Skylands Cycling
A community based bicycle racing and touring club
It has been 11 months since my last letter as President, which I
realize is quite a long time but it has been for a good reason;
we have been very busy during this transitional year of
rebuilding. The club started off the year promoting and running
the traditional Augusta Training Series races that turned out to
be extremely exciting as you may have read in my long winded
recaps. Not only was it a great event for the racers, it turned
out to be a fun way for the volunteers to come together as a team
too. Skylands Cycling was also able to concentrate some of its
energy towards helping road riders during the Milford-Montague
Bridge rehabilitation project. By working with the bridge
commission we were able to outline a solution that created a safe
alternate way for both cyclists and pedestrians in the area to
cross over the bridge securely during the summer months. In May,
We held the first charity ride, in honor of Trooper Curtis Rohel.
It was a huge success even with the light rain showers during the
awards ceremony. The club was very busy the month of July
starting with an extremely successful Giro del Cielo, our summer
stage race, that has been run in the past primarily as a women's
race, but we opened it up to the Men's Cat 4/5 this year and
received excellent participation as well as reviews by all
involved. The following weekend a group of members and their
families headed up to Vermont for cycling, an evening at the
Jazzfest, swimming and kayaking. It was a great weekend and one
which I hope we can duplicate this coming year. Our annual club
picnic and ride, with our friends from Montclair Cyclists, was a
lot of fun in August. We had a great ride and then headed in for
food and fun. We even had a special presentation by Barry
Nazarian, one which I don't think anyone will forget. Kevin Keane
organized a Cyclocross demonstration course at the Jorbafest in
September, which was well received by many of the attendees.
Throughout the year Buz Tomasino organized 4 "Meet & Greet"
rides for anyone who was interested in riding around the
beautiful roads of Sussex and Warren County. All of these rides
had a number of new and old members who were able to enjoy the
day on the bike and then the picnic that his wife kindly arranged
afterwards. We will close out the year with 2 cyclocross races,
one of which will be the NJ State Championships, at the Augusta
Fairgrounds which seems only fitting since that is where we began
our racing year. But before the year is over we will hold our
annual Holiday party for all members and their families. None of
these events would have been possible without the continued
support throughout the year from our wonderful Sponsors:
ThorLabs, Edgell Communications, Cyclecraft, All County Oil,
Cycleworks, Centenary College and Heath Village.
I would like to update all of our members to the activities of the Board and the club. The mission of Skylands Cycling is to educate its members and public about the benefits of cycling. We promote safe and healthy cycling through education and group rides. We will continue to promote and organize our races and recreational rides within Northwest New Jersey as we have done in the past. The club will continue to support charitable work within the cycling community which will again include group participation in national fundraisers throughout the coming year. Essentially Skylands Cycling will provide all of our members with the opportunity to join and ride with an organization that takes great pleasure in the sport of cycling with a balanced emphasis on racing and recreational riding. The 2009 Board of Directors is committed to the development of additional club services this year. During the past year the Board has focused on the fundamentals of the club by creating new and strengthening old relationships, developing a team that works and succeeds together and building a fresh name in the cycling community.
During the most recent General Board Meeting, we held the Club's Board Elections and we have some exciting news to report. Gene Victori has graciously accepted the position of Vice President so he and I will be managing the operational side of the club. His passion for cycling and for the club has proven to be a great asset to the Board during this past year and will continue to be huge benefit in 2009. I should probably mention that I have been re-elected as President so I will again try my best to make this coming year a success for all involved in the club. I am very pleased to announce that Greg Hampson will continue as the clubs Treasurer. I cannot even imagine a better person for the job. Greg has been and will be responsible for maintaining all of the clubs financial records as well as transactions made by the club. Currently we are without a Secretary so if you are willing and able please let me know. The Secretary is responsible for recording the minutes of all meetings and also conducts all correspondence when needed. Kevin Keane will continue as Director of Racers. He has spent the last year helping members and racers with various training techniques by using his coaching skills and knowledge of nutrition. Our recreational program will once again be led by Buz Tomasino who worked diligently this past year providing fun and new routes for various rides. Brian Gristick will thankfully continue his involvement on the Board as Director of Racing, sharing his experience and knowledge of cycling. Dan Mitchell, who has led Skylands Cycling this year as Vice President, has decided to step down and continue his support of the club as a Director at Large. We have a new member to the Board this year, which is very exciting, Jon Boub. He has been an active member during the past year and has already brought some great ideas to the table. Our website will be maintained and updated by Bob Perlee as it has been in the past. He has always done a fabulous job helping us communicate with each other through Bikemail, not to mention how we are always informed to the latest activities of the club whether it involves race results, ride information or upcoming events by keeping the website up to date.
We have done an amazing job this year working together as a team. Skylands Cycling has really become a club that is run by more than a just few people. This is something that we should all be really proud of. I hope this upcoming year is as fun and successful as the last, but that can only happen if we all continue to work together as we have this past year.
See you on the road,
Blake