Augusta Series Winners 2008

Last night turned out to be just as exciting as we had anticipated. The weather was perfect, the racers were ready and the course was in decent shape (the pavement on one corner is started to pull away). We had a total of 54 racers for the night with 20 or so spectators which made it a great atmosphere for the last race of the series. I hope our new recreational riders who can to watch had a great time. Thanks for joining us and supporting the racers.

On to the results.....

The U19 race: It started with 18 juniors which is more than double any one of our other U19 races this season. Mike Fraysee brought a bunch of his boys from his camp, which made the race very exciting. The three main players racing for the podium were Steven Tvedt with 32pts, Max Mancuso with 28pts and Dag Anderson with 24pts. While the boys raced hard as usual the Fraysee boys changed up the usual tactics for Steven which caused him to come in 11th in the pack which did not give him enought points to keep his title. Dag and Max stuck in there with Kevin McGuire and came in 3rd and 4th which bumped them up to top spots on the podium.

1st place: Max Mancuso with 43pts (Upstate Velo, Skylands member)

2nd place: Dag Anderson with 40pts (Somerset Wheelmen)

3rd place: Steven Tvedt with 39pts (Colavita Racing Inc.)

The Masters race: The main challenge here was the fight for third place. Earl Perretti basically had 1st place all wrapped up with a 18pt lead. Vin Mancuso had a secure hold on 2nd place as well with an 11pt lead but John Autore who was in 3rd place and only had a 2pt lead from 4th place which was held by Andrew Buchanan. Now before I continue, keep in mind that although not all of these men race for Skylands, they are all Skylands members who have showed an great amount of respect for one another during the season. And the finish line proved to be as exciting as we had hoped for with David Buegler crossing the finish line first which was his goal the whole season. With his "finally" cry the moment his wheel crossed the webbing from the much delapadated tape, we all smiled for his success but where was Andrew and John.....Here comes Vin....ANDREW and JOHN!! and a few men later we saw Earl. Andrew closed the gap but not by 2. So all places remained the same in the end. It was a great effort by both men.

1st place: Earl Perrtti with 169pts (Montclair Cyclists, Skylands member)

2nd place: Vin mancuso with 155pts (Skylands Cycling)

3rd place: John Autore with 142pts (Montaclair Cyclists, Skylands member)

(Andrew had a total of 141pts, nice job!)

The B race:

Unfortunately the B race contenders who held 1st and 3rd place were un able to attend but there was a threat from Nick Iacovelli in 4th place. John Jackson did am amazing job this year from begininng to end proving what a strong racer he has become. And as I mentioned in my last long email, John missed 6 races due to work yet he was able to maintain top podium position for his return. In the end the 1st place was determined by the number of second places awarded through out the season. John picked up 2 pts on tuesday which tied him with his absent competitor. So Bruce and I tallied up the number of 1st places they each took during the whole season...another tie. So on to 2nd places...Nate had one and John had two. John was the winner!

1st place: John Jackson with 91pt, 2 1st's, and 2 2nd's (Skylands Cycling)

2nd Place: Nate Morgenstern with 91pts, 2 1st's and 1 2nd(Montclair Cyclists, Skylands member)

3rd Place: Doug Allen with 67pts (DKNY)

The A race:

The dynamics of this race were a bit different due to the number of Fraysee kids who were Cat 3 racers. So we sort of had 2 races going on. The kids who were vying to win the nights race and the Men who were racing for top positions for the season. The comment that was made by Glenn at the end of the night was "they picked this year to race like a team..." which is the beauty of this season. Milo had everyone of his teammates working for him, so he could beat Glenn in the final race. Erik Kristiansen, Kevin Keane, Gene Victori, Brian Gristick all gave 100% to box in Glenn, pull or lead out Milo to his spectacular finish. So in the end the break had the kids and the pack contained the season's racers which made the pack sprint really exciting. It looked like a swarm of bees heading to the line with Milo in the front. :)

1st place: Milo Bastianelli (Skylands Cycling)

2nd place: Glenn Babikian (DKNY)

3rd place: Dave Freifelder (Westwood Velo, Skylands member)

This was truely a blast to be part of this year! Thanks for making it so exciting. I can't wait to see what the team can do next year. Keep up the great racing and the fanastic team work. You should all be really proud of yourselves.

Thanks for all the support you all gave me. I really appreciate it!!!

before the final Augusta training race....

Tomorrow is the last race of the Augusta Series and it promises to be a fantastic race!! Our Skylands Racers have had an amazing showing this year with everyone putting forth their best efforts and getting excellent results in the end. Please keep in mind that for these races results are reflected in a variety of ways from the A racers building points to the B racers increasing their stamina during the season. We have watched some of our newer racers go from finishing with a few laps under their belt to being able to compete for the entire...2+ hours of grueling pain that "we" put you through. :) For the more seasoned racers, I hope that these races have assisted in making your racing season more successful.

The numbers: (please note that there was a discrepancy in the B race from the beginning of the season which has been corrected)

The A race: Milo is tied for FIRST place with Glenn from DKNY. This is going to be so exciting to watch. With our Skylands racers ralling behind him and helping him during the majority of the past races, I for one can't wait to see the outcome. I think it is fair to say that the rivalry between Glenn and Milo has been fun and challenging at the same time. During the rain date race both showed with the hopes that the other would not and then they could pass on the race....but this was not the case. Milo had arrived early after work and rolled down his window to ask me if he was going to be racing tonight. I informed him, that if there are racers we will race. So he drove away to endulge in a little nap before the excitment began. A while later Glenn showed up and looked around and smiled a little noticing that Milo was not in the tent we were all huddling in. "So if Milo doesn't show, I don't have to race...right?" His smile quickly faded as I informed him Milo was in the parking lot napping. Luckily the rain stopped at the starting line and they had a great race with rainbows and all. Side bar: Milo missed one race more than Glenn due to work responsibilities. :(

Dave Freifelder who may no longer be a skylands racer, is still a Skylands Member and has shown great skill racing this year. He is currently in 2nd (3rd, depending how you look at it) with 10 races under his belt.

The other aspect which has been fun to watch during the A race is the rivalry between our dueling teams yet all Skylands members. I am reffering to Monclair and Skylands. It has been fun to observe the sportsmanship between all involved. There is nothing like watching Earl zip by with his glasses miraculously staying on his nose while spinning at great speeds. Or when the blues and the oranges race by making up 50% of the pack. But even better is when they all join together to yell at Bruce, while trying to not to pass out, to put up the final lap cards. Who would have thought we could actually hold a 44mile crit?

Now there are 2 people who I would like to mention who have worked very hard this session and are currently in the top 10. The first being Gene Victori. As a Cat 4 he quickly moved into the qualifing status for the A race and even starting out 2 races behind has moved into 4th place (3rd of you count the tie as 1)in the A race while keeping his name in the B race in 20th place. He has raced while fighting a chest infection and has even missed 2 races. Kudos on your determination this year. Your efforts are really paying off. The other is Brian Gristick who is currently in 10th place in the A race and 11th in the Masters, while being absent for the past 4 weeks. I do hope we get one last chance to watch him race. hint. hint.

Kevin Keane and Erik Kristiansen are close behind in 13th and 14th place. Kevin has been an amazing racers in many ways, but one aspect I would like to mention is his willingness to help others during the race. He has given up a couple of races to help new members learn the basics, not to mention giving up riding all together to help with scoring and overall running of the race. Erik, as we all know, is an extremely talented and young racer who casually rolls in just before the "whistle" blows and races while looking like he doesn't have a care in the world all while wearing the most interesting of jerseys.

Andrew Buchanan, Kevin Kielty and Larry Hendersen are the other Skylands racers who have proven themselves once again as all strong racers. Kevin, who was unable to join in the fun during the early part of the season decided to show up for the 7th week and not only did he show up, but he rolled over the finish line in second place behind Mark Light. WOW! Larry, who has been a huge help during the sweeping process of the course during this season (thank you!) has had a great season as well holding at 18th place in the B race and 22nd in the A race and 6th in the Masters. Andrew began the season racing with the B's for the first 7 weeks and then qualified for the A race. He has ridden strong and has placed himself in the top 20 for the A's and he still holds 10th place in the B race and if that wasn't enough, he is in 4th place in the Masters race. Pretty inpressive considering this group of racers has few races contributing to their scores.

The B and Master race: Nate Morgenstern and John Jackson are neck and neck for first place. John is 2 points behind Nate, a Skylands Member but a Montclair racer, which is impressive considering he missed 6 consecutive races. WELL DONE! Vin Mancuso is 7th place in the B race while holding 2nd place in the Masters race, which explains where his children get their talents. Max is currently in 2nd place in the U19 category. Paul Walsh and Rob Rohel, who may not have been able to come to all the races, raced hard and the results speak for themselves. Joe Skorupa has placed himself in the top 20 of the Masters race while also racing in the B race week after week. A special acknowledement goes out to Gerry Ryerson, for with out him, we would not have all these numbers as easily accessible. He created and gave us this database, which I get ot play with every week. He gave up the first few weeks of racing to help out while resting his shoulder yet he still has maintained this standings in the top 10 at 8th place in the Masters, and in the top 20 of the B's. The last few racers that I would like to mention all share a impressive level of determination. Jon Boub and Eric Stacer have both raced in the Masters and the B race. Eric has focused on the Masters race mainly so he and Dan Mitchell could tag team to help marshal the course. Eric would race the Masters and Dan would race the B race. Eric has worked hard over the last few weeks training for a huge climb that he and Alex Cable were preparing for. Eric is currently in 16th place in the Masters race. Alex, who has only been able to race a few times, in in 18th place in the B race and 20th in the Masters. Jon Boub has proven to be a driven rider who does not quit...ever! He is in 18th place in the Masters and 22nd in the B race. As a new racer, he shows great strength and determination.

There have also been some new members who have ventured out to test the racing waters and to all those members I tip my hat off to you. These races can be very daunting and you have taken the challenge well.