December 14/00 1:19 am - Canada Summer Games, Sumner Memorial Service, Team News
Posted by Editor on 12/14/00
Canada Summer Games - We Need Your Help!
We are still looking for Volunteers to help out with the 2001 Canada Summer in London, Ontario. Now is the time to apply!
We encourage you to complete a Volunteer Application Form before the end of this year. You can apply on-line at www.2001canadagames.com. If you are from London, you can pick up a copy of the application from any Shoppers Drug Mart or YMCA. If you want to volunteer just for the cycling events, please note this on the application.
Just as an FYI, here is the schedule for the cycling events:
August 13 2001 ITT
August 14 2001 Criterium
August 15 2001 Training Day/Rest Day
August 16 2001 Road Race
August 17 2001 Training Day/Rest Day
August 18 2001 Cross Country Mountain Bike
See you in London in August 2001! If you have any questions about the Games you can contact me at the email address below.
Lori Pol
2001 Canada Summer Games - Cycling
lpol@odyssey.on.ca
Sumner Memorial Service
Jesse Keefer has provided information on the memorial service to be held for Roger Sumner.
The service for Roger will be on this coming Monday, 2pm at St.Mary's church on 37th and Larch in Kerrisdale, Vancouver. It is a large church so please tell all the friends of Rog that you know to come out. I look forward to seeing all of you there.
Jesse
More Memories of Roger Sumner
I met Roger in 1969 shortly after coming to live in Canada. I had retired from cycling in New Zealand, however he rekindled the fires of my enthusiasm for the sport that has stayed with me throughout my life.
Roger was the catalyst that injected a fresh approach to racing in British Columbia when he moved out west in 1968. This effort on his part showed within a short period of time with the BC riders dominating North American racing and later on at the world level.
Brian Keast, Ron Hayman, Hugh Harden, Alex Steida, Sara Neill, Alison Sydor, Roland Green, Jennifer Morwen-Smith, Darnelle Moore to name but a few are legacies to what Roger worked to create.
He was a hard working athlete, always near the front urging his rivals on, always looking to escape to get the lone win off the front. I remember at Spokane in 1970, the pair of us were 12 minutes ahead of the group with 20 kilometers to go, and he asked permission to go ahead on the last climb. His sense of sportsmanship almost got in the way of his winning the event. This came through in other events as well.
I enjoyed the camaraderie, the rivalry, the fulfillment, and the simple enjoyment that was experienced through my association with Roger and the sport he loved to which he gave all his energy.
He will be missed.
With sadness
Max Grace
The first time I ran into Roger Sumner was in a Saturday road race on Dunstable Downs, about 40 miles north west of London. I was a first year senior and hanging onto the back of a fast moving bunch. One of the most aggressive riders in the race was a tall, skinny, blond-haired fellow who was constantly attacking, especially into the stiff, cold northerly wind. Apart from his determination and ability, the most significant thing about him was the small teddy bear peeking out from the middle pocket of his V.C. Noviomagus jersey. This bear was a permanent feature of Roger‚s racing attire and many were those who saw it disappearing into the distance as he instigated breaks in so many of the events in the south of England.
I rode in a number of other races where Roger was the man to beat, notably in the Bristol area where he had moved after beginning his racing years in Essex. He always gave one hundred percent and, even in those days, was generous with advice and help.
He disappeared from the British racing scene in the early 1960‚s and after I came to Canada in 1965, it was several years before I found out that he had immigrated here a couple of years before me. In fact , the next time I saw him was during the 1973 national road champinships in Burlington. I was one of the commissaires for this exciting race and I can remember vividly his lone breakaway attempt in the closing stages. He was still out on his own coming down Guelph Line but was caught just before the finish by a chase group containing eventual winner Norman Lowe, another English expatriate who was riding for Alberta. Ironically, Norman too died recently, a victim of cancer, I believe.
Roger Sumner left his mark on Canadian cycling in a number of ways. As most know, he was instrumental in jump starting Jocelyn Lovell‚s career and kept in constant contact with this Canadian multiple champion, whom many consider to be the greatest all round cyclist this country has seen. Roger was also a sports journalist of no mean ability and his numerous articles and race reports have appeared in most of the better-known North American and British cycling journals.
He was a member of the CCA national racing committee in the early 1980‚s where he provided a strong voice for western Canadian representation on national teams, especially from British Columbia, where he ran his dental practice. He also was very active as a club president, BCCA committee member, race organizer and promoter of all kinds of events, including the national cyclo-cross championships in the 1970‚s and the road championships in 1981. When I journeyed to Vancouver to inspect the course for the latter, I was privileged to be driven around in a vintage Bentley, one of the many classic cars he regularly imported from Britain. He played the part of chauffeur, complete with a formal cap and white gloves.
Roger continued his involvement in the BC cycling right up to the time of his death but his real love was riding. He continued to compete as a master, winning a number of medals at the national road championships over the years, including a win in the master D category in 1996 and a further podium finish in Peterborough this year.
For me, he personified what cycling is all about, working mostly behind the scenes and wielding considerable influence at both provincial and national level. And whenever I see a small threadbare teddy, I‚ll remember fondly that tall, skinny aggressive rider from the late 1950‚s and the imprint he has left on our sport.
Peter McCaffery
Subaru-Specialized 2001
Subaru-Specialized has announced the line up for its 2001 mountain bike team. Olympic silver medallist Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel), Marga Fullana (Esp) and Elsbeth Vink (Ned) will return, and will be joined by newcomers Bas Van Dooren (Ned), Barbara Blatter (Sui) and Caroline Alexander (GBR).
Bonazzi To Cannondale
Cannondale has hired former downhill world champion Giovanna Bonazzi to act as Marketing Coordinator for Italy and media liaison for the pro Saeco-Cannondale team. Bonazzi was one of the most exuberant competitors on the downhill circuit, and always fun to interview. She should thrive in this new role.
CC Mail
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