Knightly News From 2012 WORS Race #2 Rhinelander

With the start of the 2012 season I cannot help but think of the Dr Suess book “Oh The Places you’ll Go”.   The 2012 season is wide open with lots of potential for great performances, a chance for experienced kids to step up and get some results they have always dreamt of and lots of opportunity for new kids to Improve on the skills they will need to get through the WORS races. 

This past Sunday was the second race in the 2012 WORS.org series.  It was held in Rhinelander, WI at the Tesomas Boy Scout Camp.    As opposed to the Iola weather at race time this race was dry and warm.  The Junior race kicked off the day with 15 Scarlet Knights stepping up to the line.  For some it was a chance to ride on a course they were familiar with for others it was their first time on this course and even others it was only their second bike race.   

On the girls side Katy McDickens finished with a 4^th place in her age group and 11^th overall. Hannah Stedl continued to show some great natural ability adding to a strong finish in Iola by finishing 3^rd in her age group and 5^th overall.

The Junior Boys had some great results as well in the under 8 year old Eli Lemke continues to show big heart in a small body and rode to a 7^th place age group finish.  The under 10 year old group was won by Joshua Prewitt with Jacob Lemke finishing 4^th for the second week in a row.  Jacob Mork was inspired by the presence of his Grandfather watching Jacob race for the first time and pulled off a strong result by finishing 9^th.  Congratulations to Ethan Haas for finishing his first race and to Cade Haas for a great effort as he finished his second race and continues to show that you can pack a lot of toughness in a small body.   In the under 12 age group Ben Smith was just 4 seconds off the top Scarlet Knight Junior with a 3^rd place age group finish and a 7^th place overall.  Aaron Smith was less than 30 seconds back with a 5^th  place age group and 11^th overall.   Clayton Lemke was 10^th in only his second race. 

Alex Halfman had what was probably his strongest result yet in the 14 and under group with a 4^th place in the age group and 5^th overall.  Cole McDickens was just behind finishing 5^th in the age group and 9^th overall.    Dylan and Grant Slocum both improved greatly from last year finishing well with the top half of the overall boys with a 9^th and 11^thin their age group. 

In the Citizen (category 3 race) Justin Wentworth showed that power and the ability to ride single track are his strengths and finished 3^rd in his age group and a very impressive 13^th overall out of 88 entries in the Citizen class.  Jacob Ahles finished 4^th in his age group followed by Daniel Gretzinger in 8^th and Jimmy Splitgerber in 9^th.   Kaitlen Splitgerber continued to place her mark on the Citizen Female Class by placing 2^nd in her age group and 5^th overall. 

The FCYCT-The Scarlet Knights send a big thank you out to all the supporting parents and family members we look forward to Wausau on June 3^rd.

Ben Smith 

 Aaron Smith

 Hannah Stedl

 Kaitlin Splittgerber

20 of the 25 team members

Twenty Eight Days Until Christmas?

The speed of this time of year almost seems like Christmas.   The list of things to do can seem like Christmas Gone Wild: informational meetings, proposals for fund raising, meetings with potential sponsors, signing up kids, collecting money, taking out USA Cycling licenses, signing up for the WORS all-in-one, depositing money in the bank, paying bills, approving jersey design, signing up for the USA Cycling Club, fitting jerseys for the kids, ordering jerseys, purchasing bikes, and organizing group rides.    The good news is there are only 28 more days until Christmas - WORS Style!!!  Of course, Christmas-WORS Style is the Iola race on May 6.  And like the joy of Christmas Eve service, all of this work has been worth it.  We are almost trembling with excitement as we close our eyes and dream of hearing Don announce, “Good morning and welcome to the 2012 Iola Bump and Jump - the first race in the WORS 2012 mountain bike series!  We are about 20 minutes away from the start of our Junior Category race.”

The FCYCT-The Scarlet Knights has grown from nine kids in the 2011 season to 24 kids in 2012.  All have made a commitment to ride the number of races required in order to compete for a final place in the WORS overall series.  Our team looks like this: 9 team members returning from last year,  4 members who rode for other teams or who were unattached to a team in 2011, and 11 kids who will be new to the WORS racing scene (3 of which are girls).  We have a total of 19 boys and 5 girls on our team this year.

We cannot wait for Christmas-WORS Style!  Be safe, happy training, and may you be ready to hear “GOOOOOO!” on Sunday May 6^th.

New to the team in 2012 Jacob Mork shows his new bike for the 2012 season.

Getting Ready for 2012

We are in our final stages of fund raising for the 2012 season and have now begun the recruitment of new riders.  If you are interested in joining us in 2012 there is a informational meeting detailed below or feel free to contact us via e-mail at j.gretzinger@sbcglobal.net.   The FCYCT-The Scarlet Kights is a youth cycling team that is open all youth ages 8-18 who live anywhere close the Fox River Valley Area and want to be part of a cycling team. We concentrate mainly on the WORS.org races but branch out into road racing as well.  We are all about helping youth grow and reach their full potential on the trails and off.