Donor Membership Enhancements

As we have recently highlighted, we have made great efforts to improve the value of CRCA membership and promote the growth of the club via reduced club race registration fees, a dramatically expanded social calendar (including monthly group rides) and an improved coaching program. Of course these efforts are dependent on a number of factors, including the continued success of our Open Racing calendar and good buy-in of Season Pass memberships, which allow us to more accurately match the fixed cost structure of our club racing calendar with upfront revenue forecasts.

But there is another equally important factor: the contributions of our Donor Members, who provide vital financial support to our community. As a not-for-profit and volunteer-run organization, the contributions of our Donor Members help maintain our extensive calendar of racing, coaching and social events, while also directly supporting our obligations to the CRCA Junior Development Program and the Central Park Conservancy. Without the support of our Donor Members, our revised free structure - which dramatically lowers the all-in cost of participating in CRCA - simply would not be feasible.

With this in mind we have made several enhancements to the Donor Membership program for 2015 with the hope of earning additional Donor Memberships for the coming season. The 2015 Donor Membership program now includes the following benefits:

• All club race registration fees are included, as is the ability to sign a SINGLE waiver for the entire season. Access to the club's coaching program is likewise included.
• All Donor Members are excused from their 2015 marshaling obligations
• All Donor Members receive FREE entry to the CRCA End of Season Party as well as access to exclusive VIP tickets for CPC events throughout the season.
• A portion of your cost of Donor Membership is tax deductible as a contribution to the CRCA Junior Development Program and/or the Central Park Conservancy.
• NEW: all Donors will receive a FREE redesigned CRCA jersey, in their choice of the standard CRCA yellow or the premium CRCA Blue (can be donated back to the club for use by qualified new members if desired).
• NEW: after signing one season long waiver, Donor Members may register for CRCA Club Races via e-mail!

We hope these value enhancements increase interest in our Donor Membership program and we sincerely appreciate the support of all of our past Donor Members - your contributions help lower the cost of joining CRCA and help make the club what it is today. If you have any questions about Donor Membership, please reach out to clubracing@crca.net.

Lucarelli & Castaldi Bear Mountain Classic Results

Results from the 2014 Lucarelli & Castaldi CRCA Bear Mountain Classic are included below. A big thank you goes out to each and every racer that made the Bear Mountain Classic a resounding success in its first year back. We hope to return on Mother Day's 2015 with an even better Bear Mountain Classic. See you in 2015!

Congratulations to all of our Champions: Elite Men - Michael Margarite, CRCA/Weather Channel Cycling Team Elite Women - Beth Ruiz, Zimmer Capital p/b Foundation Men 2 - Ross Marklein, QCW Cycling p.b. Breakawaybikes.com Men 3 - Drew Kogon, CRCA/FGX Racing Men 4 - Colin Tanner, CRCA/Sixcycle-RK&O Men 5 - Ray Hyland, NYCMTB-SIDS Women 3/4 - Masha Schneider, Zenberry Women 4 - Gabriella Allong, U.S. Military Cycling Masters 40+ 1-3 - Erin Korff, CRCA/AXIS Masters 40+ 4-5 - Mark Pattinson, TTEndurance

Results

http://archive.crca.net/wp-content/uploads/Bear-Mountain-Spring-Classic-Preliminary-Results7.pdf

Please note that due to an equipment error with the results service that we were utilizing, certain riders from the first wave of races are shown as DNP. We apologize for this fact but are striving to accurately place all of these riders. If you are one of those riders and can help us verify finishing position, please e-mail us at CRCAresults@gmail.com

Lucarelli & Castaldi Bear Mountain Classic Race Predictions

With registration for the 2014 Lucarelli & Castaldi CRCA Bear Mountain Spring Classic (#bearmountainclassic) closing on Friday its time to break out the Road-Results.com race predictor. And remember if you want to partake in the action on Sunday, you must register in advance on Bikereg: https://www.bikereg.com/crca-bear-mountain-spring-classic2014

Elite Men's Championship

The Elite Men's Championship is going to be the big show on Sunday with a massive $4,000 prize pool. Since the prize list includes $1,000 for the Tiorati KOM and $1,000 for the Lake Welch Sprinters Competition it will be interesting to see which racers risk it all to go for the big KOM/Sprinters payday and which racers save it for the finale with the goal of being first across the line after 100 miles of racing on this challenging course.

First a quick run through who the computers say will take home the win...

The field is one of the strongest in recent memory, with Champion System - Stan's NoTubes making their presence known and taking both first and third in the predicted race results, with Gavriel Epstein and Conor Mullervy, respectively. With five riders in the race it will be interesting to see who Champion-System races for.

Slotted in between the Champion System duo is Adam Myerson (Team SmartStop) who showed his form just a few weeks ago at the Tour of the Battenkill and who benefits from plenty of prior racing experience on this classic course. One step off the podium in the predicted results is the very dangerous Bobby Lea (Pure Energy Cycling) who put on an incredible show at the 2012 Harlem Skyscraper Cycling Classic with an aggressive late race solo move.  Just behind Lea is Marcos Mazzola Lazzarotto (Kelly Benefit Strategies Elite) who benefits from bringing a full squad of racers to Bear Mountain.

With a race roster like this its going to be quite the show on Sunday, and its difficult to pick a favorite, but in this instance we're going to set aside the Road-Results predictions and go with two NYC riders who we think have the talent to take the win on their home turf - Evan Murphy (CRCA/Foundation) and Allan Rego (Champion System-Stan's NoTubes). While they slot in at 9th and 10th, respectively, in the computer's expected results, both have strong team support and we think one of them will take home the win on Sunday.

Elite Women's Championship

The women's field is looking stacked coming into this weekend, with a total of $2,000 of prize money to be distributed across just 33 riders. With this prize pool and this field it should be very exciting racing. Zimmer Capital p/b Foundation is sending a full squad and although Kathleen Lysakowski could very well win, as the Road-Results.com supercomputer predicts, we're actually putting our money on Beth Ruiz, who only slots in at 11th in the predicted results.. Road-Results has Lauren Dagostino (MidAtlantic Colavita Women's Team) in second and local NYC racer Raquel Miller, also from Zimmer Capital, in third. Fabienne Gerard of CRCA/e2Value could make things interesting as well and we'd be remiss not to highlight Emma White (Hot Tubes Junior Development Team) as another wild card.

Men's Category 2 Championship

While these racers were eligible for the Elite Men's Championship, they may have taken one look at that field roster and said "no thank you." And frankly with guys like Bobby Lea and Adam Myerson in that field we don't blame them. Much of the top 10 predicted results for the M2 Championship was present at Orchard Beach Crit last week, including very talented breakaway companions Jayson Jacobs (CRCA/Rapha) and Erik Post (CRCA/BH CC). While the pair are, if anything, more disposed to the tough course at Bear Mountain than the flat oval of Orchard Beach, they don't even crack the expected podium on Sunday.

Instead that honor goes to Ross Marklein of QCW Cycling pb Breakawaybikes.com who finished with a nice 5th place result in this same field at Grant's Tomb. He's followed up by local racer Everhard Paredes (USA Mengoni) and then Jeffrey Elie of CCB Racing.

For this race however we're going WAAAAAYYY down the expected results all the way to 25th for our pick, Evan Cooper (CRCA/BH-CC). We know from CRCA Club Races that Evan is on good form (at least when its not raining) and with his team's sprinter nowhere to be seen on the roster we think Evan will take advantage of the free reign and crack a nice result at one of the biggest races in the region.

Men's Category 3 Championship

In the Men's Category 3 Championship we have a top five littered with CRCA racers, including Jesse O'Donnell of CRCA/e2value, Chris Shaw of CRCA/FGX and David Taylor of CRCA/Eumaeus Asset Management. However at the top of the expected results is either an unattached rider or a rider who hasn't figured out how to put his team name in Bikereg, one Paskal Lamour.

Further down the list there are plenty of notable riders to choose from including Ryan McGarrity (CRCA/Sixcycle) who cracked a few results at the Bethel Spring Series and Scott Mills of CRCA/JLVeloNYC who has had a nice spring as well.

However we think these more sprint focused riders might struggle on the tough Bear Mountain course and so we're going to go way down the list, even further than in the M2 field, all the way to 72nd place for our pick - Alex Binkley of CRCA/JLVelo. While the super computers don't think too highly of his chances, we know he's a rider that's not afraid to take a chance in an early break, and this is just the type of course where that break can stick. So he gets our nod for Sunday.

Women's 3/4

Well, this is awkward. As the author of the women's portion of these predictions, I guess I might end up in sixth? At least according to the computer. How meta.

That said, this should also be a pretty competitive race. As of just a few hours ago Road-Results had Kristie Nichols (no team name shown) projected to win - it appears from internet stalking that she may race for QCW Cycling out of New Jersey and has been doing well this year so far. However in just a few hours, with women continuing to sign up (at the last minute!) the expected results have since changed with Masha Schneider (Zenberry) expected to take the win ahead of Jennifer Nordhem (CRCA/Stan's), followed by Nichols. Victoria Brumfield of CRCA/Radical Media is predicted for third. These are good bets in our opinion, although Jess Meany also from Stan's could start to show her form from last year and be a threat for the QOM if not the win.

Despite the supercomputer's expectations, however, we're going with an underdog - Liz Marcello (CRCA/Radical Media). While she only slots in at 17th in the predicted results, we're predicting that the fact that she ran around Orchard Beach endlessly for 12+ hours last weekend gave her the fitness boost required to do well at Bear Mountain (assuming she can avoid stopping mid-race to make sure marshals are doing their job).

Men's Category 4 Championship

The last of the men's field that we'll cover in our predictions features Jacek Boral from Incycle-predator expected to finish on the top step ahead of Vincent Lore of Bethel Cycle and Travis Dawson of Green Line Velo driven by ZipCar.  A bit further down the list is the 2014 Orchard Beach Crit M4 Champion, Colin Tanner of CRCA/Sixcylce-RK&O.

With a sold out field however it's tough to call a clear favorite but in the sentiment of underdog picks we're going to go with Will Carroll from CRCA/E2value who has had recent success in the CRCA Club Series.

Women's 4

This one is wide open especially considering that we just don't know who the latest phenom will be this year. Road-Results has Jodie Hein of CRCA/Breakaway Courier-NSX-Carve Systems taking the win, which is certainly possible! Hannah Todd of CRCA/Pink Rhino Racing is predicted for second, and Emily MacKinnon from Nantucket Velo is slated for third. It's anybody's race though.

2014/03/29: Women's Development Series

The third race in our Women's Development Series p/b hatchmap was extremely popular with 30+ registrants. After some fast and furious racing this one came down to a field sprint won by Victoria Brumfield of Radical Media ahead of Sara Yancovitz (Stan's) and Meghan Schloat (CityMD). Thanks to the generous support of hatchmap these ladies will be splitting a $250 prize pool. The next race in the series is less than a month away - a Women's 4 field on April 26th - though for less experienced racers we are also offering Men's and Women's Racing Clinics on April 19th. To sign up for the clinics please visit https://www.bikereg.com/crca-racing-clinic-2014 and to sign up for future Development Series races please visit https://www.bikereg.com/crca-womens-development-series. Ladies don't forget to mark your calendars for the Orchard Beach Crit on May 4 and the Bear Mountain Spring Classic one week later - both races feature a plethora of women's fields.

Full results from the March 29th race are available at the link below and will be uploaded to USAC for upgrade points: http://archive.crca.net/wp-content/uploads/W3-4_3-29.pdf

We can't thank hatchmap enough for their support of the CRCA Women's Development Series. To learn more about hatchmap please visit http://www.hatchmap.com/ or to say thank you directly visit them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/hatchmap

2014/03/29 Club Series Results

We were fortunate to have the rain hold off in time for the fourth club race in the 2014 series, though we did have a delayed start due to the tardy arrival of several marshals. As a reminder, per our Parks permit all marshals must be in their assigned location 15 minutes prior to the start of racing . We cannot start racing until that 15 minute requirement has been met, so please arrive on time for marshaling (late starts during the summer months will mean laps have to be cut). And always, do not ride on any walking paths in the Park - your support is essential to continuing to be able to race in Central Park and is very much appreciated. After a busy month of racing with the CRCA Grant's Tomb Crit and four club races, we have a bit of a break until our next race on April 19th. That race will be a special because it features our Men's and Women's Race Clinics (https://www.bikereg.com/crca-racing-clinic-2014) as well as the Club's Women's 35+ Master's Championship (please note that there is no W or C field on 4/19).

And now for today's results...

Women's Development Series p/b hatchmap

In the CRCA Women's Development Series p/b hatchmap the field stayed together for a sprint finish that was won by Victoria Brumfield of Radical Media ahead of Sara Yancovitz (Stan's) and Meghan Schloat (CityMD).  Once again thank you to hatchmap for sponsoring this field and allowing us to offer an awesome $250 prize pool for each race in the series.

The next race in the series will be a W4 field on April 26. Please see Bikereg.com (https://www.bikereg.com/crca-womens-development-series) to register.

Women's Club Race

In the CRCA Women's Club Race a break of four featuring all of the major teams escaped with two to go and stayed away through the finish where Helen Hatch (Stan's) took the win ahead of Lisa Vandivort (CityMD). Erica Adelberg (Radical Media) and Anneliese Haines (BHCC) rounded out the top four.

The peloton finished several minutes behind the break with BrittLee Bowman (Stan's) taking the field sprint ahead of Renee Engelhardt (Radical Media) and Aimee Layton (CityMD).

Men's A Field

The Men's A Field was the largest peloton of the day with 69 starters. Mike Margarite of Weather Channel started the racing off with a long solo breakaway that lasted for several laps. When the field finally reeled him in a big break of 10+ riders escaped, ultimately finishing well ahead of the unmotivated peloton.

With three riders in that break Weather Channel delivered Kevin Molloy to the win, ahead of Chris Shaw (FGX) and Dylan Lowe (BHCC). Steve Magyera of Foundation rounded out the top four.

Men's B Field

We don't have any first person accounts from the B Field (email crcaresults@gmail.com if you'd like to contribute one) but this race ultimately came down to a field sprint won by Matthew Street (Foundation) ahead of Alyosha Smolarski (CRCA) and Jamisen Ogg (Cause & Effect).  John Kim (Eumaeus) and Laurent Gras (Foundation) rounded out the top five.

Men's C Field

The C Field appears to have had some fast racing in the finale as the field was strung out coming across the line, with the win taken by Greg Hruby (CRCA) ahead of Matthew Payne (CRCA) and Vladimir Rabinovich (Kruis CX).

Full Results

Full results are available here: http://archive.crca.net/wp-content/uploads/3-29ClubRaceResults.pdf 

Club Series Results: 2014/03/22

Results from the third club race of the series are below. We apologize for the delays associated with the results but  due to a number of disqualifications and improperly pinned numbers it took significantly longer than anticipated to compile the results. As a reminder, our motos are officials and are well trained to DQ riders as appropriate, particularly for going into the recreation lane. There is zero tolerance for entering the rec lane and riders will be DQ'd for doing so. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS WITH THE RESULTS PLEASE EMAIL CRCARESULTS@GMAIL.COM

Men's A-Field

Despite various escape attempts the field stayed together for most of the race until a break finally formed at the start of the bell lap. Following some furious chasing the break was reeled in right at the finish line though Michael Margarite of Weather Channel managed to cross the line first, which was sufficient for second place overall as the overall victory went to Stephan Hoffman of Lupus Racing Team who had collected enough points in winning sprints 3 and 4 to take the overall victory with 16 points. Zach Koop of Blue Ribbon rounded out the podium with 4 points.

Women's Field

A break of four or five riders with most teams represented escaped shortly after the second sprint, with Erica Tricarico of Stan's NoTubes picking up both Sprint 3 and the finishing sprint, giving her sufficient points to take the overall win. Lisa Kennish of CityMD took second while Gabrielle Fisher scored enough points in the breakaway to finish even with Jennifer Nordhem of Stan's on points, with the tiebreaker going to Gabrielle based on her second place in the finishing sprint.

Men's B Field

In the B field it was a hard fought battle between Laurent Gras of Foundation and John Kim of Eumaeus Asset Management, but in the end Gras' win in the finishing sprint was the deciding factor as he took home the overall victory. That left five riders tied on points at the finish line, with the finishing sprint tie breaker giving second place to John Kim and third place to Jaime Garcia of BH/COmedy Central. Luis Rivera (CRCA), Andrew Sheely (W&D Racing), Owen Caprell (Sids Bikes) and Robert Weitzner (Foundation) rounded out the other top finishers.

Men's C-Field

Going into the final sprint three riders were tied with six points and the overall victory was still anyone's race given the first man across the line would receive nine points but a small group of three stayed away with Will Carroll of e2Value getting across the line first to take the overall win ahead of breakaway companions Nathan Kraxberger (Sids) and Nicholas Light (Rockstar).

Points race - C field updated

A brief look at the history of CRCA

CRCA has a long and storied history dating back more than 100 years to 1898 - some of which is described on the CRCA website here: http://archive.crca.net/about/history-project/ But the club's long history is also captured elsewhere, including in the New York Times archives, via articles that describe the club's original founding and its activities ever since. There was even a point in time when the New York Times published results from the club's races, such as this 1917 article describing the first annual Decoration Day handicap ten-mile bicycle road race on Pelham Parkway.

Less than a decade later, the Times would describe CRCA member Lou Maltese's victory at the 100 mile Sesquicentennial bicycle race in Union City, NJ, where he set a new American record for the distance in 4 hours 33 minutes and six seconds. Following his successful years as a rcaer, Lou would go on to be a driving force behind CRCA in New York City, organizing the 75-mile Apple Lap through all five boroughs as well as organizing Olympic qualification trials in Central Park.

Even more recently the New York Times wrote about races that have long since disappeared from the race calendar, such as the 1970 Axel Swenson Memorial race, which started at 79th Street and East Drive and finished at 96th Street in Central Park. But even then, when races were able to crisscross Manhattan, it was far from easy to host races, as detailed in this 1978 article where Lou lamented "how can you attract people at 7 o'clock in the morning in Central Park."

Despite these challenges cycling in New York City has persevered. While Central Park and Kissena Velodrome may no long play host to the National Championships, as was the case in 1970, Century Road Club Association continues to host races throughout the year, and thankfully we no longer have to rely on NYT articles calling for "a few brave women and some older men too, equally brave" as part of our recruiting strategy (that same article takes note of the old Thanksgiving race in Central Park where the club gave away 50 turkeys).

If you would like to learn more about the club's history, visit the NYT archives or http://archive.crca.net/about/history-project/

Grant's Tomb Criterium Race Preview

In less than two weeks the $6,000+ prize pool CRCA Grant's Tomb Criterium will serve as a challenging entree into the season for the New York bike racing community after a particularly tough winter which found most racers spending significantly more time indoors than they had hoped. Those that were lucky enough to spend some time training in warmer climates could have an advantage, but this early in the year the race is anyone's game, particularly on a course like Grant's Tomb that presents equal opportunity for sprinters and breakaway artists. With registration for the race closing in a matter of days and already 300 racers registered, we felt it was an appropriate time to roll out the Road Results race predictor to preview some of the action that we'll be seeing on March 8th in New York City.

Men's 5 presented by IRC Tires

The Men's 5 p/b IRC Tires is the most in demand field of the race thus far, with a sold out start list and a wait list already half full. As you would expect with a Men's 5 field most of the names are relatively new to the New York City peloton, but from a team perspective it looks to be shaping up to be a battle between CRCA/Lucarelli & Castaldi and CRCA/Dave Jordan, the two teams with the biggest squads. If these teams push the pace look for the field to split early and for a number of riders to be pulled - this course is no joke and no gentle introduction to crit racing with a few 90 degree corners leading into the short but steep climb. Riders who make the mistake of being at the back of the field going into that climb will pay the price of a harder effort up that hill on every lap and an increased risk of being dropped after each effort.

Men's 4 presented by IRC Tires

The Men's 4 p/b IRC Tires is another popular field with about 50 racers already registered. Look again for early separation between those who've trained all winter, and those who used the brutal weather as an excuse to pick up another, less uncomfortable hobby. There are a lot of squads present and accounted for in this field, the largest of which is the new 5th Floor NYC team, but when it comes down to the Road Results Race Predictor that team only cracks the top 10 with James Hyatt expected to finish 7th. In fact the predicted winner according to the Road Results super computers, Chris Williams, appears to be racing solo. Will he be able to stick the long false flat finish that defines Grant's Tomb without team support? Or could an early breakaway foil the sprinters day and generate an unexpected result? We'll see.

Men's 3/4 presented by MODSquad Cycles

For the past two year's the Men's 3 field has been the territory of breakaway artists - will we see the sprinters foiled once again in the 2014 Men's 3/4 p/b ModSquad? Look for this field to be a lively and an interesting spectacle when it comes to team tactics. Sixcycle-RK&O may try to control the field, but with just five riders in a field that already has 50 registrants, there are plenty of other squads capable of forcing some disruption. BOLD Racing, CRCA/TARGETRAINING, CRCA/e2Value, and CRCA/JVelo should all hope to make a statement as new teams, or teams with a revived racing presence - amongst these various squads who will come out on top? And can Joe Grgic of e2Value crack a result while also serving as a race director? We shall see. The Road Results computers favor Larry Uhlrass, who clearly knows something about early season form with a win in the 3/4 field at last year's Spring Series, but we actually like the computer's second pick - long-time CRCA racer Mihael Ginghina, who has the race experience and sprint finish to master a challenging Grant's Tomb finale.

Men's 2/3

A new field for 2014, the Men's 2/3 already has 40 racers registered. While this field shares some riders with the Men's 3/4 presented by MODSquad Cycles, the composition will be different enough (particularly with the addition of several Cat 2 riders racing on fresh legs) that it should be be fascinating to watch, if you're into watching a bunch of guys ride around in small circles. While a bunch of the "usual suspects" from the New York City Cat 2 peloton are missing from the registration list, CRCA/Sixcycle-RK&O will again have a big presence. That said Tomi Ketcham, new to CRCA/Blue Ribbon-Translations and fresh from training camp, is our pick for a rider to watch in this field. And if you're looking for a dark horse, Roger Montes from Brooklyn Velo Force hasn't raced much in New York but upgraded in Florida where the racing is year round. Those two aside, the odds on favorite according to Road Results is AJ Moran, of Greenline Velo, who is making the trip to NYC after closing out his 2013 season with a big win at the TD Mayors Cup.

Euris Vidal Memorial Elite Men's Championship Field

In the Men's Euris Vidal Memorial Elite race, look for another team battle as there are a number of squads with revamped rosters coming out to race on a big stage in New York City for the first time. Last year's elite race saw a three man break practically lap the field - while not an unlikely result on a course that often times favors those willing to wager on a long day in the breakaway, team dynamics could also lead to a sprint as squads like CRCA/Lupus Racing boast several riders with a capable finishing kick, including new team member Scott Savory. But we'd be remiss not to think that CRCA/Weather Channel, QCW, Stan's No Tubes or even the boys from up north at Greenline Velo might attempt to shake things up. This should be exciting and while we're not inclined to trust the computers on a field with this much fire power, if you want to know who the statisticians favorite is, its Mike Magarite of CRCA/Weather Channel.

Women's 4 presented by hatchMAP

On the women's side, let's start with the Women's 4's p/b hatchMAP as well. I don't see a clear sprinter in that fairly small field, but racers from CRCA/Stan's do tend to come out firing on all cylinders. Based on typical race dynamics it would be surprising to see a break established, so look for a field sprint here with the super computers showing a battle for the victory between Sara Yancovitz of CRCA/Stan's and Victoria Gochenour of the new CRCA/CityMD squad.

Women's 3/4 presented by Rockstar & Signature Cycles

In the Women's 3/4's p/b Rockstar & Signature Cycles there will very likely be an interesting three-way battle of the leadouts between CRCA/Stan's, CRCA/CityMD, and CRCA/Rockstar. In 2013, both Jen Nordhem or CRCA/Stan's and Anna Mumford of CRCA/Rockstar had breakout years and it wouldn't be surprising to see them trying to set the same tone for 2014. Based on the fact that Mumford's team is sponsoring this field we're going to nominate her as the favorite (a prediction mirrored by the Road Results Race Predictor), though the computers also suggest that Lisa Vandivort of the new CRCA/CityMD squad will be in the mix for the victory.

Women's Elite Championship

The elite women's field has been slowly gaining registrants, with women being notoriously late entrants, so the fabric of this race could change dramatically between now and March 8th. That being said, with 2013 Grant's Tomb Elite Women's Champion Amy Cutler already registered expect the pace to be fast and her sprint to be deadly, especially coming off a big block in California with Specialized-Lululemon. CRCA/Stan's should also have a big presence in this race with two sprinters - BrittLee Bowman and Camie Kornely - fresh from California as well, which raises the question of whether they are going to play for the field sprint against arguably the strongest sprinter in the region, or will they go for the breakaway win - the latter strategy worked well at last year's Lou Maltese Memorial when Anneliese Haines of CRCA/BH-CC snuck away solo for the win, knocking Cutler down to second overall. If the field races aggressively this could be the most exciting race of the day.

Make Sure to Register

Riding on a snow-covered Riverside Drive this morning, it was hard to believe that race season is almost upon us, but bring on the big city bike racing. And remember, there is absolutely no day of registration for CRCA open races, so if you want a shot at winning the $6,000 of cash and prizes that will be awarded at the CRCA Grant's Tomb Criterium, make sure to register today!