Keith and Don looked after booking "The Plainsman" restaurant in Flamborough for our November 6^th Awards Banquet. This venue turned out to be the perfect spot for our dinner! Keith and Margaret procured a number of great draw prizes and Sandy made a banner. We had a good turnout of nearly fifty people including guests Bill Copeland, of the City of Guelph Police Force, Traffic Division, and Ralph Neumann, the racing chair of the O.C.A., and Ralph’s wife, Sheila.

We were short on RSVP’s approaching banquet day, but a phone campaign proved successful in bringing out a bunch more people.

A wide variety of foods was available at the "all you can eat" buffet. Once done the eating, Sergeant Bill, in full uniform, gave a well-prepared talk on "Road Rage and Aggressive Driving", citing numerous examples of situations experienced by himself and other police. With heavy population growth in the "Golden Horseshoe", these phenoma will only get worse. Here’s to a quiet road near you!

Ralph Neumann then spoke, outlining the progress the 1999 O.C.A. executive has made in eliminating their debt, and their plans for the coming year.

Guiseppe Ferrare, the organizer for the upcoming 2003 World Cycling Road Championships (in Hamilton!) was in attendance and gave a short talk and answered questions about this amazing-seeming venture.

The Club Awards were presented, followed by the Draw Prizes. Judy Daniel and Frank Morrow won the "Grand Prize", a giant basket of treats.

TUESDAY SERIES (Milton Criteriums)

WINNER Jeff Sharafbayani

JUNIOR Taras Kleban 23:20 av. Gold

SENIOR Fred Pepper 21:16 av. Gold

Rob Cheskey 21:21 av. Silver

Randy Brown 21:46 av. Bronze

VETERAN Harold Osborne 22:17 hcp av. Gold

Pat Conway 23:05 hcp av. Silver

Dave Williamson 24:29 hcp av. Bronze

VETERAN

WOMEN Judy Osborne 23:42 hcp av. Gold

JUNIOR Taras Kleban Gold

WOMEN Judy Osborne Gold

SENIOR Rob Cheskey Gold

Randy Brown Silver

Fred Pepper Bronze

VETERAN Dermot Kelly Gold

Harold Osborne Silver

JUNIOR Taras Kleban Gold

SENIOR Rob Cheskey Gold

Fred Pepper Silver

Randy Brown Bronze

NELLA TROPHY 40K Time Trial Rob Cheskey

HOGBEN TROPHY 80K Time Trial Randy Brown

ANDY KEYES TROPHY 80K Road Race Rob Cheskey

DEREK WALTON TROPHY 1999 Fastest

15K Time Trial, 20:35 Desi Desrochers

MT. NEMO TROPHY Most Improved Fred Pepper

KERR MEMORIAL TROPHY Club Overall Champion Rob Cheskey

This is a sport clearly on the rise in North America, evident by reading the mid-December "Velo News". With an American – Junior, Matt Kelly – winning at the World ‘cross championships in early ’99, their coverage of ‘cross has burgeoned.

In Southern Ontario the ‘cross season is the months of October and November, and began with our Dundurn Castle race.

Hamilton club members racing ‘cross include Randy, Rob, Harold O., Frank M., Fred P., Stan Mac., Paul Bow., and John Ras. Randy and Harold won the ‘points series’ in their age categories for combining high placings with good attendance. Rob won three races, including the Provincials, and had two ‘seconds’.

Stan and Fred were both involved in crashes resulting in injuries. Stan’s collarbone is healing well and Fred’s nose is back in one piece. I’m sure they’ll be back next season with a vengeance.

The Nationals was a write-off for H.C.C. this year with none of our riders going to St. Sauveur because of a scheduling glitch. This venue was named to host the event less than three weeks in advance. The date chosen for the event was November 7^th (the day after our banquet). This date was picked because of the possibility of early snow at this northern locale; normally the cyclocross nationals are at the end of November. Our banquet date was situated in early November to avoid this type of conflict but our plan backfired!

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Taras Kleban plays Midget AAA hockey and has an upcoming tournament in Peterborough. Good Luck, Taras!

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Former cycling Olympian Brian Chewter , of Hamilton, has opened a new bicycle shop called "Central Cycle", located at 117 Cannon at Mary. All the best, Brian!

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As of January 9^th there is a complete lack of snow on the ground here in the Golden Horseshoe; good for riders, bad for skiers. One to two hours north all is well for the skiing crowd. Now when I talk skiers, I mean NORDIC, of course. The local DOWNHILL resorts such as Glen Eden in Milton have been doing business since after Christmas.

As a nordic ski racer living in the south, I have divided my time recently among classic roller skis, ski-skating workouts at Glen Eden, and the odd road ride thrown in, including riding to work most days.

There are nordic ski races each weekend now ‘til the end of March. If you’re interested, give me a call! The races happen at "exotic" destinations like Horseshoe Valley, Duntroon, Algonquin Park, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and more! The culmination of the ski race season will be the Ontario’s and Canadian Masters Championships at North Bay, March 8 – 12

Other H.C.C. members who do nordic skiing include Randy Brown, Frank Morrow Judy Daniel, George Garrett, Harold and Judy Osborne, Sue Palmer-Komar and Chris Komar.

In order to plan and direct the events that make a club a club, a person or group of people must "take charge" or it just won’t happen.

With the Hamilton Cycling Club, the "constitution", the document that spells out what our club is all about, details the "executive" and their duties. This group is elected each year at the club’s Annual General Meeting. We plan to send out a copy of the "club constitution" in the next newsletter, as well as our club Racing Schedule.

We, the executive, are basically a group who is concerned about the club and want to see it continue on, and thrive. We volunteer our time and effort in this regard. We continually need the help of other club members in the running of club activities and need other people to share the marshaling, timekeeping etc. at events. We are all basically just interested in riding and racing our bicycles.

Plans for the Good Friday Road Race are underway. We have been scouting Hamilton locations but will likely go back to the Guelph venue for this year. We could use your help on race day. Please call me.

Keith was surprised at the poor turnout at last year’s club runs and is looking for input from club members. Please let us know what you’d like to see!

Chris Komar has rides going out of Hamilton. Give Chris a call at 905-570-1374. For Dundas, try John Rasmussen at 905-304-3622. The Oakville Cycling Club has club rides Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. from the Tim Hortons at Hwy. #5 and Walker’s Line in Burlington.

Please send me your race results from 1999 so we can put them in the next newsletter. Remember that if you raced O.C.A. sanctioned events in H.C.C. colours and placed well, you probably qualify for $$$ from the H.C.C. "RIDER INCENTIVE PROGRAM"!

Frank and his wife, Judy Daniel, moved to Ontario in the summer of 1997. My first encounter with him was at the 1997 Dundurn Cyclocross. That year, I had each racer fill out a waiver form prior to the event. In leafing through them afterward, I was surprised to discover a form with "Frank Morrow, Milton, Ontario". Here was a racer from my hometown, who I hadn’t even met! Frank and Judy had moved here from Otterburn Park, Quebec, where Frank had been a member of the Iberico Cycling Club.

While in Quebec, Frank did mostly crit racing and enjoyed racing at the Olympic Velodrome in Montreal before its demise. Since our meeting, Frank and I have done many training rides and raced together. He also rides to work, in Mississauga, whenever he can. He has joined the Hamilton Cycling Club Executive for 2000 in the capacity of Secretary.

During the years that Frank lived in Europe (his father was stationed there from 1960 – 1964) his love for cycling developed, this being a very popular activity there. His first "good" bike was a "Splendour". The Morrow garage now houses eleven bicycles, including road, mountain, track and cyclocross machines, and a tandem and a folding bicycle.

A crash at the 1998 Dundurn Cyclocross cut short his season. Another crash at a Tuesday Night Milton Criterium this summer set him back again. This excellent sprinter looks forward to racing the other "C" racers now that he has turned 50.

He especially enjoys the cyclocross season.

Frank’s Favourite Movie "Silent Running"

Frank’s Favourite T.V. Shows "3^rd Rock From the Sun"