Bill Barnes, Nippy Feldhake, Alan Fischer, Andrea Gonzalez Cinalli, Joey Iuliano, James Kramer, Don Melhado, Jodie Oates, Marty Ryerson, Gary Sax and Stefanie Sichler have put their name in the hat to serve as board members for a two-year term.

“I am impressed with the number of candidates,” said Melanie Colavito, current ABRA president. “It is encouraging to see so much interest in leadership positions in Arizona bicycle racing. The outcome of the election will help set the direction of Arizona bicycle racing for the next two years, so it’s important that club members tell their ABRA club representative who they think would best serve the sport.”

ABRA, USA Cycling’s local association, oversees Arizona’s USA Cycling-sanctioned road, cyclocross and track races and determines its race calendar. It makes critical decisions on budget, the yearly race calendar and the future of the sport in Arizona.

How the election works

ABRA member teams/clubs from around the state vote for the candidates to determine the board. Every club/team gets five votes, one for each board position. Members of teams are encouraged to give their team leader input on who they want on the board.

Voting will begin Friday via a ballot sent to club representatives’ email, Colavito said.

Meet the candidates

Clipped In asked all candidates five questions to get to know them a little better. Find out what they had to say and what they want to do if elected; the order of candidates is sorted by response times. Nippy Feldhake, Alan Fischer and Marty Ryerson declined to respond.

You can also read more about the candidates here.

Gary Sax

Team

Summit Velo

Racing disciplines

Crits, ITT, TTT, road races, gravel grinders

Number of races, on average, that you compete in each year in Arizona

12

City

Tucson, but race regularly around the state.

Why do you want to serve on the ABRA board?

I am very active in the Arizona racing scene. I race; I am a USAC official and have worked both VOS and TBC the past couple of years; and I am a certified race director and have promoted more than a dozen successful races for my team over the past few years. I would like to bring all of this experience to bear on growing and improving bike racing in Arizona.

What do you want to change, if anything, about Arizona racing?

With it’s great weather for year-round riding Arizona can do a lot more to grow our sport. I am constantly struck by the fact that we have large numbers of masters age men and women who are very fit recreational riders who never race. I want to work to get these folks introduced to racing. I think ABRA can do more in the way of camps, clinics and other events to accomplish this.

Do you want to grow the sport of cycling in Arizona? If so, how?

Yes!! See above for one way. I would also encourage promoters (teams) to offer races more suited to entry level but mature riders. I am all for crits on technical courses for experienced racers. But to my mind that is not the best way to get folks introduced to the sport.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing competitive cycling now and in the future?

There is a lot of competition to road racing. Triathlons are growing while road racing is flat or declining. Mountain bike racing is growing. Gravel grinder racing is growing. All of these put on events in which novice racers can have a good time in a fun atmosphere. That is a serious challenge to our sport. Another big challenge is the increasing complexity of finding venues, largely a result of permitting and insurance challenges. I think that ABRA can serve to help promoters with both of these challenges!

What specific goals do you want to accomplish during your two-year term on the board?

Increase grassroots race participation by encouraging promoters to put on more events suitable for novice racers. Increase contact with permitting agencies to educate them about road racing and the advantages to communities and the lack of real financial danger/risk to governmental bodies so that permitting rules are more reasonable.

Stefanie Sichler

Team

Bicycle Haus Racing

Racing disciplines

Criteriums, TTs, road races, Women’s Cat 3, Men’s Cat 4, Women’s Masters, Men’s Masters

Number of races, on average, that you compete in each year in Arizona

30

City in which you live

Phoenix

Why do you want to serve on the ABRA board?

I am a firm believer in being actively involved in the community I want to be part of. I have raced for three years and competed in men’s, women’s, masters and collegiate categories. While of course I would like to see women’s cycling grow, I am more concerned with our cycling community as a whole – so this includes men’s, women’s, kids’ and masters’ categories in all disciplines – on and off the road. My goal is to open communication between promoters, ABRA, current racers as well as those new to the sport.

What do you want to change, if anything, about Arizona racing?

Honestly, I love Arizona racing, otherwise I wouldn’t want to be on the ABRA board. So I don’t feel it’s about changing Arizona racing, but rather about doing more of the things that work and inviting more people to come join us in having fun.

Do you want to grow the sport of cycling in Arizona? If so, how?

YES! Race numbers have been dwindling drastically, while general ridership has gone up. If you remember, 2013 had lower categories (with often multiple categories maxed out), but in 2015 we saw a very different picture. My goal is to fill lower categories by working with promoters to engage marketing in non-USAC events, by adjusting start times to allow athletes to race multiple times and by working with teams to create a more welcoming community. Many have left Arizona racing over the past years, so I would like to know why and what we could do to bring them back. I want to support those clubs that support children on bikes, because they are what will grow the sport in the long run. In addition, collegiate categories have been growing steadily over the past three years, so I feel we need to get collegiate racers involved more fully.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing competitive cycling now and in the future?

I think one of the biggest challenges is the stigma of bicycle racing in Arizona. There is a definite rift between people out riding and people training to race. And this doesn’t even include the stigma of cyclists in general. So in my opinion, in order to grow our numbers, we have to, as an association, create a better message – one that is inclusive, newcomer friendly and that advocates safety and community involvement.

What specific goals do you want to accomplish during your two-year term on the board?

Grow race participation through the following:

• Increased visibility for collegiate events as collegiate cycling and student discounts for non-collegiate entries
• Work with local news media to market events
• Create a marketing packet to help promoters with their events
• Newcomer events
• Increased communication with general cycling public
• Review/adjust start times at races to increase ridership as well as viewership
• Communicating with athletes and promoters directly about their needs

Andrea Gonzalez Cinalli

Team

Tolero Racing

Racing disciplines

Road racing

Number of races, on average, that you compete in each year in Arizona

10-12

City

Tucson

Why do you want to serve on the ABRA board?

Whenever I join a club or organization, I want to be a part of leadership. I enjoy helping people and making the experiences for that club better. I am able to state what I want in a mature manner, but also respect decisions made that I don’t agree with.

Also, for the past three years, I have been the race director for the Tolero Criterium. I have seen the issues plaguing our events. I would love to stop complaining and try to help find solutions to those issues. Also, I feel that there needs to be at least one woman represented on the ABRA board!

What do you want to change, if anything, about Arizona racing?

Arizona racing feels relatively outdated. Other states have more streamlined websites, as well as lycra bib numbers used for an entire season. Timing chips are used in many other sports in Arizona. I want to see more cyclists with ABRA licenses, especially women. What are other sports in our own state doing to draw in racers? What are other local associations doing to get more people to buy a USAC license and start racing? Copying other sports and states may not be the best solution, but it is a great start.

Do you want to grow the sport of cycling in Arizona? If so, how?

I feel as though I answered the “how” in the previous question, but yes, I’d love to see the sport grow. It would be great to see the Valley of the Sun Stage Race fill two Category 5 men’s races again!

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing competitive cycling now and in the future?

A huge challenge that seems to have popped up other the years is the public’s view on cycling. We are road-hogs with no regard for the law. It is essential to help improve our image as cyclists.
Another challenge that has recently been brought to my attention is how difficult it is to obtain county/city permits to hold races. These permits drive up costs of races and breed a lot of negativity. What needs to happen is to foster relationships with the local government, as well as a lot of cycling advocacy.

What specific goals do you want to accomplish during your two-year term on the board?

I am running for ABRA Board on three main platforms. First, I want to make sure the Copper Cup changes are implemented smoothly. Ideally, I would like to double the number of women with race licenses by the end of 2018. Finally, I want to bring the cycling community a little closer together through the use of social media and our azcycling.com website. This could include adding a forum to help racers plan carpools and host housing. The races you do with your friends are always the most memorable, even if they’re new friends!

Joey Iuliano

Team

University of Arizona and Sabino Cycles

Racing disciplines

Road, and I dabble in cyclocross

Number of races, on average, that you compete in each year in Arizona

Almost every weekend. So probably close to 30 races or about 15 weekends if you assume races on Saturday and Sunday. If you include New Mexico and southern California, closer to 40 races. In the Midwest, where I’m from, I’d usually race about 28 weekends or 60 times a year.

City

Tucson

Why do you want to serve on the ABRA board?

I’m currently completing my first term on the board (2014-2015) and I would love to continue working on improving the sport within the state and region. The last board was one of the most active in recent history. I headed up the revamping of the Copper Cup, created a race promoter handbook, and streamlined the calendaring procedure. I’ve also really stressed coordinating with MBAA, Epic Rides, and other events to avoid overlap. As a board, we spent time writing and developing ABRA’s processes, contracts, and procedures so we didn’t have to rely on organizational memory. We’ve advocated on behalf of promoters with ADOT and other counties to try to keep insurance costs low, and we’ve discussing ways to improve ridership.

I believe in giving back to the cycling community because it’s given me so much over the last 10 years. I want to see the sport grow and prosper and move from the sidelines and into the limelight. I want to grow a sport that encourages life-long, healthy activity. If I can help create events where local kids become inspired to start riding, that’s a huge success in my book.

What do you want to change, if anything, about Arizona racing?

When I lived in Indiana, everyone talked about the Southwest as the mecca for cycling. “People go out and ride Mt. Lemmon for the spring, race, and come back with their Cat 1” was a quote I heard many times. When I finally moved out here, a lot of the races lacked the fanfare most Midwest criteriums had and used. Don’t get me wrong, the riders out here are way faster! However, we lack the community involvement present in just about every race back east. ABRA should be helping promoters involve their community at their events. We need to be the advocate, both with state and local agencies, for race promoters and help get events back in the center of communities. If we want to grow the sport, we have to move away from office-park events. This might mean teams are collaborating on events, so fewer races overall, but it will mean a higher quality calendar of events.

Do you want to grow the sport of cycling in Arizona? If so, how?

Absolutely! USA Cycling is facing a downturn in licenses sales and racer days across the country. Arizona is no exception; however, we have weathered the storm better than other states thanks to our collegiate segment growing significantly the last two years. I’ve worked closely with Sarah Muench and Sam Gross in growing the Southwest Conference from just a handful of riders to one of the fastest growing conferences in the country. We did this by heavily utilizing social media to create a sense of community between the riders at different schools. Doing so allowed riders to make friends, coordinate host housing, plan dinners, etc. – all things which increase participation come race day. We also have worked on improving race quality. Improving event quality doesn’t take a lot of time or money, it just takes thinking outside the box – coordinating with a DJ club, reaching out the area vendors, scheduling food trucks, finding announcers, having a podium, erecting a finish line banner, etc. These are all small things that don’t cost a lot but collectively improve the event experiences exponentially. People want a great experience when they go to an event, and we need to help promoters provide it.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing competitive cycling now and in the future?

You could do an entire thesis on the challenges of competitive cycling! Regardless of who is sanctioning the event, riders are looking for fun and a challenge. This is explains why gravel grinders and gran fondos have exploded in recent years. Re-read Ken Montaney’s recap of Crusher in the Tushar on Clipped In to see what I’m talking about. Some promoters are feeling pinched or limited by working with USAC- rising costs of insurance, extra licensure for promoters to go through, and declining participation are a few reasons. We have to figure out a way to spark interest at the grassroots level. We have to make racing run, making it inviting, make it something you want to be a part of! Sure, you can do the Shootout for free…or you can do an awesome crit on ASU’s campus with all your friends. In the Southwest we’re always competing against the free alternatives (the big, classic group rides), so we have to work with promoters to be innovative in providing a more inciting product.

What specific goals do you want to accomplish during your two-year term on the board?

Increase community involvement. I want to foster connections between race promoters and organizations like Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions Club. It’s vital we start cultivating new relationships and exciting venues.

Recruiting new riders. Collegiate cycling team omniums are designed to favor teams with diverse ridership. This encourages teams to continually recruit new riders. We modeled the Copper Cup on the same principle. Recruiting for a non-collegiate team is trickier. I’d like to get teams to recruit at our tours/fondos as well as be more active on social media.

Improve event quality/experience. The 2012 USAC membership survey determined riders stop racing when they have a negative event experience.  We need an annual officials and promoters summit to cover rule revisions and race management. We also need to use our infrastructure fund to purchase items to make events safer and more enjoyable.

Ware at a nexus in Arizona. We can either keep trotting down the same path or we can venture out. If we don’t try new ways to better our events, then we’ll continue the slow decline in ridership until no event is sustainable. We have to continually improve ourselves and take calculated risks to grow our sport.

Jodie Oates

Team

AZ Women Racing

Racing disciplines

Road racing: time trials, road races, stage races

Number of races, on average, that you compete in each year in Arizona

2014 – 39 sanctioned races, 3 grand fondos  (22 in Arizona)

2015 – 28 sanctioned races, 2 grand fondos so far (21 in Arizona)

City

Phoenix

Why do you want to serve on the ABRA board?

I would like to pursue this opportunity to be more involved in Arizona cycling and racing.

What do you want to change, if anything, about Arizona racing?

To connect more of the cyclists throughout the state with social media, group rides, clinics and race involvement. Also, to strengthen the community’s race-day involvement where events are held.

Do you want to grow the sport of cycling in Arizona? If so, how?

Absolutely! The recreational portion of cycling is seeing rapid growth, and I would love to see this translate over into Arizona race registrations. To do this, the racing community can help support and educate new racers and those who are considering registering for their first race. I would like to help facilitate events where this happens easily in an open setting, such as ARBA introductory group rides and social gatherings.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing competitive cycling now and in the future?

Attracting and retaining race participants, locally and nationally. Educating new riders who can put themselves and those racing around them in dangerous situations due to lack of knowledge on how to correctly ride in a racing environment, such as cornering and pack riding. When these situations happen in a race, crash or not, it negatively impacts everyone. A bad experience can discourage someone from entering the next race. With a little bit of advice and education these issues can be minimized. The safer the race, the more likely riders will enjoy the challenge rather than be afraid of it.

What specific goals do you want to accomplish during your two-year term on the board?

I would like to see the number of race registrations increase for both women and men over the next two years. To achieve this goal I want to help the community connect to the local riders, coordinate with the clubs to plan the Arizona race calendar efficiently and boost overall interest in racing.

James Kramer

Team

Racing disciplines

Number of races, on average, that you compete in each year in Arizona

City

Why do you want to serve on the ABRA board?

What do you want to change, if anything, about Arizona racing?

Do you want to grow the sport of cycling in Arizona? If so, how?

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing competitive cycling now and in the future?

What specific goals do you want to accomplish during your two-year term on the board?

Bill Barnes

Team

Summit Velo is my road team.  My track team is Saguaro Velo

Racing disciplines

I rarely do mass start races. This year I have done 11 time trials on the road, 13 on the track, four team sprints, two mountain time trials and one road race. I plan to do another mountain time trial, a mountain road race and a team time trial yet this year.

Number of races, on average, that you compete in each year in Arizona:

See #3

City

Tucson

Why do you want to serve on the ABRA board?

I spent many years as chief financial officer for a number of small companies. As talented as my fellow board members are, none has the background or the inclination to deal with the business aspects of ABRA. When I began advising ABRA about five years ago, I pointed out that because of declining revenues, ABRA would soon be insolvent. They revised their expenditures and are still solvent. I then pointed out that they have a fiduciary responsibility as board members and consequently have some liability exposure. At the board’s direction, I obtained a directors and officers liability policy for them. I automated their accounting system and structured so that it is compliant with generally accepted accounting principles. The result is that the accounting system provides all the financial reports that USAC, Arizona and the U.S. government require of us, as well as membership data. During my term as a board member, I wrote procedures for the management of the infrastructure fund for getting races on the calendar and an equitable method of placing races in bidding tiers. In short, I serve on the board in order to serve ABRA and the racing community. I also am an advocate for older riders.

What do you want to change, if anything, about Arizona racing?

I’d like to see at least one velodrome in Arizona.

Do you want to grow the sport of cycling in Arizona? If so, how?

Yes. We are planning an outreach to folks who ride grand fondos, mountain events and triathlons in 2016. We plan to have a tent or two, goodies, videos of races and a number of friendly racers to chat with folks about the joy of road racing.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing competitive cycling now and in the future?

The two biggest challenges we face now are declining ridership and difficulty in getting permits for races. Declining ridership has two unfavorable outcomes. First, ABRA is funded largely by USAC sharing rider license fees.  As ridership declines, ABRA revenues decline, and it is more difficult for us to fund our programs that promote racing in Arizona. Second, as ridership declines, so do entry fees. Promoters lose money on the races they promote and soon lose interest in promoting them. Difficulties in obtaining permits for races result in a similar waning of enthusiasm.

What specific goals do you want to accomplish during your two-year term on the board?

I’d like to see a significant increase in ridership, particularly among older riders. I would like to meet with permitting bodies in order to forge ground rules for obtaining permits. I would also like to resolve any remaining problems with our procedure for putting races on the race calendar.

Don Melhado