USA Cycling members from area get on roll

By JESSICA FISH

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 13, 2001

June has been packed with hot bicycle racing results hard-earned by many of the area's top USA Cycling riders.

Championships in Florida track and time trial events have produced gold-medal winners. Cooper City's Brian Piccolo Velodrome was the site of the Senior Regional Track Championships last weekend. Carloads of local cyclists showed up to race with their fixed gear bicycles. Several rookies were coached by world track champion Earl Henry of Pinellas Park.

Thunderstorms threatened, but the harsh weather held off long enough for the women's 3,000-meter and men's 4,000-meter heats. Sprint qualifier rounds on the velodrome have been rescheduled for Saturday.

Locals who won medals were St. Petersburg's Diane Suddath, silver in the 3,000 with a time of 4 minutes, 49 seconds; Mel Lucas, fourth, 5:00; Lisa Pesta, fifth, 5:20; and Doug Reitz, who placed among the top five in the men's 4,000. The XRS Racing Team played host to the Florida State Time Trial Championships on June 3 in West Palm Beach. Winning the 40-kilometer event, Tampa's Robin Kavan (BBC/Jetworks) made the most of the aerodynamic Zipp carbon bike given to her as a wedding present by Dud Thames Cyclery. Kavan won the gold in 1 hour, 12 seconds (1:00:12).

Other area women capturing time trial gold medals were Tampa's Diana Correa (Team American Classic), in the 55-plus division in 1:04:17; and Jan Thompson, a triathlete who rode the 20-kilometer in 38:46:09.

Triathlete Sandy Murray of St. Petersburg won a silver in the 35-39 women's class in 1:12:24; Dennis Sullivan (West Coast Wheelmen) of St. Pete Beach placed seventh among 55-plus men in 1:15:32; and Bradenton's Dave and Julie Holt (Ringling Bicycles) "broke the hour" to win the mixed tandem 40-kilometer time trial in 0:57:43.

Other winners were Danny Morris (Team American Classic) of Palm Harbor, bronze, 50-54 men, 59:26; Kevin Markel (Bike Works) of Brandon, fifth, Category 4 men, 1:00:47; and Paul Kavan (Team Damiani) of Tampa, who had the fifth fastest time of the day, 55:28.

John Reback, 31, of North Palm Beach had a good week, placing fourth in 1:01:11 and winning the overall elite division in last Sunday's Clermont Sprint Triathlon.

But all the talk was about John Cipolla.

Cipolla (Team Jamis) of Pompano Beach rode to a record 51:27 in the 40-kilometer race despite rolling up to his assigned start time more than a minute late. He may well have the form to break the 50-minute barrier, but is forced to wait until the national championships for another attempt.

CLERMONT SPRINT SERIES: The first triathlon in Clermont's three-race sprint series (swim .25 mile, bike 11 miles, run 3 miles) last Sunday attracted a record 1,200 competitors.

Winning the event overall was John Reback, 31, of North Palm Beach in 54 minutes, 53 seconds. The womens' winner was Pamela Birsinger, 36, of Jupiter, 58:11.

The top area finisher was Largo's Mike Hofstetter, 35, who placed 10th in 58:23.

CFT/Sommer Sports' Fred Sommer set an example for race directors to follow. Even though fields were full on the crowded, short course, illegal drafting was not tolerated. USA Triathlon officials were on the watch on the bike course, giving penalties for violations and causing major shake-ups in some age-group finishes.

Division winners included the following area triathletes: top master Lisa Plescia, 41, Tierre Verde, 1:04:20; Rachel Epstein, 19, Oldsmar, 1:11:40; Celia Dubey, 29, Tarpon Springs, 1:09:16; Sharon Good, 30, Tampa, 1:06:53; Dave Rowland, 39, North Redington Beach, 58:27; Kathleen Kaye, 43, St. Petersburg, 1:06:13; Greg Spindler, 40, Lutz, 59:21; Linda Musante, 47, Tampa, 1:05:49; Roger Schurr, 67, Tampa, 1:22:06.; Larry Yost, 71, Treasure Island, 1:28:07; Jackie Yost, 73, 1:50:43; fat-tire winners Robert Noordstar, 23, Tampa, 1:10:04; and Karen Lameir, 37, Valrico, 1:18:29; and clydesdale winner Emil Campillo, 28, Tampa, 1:11:23.

Clermont's remaining sprint triathlons are scheduled for July 15 and Aug. 19. For information, call CFT/Sommer Sports, (352) 394-1320, or check the web site for listings and complete race splits at www.triflorida.com.

COCA-COLA TRIATHLON: The series moves to Tampa for the next triathlon (swim .5 mile, bike 12 miles, run 3.1 miles), June 23 at Davis Island.

The post-race awards ceremony and party will be at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. For information, call Exclusive Sports Marketing, (561) 241-3801, or check out the series points standings on ESM's new web site, www.palmtreesportsclub.com.

DRAKE-GULLETT WINS: Coming off a third-place finish in Ironman Brazil, St. Petersburg's Laura Drake-Gullett barely had time to visit family last week before posting a victory Sunday in the Dannon Duathlon.

Running 5 kilometers, biking 30 kilometers and running another 5K, Drake-Gullett won the overall elite division in 1:25:45.

The three-time winner of Tampa's Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K will start preparing for the Ironman World Triathlon Championship, Oct. 6 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

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