Rutgers-Raleigh CX Team Up Again for 2011!!

Rutgers Cycling and Raleigh Team Up Again for 2011 Cyclocross Season

Rutgers Cycling is once again excited to announce Raleigh Bicycles as its co-sponsor for the

2011 cyclocross season. Rutgers University-Raleigh Cycling Team will be riding the all-new 2012 Raleigh RXC Pro and RX 1.0 cyclocross bikes and framesets. Equipped from Raleighs new cyclocross lineup, the team starts their unstoppable campaign to win a sixth-straight Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference cyclocross championship and a National Championship at US Cyclocross Nationals in Madison, WI.

Returning to the team will be senior Marcos Picchio, and sophomore Adam Nawrot both claimed second and first place titles, respectively, in the C men’s Eastern Collegiate Series. The team has also brought in new members as well, including seniors Mike Bachmann, Eugene Berezetsky and Arpeet Ravalji, and second year graduate student Paul Frandsen. George Ghanim will be surmounting the responsibility of racer and team director with the guidance of Mark “MamaBear” Vareschi.

The Rutgers-Raleigh National Championship team will be led by senior Patrick Bradley, whose palmares include 6th place at Collegiate Cyclocross Nationals at the 2009 US Cyclocross National Championships and three time ECCC Men’s A cyclocross series champion. Picchio and Narwot will be joining Bradley at Nationals.

“This really has been a transition year for Rutgers Cycling,” Ghanim said, “and as usual we have brought in many new riders that have become hooked to ‘cross. We are building a solid team of 15 racers that will be racing the majority of the season.”

“Raleigh Bicycles is excited to be partnering this cross season with Rutgers Cycling,” said enthusiastic Raleigh Marketing Director Brian Fornes.

“We look forward to growing this relationship and utilizing their valuable racer feedback on current and future cross bikes we will be producing. We’re even more excited about the level of commitment, and friendly, fun attitude that the Rutgers Cycling program brings to the sport. They are great ambassadors, and we feel that they will continue to help grow the sport on a local basis and be very competitive on a National level.”

The team will be riding the all new 2012 Raleigh RXC Pro and RX 1.0 cyclocross bikes. “We are beyond psyched for new RXC Pro. Raleigh has ushered in a new cyclocross line unlike another. Last year, we rode the RX 1.0 all the way to Nationals. I can hardly imagine what the RXC Pro will do to the competition in the mud” said Ghanim.

The 2012 RXC Pro takes the top spot in Raleigh's new cyclocross lineup. Featuring a flattened top tube, internal cable routing, BB30 bottom bracket and Raleigh’s Direct Connect Carbon technology, the new RXC Pro is a bike to be reckoned with.“For ‘cross, the BB30 is unmatched; it’s lightweight, stiffer, and provides exceptional power transfer compared to conventional bottom brackets used during ‘cross',” Ghanim states.

Raleigh joins a family of sponsors that will be supporting Rutgers for the 2011 cyclocross season including:

Efingers Sporting Goods – shop sponsor

Verge Sport – cycling clothing

Ritchey – cockpit components

SRAM – drivetrain components

Cycle-Smart - coaching

Gaerne - cycling shoes

Rudy Project - eyewear

Gu - nutritional products

Rocktape – kinesiology tape

53x11 Coffee – caffeine

Maul Electric, Inc. – financial sponsor

Berkeley Heights and Beyond – financial sponsor

Rutgers-Raleigh Cycling Team Tentative Schedule

• Stars denote ECCC collegiate races.

September:

10th Nittany Lion Cross UCI C2 – Trexlertown, PA

11th Nittany Lion Cross UCI C2 - Trexlertown, PA

17th Charm City Cyclocross UCI C2 – Baltimore, MD

18th Charm City Cyclocross UCI C2 – Baltimore, MD

October:

2nd Hillbilly Hustle NJBA CX Cup - Elmer, NJ

8th Providence Cyclocross UCI C2 – Providence, RI

9th Providence Cyclocross UCI C2 – Providence, RI

15th Granogue Cyclocross UCI C2 – Wilmington, DE

16th Granogue Cyclocross UCI C2 – Wilmington, DE

22nd Cylcocross at Central Park of Morris County - Morris Plains, NJ

23rd Spa City Cyclocross – Saratoga, NY *

29th Beacon Cross UCI C2 – Bridgeton, NJ *

30st HPCX UCI C2 – Jamesburg, NJ *

November:

5th Cycle-Smart International UCI C2 – Northampton, MA

6th Cycle-Smart International UCI C2 – Northampton, MA

12th Staten Cyclocross – Staten Island, NY *

13th Bethlehem Cup NY Cross Series – Delmar, NY

19th Myles CX – East Meadow, NY*

20th Myles CX – East Meadow, NY*

26th Sussex County Cyclocross NJBA CX CUP - Augusta, NJ

December:

3rd NBX Grand Prix UCI C2 – Warwick, RI

4th NBX Grand Prix UCI C2 – Warwick, RI

10th Ice Weasels Cometh – Wrentham, MA

17th New England Championships – Location Pending*

18th New England Championships – Location Pending*

31th Chicago UCI Cyclocross UCI C2 – Chicago, IL

January:

1th Chicago New Years Resolution Cyclocross UCI C2 – Chicago, IL

5-6th USA Cyclocross National Champinships, U23 and Division 1 Collegiate Men – Madison, WI*