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by David Silenzi
Boston Road Club 1981-2005
The Boston Road Club has been in existence for over
20 years and has been conducting the Wells Avenue Training series non-stop
since its inception. Most New England racers can simply say are you
going Wells? And nothing more needs to be said. The BRC has provided
racers a training ground for both the most experienced racer to the
utmost beginner for many years. This has been accomplished by providing
for at least 3 level of races during the Sunday morning ritual as well
as including clinics of various types and levels. This has been accomplished
through the volunteer efforts of many during its long and successful
existence.
How did the Boston Road Club come into existence? That has been asked
and passed on for many years by its founders and early members. BRC
was actually formed by an individual who regularly attended the North
East Bicycle Club races at Hanscom Air Force Base. At that time, N.E.B.C.
was conducting a training race and time trial in nearby Concord. The
training race, a criterium, was conducted on a 1 mile loop called Tinkers
Loop every Thursday night. Most of the time it did not categorized levels
of races since it was in the early evenings. It was very popular and
often accommodated over 100 riders a night, with Dick Ring often running
the race. It was very difficult for new riders to learn and to do it
safely.
After witnessing many riders falling off the back, and an increased
number of crashes, Jack Chaesty decided to form the BRC, its primary
mission being to help out new racers. He combined the efforts of other
NEBC riders to help him with that mission. That took place one evening
at TT Bears, where Chris Ryan, Simon LeVay, and David Silenzi came up
with the $210 for USCF insurance for that race season. For the first
couple years the founders ran the race at Wells Avenue. Attendance was
sparse, as well as membership, but the club continued to grow season
after season. It was not uncommon to find Chris running the race and
David being the "cop" at the corner every Sunday. As for Jack,
he was in the Army Medical Corps, part of the 101st Airborne, and had
to leave on assignment. The last we heard from Jack he was still in
the Army somewhere in the MidWest. Simon was a research scientist and
worked in the Boston area hospitals. Simon did attain national attention
when we saw him on National TV talking about the research he was doing
on a AIDS in California.
Today BRC continues to satisfy the local riders by putting on a variety
of races and functions. Wells has been attracting over 1,500 "starts"
in the last several years. In the past we also had races where tandems
were allowed, as well as a women's series. At one time BRC even had
a mountain bike version of the race. Probably the best known BRC race,
however, was the Marlboro Road Race. We actually took over this function
from NEBC. The Marlboro Road Race usually attracted well over 300 racers
every season from all parts of the country, not to mention the teams
Canada would send down. Unfortunately the Marlboro Road Race was cancelled
due to the new exit on Route 495 that entered on the fastest part of
the down hill backstretch! However BRC did secure the VeryFine Road
Race course recently to fulfill our race obligation. Also, new last
year was the Beaver Brook Cyclecross Race, that we hope we can continue
in future years. This comes only out of a real desire and hard work
of the many volunteers who have helped perform the thankless tasks necessary
for putting on a bike race. Not to mention the numerous sponsors that
have contributed money throughout the years.
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