ECHELON ’09 COLLEGIATE CYCLING LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE LEADING UP COLLEGIATE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

FORT COLLINS, CO – April 23, 2009 – The Fort Collins Cycling Festival is excited to be hosting Echelon on May 6th & 7th, leading up to Collegiate Road National Championships! This is the first ever collegiate cycling leadership conference and it will cover a broad range of topics in order to equip coaches, team captains and managers to effectively operate collegiate cycling teams.

Echelon is a multi-day conference benefiting attendees in many ways. The conference includes the opportunity to hear from a wide range of experts flying in from around the nation. A complete list of speakers will be released in the next few days. Attendees will also have the opportunity to connect with other leaders in the world of collegiate cycling including team captains, coaches, USA Cycling staff, and team managers. The information provided will assist attendees in growing their teams or coaching business. In addition, all USA Cycling Coaches are offered a special registration rate and will earn Continuing Education Credits (CEUs). Because much of the information presented is applicable with triathlon teams, USA Triathlon is also offering CEU credits and a special registration rate (1.5 USAC CEUs and 3.5 USAT CEUs). Topics at Echelon include how to maintain sponsorship, harnessing the power of social media, organizing a bike race, aerodynamics and the wind tunnel, and coaching the Female Athlete: Lessons, Lies, and Planning Success. Conference attendees will be encouraged to use Twitter throughout the conference to allow those not in attendance to follow the discussions. Echelon, in conjunction with Collegiate National Championships, is using the hashtag “#fccf” and individuals are encouraged to follow the Tweets about Echelon at http://tr.im/twfccf.

Background: The Fort Collins Cycling Festival (FCCF), established in 2008, is promoting five cycling event weekends in 2009, including four road races, six mountain bike races, three bike tours & three cycling related events. These events will draw over 2,500 racers from over 40 states and five countries with over 10,000 spectators. For the past two years FCCF has, in collaboration with Rams Cycling, hosted Collegiate National Road Championships. Many of the FCCF promoted events benefit local community organizations, such as Child Safe and Colorado State University’s GSSE Program. All FCCF events are able to minimize waste thanks to a partnership with Zero Hero. FCCF embraces the power of social media with Facebook Pages for each event weekend and Facebook Events for each individual event. Our Twitter account is regularly updated and tweets use the hashtag “#fccf”.

Learn more: Facebook http://tr.im/Echelon09 | Twitter http://tr.im/fccftw | FCCyclingFest.com