Hub Cycle continues to grow and over 260 people have already taken advantage of the Hub Cycle program. In a voluntary survey of bike borrowers, users said they rode their bikes for three main reasons: transportation, leisurely fun, and exercise. When asked what caused them not to ride, the resounding answers were “not enough time to ride,” or “not enough safe places to ride.” Their favorite thing about the Hub Cycle program was the length of the rental. Borrowers can rent bikes for three months at a time with the option to renew once.

Through the Hub Cycle program and other efforts, Partners for Active Living is working fervently to help the Spartanburg community understand the importance of making time for health and wellness. The organization is also pushing for more bicycle friendly enviornments, to insure there are no excuses for being inactive! Hub Cycle encourages anyone who wants to give cycling and living an active lifestyle a try to contact the organization

by Daniel Carruthers

Brooke Miller rides in a victory lap with Mayor Bill Barnet and Valerie Barnet.

Team Tibco’s Brooke Miller powered her way to another comfortable USA CRITS Speed Week victory, Friday, at the Spartanburg Regional Classic, after teammate Joanne Kiesanowski attacked on final lap with Miller slotted on her wheel. They rounded the final corner with a slight gap on the field, but Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom Racing) and Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light) also attacked and were closing fast. Seeing this, Miller jumped and held all the way to the line.

How it UnfoldedSpartanburg was the 5th race on the USA CRITS Speed Week circuit, and the hard racing this week appeared to have a cumulative effect on the women’s legs. There was a 25 mph tail wind on the home stretch, but it was a battle on the back-side, with the hill and a head wind to contend with. Various riders did attack and try and get away, but no one managed to stay away due to the high winds and the apparent desire for a field sprint finish.
The first prime of the day went to Jennifer Reither (Vanderkitten) on lap two. Kiesanowski, a New Zealander, was seen driving hard on the front for several laps, including taking a prime on lap five. Her early aggressiveness had the field strung out, and she had two other riders with her trading pulls. But, the pack was breathing down their necks, and more than 10 riders had been dropped off due to the early pace.
There was a crash involving eight riders on lap 10, but all were okay and resumed racing from the pits. Van Gilder and Lauren Tamayo (Team Tibco) edged out the front for half a dozen laps or so, just after the half-way point, with Carmen McNellis (Colavita/Sutter Home). Colavita singlehandedly drove hard on the front of the peloton to bring them back. When the catch was made, the peloton moved for several laps as though the riders were out on a Sunday afternoon leisurely ride before Kori Seehafer (Team Type 1) decided to attack hard, injecting some life in what was turning into a rather sedate race. This move was followed by Team Tibco, which helped string out the field for a couple of laps.

It was prime galore near the end of the race, with one being offered on every other lap. But, despite the dollars up for grabs, no one could get away, and a field sprint followed. It was a chaotic dash for position going for the final couple of corners, with no real lead-out from any of the teams to take control. Tibco’s Kiesanowski executed a brilliant attack just before the third corner, and Brooke Miller was able to use her draft to be ‘piloted’ to the final corner. Kiesanowski, however, ran out of steam, and this prompted Miller to jump earlier than anticipated as Van Gilder and Pic were closing fast.

Miller said, “We wanted to race aggressively and try and get a break off. It was hard with the wind and nearly every one of the girls, including myself, was up the road at some point. Instead of just doing our standard lead-out, we wanted to attack late, which we did, but Lauren could not get away.” Miller added, “It was hectic, but we were ok with that. I found Jo [Kiesanowski] on the last lap and, as soon as I was on her wheel, she attacked hard into what was an amazing lead-out! She took me around the last corner with a big gap behind us. I thought and hoped she could take it to the line, but I saw LGV [Laura Van Gilder] and Tina attack and start to close, so I jumped to the line.”

The current women’s overall leader in the USA CRITS Speed Week Series is Tina Pic (Colavita), followed by Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom), Rebecca Larson (Jittery Joe’s), Kori Seehafer (Team Type 1) and Brooke Miller (Team Tibco).

The ladies get to rest on Saturday, because the Dilworth Criterium in Charlotte, NC is a men’s only pro event. The women will enter the spotlight again on Sunday for the USA CRITS Speed Week finale at the Global BMW Sandy Springs Criterium, in Sandy Springs, Ga.

For live updates on all the races, you can follow USA CRITS announcer Chad Andrews’ twitter on TotalCyclist. www.biketownspartanburg.org

Full results and series standings can be found at www.usacrits.com.

Fly V Australia’s Jonathan Cantwell takes win in Lightning Spartanburg Regional Classic

Sprint across the Finish Line in the Men's Pro Race

Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Australia) won the Spartanburg Regional Classic Friday, with a fine sprint win over Jake Keogh (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Canadian Andrew Pinfold (OUCH p/b Maxxis). This win showed that Fly V is settling in after taking a three-week break down-under and arriving in the USA last Thursday jetlagged. “We are hungry for more wins,” said Cantwell, “and you will see us out there vying for them for the remainder of this series. We have a good team here, with some really good sprinters, and most of us are only just coming into form—not quite 100 percent yet.”

How it UnfoldedIt was an electrifying, fast-paced race from start to finish, with speeds averaging 29 mph. This blistering pace may have contributed to the big pile-up in the later stages, plus several other late crashes.

Cantwell described the last lap as stunningly fast and quite dangerous as “I was almost pressed up against the barriers on one of the turns, but managed to come through,” he said. “The OUCH guys, Karl Menzies and Pinfold, were up front drilling it, and I just made it onto their wheels before corner three and blasted out of the final turn to pass Pinfold and take the win.”

Second-place-getter Keogh also described his finale. “I was floating near the front with Zach Bell (Kelly Benefit) with 1.5 laps to go, and he attacked with me on his wheel. John Murphy (OUCH) came by, and I jumped on his wheel. Menzies and Pinfold came by on the downhill before turn three, with Cantwell sneaking through. Pinfold and I did not make it through, and I came by both of them after the final turn but ran out of road to catch Cantwell.” Keogh also commented on the spills. “The crashes were not so bad near the front, but [I] did get my front wheel chopped, and most of my spokes were taken out!” Keogh was proud to represent Kelly Benefit Strategies/Contour on the podium, but the team wants to win; they have a few more days to do it right.

There was a $250 prime right from the beginning that was nabbed by Patrick Weddell of Global Bike p/b Catoma, and then a break of five riders made up of Carlos Vargas (Team Hotel San Jose), Tom Soladay (Mtn. Khakis), Spencer Beamer (Mtn. Khakis), Zach Bell (Kelly Benefit) and Lisban Quintero (CRCA/Foundation) got established on the front, maintaining an 8 to10-second lead. Quintero and Beamer dropped out of the break, and five more riders bridged across including Bernie Sulzburger (Fly V), Murphy and Bobby Lea both (OUCH) and Ken Hanson (Team Type 1). At that time, the break gap fluctuated between 10-15 seconds on the main field.

With 32 laps remaining, the break was caught by the hard-chasing peloton, and a new breakaway tried to get established with the USA CRITS Speed Week series leader, Mark Hekman (Mtn. Khakis), in it. After 45 laps of lung-bursting, frenetic riding, racers started to tire and started to get careless with their handling skills—especially when they were coming out of corners and sprinting to try and maintain contact. Invariably, under such circumstances, things are going to happen, and they did in a big way. More than 30 riders went down in a massive pile-up on the fourth turn, where the course narrows considerably. However, most of these riders were able to get wheel-changes and get back into the race.

With the lap-countdown on, the pace just got faster and faster, so that the back end of the field was blown to smithereens with riders popping out left and right. With five to go, there was another crash on turn four, and this served to break-up the field even further. The last lap had several crashes on different areas of the course, and spectators would say that this was an entertaining, high-speed, crash fest!

Hekman retains his overall series lead with Vargas moving up into 2nd overall after earning 5th place on the night. Keogh moves up to third overall with his 2nd place finish. It appears that Hekman’s lead might be insurmountable since he has his Mtn. Khakis team supporting him well; but don’t disregard any of the next top five riders in their bids for the overall win.

Kelly Benefits and Team Type 1 are nicely poised to make up some ground, if they can deliver their key riders to the finish. Team Type 1 has two riders, Ken Hanson and Aldo Ilesic, in the hunt for overall title too. Team Hotel San Jose’s Vargas, the most consistent rider of the series, is only 79 points adrift and is currently in the best position to catch Hekman. Hekman’s teammate Tom Soladay is 6th overall and still has an outside chance of getting the overall jersey if he delivers the right punch again.

The Dilworth Criterium in Charlotte, NC is up next on May 2, followed by the USA CRITS Speed Week final on May 3 at the Global BMW Sandy Springs Criterium, in Sandy Springs, Ga.

For live updates on all the races, you can follow USA CRITS announcer Chad Andrews’ Twitter on TotalCyclist. www.biketownspartanburg.org

Full results and series standings can be found at www.usacrits.com.

Atlanta, Ga. (April 29, 2009)–The Spartanburg Regional Classic is coming up fast in the USA CRITS Speed Week series. On Friday, some of the best racers in the world of cycling will wheel their bikes to the starting line in an annual showdown of speed, power and tactics.

In the women’s field, last year’s winner Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light) will arrive in Spartanburg psyched from her win Sunday at the Historic Roswell Criterium in Roswell, Ga. She will be joined by Erica Allar and Kelly Benjamin the formidable teammates who help to keep her in contention. Their rivals, Team Tibco, Vanderkitten Racing and Team Type 1 will work hard to keep Team Colavita off the winners’ rostrum. Brooke Miller (Tibco) won the famed Athens Twilight on Saturday, and took second place in Roswell the next day, behind Pic. It’s likely the two sprinters will go wheel to wheel again in Spartanburg, so it’s a rivalry to watch.

In the men’s line-up, stiff competition can emerge from anywhere when teams like Kelly Benefits, Fly V Australia, Kenda Pro Cycling, Champion Porsche, Jittery Joe’s, Texas Roadhouse, Myogenesis, OUCH, Richmond Pro Cycling, and Team Mountain Khakis mix it up. Tom Soladay (Mtn Khakis) won the Historic Roswell Criterium Sunday, his first big win, and now he is primed to fight for even more victories after reaching that important milestone early in his career. Twilight winner, Heath Blackgrove, and his Team Hotel San Jose squad, will be in the hunt too.

About USA CRITS

USA CRITS National Criterium Series has been developed to feature a brand of cycling unique to the United States—the criterium. Criteriums are historically run on short laps, through city streets. Riders accumulate points throughout the year awarded through start points; laps led; first, middle, and end sprint point laps; and the final order of finish. Criteriums offer spectators the opportunity to watch Olympians and world and national champions, up-close, as they ride at top speed. This has made the criterium format the most spectator-friendly form of cycling entertainment. Events on the USA CRITS series reflect the ideals that have made criterium racing an American legacy: challenging courses that showcase arts and entertainment districts; a large and energized base of spectators; broad community support; and strong marketing opportunities for sponsors. For more information, visit www.usacrits.com.