Notes From The Peleton By Skip Higgins SPRING 2005: SYMPTOMS OF OLD AGE It just makes common sense that masters racers are closer to old age than they are to earlier milestones in life. Some of us have adolescent children, and some of us have grandchildren. Some of us are retired, and those of us who are not wish that we were. Retirement or the approach to it allows us to spend more time on the bike, enjoying our passion. Unfortunately, this stage of life also includes some health issues that don’t affect the younger person or younger bike racer. Dave Mercer has suffered a reoccurrence of his heart problems. Frank LaRondie had a full blown case of pneumonia this spring. Terry Martin and Mike Halsey have bumps, bruises and sore muscles from separate bike racing and training altercations. John Mandrola has been laid up with a case of super-flu. That doesn’t sound like a medical description to me, but that’s how John described it. And now I hear that Gregg Rokosh has an undiagnosed knee ailment. We hope that heals quickly. I know I’ve forgotten somebody with a list of our ailments, and for that I apologize in advance. And no, I’ve not forgotten to tell you about my own health problems. It seems that with retirement has come the opportunity to spend a few weeks in Florida every winter. My wife and I have enjoyed the respite from Indiana winters now for 5 years. On the very last day of this year’s visit to the Fort Myers/Cape Coral area, I got hit by a car that came blowing through a stop sign. I was very lucky to have only bumps, bruises, road rash, and a broken right leg. It could have been much worse. The police cited the driver and his insurance will pay all of my expenses. I do not recommend this manner in which to acquire a new bike. My early season will not include any bike races, but I should be back up to speed by July. I’m looking forward to racing with all of my teammates who have shown wonderful early season form and with those who have also been ailing. We should never take our good health for granted and we should always enjoy each moment on the bike to its fullest. Please take a moment to watch our results page for our successful activities, and our photo page for images of our guys in action. And most importantly, take a moment to review the websites of our sponsors, which should be linked from our website. We appreciate their continued support. GOODBYE TO A FRIEND-RACER "Our time on this earth is short, so you must live life to its fullest." I don't know who originally said this, or if I have quoted it correctly, but it very adequately describes our friend Charles Kulp. Charles was the most enthusiastic person that I've ever met. He was enthusiastic about everything he did, and everything that he loved in life. And he was a happy man for the way he approached life. His life was cut all too short by a bike accident recently, a loss that all who knew him will feel deeply for a long time. The Indiana Masters Racing Team would like to establish a memorial fund in his name to be used for the purpose of encouraging and developing competitive cyclists. This effort will reflect his passion in life. It may be necessary to partner this effort with someone like CIBA, the Central Indiana Bicycling Association, the CIBA Foundation or the IBC, the Indiana Bicycle Coalition. We will work this out with our potential partners in the coming weeks and months. But in the meanwhile, if you would like to honor Charles' memory, his fiancée Susan Vinicor and his teammates would ask you to donate to this fund, in lieu of flowers or any other tribute. Please send your contribution to Charles Kulp Memorial, 441 Billie Lane, Indianapolis, IN 46260. And in the meanwhile, take a last look at our friend, who is clearly demonstrating his zest for life.
Fall 2003 The 2003 racing season is in the books. And what a year it’s been. Our minds are full of bitter-sweet memories of a bicycle racing season that saw our team develop and mature. While we participated in the local racing series, we didn’t concentrate on them as we had done in previous years. Instead, we focused on doing more regional races, going up against racers from around the Midwest. This was important to prepare for Masters Nationals, which were conducted basically in our own backyard in Louisville, KY and Kenosha, WI. We’ll let our results page of this website speak for itself in terms of our successes. It doesn’t speak to the teamwork displayed before, during and after various races. It doesn’t speak to the “almost” victories, like Charles Kulp flatting with one lap to go at the Indiana State Fairgrounds with a 3/4 lap lead on the pack. It doesn’t speak to the miles traveled, the motels used, the training rides 6 or 7 days per week. And on and on. As mentioned above, many of us did Masters Road Nationals at Louisville. At this event we endured the lonely time trial, the non-technical downtown criterium with 2 turns (fast but treacherous in the rain) and the highly technical (but fun) road course through Cherokee Park. A couple of us went to Kenosha for Track Nationals, bringing back a handful of hardware. We traveled in the same direction to do Super Week in July in Wisconsin, racing against national class competition. In summary, we did races in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky. And I probably forgot one or two. We’ll try to add Missouri and Iowa next year. We plan another training camp next spring. But first, we’ll do our best to endure another Indiana winter, where it’s possible to ride throughout, just not very pleasant at times. We want to thank our sponsors at every opportunity possible. They are sticking with us for another year, and for this we’re very grateful. Please check their websites, linked through our site. We think they’re pretty classy folks.
Spring, 2003 At the time of this writing, it has been several months since we reported to you about our successful 2002 season. It seems like it was a millennium ago. After a winter which no one will forget very soon, at least not until July, we are ready to take to the roads and race courses again. Indoor training has been a must for the past 90 days. Cold, snow, wind, short days. All the things that we bikers hate have been in abundance. Some of us had the opportunity to cycle in warmer climates, but in every case it was for too short of a period. Early indications are that a great season is upon us. Our team meeting was well attended, and everyone talked enthusiastically about our approaching schedule. We’ve identified the races upon which we intend to concentrate, and we’ve outlined training adventures to help us achieve these goals. We plan a Spring Training Camp over a 4 day weekend in southern Indiana, to take advantage of the hills, and the opportunity to train together. Together is the operative term, both physically and spiritually. We also are planning our third annual trip to Asheville, NC for a week of training in the mountains in May. We’ll race both weekends, before and after that Asheville week, hitting Wilkesville, Ohio on the way to NC, and McMinnville, Tennessee on the way home. Please review the webpage where our teammates are listed. We have added new riders, strong racers, and unselfish, team oriented racers. We are on a roll. Please check back often for results and for action packed photographs. We would also ask you to browse the websites of our sponsors. For most of our sponsors, this is their third consecutive year of wonderful support. We want to thank them not only for their direct support of our team, but for generally supporting bicycle racing in central Indiana.
SPRINGTIME IN INDIANA It is a wonderful thing. The birds & bees, the flowering trees and the promise of warm temperatures to come. I feel a little like the high-light editors at ESPN in my attempt to summarize the past six months, and preview the next six. At this writing, the 2004 racing season has begun, and begun in earnest. Each of us has at least a couple of races under his belt, and they’re coming fast and furious. The IRS series is bigger and better than ever this year, and a new USCF series has been announced for central Indiana. As bike racers, we’re a bunch of happy campers. A springtime tradition for the past 54 years in Indiana, which has affected many of the local bike riders and racers, is the Little 500 at Indiana University in Bloomington. Even those not from this area are familiar with the race as a result of the 1979 movie Breaking Away. This movie coined the term Cutters, applied to local Bloomington boys. In 1984 a group of IU students entered the Little 500 bike race as the Cutters. And won. Our own Adam Beck, shown in this photo, was a member of that team. The Cutters have entered and won Little 5 bike races since 1984, but it must have been really special to do so this year, when the 20th anniversary of the original team and its win was being celebrated. Congratulations to the Cutters bike team of Indiana University, and to all past and present Little 500 bike racers.
TRAINING CAMP The open roads of Monroe and Brown Counties welcomed the Indiana Masters Racing Team for the annual spring training camp. The team was out in force to try the legs on the hills. The cornfields of central Indiana only offer so much "hill training." Preparation for the district RR and the Masters Nationals was some of the reasoning for the location.  Keep up on the payoffs for the team by visiting the results page.
" I LEFT MY LUNGS......" The DePauw racers placed 5th overall in Division II at Collegiate Nats this past weekend in San Francisco. Here is the report from IMCT member Professor Kent Menzel. This was the toughest competition we have ever faced, and so our placing in the 32 team field was especially impressive. Those 32 teams qualified from 10 conferences. We finally beat Yale, but now we need to go after Dartmouth, Army, and Colorado College. We return all but two of the seven next year, and we have several riders held in "reserve," so we will be looking to take a couple of steps up the podium!!!
LITTLE 5 HISTORY Many of you know Skip Higgins as one of the driving forces behind the Indiana Masters Racing Team, but did you know his Little 5 history? Here's what Skip said about that race: Hello everyone: With all the talk this past weekend in Bloomington about the approaching Little 500, someone asked if I still had a photo of myself in the race. I thought they were all gone, but look what I found. This is the 1965 race, where our team started 7th and finished 8th. Is that really tape on my shoes, holding them to the pedals? Just like in the movie Breaking Away!! And check out the stylish European hairnet helmet. Do you think I need a longer stem? And how about those huge tires?
SPRING BITS At the time of this writing, it has been several months since we reported to you about our successful 2002 season. It seems like it was a millennium ago. After a winter which no one will forget very soon, at least not until July, we are ready to take to the roads and race courses again. Indoor training has been a must for the past 90 days. Cold, snow, wind, short days. All the things that we bikers hate have been in abundance. Some of us had the opportunity to cycle in warmer climates, but in every case it was for too short of a period. more>>>
ROARK WELDING WELCOMES STUDENTS On November 13, 2002, students of the IPS school The Key Learning Community visited the facility of our title sponsor. Ted Roark and Woody Collins provided the tour of the production floor at Roark Welding of Brownsburg, Indiana. Students were exposed to many processes that required highly skilled personnel. Although most of the custom bikes built by Roark Cycle had been packed up for a trip to Arizona, there were some frame sets to show the group. The trip was designed as a part of the semester theme, "Producing and Consuming". Other trips during this theme were to Goulding Wood Working a custom organ maker and Inland Paper and Board. Thanks to Ted and Woody for their time and efforts in this trip.
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