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Notes From The Peleton
 By Skip Higgins
SIMRT gets ready for 2007
With the ice
rapidly thawing
and minds weary
of the stationary trainer, the roads of the Mid-West look inviting.
This
year looks promising for the SIMRT Team, with determined and focused
racers torturing themselves to achieve 2007 Team and individual
goals. Following on from the excellent 2006 year of competition,
members worthy of a mention in dispatches are: Kent Menzel for his
National Track Medals and Bruce Gordon for representing the USA in
Switzerland. There have been many other selfless and heroic efforts
by individuals during the 2006 season towards the common goal of
SIMRT success and their dedication to the sport and the team is
priceless.
Skip Higgins
SIMRT Welcomes new riders for 2006
Charlie Scott, Jamie
Gray, Jeffrey Chambers, Aaron Werner, Bruce Gordon, Steve Gaylor, Todd Lee and Rick Holstein
A
clever fellow once said “Be careful what you wish for!.” This line
seems to be making the rounds these days, and it probably means
something slightly different in different contexts. To me, I think
it means that reality can be disappointing or different from your
goals or aspirations, once those goals turn into reality. This can
often indeed be the case, especially if your wish or your goal is
not well defined or understood.
However, this
cannot be further from the case in the matter of our team’s
sponsorship situation. Not only has every single sponsor from 2005
returned for 2006, but we have acquired a new lead sponsor. The
addition of
SCHELLERS'S
FITNESS & CYCLING, LOUISVILLE, KY
means several important things to our team. In addition to the
funding to allow us to grow and strengthen, it allows us the
stability and consistency that a racing team needs. Scheller’s is a
leader in the cycling communities of Louisville and Lexington,
Kentucky, and they are a great fit with our goal of being a leader
as well. They have two large stores in Louisville, but I have not
yet visited their establishment in Lexington. I’m concerned for my
personal safety if I drive into that town with my IU license plate.
J
Wishing for a
wonderful lead sponsor such as Schellers has brought us additional
riches. Our off-season recruitment has resulted in several new
racers joining us, a few of whom are from Louisville. Please check
our Team page in a few weeks, and we’ll have personal bios, along
with photographs, of the new guys. They are not new to bike racing,
however, as these new teammates are seasoned veterans in the local
bike racing wars. They bring experience and maturity to our squad,
not to mention the ability to win races and to help one-another to
do so.
Our team will
henceforth be known as the Scheller’s Indiana Masters Racing Team.
We will be sporting the same basic racing uniform, yellow and
orange, with the addition of Scheller’s in prominent locations on
the kit. Scheller’s offers many wonderful cycling products, one of
them being
TREK
Bicycles.
Trek offers a different product than our other bike sponsor Roark
Cycling. Trek is proprietary OCLV carbon fiber and produced to
Lance Armstrong’s demanding specifications. Roark is titanium,
custom made for each person. We really don’t feel there is a
conflict or competitive issue with these two lines of bikes.
All of our
sponsors’ websites are linked from our own. Please take a moment to
visit each of them. We hope you have a good winter, and we’ll
emerge from our winter hibernation next spring to have fun racing
our bikes. See you then.
Skip Higgins
Indiana State
Cyclocross Championship Oct 30th 2005
The Brookside
Cyclocross Cup has been going on for longer than I've been around,
but we took it over four years ago. The last four years have seen
dramatic increases in awareness, credibility, and participation.
This year was no exception.
A couple things really worked in our favor. Our event is part of
the Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series, the DINO cross series, and is the
Indiana State Championship. When you throw in a beautiful fall day
and an extra hour of sleep for our out-of-towners, and you get a
great event.
First of all, this event could not and would not happen without the
hard labor of our loyal team members. After riding 40 hard miles on
Saturday, Skip and Adam hustled over to the course where we
finalized the course and some other details. When I rolled up at
9:00 this morning, Bran and Preston were chomping at the bit to get
busy. Shortly thereafter, Adam and Skip joined in to set up the
course. You don't think it's much work, but imagine painting,
staking, taping practically every inch of a mile+ course through the
trees! Note to self: course tape is cheap at first, but invaluable
as you run out (bring more next year).
Did I mention that Skip went to his High School Reunion in
Bloomington the night before? From the sound of his voice, he sang
one too many versions of Louie, Louie. Preston gets the long
distance award for driving in from Lafayette at the crack of morn,
but he looked fresh as a daisy!
I spent most of my time at registration, working with volunteer and
officials to get the results right. When I looked up at 3:00 pm,
Skip comes walking into the clubhouse handing me my truck keys.
That's right, everything was taken down, packed up, picked up,
cleaned up...done. I can't tell you how relieved I was to just
concentrate on awards and not course demo.
We had an awesome event and the teamwork made the difference.
Thanks to all who gave of their time.
John Kirchner
NEW
SPONSOR
Last year we sent out a News Release to update the cycling community
of our recent activities. A condensed version is shown below.
The underlying message here is that our team continues to grow
in both quality and quantity. The team mission remains unchanged,
as seen elsewhere in this website, and the growth of the team
with new and quality sponsors and riders should allow us to achieve
those goals with greater success year after year. Keep us in sight,
if you can, and we'll see you at the races next year.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Skip Higgins, 317-255-6856, skiphiggins@comcast.net
Land Rover Louisville Joins Indiana Masters
The Indiana Masters Racing Team is proud to announce the acquisition
of a new associate sponsor. Land Rover Louisville will join primary
sponsor Roark Fabrication and Welding, manufacturer of the Roark
Custom Titanium Bicycle, and associate sponsors Hendricks Regional
Health, Hendricks County Bank and Trust, Century 21 Paul Kilgore,
Metro Renovation, Zipp Speed Weaponry, FitTech and Hometown Insurance
Company in supporting this racing team. The Indiana Masters is
a 5 year old squad of age 35 and above bicycle racers.
This team is 17 riders strong from all parts of Indiana and Kentuckiana.
It includes such notables as Dave Mercer, a 5 time USCF National
Champion, George Geier, a multiple national and world medal winner
on the track, Skip Higgins, a recent gold medal winner in the
ABR National Criterium Championship as well as a multiple medal
winner at the 2003 Masters National Track Championships, and time
trial aces Terry Martin, Kent Menzel and Frank LaRondie, who are
current district champions in their respective age groups. In
addition, Martin is the current 50+ district road race champion
and Higgins is the current 45+ Indiana cyclocross champion. These
racers are joined by seasoned veterans Kriss Anderson, Mike Halsey,
Bran Boyer, John Kirchner, Adam Beck, David Coar, Mike Tarsa,
Rich MacInnes, Darrin Lay, John Mandrola and Gregg Rokosh. Among
these names are found several podium finishes in 2004 and the
immediately preceding years.
The IMRT recently hosted the Indiana State Cyclocross Championships
at Brookside Park in Indianapolis. This was the third consecutive
year that the team sponsored this event.
The strong sponsorship of this team will allow it to respond to
exciting challenges in 2005 and beyond. These include the local
race series, Masters Road Nationals in Park City, UT, Masters
Track Nationals in Indianapolis, regional races, and the World
Games in Edmonton, Canada. The current status of this team, and
its activities in the future, can be learned by going to its website:
www.indianamasters.com.
TEAMWORK
Nothing embodies the aspect of team cycling more than a team time
trial. Just think of the fun we had in July watching the US Postal
Team in full synchronization during the team time trial in the
Tour de France. Many aspects of team cycling are very subtle.
Sometimes the features of supporting a fellow teammate are lost
to the uninitiated or will not be observed if you’re not paying
close attention. Not so with the team time trial. The dependence
that we have upon one-another is never more evident than in this
event. And never more fun either.
The four of us who are often involved in various time trial events
(Kent, Terry, Frank and Skip) recruited an unattached rider (Kurt
Spoerle) to participate in the 29 Mile Team Challenge, presented
by the Indiana Race Series and Dan/Joanne Daly. We rode remarkably
well together, even though we had only practiced our routine once.
Some of us had done the Worlds 4 Man Team Time Trial in Utica,
IL in years past, Terry and Skip are two year veterans of the
2 man team time trial in Herscher, IL, but none of us had ever
done a 5 man event before last Sunday, August 15.
Well, we hung together, enduring the near perfect weather, cool
temps with no headwinds. We survived the high speed corners with
our aerobars and disc wheels. We conquered the chuckholes and
the short gravel section (really!!), and no one fell down at the
turnaround, which was not even a wide spot in the road. The end
result is that we won the day, beating two other teams by a minute
and 3 minutes. Check back in a few weeks to see if we persevered
(or not) against any teams entering the competition in subsequent
weeks. Whatever the outcome, our team bonds have never been stronger.
Thanks to each of us for the opportunity of teamwork.
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.
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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.
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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.
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