all included but most importantly you get to see your cycling friends and get amazing deals on Cannondale, Giro, Continental, Cycliq, nutrition, and much much more. Please join us.

Date: Monday, February 11, 2019 at 7 – 9 PM
Location: Helen's Cycles 2501 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90404

Race Camp
Race Camp was...SMF (so much fun). It's amazing to experience how well so many people get along in one place when they have so much in common. It is also amazing to see how much food a group like that consumes. Friday was a ride up Gibraltar. Saturday was a drills for skills led by La Grange member Marc Thomas followed by a crit, which was followed by beers. Sunday was a group ride with some team racing on certain segments of the ride. 

Race Reports
January 27th Goleta CA  |  Carlos Soto Memorial Crit  |  Sam Selfridge Cat 3 |  

The Carlos Soto Memorial Crit - I used to live here and have ridden over 600 laps of this course during summer crit practice, I've never raced here.  The Santa Barbara County Road Race was the day before, and I'd ridden 30 miles total in the two weeks leading up to it so I'm still feeling the 60 road race from Saturday in my legs.    

My plan from the get-go was to throw out attacks consistently throughout the beginning of the race, get the leaders used to seeing me off the front and expecting they can catch me.  Looking at the field Serious Cycling and Fig Mtn both have 6+ riders in the pack.  I have one teammate who lives up north and I hadn't met until yesterday, Frank and a friendly agreement with Manuel Aguilar AKA BreakAwayManny.  It's going to be a tough race.

I told Manny before we got started, with 2 to go I'm going to be off.  Either off the front or off the back, but I'm going to try to break away, surprise surprise - BreakAwayManny was up for the plan.

Started off by taking a solo flyer right out of the gate and leading the first two laps about 50 yards off the pack.  Let my legs warm up, said hi to a few of my friends working the race and yelling "I'M WINNING THE RACE" to whoever would listen.  After that settled back into the pack.  The course is basically a capital D with only two corners.  The trick with these is to read the riders in front and control speed so you're not braking and then forced to sprint to stay in the draft.  Good to have that jump every now and then but doing it 40 times will get to you.  Serious to their credit had some good team tactics going on.  If a serious rider was up the road, another would sprint up to 2nd wheel of the chase group, then either gap that wheel or just not pull hard when that rider pulled off.  They never got a solid team breakaway going.   

I made moves off the front a couple times, one bigger one at lap 36 then settled in till lap 26 which came up faster than I realized, went out again and was caught.  When the lap cards said 18 I jumped off the front again, I think I was chasing down a rider up ahead I don't remember, but when I was about to let off and drift back the pack I hear "Sam lets go!" from behind me. It was Manny and he had friends.  No one had joined me in my other attacks, but now there were 4 of us, me, Manny, Travis from Hit Squad and Madison from Fig Mtn.  Finally, I had people to play with! We set up a rotating paceline, each of us taking about 1/4 of a lap then peeling off.  The laps that had gone by so quickly before seemed to drag on forever.  It wasn't until 10 to go that I felt we had a good chance of making this stick.

We had 2 things going for us.  
Everyone was all in.   While some took slightly longer pulls and some shorter we all put in our time at the front and kept the pace up - no one was skipping pulls or too gassed to help out.  

Madison's Fig Teammates behind us were making any organized chase difficult.  With 5 riders the Fig team was in a great position to interrupt any pack organization to chase us down.

The laps ticked by and we stayed away.  Derin Stockton was on the mic and when he announced we had a 12-second gap on the pack with 6 to go I knew we could make it.  To sure things up I announced that I didn't mind taking 4th.  I'd never been a part of a break like this before and didn't want it to fall apart until it had too.  With 2 to go we started to see the pack ahead of us - unless there was a strong breakaway chasing us we had this in the bag.  With 1/2 lap to go I made good on my promise and jumped to the front to take one last big pull through the corner then build up speed for the sprint.  It was 200m from corner to finish line and the other 3 guys all came around me before the end.  

Madison won, Travis 2nd and Manny got 3rd and I took 4th as planned.  Best breakaway I've been a part of and a great race.

Looking forward to coming back next year!
Cheers
-Sam Selfridge

P123 Women's CBR

La Grange made a strong showing in the women's P123 race at the season's first CBR event, our backyard crit series in Dominguez Hills. Daniela Garcia finished fourth with support from teammates Catherine Guentert and Danie Monahan in a fast field of 18. After this race, the team talked about the importance of attacking right when it's hurting the worst - because everyone else will be hurting too! CBR1 was also an energizing debut for new-to-LG racers Kim Kopenhaver and Michael Barraclough. Welcome!

Annual Club Photo
The annual La Grange club photo will be held Saturday, February 16th at 7:30 am at San Vicente and Ocean Avenue. Members are encouraged to wear their 50th Anniversary Kits. If you have extras, please bring them to the shoot. If you don't have a 50th kit, we want you in the photo but members with the kit will be in the front. The photo is followed by an easy spin around the Marina. Peet's coffee will be served.

La Voix

Happy New Year and Happy 50th Anniversary to Velo Club La Grange!

The club was founded by Raymond Fouquet in 1969. Raymond was born December 26, 1920 in a small town that was a suburb of Paris, France. Growing up he loved sport, soccer was one of his favorites; he played in a soccer match on his wedding day. He also embraced bicycle racing and was a keen participant in local events.

During WWII, Raymond was pressed into forced labor and transported to Germany. Granted leave to visit his family, he never returned and ultimately joined the French Army. Following the war, Ray met the lovely Marie, the companion of his life, at a summer resort.

Raymond was trained to be a welder but that work was scarce so he became a waiter. Following other family members, Ray and Marie immigrated to America and settled in Chicago. In 1956, they moved their family, now including daughters Raphaele and Michele, to Los Angeles.

Raymond continued to pursue his career and worked in some of the area’s top restaurants including Chasen’s and Matteo’s. Raymond and Marie were part of the growing French community in Southern California. They watched as the interest in finer dining, beyond steak and potatoes, grew. In 1968, Ray took the plunge and opened the La Grange Restaurant on Westwood Boulevard.

Raymond had always retained his interest in cycling and his waiters would join him on rides. Some customers would join in from time to time as well and that was the genesis of the La Grange Club.

The intersection of Westwood Boulevard and La Grange Avenue, which is where the World Famous Nichols ride starts every Sunday, was officially dedicated as “Raymond Fouquet Square” on July 12, 2015. You can view the dedication at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBLO9KE7Jpo

Raymond Fouquet, on the far right, founded Velo Club La Grange in 1969. He opened La Grange Restaurant in 1968.

50th Anniversary Club Kits

Most of you have received the UPS notification that the 50th Anniversary Kits are on their way to you and I'm as excited as you are to receive the kits, which were designed by club members and graphic designers extraordinaire Jaycee Cary and Marco Fabrizio.

The Giro Aether MIPS helmet comes in red with a gradient that nicely matches the 50th Anniversary Kit. These are available to club members at an incredible price. Please ask Adam at Helen’s Cycles to order one for you.

Helen's Night 2019

Helen's Night will be Monday, February 11th at 7:30 p.m. so mark your calendar now. For those that don’t know, Helen’s Night is an annual La Grange event. They close their Santa Monica store and La Grange takes over for one night. Pizza, pasta, beverages of all types plus amazing deals from Cannondale, Giro, Cycliq, and many other vendors plus at least one surprise announcement. You’ve heard of Black Friday? This is Magical Monday!

La Grange Happy Hour at The Wilshire Restaurant

The December Happy Hour was very well attended and quite fun. Thanks to Tracy Paaso and Katie Rollins for their continued organization of these social events. We plan on having four social events during 2019 in addition to Helen's Night so come join your fellow members and try to guess who they are without a helmet. The Giro Aether MIPS helmet was on display, which is why a couple of members are shown modeling the helmet.

A fun time at the December Happy Hour was had by all.

2019 La Grange Membership Cards

The brand new 2019 50th Anniversary collector’s edition of the La Grange Membership cards designed by Jaycee Cary are available for members at Helen's in Santa Monica. Ask Mike, Adam, or Sandy when you are at Helen's to give you one. Also, some the Board of Directors occasionally carry extras so please ask one of us if we have one for you.

2019 Membership Card designed by Jaycee Cary featuring the 50th anniversary logo.

La Grange Cyclocross Racing Report by Barb Blakley Millott

The La Grange cross team’s inaugural season was a pretty good success if I (one of the captains!) do say so myself. We had terrific participation in all our target races and found team members pinging each other to carpool and cheer each other on for non-target races as well!

A few highlights included:

• Duncan Clarke won the men’s C race at Glendale turkey trot cross, arguably the most fun ( and most grassy) course of the year.

• Cara McCauley Applegate crushed multiple weekends including a second place finish in the women’s masters field at Spooky Cross in Ventura.

• Sam Selfridge finished the men’s B championship race at Sylmar in a strong 5th place.

• Dan Funk was second in the men’s masters 55+ race at Sylmar.

• Jason Kilmer had several strong results including a second place finish in Sylmar for the men’s 35+ C field.

• Barb Blakley Millott, team co-captain, won 3 masters races and tailgunned in the women’s A field a few times as well.

• Rod Millott, team co-captain, was a champion team manager, mechanic, and tent setter-upper and far outperformed his wife in captain duties. However, he also pulled down a 4th place finish in Ventura at Spooky Cross in the men’s 45+ B field.
  
  This is by no means an exhaustive list of podiums for the team, but the highlight was getting the team together every weekend for 5 weeks in a row, practicing our skills and our heckling, and enjoying the SoCal weather which is frankly a little too pleasant for cyclocross!

Sam Selfridge on the course. Be sure to take a close look at his bike…the front of the bike. Yup.

Dan Funk on the podium.

Cyclocross co-captain Barb Blakley Millott on the podium.

Cyclocross co-captain Rod Millott on the course.

Jason Kilmer on the podium.

Sophie Millott, team doggie, in her team kit protecting the team tent.

Interested in Racing for La Grange?!

Any member who wants to race for La Grange should reach out to Robert Efthimos, the Race Director for 2019. Email him at racedirector at lagrange.org for more information...but don't wait since racing starts soon!

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of VCLG

I want to wish everyone a happy new year and hope you and your family have a very healthy year. And remember, this is your club. We want to hear from you. Our next Board of Directors meeting is Wednesday, January 9th.

Rich Hirschinger
President Velo Club La Grange

Graphic created by Robert Franssen.