2013 Year-End Summary: By Eric Roy

Rose Bike Racing has wrapped up for the 2013 season, and I wanted to take a moment and give you a quick summary of the year.  100% of funds from our sponsors went directly towards jersey costs (all purchased jerseys were heavily subsidized, racers were reimbursed for jersey costs), and a small material donation to the Local NEMBA Chapter for plastic cards to mark the race loop at UMaine.  Be sure to thank all of our sponsors... we do not exist without them.

To put it simply, people noticed the swarm of shamrock jerseys in the crowd.  Every race organizer in Maine made a point of contacting me to thank our team for supporting their events.  I was also approached by the local FOX/ABC affiliate to do a feature on mountain biking in our area, and they plastered our team jersey throughout the 2 minute segment.  

A quick rundown of achievements and statistics for the 2013 season:

• Our team was represented in 25 races in Maine and all over the United States.
• More than 30 people on our team raced this year, tallying more than 100 race appearances overall
• Team rider Niki Milleson finished 7^th overall in the National Ultra Endurance Series
• Team Rider Delia Massey finished 1^st overall in the highly competitive  MFG Cat 4 Cyclocross Series
• By my count, we had athletes reach the podium 30 times in 2013 for their respective age group and racing level, including multiple top 3 finishes from several team riders.
• Team Rider Jeremy Bousquet logged just under 1500 miles for charity in 2013, and he’ll be making the jump to racing in 2014.
• Our team blog has received over 2500 hits since it went live in March.

Despite overall success in 2013, we have reason to believe that 2014 is going to be even better.  We have already added several racers to the roster for 2014, and we are always looking for more.  If you know of anyone who wants to learn more about the Qualey Granite/Rose Bike Team, have them contact me on Facebook, or rosebikeracing (at) gmail.com.  There is also a FAQ tab on the blog.  The same contact information can be used for sponsorship information as well.

Because I’m a nerd, I have posted a few graphs that highlight our growth as a team over the past couple of years.