December 23, 2013 – On Friday, December 20th, Wheels of Bloor held an annual Holiday Season Party to kick off the 2014 Campaign. We are excited to announce a partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada which represents another step in WOB giving back to the cycling community specifically and increasing the awareness of cycling and its benefits to the community at large.

What this means is that Wheels of Bloor will be assisting Heart and Stroke during 2014 with events around the Ride for Heart, specifically the media roll-out in early May at Dundas Square, participating in the ride together with, and assisting with the Niagara region VIP ride in August.

2014 Sponsors
We would like recognize our key sponsors Graywood Developments and Skyline International for their continuing support over the past three years. The following is a list of our 2014 sponsors:
– Graywood Developments
– Skyline International
– Autostyle Collision
– Andrew Cloutier Design
– The Butcher Shoppe
– World Fine Cars
– Giro
– Cervelo
– DMT
– Dr. Kuong W. Lo, Dentist

Hosting Races
Wheels of Bloor through a strong partnership with the OCA, Skyline Investments and Share the Road is hosting two Ontario Cup Road Races in 2014:

The first event will be the inaugural Grey County Road Race on May 10th, which will start at Blue Mountain village and after a single large loop (2 loops for elite, 1, 2 men) culminate with a climb up Scenic Caves road; for more details visit www.greycountyroadrace.com

The second event will be a return to Muskoka for the Lake of Bays Road Race on Aug 24th. Look for more details to be released in the new year about a family fun ride in partnership with Share the Road on Saturday Aug 23rd at the Deerhurst resort; www.lakeofbaysroadrace.com

WOB Elite team
In 2014 WOB will once again support an elite men’s team. The team will focus on Ontario events and take part in a selection of amateur races across the Northeast including the Canadian National Championships in Lac Megantic Quebec in late June. The team will consist of five riders including the return of Bruce Bird, Gaelen Merritt and Woody Marrouch.

Gaelen moved up to the elite 1,2 ranks at the end of 2012, and wasted no time in establish himself in the peloton in 2013 with a 7th place finish at the Good Friday race and then a 6th place at the tough Battenkill Cat 1 race before narrowly missing the podium with a 4th place at Lake of Bays.

Joining the team from the Oakville Cyclepath team is Anthony Sreblowski a 26 year old physiotherapist from Burlington, who moved up to the Elite 2 level in the 2013. Sreblowski made a big impression in his first top level race at the KW Classic making the winning break.

Rounding out the squad is Derrek Ivey, an established cyclist and former provincial Road and Hill Climb Champion (2010). Derrek spent the past two seasons in Europe, winning the Flexpoint Limburgs Mooiste classic, Netherlands, but then was involved in a crash breaking his back (2012). In 2013 Ivey won the Good Friday Road Race and finished 2nd at the Provincial ITT, despite his injury and only able to compete in a few local events. Bringing his European experience to Ontario cyclists, Derrek is proud to announce his move into coaching with Ivey League Coaching at www.iveyleaguecoaching.com “At Ivey League Coaching we strive in taking personal care and attention to our athletes. You can be a veteran to your cycling discipline or have never clipped in. Our goals are to see you reach yours, with dynamic programs scheduled to work with your ever evolving life.”

WOB Master 1 team
Returning to the Team in 2014 are:
– Bobby Mrvelj (Super Domestique)
– Chris Firek (2013 Midweek Series Winning, 2013 2nd place National Road)
– David Thompson
– Ian Scott (2013 National Crit & 2010 National Road Champion; 2010,12-13 Provincial Road Champion Masters B)
– Leo St Germain
– Matthias Schmidt (2009 & 12 OCUP Champion; 2011-12 Provincial Road & Crit Champion Masters A)
– Paolo Eugeni (Ontario M1 Champion in 3 different disciplines, Road, Criterium and Track)
– Rob D’Amico (2013 Tour de Hans Winner, 2011 National Crit Champion)
– Tony Abramavicious (2013 Battenkill Winner age 50-59)
– Victor Pwu
– Wielsaw Matuszczak (2012 Provincial Road 2nd place)
– Zbig Anusziewicz (2013 Provincial ITT Champion Masters C)

Joining the team in 2014 are:
– Jeff Douglas (2013 place Provincial Crit – 3rd)
– Mark Maybank
– Phil Hogkinson

Wheels of Bloor – National Jersey Tribute
With all the jerseys hung on the walls in the Wheels of Bloor shop we wanted to hang the first one to celebrate the team’s success over the years. The Canadian National Jersey has been won by the following Wheels of Bloor riders:
– 2007 Kevin Davis – Road Masters B
– 2008 Kevin Davis – Road Masters B
– 2010 Ian Scott – Road Masters B
– 2011 Bruce Bird – ITT Masters B
– 2011 Rob D’Amico – Criterium Maters B (Rob was riding for Z-Team in 2011 when he won the jersey)
– 2013 Ian Scott – Criterium Masters B