April 23, 2011

Season?s Greetings to all CCD club members!

The 2011 season is here! Well, at least it?s supposed to be here. I suppose we?ll have good riding weather here at some point?

Before we get into the details, I?d like to remind you to please thank our primary club sponsor, Claremont Cycle Depot. John, Mary and Bob and the rest of the crew not only support us financially, but they work hard on our behalf, too. Any time you bring them your business, you are supporting the club, which in turn is ?promoting cycling? ?our club?s stated goal - in a variety of ways.

Please also be supportive of our other club sponsors: Lambert Auto, Red River Computers, Newport Chiropractic Center, Sturm, Ruger, Eptam Plastics, and Champion Systems. Our club couldn?t operate without our sponsors ? and we thank them very much.

And we also thank our club officers Nelson Aldrich, Rick Holmes, Brian Currier, and our new VP of Mountain Biking Woody Groton (more on Woody and his resurrection of the All Out in Moody Park mountain bike race below).

And finally, we thank all the club members who helped out at last year?s Lake Sunapee Bike Race. We had a great turnout of support. Remember, your club membership ?dues? have always included a requirement to work at the Lake Sunapee Bike Race - May 21st this year ? and we?re counting on every club member again this year.

Club (and other) Activities Summary:

Group rides from the Claremont Cycle Depot Bike Shop start from the shop at 5:30 on Mondays and Thursdays. These are ?no drop? rides, the ride will split up among folks with similar abilities, so you?ll be able to find a group whose pace suits you. Contact Bob at the shop 542-2453.

There may be a women?s shop ride on Saturdays, stay tuned? or call the shop.

When the woods dry out, mountain rides will start on Tuesdays at 6:00, at varying locations. Contact Bob at the shop 542-2453.
Wednesday night rides with Team Pinnacle typically start at the Newport High School parking lot at 5:30, check the message board under Road Rides or MTB Rides to see what?s up: http://www.team-pinnacle.org/forum/phpBB2/
Sunday, May 1st: The first Sunday group ride meets at Claremont Cycle Depot at 10:00 (9:00 starting in June). Contact John Lambert at 603 477-4848
Tuesday, May 3rd: The Claremont Points series begins! Come to the Twin State Speedway for a night of criterium racing, Tuesday evenings from May through September. The ?B? race starts at 6:00; the ?A? race follows. Contact John Lambert at 603 477-4848.
May 15th: Club clothing should be available at Cycle Depot. An email will announce when clothing is ready for pickup.
Saturday, May 21: All club members are required to support the Lake Sunapee Bike Race, at the Mount Sunapee resort. Contact Chris Naimie CNaimie@Bownet.org or Mark Gurney at Gurney1@MyFairpoint.net for work assignments. More info on this work requirement follows below.
Saturday, June 18th ? Six in the Stix trail run in Newport. http://www.wnhtrs.com/index.php?nav=20&group=5.
Sunday, June 19: The 12th running of The Pinnacle Mountain Bike Race in Newport. http://www.team-pinnacle.org/pinnacle.php
Sunday, June 26: The 12th running of The All Out in Moody Park Mountain Bike Race in Claremont. http://moodyparkxc.com/.
Sunday, July 17: The Horror at Harding Hill Mountain Bike Race in Sunapee. http://www.efta.com/content/view/40/48/
Sunday, October 2nd: The Team Pinnacle Challenge multi-sport race in Newport. http://www.team-pinnacle.org/pinnacle_challenge.php.
Club Membership Renewal:

If you haven?t renewed your membership yet, please do so at http://www.claremontcycle.com/club/membership_app.pdf . Your $25 fee for membership entitles you to:

? A 15% discount on merchandise and labor at Claremont Cycle Depot.
? Discounts on CCD club clothing - what all the cool kids are wearing.
? Race fee reimbursement and DepotBux incentives for racing.
? Discounted entry fees at the Tuesday night Claremont Points Series
? Networking for road and mountain group rides
? Free use of bike shipping boxes from Claremont Cycle Depot

Lake Sunapee Bike Race

In addition to your fee, membership has always required you to work at the Lake Sunapee Bike Race (May 21s this year). You must support this race in order to maintain your club membership. If you cannot make either the Friday evening before, or Saturday morning race day, you will need to recruit a surrogate. If you absolutely cannot make the race and cannot recruit a surrogate, please contact a club officer. We will try to help you fulfill your commitment at one of the few slots available at other club events during the season. If you have no intention or desire to support cycling, we?ll refund your membership dues. We?re not just a buyer?s club ? we?re here to promote cycling.

Working at the race is hardly work. It?s all the fun of a race, yet you don?t get your legs ripped off trying to stay with the pack going up Dewey Hill!

Job descriptions:

Setup Friday PM: We need 6 members the Friday before the race at the start line, Mt. Sunapee access road, 4:00 PM. A small group will go around the loop, sweep loose gravel and put up signs at cross roads around the course. The group will also set up the snow fence, sponsor banners, vehicle staging area signs, wire for power, and other chores. We should be done by 5:30.

Setup Saturday AM: At 7:00 AM we need to set up cones for traffic control, and set up the start/finish banner. That should take one-two hours, and needs 6 people.

Registration: Most, if not all racers are preregisted. As you work registration, racers in line will identify themselves; you look up their number on a sheet provided for you, give them their number and send them on their way.

Corner Marshall: You will be assigned a ?minor? corner, at which you will control vehicular traffic to keep racers safe. (Major intersections are controlled by police officers.) If you are on an uphill section, it's a nice touch to give some cheerful encouragement to the racers who get dropped from their peloton, but are still battling on solo. Bring a spouse, a friend, appropriate clothing, maybe a folding chair, and enjoy a front row seat to watch the race.

Pace vehicle: You will drive your vehicle ahead of your assigned peloton, staying in front of the leaders. With flashers on, you are alerting corner marshals, police officers, and other drivers that a peloton is coming.

Wheel van: (My favorite job) You will drive your vehicle behind your assigned peloton (a van is not necessary, but you will need to transport at least ten or so wheels), occasionally stopping to swap a wheel for someone who has a flat. With flashers on, you are signaling to others that a peloton is in front of you.

Pace vehicle and wheel van drivers are given well-written, explicit instructions, and a generous stipend for gas. Drivers should arrive prepared to drive non-stop for about two hours.

Teardown: Anyone working on Saturday is asked to pitch in for teardown after the race. It goes by quickly.

Please email Chris Naimie CNaimie@Bownet.org, or Gurney1@MyFairpoint.net to sign up to work the race. Those who wish to work setup should contact John Lambert John@ClaremontCycle.com. Please let us know if you have a preference for an assignment. If we have enough volunteers, setup workers who want to race will be allowed to race on a first come, first served basis.


All Out in Moody Park:

The big news this season is Woody Groton?s resurrection of the All Out in Moody Park mountain bike race on Sunday, June 26th. Proceeds from this EFTA sanctioned race will benefit the New England Classical Academy, Claremont Parks & Recreation and other local organizations. This event is hosted by Claremont Cycle Depot, and club members are requested to help out at this event if they can- this is the first alternate if you cannot work (or find a surrogate for) the Lake Sunapee Bike Race.

Depot Bux

The 2009 Claremont DepotBux tally is in! Eighty-three individual entry fees were reimbursed, with DepotBux points awarded. We owe John Lambert and Cycle Depot our thanks for generously funding this $1500 program in addition to funding the Race Fee Reimbursements. Details on how this program works are found on our club website at http://www.claremontcycle.com/index.php/club/membership

Last season?s top recipient was Clint Angwin, who finished 12 races. Hot on his heels was Brian Currier finishing 10 races.

Other Race Reimbursement and DepotBux recipients were: Dan O?Neill, Tyler Currier, Jason Ouelette, Robin Liston, Stan Spencer, Nathan Richer, Ken Wiley, Teresa Groton, Kevin Ondre, Greg Burbidge, Brian Highhouse, Paulette Buchholz, Woody Groton, Richard Beard, and Mark Gurney.