December 5/02 2:49 am - Gears Racing MTB 2003

Posted by Editor on 12/5/02
 

Gears Racing Institute 2003 Mountain Bike Team
Courtesy Gears Racing

Toronto, Canada, December 4, 2002: Mr. Mark S. Bonham, Chairman, and Mr. Kevin Wallace, President, of the Gears Racing Institute ("GRI") are today very pleased to announce the composition of the Gears Racing Mountain Bike Team for the year 2003. The complete list of racers signed to the team is listed below.

"The coming year promises to be a very exciting one for Gears Racing," stated Kevin Wallace. "Without a doubt, we are building on the success of past years by attracting new talent of a very high caliber to the team while welcoming back our previous racers. Our reputation as a development team that places its greatest emphasis on meeting the needs of the racers themselves has drawn significant interest to our organization. The GRI will continue that emphasis in 2003 as we strive to help individuals meet their goals"

As Canada's largest development team in the sport of mountain biking, management took the objective of matching seasoned and experienced athletes with promising up-and-coming future stars on the racing scene. "This strategy worked extremely well in the past year, with riders such as Kiara Bisaro, Ricky Federau, Frederic Bussieres, Martin Lazarski, and Sue Trimble showing consistently impressive personal bests as the season progressed", Kevin stated. "These results were due, in large part, to the positive team atmosphere and mentoring process adopted by returning team members Mathieu Toulouse, Julian Hine, and Trish Sinclair."

"This year, we welcome new junior racers to the team, such as gold medal winner in the Team Relay at the World Championships - Max Plaxton, plus Sophie-Anne Blanchette, and Catherine Vipond. As well, we have a number of senior racers joining at the National Team level, such as Tim Oliver and Matt Patterson, who are ready to prove themselves at this demanding level of competitive racing. Because of their personal success, individuals such as Kiara Bisaro and Ricky Federau can now act as mentors to these riders along with Matt, Trish, and Julian."

Gears Racing is proud to be sponsored by Shimano Canada, Specialized Bicycles, Sugoi and Bonham & Co. Inc. As part of the development program, team members participate in a training camp held in the spring in Phoenix, Arizona as well as several team-specific training events. As an example, this year the GRI is pleased to announce the addition of Marnie McBean, a 3-time Olympic Gold Medal winner in the sport of rowing, to the management team. Marnie will provide specific training and counseling on the development of a positive winning mindset that is necessary to excel at the highest levels of competition.

The Gears Racing Institute is a specialist, non-profit foundation created to identify and develop world-class competitive mountain bikers for Canada. For more information on the team, visit www.gearsracing.com

Team Roster:

North American Male, Senior
Mathieu Toulouse
Julian Hine
Ricky Federau

North American Female
Trish Sinclair
Kiara Bisaro

National Espoir Male
Frederic Bussieres
Adam Coates
Martin Lazarski

National Junior Male
Max Plaxton

National Male
Greg Reain
Michael Dennis
Tim Oliver
Matt Patterson

National Female
Sue Trimble
Sophie-Ann Blanchette

National Junior Female
Catherine Vipond

Ontario Provincial Male
Jeff Weber
Craig Hawkes
Paul Skafel
Shawn Ito

Provincial Female
Danelle Kabush
Heather King
Nancy Manning

Provincial Junior Male
Paul Brown
Cameron Mackenzie
Warren Manning

Provincial Female Junior Female
Liza-Jane Manning

Team Management
Kevin Wallace, President
Ira Kargel, Vice-President
Ron Vanderleeuw, Team Captain/Head Mechanic
Ryan Hindmarsh, Training/Development Manager
Marnie McBean, Training/Development Manager