TriPower Cycling wins Club of the Year honors

When a club's main objective is to have fun, any accolades are icing on the cake.

That cake got a whole lot larger when TriPower Cycling Club won 2007 USA Cycling Division II Club of the Year.

The Virginia Beach-based group took top billing in seven areas - promotion, membership, clinics and seminars, club activities, charitable contributions and race performance - for USAC-sanctioned organizations with 30 to 75 licensed members.

Secretary Liz Schleeper said TriPower's group diversity, which includes 11 women, four masters and two juniors, was one of the biggest reasons the national group picked TriPower for the honor.

"We definitely pride ourselves in that," Schleeper said. "It's people from all walks of life coming together."

TriPower learned of its selection in December, a month after completing a lengthy application process.

In 2007, the club hosted three races: May's Conte's Cycling Classic, June's Amphibious Assault Criterium and November's Mount Trashmore Cyclocross Race, which was Virginia's cyclocross championship.

TriPower member and Mount Trashmore Cyclocross race director Michael Josang is largely responsible for the growth of cyclocross, a hybrid of road racing and mountain biking, in Hampton Roads.

His inaugural Mount Trashmore race two years ago was the first of its kind in the area in about 25 years.

"After my mom passed away, I didn't have a lot going on other than to drink beer and gain weight," said Josang, 34, of Kempsville. "But my buddy said, 'Go into Conte's and see what TriPower's like,' and I never looked back."

The club hosted weekly cycling clinics for members during its organized rides on Sunday mornings and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, which also included special clinics for junior riders.

The club was also heavily involved with charitable work, including contributions to Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross and Bikes for the Homeless. It has also rallied around one of its own, local mountain biker Meredith Nicholls, who was injured in a mountain biking event and is a paraplegic.

Through its charitable ride, Miles for Meredith, TriPower raised more than $500 to help Nicholls.

But what caused the club's profile to take a considerable jump is its race performance. For most of its 20-year existence, socialization, health and fitness have been its calling cards.

"I remember when I won a Category 3 race a few years ago, and everyone was like, 'No one from TriPower has ever done this,' " member Marc Greco said. "It was definitely more of a club."

TriPower was named USAC's Virginia District Best All Around team for the fourth straight year in 2007 as eight individuals achieved best-all-around c hampionships, including masters women's champion Laura Cooke and juniors champion Zach Kyler. Both are from Little Neck.

"I went to a group ride at another club here and they wouldn't let me ride because there was no one under 18 to ride with me," said Kyler. "But (in TriPower) it's totally different because everyone encourages you. Bill Conoscenti (TriPower's juniors' coach) took me out, just him and me, and that really made a difference."

-By John Streit, 639-4805 or vb.beaconsports@yahoo.com (The Virginia Beach Beacon)