Team Somerset is a local bicycle racing team with most members in Somerset and Hunterdon Counties. The team is well known for legendary famous cyclists such as Joe Saling, Brooke Wilson, and Elizabeth (Betty) Terrell. Our women's team and 35+ men's team have enjoyed great success over the years. This past fall season brought a new element to the team's accomplishments within the discipline of Cyclocross. Cross (as it is known), is generally a 40-45 minute race and spans mostly off-road terrain including grass, dirt, various trails etc. It also includes periodic barriers and run-ups where a cyclist must dismount the bike and then remount smoothly without losing a lot of time. While not as technical and rugged as mountain biking, cross can be done with a mostly road bicycle frame (with some exceptions) and has been used by road cyclists as a great "cross" training option in the fall to keep fit and sharp for racing.
This season (September through December) brought success, excitement, and quite a bit of fun to the members of the team that tackled cross. The NJ race season consisted of 10 "cup" events, and several larger regional events, with various venues throughout the state including races from Bridgeton to Augusta, including the former Craigmeur ski resort. The team finished second in a tightly contested cup schedule out of a large contingent of racing teams. For much of the season, however, Team Somerset led the NJ Cup and several of its members actually won their individual categories for the season including Dag Anderson in the juniors 10-14 category, Martin Jones in 45+, and Larry Dudek in 55+. Dag was also a NJ State champion.
Some highlights of the season included several wet muddy contests at Thompson Park in Jamesburg, the NJ State Championships at Augusta, and a snowy excursion up in frigid Skylands Park (Augusta). The early part of the season also included a rugged steamy event up in Mahwah at the Westwood Velo race where temperatures reached 90 degrees. Perhaps the most treacherous event took place in Kansas City at the CX Nationals where Joe Saling and Dag Anderson took the trek out to the midwest in freezing temperatures and icy conditions. In in all, however, it was a great season and included lots of challenges. There were several members who tried Cross for the first time (including myself), as well as others who returned to it after a several year absence. We look forward to an even larger contingent next year as the sport has grown in terms of races offered and overall interest.
We are quite proud of our efforts and just wanted to share this information with the local community. The Team enjoyed the holidays and we are now beginning our base work for road racing season in March/April.
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