CT Bike Racing closes out summer season
Final criterium brings 197 cyclists to Rentschler Field
EAST HARTFORD — Last Tuesday night, 197 cyclists from across Connecticut gathered at Rentschler Field to ride their final criterium of the summer.
Ben Stokes, a junior at Fairfield College Preparatory school this fall, rode in the B race, which consisted of 72 riders. He finished second to teammate David Thompson.
“It is a different aspect of normal friendship because we get to see each other working really hard, and there’s comradery because we have to work together in races. Like today, David got away and Alex [St. Andre] and I stayed with the pack” Stokes, 16, said after his race.
The Connecticut Cycling Advancement Program has over 45 programs across the state with various bike events for each season: spring mountain biking, summer on the road, fall cyclocross and winter including a virtual riding program. This year, the CCAP summer criterium series ran from May until last week, weather permitting, on Tuesday nights.
The road races began at 5 p.m. with various age groups.
Stokes, from the TT Endurance team, and his teammates have been regulars at the weekly CCAP Tuesday Night Criterium series at Rentschler Field this summer.
He began riding when he was 3 and started competitive bike racing in 2015, with coach Guy Poirier with the CCAP Ridgefield Bicycle Company Junior Team. He then trained and raced for years on the CCAP Fairfield County Youth Cycling Team — coached by Monika Stokes, his mother and director of Youth Program Administration for CCAP.
“The kids on the TT Endurance team are great kids. They have been riding together through the pandemic, socially distant, and they have scheduled rides with their coach. They ride and they cross train with some breaks all year round,” Monika Stokes said.
Stella Lipar, 9, is in her first year racing. Prior to the pandemic, she could not ride a bike, but after her older brother Jonah taught her
how, she was able to race at CCAP this summer. Her mother, Michelle Lipar, says, “They are really good at making it affordable. The whole Connecticut Cycling Advancement Program
always is making bikes and giving them to kids. If you can’t afford it, they can be super expensive. They are sharing parts and are trying to make there be outreach for everyone in the biking community.”
Part of CCAP mission is to “provide grants to schooland community-based programs and youth cycling clubs across the state, enabling new riders to join us on introductory rides, trail days, and our 40+ seasonal races and public events.”
As the last criterium of the season wrapped up, many riders were excited for the fall cyclocross season.