SoCal Single Track Times

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

1. CYCLEFEST REPORT
2. NICA STORE DISCOUNT
3. WILDERNESS FIRST AID
4. SHIMANO SILENT AUCTION
5. UPCOMING TURNER AUCTION
6. “CHILDREN OF THE DIRT” NOW ON YOUTUBE
7. MARK YOUR CALENDARS

1. CYCLEFEST REPORT
Thanks to the 140+ people who came out to CycleFest on Saturday November 20th! With your help we raised $37,000 to help sustain the high school mountain biking movement in the SoCal League! Very important within that was the $4,500 raised specifically to support the Racer Scholarship Program.

CycleFest on the Queen Mary was highlighted by three powerful speeches showcasing the power of the bicycle. While Chris Horner gave fantastic insights into his pro career to a rapt audience, the evening was stolen by the two student-athlete speakers who comported themselves like seasoned professionals.

Caitlin Worthington of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista was a brand new rider at the start of the season having never ridden a bike more than a few blocks. She heard about the League when her Geometry teacher, AJ Ronacher, played a video in class and talked about his desire to start a club at the school. By the end of the season she had learned the value of being a team mate on a tight knit team. She befriended several riders from other teams during the races as the same group of riders would often come together on the second of two laps and encourage each other to get to the finish.

Eddie Kronfli of St. Francis High School in La Canada was a rider before the League came to town. He first got hooked on road cycling in elementary school when he realized he would never be "cool" because he could not shoot a perfect lay up no matter how hard he tried and went looking for a sport that spoke to him. He said that picking cycling, though he liked it, did nothing to up his "cool" factor. However, by bringing cycling to school as a sport, the SoCal League has taken cyclists "from outsiders to insiders" and was therefore "legit." The concept of being able to race bikes in your school colors was revolutionary. "The opportunity to be able to represent my school, WITH MY BIKE, was something that surpassed words. It was a dream come true. It was a truly unrealistic moment when I first zipped up that jersey."

We hope you will all join us next year.

2. NICA STORE DISCOUNT
NICA is pleased to announce the launch of a unified NICA store selling items from all of the NICA Leagues! Bookmark the site and look for more items as NICA spreads high school mountain biking coast-to-coast by 2020!

Enjoy a 10% Thanksgiving Weekend Sale through Thursday December 2nd – just enter coupon code TG2010. You can do holiday shopping from home, avoid the traffic . . . and have time left over for a bike ride. The proceeds of each collection go 100% to supporting the corresponding League.

4. SHIMANO SILENT AUCTION
League sponsor Shimano provided us with several great items for the CycleFest auction. Somehow, one of the items didn't make it to the table! That item? a certificate for a combination road shoe and pedal set! The shoe is the SH-R315 and the pedal is the carbon fiber 2011 Dura Ace PD-7900. The retail value for this Tour de France worthy combo is $730.

The receipt of this email marks the start of a Single Track Times only silent auction. If you wish to bid on the set send an email to matt@socaldirt.org with the subject line "Shimano Bid." In the body of the email include your full name (first and last) and the amount you are bidding. This is a "sealed bid" auction meaning bids are not disclosed --- your bid is your bid! If you wish to revise your bid higher you can send a new email. Minimum bid is $300. The auction ends Friday December 10th at 7:00 PM. The high bidder will be provided a PayPal link to pay and the certificate will be sent. Good luck!