Description

Since 2005 Webcor/Alto Velo has awarded several season-long coaching scholarships each year to Alto Velo athletes of all ability levels who want to bring their racing to the next level under the guidance from a coach. For this program, Alto Velo has partnered with Dan Smith of SportVelo. As part of this experience, Coach Dan helps the athletes set season goals, provides detailed daily training schedules to help achieve those goals, and provides feedback on training and racing throughout the season. The athletes in turn provide weekly training reports and race reports to the club email list and are expected to contribute to the club through volunteering.

In 2007 and 2008, the scholarship was expanded with a test program of consultation scholarships. The purpose of the consultation is to give athletes a one-time meeting with a coach to discuss training, personal weakness areas, or to plan out a multi-month training schedule based on the consultation. The consultation program is taking a break for 2009 but might return in the future.

Applications for scholarships are requested in September-October of each year with an announcement to the club email list. Applications are judged by committee based on 1) commitment to racing, 2) commitment to Alto Velo, and 3) Coachability. Awards are announced ideally in time for the athletes to start with their coach around November. If you have a question about the scholarship program, contact the scholarship coordinator, Rob MacNeill, at robmacneill at gmail dot com.

John E. Peckham, a valued Alto Velo member, was among the recipients of this scholarship in its inaugural year. He was progressing well in his training and racing when his life was cut short in a terrible tragedy. In his memory, Mary Ann Parker, John's mother, donated a generous grant through which the scholarships are now funded.

Past and Present Recipients

2010

• Mary Ellen Allen: Masters racer with a TT and track focus. She has national and district track championship titles to her credit and is aiming for a rainbow jersey in the 2k pursuit in 2010!
• Richard Allen: Husband of Mary Ellen with a similar racing focus on track and time trialing. He is the district pursuit champion (individual and team) for 2009 in his age group. Richard's goals for 2010 are to improve his time trialing as well as to achieve results at masters track districts, nationals, and worlds.
• James Allen: James is a masters racer returning to the sport after an extended break to build his career and family. James has an extensive background in road cycling, having raced and trained with some of the pioneers in American cycling in the '80's. He is currently a Cat 4 on the road, is looking forward to a full season of racing, and hopes to upgrade to Cat 3 by season's end.
• Mike Grundmann: Mike is a Cat 3 road cyclist with a desire to learn how to train effectively while balancing life's other demands. He has had many strong finishes in tough road races like Pescadero and Mt. Hamilton. In 2009, he'd like to continue to score results and upgrade to Cat 2.
• James Porter: James is a recently upgraded Cat 3 masters racer that has been racing for the past 3 seasons. 2009 was a breakout year for him with several top 5's in some tough 35+ Cat 4 races. In 2010, his goal is to be competitive in the 35+ 1/2/3 and Cat 3 categories.

• Annie Fulton: Started the season as a cat 4 and upgraded to cat 3 by March. She is now a member of the Alto Velo Bridge Team presented by SportVelo.
• Lauren Hecht is a continuing scholarship recipient. She is currently a member of the Alto Velo Bridge Team presented by SportVelo and of the USA Cycling Development team.
• Eliot Logan: Longtime club member with a track focus.
• Ryan Parnes: Cat 1. New to the club this season. A big talent. Member of the Alto Velo Men’s Elite Team.
• Ryan Prsha: Cat 2. Recently upgraded from cat 3 to 2, already making his mark in P12 races. Member of the Alto Velo Men’s Elite Team.

• James Badia started as a Cat 2 and upgraded to Cat 1(!) during his scholarship. He is a powerful sprinter and an integral member of the Alto Velo Men’s Elite Team.
• Neil Harrington started his scholarship as Cat 3 and soon to be Cat 2 rider. He spent the year racing a lot, learning a lot and assimilating to the demands of P12 racing as a member of the Alto Velo Men’s Elite Team. A season highlight was his participation in Superweek in Illinois/Wisconsin.
• Lauren Hecht started as a green Cat 4 and worked her way up to Cat 2 by season’s end. She is a strong all around rider who can do well in any event from technical crits to the hardest road races.
• Kevin Susco is a masters racer (45+) who dominates most of the hilly, hard races he enters. Kevin used the scholarship to learn how to train more effectively in his pursuit of even more results.
• Peter Tapscott is a mult-displine masters rider who likes road and track racing. Peter had a few injury setbacks during the season but somehow came back from them all and still put a great season together.

• Dan Connelly: Longtime club member and cat 3 racer. Dan used his consultation to outline a rough training program for the season.
• Dylan Hruska: Dylan was a junior racer who used his consultation to get general advice about racing and training.

• Erin Dunn started the scholarship as a Cat 3 racer with some road experience and a triathlon background. She did well all season, scoring lots of results.
• Aaron Paterson is a strong rider with a college wrestling background. During his scholarship, he raced as a cat 3 and had a lot of success.
• Brian Peterson: As acting club president, Brian had a phenomenal season in 2007. During his scholarship, he focused on track racing and ended up with two Masters National Championship titles by season's end in the Points Race (35-39) and Madison (30+ with Steve Pelaez). He also raced at Elite Track Nationals that season.

• Carola Berger is a cat 2 who used the consultation to learn how to balance a demanding work schedule and a comeback attempt after multiple injuries.
• Daniel Black: A frequent B-ride participant, Daniel was a junior Cat 4 racer looking for advice to improve his overall training approach and racing performance.
• Peter Dinolfo: Peter was a busy postdoc at Stanford and Cat 2 racer with the Alto Velo Men’s Elite Team. From his consultation, Peter was looking for guidance on preparing a season long training plan. He has since moved out of the area after accepting a professorship at RPI in Troy, New York.
• Greg Gomez: At the time of his consultation, Greg was a cat 3 racer, looking for guidance on training effectively, and specifically seeking advice on strength training for cycling. Greg has since upgraded to Cat 2 and is now a member of Alto Velo Men’s Elite Team.
• Randall Stafford: Randall was a Cat 4 racer in 2007, looking for advice to help his preparation in the 2007 World Transplant Games.
• Kevin Susco is a masters racer (45+) who dominates most of the hilly, hard races he enters. Kevin used the scholarship to learn how to train more effectively in his pursuit of even more results.
• Shin Umeda was a cat 3 and longtime racer who now mostly focuses on masters racing. He used his consultation to plan his coming back from hip injury. He has since upgraded to Cat 2.
• Mike Vella is a longtime club member and Cat 3 racer. He used his consultation to help balance life as a new father with training and racing.

• Peter Cazalet is a former professional triathlete and Olympic distance world championships participant. After a break from sport to pursue family life and his profession, he came back to cycling. Peter was a Cat 3 during his scholarship, subsequently upgraded to Cat 2, and is now a valued member of the Alto Velo Men’s Elite Team.
• Petro Hizalev is a gifted climber. He did a lot of racing in the Cat 3's and scored several results during his scholarship, mostly in the hilly hard races.
• Rory Osbrink: During his scholarship, Rory raced with the USA Deaf Cycling Team and represented them at the World Deaf Cycling Championships, which was held in Northern California that year. He competed in three events: the Road Race (Pesky), the Time Trial (9th), and the Points Race (Final Round, Hellyer). During the year, Rory was able to move from Cat 5 to 4 on the road and from Cat 5 to 3 on the track with some solid results. Rory is now using the knowledge gained to empower other Deaf cyclists.
• Peggy Prendergast was relatively new to racing and used the scholarship to become an effective racer. She did well in many crits that season.

• Ben Albracht: Cat 4 at start of scholarship, upgraded to cat 3 by the end. Won his first Cat 3 race (Winters RR)! Has since left the area to pursue a degree in Psychology at Cal Poly SLO.
• Joe Manning: Egyptian scholar and part time bike racer, Joe used the scholarship to learn how to balance work and training and how to be a better racer.
• Rob MacNeill started the scholarship as a new Cat 3, won a few races, won the NCNCA Cat 3 BAR competition, and upgraded to Cat 2 by season’s end. Rob is now a member/manager of the Alto Velo Men’s Elite Team.
• John Peckham was a Cat 4 at the start of the scholarship and quickly started racking up results. By 2006, John upgraded to Cat 2 and was a member of the Alto Velo Men’s Elite Team. In Septmber 2006, John was struck down by a motorist while out training, which was a huge loss for the club as well as his friends, family, and professional colleagues.

Further details and bios of past and present scholarship athletes are forthcoming.