Bobby Lea Wins Pro Final, Jackie Simes Takes Series

Eclectic Mix of Cycling Personalities, Fans Pack The Irish Rogue

by Jack Simes

The Racing
Competition sizzled in the pro class at the Irish Rogue, Saturday March 6th for the New York Velodrome sponsored Championship Roller Racing finals presented by Hacker-Pschorr/ Paulaner and Affinity Cycles. In qualification time trials Jackie Simes, Cycle Loft, posted fast time with 1:15.19. "Whew, those rollers feel heavy today!" he exclaimed, not expecting his time to hold up. But it did. He was followed respectively by the much improved Jon Chambers, Affinity Cycles in 1:16.19, Matt Diefenbach Alliance Environmental 1:17.03, Dan Sullivan Affinity Cycles in 1:18.06 and the favored Bobby Lea, Bahati Foundation, who must have been saving something for later, with 1:18.63.

Other qualifiers were David "Goliath" Espinoza riding for Affinity in 1:19.35, followed by Bob Black with a fine 1:20.50 effort in his first pro class race and having to do a re-ride after sailing off the rollers in his first attempt. New York’s Andrew LaCorte riding for Affinity was the last qualifier to make the top eight with 1:25.19. Just missing out in 9th was Boston’s Kurt Begemann, Cycle Loft with 1:25.69. 10th was Newark Delaware’s overall CRR series leader Wim Daniels, riding for Services Environmental in 1:27.60. 11th was New York’s David Wiswell in the time of 1:29.94. "I was on a road bike and had to shift to my highest gear. I don’t have any spin in my legs", explained Wiswell who races for Crca/Dave Jordan Coaching – Zephyr Graffiti. Finishing 12th was Cycle Loft owner/sponsor Jeff Palter with 1:36.85.

Racing went much as expected in the quarter-finals: Simes beat Lacorte, Chambers beat Black, Espinoza beat Diefenbach in a hard race and Lea won over Sullivan.

The first semi-final ride with Simes and Lea was likely the toughest heat of the day. The veteran Lea jumped to an early lead as the up and coming Simes quickly closed then pushed the pace to stay slightly ahead for several laps with Lea obviously working hard as well. It was dead even until two to go when Lea really got things going and gradually pulled ahead to win convincingly. In the other quarter final rides, Espinoza beat Chambers with a very fast end sprint, Sullivan beat LaCorte, and Diefenbach beat Black.

Lea marked Espinoza throughout their final for 1st and 2nd. Attacking with three laps left, he gained a sizable lead by the finish, displaying why he is considered one of the finest all around riders in the country. 3rd Place went to Simes who stayed safely ahead of Chambers all the way for that win. Finishing 5th was Sullivan, with Diefenbach 6th, Black 7th and LaCorte in 8th place – all fine performances heartily applauded by the fans.

Cameron Reider, Gotham Cyclists, won the open class for the third time on the CRR circuit and picked up a nice LoPro Affinity frame for his win. 2nd place went to a first time CRR rider with satin-smooth pedaling action, Chris Barbaria, riding for Affinity. Finishing 3rd was the energetic Kacy Manderfield, Cycle Loft, who competed in all three classes of racing at various times during the series. Open class riders also collected prizes provided by The Bicycle Planet of Soyosset, NY.

Most of the riders were already packing up and enjoying the Paulaner Hefeweizen with their friends when two track cycling hall of famers – Gibby "The Bear" Hatton and Bruce "The Torch" Donaghy (1980 Apple Lap victor) put up sixty bucks for a winner take all challenge between New York’s LaCorte and Boston’s Begemann. So, it was back on the bikes for them. Since the challenge distance is only .6 mile rather than the normal pro one mile there was to be no holding back in that race. They burned out of the blocks with LaCorte taking the victory to the roar and delight of his home town crowd.

Jackie Simes won the overall CRR series with 112 points ahead of Wim Daniels who racked up 107 points and was the only rider to compete in all events. Matt Diefenbach was 3rd in the series with 102 points, David Espinoza 4th with 100 points and Jon Chambers 5th with 94 points. The full CRR rankings are Listed below

The Scene
Evidence of NY cycling’s energy and roots became apparent from the moment the Championship Roller Racing equipment truck entered 44th Street to park and unload at the Irish Rogue. There, standing on the curb to guide the vehicle was the 1965 North American Roller Champion and former NYC Cop, John "Iron Grip" Chapman who tossed the proper credentials onto the truck’s dash to prevent any tow away that night. When the crew carried the rollers and other race paraphernalia through the Irish Rogue towards the back stairs leading to the second floor bar race venue, sitting at a side table was 1960’s top road and track rider, and later NYC firefighter, Richie Centore, quietly having a meal well before the action started.

While riders signed, in staff began to organize: former rider and cycling administrator Dottie Sailing as starter and chief referee, husband Joe, a former national champion, the announcer. On lap cards was the legendary double world championship medalist Gibby Hatton who’s company, Velo Precision Cycling, had also sponsored the women’s category on the eight race CRR circuit. 1988 Olympian Bobby Livingston, now Dr. Livingston with a Chiropractic practice in Trexlertown, PA, came to work as chief whip, the individual responsible for organizing the riders to keep the event flowing.

Among the many New York cycling personalities on hand was Mike Green, President of the Century Road Club Association (CRCA), one of the USA’s oldest and largest cycling clubs. NY Velocity’s Dan Schmalz and Presenting Sponsor Hacker-Pschorr and Paulaner’s Greg Weinberg, with a cold glass of product always stylishly in hand, seemed to enjoy the evening. " I had a really good time," Schmalz commented. Both are also avid cyclists who race for CRCA.

Holding riders for the start was multi national champion, sprint specialist Ben Barczewski, now on hiatus from the pro training/racing routine to pursue studies at Columbia University. Coop Cooper, a former NYC junior rider who became a pro race promoter and provided sponsorship to the USPRO World Team, but has not been seen around cycling for years, was there. Also in the house was NY’s renowned cycling artist Talia Lambert along with Bike Cult Guru, Dave Perry who looked thrilled to be spectating instead of setting up his own rollers like he has done many times for roller events.

As the crowd built, one could also spot a solid contingent of out of town-ers. From the Valley Preferred Cycling Center’s (VPCC) Pennsylvania velodrome locale: Hilda and Fred Patton of Phoenix Sports Technology and VPCC’s marketing manager, Jill Brader, who drove up with Karyn Goldner of Arbonne, one of the CRR supliers. Former pro Mike Lyach, who originally came from Argentina to race the last 6-day race held in Madison Square Garden forty-nine years ago and then settle in Beleville, NJ, was up close to the action cheering the riders. New Hope, PA CRR event organizer, Janine Carroll helped out working the door with Dana Diefenbach who is married to pro masters rider Matt Diefenbach.

Josh Rechnitz, CEO and driving force of the NY Velodrome, a project to build an indoor velodrome in NYC, circulated among riders, fans and cronies for most of the evening. He made only a brief, but significant, appearance on stage to present Delroy Walters with a $500 check for the Star Track youth cycling program. More than a few did a double take as Rechnitz sometimes seemed to be in two places in the room simultaneously. Not quite, for the other was his twin brother, Adam Rechnitz who is also cycling oriented. Earlier on the circuit Adam had hosted CRR events at his breweries in New Hope, PA and Princeton, NJ. But, on this night he was simply there like the other spectators – to enjoy the roller chaos and have a great time. Which most seemed to do.

Perhaps the night was best summed up by Raymond Mazzilli who took time out from moving offices of his company, Eclipse Technology, to be there. He rang the bell for the last lap of each race. Standing 6’4" few would remember him as little 11 year old "Crazy Ray" from Brooklyn who won the 1962 USA nationals in his age category – at that time called the "Midget class". He said "This room is like a time machine: the past, present and future of NY cycling all at once. I’m having the time of my life".

Championship Roller Racing official suppliers include Mike Fraysse Sports, Valley Preferred Cycling Center, Phoenix Sports Technology, CyclingCaptured.com, Velo Precision Cycling, NYVelocity.com , and Quality First Home Improvements.

Riders and Fans Pack NY Championship Roller Racing Final In The Irish Rogue.

Title Sponsor NY Velodrome’s CEO Rechnitz Presents $500 Check to Star Track DevelopmentalCycling Program. Delroy Walters Accepts.

Former World Champ, Hatton, On Lap Cards, Sponsored Women’s Racing During 8 race CRR Circuit.

Affinity Cycles Pro Team Presents Lo Pro Frame To Open Class Winner Cameron Reider (Yellow & Red Jersey).

Pro Winners Who Took Home The Money. L. To R. Espinoza-2nd Place, Olympian Lea-1st Place, Simes-3rd Place.

Hilda Monahan-Patton Came Home With Fred To The City.

2010 Championship Roller Racing Final Standings      

RANK    NAME Tot. Pts 1/27/2010 1/29/2010 2/4/2010 2/20/2010 2/24/2010 2/27/2010 3/6/2010

1 Jackie Simes 112 19 14 21 20 19 19

2 Wim Daniels 107 20 16 16 13 16 14 12

3 Matt Diefenbach 102 19 17 17 18 15 16

4 David Espinoza 100 20 20 19 21 20

5 Jon Chambers 94 19 20 19 18 18

6 Bobby Lea 83 21 21 20 21

7 Dan Sullivan 53 18 18 17

8 Zack Semian 52 21 14 17

9 Andy Lahatosh 38 21 17

10 Thomas Schubert 34 18 16

11 Darrell Engle 33 17 16

12 Gui Nelessen 32 18 14

13 Nick Roeder 30 15 15

14 Dave Wells 28 16 12

15 Andy Kuklis 15 15

15 Tom Mains 15 15

15 Black 15 15

18 LaCorte 14 14

19 Robert Ryan 13 13

19 Begemann 13 13

21 Tynan Farley 12 12

22 Wiswell 11 11

23 Palter 10 10