HCC Newsletter May 2003

International Scene

by Dave Harrison

The month of May in Europe means the end of the spring classic campaign and the time most teams will start to gear up for the summer's grand tours.

Paolo Bettini started his season off well with the newly formed Quick Step-Davitamon team winning the Tour of the Mediterranean finishing no worst then 6^th place on any of the 6 stages.

Some tremendous racing in March was marred by the sad passing of Andrei Kivilev during Paris-Nice. The race was won by fellow Kazakistan Alexandre Vinokourov, a sad ending for Vinokourov's second win in as many years.

Vinokourov is part of the new Ullrich-less Telekom team who are focusing on the Tour de France. They have signed for '03 the likes of Santiago Botero, Cadel Evans, Paolo Savoldelli, Daniele Nardello and Mario Aerts to join with Erik Zabel…well, are you getting the picture. My feeling is that with so many Tour men, can they pull together for one rider come July, or are there too many chefs in the kitchen to have a go at Postal?

Speaking of Postal and American riders, it would seem like Lance Armstrong is a clear favourite again for this years' Tour, but he can't just tow the line July 5^th and wait for the win to come 23 days later. Young lions are looking for weakness ready to take the crown. I still remember watching the TV in disbelief as Indurain, 5 time winner, was taken by some guy named Riis.

Of course, Bjarne Riis now leads the CSC team whose Tyler Hamilton has had great early season form winning both the Tour of Romandy and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, signs of a good July? Tour wild cards have to also be Aitor Gonzalez, Ullrich and Beloki.

Gonzalez and Ullrich I don't believe have the teams to carry them to victory, and Beloki, well it's getting hard to picture him anywhere then on the second step.

By our next newsletter in July I'll be leaving for a two-week honeymoon in France. I'm sure I'll come back with some great pictures and stories and maybe by then we'll have heard more about this Danielson kid they are calling the next Armstrong!

Happy Birthday to....

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Club Kit

Race Scene

by David Harrison

April/May have finally arrived with sun and warmth after what seemed like an endless winter of snow and bone-chilling cold.

The World Road Championships seem to be the dominating topic in and around Hamilton these days among both cyclists and the general public alike. Earlier in the year, City officials held "town hall" meetings which brought forth some negative backlash from local merchants. You would think that for the span of one week in October these people could see beyond the scope of their daily routines and open themselves up to the big picture of showcasing our wonderful area to millions around the world. A small number of people are still writing into the Hamilton Spectator complaining of the many inconveniences the races will bring. I just hope these people can arrange their schedules and also be able to come down to Hamilton and see the speed, colour and excitement of this truly international event.

Our club flag ship event, the Good Friday road race went very well with mother nature being somewhat kinder then in past years with only the BCD race getting a bit of drizzle. (See Don's article for the full story.)

Just over 1,000 athletes took to the trails in the 10^th annual Paris to Ancaster Cyclo-cross in which local pros Seamus McGarth and Sue Palmer-Komar took top honours. The world cup circuit has these riders on the road and away from their families most of the year. It was great to see them home and enjoying the wonderful day that greeted all the riders this day.

Several club members had just enough time after Mosport's Ontario Cup 2 days after Good Friday to ready themselves for the 35^th Springbank road race in London.

HCC's Henry Dudko managed a 16^th place finish in Sr. 2 action at 0.37". In the BCD race Desi Desrochers, Fred Pepper and Chris Kiriakopoulos finished 4^th, 6^th and 20^th respectively.

Anna Garnett was 9^th in a close women's finish. I came to know Anna, as I did Shane Lavell, from their running days. Each were also excellent athletes in that discipline and have made the transition to cycling very well, keep up the great work riders!

I can't help but miss some results from so many races on the schedule, so please e-mail your finish times and/or a short story so we can get fuller race coverage, hope to hear from more members soon.

The Good Friday Road Race - 2003

by Donald Sloan

Once again the Good Friday Road Race has come and done, and after the usual concerns about the weather, especially when there was freezing rain on Thursday morning, it went off without a hitch. The Hamilton Cycling Club has held this race for so long now that there is a core of hard workers who know almost by heart what is required to make the race a success. However, it still takes untold hours of preparation by the club executive board and a hot of volunteers on race day.

The executive board this year has some new blood in the forms of Chris Kiriakopoulos, our secretary, and Dave Harrison, the newsletter editor, both of whom worked tirelessly putting the race together. Chris dealing with the O.C.A. to ensure we were conforming to the new rules and regulations introduced this year, assembling and dismantling the start/finish stand, giving a pedal-by-pedal commentary of the races, and of course his version of U.C.I. approved music.

Meanwhile Dave was canvassing the area cycle dealers to garner enough prizes for each race and several prims, which he organized at race day. He also assisted Chris and Randy to erect the start/finish stand and guart rails at 7:00 a.m. the morning of the race. Then he had the nerve to leave just before the last race, so he could travel to Boston MA, to run in the marathon on Monday, 21 April. Way to go, Dave!

Our racing secretary, Randy Brown, after erecting the starting area, got his video camera out and TV setup in the van so we could get race results almost before the riders crossed the finish line. This worked really well and, this year, we had no embarrassing wrong result announced. After working all day, Randy was there at the end of the day loading the truck with the dismantled stand and guardrails.

George Garrett was again our 'Man Friday' , dealing with the City of Guelph and the Police Services. He also erected and dismantled all the required road signage demanded for the race and this year because of the road detour there was extra barriers. He also found time to assist Randy and Chris and myself to dismantle the start/finish stand at the end of the day. George is truly tireless and is always first to offer help.

Keith and Martin organized the race drivers as usual and did a large part of the driving themselves. Keith, as treasurer, also kept our creditors at bay by signing cheques all day. Martin on the other hand had his camera busy getting photographs and results for our web site.

Race day would not even get started if we did not have a team of perennial volunteers

· Registration: Judy Daniels and Frank Morrow.

· Race Drivers: Rob Cheskey and Peter Morris.

· Start Area: Peter Schouten.

· Refreshments: Sandra and Melissa Cheskey.

· Marshals and First Aid: Community Services, Burlington.

These people appear year after year and deserve a special note of thanks. New World Cycle, Burlington and Central Cycle, Hamilton (club member Brian Chewter) were most generous in donating prizes from bar tape, water bottles to racing jerseys. Brian also gave a new aluminum frame and every rider who finished in the top three in their category had their name entered in a draw after the race. The frame was won by Mark Shaw of Midweek Elite.

The races, as I said earlier, went off without a hitch and although the Junior and Vets B, C, & D, the first race started in the race the day gradually cleared and we even had some blue skies later in the day. This was also the only race where we had a minor crash.

All of the races, except the women's, had bunch finishes with clear winners making the commissaire's job easier. Amy Moore won the women's race on a solo breakaway, which survived several laps after she won the prim and $83.00 collected from the spectators by Chris. This is the second time she has won the Women's Millennium Trophy, having won it in 2001 before she was married.

For all the results and Martin's exciting pictures visit the club web site at www.hwcn.org/link/cycling.

Finally, I should like to thank everyone again for their commitment and dedication to this event making it a race that riders look forward to each year.

The Hamilton Cycling Club Inc.

by Donald Sloan

Now that the Good Friday Road race is over for another year, this seems like an opportune time to review how the executive officers conduct the club affairs. The Constitution is quite clear on this point by stating that all club affairs shall be governed by the Executive committee. The executive is an autonomous group for their one-year term, however they will listen to any member with genuine concerns about club matters. The following may give every one a little more insight as to how the club arrives at what can sometimes be unpopular decisions for a few members. We would be naïve to think we can please all of the people all of the time.

As most of you know the Hamilton Cycling Club was established in 1889 and is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, cycling clubs in North America. Everyone on the executive is keenly aware of this fact and their first priority is to ensure the club is financially secure to move forward into the future.

In recent years the bulk of this money has come from the surplus of the Good Friday Road Race after all expenses have been paid. This money allows us to commit to ordering cycling aparel in advance and sell it to the membership at cost, and subsidize the printing and mailing costs of our monthly newsletter. It pays for guests at our Awards Banquet and lunch at the A.G.M. It also buys new trophies and medals for our club events and covers the additional insurance coverage demanded by the O.C.A.

In a good year, there is uaually enough surplus to cover the next year's mandatory race expenses, if the race has to be cancelled due to inclement weather. Some of you will remember that this actually happened a few years ago. Good Friday, unlike most other holidays does not fall on the same data each year, it can be anytime from early March to late April, and at this time of year is subject to extremes in the weather. This one item makes it very difficult to forecast how many entries will be received and until last year it was generally thought that a minimum of about 200 riders were required to break even.

Traditionally, no monetary awards are offered and riders competed for trophies, club medals and prizes donated by area cycle dealers, and of course the honour of winning the first race of the season.

Last year, in 2002, we broke with tradition and had cash prizes as an incentive to attract more riders. After paying out all our race expenses we were left with a $200.00 surplus out of less than 200 entries at $25.00 each. This return is completely unacceptable and does not make good business sense, and the club is a business so to speak

With this in mind, this year the executive unanimously decided not to offer cash awards and revert to tradition. It also raised the entry fee to $30.00. This was done after making a review of the rates of other cycling clubs and sporting events and it was felt that it was not an unreasonable figure, giving the club a level of confidence for a successful race, even with the escalating race costs for this year.

As it turned out we had 286 entries and at the time of writing the financial statements are not yet prepared. However, I am confident that the club will be in good financial shape for 2004.

The other sanctioned race on our calendar is the November cyclo-cross. This is a relatively new race and for the last two years has offered cash prizes. The field for the all the series is a total of about 60 riders and while being enjoyed by the participants, does not yield much money for the club coffers.

Of course, there are club membership dues but with only 40 paying members, it would be impossible for the club to continue in its present format.

It must be remembered that if the club falls into debt, for any reason, it will be immediately disbanded. Point 5.1 in the constitution does not allow the borrowing of money, even if it had assets for collateral.

In conclusion, it is my opinion that the great majority of riders do not race because there are cash prizes, but rather for the love of cycling and the winning of a trophy or medal is a longer lasting memento of the race than a few dollars. This is born out by the fact that this year in spite of the early wet weather we had 286 entries and not one of these riders made a negative comment to any of the executive. In fact the ones I spoke to seemed to be very happy with the race and the way it was organized.

However, the evening after the race I received a phone call from a spectator lodging a complaint he alleges came from one of the race winners. This type of comment, while being disturbing, has to be viewed with caution since it came from a third party not associated with the race, or formally representing the rider in question. The matter will be discussed at the next board meeting and disposed of one way or another.

And finally, I trust the foregoing has been informative and explains some of the issues facing the executive committee who spend many hours driving to and from meetings and club events with no re-imbursement from either their time or driving. They also pay their club dues like everyone else.

The current executive consists of seven individuals, two of who are new this year and the balance made up of members who have been around for several years. This is a good mix with the 'old boys' having a wealth of experience, and the 'new boys' providing new and exciting ideas.

But the committee needs new people and the 'old boys', of which I am one, should retire. Racing cycling is a young man's sport, even although we have lots of veterans and the club needs these young riders to drive it into the future. Chris Kiriakopoulos and Dave Harrison are excellent examples of the type of individuals required. In the past there has been a general apathy to running the club and it fell to the hard core of older members. I should like to encourage every club member to seriously think about the direction their club should head and become actively involved in its administration or volunteer at the club events, helpers are always needed.

To finish I want to thank the executive for all their hard work and dedication and consider myself privileged to be associated with them.

Club Bio

Member: Chris Kiriakopoulos

What's the last meal you cooked? Lemon Chicken

What's your favourite drink? Besides beer, probably beer.

What was the last book you read? The Summons by John Grisham

What's the last CD you bought? Tom Wait - Rain Dogs

What's the last movie you saw? X-Man II with my son

What's your favourite website? CanadianCyclist.com

What non-cycling magazines do you read? Acoustic Guitar

Where do you live? Rosedale Area in Hamilton

Other then cycling, what other sports do you do? Hockey

Good Friday Support

During this year's event on Good Friday we were fortunate to have the support of some local bike shops to offer prizes and primes Although the race is located in Guelph, Chris and I were able, without any trouble, to receive merchandise from Hamilton shops even in these tight economic times.

The Hamilton Cycling Club would like to extend our thanks to Brian at Central Cycle, Elaine at Pieriks, Jeff at Bicycle Works and Vic and Jeff of New World.

It's support from stores like these that show us all that when called upon they always put back into our sport. Give them a "thank you" next time you're in the area.

Calendar of Events

Club Events

by Dave Harrison

Spring is here and there is always a sort of scattering of interest in club social and training rides. It would see that with a club which has a general racing feel to it on any given weekend that most people can't make a social ride because they are, well…racing. So for the time being we have no actual social event, but our B.A.R. events are as social as they are competitive, so come out and join us. Unfortunately, until the O.C.A. insurance and legal angles become clear we really can't advertise any store or group rides through our newsletter, but keep your ears open, different rides are out there.

May kicked off our Tuesday time trials and Thursday criteriums. The first time trial brought out 11 riders with Mirek Mazur and Sean Scott posting the best times with Sean edging Mirek by .11 seconds.

Remember to check the web site for times and locations as we move in June to Twenty Road and Highland Road for July, always at 7 p.m.

The Thursday night crit is getting rave reviews with 22 and 17 riders out the first 2 nights. We seem to be doing 1 hour plus 5 laps, but the options here are endless, see you there, Brock Road and #5 Side Road.

The B.A.R. series kicked off May 17 in Ayr with the 40km road race, actually ended up being about 46 km.

Six riders showed and road a conservative 36 kph average with Randy Brown taking the finish sprint in 1 hr 27'. With about 3 km to go Dermot Kelly dropped it into the big gear and led the group on a 62 kph dash into the final corner, great effort Dermot. We then drove off to a local coffee shop to sit and catch up on things and talk of course about the race, now that's what I call a great social event. Next B.A.R. event - the Falkland 40k Time Trial.

Results of Ayr Road Race BAR

1. Randy Brown (Sr)
2. Egon Otton (Guest)
3. Dave Harrison (Vet)
4. Dennis Kings (Vet)
5. Dermot Kelly (Vet)
6. Larry Arsenault (Guest)

END

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