The Adam Project

[wonger]

Hello Tripelshotters,

This post is to inform you about a special Tripleshot project that we've undertaken and to invite all of you to participate. We're calling it the "Send Adam to Nationals" project and it is, yes, an effort to help Adam de Vos attain his goal of making it to the CCA National Championships this year. We've gotten to know Adam a bit over the past year or so that he's been cycling with us and we think it is worth the investment to see just what he can do on a bike. Our goal is to raise $2,000.00 through donations to help Adam with expenses that he will incur throughout the year with a particular emphasis on ensuring that:

1. He can afford to attend the National Championships in Burlington, Ontario from June 23 - 26; and
2. He has the right equipment to allow him to shine in the Tripleshot colours on the National stage

We first got interested in participating when we heard that Adam was selling his Tripleshot winter jacket so that he could pay for his UCI racing license for the year. We all know that it is a gear intensive sport - add some travel on to that and the expenses can add up quickly. Ideally we can all harness some of that special “Tripleshot magic” and get Adam to nationals and keep him warm in winter!

There are a number of ways that you can help out. First, consider making a donation as we've done. Second, if you know of others who you think might be interested in supporting this project, consider approaching them. Third, we are looking to build up a TT bike for Adam so if you have some equipment or can get a hold of some on the cheap that would also be a great way of helping out. There has also been the suggestion of pooling air miles to cover his air travel. This really is a donation as there are precious few traditional sponsorship benefits available to those of us supporting Adam, but it all helps.

Ideally, if there is ongoing interest, we would like to turn this project into the Tripleshot Junior Racing Bursary and award it to a deserving junior member on an annual basis. It fits well with our club mandate of developing the sport and - let's be honest - who among us wouldn't enjoy seeing the Tripleshot colours flying at Nationals?

A few more things about Adam:
His immediate goal is to make it to nationals this year.
Long term the goal is open, but in general the thinking is to see how far he can take it.
Adam is 17 and currently enrolled in his first year at UVic
He won the first and second race of the season that he entered on March 6 and 12 in Langley, the first races of the Escape Velocity Spring Series.
Last year, in his first year of racing, he won the Overall B series in the Victoria Cycling League
It is likely that, after this year, Adam will end up riding for one of the larger trade teams.
His efforts have landed him a spot on the BC Junior Team and he recently spent time at a Training Camp in California.

If you'd like to participate, talk to any of the exec (Peter, Lister, Bill, Sarah, Dillon, Geoff, Kim) at a ride or send a pm. It would be ideal to get this together before the end of April, so please let us know if you are interested in helping out. Thanks for considering how you can help this very Tripleshot project get off the ground. We'll see you on the road.

[jeremy]

It's not much but it's a start, I've got $20 with Adams name on it

[RyanC]

Geoff, I think this is a great proposal as I believe TSC is in a unique position to support Adam toward achieving his potential. Count me in.

I also think we might want to consider formalizing this type of support into a rider development program with individualized but specific criteria for application and qualification. That way we can give measured support with relatively lean club resources to offer several young riders opportunities when they show interest and potential. Alex is another rider that springs to mind who could benefit from this standardized club process.

Escape Velocity and Avia West are two programs that already have well established development processes in place

http://www.escapevelocity.bc.ca/evdevo

http://www.escapevelocity.bc.ca/deva

http://www.teamaviawest.com/team/development.shtml

It goes without saying that Adam shows the potential, tactical smarts, and the maturity to go far in cycling if he chooses and it and I would consider it an honour to support him. We have a very broad pool of cycling experience he can draw upon. Equipment can be loaned; time and experience can be shared. I am happy to contribute what $$ I can but I wonder if there are other more direct ways I can support his aspirations. Given that I am also planning (tentatively) to attend Masters Nationals, between the 30th and 3rd, I would be more than happy to help his family get him rolling and keep him there on the day (pre-race prep, mechanical support, feed zone, etc). If he's definitely doing the U23 event, I guess that means a little more time in Ont but whatever.

Adam, feel free to contact me about this or, if you have not already, perhaps make a formal proposal / plan with the club via this forum

Ryan

[Lister Farrar]

If he can use it, I have a cyclist friend in Burlington who may be able to provide an airport pick-up in Toronto, and accommodation in Burlington near the course. Does he need this?

Maybe rides to the races and bit of support (feeds, wheels,) depending on days of the week etc, too.

Can someone post days and dates and times of events and flights so I can check?

[Quentin]

I'd be honoured to donate some $$ to Adam's goal.

How about someone (Roland? Peter? Geoff?) setup a donation site?
Paypal makes this quite easy: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd= ... ro-outside

Adam: if you could grow 2 inches taller you could totally borrow my P2C (61cm). You'd make it go faster than I could ever dream!

[Roland]

My TT bike is available that week, and older Guru Chrono. If it was good enough for Simon Whitfield, it should be good enough for Adam.

I'll toss in a few bucks too. The only downside of PayPal is that they take a cut.

[jj12]

Ill toss in some dough towards his goal.

[steve]

This is a great idea and really what this club is all about. Like Ryan stated, it would be an honor to donate to Adam's cause; not only does he show great potential as an athlete, he is an incredibly mature, intelligent and likeable young man.

I'll be donating this week and would love to see some portion of the money we make from kit sales and race organization go to Adam and any other juniors attempting to further themselves.

Steve

[emilederosnay]

Hi,

Great initiative!

I will be going as well, and the elite nats are at the same time as the U23 (June 23-26). My sister lives in Etobicoke (West T.O.) and not far from Burlington, so that's an option — plus we can help out with transportation from the airport. However, Adam might want to contact midweek (http://www.midweekclub.ca/index.php?opt ... 8&Itemid=9) to see if there is host housing closer to the races.

Adam might also want to look into renting a time-trial macine from one of the Toronto bike shops. This is something I'm looking into myself, since it might cost the same as or manageably more than the airline bike stowage fees. Racer Sportif or Wheels of Bloor have tons of fancy TT bikes. I'll get back on that.

Let me know if I can help.

All the best,

Emile

[Kevin F]

I had a thought that the club could buy a set of carbon areo race wheels for somewhere...hmm do we know any wheel builders? These wheels could be loaned to worthy race causes such as Adam or anyone else going to an important race. Should there not be a specific race and rider combo required then they could go to regular club races. For the club racers we could have a random lottery for who gets them on Race day. For those that don't race we could have the same lottery style and they could be used on a TS group ride...say fast A ride on Saturday to get an advantage over Josh!

All TSers might then have a shot at the largest advantage in cycling without separating from the spouses, selling there offspring or other creative methods of financing.

[Lister Farrar]

My friend John in Burlington says he can do accomodation; just needs the dates. He's 10 km from the road course.

Adam is junior, which is a different weekend than the elite and U23.

[4827north]

This is a great idea. Count me in. In addition to a cash donation, I may be able to loan some wheels out to help Adam at nats. I'm just about to build up a set of Reynolds 66 mm carbon rims with Alchemy hubs and Schwalbe Ultremo HT tubular tires. These should help on the RR and TT, if so needed/desired.

Brad

[wonger]

Thanks all for your responses and support for Adam - it's kinda overwhelming! As soon as we figure out a way to manage all the logistics involved with this, we will follow up with everyone to coordinate the effort. Those who are donating money can either bring a cheque (to Tripleshot Cycling) to a ride and give it to one of the exec, or send me a pm and we can sort out something else. Thanks - Tripleshot rocks!

[wonger]

Hi All,

If you've been following the forums this spring, you will know that our boy Adam is keeping up his end of the bargain by getting significant racing results through the early part of the year. It's been fun to watch and it certainly makes it easier to support him as he continues his development. With nationals less than a month away, Adam is moving in the right direction.

There are a number of priorites that are governing Tripleshot's support (i.e. where the money will go) for Adam both for this year as well as beyond. These include:

1. MAP Test
2. Support (as required) for Nationals
3. Support for National Junior Project (if selected) as that is a partially self-funded project

If things all line up perfectly Adam has a shot (a small one but still a shot) at going to World’s this year. More realistically, he hits everyone that matters’ radar this year and gets selected for next year. The way to maximize the chance of his showing up on the radar is through attending (and performing) at big events and having some data to support results, hence the MAP test and nationals.

As far as support goes, Cycling BC has agreed to provide some suport for Adam at nationals through Team BC. This includes accommodation, general race organization (follow cars, feeding etc), racing kit (jersey/bibs/skinsuit) and transportation while there. Adam is responsible for airfare, registration, food, and any incidentals.

Tripleshot Support
First, thanks to all who have donated, offered support and suggestions for this project.

Donations - a number of members have suggested that they will be donating - if you could take care of that by the end of this week - May 27 - that would be helpful. Donations can be given to me, Peter or any other member of the executive. Or let me know and I can pick it up from you.

Airmiles -we have had one member offer to provide air miles toward a ticket for Adam. If there is anyone else out there who has surplus miles that they could donate, please let us know as soon as possible.


The objective is to see what help we can be to get Adam to go as far as he can. Thanks again for your support of this very Tripleshot project

[Chris Watt]

Hey Jeff- not forgotten and I'll drop off my cheque to your house later this week.

Cheers,
Chris

[steven grandy]

Adam could get his Map test for free if he agreed to participate in a study running out of UBC. I'm not sure if anything is happening at the moment but I've had it done 4 times with different researchers. Send me a pm if interested and I'll fire off a few emails to ask.

[steven grandy]

I forgot to add this: http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/2006/12/ ... ccess.html