Minutes from the April 8 MCF meeting can be found here.

Hooray for spring! It was a nice winter filled with lots of snow and fun activities like sledding and skiing and phat biking but it's nice to get into spring and the start of a new riding and racing season for Minnesota cycling! Now, if only winter would get the hint and move on out of here...

Regardless, we started things off for the new season with the MCF Banquet last Friday evening. All the 2012 Road, Track and Cyclocross Rider of the Year cyclists were awarded. Congratulations to all who were awarded for their great 2012 season and best of luck for 2013! If you were a top finisher in the Rider of the Year classification but not able to make the banquet please get in touch with me to arrange for the pick up of your award.

I was also honored to be able to award the first annual Spielberg Memorial Awards. The Spielberg Memorial Awards are being given out as grants to young riders, based upon cycling achievement, service and commitment. They are being donated in memory of Richard Spielberg, an individual who for almost 40 years developed tremendous enthusiasm for cycling and bike racing which became a primary motivation in his life as well as an inspiration to others. Rich often felt that we needed to encourage more young people to get involved in this sport so that they too could enjoy the many benefits that he and other bikers have received. For this season the awards were presented to Valerie McGoldrick and Jordan Cullen. Best of luck to both of these riders for 2013 and the future and I am excited to see these riders continue to develop!

We were looking at a tenuous start to the road season this year with the Opus Racing Series being in jeopardy. While it has been confirmed that we have lost that venue I am very happy to see that this venue has been replaced with the State Fairgrounds venue for these races. This early season race series plays a very important role in helping riders get their race legs under them at the start of the season and I am glad to see that we will have the opportunity for Tuesday night racing again this year. Racing starts at the Fairgrounds on April 16 and I hope to see you there!

The first weekend road race of the MCF season takes place on April 27 with the Ken Woods Road Race. The flyer and race information is posted on the calendar.

The next MCF Meeting takes place on April 8 and the time and location details are posted on the calendar as usual.

As I mentioned at the MCF Banquet, I have some ideas regarding helping to improve the MCF cycling and racing scene. Look for details on these ideas soon. In the meantime if you have any thoughts or ideas on how we can make Minnesota cycling better please don't keep these thoughts to yourself! Join us at the MCF meetings or feel free to drop me an email and let me know what you think! All my contact info is listed below and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

In the meantime I look forward to seeing you on the road soon!

Christopher Smith
MCF President

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
@mcf_prez

The MCF Banquet is tonight, Friday, March 15th, 7pm at Columbia Manor, 3300 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN.

2012 MCF Rider of the Year and Spielberg Memorial Awards will be presented.

Snacks, appetizers and a cash bar will be available for your enjoyment.

BREAKING NEWS: the first 100 in the door get a free drink! Hope to see you there!

The MCF is happy to announce the two winners of the Spielberg Memorial Award. Congratulations to Valerie McGoldrick and Jordan Cullen!

The Spielberg Memorial Awards are being given out as grants to young riders, based upon cycling achievement, service and commitment. They are being donated in memory of Richard Spielberg, an individual who for almost 40 years developed tremendous enthusiasm for cycling and bike racing which became a primary motivation in his life as well as an inspiration to others. Rich often felt that we needed to encourage more young people to get involved in this sport so that they too could enjoy the many benefits that he and other bikers have received.

Valerie and Jordan will receive their awards at tonight's MCF banquet.