28, November 2006

Greetings -

The Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team had a fairly easy weekend following
Thanksgiving vacation with only one serious race on the schedule. This
past Saturday we descended upon Sterling, Massachusetts for the Baystate
Cyclocross sponsored by Gearworks. This was a UCI C2 event and drew a
high quality field of racers from the Eastern seaboard as well as from the
Midwest. I am pleased to report that Justin Spinelli adds to his fine finishes
with a 10th place in the Men's Elite category, while Amy Wallace narrowly
missed the podium and was 4th in the Elite Women's event. Brian Hayes rode
well too, and was 22nd in the same race as Justin, but that earned him a
3rd place in the U23 division since he races in that age bracket. You can
read about these races on the VeloNews site as well as on CyclingNews site.

At this time I would like to make mention of one of our fine sponsors,
Pacenti Cycle Design. Kirk Pacenti is a long time pal and I consider him
an industry peer. His company (a one-man design firm) has become ground
zero and one of the most important suppliers that the rank and file framebuilder
has in his quest to source the best material for the task at hand. Kirk has been
onboard with the RS 'Cross Team for three seasons now, and I asked him to
write a few words about the liaison:

The 2006 / 2007 season marks the third consecutive year that Pacenti
Cycle Design (PCD) has sponsored the Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team.
The association has been an immensely positive experience for PCD and
has also been a great honor for me on a personal level.
A little history: I was born and raised in Southern Connecticut. As a kid
growing up in the 80s, BMX and MTBs were all I knew. I enjoyed and
excelled at both disciplines. However, in my late teens I became less
interested in racing BMX and MTBs and more interested in road bicycles.
This was a whole new world to me, but I fell in love with it the very first
time I swung a leg over one.
As I became more interested in fine road bicycles, and living less than
an hour south of Chester, it didn’t take long to discover Richard Sachs.
At the time, Richard was widely regarded as the best framebuilder in the
country and still is today. Even though I hardly knew anything about bikes
at the time, I knew he was the standard I'd wanted to someday meet in my
own work as a framebuilder and designer. His work has had a huge influence
on my career, as well as on the direction I have taken my own company
ever since.
So, when Richard first approached me about sponsoring his cyclocross
team, I jumped at the chance. Not only would this be a great opportunity
to give back to a sport I loved, but also to a “hero” who had given me so
much inspiration overthe years! Professionally, I felt it was a huge feather
in my cap to be apart ofthe RS team. Personally I felt I had come full circle;
from simply being inspired by Richard to being an integral part of his team.
I was thrilled!
I was certain that the association with Richard’s team could only be a
good thing for PCD. And although I had already built a strong palmares
in the bicycle industry as a successful framebuilder and designer, having
Richard’s team aboard my product would solidify my credibility in the
minds of my customers who held Richard in the same esteem as I did.
What I didn’t know was how hard Richard would work for me as his
sponsor. The level of professionalism he brings to the table really is amazing.
The weekly race updates, race photos and team member bios has convinced
me that sponsoring Richard's team really is money well spent. As a sponsor,
I couldn't be happier with how things have gone for the team over the last
few seasons and being a part (however small) of their many successes.

I love this stuff! When I say ground zero, I am not using the term lightly.
Kirk routinely adds to his website and features any and all framebuilders
who use PCD products and services. His picture page of framebuilding art
is the defacto link for all who desire to see what the independent framebuilders
are doing these days. Just check out this eye candy! In addition to be the
North American agent for Columbus tubing (the official tubing of the RS
atelier), Kirk also stocks many of the small parts that framebuilders need
to, er, create their masterpieces! Prior to starting PCD, Kirk was at Giro
Helmets as their production shop manager, did a two year stint as head
framebuilder at Bontrager Cycles, and more recently was employed by
American Bicycle Group in Tennessee where he held the job of head frame
designer for its Litespeed division, a role which saw him responsible for,
among other things, creating the blueprints for all the Team Lotto frames
and bicycles that were used during that pro team's 2003 European road
season. As we say in the trade, Kirk gets it, and atmo* is single-handedly
making it possible for the current crop of newbie framebuilders to have
a future with all this. Many thanks to PCD for its continued support of
our team as well as for Kirk's enthusiasm and vision to keep artisan
framebuilding in the public's eye!!

Now, for those that need visuals, here are some pic links that I have
mined from these past two weekends.
First, these are from Saturday's UCI C2 event:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=/photos/2006/nov06/baystate06/9
http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=/photos/2006/nov06/baystate06/21
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=andreamasson&gallery_id=571007&image_id=39
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=andreamasson&gallery_id=571007&image_id=53
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=andreamasson&gallery_id=571007&image_id=16
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=andreamasson&gallery_id=571007&image_id=44
And here are several sets that I found from the recent N.C. races:
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/mens-pro-race/img8861.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/mens-pro-race/img8933.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/mens-pro-race/img8963.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/mens-pro-race/img8962.html
http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=/photos/2006/nov06/ncgp2_06/8
http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=/photos/2006/nov06/ncgp1_06/IMG_3215
---
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8484.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8489.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8490.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8570.html *
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8571.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8573.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8572.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8694.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8698.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8720.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8790.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8805.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8807.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8808.html
http://public.fotki.com/JoePhoto/cyclocross---hender/womens-pro-race/img8813.html
---
http://sadlebred.smugmug.com/gallery/2154126/3/111745403

Wow. If you are still awake - a big e-RICHIE thanks for enduring the
length of this (no comments!!). For those interested, we will have kind
of an off-week from all the UCI events that we've been attending, and
staying on home turf here in Connecticut where, this Saturday, the team
will be in Cheshire for the Cheshire-Cross being held in lovely Cheshire Park.
This will be the last respite before we resume a weekend of double UCI races
in Rhode Island which will then be followed by the U.S. National Cyclocross
Championships in Providence. December will be a very busy and important
month for the RS 'Cross Team.

As always, thanks for reading!
e-RICHIE©™®
*according to my opinion.
______________________________
Thank you for your interest and support.
The Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team is sponsored by RGM Watches,
Rex Chiu, Radix Group LLC, as well as by Cane Creek, Crank Brothers,
Rudy Project, Oval Concepts, Challenge Tires, VergeSport, Selle San Marco,
JB Custom Paint, Pacenti Cycle Design, The Wheatmarket, and Nelly's Deli.
TEAM WEBSITE:
http://www.richardsachs.com/rsachscybc.html
RESULTS/UPDATES:
http://www.richardsachs.com/articles/cybc0607crossresults.html
TEAM PICS (2006):
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/bobbesrs/album/576460762315839264?pm_pageoption=ALL
TEAM PICS (2005):
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/bobbesrs/album/576460762315885087
BLATANT TEAM BIKE PICS:
http://richardsachs.com/2006_cx_gallery/index.html
AWESOME 'CROSS PORN:
http://www.volarebikes.com/richie/rgm/
RICHARD SACHS 'CROSS BLOG:
http://rscyclocross.blogspot.com