It’s the beginning of a new season, CRCA Community!

The 2023 CRCA Board of Directors nomination period has concluded. By next week, you should receive an e-mail from our online election service to cast your vote. Further instructions will follow on that.

Below are the candidates for each position on the 2023 Board of Directors along with their personal statements. We appreciate you taking the time to read through to get to know each candidate before it is time to vote.

Thank you to everyone who nominated themselves or others for the board this year. Without all of you, CRCA would simply not be able to continue running.

If you have any questions please feel free to email secretary@crca.net or reach out to any of the current board members directly.

President

Emily Singleton

Hi! My name is Emily Singleton, and I am currently the club’s Membership Director, having served on the Board of Directors for the past 3 years. I am also a team leader on CRCA’s subteam Rockstar Games, where I’ve been an active racing member for the past 9 years. I am excited to be your nominee for CRCA President 2023!

Stepping into the role of Membership Director last year was a fun and fulfilling challenge. I got to meet and learn from more members (even just answering your emails), and I got a more intimate look at what it takes to make a full season of bike racing happen in NYC (hint: it's a lot!). The Board works incredibly hard every year to maintain our relationship with Parks and put every logistical piece into place to run a high-quality race series. That said, there's consistently discussion of initiatives for membership and community outreach that are difficult to achieve while maintaining the regular responsibilities of the role. As President, I plan to improve operational systems for roles across the Board and provide the perspective to achieve big-picture goals that are often lost in the minutia.

I am running for CRCA president because I have a passion for bike racing of all disciplines, and I sincerely care about growing this club that has given me so much -- including lifelong friends. Ultimately, this is a bike racing organization, and the goal is to provide our membership base with high quality racing and development experience, but we have a lot of work to do to truly grow the sport and make bike racing accessible and welcoming to all riders. As your president, I will use my years of racing and experience on the board to focus CRCA on improving operational functions, growing new members and bringing the best possible member and race experience in the tri state area. I will also continue the work of previous presidents by striving to break down barriers and working to unwind the racist and classist systems that are part of bike racing’s history and present. I would especially love to grow the womens fields by encouraging participation from womens/trans/femme riders. 

I look forward to next season with you all!

Director of Teams

Jean Luc Louis

Being a part of the CRCA board will provide me with the opportunity to be a part of an organization that gives cyclists similar to me a gateway into racing. Racing was never something I considered when I first started cycling during COVID, like many others, it was an outlet to cope with everything that was going on. As I spent more time on the bike I decided to join a team; still, with no intention of ever racing, I found myself surrounded by other riders who had race experience who then convinced me to try it. Let's say, I've never looked back. My relatability, knowledge, and experience make me a great fit for the Director of Teams position, I look forward to helping make CRCA racing the safest, most inclusive organization. 

Public Relations

Sarah Chubb-Sauvayre

I have been a CRCA member since 1997, when I first set out to use bike racing as cross training while I recovered from a running injury. The club was much smaller back then, and there were very few women's fields, so I first rode with the men's C field, where club stalwarts like Jim Boyd helped me figure out how to ride in a pack. I never went back to competitive running. :-)

Over the long span of my CRCA membership I have ridden with several great  and delightful women's teams, winning some Team Cups along the way. I've worked with beginner racers as part of the CRCA Beginners' Clinics, and more informally on group rides organized by my team to welcome new riders to the club. In 2019 I got my USAC Coaching license and have really enjoyed working with CRCA riders at member training as well as with a small group of individual clients.

I am a huge fan of CRCA, and I feel privileged to have raced in Central Park in almost every available race since I first started. (I did take a brief break in 1998 to have my second daughter). Throughout my membership in the club I have looked for ways to support its efforts, but I have not run for the board. I'm now self-employed, and can create enough flexibility to make the time to serve. My professional background is in media, publishing, communications, and marketing; I feel this prepares me well for the role of Director of Public Relations, as I have extensive experience working with sponsors and the media in general.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you for your consideration.

Vice President of Rider Development

Tara Parsons

I have been a CRCA member since 1997 and a CRCA coach since 2011. I was an active racer between 1995-2005, and a few years later I began coaching. I love bike racing, and I love helping others to love bike racing. 

During my time as a rider, and later as a coach, I’ve had the opportunity to work with other amazing coaches—they’ve made the CRCA coaching program what it is today, one of the best club-level coaching programs there is. These coaches have been a true inspiration to me, and I want to help the CRCA continue its legacy of developing strong and skilled riders. 

As a board member for CRCA for seven years, as well as a veteran educator and cyclist, VP of Rider Development is a role that I know well. I am familiar with the scheduling and admin work with USACycling and I also know what’s needed to improve our program to keep our racers succeeding. 

I am looking forward to the continued  challenge and the opportunity of serving the CRCA community in the position of VP of Rider Development.

Vice President of Club Racing

Charlie Stein

Hello! I am Charlie Stein, your current VP of Club Racing. I am running for VP of Club Racing again. As your VP of Club Racing I will continue to find ways to make racing in central park enjoyable, challenging and safe. It is my goal to deliver the CRCA membership the best race experience in the area.

Treasurer

Mitchell Napolitano

I have served for 4 seasons as Treasurer for CRCA. Through my experience as Treasurer I have mastered the various tools used by my predecessors to manage the clubs finances, and expanded on the toolkit used for payments and billing. I was responsible for managing the clubs overall budget, handing out prize money, and paying the many contractors and vendors that help make races happen. Managing the accounting for reimbursements, USAC officials, Central Park Conservancy, marshalls, etc took up a large chunk of the operational time of the position. At the conclusion of each season, I spend time reconciling the books, filing taxes for the club, and drafting the next season's budget. I am seeking reelection to the CRCA Board of Directors in 2023 as Treasurer. I am looking forward to continuing to serve the cycling community of New York City and specifically our CRCA members. In 2023 I plan to focus on further digitizing CRCA’s financial accounting, continue creating sources of recurring revenue outside of membership/sponsors, and expand the CRCA's digital footprint for billing and payments.

Membership Director

Stephanie Luff

Involvement with the Club and bike racing community:

• Started racing in 2021, almost entirely race within NYC

• Raced one CP Open race in 2021 and loved it, vowing to join the following year

• The 2022 season was my first year as a member and raced club/open races and Grant's Tomb

Motivation for running:

• I would like to be more plugged into the NYC cycling community

• I've come to appreciate how much effort goes into coordinating the races I love and want to help support them

• I believe that one way I can support WTFNB cyclists is by having a seat at the table and making sure our voices are heard

Why I'm a good fit for the role:

• I am able to communicate needs and expectations in a diplomatic manner

• I enjoy creating and maintaining organizational systems and databases

• I already have friendly relationships with many teams and captains

Communications Director

David Shirzad

Hello! My name is David Shirzad and I have been a CRCA member for 4 years now. CRCA has been an important part of my life since moving to NYC. Since my first road race in 2019 in Central Park, I have gotten to be a part of two sub-teams, moved up to Cat-2, and served a year on the Board. 

Last year was my first time being on the CRCA Board and I served as Communications Director. Over that time, I learned a ton about the different responsibilities of the role and we were able to grow the CRCA Instagram following by an additional 500 followers. One of the things I learned is important is that we find new ways to connect and update our members around different areas of focus. For next year, if elected, one of the new things I plan to do is to create a newsletter that goes out to members after each race that outlines a short synopsis of the race, top line results, any pics we have, and address any issues that may have arisen during the race. I hope that by raising the frequency of communication with members and addressing any issues in a timely manner, we can see our community continue to thrive and grow.  

I am excited for the opportunity to continue serving the CRCA community and hope that you will consider voting for me!

Marshal Director

No candidates for voting.

Director of Open Racing

Alex Klafehn

Hey! I’m Alex; the current Director of Open Racing. Throughout my tenure, we've seen a summer Grant's Tomb, an increase in the production value of our Open Racing events, as well as acting as the PR/Sponsorship board role to secure additional funding and support for CRCA. Outside of CRCA, I'm an Event Manager with NYCRUNS as well as being one half of the Race Director team for Croton Cross, a brand new two-day cyclocross race in Westchester this past October.

For the 2023 CRCA open racing season, my goals as the Director of Open Racing will be to ensure that any events in 2023 are safe for everyone involved; continue the tradition from past seasons of developing races to be more inclusive & supportive for underrepresented groups within the cycling scene; and continue to build up the quality of our events for our community.

Secretary

Josh Sakofsky

Hi!
My coffee making skills have only improved over the course of this past year and I’m an expert with doodle polls at this point. I don’t get to race as much as I’d like to these days, so I enjoy being connected to the racing community and giving back to something that has given me joy as much as I currently can!

Director of Advocacy

Nathan Brauer

I humbly nominate myself to continue in my role as Director of Advocacy for CRCA for a third and final year.

I have three goals for this year:

1. Promote More kids on bikes. Kids who ride bikes now are potential future club members.

2. Participate in the board activities that make bike racing in Central Park possible and work on behalf of the club to maintain relations with local agencies.

3. Inform club membership of opportunities to make cycling a tool for civic improvement.