USI CYCLING

The Adam Little Foundation

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:08:56 -0500

The Adam Little Foundation

Hello Everyone

First off , here’s to a Happy & Healthy 2012 ! As we enter into the 2012 season, we are all aware of the dangers of being on a bicycle. Riding in a group or alone on a quite road the dangers are always out there…

As members of USI , we are all advocates of helping others or educating others about riding safe. no matter where we are..Whether it’s pointing out a hole in the road as you take your turn at the front , questioning a fellow rider whose not wearing a helmet or “talking” with motorists on the road who may have not given you the right of way or “buzzed” you as they past WAY TOO CLOSE ….

Through out the years we all have known someone or was that someone who was hit by a car ,while practicing safe riding habits/skills… Many motorists believe that the road belongs to them and only them ! So we must remind them that DRIVING IS A PRIVILEGE and that all of us have the RIGHT to ride a bike,run, or walk. ….

So with that said,I am here in North Carolina getting USI involved in the community.

A fellow cyclist & advocate approached me via e mail in regards to helping to get the word out about THE ADAM LITTLE FOUNDATION….Please follow the link below, read the info and sign the on-line petitions….this is not just a NORTH CAROLINA issue,but an issue that affects all who share the road with motorists …through out the world ! Something to think about !

www.theadamlittlefoundation.org

Thank You .Ride Safe Ride Smart !

Tim

Gimbels Nov 26, 2011Training Ride by: vo2maxout.com (by...

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 16:22:00 -0500

Gimbels Nov 26, 2011Training Ride by: vo2maxout.com (by vo2maxout)

The Gazzetta Dello Unione Sportiva Italiana Newsletter

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:22:57 -0400

The Gazzetta Dello Unione Sportiva Italiana Newsletter:

View the latest edition of our newsletter here! Newsletters are released usually mid-month. USI would appreciate any content that you can add that relates to the club, cycling, competition, our sponsors and fitness. No story is to small. I will send out a monthly email reminder for your input. The content can be sent directly to me! Click on the red title above to see your copy now. Jorge

2010 Thanksgiving Day Ride (Photo courtesy of Karen Fuchs)

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 22:04:04 -0400

2010 Thanksgiving Day Ride (Photo courtesy of Karen Fuchs)

USI 2010 Annual Awards Dinner

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:04:00 -0500

USI Annual Awards Dinner Recap

January 31st saw our Annual Awards Dinner held at the Vintage Restaurant in White Plains. We had a great turnout of club members and their families. The club honored Dale and Rick Malkames for their many years of service to the club. The club also acknowledged the points winners in the Road Race classification, Christian Venegas, Juan Alvarez & Akin Dorsett. In Multisport, Flori Doyle was honored as the Triathlon points winner, (sorry Flori for not giving you mention at my speech). A special award was mentioned to Darcy Ramsey for her Duathlon national win in 2010. A great time was had by all!

Many thanks to the Brian Carter Band for their superb music! A big thanks goes out to Sue Klein for making the party happen!

CROSS TRAINING MEET UP ANSWERED

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:54:00 -0500

Cross-Training Meet-Up

Many of us are taking advantage of the winter weather to keep in shape by various outdoor activities.

Some of our members are not aware that these activities are going on, while others are looking for partners to train with.

If you are scheduling an outdoor activity, and you’d like to share it with other USI members, you can email me your information, and I will send it out to the general membership.

It’s nice to have training partners…

Please include the following information:

Your Name

Your Contact Information (email and/or Tel/Cell #

Type of Activity

Skill Level (if applicable)

Location of activity

Meeting Place

Meeting time

Approximate Length of Activity.

Any other information that you think may be important.

NOTE: This service is for USI members only.

Please keep it in a format that I will not have to retype you info, but merely forward it.

Please use the subject heading of Cross-Training Meet-Up.

Have fun out there….

Dennis

Mark W. answered….

Hi Dennis,

I have been cross-training quite a bit this winter, and would gladly welcome the participation of other USI members.

This type of training does not require any particular skill level, though some familiarity with the activity would be helpful.

I find that this activity pretty much covers all the major phases of training that we cyclists desire:

· Strength training

· Muscular endurance

· Aerobic capacity

· General toughness

I’ve cross-trained this way about 4-5 times so far since Christmas alone, though at times it seems that I’ve been doing this a bit excessively. Maybe I’m overtraining?

Now here’s the relevant information:

Your Name : Mark W.

Your Contact Information (email) : mw@hotmail.com

Skill Level (if applicable) : Not applicable

Location of activity : 10 Broad Ave, New Rhelle, specifically my driveway, front walk-way and sidewalk

Meeting time : Depends on Mother Nature

Type of Activity : You guessed it, shoveling snow!

Approximate Length of Activity : Anywhere from 1-4 hours, again up to Mother Nature to decide.

Any other information that you think may be important : Good hat and gloves important. And a good shovel helps!

Hope I get some bites, I could use the help…

Here’s a picture of me during my most recent outing, this past Thursday.

Enjoy and regards to all!

Mark

USI Annual Awards Banquet is coming! Date Jan 30,2011Time: ...

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 10:59:00 -0500

USI Annual Awards Banquet is coming!

Date   Jan 30,2011
Time: 6-9pm
Place: Vintage (same place as last year)
Address: 171 main St White Plains,NY
Phone:      (914) 328-5803
Price:        $30 for members/family and $40. for non-members. Please make checks payable to USI Cycling Club and mail them to:
    USI Cycling Club
    PO Box522
    Scarsdale,NY 10583

RSVP our event planner,Sue Klein at Razcrew.sue@gmail.com by January 14, 2011

Become a USI member

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Apply Now for Your USI Membership!

To apply, download the Application for Membership. Complete the application, sign it and send it to the following address with a $65.00 check made out to USI:

USI
P.O. Box 522
Scarsdale, NY 10583

Membership Help:

Do you need a print version of the Application for Membership? Not sure what size club jersey you should order? If you have these or any other questions regarding membership application process, we would be glad to help you. Please email the USI Secretary.

Become a part of our growing family

If you like tradition and history, you will want to join the Unione Sportiva Italiana Cycling Club (USI).

It is one of the oldest cycling clubs in the U.S. Well known for it’s blue jersey, the club originated in 1908 with a mission to promote the sport of cycling and groom riders to race. Here we are in the new millennium and the USI continues with the same mission.

Club members have an opportunity to learn safe and efficient riding skills as well as socialize with people who share the same passion: cycling. Racers attend regional events, competing together with team members for the thrill and challenge of racing. Throughout the year there are social events such as the summer picnic, end of year party and kick off the season party. Monthly club meetings keep members connected when not on the bike.

You even get a jersey with your membership. So fill out the application today and start riding with a blue jersey today!

Otto takes the sprint!...

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:37:00 -0500

Otto takes the sprint! Thanksgiving, 2010

The Thanksgiving Day Gimbel’s ride saw Otto take an impressive sprint finish. It was a big group out and it was an enjoyable ride. I have to say, the pace was pretty good. At the finish we were pushing the high 20 mph range. USI did a beautiful leadout for Otto. He mentioned that he wanted to blend in the pack, but “they kept bringing me up to the front”. Otto, for this ride, there would be no other place you should be!

Video by Peter Greges

TEAM USI Photo, September 2010

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:25:30 -0500

TEAM USI Photo, September 2010

USI Club Photo, September...

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:22:34 -0500

USI Club Photo, September 2010

Darcy Ramsey Wins at the National Off Road Duathlon...

Thu, 06 May 2010 00:44:17 -0400

Darcy Ramsey Wins at the National Off Road Duathlon Championship

Darcy Ramsey, USI member of Old Greenwich Ct, won her age division at the National Off Road Duathlon held on April 24th in Richmond Va. Darcy covered the 1st 11k run , 21k bike and the 2nd 3.5k run in a total time of 3:15:59. Way to Go Darcy! Great pic coming across the finish line! Congratulations! More great racing news! After volunteering for the Jill E. Solomon Helmet Day, Sherri Tiesi raced at the Kissena Opening Weekend Omnium and took 11th place! Great placing Sherri! I will be enlisting your photographic services to take the TEAM photo and you will be in the shot as well! Lastly, Horace Green raced at Colts Neck on May 2nd. It was his first race since an accident in 2008. He adds, “I’m trying to get back into the groove”. He states that it’s alot harder than he remembers. Horace finished an impressive 18th place in his field. I’d say he is on his way.

It is great to hear that USI has many more members out there that are racing! Please send us your race stories so we can share them with the rest of the club!

As always, stay safe and enjoy the ride,

Jorge

Christian Venegas WINS Cat 3/4 @ Central Park

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:49:43 -0400

New USI team member, Christian Venegas takes a decisive win at Central Park in the Cat 3/4 on April 11th.

On a beautiful crisp morning, along with teammates, Akin Dorsett, Rob Schroeder & Brian Carter, Christian was ready for the fast start. Based on his experience at the park the previous weekend, he knew he had to stay with the front group from the whistle. Midway through the first lap, a select breakaway formed and Christian made sure he was one of the six in the breakaway. The stayed away the entire four laps. On the approach to the finish, Christian stood on the pedals and rode away from his breakaway compatriots to take an easy win!

Bravo Christian for taking a great win! Great job to all the USI TEAM Members for your efforts on this 2nd weekend in April, 2010.

As always, enjoy the ride and stay safe,

Jorge

USI Team Results March 2010

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:58:38 -0400

It was an interesting first month of the season with most of the team participating in local events throughout the tri-state region. Venues from Branchbrook in New Jersey to Bethel in Conneticut were raced with top 20 results achieved. Bethel saw strong finishes in the Cat 4 group by Dan Bikel, Akinsheye Dorsett, Andy Gillis, John Koenck & Lyle Baron. Stephen Paige and I are bringing up the rear with pack finishes. In the Cat 5 group, Massimo Scoditti had a 13th place finish in his first race and is savoring for a win soon! Jay Campbell, Kris Fleming and Mark Wasserman have been hanging in for pack finishes and show improvement with each race. They will all be upgrading to Cat 4 later this season.

Branchbrook has seen Kris and Massimo participate with pack finishes. The course is very technical with many crashes resulting. Thankfully, they both have come through unscathed!

The other Spring Series at Central Park and Prospect Park has seen mixed results. Both courses are difficult and somewhat technical and require riders to be in good form early in the season. Our new team member, Christian Venegas has shown strong results in both venues taking top 10 finishes at both parks. His addition to the squad will add depth to the team. He also will bring other racers to the squad. Notable mention also going out to Akin for taking strong finishes @ Prospect Park as well. We have had strong turnouts to Central Park with Tim Compton, Brian Carter, Dennis Burns, Rob Schroeder, Stephen Paige and myself giving it a go at the park. We’ve suffered and have had fun at the same time!

A few riders from the original meeting have not been out due to health issues, but they are committed to racing for USI. We will welcome them gladly when the are ready. Mike Carrion will make his racing debut @ Bethel on April 11th and we will be there to support him. He is going to have great time! Go Mike!

The last Bethel race is on the 18th and I am asking for the TEAM to race on that day. I am looking for full support on that day from all. As USI members, it would be great to see some of you come out to support the team as well!

April is upon us and we have completed the first weekend of racing. A strong finish by Christian taking a top 15 finish @ Central Park! Great Job! As a TEAM, we hope to schedule some training rides together and will hold our 3rd meeting later this month.

Thanks again TEAM for your hard work and determination. The season is ahead of us and I know it will be filled with good times and great memories!

As always, ride safe!

Jorge

USI leaders Compton & Lalloo Quoted!

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:02:53 -0500

Time to dust off the bicycles for spring

-from the Journal News LoHud online service:

This spring, motorists driving through Eastchester will see big bicycles painted on some major thoroughfares. The bicycles under a two-stripe chevron won’t
designate a new bike lane. They’re a warning. “In lieu of a bike lane, these go on the road and it’s basically a signal between the motorist and bicyclist
to share the road with each other,” said Peter McCartt, chairman of the Eastchester Environmental Committee, which is leading a local effort to get
motorists to share the road with bikes. The sharrow, as the pictogram is called, will appear on the town’s streets around the time bike owners will begin dusting off their bicycles for another riding season. Seasoned bicyclists say no one should head out for a ride on a bike that’s been sitting unused for a few months without getting a tune-up. “A lot of folks who ride their bike, even recreational riders, they don’t maintain them. By glopping on more grease on the chain you’re not removing dirt,” said Tim Compton, a carpenter and president of the Scarsdale-based Unione Sportiva Italiana, a bicycle racing club. “It’s no fun breaking down when you’re 10 miles from home.” Bicycles should get a tune-up at least once a year, said Dan Ventarola, owner of the County Cycle Center at 970 McLean Ave., Yonkers. That means cyclists should give their bike an inspection and
tune-up, or bring it to a bike shop if they’re not handy or mechanically inclined. At County Cycle Center, spring tune-ups for bicycles cost $49.95 for a mountain bike and $69.95 for a road bike. The service includes lubrications, brake adjustments and tire alignment, among other elements. Ventarola, 75, of the Bronx, acknowledged that some bike owners scoff at paying for a tune-up that
can cost half the price of a cheap new bicycle from a big-box retailer. ”Those are my favorite kinds of bicycles,” Ventarola said of the budget bikes, which he said break down more often than expensive bicycles and require many of his store’s services. Ventarola, who has been in the bike repair business for about 60 years, proudly notes that his personal quality Schwinn bicycle dates to 1949. His brother
owns Arrow Cycle at 4053 White Plains Road in the Bronx. Ventarola said he doesn’t ride his bicycle much any more, but in his younger days he enjoyed riding
along Pelham Parkway in the Bronx to City Island and up Shore Road to New Rochelle. “It’s safer now because they’ve added bike paths,” Ventarola said. In fact, residents from communities along the Bronx River’s bike trails can mostly ride to Pelham Parkway and then to City Island on off-street bicycle trails. Besides its plan to paint sharrows on California, Wilmot and Pondfield roads, and Midland and
Marbledale avenues, the Eastchester Environmental Committee intends to install bike racks at the town’s three train stations, the library and Town Hall. The committee is even considering bike garages in some parts of town. “We’re selecting places where people are already biking,” said McCartt, an advertising technology Advertisement producer and a bicyclist who enjoys riding along the Bronx River’s trails. McCartt also recommends the bike trails at Twin Lakes County Park in Eastchester. Compton, who lives in the Bronx, said Westchester residents have an abundance of places to ride, from easy trails along the Bronx River and the Old Putnam Line to harder trails with challenging hills. Compton said Westchester is also the site of one of the best-known rides in the Northeast, the Gimbel’s Ride. It starts Saturdays and Sundays at the Cross County Shopping Center in Yonkers and heads north on Central Park Avenue to White Plains, where it splits into three different routes of varying lengths before ending in New Rochelle. White Plains resident Mark Lalloo, 44, an electrician, said his favorite part of Westchester for bike riding is North Castle. “Unlike most riders, I do ride in the southern end of
the county. Most riders forego that because there is more traffic involved,” he said. “It’s better than Long Island, but it doesn’t compare to upstate New York.” Lalloo is the race promoter for the Unione Sportiva Italiana, which holds one race a year. The club is open to new members who might not necessarily be fast, but aspire to be. Even the most famous weekend races in the Central Park in Manhattan are open to beginners, Lalloo said.

USI Banquet opens 2010 Season

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:52:21 -0500

The club celebrated the successes of 2009 and the start of 2010 with a great party with approximately 60 members, friends and guests at Vintage Bar and Restaurant in White Plains.

Member and drummer extraordinaire Brian Carter’s grooves had folks out on the floor for enjoying a little aerobic activity happily devoid of hills! Thanks to member John Wright we have a nice little album of pictures from the party. To see them click here!

In this picture shop manager Pedro accepts the Pelham Bicycle Center’s plaque thanking the shop for 5 years (and counting) of USI sponsorship. L-R are sponsor liaison Ed Cangialosi, VP Jorge Ferrer ad Pres Tim Compton.

2010 USI Banquet

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:00:02 -0500

At the 2010 USI Banquet the club is honoring our sponsors and our club in the overall points category, for road racing and multisport racing. Our points champion is also our club historian. Maria Settani led tons of rides and represented the club week in and week out leading rides and introducing USI to new people.

Congratulations and thank you Maria!

On the road the USI is honored to have Nancy Ford as our racing champion. Nancy was out racing in bkue with great results all season long!

Congratulations and thank you Nancy!

At sea as well as on land Darcy Ramsey continued her dominance in multisport and we’re proud to have her with USI.

Congratulations and thank you Darcy!

Our champions make USI look good on and off the bike!

A copy of the banquet booklet is reproduced here for all of our members that cannot attend the banquet this year.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 102nd year of the Unione Sportiva Italiana road show!

We would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsors for all their generosity and loyal support in the years past, and for the coming 2010 season.

Without our sponsors we might just be posers in pretty blue jerseys, but with their help and support our USI community is whole. We are proud to represent our sponsors at races and rides all over the world!

Thank you to everyone for coming out to celebrate a past year of great riding and new one just beginning. I hope you all enjoy the fine food, great company and swinging tunes of member Brian Carter and the Brian Carter Quartet.

Happy 2010!

Tim Compton

President

USI Cycling Club

2010 USI Sponsors

Bicycling Magazine Macklowe Gallery

brio nyc restaurant Pelham Bicycle Center

Juice Plus+ Westchester Homemade Wine Center

2010 USI Points Championship

USI had 21 members submit points in the tourney this year. The totals are dominated by the women of USI. Past multiple champion Dale Malkames finished third this year with Nancy Ford racing to fine second place with great results all season. Nancy was outpaced in a close finish by the USI club historian, Maria Settani who led a regular series of rides and is recognized for her particular service to the club. Congratulations Maria!

On the multi-sport side the club was extremely well represented by Darcy Ramsey

who finished fourth overall in the championship.

The USI points championship is demonstrates our members commitment to promoting the USI, its sponsors, and cycling as a healthy community lifestyle choice. A total of 704 points were awarded throughout the season via volunteering, racing and leadership efforts. Thank you to everyone who went out to represent the club in 2009 whether you chose to submit your points or not. Best of luck to everyone in 2010!

Welcome to the 102nd year of the Unione Sportiva Italiana road show!

Tim Compton

President

USI Cycling Club

2010 USI Sponsors

Bicycling Magazine Macklowe Gallery

brio nyc restaurant Pelham Bicycle Center

Juice Plus+ Westchester Homemade Wine Center

2010 USI Points Championship

On the multi-sport side the club was extremely well represented by Darcy Ramsey who finished fourth overall in the championship.

A brief history of USI Sponsorship

The USI is honoring its sponsors that have been supporting the Unione for five years or more at our annual banquet on January 31^st, 2010. These sponsors are Bicycling Magazine, Juice Plus, Macklowe Gallery, Pelham Bicycle Center and The Bagel Zone. This brief history of sponsorship of the USI is intended to provide some background on how the club sponsorship has evolved. I will take the story from general beginnings to the club’s current sponsorship situation. Part 2 will highlight the sponsors that will be honored at our banquet.

When we cyclists think of sponsors we usually have an image of a pro team in their billboard-like jerseys representing companies that most of us in America have never heard of, but there are other types of sponsors that should come to mind for those of us in the USI. The USI has always had sponsors. Each and every member is a sponsor, and the club has always tried its best to serve its sponsors well. In the nonprofit world the care and feeding of sponsors is called stewardship. On the for-profit side it is called customer relations. I mention this difference because the Unione Sportiva Italiana Cycling Club is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

During the first 50 years and more of the club’s history the USI enjoyed sponsors support, many of whom were themselves members. An important source of support was La Sportiva Italian Benevolent Society, known familiarly as The Mutual. The USI club headquarters which were on 45th Street in Manhattan from the early twenties through the late thirties housed the USI offices as well as a gymnasium, restaurant and banquet hall.

The banquet space saw events honoring great sportsmen like the champions who came from all over the world for the Six Day Bicycle Races at Madison Square Garden. Through The Mutual and the in-house restaurant, USI sponsored Italian immigrants entering America. It provided them with the work which had become required for entry into the United States.

During these times and up through the sixties sponsors helped defray the cost of events by purchasing advertising in the annual banquet booklets just the like yearbook and playbill advertisements that many of us have sold, purchased and are familiar with. Companies like the famous jewelry and design store Michael C. Fina founded in 1935 by Michael and his wife Rose, bought advertising to say thank you to the USI for the club’s patronage for awards and trophy creation. Other sponsor-patrons included individuals like Tino DeAngelis who

supported cycling in New York and was a great character. Tino caused a quite a storm in the early 1960’s in the financial market with the Salad Oil Scandal. As Norman Miller noted in his 1964 Saturday Evening Post story, Tino’s, “avocation is donating bicycles and sponsoring races for boys’ bike clubs.” For the USI Tino provided junior sized racing bikes for young club racers as well as trophies and awards. (To read more about Tino visit Wikipedia’s citation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tino_De_Angelis and the story by Norman C. Miller in the Saturday Evening Post, from April 24, 1964 : http://www.mafianj.com/saladoil/tino1.shtml)

Donations of merchandise today are referred to as gifts in kind to differentiate them from the commercial monetary sponsorship that professional cycling and automobile racing began to see during the 1960’s. Jumping ahead to more recent days we find sponsorship part of the club discussions in 1993 when the USI had begun to attract a new generation of riders and faced financial challenges. The minutes from the January 28,1993 USI meeting included the officer election results and the note that, “Clothing orders will be dealt with later in the season as sponsors are organized.” In 1993 The USI’s sponsoring bike shop, Metro Cycle Sport, based in white Plains, offered discounts to members and special incentives to those racing for the club. The intention was to generate exposure for the shop while making the club attractive to racers in the area. The USI had a very limited budget, but a good portion of its funds were dedicated to helping members pay for their racing activities on behalf of the USI. In addition to Metro the club had other sponsors who were generous in their support, but the club was in need of some operating adjustments to keep moving forward, if not survive.

By the close of the following season in 1994, the USI was at a crossroads in its evolution. Metro Cycle Sport had closed in 1993. Metro’s owner, Dave Marinelli, who had done a great deal of work to revitalize the USI as a racing club had joined the staff at another local shop, Bicycle Express, and brought the club there with him. When Dave Marinelli left Bicycle Express the following season, the owners were not so certain that their shop should, or could, continue as the club sponsor in the future. The USI had already formed a committee to seek additional sponsorship for the 1995 season and soon a change of shop homes and new outside sponsors would help stabilize the base of the club.

The banner headline for the February 1995 USI Newsletter read, “THREE LOCAL SPONSORS ALIGN WITH U.S.I.” The bolded capital letters pretty much tell the tale. Club Secretary and newsletter editor, Karen Bauer, started her article with a statement demonstrating just how much the changes meant to the USI:

Food, a roof over your head, and bicycles. Is there anything more to life? Not for a cyclist. Therefore it seems fitting that the new U.S.I. sponsors include: Nick Wolff, Century 21-Wolff with offices in White Plains and Thornwood; Nick Livanos of city Limits Diner, White Plains and Ed Cangialosi and Harlan Matusow of High Caliper Bicycle Company, White Plains.

The new sponsorship enabled the USI to develop steadily in the ensuing years and permitted the old club to adjust to the new environment of USACycling. Although the USI had been a backbone club in the development of amateur cycling in America right up through the 1960’s legislative changes on a national level created the amateur cycling organizational structure that we have today, and clubs like the USI were left with the choice adapting or ending their existence.

Since 1995 the USI has had several sponsors and most have stayed with the club for more than one season. Many have been active members and many have been local businesses that share the USI members passion for cycling. A fairly complete list of our sponsors in the last 15 years includes Stationview Deli, Akido of the River Towns, Wilson & Son Jewelers, Between the Lines Bistro, Moda Spiga, Adjust Your Life Chiropractic, RepartoCorse.com, WD-NY, Merril Lynch, Invest Corp Real Estate, MyBodyMechanics.com, Century 21-Wolf Real Estate, White Plains Glass, City Limits Diner, Push Hard Multi-Sport, Bistro 235, Shanti Bith Bonsai, and David Kliger DDS. Our sponsors for 2010 are Bicycling Magazine, brio_nyc, Juice Plus, Macklowe Gallery, Westchester Homemade Wine Center, and Zaro’s Bakery. We are proud to represent our sponsors and thank all of our members for their sponsorship and especially their good friendship!

January 19, 2010, 10:28 am The Bittersweet History of Bike Clubs By J. DAVID...

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:21:01 -0500

January 19, 2010, 10:28 am

The Bittersweet History of Bike Clubs

By J. DAVID GOODMAN

Unione Sportiva Italiana Members of an Italian cycling club outside its storefront headquarters on Eighth Avenue in 1915. The motorcycles were most likely used for pacing.

Neither snow, nor sleet, nor bone-chilling cold can keep the members of New York’s assorted recreational bicycle clubs from the swift — or, often, leisurely — completion of their appointed rides around and out of the city. The New York Cycle Club, the Five Borough Bicycle Club and Fast and Fab, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender bike club, are some of those that lead outings and other events year round. And while none of these was around at the turn of the last century, each traces its lineage back to the ubiquitous clubs that dominated the earliest years of cycling.

In the 1880s and 1890s, growing middle-class participation in cycling lead to the formation of hundreds of clubs across the United States. The first to form was the Boston Bicycle Club, created on Feb. 11, 1878. The following February saw a club formed in Buffalo, and the first New York City club came in 1880, also in February (something about the cold seemed to drive riders to associate in those days, perhaps for the warmth of the pack).

As the numbers grew, clubs began to develop along ethnic, racial and class lines. This was particularly true in New York and other urban centers, where recent immigrants divided into Italian, German, Belgian and Irish clubs. There was a Harlem Cycling Club, one for Mongolians and even a Norseman’s club, “which I saw somewhere advertised as ‘limited to the sons and daughters of Harold the Fairhaired,’” said Evan Friss, a doctoral candidate in history at the City University of New York, whose dissertation is focused on this period in the history of cycling.

“I’ve seen references to Chinese, Japanese, Polish — almost every ethnic group,” Mr. Friss said.

Of New York’s early ethnic cycling clubs, one of the few remaining today is the Unione Sportiva Italiana. Founded in 1908, U.S.I. became an important booster for amateur bicycle racing in the city and around the country. Though its storefront clubhouse at 37th Street and Eighth Avenue is long gone, the club organizes rides from its current headquarters in Scarsdale, including the famous Gimbels Ride, a 50-mile ride beginning at the Yonkers Macy’s (formerly a Gimbels department store) that attracts scores of highly competitive amateur and professional riders in the summer.

While many of today’s clubs offer activities besides riding — Fast and Fab holds monthly dinners — the clubs of a century ago provided an important social space throughout the year, as this 1895 article from The Times describes:

The Cycle Club of Brooklyn has already gone into history because of its prosperity and increasing growth during the Winter, its prettiest and most charming of all Brooklyn’s pretty and charming young women; the best of her young men; the most esteemed heads of families and attractive matrons; because of its costume rides, and its sociable teas, champion polo and football team, and because of its nice little merry-go-round organ, to the music of whose tuneful airs its members swing gaily around the ring morning, noon, and night.

If some clubs served as a marker social class, others proved to be vehicles for assimilation, said Mr. Friss, offering “an opportunity to participate in what was an American phenomenon. They were wheelmen first, cycling like everybody else.”

For example, U.S.I. sponsored Italian immigrants arriving in America, providing them with “the work which had become required for entry into the United States,” according to Ed Cangialosi, one of the club’s current officers.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the ethnic divisions that characterized early cycling also had a uglier side. Depictions of cyclists often included cruel caricatures of riders, especially of Chinese and black riders, and much was written at the time about the physical differences of the races.

In 1894, the League of American Wheelmen, the largest national grouping of riders, bowed to pressure from its Southern members — who feared that allowing black members would hamper the league’s development in the South — and restricted its membership to whites. The move effectively barred blacks from most bicycle races in the United States.

As Lorenz J. Finison, corresponding secretary of the Massachusetts African-American Heritage Bike Route, writes in his recent study of an unsuccessful challenge to the league’s color bar in 1895, the increasing social importance of bicycle clubs “provides an importation context for understanding the development of ‘colored’ bicycle clubs in the 1890s, and the move to exclude colored people from membership in the League.” The bicycle was often described as a democratic machine in those days, but obviously, for many, it proved to be only an extension of the existing social order.

Despite protests from many, the league remained whites-only until it dissolved in the first years of the 1900s. (In 1999, its successor, the League of American Bicyclists, apologized for the ban.)

“I think the league bar had as much to do with the social aspect as anything else,” Mr. Finison said. “I think if it had been purely a racing organization, this would never have happened.”

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Happy Holidays to all Amici di Bici!

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:55:48 -0500

Ho Ho Ho! Happy Holidays to everyone!

As you know…The 2010 annual USI Banquet will be held on January 31^st, 2010 at Vintage Bar in White Plains…and it is an incredible deal…That just got even sweeter.

Our favorite percussin’ member Brian Carter is bringing his joyful Quartet noise to the party! Brian wil be taking pre-party requests so if you want to hear “SuperFreak”, “I Got you Under My Skin, “I Can ride My Bike with No Handlebars” or other holiday favorites send them to Brian at bmc1@sprynet.com or check the out the Brian Carter Quartet online for musical notes of interest.

Vintage Bar is on Main St downtown across from the Galleria Mall with convenient parking. The price will be really reasonable at $40 per person including dinner, entertainment, and an open bar serving soft drinks, beer and wine. Club members will receive a discounted price of $30 per person. It will be a fun party so please get your RSVP off to Angelina at pedalpusher.usi@verizon.net along with your check to the USI Cycling club, PO Box 522, Scarsdale, NY 10583. We need to have a solid count of attendees for Vintage by January 15.

USI 2010 SEASON TEAM MEETING

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:48:14 -0500

First USI Team Meeting for the 2010 Season

The first team meeting for the 2010 season was held on Tuesday December 15th @ the Pelham Bicycle Center. Thanks to Pedro and John for allowing us to have the meeting after business hours on that evening.

We had a great turnout with 12 individuals showing interest in the program for next year! Included were; Tim Compton, Dennis Burns, Mark Wasserman, Brian Carter, Kris Fleming, Richard Green, John Koenck, Stephen Paige, Mike Carrion, Akin Dorsett, Leo Sanchez, Andrew Gillis and myself. Additional committments have come from Massimo Sconditi, Dave Millhauser, Lyle Barron and Jay Campbell. Looking at the roster, we are almost split between Cat 4’s and 5’s.

The main agenda was simply to introduce ourselves to each other. Most of the team has ridden on the Gimbel’s so there were familiar faces. We met 2 or 3 new faces in the group which was great to see! We also discussed training rides as a group and our first targeted race that will be the Bethel Series.

All in all a great start to the program. We have alot to work on but it will be fun. Hopefully we will work as one unit and deliver some good results!

As always, enjoy the ride and stay safe,

Jorge