The NHCC Junior Racing program is moving into its third year. It looks like this year we will for the first time have the number of juniors to be able to operate as a team at races.
This year we will be able to offer much more in the form of coaching. Our new coach, Thom Cormier, will be present at the Thursday NHIS races and we will be organizing many weekend rides.
The junior program will be promoting the NHIS criterium which for which we will apply to be the USA Cycling Northeast junior championship event. We have been informed by USA cycling that it is likely that we will be awarded the event - we will keep you posted on the progress. Note that many development teams throughout the Northeast have already declared that they intend to come. This would be a great junior event for years to come.
If you are, or know, a junior (10-18 years old) interested in NHCC we will give you the opportunity to participate in a free trial clinic at Loudon (except for the track entrance fee). If you then decide that you want to continue to participate we will ask you to join the club or pay daily registration fees.
We will create a small travel fund to support our junior's attendance at select LAJORS events - details about the availability of these funds and the requirements for travel reimbursement will be announced soon on the junior web site
Juniors will be able to use club jerseys at LAJORS events free of cost, as long as they are available in the size needed. These jerseys remain property of NHCC. If you still have clothing from last year please let us know.
Junior fees remain the same as last year $25 for membership, $25 for NHIS series pass
To help ease the registration process, please register online though www.bikereg.com prior to the start of the season. Unfortunately the registration selection on this site can be a bit confusing but all you need to do is make one selection under the category "junior club membership and series pass junior NHIS racing". If you do know your ability from past years you can also choose one of the options Cat. A, B or C.
The purchase of a NHIS Series Pass includes a raffle entry for a set of Bontrager RaceWheels that will be held at the year end banquet.
The junior website will keep the same layout as last year and will be updated throughout the season juniors header.
The NHCC Junior Racing program would like to acknowledge the great support it has received from the club in general as well as our sponsors S&W sports and Atomic. 2006 was our second season and we were quite successful in achieving our goals, something the New England Bicycle Racing Association (NE-BRA) recognized us for by awarding junior development grant again - we intend to apply for a similar grant for this season.
Anders Newbury in 2nd place on the hill where he evntually took the sole lead (Photo courtesy Jack Daley)
Saturday August 5th the Concord criterium was the New England regional criterium championship event. The event was co-promoted by the NHCC junior racing program and saw two well attended junior races. Many of the juniors that join us regularly on the track at Loudon where there and eventually both races were won by NHCC riders. The 10-14 race was won on a solo by Anders Newbury and The 15-18 race was won in a sprint by Harrison Harb. Both riders have been enjoying a very succesful 2006 season.
In the words of Anders:
Mark (with gray shirt in back row) with some of the juniors that joined the clinic On Thursday the 25th of July (photo courtesy of Mike Whitfield).
Mark McCormack came out and conducted a clinic with us. We had 13 juniors at the clinic and Mark told us afterward that it was nice to see so many kids out there. He also mentioned how well the paceline had worked, keep up the good work on that!
If you are between 10 and 18 years old and would like to race your bicycle you can join the NHCC Junior Racing Program. We organize a set of clinics to teach you how to do well in races. It does not matter how fast you are, we will try and help you be faster and safer. Through the training you will learn skills, get fit and become part of a team.
The junior program has race clinics at the New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, NH. The clinics are on Thursday night and teach you racing skills. The clinics are group exercises and a coach will be there to help you. At each clinic you will have a chance to score points for a day prize.
We will have clinics that teach you other things too: how do I fix my bike, how should I sit on my bike, what should I eat and drink before a race, and so on.
We have coaches available to help you reach your full potential. If you are a beginner you will be taught the basics of bike racing. If you have a little more experience we will give you a chance to get to the next level.
We are a racing program, which means that we hope that you will take part in Lance Armstrong Junior Olympic Racing Series races as part of Team New Hampshire.
We will need a volunteer coach to supervise each Thursday clinic! If you are interested please download the 2005 Junior Racing Program to obtain more information. If you still have questions please contact us at nhccjuniors@yahoo.com or at one of the following numbers: 603-942-7131 or 603-664-2119.
Steven Dowe
Semme Dijkstra