July 5

Hello Crew!

We've had some really nice rides lately and everybody is getting so fit and strong!  I am so encouraged by the level of interest in cycling in our area.  We truly have the makings of a great cycling club and team.

Several of our mountain bikers had a great time camping down at Bandy Creek in the Big South Fork over the holiday. It sounds like it was a blast and a couple of our top road cyclists partook. Maybe this fall, we can get the Cumberland Cycles MT Bike Crew to take all of us on some good rides.

Roger Whitlock and several others rode in the Nancy area last Saturday and it was such a good ride, they are planning to repeat the ride again this Saturday. Everybody is invited to meet at the Nancy Post Office, Saturday Morning at 730 AM for a 55 mile ride!  I plan to show up if at all possible.

The Crew continues to meet every Tuesday and Thursday at Barnsburg. Tonight's ride featured a "show up" on the part of the rare Jeff Ek, one of our clubs strongest, most elusive riders. The Team managed to get Jeff to race once this past year, and he placed very well.  And we all knew that he would. But we've not been able to get him to race for us on an ongoing basis. For that reason, I personally consider Jeff one of our highest recruiting challenges. On tonight's ride, Jeff and JT kept the pace extremely hot and the crew responded as a team - They did not shatter, but they organized some pace lining under the leadership of Jack and Roger and were able to contain the fight between Jeff and JT to less than a minute!  We really are becoming a team!

Kerry Fain - wow. Here's another Aaron Denney. This past week, Kerry survived several team rides and also weathered some fierce infighting between JT and Adam B. Just a few months ago, Kerry was having trouble hanging on to the medial team pace, but lately, after the attacking begins, you look around and find Kerry in the wheels!  Caught in the cross fire of the stronger riders, Kerry is coming up. And it is very encouraging to see.

Rides
We always ride from Barnsburg Church every Tuesday and Thursday nights at 6 PM.  Please show up for the club or team rides at that time.

We also generally ride every Saturday morning from the Somerset Vision Center at 10 AM, but I think we are going to shift this ride to Nancy - every Saturday at 730 AM. For sure, this coming Saturday, Roger will be hosting the Nancy Ride (by popular demand). 

Every Sunday afternoon from the Vision Center at 2 PM. Usually 20 - 40 miles.

RACING
Team racing will officially resume on August 4 with the Allanti Classic in Nashville, Tennessee. Allanti Cycling Classic 2007 - allanti.com   See our race schedule for more details. There will be several races in August, including a great race in Indianapolis.

We all need to begin to focus on the Tour De London. This is the Kentucky State Road Race and Crit Championships!!!!   Please fix your training here.  Tour de London 2007 • London, Kentucky  Our good folks from London Bike Shop are hosts to this very excellent event! So not only will we all show up for out District Championships, we will be supporting our cycling neighbors as well.

Year End Celebrations and Focus on 2008
We plan to have a year-end dinner on October 6th. We will award the Cumberland Cycles Point Winner a check for $300 and we will have a great time.  Be sure to watch for details. 

Remember that 2008 racing will begin as early as January, but certainly by the end of February. We will begin training as a team, November 3, 2007 - Foundation riding (senior team members help train new members).  Foundation training will last until about Christmas 2008 - nobody dropped - anybody and everybody welcome. By the new year, the team will need to isolate and accelerate the training level which may begin to exclude anybody not able to stay within 2 minutes of any course change.

If you are a cyclist, please consider racing for us next year! We can get you in shape and help you a great deal.

Here are the Crew members who raced for us this year and who we hope to have back in an even more aggressive manner for 2008! (listed by club points standings)

Adam Bourne
Charlie Bailey
Walter Thompson
JT
Dave Zwick
Aaron Denny
DR Swanner
Jack Evans
Dave Stewart
Mark Henry
Jeff Parmelee
Frank Correntt
Rick Rice
Charles Senters
Nic Cabrini
Kevin Aker
Kerry Fain
Roger Whitlock
Carrie Altmaier
Jeff Ekoniak
Glenn Girdler
Louie Childers
Harvey Schleter
Brad Hermman
Brad Hewett
Melenda Senters
Jay Garman
Dave Howard

Remember to support Cumberland Cycles in any way possible!!!!!! As Marc Says, "Ride on" - "Live Strong"

Team Blog:   Cumberland Cycles Crew Club Blog