bluckett posted on July 01, 2009 10:02
To our Sponsors,
We hope you all had a great holiday weekend this past July 4th – many members of BikeClicks/Team Louisville celebrated the holiday by racing in the Master’s National Championship road races, time trials and criteriums which were held right here in Louisville during the past week. Even though one might think that local folks had the ‘home field advantage’ (with the road race being held on our training grounds of Cherokee and Seneca Parks) - we may ride the parks nearly every day; but doing it at 30+ mph (speeds at which some of the men’s races averaged) and racing at this level is a different ball game! The criteriums were held on the small, half mile loop surrounding the infield at Churchill Downs and provided for some great spectating and racing. It was an exciting week of tough fields, tough racing – complete with the thrill of victory for many in just finishing a race of that level; and the agony of defeat when things didn’t go as planned. It all provided for some great memories, great race stories and some incentive for next year! Overheard more than once during the week: “There’s a lot of fast old guys (and gals!) out there”.
It was very exciting for all involved to have the opportunity to race at that level & I know that we’ll be back at it again next year. As Steven Webster said “I'm going to keep doing Masters until I get it right or everyone else in my age group is dead and I win for the 105+ category”.
In addition to recognizing our racers for taking part in the event, a big kudos goes out to our very own Mark Luking for his tireless work in recruiting and organizing the massive volunteer effort that it takes to make an event of this caliber a success. Mark and others continue to position the Louisville Bicycle Club and BikeClicks/Team Louisville as the “folks who get it done” in the cycling community!
While Master’s has been a very big focus for many, that was just for us old folks (30+) – there’s been plenty more racing going on among the younger set (and some old folks too!) on both the road and in the dirt. Many have travelled to Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and Illinois for summer races and will continue to do so in the coming months. Others are starting to rest up a bit and begin their training focus on the next season – Cyclocross!
And speaking of seasons, team sponsorships end this August 31st, with the new season beginning September 1st. We’ll be contacting present sponsors during this month to talk about continued support. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the summer and the Tour de France, which seems to be airing around the clock on Versus and has been very exciting & its only Day 4!
As always, we thank you for your continued and generous support!
Suzanne WebGirl, BikeClicks.com