LOTS of pieces to the puzzle.

You can spend your time, waste your time, or invest your time. It's your choice.

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Attn Ladies: The next 2 Ladies Only Track Sessions are going on a road trip!! We will be packing up and heading up to the Encino Velodrome for the Saturday July 19th & Sunday Aug 10th LOTS sessions. As always the session will begin at 12noon.

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Growing the sport of women’s bike racing ~ Attracting men to bike racing has never been a problem. And getting women into sports in general has become much less challenging over the past few decades thanks to Title IX. But growing women’s bike racing remains a challenge.

Like many puzzles, this one has lots of pieces. One of the more simple pieces to the solution is recruiting. And one of the most powerful tools that we have for recruiting is each other. It is unfortunate that the word ‘recruit’ often has a negative ‘con job’ feel to it as it reminds us of the Multi Level Marketing Meccas of yesteryear. But in this situation, recruiting is more about connectng than it is about conning.

The list of local bike Clubs & Teams that is posted on So Cal Cycling’s website is unbelievably long and represents literally thousands of cycling enthusiasts from all walks of life in all cycling disciplines. And, not only is there more than one cycling club listed per zip code, but most of these clubs have a both a women’s team and a junior team.

We all know that statistics continue to show that moms are far more likely to shuttle the kids around from dance to soccer to baseball to piano and beyond. So it seems to me that the Women and Juniors come as a package deal more often than not and by luring either the Mom or the kids into a life of bike training and racing, you are very likely to also attract the other one.

At least once per school year, our local police department comes to each of my kids’ schools to do a brief presentation on bike law and bike safety. They cover basic safety topics like stranger danger, helmets, bike maintenance, stop signs, sidewalks, bike lanes and cars. What they don’t talk about is the thrill of bmx riding, track cycling and road racing. They say nothing about where to find groups to ride with, local youth bike competitions, and cool yet functional bike clothing etc. They may mention in passing to 'visit your locak bike shop' to buy a bike but don’t offer any information regarding how to find a bike that fits them and their lifestyle. How great would it be if the local bike clubs and their bike shop sponsors assisted their local Police Department with the presentation at local schools?

I know many of the Ladies receiving this email are involved with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, American Heritage Girls, Indian Guides and other kid clubs. Most of these clubs have a program where the kids earn badges of accomplishment in all sorts of areas including cooking, swimming, hospitality and bike safety. Most of the bike safety badges are earned independent of the hundreds of local bike clubs and bike shops. How great would it be if the local bike clubs hosted the cycling merit badge sessions?

So I challenge each of us as cyclists and members of a bike club/team to get creative and utilize these and other eager audiences! I encourage the women and junior teams to begin to communicate with your local Police Department, elementary schools, kids clubs and bike shops. Host a bike rodeo at your local elementary school or start an educational after school bike program and see what happens. With gas prices at $5.00 a gallon more folks than ever are dusting off their rusty old Huffy so they can pedal to work, it’s time for the bike experts to begin to take on the responsibility of going out into the community to provide bike riding and racing education to our local kids and their parents.

Be safe & Have fun!

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Saturday July 5th ~ The Insano Encino Velodrome will be hosting the Olde Skool Omnium & Madison presented by Orange 20 Bikes. This will be the Final Bob Hansing Memorial Cup Series Event with Series Trophies to be awarded. Registration for the first session opens at 5:00pm. Racing begins at 6:00pm.

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Sunday July 6th ~ The Paramount Racing Criterium Presented by Jax Bicycles. Women 3-4’s will race at 8:15am. Women 1-3 will race at 9:50am.

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Saturday July 12th ~ So Cal Track Cup #6 will be held at the San Diego Velodrome. Gates open at 11:00am. Registration begins at 12Noon. Racing starts at 1:00pm.

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Sunday July 13th ~ Momentum Cycling will be hosting a Juniors Only track racing event at ADT. Racing begins at 4 pm. This event will give the Jr’s a good opportunity to race against some of the competition from Texas and the rest of the state. There will be no charge for racing courtesy of Momentum Cycling.

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Saturday July 19th ~ This will be the final “Low Key Time Trial” event of the season. We invite everyone to join us as we get ready for the upcoming Velodrome, State and National championship events. And directly afterwards: Ladies Only Track Session (LOTS)

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August 14-17th ~ Junior Track National Championships
Sponsorship ~ This year the LA Velodrome and Momentum Cycling will be hosting the 2008 USAC Junior Track National Championships. While plenty of work has been going on behind the scenes these past months, the race organizers are still in need of both private and corporate sponsorship. As with almost any sporting event, sponsorship money is essential!
Junior Track Nationals is a well attended event that brings together hundreds of kids (and their parents) from all across the United States. Any company that appreciates a junior aged target market will definitely want to be involved!
Please feel free to contact the race organizers at Momentum Cycling for more sponsorship information.

Junior Track Natz Training Camps ~ ADT is pleased to announce that it will be hosting summer Junior Race Training Camps this July & August. These camps are designed to give juniors from around the country the opportunity to ride and train on the LA Velodrome before Jr Natz. For more info, please visit the LA Velodrome’s Jr Camp info page on the website.

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Friday Nights at ADT ~ Attn Ladies the State and National track Championship races are coming up too quickly! There are plenty of opportunities for you to race individual time trials, team pursuits, team sprints and many other events. If you are interested in training for these events and more, please plan to join me at ADT each Friday evening for open (ie co-ed) training from 6-9PM.

Due to the July 4th Holiday, I will NOT be at ADT this week!

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Attn Ladies: The next 2 Ladies Only Track Sessions are going on a road trip!! We will be packing up and heading up to the Encino Velodrome for the Saturday July 19th & Sunday Aug 10th LOTS sessions. As always the LOTS sessions begin at 12noon.

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Have you seen USA Cycling's Web article featuring the LOTS program? If you, your employer or anyone you know, is interested in sponsoring the LOTS program, please contact me. The LOTS program is dedicated to introducing women to the exciting sport of track cycling and we intend to grow this program as far into the future as we can see!

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2008 Championship Track Events ~ As we move closer to the end of the road season we also move closer to the beginning of the Championship Track Racing Season.

1) June 21 ~ SCNCA Jr Track States at ADT (done)
2) July 26-27 ~ Masters Track States SD.
3) Aug 2-3 ~ Elite Qualifier SD.
4) Aug 14-17 Jr Track Nationals at ADT
5) Aug 16-17 Elite Qualifier Encino.
6) Aug 23-24 ~ Elite Qualifier ADT
7) Sept 2-7 ~ Masters Track Natz San Jose
8) Sept 11-13 ~ Collegiate Track Nationals Co Springs
9) Sept 13-14 ~ Elite Track States Encino.
10) Oct 1-5 ~ Elite Track Nationals at ADT

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Will you be hungry this July? ~ If Burritos are your “thing” then check out Chipotle Restaurants limited edition "Le Burrito". Team “Slipstream Chipotle - H30” has added backing going into the Tour de France, July 5 to 27, as its sponsor has introduced a new burrito in honor of the USA team. Chipotle Mexican Grill in New York City unveiled "Le Burrito" in anticipation of the team's debut in the Tour de France, following on its first – and successful – Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia. The limited edition burrito is aimed at athletes and will be featured in all Chipotle restaurants across the US throughout the French race.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/jun08/jun10news2

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The 2008 USAC Athlete Waiver is available on-line.

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The 2008 SCNCA Racing Calendar is available on line.

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The 2008 USAC Rule book is available on-line.

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One of our Cycling Moms, Donna Stern, is a licensed CPA. She will be conducting Bookkeeping classes throughout the Summer. Learn to use Quick Books from a CPA with 20 years of experience. Donna’s classes are located in The OC near John Wayne Airport. Please email me for additional information.


Have a super week Ladies!!

Julia Cross