A Look Back at 2013

As we close the 2013 year, now is a good time to look back at the year.

-We started 2013 with 15 members and now have 52. In the process we won USA Cycling's "most growth award" We received our season supply of Gatorade and Bonk Breakers the other day.

-We've had numerous wins, the big ones:
      -SWCCC regional road race (Joey)
      -SWCCC regional crit (Max)
      -Men's A individual road omnium (Joey)
      -Team road omnium
      -Men's A individual mountain omnium (David)
      -SWCCC regional XC race (David)
      -SWCCC regional CX race (Joey)
In addition we won road races, TT, crits, and mountain bike races throughout the year. Needless to say, we had a fantastic season and 2014 will be even better!

-We successfully hosted a crit, 2 cyclocross races, and a full mountain bike weekend!

For 2014 we are planning:
     -A new exciting road race in Oracle, AZ!
     -Attending CX nationals in Boulder, CO in January
     -Sending 8-10 people to road nationals in Richmond, VA
     -Exploring our options for varsity status. We want to be the first team and a Div 1 school to do so!

Those 4 goals are in addition to more recruitment, more community involvement, and hosting CX and mountain races as well. Its gonna be a busy year!

We'd like to thank you for your continued support and wish happy holidays!

Bear Down!

Home CX Race!

This weekend we are hosting back to back CX races! This is the first CX race the club has hosted in YEARS and the first time we've done two. We're proud to offer more CX racing in the Tucson area!

Read more here (and check out that poster!)
http://tucsonvelo.com/rides-events/reminder-first-cx-race-season-rolls-weekend/17641

Mountain bike Regionals

The UA shoe-stringed together a race weekend in the face of a government shutdown. The weekend featured a cross country as well as the conference's only short track and team relay events.

Saturday:
The cross country race started off with cool temperatures and calm wind. However, as racers were on course the wind picked up and knocked down several course markings. Sadly a few riders were lead astray after the second check point, making it back to the finish area a little later than expected. The race was called at the second check point for the Men's A because of these issues. David Carlson (UA) extended his winning streak and took over the teal leader's jersey from Alex Winkler (NAU) who finished third. Douglas Torres (UNM) finished 2nd. The women's A was a tie between Amy Chandos and Lindsey Dye (both NAU), with Amy just edging out Lindsey. The Men's B and C categories were dominated by NAU with Scott Marshall and Nathan Franklin winning their categories respectively.

Sunday:
A little further down the trail the UA club had marked a challenging 1 mile STXC race (which would also be used for the relay loop). The Men's A went first and after a flurry of attacks a lead group of 2: David Carlson and Douglas Torres established themselves out front. By the 3rd lap of 6, Douglas and pulled away slightly from Carlson. Over the laps Torres grew his lead to over a minute by the finish. Behind Carlson, Quinn Keogh (UA) was working to bridge up to his teammate, while further back Andrew Keller (UA) was regretting his early attacks and attempted to hold off Winkler (NAU). In the end, Torres won the day, followed by Carlson, Keogh, Winkler, and Keller.

In the Women's A/B race, Amy Chandos was given a big gap over her teammate as Dye experience a small mechanical. However, Dye was able to rejoin her teammate and once again celebrate hand in hand for another podium sweep. Liz Schmitt (UA) was the sole Women's B rider.

The Men's B/C field has 2 Men's B and 1 C rider, both events were won by NAU with Braden Flannery taking the win in the B's and Chris Leffler in the C's.

The team relay took place on the same course with each rider completing one lap. NAU consisted of Alex, Amy, Lindsey, and Braden and UA had David, Quinn, Liz, and Florian. After the first lap, with Florian and Amy, the race was neck and neck. However, David gave UA a massive lead going into the 3rd lap. Liz took over for UA and 40 seconds later Lindsey was on the course for NAU. Lindsey put the hammer down and gave Alex a large gap to work with for the final lap. UA's Quinn Keogh had his work cut out for him and came in 30 seconds behind Alex.

At the end of the day, NAU extended their lead in the Team competition over UA by 1,300 points. However, David Carlson overtook Alex for the men's A individual competition. One race remains in the season: NAU Super D. Will Alex retake his lead? Can David defend it with a race not suited for him? Or will Douglas Torres, the dark horse in 3rd, claim a surprise upset? We'll know after next Saturday!

Victory Again!

3 UA members made the trek up to Gallup, NM for a XC and TT. David Carlson, yet again, crushed the competition in the Men's A XC and TT. In fact, he beat former pro Levi Leipheimer in the TT! Fellow A rider Andrew Keller and a weekend of mechanical issues but managed to bring home 5th both days. Hopefully the bad joo-joo has been worked out!

In the Women's B field, Leslie Sullivan raced to 2nd place in the XC event and sat out the TT.

Great job Wildcats!

UA Cycling Sweeps Podiums at Horny Toad Hustle!

David Carlson (Men's A), continues his domination of the XC events with ANOTHER victory in Las Cruces! Hot on his heels was newly upgraded A Andrew Keller! In the Women's B, new riders Katie Emory and Leslie Sullivan went 1-2! Quinn Keogh dusted off the mountain bike and took the win in the Men's B over NAU's Kyle Gandy. And finally in the Men's C, new rider Andrew Wudtke took 2nd!

The team looks to regroup and continue their campaign to capture the men's individual and team omnium next weekend in Gallup!

Great job Wildcats!

UNM Recap

3 riders headed over to Angel Fire, NM for the Back to School Special hosted by UNM.

David Carlson dominated the Men's A XC with a commanding victory over Douglas Torres of UNM. In the B's Andrew Keller raced competitively and took home 3rd.

Initially no one was signed up for the down hill on Sunday...but after some peer pressure from UNM, Andrew changed his mind and signed up for the Men's C. After a few runs to build confidence, Andrew posted a good time for his first DH race and came in 5th.

Next up is the Horny Toad Hustle in Las Cruces, NM. UA will be sending over a big squad to wrestle back some points from NAU in the team omnium.

First Meeting!

The UA Cycling Club's first meeting is tonight @6pm in the Kiva Room of the Student Union. Where the heck is the Kiva room you ask? Find Einstein Bagels (north east side) and look to the right- you'll see a room with Union Kiva above it- and that is it! Tonight we'll be discussing the club (who we are and what we do), how to join, the perks of joining, and to stay in the loop with what we are up to. You'll have an opportunity to pay dues and sign off on the forms needed to become a club member. Following the meeting we'll get dinner as a group, location TBD.Dues are $35 for the year and race reimbursement (we'll cover that in the meeting) is $50 per semester. 

Callout Info!

Our first meeting of the semester will take place the first week of school!

Info:
Thursday, August 29, 2013.
6pm
Kiva Room (located next to Einstein Bagels in the Union)

Come find out about who we are, what we do, and why you should join! Dinner at the Union to follow the meeting!

Looking to Join the Club?!

Come find out more about your favorite collegiate cycling team this weekend and next week!

We'll be at the following fairs:
-Convocation Celebration (outside McKale Center)
-Meet Me at the Rec (Cherry Field)
-Student Involvement Fair (UA Mall)

-Call Out: TBA

Wanna go for a ride with us? We got something for everyone!

Ride Leaders:

Monday: Joey

Tuesday (am): Joey

Tuesday PM: Allison A.

Wed (am): Calvin and Ben

Wed- Crit (PM): TBA

Thur: Ben

Fri: Liz

Sat: Race or the shootout (or other posted ride)

Sun: Long ride (will be posted by Saturday evening)

Day	Ride	Duration	Distance	Meet Time
Monday Mosey	Easy ride	1.0-1.5 hr	Max 20 mi	6:30 am*
Tuesday (AM)	Hard Ride	2-3 hrs	60 mi	6 am**
Tuesday Tempo	Foothills/A mnt	1-2 hrs	20-30	5pm
Wednesday Worlds	Hard Ride	2-3 hrs	40-60 mi	6:30 am*
Wednesday	Crit Practice	1-2 hrs	tba	5:00 PM
Thursday Thrill	Easy ride	1.0-1.5 hr	Max 20 mi	6:30 am
Friday Freewheel	Moderate ride	2 hrs	30-40 mi	6:30 am*
Saturday	Hard Ride	3-4 hrs	60-80 mi	6:30am**
Saturday	Long ride	3-4 hrs	60-80 mi	When Posted
Sunday	Long ride	3-4 hrs	60-80 mi	When Posted

*moves with day light, latest start is 7:30am       

**Fairwheel group rides, follows its ride time

As always, feel free to e-mail us or join our Facebook group!

Gearing up for the Fall

Lots of big changes going around with the club!
-New website in development
-New kits (yay!)
-New sponsors (Lemond, Aerocat,...)
-New ride schedule... more on that as school gets closer

and most importantly:
NEW RIDERS!
 Yes! We are excited for the incoming freshmen class!  We cannot wait to meet you at the activities fair during the first week of class and to take you out for a spin in wonderful Tucson! If you are interested in joining the club and have questions- like were to store your bike, what kind of riding we do, ANYTHING- fill out the contact form on the Contact page and we'll get back to ya!

Keep the rubber side down and get pumped for the best cycling of your life!

Nationals!

This past weekend, the UA Cycling Team sent 6 riders (Shelby Hoglund, Allison Alterman, Joey Iuliano, Andrew Keller, David Carlson, and Jake McLaughlin) to collegiate road nationals in Ogden, Utah.

The team left for Utah on Thursday taking the scenic route around the eastern Grand Canyon and through Southern Utah- quite the views up north for sure! We took ample stops to stretch the legs and take in the scenery since it was a 13 hour drive.

On Friday the team had the team time trials and the new individual time trials on Antelope Island. The men's team didn't have too much time to practice since the final roster wasn't decided until a day before the trip, so 20 minutes prior to start time was our first and only practice. Given 3 of the 4 members were new to the event, we were somewhat pleased with out time of 46:49 good for 17th. It served as a good motivator for next year's TTT since we will be able to practice together during the off-season. The ITT's were a little more eventful. Shelby and Allison finished 18th and 19th while on the men's side yours truly finished 14, David Carlson 20th, and Jake in 30th.

Saturday's criterium proved to be a challenging and fast course: T-shape with a slight uphill, smooth pavement and wide streets for the most part. Shelby took part in the very fast women's DI crit, finishing 62nd. For the guys, David had an untimely crash mid race (thankfully he was ok), and myself and Jake had a tough time dealing with starting last row coming in 110 and 108. Our lone survivor of the race was Andrew who did an excellent job avoiding the two to go carnage and finished  78th after losing a few spots.

Sunday's road race was held in one of the most scenic locations we've ever raced in. Shelby and Allison took part in the women's race. Both hung tough through the initial laps and up through the start of the steep climb- which featured a blistering headwind on top of 8% grades. Shelby finished 67th and Allison had to withdraw due to equipment difficulties. The men's D1 race had over 160 starters and rolled through the early laps at a brisk pace (well over 25 mph). David was the team's best finisher at 52, Jake in at 119 and Andrew at 145.

All in all, it was a very good experience for the team- especially since many members on the team started racing this spring. Everyone is excited and motivated for nationals next year which is in Richmond, VA.

Adoption Exchange Classic

Last weekend the UA team headed up to Albuquerque, NM for the Adoption Exchange Classic- the final full weekend of collegiate racing! To say we had success is an understatement!

TT: The weekend started off with a very lumpy (or hilly) time trial along the north I-40 frontage road. The Men's A swept the podium with Joey leading the charge followed by Max Rich and David Carlson.

In the women's A, Allison Alterman took 3rd and Shelby Hoglund came in 4th. Liz Schmitt took 1st place in the women's B. It was a great start to a day of racing!

Photo: Joey rocking out in the SWCCC leader's jersey.

With team spirits high, the crew headed a few miles down the road to the crit course held at a small auto race track. Fast, flowing and with banked turns, it was sure to be fast. Toss in a small hill and some solid winds and it was going to huuuurt!


Liz had the first race and again took 1st in the women's B. Next up were the ladies in the A's who also raced with the Women 1/2/3. Allison and Shelby worked well together during the race and came in 3rd and 4th again behind ASU. The final race of the day had the 5 Men's A riders line up in the P/1/2/3 Men's field- a daunting race for a few of them since it was their first A crit! Max was clearly showing good legs and as the field splinted over time, he stuck with the lead group. He played the conservative card on the last lap and pulled out a 6th place sprint! Good for 1st in the Men's A too!

After a tough day of racing, the team refueled at a local favorite: Sadie's of New Mexico. The stuffed sopapillas are aaaaaamazing.

Sunday's road race took the event to the east side of Sadie Peak...and up to 7,000 ft. The elevation wasn't bad on Sunday at 5,300...but toss in a couple extra thousand and it was definitely felt on Sunday. The course was challenging and stunningly beautiful. 33 miles long with lots of rolling terrain and one big 18% .25 climb in the middle, lovingly named "Heart Break Hill". It lived up to its name, especially the 2nd time up. Not to mention a howling head wind for 10+ miles.  All races ran concurrently so it was impossible to know how the others did until the end. Liz Schmitt hung tough with the Women 4's and took 1st again in the Women's B. The women's A faced the difficult task of racing with the 1/2/3's, but the riders put up a good fight with Allison and Shelby going 3 and 4th again. In the Men's A the field was decimated the first time up Heart Break Hill, with David Carlson making it in the lead group. Max and Joey eventually bridged in the headwind section as the field slowed. The attacks started flying on the rollers and Joey fell off the pace due to a bad day in the saddle. Andrew Keller brought a small chase group up to him and the two riders settled in for a long 2nd lap. Max and David hung tough, with Max again taking the collegiate win and David taking 3rd. Andrew and Joey came in 4th and 5th with Jake in 6th a few minutes in arrears.


The team extended their lead in the team and individual omniums and with one weekend left, it seems assured the team will win it's first conference title in a number of years!

Trifecta Omnium

The Trifecta Omnium in Las Cruces, NM was also the SWCCC regional road race champs. AN epic hilly road race near the Gila Wilderness.

Nothing short of domination could be said. UA swept the Men's A category with Joey Iuliano taking 1st (and extending his lead in the SW Men's A omni), David Carlson took 2nd, and Jake took 3rd. UA also swept the Men's B with Max Rich, Joel Perez, and Andrew Keller. The ladies did well too! With Allison and Shelby getting 3rd and 4th. The team now has a commanding lead in the Men's A individual omni and the team omnium as well. The team looks to continue this season's success at the upcoming Adoption Exchange Classic in Albuquerque.

Joel Perez giving it the beans in the Men's B road race.

Mid Season Update!

Whoa! So much has happened since our last post! Let's get you up to speed:

UA Crit:
The 2013 BioPark Blast was a HUGE success! Well over 300 riders throughout the day- we were blown away by the attendance! Results can be found here: 2013 results

We had a large number of collegiate racers in the Men's and Women's fields (sadly, the NM schools missed out on the fun!)

New for this year, the Flapjacks TT added collegiate categories to help make it a full weekend of racing! While attendance was high for the event overall, collegiate riders were a little sparse- 3 in the Men's A, 1 Men's B, a couple of Men's C, and 3 Women (come on SWCCC...we can do better than that!). The Men's A TT was won by UA rider Joey Iuliano and thanks to his 3rd place at the crit took the lead for the Men's Omnium! Maya Cross-Killingsworth (UA) won the Women's B TT as well!

Joey with the leader's jersey prior to the ASU crit

ASU Crit and McDowell Mountain:

The following weekend the UA club was back at at the ASU crit and McDowell circuit race. 

The results in the Men's A/B/C race looked similar to the UA Crit with Spencer Crites (ASU) taking the win, Nathan Franklin (NAU), and Iuliano (UA) in 3rd. Max Rich (UA) took the win in the Men's C in commanding fashion with Andrew Keller (UA) rounding out the podium in 3rd. 

In the Women's race, Maya, Shelby, and Allison took on the ASU and NAU ladies, taking 3rd, 5th, and 6th respectively. 

On Sunday the team headed to McDowell Mountain Park for a non-collegiate race. The course was a challenging 1.3 mile circuit with a gradual climb and quick descent- not much time to rest! In the Men's 5, Max Rich took 3rd and in the Cat 2 race Joey Iuliano took 3rd as well. 

The team enjoyed a weekend off last week and is looking forward now to the 2nd Avondale Crit on 2/24. 

----------------

NEW SPONSOR

UA Cycling is proud to announce the addition of Aerocat bikes to the family of sponsors!

Aerocat is a small frame designer located in Portland, Indiana. Aerocat takes pride providing a unique quality product to each customer and UA Cycling is excited to be working with them! Look for the Wildcats to be on Aerocats in the future! 

UA Crit

The UA Crit is right around the corner (2/2/2013)! And we want to welcome you to our new venue at the UA BioPark (southwest of 36th and Kino Parkway)! We have been overwhelmed by the support from the community for our event- this is truly a well-loved event and we are pleased it was able to continue at a new home! We hope you'll join us- either on the bike or on the sidelines- on Saturday!

If you are interested in racing, head on over to the UACrit page on this site or go to:
La Roue D'or for more info and registration.

Buying your USA Cycling License

So, how do you get said awesome USAC license? I don't like reinventing the wheel and this club does an excellent job describing the differences:
https://sites.google.com/site/shipcycling/home/tutorials/licensing

Just sub in University of Arizona where ever they talk about Shipenburg.

Step by step:
1.) Go to usacycling.org, click sign in
2.) Fill out the info on the left side name, d.o.b, hit continue
3.) It'll ask for some more info, an e-mail, username, pass, etc.
4.) Then you sign in with your newly created account. yay!
5.) License time! Click the license button, then purchase new license
6.) Select either collegiate (just remember you can ONLY race collegiate then...so this is not recommended) or select Road Primary and then collegiate as an add-on (its free)
7.) Say yes to the waivers
8.) Select University of Arizona for your clubs (unless you have a different club you will ride for in non-collegiate events)
9.) pay
10.) done! Your license will arrive in about a week or so. In the mean time on the homepage you can print an "Authorization to Ride" which shows you can race your bike. You can also pull this up on a smartphone (USA cycling has an app too).

Any questions or problems, let me know and I'll do the best I can to help.
-Joey

Big News and Important Updates

OFFICERS

President - Ben Elias

Vice-President (in a British Parliamentary sort of way) - Russ Edge

Race Coordinator - Joey Iuliano, joining us from Purdue

Treasurer - Danny Pagano (also assisting in the kit redesign)

SPECIALIZED ORDER

As of this afternoon, I have paid for the order received by Chris Ramsey at Fairwheel. If you were in this order, I have your stuff but if you ordered a bike it will still be at Fairwheel and bikes need to paid for directly to Fairwheel, it will be under your name. If you haven't received your stuff, email me, call me, I want you to have your gear. You need to pay me preferably by cash or check. 

PACTIMO GEAR

For those who ordered kits and have not received them, contact me. If you didn't order a kit, we still have extras and they are for sale. $60 for a jersey, $70 for bibs. We also have a limited number of higher quality Women's Summit line bibs. Let me know if you are interested in those as well. 

MALL EVENT!!!!!

We have secured permits to be on the mall to recruit new members for our club. We will be on the mall Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week leading to our first meeting on Thursday. Every one of those days I will be setting up a tent, table, info and a trainer for the club to use. We will plan on being out there from 9am to around 3pm. For Tues/Wed, we will have to be out on the Alumni Plaza in front of the Admin building but on Thursday we have prime placement right in front of the Student Union. I will also bring our kits so members can buy them if they want. I can also bring the Specialized Order so those who need to pick up their stuff can. Let me know if you can help volunteer or bring a trainer. Although it is still cold out, come out, bring your bike and spin to keep warm, answer questions for new members and help recruit to build a bigger, better, more active cycling club!

FIRST MEETING

Our first meeting of the semester will be a more formal meeting in a conference room at Campus Rec. We want to welcome new members and give the scoop on upcoming events. Following meetings will most likely be held at a campus eatery such as No Anchovies and will be more informal but it will be a great opportunity to hang out and stay connected with the club. The first meeting will be held in the North Conference Room on the 2nd floor of the Rec Center at 4pm on Thursday, Jan 17. If you don't know where this is go to the Rec website and look at the floor plan. 

TRAINING AND RACING

Next weekend is the first collegiate road race of the season up at ASU with the UA Crit following the next week on Feb 2nd. Our new course is at the UA Biopark. For those interested in racing, please come to the tent on the mall, the meeting on Thursday or email me or Joey to get more details. Please stay updated with the facebook page, that is where we post most of our rides. This last week we had a great introduction to the cornering skills you need to know for crit races out at the UA Biopark course where the UA Crit is this year. Here is the event page by the way: http://www.facebook.com/events/509834992389887/

Any additional questions? Feel free to email or call. Thanks.

Ben Elias

UA Cycling Club, President

Find us on the Mall!

Wanna find out more about the UA Cycling Club? Just want to stop by and chat about bikes? Ready to just sign up now?! Come find us on the mall this week! We'll be there Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, starting around 9 am until about 3. We're excited to met you!

Welcome back Wildcats!

New year, new semester, new people, new crit course...that's a lot  of new!

We're gearing up for our spring recruitment and call-out- check back here for more details! Our spring riding times will be posted shortly too!

If you're looking for more information on the club, then feel free to join our e-mail list and our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/297266963717684/

We're excited to meet each new member and get started on 2013- its going to be a great year!