Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris Roubaix and all that

Some of us can't wait until July and the Tour de France. And some of us love the one-day Spring Classics...

Well, the Spring Classics are upon us. De Ronde Von Vlaanderen, know as the Tour of Flanders here, will occur Sunday April 2. Read up on history with a nice discussion of why the most punishing of the oldskool hardman events still matters in the new age of cycling. Check out a historical perspective at: http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=3882
an excellent overview of RVV with awesome images of the climbs (gotta see these) at:
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=3894
and a great interview with Old Rolf on what it takes to win at:
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=3887
and another overview at:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2006/apr06/rvv06/?id=/features/2006/woodland_flanders

And Paris-Roubaix is lurking up the road.

Tillis Park Crit - April 9 2006

This is part of the race weekend with Hillsboro-Roubaix (Saturday race).

Race: Tillis Park (C)

Date: Sunday April 9, 2006

Basics: This is a nice early season criterium. Good venue and organization. As with Hillsboro, fairly new but has become a solid St Louis event. Approx 0.8 mi course is on a slightly rolling, narrow park road with full closure. Decent asphalt surface. No major cornering.

Race Links: http://www.gatewaycyclingclub.com/race/crit.pdf

WWK Training Race Starts in One Week

Tighten up your shoes, start your motors and clip in. It's time for the weekly training race to begin on April 5.

New Image: The weekly training race has a new image on this site. Previously called WWC (for Wednesday World Cup), the race is now referred to as WWK. That's WWK, as in Woensdag Wereld Kop (direct Flemish translation of WWC) to add a little cycling culture to the local scene. The WWC moniker has been adopted by some other clubs, so time for a change. Although we do not have the cobbled 18% climbs and delirious fans characterizing hard-man Spring classics in Belgium, we do have rough roads and wind which are part of the formula.

Weekly Winner's Jersey is Back: For those who remember the last year on the 'old' course, we are resurrecting the winner's jersey. (Recall the season long shootout between Rocket and Faull for the overall points jersey.) The winner of the previous week's race will have the privilege of wearing a visible jersey and sure to be marked extra hard. The jersey comes back the next week (washed, of course) for more rough treatment.

Race Summaries: Volunteers wanted to provide a short weekly summary of the racing. These will be posted on the website under 'WWK' in the categories section.

Get Your Kit Orders In - Deadline is Here

Today is the (first) deadline for placing kit orders. Below is the current order status.

If you have ordered, please confirm sizes/quantities on this chart. Otherwise, if you intend to order please do it ASAP as we need to get the order in and we are still running short of minimum numbers for both jerseys and bibs. If we don't reach minimums, there will be no kit order!

Contact Mark to place and order or for more info.

Last Name	First Name	Jersey Qnt	Jersey Size	Bib Qnt	Bib Size
Althouse	Mark	1	L	1	XL
Crapse	Karl	1	L
Hanson	Chris	2	XL
Klahn	Matthew	1	M	1	M
Michalove	Sharon	1	S	1	XS
Sills	Mark	1	M	1	M
Stone	Ethan	1	S	1	S
	Luke	1	L	1	L

Team Kit Orders Now Open - March 28 Deadline

We have finalized design and quote from Louis Garneau for the 2006 team kits.

Please submit order by Tuesday March 28. You are required to pay half your total when the order is place. You will received further details on confirmation and payment when you email your order (Please submit your orders via email to Mark).

We are also requiring $15 team membership dues along with the order.

Here are the details and prices:

Jersey $70.00 (Raglan Short Sleeve, PRO Fit, Diamond Square fabric, full zipper, square collar, side panel, sizes: XS-XXXL)

Bibs $65.00 (Elite Wrap 9" panel, Signature Lycra Mat, Comfort chamois, 8 panels, sizes: XS-XXL)

Please submit your orders via email to Mark.

Prices are based on an order of 20 pieces. If we order more, prices will drop $2-3 per item.

If you don't know your size for Louis Garneau items, please check with other team members who have last years kit to try on. Otherwise, contact us and we can find an appropriate size for you to try. We have to forego ordering a fit kit due to time constraints. Generally this is tight 'race-fit' (Euro) sizing. If you have questions please email Mark.

Note: The full order will be confirmed before we sign the contract. Once that's in there will be no additions until we consider a second order later in the year.

Hillsboro-Roubaix - April 8 2006

We are designating this race a 'team race' so try to participate.

Race: Hillboro-Roubaix (RR)

Date: Saturday April 8, 2006

Basics: This is a great early season road race. Good venue and organization. Fairly new but has become a major event and will be competitive. 22 mi course is rugged with cobbled climb....hence the Roubaix reference.

Race Links: http://www.stlbiking.com/flyers/HRFlyer2006.pdf

Please use comments section to work out team transport and post results if you like.