The Valley Preferred Cycling Center

Valley Preferred Cycling Center celebrated its 35th anniversary this year with ten Friday nights of professional, international Olympic-caliber racing highlighted by the return of the USA Cycling Juniors Track National Championships to the famed Trexlertown track.

In addition to the World Series of Bicycling professional schedule and four days with the best young riders in the country, there was a slate of 17 nights of the 24-7 Fitness Super Tuesday Pro-Am Series race nights and 16 Masters & Rookies events for a total of 46 race days on the 2010 calendar.

The T-town track also kept is reputation for some of the best Community Programs in the country, including the HealthAmerica PeeWee Pedalers, the Red Robin Marty Nothstein Bicycle Racing League and the Air Products Developmental Cycling Program. Meanwhile, the one-day Try the Track clinics saw tremendous growth in participation.

The year was bookended by the popular Spring and Fall Bicycle Flea Markets, both of which continue to draw cycling enthusiasts from up and down the mid-Atlantic region.

In the end, it’s those World Series of Bicycling events on Friday nights that seem to get remembered the most. The professional series is the anchor that keeps young cyclists inspired, recreational riders impressed, and local fans of all ages entertained.

Here’s a look back on the 2010 season at Valley Preferred Cycling Center:

Salamander Madison Cup XXXIV, presented by Life Without Lupus
August 27, 2010

The Madison Cup has a rich history of winners, and riders from ten different countries claimed the prize. But in 2010, it was just a couple of local guys that etched their names on the Bob Rodale Trophy. New Tripoli’s Jackie Simes and Topton’s Bobby Lea won the Madison Cup.

Simes and Lea wrapped up the win with about eight laps to go in the final 30K Madison by taking a lap on the field. The move definitely excited the crowd and raised the decibel level to an evening high. For their part, the flyer was calculated, and in the end paid off.

“We had talked about taking a lap on the field before that last race,” said Simes. “We thought we were doing alright in the sprints. We also thought we were strong, so we figured we sprint the first half of the race and then later on we’d look for a chance to take a lap. That opportunity presented itself after a sprint. When I through Bobby in he was fresh and it seemed like everyone else was tired. So he just took off. We got the lap and just kept extending the lead. It’s awesome to win this race.”

The night of racing also decided a new Women’s Rider of the Year for 2010.  Local favorite Kim Geist of Emmaus laid claim to that title, by outscoring defending champ Laura McCaughey of Australia. Read the Complete Entire Review

Air Products Finals, with the International Omnium Championships presented by Univest
August 20, 2010

In pro racing, T-town fans witnessed some thrilling racing that culminated in a new Men’s Rider of the Year. New Zealand’s Aaron Gate wrapped up the Omnium win, and in so doing captured the prestigious Rider of the Year award. Gate, in his second season at T-town, lit up the velodrome all summer. He bookended his stay in the States by winning the Golden Wheel Race and the International Omnium Championships. In between, he was never far off the front wheel.

On the women’s side, the Omnium was hotly contested between New Zealand’s Joanne Kiesanowski and Australia’s Laura McCaughey. Both riders were quick to admit teamwork played a role in the outcome. McCaughey had a few friends in the field, but Kiesanowski had an entire country on her side. Team New Zealand pushed Kiesenowski to the front race after race. While McCaughey was able to stage a challenge in the finale, Kiesanowski was able to hold on for a slight edge

The Air Products card started off with a bang. The 3 Lap Scratch race in the Boys 9-10 category set the tone for an exciting night of racing. Ethan Russell took an impressive flyer early in the race. It was no surprise to Russell that he would hang on for the win. On the women’s side, a familiar name won the 3 Lap Scratch race in the Adult Women category. Karen Skorochod made a bid for victory with one lap to go, and had just enough track to stave off an oncoming challenge for the win. In other action, Kyle Nock won the Boys 11-12 3 Lap Scratch, Allyson Wasielewski took the Girls 9-12 3 Lap Scratch, and Eric Willy won the Juniors 3 Lap Scratch. Meanwhile, Doug Johnston won the Men 19-39 5 Lap Scratch and Barry Navarre was victorious in the Men 40+ 5 Lap Scratch. Read the Entire Event Review

Rodale Corporate Challenge presented by United Healthcare
August 13, 2010

Air Products and Chemicals finally returned to the top of the podium at this year’s Corporate Challenge. The win marked the first time an Air Products team won the event since 2004. It’s been a long wait, considering Air Products rattled off a string of four straight victories from 2001-2004.

“It’s really good to come back and win it, because we won a lot of Corporate Challenges in the early years,” said Air Products employee Rick Beuttel, who anchored the winning “A” team. “Then over the past couple of years with ringers, celebrity riders and what not, it made it more challenging. Now that we’re cutting it back to the true essence of the Corporate Challenge it feels good to be back on top.”

Valley Preferred Cycling Center capped the night with two record attempts. In the pro men’s 1 Mile, Kiwi Shane Archbald scored the win, but came up short of the record. His time of 1:41.30 was just shy of American Jame Carney’s time of 1:40.80. In the pro women’s 5 Mile attempt, New Zealand’s Joanne Kiesenowski took a flyer on the field, but couldn’t maintain a record-setting pace all by herself. At the end, American Lucy Tyler’s 10:36.14 stood. Read the Entire Event Review

Tandemonium!, presented by Dan’s Camera City
USA Cycling National Tandem Championship
August 6, 2010

T-town favorites Andy Lakatosh and Giddeon Massie teamed up to win the Tandem Track Sprint golds and the coveted Stars-and-Stripes jerseys. The win was refreshing for the Lakatosh, who has been contending in sprint competition all season at Valley Preferred Cycling Center.

“Tandem is one of my favorites,” said Lakatosh. “Riding with my training partner, Giddeon, makes this a special win. It was just awesome. It’s a unique event that only happens once a year. It’s great to have it in T-town.”

The encore event was Tandemonium! This 12-lap scratch race pitting all the tandems on the track is definitely to sight to see. It’s often simply regarded as “twice the speed, twice the power, twice the action and twice the thrill.” It probably comes as no surprise that the new national champions – Lakatosh and Massie – won this one too. Read the Entire Event Review

Fastest Man on Wheels, presented by Michelob Ultra
July 30, 2010

Italy’s Roberto Chiappa showed his winning form, claiming the title of Fastest Man on Wheels. Chiappa, who is no stranger to the top of the podium in T-town, needed every bit of the sprint final to narrowly defeat Roy Van den Berg of the Netherlands to cap off an exciting night of sprint racing that was presented by Michelob Ultra.

“It was absolutely a great race, and a fitting finish for the title,” said Marty Nothstein, executive director of Valley Preferred Cycling Center. “Chiappa definitely shows that he still has the good form that he had during the previous years in T-town. He is a great champion, but my hat also goes off to Roy Van den Berg.”

On the women’s side, the Netherlands’ Willy Kanis won the title of Fastest Woman on Wheels after beating fellow Dutch rider Yvonne Hijgenaar in the final. It was Kanis’ second straight feature win in T-town. Read the Entire Event Review

Meade Orthopedics Keirin Cup XXV, presented by Coordinated Health
July 23, 2010

New Zealand finally did it! Eddie Dawkins became the first Kiwi to put his name on Valley Preferred Cycling Center’s prestigious Keirin Cup. Dawkins won the race in exciting fashion, too. After Canadian Joseph Veloce pulled the train behind the Keirin pacer for three laps, Dawkins put the hammer down and cut through the pack to take control of the final sprint. He was challenged by American Giddeon Massie, who nearly nipped him at the line.

On the women’s side, Dutch rider Willy Kanis continued making new fans during her first season in T-town. Kanis held off countrymate Yvonne Hijgenaar and 2008 winner Monique Sullivan of Canada to claim a spot on the Keirin Cup.

“It’s really cool, because it’s a big race here,” said Kanis. “We don’t have any racing right now in Holland. The racing is great here. I’m enjoying it.”

If winning wasn’t enough for Dawkins and Kanis, they were presented as 2010 Keirin Cup winners by a very special guest of Valley Preferred Cycling Center. Katsushi Kodera, the European representative of the Japan Keirin Association, was in T-town to greet our winners. Read the Entire Event Review

The Golden Wheel Race, presented by Allentown Family Foot Care
July 16, 2010

Racing fans never know what to expect in the handicapper’s Golden Wheel Race. When the gun was fired for the men’s event, the crowd intently watched to see if favorite Bobby Lea, who started shotgun on the field, and the likes of Shane Archbald, Giddeon Massie, Matt Baranoski and Kamil Kuczynski, could come from the back to grab the win. By the time those speedsters got towards the front, New Zealand countrymates Aaron Gate and Sam Steele made a break from the pack. Gate held off Steele to give the Kiwis a 1-2 finish, with Poland’s Kuczynski settling for third. It was Gate’s first victory at Valley Preferred Cycling Center.

On the women’s side, the race quickly turned into a chess match at the front. Several riders jockeyed for the front wheel lap after lap, but at the end it was Emmaus native Kimberly Geist that grabbed another T-town win.

“We had a strong field, and there were plenty of fast riders coming from behind,” said Geist, a crowd-favorite at T-town. “As a sprinter, this is a good event for me. I had some problems in the qualifying races earlier in the night. That may have ended up being to my advantage for the start of this race. I’m just glad I was able to win.” Read the Entire Event Review

USA Cycling Juniors Track National Championships
July 8-11, 2010

Valley Preferred Cycling Center hosted this year’s USA Cycling Juniors Track National Championships, and embedded the junior card into its popular Friday night World Series of Bicycling. Ironically, the four-day event arguably saw its biggest fireworks that Friday night.

Of the top stories from entire event, the biggest may very well have been local favorite Matt Baranoski’s triumph in the Sprints. The Perkasie, Pa., native delighted his hometown crowd by winning his second Stars-and-Stripes jersey. With the victory, Baranoski earned an invite to compete in Junior Worlds in Italy in August.

USA Cycling’s Jamie Staff, who is charged with building a world-class sprint program through athlete recruitment and development, found out quickly that the U.S. has a crop of talented cyclists.
“I’m inspired,” said Staff. “You come in here and you don’t know what you have to work with. A lot of people say there is no talent in the U.S., but there is. It’s not like I have to go out and find people to put on bikes. There are plenty of good riders. They want to race. They’ve got support by parents and coaches. It’s really encouraging.

“We have a long-term project. There’s no reason the U.S. riders can’t compete with riders all over the world. I’m just hoping to build a few national programs to encourage the kids to participate and move forward and progress. I want these kids to believe that one day they can represent a team at a major event.” Jump to the Junior Nationals Page

The oldest man in the field teamed with one of the youngest Friday to win the Second Annual Mike Walter Memorial Madison on a beautiful night for racing that also featured the best of the Red Robin Marty Nothstein Bicycle Racing League making their Friday night debut.

American Jame Carney, 42, and Salamander Racing teammate Clay Murfet of Australia came back from a couple miscues in the initial 40-lap preliminary to take command of the 10-lap final, winning with 56 points over second-place finishers Myron Simpson and Paddy Bevin of New Zealand, who finished with 38 points.

Approximately 80 BRL riders age 9 to 17 participated in the All-Star show, which features the individual leaders from among about 120 participants in the Spring 2010 edition.

“This is always one of my favorite events because it really showcases the talent we have here,” Nothstein said. “Watching these kids race in front of a Friday night crowd really brings back memories for me, but even better, it shows me that we have a lot of great young riders coming through our programs.” Read the Entire Event Review

Festival of Speed – US 10 Mile Championships
June 17, 2010

The night – and the U.S. 10-Mile Championship – belonged to New Zealand’s Chad Adair, who demonstrated the deep strength of the Kiwi team when he took a flyer with three laps to go and held off a fast-charging field led by Rockmore to grab victory on his first visit to the T-town. Carney finished second and Rockmore was third.

“I really enjoyed this. The racing here is like nothing I’ve ever done before,” said Adair, adding that the initial plan was to set up countryman and former World Champion Hayden Godfrey for the win. “It was all a little bit of a hurt from racing all day but it started to look good with three laps to go and I went for it.” Read the Entire Event Review

Fans’ Choice Award: Best Race of the 2010 World Series of Bicycling Season

After ten exciting weeks of the World Series of Bicycling, it’s going to take the T-town faithful a couple of weeks to get used to having a Friday night free. It’s no doubt that this year’s pro racing slate at Valley Preferred Cycling Center was one of the most thrilling displays of the sport.

From Eddie Dawkins giving the Kiwis their first Keirin Cup win, to Matt Baranoski punching his ticket to Junior Worlds, to Italy’s Roberto Chiappa claiming the title of Fastest Man on Wheels, it was a season to remember for all velodrome fans.

And… on the women’s side, Kim Geist, Willy Kanis, Joanne Kiesenowski and Laura McCaughey, and others, put on a great show for the fans.

With all the great races in 2010, the question still remains: Which race was the best of 2010?

International Appeal: The World Comes to T-town – Again

Among the international heavyweights on track this year are the New Zealand National Team – including the world record-setting women’s pursuit team, junior World Champions Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell and Kilo World Medalist Eddie Dawkins, former Kiwi world champion Hayden Godfrey, returning Riders of the Year Shane Archbold of New Zealand and Laura McCaughey of Australia, and popular Polish riders Lucas Kowalski and Kamil Kuczinski. Italian Roberto Chiappa is also expected for a limited engagement.

“The international flavor is as strong as ever – but we can’t forget our own local horsepower – Olympian Bobby Lea, Lanelle Rockmore, Shane Kline, Jackie Simes, Colleen Hayduk, Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Kim Geist– are all here along with many other T-town favorites,” Nothstein said. “Also, David Espinosa and Iggy Silva, the national Madison champion who rides for Lance Armstrong’s Trek Livestrong team, are here and racing.”

“It’s definitely an influence on our program being able to come over here to T-town. T-town offers us a place to race like no other place in the world this time of year. I come here and it’s always harder than it was the year before. The crowd is cheering you on all the time. It’s motivating and a great place to ride and train for the summer.” -New Zealand rider Eddie Dawkins, on training and racing at Valley Preferred Cycling Center

2010 Hall of Fame Class: Letteiri and Jackson Join the Hall

Valley Preferred Cycling Center inducted two new members into its Hall of Fame during Salamander Madison Cup XXXIV presented by Life Without Lupus. This year’s class includes a couple of significant “firsts” for the velodrome.

Ian Jackson, or “The General” as many fans know him, is the first Australian cyclist to spend the summer in T-town. He’s joined by Scranton’s Dave Lettieri, who has the distinction of being the first Air Products Developmental Cycling Program graduate to make an Olympic team. Lettieri graduated the program in 1977 and competed in the 1988 Seoul Games.

“Ian Jackson, always a crowd-favorite, was one of the strongest riders we’ve ever had here on the track,” said Nothstein. “Dave Lettieri, the first Olympian to come out of the Air Products program, is just fantastic. He set the bar early on, and many have followed since. It’s going to be a great night to honor these guys and get them into the Hall of Fame.” Read the Full Press Release

Valley Preferred Cycling Center Partners with Rodale on Organic Concessions

Merging the fit and healthy lifestyle promoted by cycling with the tantalizing tastes of nature’s best ingredients, the Valley Preferred Cycling Center partnered with Rodale Catering and Events to offer cycling fans a completely organic concession stand for the 2010 season.

Fans were still able to enjoy their race-night favorites such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries and hot dogs, but they were prepared from organic ingredients fresh from regional providers. In addition, the new menu included an organic black bean burger, local pulled pork sliders, organic pizza by the slice, fair trade organic tea and coffee, and specialties like veggie wraps.

“We believe that the gold standard of food is organic and local,” said Heidi Rodale, Rodale Inc. Board Member and Vice Chairperson of the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. “Rodale is thrilled to provide healthy, delicious food to a community that supports an active lifestyle.” Read the Full Press Release

Olympic Dreams Start at Valley Preferred Cycling Center

One of the keystones to the success of the Valley Preferred Cycling Center over the past 35 years have been the long-running, top-quality training programs that allow community members to learn about track racing from some of the best racers in the sport.

From the HealthAmerica PeeWee Pedalers to the internationally recognized Air Products Developmental Cycling program to the Red Robin Marty Nothstein Bicycle Racing League for young riders, these programs have produced more national champions and world-class riders than any other program in North America.  And… in recent years, the Bear Creek Future Stars series has been giving young riders a boost to the next level.

The numbers are staggering:

• 22,000 participants over the past three decades;
• 140 national champions;
• Seven world championships;
• Seven Olympians;
• And two Olympic medals – a silver and a gold.

“These programs have been the backbone of the Valley Preferred Cycling Center for the past 30 years and they offer an unmatched opportunity for both youth and adult riders to try the track, learn about track racing and push themselves as far as they want to go,” said Nothstein, holder of those silver and gold Olympic medals, three world championships and a healthy share of the national championship jerseys. “As a young rider I was lucky to have these programs available in my own back yard.” Read More About Community Programs

Photos by Anthony Skorochod of Cycling Captured.  Hall of Fame photos from Valley Peferered Cycling Center files.