First Race Weekend Coming Up!

Next weekend is the first race weekend of the '09 Collegiate MTB Season. Everybody is welcome to come and race and enjoy some camping Saturday night. It'd also be great to have someone come along who's not racing to help with feeds. From what I've heard, I expect about 8 people to go, but more would be great. We're going to try and leave Saturday with enough time to pre-ride the course, camp, and race Sunday morning. A car could also leave later if some people are working Saturday. Here's a little information about the event, cost, camping, licenses, and carpools.

• Please let me know this weekend if you're thinking of going so we can set up a separate e-mail list.
• General race info: http://nmors.org/
• Map to Las Cruces, NM: http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=E+University+Blvd,+Tucson,+AZ+(University+of+Arizona)&daddr=Las+Cruces,+NM&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=38.826758,79.013672&ie=UTF8&z=8
• Trip cost: $25 (registration fees + gas+dinner)
• Camping: Last year we camped at the race venue which worked out great. If you don't have any camping gear, you can rent some equipment from Outdoor Adventures at the Campus Rec: http://campusrec.arizona.edu/outdoor/equip.html . Some of us probably have some extra equipment, so don't let the camping keep you from going.
• Carpools: We'll work this out later, once we know who's going. If you end up driving, you won't have to pay as much for the trip.
• Collegiate race licenses: You need one to race. The license will cost between Free-$30. If you have another USA Cycling license, it's $15, if you purchase another licence you can add the collegiate license on for free, or it's $30 all by itself. Here's where you start: http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=579

If you want to go, or are thinking about it, please e-mail me your name (first and last). Thanks,

Chloe

'09-'10 Membership Interest Form

Thursday, Sept. 10th, 6:30pm, Student Rec Center

That's the next meeting, so make note and come on by. We'll be discussing the upcoming mountain bike season, putting together our members roster and organizing our events for the season. We'll also have clothing for sale, so bring a checkbook!

Here's a quick agenda

• Park(ing) Day, Sept. 18th - Club involvement? Sign up to get involved!
• Horny Toad Hustle MTB Race, Las Cruces, NM - Everyone welcome and we'll talk about race licenses and logistics.
• Training ride dates
• Sponsors/Donations - The club needs your support.
• First Clif Bar order will happen on September 14th (checks due by then)!
• Campus Rec Forms - Turn them in, please.
• Free CarbBoom! gels.
• Officer elections! The club needs a Records Officer, Public Relations Officer, and many ride leaders.

Thanks everyone for joining us on the Labor Day Ride. More than 20 people came out for a casual ride out Mission.

Ride safe,

Labor Day Ride

Let's meet at 6:30 Monday at the flagpole for an easy getting to know you ride. We did this last year and it was a great way to integrate the new Cycling Club members. I know you all come from a great deal of different experience levels (road and mountain), so we'll ride at an easy pace (no getting separated, no running stop signs or stoplights, etc). The route:

1) Ride W of campus on University, end up on St Mary's;
2) Turn S on Grande, take Mission and turn W on Ajo;
3) Turn S off of Ajo and proceed to either Irvington or Valencia;
4) Turn N on Mission, ride back to campus;
6) End up at Cafe Paraiso for coffee, etc.

First Fall Semester Meeting!

That's right, and it's about time this announcement came along. The Cycling Club will hold its first meeting this Thursday, August 27th from 6:00-7:00pm in the North Conference Room of the Student Rec Center. You need a Cat Card to get entry to the Rec Center, unless you fill out the form on the "Contact" page of this website with your full name.

Wildcat Night @ the Rec Center!

Come meet a few cycling club members on Monday, August 24th from 6:00-8:00pm at the Student Rec Center. We will have a table set up among all the other sports clubs in the North gymnasium. Keep your eyes open for some U of A cycling jerseys (but please don't mistake us for the Tricats!).

Find out about collegiate mountain bike and road racing, become a member, and network with some other bike-loving students on campus. Free Clif Bars!

Welcome back!

2009 SWCCC Mountain Bike Race Schedule

The SWCCC (Southwest Collegiate Cycling Conference) has a prelimenary race calendar for the fall collegiate mountain bike season. The series will have races for categories A, B, and C. So there's a race for everyone. Here's the current schedule:

• September 20th - Horny Toad Hustle MTB Race, Las Cruces, NM (hosted by NMSU)
• September 26th - High Desert Screamer MTB Race, Gallup, NM (hosted by UNM)
• October 10th - Dust Devil MTB Race, Fountain Hills, AZ (hosted by UA)
• October 16-18th - Collegiate MTB Nationals, Truckee, CA *Category "A" riders only

To race with the UA Cycling Club, you must purchase a USA Cycling Collegiate License and become a club member. The annual collegiate license costs $30, and a single-day license costs $10 (purchased at the event). If you're considering trying to go to Collegiate MTB Nationals, you must purchase an annual license. Unfortunately, you must be a full-time student to race.

But anyone associated with the University of Arizona or wider Tucson cycling community can join the club. Membership benefits are in the works for the Fall but include a discount at Fairwheel Bikes, and special pricing on our team clothing. To become a member, just fill out this form, and bring a check to cover the $35 annual dues (written to "UA Cycling Club") to the next meeting.

We hope to see you this Fall!

Ryan's Collegiate All Stars

For a second year in a row, a University of Arizona rider has qualified for the Ryan's Collegiate All-Star Team. The selections for the Ryan's team occur at Collegiate Road Nationals where the top riders in the women's individual omniums are invited to race the Nature Valley Grand Prix fully supported. This year, Erica Zaveta made the trip along with the nation's best collegiate racers. Here's what she has to say about the experience:

"After collegiate road nationals I was contacted by John Barron to race with a composite team of collegiate women racers. I was so excited when I read this email; I couldn’t believe that anyone would seek me out to ride for them! I raced the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia, packed my bike up on the sidewalk in Philly after the race, grabbed my bag, and got on a plane to Minnesota! The Nature Valley stage race had 6 stages over 5 days. There were 2 road races, 1 time trail, and 3 criterums. My favorite stage was the 91 mile road race. This road race was relatively flat up until the end circuit, which was four laps containing a super steep climb. I felt great coming into the circuit and was climbing well. This stage was my best finish with 42^nd. The criteriums were so fast. Kristin Armstrong rode on the front driving the pace, she didn’t even look tired!

The team was great; it was a lot of fun hanging out with the girls on the team. We drove to the stages together in the team van, cooked dinner together, and worked through each stage together. All the girls on the team were amazing cyclists; everyone seemed to have different cycling strengths. It was so cool that we all came from different schools from all over the country and so quickly became good friends and teammates."

Collegiate Road Nationals – Fort Collins, CO

Overall – The UA Cycling Club had 6 podium appearances during the 2009 Collegiate Road Nationals and finished an astounding 4^th place overall competing against cycling’s top schools. The omnium points separating the top four teams in the overall (1^st – UC-Davis, 2^nd – Lees McRae, 3^rd – CSU, 4^th U of A) were so close (and the finishing times so tight), that two seconds in the team time trial ultimately made the difference between a fourth and third place finish for the U of A. The women’s team was comprised of Erica Zaveta, Judy Jenkins, Melanie Meyers, and Chloe Forsman. The UA’s men’s team consisted of Kyle Colavito, Jon Scholnick, Jason Karew, David Glick, Matt Jones, and Kevin Clegg.

Day 1: Road Race – The women had a successful day, with two riders finishing on the podium and everyone collecting points for the team overall. Both Melanie and Chloe made the race-winning selection on the opening climb with 7 other riders. The group worked together most of the day and gradually lengthened their lead on the climbs. With only two short climbs remaining, Melanie rode away from the group, initiating some attacks. Carla Swart (Lees McRae) went on the claim the road race win with Melanie finishing fourth, and Chloe sprinted for the line in fifth.

During the men’s race, Kyle finished in 10^th place, and David finished in 17^th both collecting some valuable points for the team overall. All six men’s starters finished the race against some of the top bike racers in the country. The University of Vermont standout, Jamey Driscoll, took the win. The University of Arizona finished the day in third place in the D1 Team Omnium.

Day 2: Criterium – Both the men and women made huge improvements over their 2008 performance during the hour-long criterium in downtown Ft. Collins. The course was a flat, figure-eight that did not favor breakaways and both races finished in a pack sprint. Chloe, Melanie, and Erica all placed in the top-ten with a fourth, seventh, and a ninth place finish. Chloe collected bonus sprint points throughout the race, finishing second in three out of five sprints. The bonus points aided the team omnium and put Chloe on the podium in the Individual Omnium. Kevin Clegg also finished in the points during a bonus sprint in the men’s race. The UA Cycling Team finished Day 2 in second place in the D1 Team Omnium.

Day 3: Team Time Trial – The women’s and men’s teams finished 4^th and 13^th, respectively. The Arizona riders were greeted with pouring rains, strong winds, and relatively frigid weather. Despite the weather, the teams pulled through with some decent rides. UC-Davis took the spotlight for the day winning both D1 team time trials.

Thank You - The UA Cycling Club owes many thanks to the individuals, businesses, and organizations that support us. Special recognition for our Road Nationals trip goes out to Neil Stewart for the unparalleled race support and logistical help. Also, huge thanks go to Barbara and Nigel Renton for the use of their beautiful home.

It's not another fixie hipster bike movie.

But a little history. You can also find David's micro 3:20 through the video clip. Enjoy!