January 8/98 22:40 pm - `Cross News, Trail Meeting, Sad News, Coppi Dinner

Posted by Editor on 01/8/98
 

Oops!

We neglected to mention the Canadian results from last weekend‚s World Cup `Cross event - the GP de France. In 36th place, 1 lap down, was national champion Peter Wedge, followed in 39th by Kris Westwood. Paul Spadaccini abandoned.


UCI World Cyclo-Cross Rankings (as of January 4th)

1 GROENENDAAL, Richard NED 1,925.00 points
2 VAN DER POEL, Adrie NED 1,580.00
3 PONTONI, Daniele ITA 1,080.00
4 RUNKEL, Dieter SUI 834.00
5 JANSSENS, Marc BEL 781.00

44 WEDGE, Peter CAN 115.00
52 HALL, Josh CAN 100.00
90 SPADACCINI, Paul CAN 50.00
90 PINFOLD, Andrew CAN 50.00
96 ASSEER, Rudi CAN 45.00
99 HANSEN, Christian CAN 40.00
106 HANSEN, Matthew CAN 35.00
106 RUSHTON, Ed CAN 35.00
122 HANSEN, Jeff CAN 30.00
122 KUNCEWICZ, Rafel CAN 30.00
138 SOCHACKI, Jack CAN 25.00
138 DAVIES, Warren CAN 25.00
145 VARHESSE, Antoine CAN 20.00
158 MACGREGOR, Gary CAN 15.00
174 CROUCH, Andrew CAN 10.00
218 COCKBURN, Heath CAN 5.00


Happy Birthday to...Eric Wohlberg!


IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ALL BURNABY MOUNTAIN BIKERS

To ensure mountain biking remains accessible in the new park and that City of Burnaby amends their no cycling in parks by-law to allow this to happen and that the trails remain in as natural a state as possible... All mountain bikers should attend the first public meeting to address these issues!

The date has been finalized (we hope after two changes) to be THURSDAY, JANUARY 29 FROM 5-9PM AT CAMERON REC CENTRE, 9523 CAMERON STREET, BURNABY (off Bell Street behind Lougheed Mall). As with Delta Watershed, it is important that government knows how many different groups and how many people recreate by mountain bike in this area. Burnaby's past history with mountain bikes is NOT positive. WE NEED EVERYONE'S SUPPORT! PLEASE ATTEND!


Two Sad Notices

Hello Canadian Cyclist,

I wanted to note the death of Geoff "Lumpy" Leidal, a legend among mountain bikers here in the Whistler area.

Geoff died on Jan. 2 at the age of 31 in an avalanche near Nelson, BC, which claimed 6 lives.

Geoff was one of the earliest people to get into mountain bike racing in this area, and legend has it he beat Tomac and Overend in a Norba race back in the eighties (I don't have proof of this!). He was one of the original Deep Cove boys, riding the unbelievable trails on Vancouver's North Shore while most of us had yet to discover mountain biking. He later moved toWhistler and was a fixture at all the races. My fondest memories of him include watching him string out the pro field with an incredible burst of speed at the start of the Cactus Cup dirt crit a couple of years ago. My only regret is not getting to know my Team Highline teammate better. Lumpy was a true free spirit and he will be missed by everyone from Deep Cove to Pemberton, where he has been living for the past few years. Hope you can put something in your magazine/website regarding Lumpy.

Thanks

Allison Macdonald


From Steve Fleck we received word that two other cyclists were also killed recently - Patrick Vanblumen of NRG (a Nelson-based cycling company) and Bob Mackintosh (a triathlete):

„one of the people killed in the recent avalanches here in B.C. was Patrick Vanblumen of NRG. I had come to know Patrick reasonably well over the years. What I really admired and appreciated about Pat and Ramin Sherkat of NRG was, unlike many other people in the sporting goods business in Canada, these guys actually got out there and did the activities that they supplied the equipment for. On New Years Day we received the sad and disturbing news that Bob Mackintosh, one of the top Master's triathletes in the country had been killed at a New Years Eve party in Squamish. The RCMP are investigating this as a homicide and hope to make an arrest soon on a charge of murder.‰


Fausto Coppi Fundraising Dinner

A dinner will be held in Toronto on January 20th to honour Italian cycling legend, „Champion of Champions‰ Fausto Coppi. All proceeds from the dinner will go towards a monument being built in Torino, Italy to honour Coppi. The dinner is being held at the Coppi Ristorante, 3363 Yonge St, Toronto. On the menu are Salmon „Giro d‚Italia‰, Risotto „Tour de France‰ and Veal „Parigi Roubaix‰. There are still limited tickets available, at $65 pp. During the dinner, rare film footage of Fausto Coppi will be shown. For reservations, call (416) 484-4464.