Candi Murray

The U.S. Cycling Federation announced its 2002 National Championship

schedule Tuesday. The championship calendar includes road, track and

cyclo-cross events for junior, under-23, elite and masters riders. Cyclists

have the opportunity to compete at great venues all over the country in the

hunt for national titles.

The season kicks off with the National Collegiate Cycling Association

(NCCA) National Road Cycling Championships May 10-12 in Burlington, Vt. The

collegiate championship event will be held in the northeast for the first

time since 1993 and promises to be well attended. The highly populated

Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference will provide some great competition

in its own backyard, led by the host school, the University of Vermont. In

addition, the University of California-Davis and U.S. Air Force Academy

will be on hand to defend their 2001 omnium titles.

The Masters National Road Cycling Championships hits the west coast July

9-14 in Bakersfield, Calif. Large fields of competitors are expected, as

California is known as a hotbed for masters riders. The Disabled National

Road Cycling Championships are also being held in Bakersfield during the

same week.

The Elite National Road Cycling Championships are headed to Nashville,

Tenn., July 18 and 20. Kimberly Bruckner picked up the double national

championship in the road race and individual time trial at last season's

championship event. With the continued growth of the American peloton,

she'll have her work cut out for her in defending the titles.

Indianapolis and the Major Taylor Velodrome play host to the Junior

National Track Cycling Championships July 24-27. The venue was also the

site of the 2001 collegiate nationals.

The Junior/Espoir National Road Cycling Championships will be held Aug. 1-4

in Clemson, S.C. This exciting event showcases the highest levels of junior

and under-23 talent from riders all over the country. In last year's

competition, top junior athletes Blake Caldwell and Larssyn Staley picked

up national honors in convincing fashion, giving fans a peek at what's to

come on the domestic cycling scene. World Time Trial Champion Danny Pate,

Michael Creed and Jon Retseck also dueled against a strong under-23 field

in preparation for the 2001 World Road Cycling Championships.

The best masters track cyclists will invade the Superdrome in Frisco, Texas

for the Masters National Track Cycling Championships, Aug 6-10. The

Superdrome is undergoing repairs and will have a new surface in time for

the competition.

The USPRO/USCF National Criterium Championships returns to Downers Grove,

Ill., Aug. 18, as part of the Sports Grand Prix. The biggest and brightest

cyclists will be in town for a shot at the national title on a great course

for the 16th year running.

Trexlertown, Pa. and the Lehigh Valley Velodrome welcome the Elite National

Track Cycling Championships Aug. 27-31. The country's best track cyclists

will be on hand to vie for national titles and bragging rights for another

year. The venue also played host to the highly successful 2001 Junior World

Track Cycling Championships, where hometown girl Sarah Uhl picked up the

first U.S. gold in the women's match sprint in a decade. The Lehigh Valley

Velodrome will be hosting the event in 2003 as well.

The NCCA National Track Cycling Championships will be held the weekend of

Sept. 19-21 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The Brain Piccolo Velodrome was also

the site of the 2001 USCF Junior National Track Cycling Championships.

The 2002 USCF National Cyclo-Cross Championships will be held Dec. 13-14 in

Napa, Calif.

For updates on the 2002 USCF National Championship Schedule, please check

www.usacycling.org. Also, be watching your mailboxes for the April/May

issue of the USA Cycling Magazine, the 2002 USCF Season Guide.

Candi Murray

From a USCF memo dated 11/27:



May 19-21 Collegiate Road - Colorado Springs, CO

May 25-27 Elite Road - Redding, CA

Jun 15-17 Elite Track - Blaine, MN

Jun 22-24 Espoir Road/TT - TBD

Jun 23-25 Junior Track World Selection - Trexlertown, PA

Jul 6-11 Master Road - Spokane, WA

Jul 13-18 Master Track - Redmond, WA

Jul 25-29 Junior Track World Championships - Trexlertown, PA

Aug 3-5 Junior Road - Gainsville, FL

Aug 9-12 Junior Track - Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Aug 17-19 Elite/PRO Criterium Championships - Downers Grove, IL

Sep 7-9 Collegiate Track - Indianapolis, IN

Dec 13-15 Cyclocross Championships - TBD



The following message was in response to an update info. request about

Masters Track Nationals. It may be of interest to anyone who wants to

know exactly what they are getting from the USCF especially in light of

their increased license fee for 2001.

Phil Holman







 You asked if there has been any word on the when

and where the 2001 Masters

Track Nationals will be. There is nothing yet. After

the about face by the

USCF in mid-October stating they had no money in the

budget next year (must

have spent it on their 401(k) plan and office

furniture) to help out with our

expenses in putting on Masters Track Nationals, I

complained that masters,

who comprise the majority of USCF, seem to receive

little from this

organization in the way of benefits. I told them

that Nationals are the most

important event of the year for many masters and

that the USCF should give

these events some priority by allocating a couple of

buck per master member

from our dues in support of them.



The USCF claims that they are providing $20,000 in

services to the event and

that the local hosts are expected to pay the rest of

the cost (I estimate to

be about $11,000). And of course, the USCF keeps

all of the entry fees.They

claim that we should be able to cover these expenses

by raising sponsorship

funds-something that somehow they, as a national

organization, have been

unable to do, yet they expect that our understaffed

local volunteer group

can. That line of reasoning may work with someone

who hasn't put on

Nationals before, but not us. We know how hard it

is to raise significant

funds for these events. It is, though,a great deal

for the USCF. They ask

local hosts to do the lion's share of the work and

bear the risk of

substantial costs for an event that the USCF has the

responsibility for

conducting in the first place!



No wonder many states have opted out of the USCF for

race sanctioning and

more are thinking about it. If we cannot get the

USCF to provide this basic

service to masters, we are considering hosting our

own "ad hoc" Nationals

after the road Nationals. If we are going to do most

of the work, we may as

well do all the work AND collect the entry fees too.

We are serious about

this plan, if the USCF is not responsive. I suggest

that you forward this to

as many riders as possible and urge them to voice

their views to the USCF

(tmor-@usacycling.org). Cheers, Stan Gregg