CRCA 2012 Season Preview Part 1: Sub-Teams

Only about one month until the first race, it’s time for a preview of the CRCA season. This is part one, with some brief news about developments in CRCA sub-teams and some promotion of the sponsors who help make our racing possible! The bulk of the information given here comes from the teams themselves. Nevertheless, if there are inaccuracies, do not hesitate to email the CRCA communications director (David Carr; email is communications[at]crca.net) and the items will be corrected. Among sub-teams primarily focused on the men’s A field, one big news item is the demise of the Adler team as we knew it and the move of most of its members to a new, domestic elite Champion Systems p/b Stan’s No-Tubes CRCA sub-team. This team is composed primarily of cat. 1 and cat. 2 riders, many of whom will be doing club races when they are not racing the team’s schedule of UCI America Tour Races, the National Race Calendar, National Criterium Races, along with some opportunities in Asia. For more information about the team and their sponsors, see the interview on NYVelocity by Alex Ostoy with managing director of the team, Igor Volshteyn, and the team’s own website.

Foundation has added Dan Chabanov to their roster (among others). Dan is ranked number 1 among male cat. 1 racers in New York State and raced in the cross nationals. In addition, the team has moved to Jeff’s Bicycle Shop (79th-80th and 3rd) as the shop sponsor, and has an impressive cluster of equipment and major sponsors. For a list go to this link (but now add Duvin Adventures). Both Champion Systems and Foundation are CRCA sub-teams that are racing a national schedule along with local and regional races.

Pending sub-team application approval (and formal announcements), there are some other new teams planning to be part of the CRCA sub-team mix. Westwood Velo, which has been an outstanding local team for a number of years is entering the CRCA with 30+ new riders of various categories. As per Mark Alpert, the team will continue to put on two cyclecross races and the Silvermine/Longmeadow TT. Meanwhile, CJ Jammet, who was part of FGX has joined with members of what was once the Kingpin racing team to form a new Wafels and Dinges/NYC Velo multi-disciplinary (road, mountain, CX, etc.) team. More information will be forthcoming on that team when it’s ready. A couple of former members of the Setanta Team, Andrew Shapiro and Keith Goldman, are starting a team whose name sponsor is Bicycle Planet, along with other sponsors such as Champion Systems and EliteEndurance coaching. The roster is mostly cat. 3 and cat. 4 racers who frequent the Long Island Triangle Ride, some of whom are masters and a few of whom are newer, beginning racers. Sixcycle-RK&O, a team made up of graduates of the Siggi’s/NYVelocity program looks to be a part of the CRCA sub-team structure as well. Additional sponsors for this new team include Milk Studios, LG clothing, Litespeed bikes, and ifyxbikes service. Another new addition is the Echelon/Montecci team created by one of our long time members Pablo Castro and sponsored by the local brand Montecci Bikes. Made up of cat. 5, 4, and 3 riders, the goal of the team is to introduce as much people as it can to racing, and contribute to the progress of the cycling community in the city. For more info, see the CRCA Team News. Finally, Arc Racing, a team of cat. 3's and 4's is coming together and looking to add a few more racers to make up a roster of 10-12 to do Battenkill, the Tour of the Catskills, and other regional races. Other sponsors of this team include Performance Labs HC, Bike Dr. NYC, Castelli and Gasoline Alley Coffee.

The former BH-Garneau team has become the BH/Comedy Central team with the addition of three female riders from the former separate Comedy Central Team, Sarah Sauvayre Ellen Moses, and Becky Koh. On the men’s racing side, they added Evan Murphy, Alessandro Matteucci, Eli Mernit, and Warren St. John. Word is that they are switching to Castelli as their clothing sponsor. Goals remain, according to Andy Shen, “winning races and saving baby animals.”

The former men's team of Houlihan Lokey/Sanchez is now CycleLife USA/GF Capital. The team is comprised of Cat 4, 3 and 2 racers with the goal of developing an equal balance between the latter two categories to increase participation in more fields at the open races. The team's equipment is subsidized by CycleLife USA and Sarto bicycles and features a new kit from Capo designed by Chung Chiang. Over the winter the team has added a number of new members who will add depth in the local criterium and ITT/TTT events. The team is targeting stage races for podium placings, especially in the Category 3 field.

The bulk of the former FGX team has merged with members of the former TEANY team and added Veselka Restaurant as sponsor. After losing five key riders in 2011 (all cat 3’s), FGX has recruited a number of new cat. 3 riders, making up a roster now of 11 cat. 3 riders and 13 cat. 4 riders, many of whom will be racing in the masters 45+ and 50+ categories.

What was once the women's Finishline-Gotham-Toga team has merged with Signature Cycles and Rockstar Games to start a new women’s CRCA sub-team. For more information see the announcement and press release.

What was once the NYVelocity Women’s racing team is becoming the Innervation Fitness/Stan's No Tubes Women's Racing Team. Added to their roster are Becca Schepps, Gina Rocco and MacKenzie Landers. This racing team is merging with the NYVelocity women’s team development program (with nine new racers). As per Anneliese Haines, “the team fields both a racing component, featuring category 2 and 3 racers and a unique development program that combines blood lactate testing, online training and group strength routines to foster new cycling talent in the area.”

Finally, The Fuoriclasse team is happy to announce a new named sponsorship by Eumaeus Asset Management, the investment company of Llewellyn Connolly, a former CRCA racer for the Western Union/Moneygram team. In addition to the new named sponsor and continuing sponsors Betsy Hafkin and Bicycle Habitat, the team also has added the support of Dr. Harry Koster, a leading eye surgeon. With this support, the team looks forward to building on its 2011 success with more wins and new racers to add to its roster of three men and four women (including no 1 ranked in NYS cat. 1 female racer, Fabienne Gerard). More details to be available in the CRCA team news.

Many other teams continue (following is in alphabetical order).

Asphalt Green has recruited four racers (two men and two women) new to their roster that for 2012 includes Cat 3, Cat 4 and Cat 5 racers. They expect to have a total of 30-32 racers this season wearing a new kit (with Castelli).

Blue Ribbon aims for more success in 2012 building on Zachary Koop's work in 2011 and the addition of Brendan Pierce and Al Blanchard. Sponsor's include Blue Ribbon restaurants, Translations.com, Fuji Bicycles, Campmor and Pennell Venture Partners.

The Dave Jordan-Zephyr team is now simply the“Dave Jordan Coaching” team, continuing with sponsors Leopard Cycles (frames) and Hermes-Sport.com (wheels) while adding several new ones (Purium Health Products, Saul Zion Physical Therapy, Thred (Marketing/Advertising Consulting), Richard Gray Gallery (Madison Ave), Boefly, Ciel Urban Bike Worx (65th and 1st), and Bike Doctor NYC. The team includes both male and female racers of the full range of categories, with offers of training rides, sessions, camps, etc. The team website and soon-to-be-updated facebook page have more details.

Die Hard-Think Racing will be “back in black” with a new black kit. See NYVelocity for a story about team leader, George Suter’s, incredible experience racing and crashing in the Masters Worlds in Fall 2011.

EnduranceWERX continues with its named sponsor, some new (mostly lower category riders) and additional sponsors Rotor Cranks and Chainrings, BONT boots, and DFS custum orthodics.

The Finkraft cycling team begins its second year as a CRCA sub-team with several new riders (Matthew Howard, Justin Lubeley, Jeff Mandell, Rob Lyons, Criag Rotile and Jocelyn Gertel) and some new sponsors: Giant Bicycles, Westwood Cycle Shop and Team Recovery.

The Gennaro’s team has added evidon as a sponsor and will have a newly designed kit in 2012.

The Global Locate team brings back a roster of five masters racers, including club masters champion Gerry Martinez.

The Gotham/Toga continues as well, adding adding cat. 3 racer Raul Galliano and three cat. 5's to its roster of two other continuing cat. 3 racers.

Team Houlihan Lokey returns to the 2012 season with a strong roster of women, minus Raquel Miller (racing in Colorado this year), but plus Carol-Lynn Mills and Lisa Mirabella. Veteran racer Vinny Vicari, is leading the charge to build up the Men's Squad and welcomes applications from interested candidates. In addition to continuing sponsors Houlihan Lokey and Mariella's Pizza, the team has signed some new sponsors, including the Center for Hearing and Communication, The BMC Group, Inflection Point Media, and LIC Bicycles.

The New York Athletic Club sub-team will continue its original mission of developing bicycle racers out of former world class rowers in 2012, while seeking to add a mix of experienced racers and new talent to its roster. According to team leader, John Eustice, "A new direction has been identified for our former rowers – athletes capable of immense power – that of pursuit track racing, both individual and team." Another new direction (alongside continued participation in the CRCA club races) is participation in the rapidly emerging Gran Fondo/Cyclosportive circuit.

Team OrganicAthlete is looking forward to start 2012 with additional members and their long time sponsors Candle Cafe and Nutiva.

The Radical Media women’s team enters its tenth year in 2012 as a CRCA sub-team. They have added Liz Marcello and Laura Lee Vo to their roster and continue to support Damian Lopez in his preparation to compete in the 2012 para-olympic games.

The Rapha team continues, as well (minus pink accents in the kits), supported by LaZer helmets and HED wheels. As per Derrick Lewis, they will be racing, as before, "to earn the right to drink coffee, eat fatty pastries and share battle stories while at Yura on Madison after each event. As a group of sweaty men in lycra we add shock and intrigue to throngs of classy upper east siders out for their Sunday coffee. The attention garnered there is far greater than any podium."

The oldest team in the CRCA, Setanta, team to move toward a balanced roster of cat. 4 and cat. 3 racers, many of whom are now coached by the new coaching sponsor, Ken Lundgren of Elite Endurance Training Systems. The team is looking to expand in 2012. Interested candidates can email jeffvgl@yahoo.com. Shown here is the 2012 kit redesign by team member Graham Macbeth.

The Sid's Bikes NYC team has added eight new riders and will continue with their orange kit in 2012. Riding on the Cannondale Supersix EVO and CAAD 10 bikes (with SRAM and Zipp wheels), they aim to be a factor in all CRCA races, improve from last year's results in the team competition, and add a podium finish in the NYS championship at Harriman to repeat podium results from 2011 at Battenkill and elsewhere.

Siggi’s/NYVelocity brings a big new batch of racers into the CRCA once again. They also have added as sponsors Transportation Alternatives (including adding TA’s president, Paul Steely White as a racer), LaFont accessories (www.lafont.com), and FXCM trading software (www.fxcm.com). Several other teams also continue with similar rosters and goals (e.g. Axis, Chomper Body), and many other teams not named here will continue as well, but no more specific information was available at the time of the writing of this piece.

Teams not continuing. In addition to Kingpin, Teany, and the separate Comedy Central Team not continuing, the Western Union team will not be a part of the CRCA mix in 2012. The Stan NoTubes/AXA team will continue, but not as a CRCA sub-team. As per team leader Henoch Getz, the Eastern Mountain Sports team has merged with the Scotto’s CRCA sub-team.

This is just a snapshot of developments underway among the sub-teams of the CRCA. Of course, once we get out of the park and our own races, CRCA is a team-club to itself, and we should look to work with other team-club members in out-of-town fields made up primarily of riders from other teams. Nevertheless, the sub-team dynamic is part of what keeps racing interesting in the park and hopefully this story adds something to your mid-winter racing chatter.

Feel free to send the communications director (David Carr; communications[at]crca.net) more info and ideas for future stories across the 2012 season: achievements of club members and their stories (propose an email interview!) and other information of interest to club members.