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Friday's Mailbag: Equipment donations, veterans' advice help young riders

Published: Feb. 3, 2006

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Equipment donations help young riders
Editor:
I am from West Virginia, and am familiar with the Clay County Mountain Mudmashers (see Wednesday’s Mailbag: "West Virginia has ups and downs, but still plugging along"). And although Mr. Wayne wouldn't mention it, I will gladly toss this concept into the arena.

If your readers have used, but usable, biking equipment that they would like to pass along, donating such items to a school bike club is a great idea. The Mudmashers have received at least one bike that I know of, and as my son grows, I hand along slightly used shoes.

So, here's a challenge - how many bikes can your readership donate to the Mudmashers?

Diann Clothier
Millstone, West Virginia

Young riders benefit from veterans’ experience
Editor:
I'm the co-manager of a team that started out as a "weekend warrior" Category 3/masters team. After the first year, a couple of kids wanted to ride with us in Cat. 3 races and we said, "Sure." After that we thought,"Why not make it a Cat. 3/juniors team?" Now we have a full-blown juniors team with support from Sunrise Sports (a local shop), Maxxis, Ritchey and Jittery Joe's Coffee!

What we found is that junior racers really need the Cat. 3/masters support. There's a huge jump from the Cat. 4/5 and juniors races up to Cat. 1/2. They really need the Cat. 3/masters to help them navigate the high level of the Cat. 3 races, if they are to successfully reach the Cat. 1/2 level. With the support of the older Cat. 3/master racers, our kids have made that transition successfully.

We now boast two junior alumni who will be racing and training at the Cycling Center program in Belgium in 2006. To top things off, we've gotten support from corporate sponsors to start a scholarship program in conjunction with the Cycling Center. Check it out at www.eurodevo.com.

We hope this will help more racers from Michigan continue in the fine tradition of Jeff Pierce, Frankie Andreu, Kirk O'Bee and Brian Sheedy, all Michigan natives.

So, masters, get out there and help the kids!

Joe Lekovish
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Is there a clearinghouse for youth cycling groups?
Editor:
It's great to see all of the youth-cycling letters. Is there any sort of online clearinghouse for all of the various youth cycling teams and organizations, both in and out of schools?

Matt Gunnell
Glendale, California

Matt, if you’re interested in lending a hand (or a wheel) to a young rider, we’d recommend checking with your regional racing association or representative thereof. USA Cycling has a state-by-state list of contacts here. Meanwhile, the national governing body’s new collegiate cycling chief wants to put together a national program to match interested vendors with college clubs. You can read Kam Zardouzian’s chat with associate editor Fred Dreier here. — Editor

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.