Feb. 26 update

Hi all:



Well, despite the recent snow, it’s beginning to look a lot like bike season. The European season kicks off in earnest in a week with Paris-Nice, there are training races starting up in MA and CT and the prep school league coaches’ email list is slowly coming to life. It’s time to talk about plans for racing. I’ve put together a comprehensive race schedule and I’ve posted it on the team website (www.kmscyclingteam.com) on the right margin. If you click on the respective race, it’ll link you to either the bikereg registration page or the race website. The season begins with some local southern New England circuit style racing, then gets right into the prep school league races in late April and early May, then graduates to some local New England weekend stage racing. Then, for those who are more serious about their racing, we begin to look nationally and I’ve posted a link to a rather crucially timed and located USAC Regional Development Camp that takes place (in Tennessee) a week before Nationals (in Georgia). The camp will be great way to check out the USAC development team pipeline and, at the same time, acclimate to the mid-June southeast heat and humidity for nats.



So, the big question: “What races should I do?” Well, here’s some basic info:



1) For all races on the schedule, the team should be able to provide all transportation to and from the races.



2) For the returning team members who do not have snow sport commitments, it would be great to do the April 2-3 weekend in southern New England. We’ll be staying at the Dickeys’ down on the Cape on Sat. night. These races also have cub junior races, so it would be great to see Brook come on this trip as well.



3) For the returning members who are older (16-18 year olds), Battenkill on April 10 would be an awesome race. It’s 64 miles, hilly and hard, so it would only be good for guys who have had some time to train in March and early April.



4) Everyone on the team should plan to do the Dartmouth TT on April 16 and as many as possible should plan to do the Charlestown RI race the next day on the 17th. These will be great warm-ups for the prep school season which begins the following Wed.



5) Prep school season. Everyone should try to race these races. They are great introductory races and the courses and formats are fantastic for learning the basics of bike racing.



6) Tour of the Dragons Stage Race in Bennington: April 30-May 1: Although this race has a slightly longish road race on Sun, I think it’ll be great experience for the team and it looks like a really solid race. I’d like to see as many of the active racers as possible do this race. Our junior women can enter the ¾ women category. We’ll have a follow van for the road race so it’s fine for kids to pack it in a bit early if need be. Although doing this race means missing the Exeter Team Time Trial prep school season race, I think it’s a worthy trade as the TTT has been known to be a bit too technical for a lot of the newer prep school riders and I think we should strive to support a great local stage race like Dragons.



7) Killington Stage Race: No junior category this year, but we can still enter our boys in the Men Cat 4/5 and the women in the Women Cat ¾. In fact, this may be a better way to race these races as there will be a real field to ride in rather than just 20-30 juniors.



8) Lake Placid weekend: great for all ages. Cub juniors encouraged. We usually stay the night on Sat night at a lodge near Whiteface. RR on Sat, crit on Sun, awesome BBQ stop on the way home.



9) Nationals: For racers 16 and under, anyone can do the Nationals. 17-18 year olds need to be Cat 3 or higher. I will confirm this as the season gets underway. Peter, Jr. is attending the USAC development camp in TN the week before nats and my plan is to pick him up in TN the weekend before nats and head to TN, so I’ll be driving down in the van if any other juniors wish to attend. Nationals have not been on the east coast in several years, so this is a great opportunity to attend.



After nationals, we’ll be attending some regular season New England races, the Tour of the Catskills in early Aug and then the Green Mountain Stage Race in early Sept and then we’re neck deep in cyclo-cross and the prep school mountain biking season for the fall and early winter.



Please note that it's fine for any of the kids to just train with the team and not race and it's also fine to pick and choose races as you see fit. In other words, all of the racing is optional, so please do not feel pressure to race if you're not comfortable with it just yet.



Here are some things to take care of now:



1) Get your USAC racing license: To buy your racing license, go to the USAC login page here: https://www.usacycling.org/myusac/index.php?pagename=logout and please do the following:



a) when setting up your account, please make your username your first name followed by your last name then the letters kms (e.g. spencersmithkms). Once you have an account, you'll verify your identity via email and then you can log in using the emailed password to complete your registration. WHEN YOU LOG IN, PLEASE CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD TO MATCH YOUR USERNAME (e.g., for Spencer Smith, the username and password should BOTH be spencersmithkms) This way, I'll be able to check your license categories and other information and make sure you have everything in order before the racing season starts. I'll also be able to print out paper licenses which I use to register the kids at the races.



b) During the registration process, you'll be prompted for your USAC registered club. That club is Woodstock Bicycle Club, which you can choose from the drop down menu.



c) On the page nearing the payment section, you'll be prompted for your team name. Choose Killington Mountain School Cycling Team.



d) Once you've purchased your license, please let me know via email and I'll print your rider release and send it to the parent(s) along with the WBC release and a USAC race entry form for signature and return to me.



2) Dial in your bike: See Stockman for the KMS bike deal and/or Dan McKenna at the SH for special deals on his Trek and Cannondale bikes.



3) Come to Monday night spinning at 4:15 at the KMS Gym.



4) If you do not have a snow sport conflict, we've started a Wed afternoon junior road ride leaving at 4:00 from the Start House. 1-1.5 hours. Just let me know if you're coming.



5) Info on early March team meeting to follow soon.



Thanks and please email with any questions.



Coaches Peter Vollers and Greg Hadley

KMS Cycling Team