2016 Membership Registration Dates

Registration for 2016 club membership will open on Monday, January 25.

There will be no increase in membership fees from 2015.

Membership fees will be discounted for the first two weeks of registration, and are as follows:

Associate: $45 Racing: $75 Season Pass: $100 Donor: $600

Starting on Monday, February 08, Associate, Racing, and Season Pass membership fees will increase by $15. Sign up early to save!

Further information on membership types and benefits is available here.

If you are new to racing or CRCA, click here for step-by-step guide on getting started.

2016 New Year’s Day Ride

Start time: 8:00 AM @ Cat’s Paw Rambles Parking Lot (79th Street & East Drive)

Hand in your signed release form at the start – WAIVER IS REQUIRED (links below).

The course:

Over the GWB, to 9W North.

The course detours just South of Nyack:

• You can either climb up just before entering Nyack, or

• go through Nyack and use any of the access roads back west to 9W.

Either way you will climb Rockland Hill and continue on 9W for the rest of the ride.

Up to Bear Mountain/Perkins summit.

The return is the same route, finishing up by turning Left @ 110th St & riding South on Fifth Avenue to 90th St.

Have fun and a Happy New Year!

 Preparation tips:

• Dress appropriately for the weather.
• Completed and signed USAC liability release. 2016 waiver is available here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/USACWeb/forms/rider_release.pdf.
• During and post-ride nutrition.
• Report to start 5-10 minutes before start time.

2016 Sub-Team Application

Do your New Year's resolutions include starting your own road racing team? CRCA is here to help you turn that vision into reality. Please click here to fill out an application to start your own team for 2016, and become part of the US's oldest bicycle racing club!

Plea From Local Cycling Groups for Repaving of Prospect Park

Last week, CRCA along with several other local cycling clubs, teams, and businesses who have a vested interest in ensuring cyclist safety in Prospect Park, sent a letter to the leaders of the Prospect Park Alliance, Department of Transportation, and other stakeholders, which pleads the case for why Prospect Park should be repaved for safety reasons. The letter addresses with specificity the most dangerous areas within the Prospect Park loop due to deteriorated road conditions, and points out the lack of a satisfactory repairs and response by officials. We are sharing this letter with CRCA members in hopes that you will help us in being vocal about this problem, and with enough pressure from park users, perhaps the park roads can finally be repaved.

We would urge you to post the attached copy of the final letter to your websites, Facebook pages, twitter accounts etc. to let your friends or customers know about the campaign we've begun to get the park road resurfaced. You can add a simple message or headline saying something like "Support the effort to repave the Prospect Park Loop: leading cycling groups have called on park and transportation management to repave the loop road by next spring."

Post a quick message to the Prospect Park Alliance and City DOT saying you support the recent letter by cycling organizations and shops. Links provided below.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Links: 

December 9, 2015 Letter re: Prospect Park Repaving

DOT: 

web/email: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/contact/contact-form.shtml?routing=bk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NYCDOT Twitter: @NYC_DOT

Prospect Park Alliance: email: info@prospectpark.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProspectParkBrooklyn/ Twitter: @prospect_park

2016 CRCA Board Elections - Concluded on Nov. 29

CRCA 2016 Board elections concluded at Nov 29 2015, 5:00pm Eastern Time. The election committee (Rod Millott, Jeff Vogel, and Sarah Chubb Sauvayre) has certified the results, and the following are the members of the 2016 CRCA Board of Directors. Many thanks to the election committee, to all who volunteered to put their names forward for a position, and to CRCA members who voted.

President-Alexis Kraft
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Vice President of Rider Development-Tara Parsons
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Vice President of Racing-Gabrielle Fisher
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Secretary-Fred David
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Treasurer-Ken Edwards
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Communications Director-David Wen Riccardi-Zhu
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Public Relations Director-Russ Bogin
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Membership Director-Randy Locklair
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Marshal Director-Tomi Ketcham
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Director of Teams-Robert Rakowitz
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Director of Open Racing-Ted Teyber 
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Future Cycling Champions Classic (Tour de FCCC) - Race Report

Your contributions to the Century Road Club Development Foundation (a tax-exempt entity) are used, in part, to fund its Grant Program, which gives financial support to members of the CRCA Junior Development Team to allow them to participate in regional and national level races. The juniors apply with a specific race in mind and the Team covers the majority of their racing costs. Recently, the CRCA Junior Development Team traveled to the 2015 Tour de FCCC. Here is Justin Strauss's race report in his own words.

To support the CRCA Junior Development Team, please donate here (membership login required) or contact Matthew Vandivort at clubracing@crca.net, and to find how you can help (volunteers/leaders are needed for coaching, ride leaders, marketing, sponsorship, etc.).

The Tour de FCCC stands for the Future Cycling Champions Classic and is unique in that it is one of the only annual all junior stage races in the country. It’s held in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley (near T-Town) and marks one of the final stops of USA Cycling’s Road Development Race Series calendar. This year, the race conflicted with the Tour of the Catskills, but since this is my last season as a junior, I opted to race the last Tour de FCCC I’d be eligible to compete in. Kaan and Andrew joined me by staying overnight at the Kutztown Main Street Inn, one of my favorite bed and breakfasts, situated just 10 minutes from the races.

Stage 1:

I woke up to the sound of Kaan’s footsteps walking around the bathroom one floor above my room. He and Andrew left early since he had to register day-of and Andrew’s men’s 15/16 race started earlier than our 17/18 field. I stayed behind at the B&B to indulge in a not-so-light breakfast of oatmeal, yogurt, fresh fruit, and the innkeeper’s signature creme brulee french toast. The criterium is held at the Bob Rodale Cycling and Fitness Park, across the street from The Velodrome. It’s a one mile course with one short climb and no true corners, making it more like a short circuit race than a criterium. I hadn’t warmed up and lined up at the start line with Kaan amongst our small 10 person field. Like most other junior races, the pace started off easy. I ended up pulling the field for the first couple of laps and even tried breaking away with a Cannondale Sports rider to no avail. After the field reeled us in, one of the Young Medalist riders launched an uphill attack and his teammate counterattacked, eventually breaking away solo. The following lap, Kaan decided to make an attempt to do a solo bridge up to the breakaway. I moved to the front and slowed my pace to try to prevent the field from following him, but most of our competitors caught onto his wheel and I was left in the dust along with two others to form our own chase group. Just past the halfway point of our 20 lap race, the rider who broke away lapped my chase group and then went on to lap Kaan’s six person main group. With a couple of laps to go, we noticed that we were about to be lapped by Kaan’s group as well, but we stayed about 30 seconds ahead of them going into the finish. I won the sprint among my group of riders, but still ended up over two minutes behind the leader, in 8th place.

Stage 2:

I learned my lesson from the previous morning, giving myself adequate time to warm up and opting for a much lighter breakfast. Stage 2 is a 4.2 mile time trial on a rolling course with three short, punchy climbs. To prepare, I wore a skinsuit and shoe covers and outfitted my bike with aero bars and climbing wheels. Kaan and I were assigned the last time slots, so we were also able to sleep a bit longer. I was off a 8:51:30 AM and picked up speed pretty quickly, getting into a rhythm at about 28 miles per hour. Near the halfway mark, Kaan bridged the 30 second gap separating us and caught up to me. As we ascended the three consecutive climbs, we stayed within a few bike lengths of each other, being careful not to break the rules and accidentally draft. Having Kaan just up the road served as a positive motivator to help me dig deep and try to close the gap during the final minutes of the time trial. I ended up finishing 7 seconds behind him and improved my time compared to last year.

Stage 3:

The same group of 10 lined up for the road race, which is a 29 mile race consisting of seven laps on the time trial course. A few hours had passed since the prior race, so by then it was midday and temperatures hovered in the high 90’s. The surrounding farmland lacks any trees to shade the pavement, so there is no respite from the beating sun. The field stayed together, for the most part, during the first few laps. All attempts to go off the front were chased down to prevent a breakaway from forming. One of the less experienced Young Medalist riders (not the same one who won the criterium) lingered off the front going into the finishing straight with four laps to go. This time, the Cannondale Sports rider went to chase him down and rather than taking the field with him, the two of them stayed off the front. After a few minutes, we realized that they couldn’t be seen up the road anymore and their pace wasn’t letting up, so the chase ensued. The seven of us that remained only lasted as a group until we hit the three climbs. One rider went off the back on the first hill, Kaan peeled off on the second one, and I was the last to go on the third pitch, leaving only four riders chasing. I ended up riding solo for a couple of laps and in a fashion similar to the time trial, Kaan eventually caught up to me. This time, we were able to work together, taking pulls until the finish. And just like that, my three year run of racing the Tour de FCCC had come to an end.

Great job, guys!

CRCA Board Minutes: 2015/29/7

CRCA Board Meeting Minutes

March 31, 2015 at 7:00 PM

300 E. 85^th St.

Present: Liz Marcello (president), Tomi Ketcham, Alexis Kraft, Lisa Vandivort, Lucia Deng, Ann Marie Miller, Randy Locklair, Matthew Vandivort, and Joe Grgic. Absent: David Carr.

Items Discussed and Voted: 

1. Sub-team rules for 2016

Kit Logo: Beginning in 2016, all sub-team kits must have the circular CRCA logo on the sleeve (just below the shoulder). Following the 2015 grace period, the “CENTURY” logo is no longer acceptable. Alexis will send around the updated logo to all sub-team captains.

Sub-team field limits: The board discussed possible changes to sub-team field limits for 2016 (increase for Men’s A? Separate caps on M3 and M12?) but no formal proposal was made. Discussion postponed to later in the year.

2. Coaching Program

Cyclocross: CRCA will offer CX skills sessions this fall.  Sessions will be free to CRCA members and open to non-CRCA members for $10/session (plus the cost of a one-day license if necessary).

Roster: No immediate changes to the coaching roster, although the Board agrees we should expand coaching staff. This will be up to the 2016 VP of Rider Development and the 2016 BOD.

3. Closing out Open Racing

Transitioning to 2016: Joe has created a number of documents to help with the tasks involved with Open Racing.

Trailer: Trailer is near full capacity and is difficult to navigate.  Alexis will take the lead on cleaning out the trailer with the help of race staff and/or a sub-team. Excess waivers will be moved to the Club’s storage unit on Riverside Drive (where the archives are stored).

4. Digital presence and web

Randy will not be returning as Membership Director for 2016 (congrats on the new babe!), but would like to work with the 2016 BOD to streamline some of the Club’s few key activities using the internets – including managing members, generating/posting rosters, etc.

5. Financials

Update circulated from Ken prior to the meeting. Someone please append to minutes!

6. Year End Party

Alexis will work with Rapha to host the party at Rapha. The date is set for Thursday, October 8^th.

Trophy order will be placed by Kathryn Murtagh in exchange for marshal credit and Liz will work with her to facilitate order.

7. Town Hall-style meeting:

Though we had discussed doing this in late 2014, it seems that there would likely be little interest. We should instead focus on appropriate questions for the Fall 2015 member poll.

8. 8. Fall Member Poll (DC is open to doing this again or can train his replacement)

David will take the lead on this in collecting key items/topics from the current board to include in the poll.

9. Future of the Board of Directors

2016: Several members will not be returning to the 2016 BOD but agreed to recruit replacements to run for their positions.

Restructuring of Board: Although we are not in a position to restructure the board because it would require significant revisions to the bylaws (which is a legal matter), the board agreed that we should take on more volunteers, particularly for directing our many open races. These can be volunteers that are compensated with the same perks of being on the board (free membership, no marshal duty, etc.), but with less responsibility than being on the Board. Liz/Matt/Ken will look into what this structure might look like and begin looking for volunteers to fill key roles.

Open racing: Ken has also agreed to look into the cost of outsourcing key components open racing to a company to ease the burden on the volunteer Board. We will re-group on this in a month’s time.

Advertising open positions: Lucia (with Liz’s help) will write an article for CRCA.net on volunteering for the club and being on the board.  We can use this opportunity to describe the responsibilities of each board position and also the responsibilities of volunteer race directors. This will hopefully pique some interest in running for the Board.

Elections: To be held in late October/early November, following the end of season party. We will need to recruit an independent elections committee to handle this.

Lou Maltese Women's Elite Race Report

We recently caught up with Lou Maltese Elite Women's Race winner, Camie Kornely of Breakaway Courier. Here's how the race played out from one of NYC's most talented sprinters.

I was a little freaked about getting up at 3:30am! My body doesn't respond well to things like that (but whose does, right?). I got to the park at 4:30am sharp and met up with my teammates to rock the registration table for the next hour - getting the CRCA Team Duty done! Suddenly, time was short and I ran to the bathroom (no really, I literally ran). I ran back while finishing dressing as they were calling everyone to the line.... and realized our only talk of a strategy was, "Hey, remember that one race?  We should try to do that again."

Then the whistle blew and we started fast.  I looked down as I gasped for air to see we were doing 24 mph and we hadn't even passed the museum yet! Then came the attacks.

Anna Zivarts and Cheryl Clark were really putting out power out front, but every team had someone jumping off the front: Radical, Craft, Rockstar, CityMD.... We were clocking sub 15 minute laps! I was thankful to have my teammate, Jodie Hein, who was all over it.  She'd stay at the front and get on moves. If I started drifting back she'd slip in front of me and bring me back up and she worked so hard to keep us in touch with any potential break.

Going into the last lap we were all together and we were full gas as we passed engineers gate straight through to the finish. My legs were tired and it took a lot to get up the hill the last time with teams drilling it on the front (with an average speed of about 24mph over the 41 miles, this may have been the fastest women's race I've done in Central Park).

As we rolled over the west side lumps at about 27mph I saw Jodie near the front and knew she was waiting for me. I dug in and caught on to her wheel. She pulled me up to the front five as we descended to the flat straight where I moved onto Caryl Gale's wheel. Just before the chicane we were swarmed on the left and as Anna slid up on my right I got on her wheel. Then, as we cleared that first bend of the chicane where it opens up on the right...I took off.  It was so early, but Caryl had the direct line with Aimee Layton on her wheel so if I was gonna pass that train I had to go!

I picked a lightish gear and spun until my legs burned so much I was surely casting off smoke instead of sweat and managed to cross the line first.

Thanks to all for the cheers and to my Breakaway Courier teammates and sponsors for their amazing support!

Thanks for the great race report, Camie! Up next, in our Open Racing Calendar is the Mengoni Grand Prix. Register now!

Full race results can be found here.

Full photo gallery below thanks to CRCA member and awesome photographer, Kevin Hatt!