Road Cycling - Sarasota ?'s

Alright 2 things mainly today:

1. Does any from Florida know of any cycling teams from high schools? I am trying to start a Cycling team at my school, but don't know if there is any other competition. To start a Florida sport, there has to be some sort of competition somewhere else in the state. I am trying to atleast start a cycling club at the school, but there is such lack of cycling interest, (except for the live strong bracelets that I swear they think read "livetrendy"), that it might only be my friend and I in it.

2. Does anyone know of any races within 100 miles of sarasota? I want to try my first, and it is a big benchmark of mine. So big that I have been craving it since first riding.


Thanks,
Daniel

dunno, but good luck and have fun

I use to live in Sarasota. University Bikes has long rides and time trials all the time. Weekly I think. They also take trips to other place to ride and so on. Go hang out with them they are good folk.

Daniel .......... welcome, I live in Sarasota also. If you want to find out about biking events go to Bikesenjava.com and check the calender. You could stop by the store and ask Fletch or Tony, they can hook you up on the Tri team. This is the # 1 shop in our town for meeting other cyclest. Good luck.

I know all about those rides, and bikesnjava. Thanks for the info though. The whole idea was to bring cycling into High school atheletics. My friend and I wanted to be able to race for the school, ride for the school, and eventually get a varsity letter if good enough for the school. Any other info is possible, I will keep you updated on this whirlwind of a quest. Whatever happens I won't stop riding.


Thanks,
Daniel

Yesterday I recieved a flyer about criteriums scheduled for Oct. 9 & 10 in Clearwater. Check it out at www.clearwaterclassic.com (http://www.clearwaterclassic.com).

It's a bit more than 100 miles away, but I hear there's the Stuart road race coming up next month.
Check out Treasure Coast Racing Assoc. (http://www.treasurecoastracing.org)

I looked at the treasure coast ride. Is it in stuart florida? I could not tell on the website.

Daniel: Have you approached your school coach? You could be the founder of a great new sport in highschool sports. If you gould get your parents involved and attend a school board meeting this could come up under new business. I think Fletch could give good advice on this. He use to have safty checks for bicycles at schools. You could post a bulletin at all highschools to check for interest, or bike shops. Good luck, Oh yea I would come to see a school meet.With the Lance movement in this country this sport is ready to explode into something huge.

You guys are so encouraging. I am gooing to go talk to the Atheletic Administrator today and see what I can find out. My mom is Teacher of the year for the district, so that may pull some weight if needed. :) I will keep you posted on the progress of this. If I could start this into sanctioned sport, I would be so excited.


Thanks,
Daniel

I just talked with my Athletic administrator. She said that cycling is just to expensive of a sport, and that to start it I would have to go to Gainesville to get it sancitoned by florida, and then get it sanctioned by my district. I told her to wait on it, I would be trying. I am going to contact the district heads in Gainesville tonight. I am not giving up that easy. I talked to my principals secretary and she told me that I could start it as a club here on campus. To do that I need to find a sponsor that would sit at all of our meetings.... She also informed me that the new assistant principal rides alot. Things are looking good right now. I will keep you updated.


Thanks,
Daniel

*~~ Update ~~*

I just looked at all of the states in America and not one has any high school cycling teams. Does anyone know of any money from cyclists that could go to lowering the price of bikes for a school? Or if a company I.E. trek, schwinn, cannondale would sponsor a school? Not with their new bikes but maybe like the lower end racers? I have sent an email to the Florida High School Athletic Administration's board of directors and will let you know what I hear back. You think any of the American riders could help pull weight on this as a national issue?

high school cycling... I was chatting with a kid who was trying to get a speeding ticket and I think he's on his high school team. I'll ask around and if I see him again, i'll ask him specifically. Point is, I do think there are teams.

If you could find one I would be most appreciative. I think that the athletic association would be more willing to start it up if they were not the ground breakers. If anyone has any information that contradicts or backs up any of my statements please say so. Humility is a stronger point of mine especially when I would hate to be wrong in this case.


Thanks,
Daniel

I was talking with a friend who has a son who is a senior at Sarasota High. He was at a cross country meeting and one of the coaches was introduced as a former professional rider. He was a young guy and I think he is a math teacher. I would find out who that is and talk with him about sponsoring the team. It's worth a try!

Mike

Is it possible for you to figure that name out for me? I attend Riverview and have no clud about any of the teachers that work there. I would be very appreciative.



Thanks
Daniel

No news so far tonight, I am waiting on an email back from the Board of directors.

This is the letter:


To whom it may concern,
My name is Daniel Nations. I am the son of Susan Nations, teacher of the year for the Sarasota County School District. I attend Riverview High School in Sarasota, and am in the 11th grade. I am writing to find out what it would take to make Cycling a high school sport. I know that it is a less popular sport in the US than football, but I think that this sport could grow if the opportunity were there. With the popularity of the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong’s record-breaking feat, the number of serious cyclists has increased dramatically.
What should my next step be in this process? What are the requirements in order to have a sport sanctioned by your organization? Do I need to get a petition signed? Are there forms to fill out? I am already looking for grants to apply for if having the sport sanctioned is a possibility. I know that bikes for racing get expensive and that is why I am looking for the grants. Teams could be sponsored by a local bike shop; we have at least two here in Sarasota. Please consider this and respond with any insight as to what to do now. Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Daniel Nations

Hi Daniel: Its me again, I just Emailed Florida Sports Magazine about your quest. Hoping they might pick up the story and run with it. They are at floridasports.com If you here from them you will know where it comes from. Keep training. ........Freestyle PS tell your mom way to go on teacher of the year. :)

Thanks for all of the support freestyle. I am gonna go talk to chris at village bikes today after school. I will let my mom know. Thanks again about floridasports, never would of thought about contacting any of them.



Thanks all,
Daniel

Daniel let me know what Chris says. Ok ............. Good luck Freestyle

I called Chris and told him what I was trying to do. He seemed very iterested and that he is going to do some research and look around. He said he would call me with what he found out some time wid next week. I am so anxious to get a letter back from the FHSAA board of directors. The moment I do, I will post on here what it says.


Thanks again everyone
Daniel

Daniel,

PM me. I'll do what I can to help you out. I also work for the school board and am closely associated with the guys at University Bikes. They're always interested in helping out with things like this.

L8R

go to www.floridasports.com

that is full of races and runs for us floridians.

thanks wfin,

I looked for info on cycling but forgot to look for races.

No news back from the board of directors, I will keep you posted.

Daniel

Hi all,

I went in to village bikes today and met Chris. He is really cool. I talked to him about riding, and next Monday, we are gonna join a group ride and go with him. I was telling him about all the things that I still needed on my bike, I have no handle bar grips, need a helmet, want shoes and clipless, want/need bike pants, so on and so forth, and he told me he would atleast help me with the handle grips. Told me to bring my bike in and they could help me out. I am psyched just to know that I have my first group ride coming up :)

Thanks Freestyle,
Daniel

I can't offer any suggestions but I can offer thanks to this student for getting off his chair and doing something positive for himself, his school and his community.Its hard to get something started when faced with negativity, and continuing in the attempt to overcome it.
Kids like this are the types who face a problem, solve it thru persistance and go on to succeed at what the do
I hope he keeps the forum informed as to his progress

Travelin,

Thank you for the words of incouragement. I will keep you guys informed. And I am not giving up without exhausting all possibilities.


Thank you
Daniel

Keep up the good work man, and let us know how this turns out.

Thanks for the encouragement Jim. I will be sure to keep you informed.



Daniel

I'm in Europe this summer riding and enjoying life, and reading the forums every few days
I was in a somewhat similar situation when I was in H.S.. I was the runt, 90 #, and sat out most of gym period when I wasn't picked to play on a team.
Iwent one day with the bigger guys to crew practice, kept going, making a pest of self and sometimes usefull too and the coach one day called me aside told me to help him get a shell off the racks, we put it in the water, told me to get in, and row till I got tired. My life changed from that day.Next term I won my first race
From that time till now I rarely let things stop me

Perhaps members in So Fla could do something to raise some bux to help this guy get his dream off the ground. I'll be back end of Sept for a few weeks before heading out to California to ride the Pacific coast Hiway from SF to Malibu, and would be willing to help in any way possible

"Stead of lamenting about teen couch potato's and general obesity maybe we could help this guy with his dream

Count me in whatever it is

I do not know what I need to do yet. I am waiting on a letter or email back from the board of directors. The moment I recieve it I will share it with you guys and I will go from there.

Keep pursuing this dream and good things will come. When I was in HS I worked with the administration to add an AP Physics class to the curriculum. While not the same getting a new sport sanctioned, there are some things that'd be applicable.

Have you thought about starting a club while you wait on the sanctioning process? I'd assume that it wouldn't be an overnight process, so the club would give you a good starting point. You could talk to your assistant principal to see if he'd be willing to sponsor it. He may have added connections that could help at various levels, plus having the club running would demonstrate a serious interest. Depending on his envolvement in cycling, he may know educators at other schools who may have insight into the interest in a club/team at their respective schools.

Have you talked to any university cycling clubs/teams? I know FSU has a cycling club that participates in intercollegiate races. They may be able to give you some info on their sponsorships and share any lessons learned.

I wish i could be more help, but these were a couple of thoughts that popped into my head as i read your post and wanted to share them.

Good luck!