Contributor of the Year

Wagner Sousa – 2023
 
Our 2023 Contributor of the Year is Wagner Sousa! Wagner spent several weekends securing and reinforcing our storage containers to protect our rental fleet and other property. Our velodrome has experienced some losses, but with Wagner’s help we should be in a better place to rebuild our rental fleet and prevent future theft.
 
Our three other nominees received quite a few votes and I know many wished they could vote for more than one. The Hellyer community extends its thanks to Andrew Lanier for his continued support of our juniors program, Gabby Zacks and Stephen Doll for going above-and-beyond in running sessions and bringing people out to the track, and Annabell Holland for all of her effort behind the scenes keeping the velodrome operating.

Andrew Lanier – 2022

Andrew has been involved with the Hellyer Juniors program for 20+ years and has led the program for the last 12 years. Andrew coaches weekly Juniors sessions, directs our Junior Championship event and travels to National Championship events to coach the Hellyer Juniors. We are forever indebted to Andrew for his long term contributions to the Hellyer Velodrome community.

Also nominated:
Matt Martinez and the SkyExpress team for promoting our ’22 Wednesday Night Track League series for 22 nights, our Masters and Elites Championships and various other races. 

Lisa Kiratsous for her hard work behind the scenes as the NCVA Treasurer, managing our Online Registration and improving other administration processes. 

Michael Dhuey – 2021

Michael’s contributions have increased Hellyer’s public presence and rekindled our community’s passion for capturing our biking on film (er.. digital bits?). Hellyer depends very much on word of mouth and the folks in our community sharing their experiences. Michael’s generosity with his time and equipment has led to a growth of racers sharing their own action videos with friends and potential new track racers.

Also nominated:
Erik Salander has also been a perennial favorite thanks to his hard work on the Board of Directors and volunteering his time with maintaining the track. All of us have seen the results of his hard work in the condition and appearance of the velodrome.

 
The Overhaul Team – 2020

The team was led by Fergus Tanaka and included Aaron Garcia, Ana Regalado, Chris Bonilla, Dustin Long, John Benet, Roddy Gilchrist, and Wagner Sousa. They rebuilt ~40 of our rental bikes with standard setups and common parts, and then finished them off with new powder coats. With any luck, these beautiful bikes will see some action next year!
 
Second place goes to Annabell Holland for all of the time and energy she put into getting approval for the velodrome to reopen. She spent countless hours working with the County to allow us to re-open while minimizing the risks to ourselves or the community. Without her efforts, the velodrome would have remained closed during the pandemic.
Also nominated:
 

Doug and Dana Ambrisko were responsible for upgrading the office lighting to LED and adding lighting to the rental containers. They also reinforced the bleachers and installed a new sign for the judge’s stand. 

The Supervisor Team – Andrew Lanier (all Juniors sessions, BTW!!!), Annabell Holland, BJ Gicquel, Joe Atmore, Lary Nolan, and Mark Rodamaker. They came out and ran sessions after the velodrome received approval to operate under new restrictions. With them, none of us would have been able to use the track.

Erik Salander performed asphalt patching and some painting of the velodrome, as well as the unglamorous, but necessary tasks like weeding, leaf blowing, and edging. 

Erik Salander – 2019 

Chris Bonilla – 2016, 2017, 2018

Chris started in the beginner sessions as a new rider 4 years ago and has quickly established himself as a valuable mentor in Saturday morning sessions and junior programs. So glad to have him as a full-fledged supervisor in 2019!

He’s a great example of taking initiative and stepping up to help where he can. Did I mention that he is only 18 years old?
 

In 2018, Chris was frequently the first person in the parking lot on Saturday mornings, greeting the supervisor and asking how he can help in the session. He helped with the rental bikes, orienting new riders, registration and waivers and lead several portions of the beginner sessions (with a shadow supervisor). Thank you Chris for your dedication to the velo!

Jonathan Racine – 2015 

“Jonathan Racine volunteered as our President for two years and doesn’t even ride the track.” 

“He put on almost every championship event in the last two years, dealt with not one but two audits, and brought our fund balance from less than $5K when he started to over $50K?” 

“He is a champion for all racing in the Bay Area, great promoter and stepped in as president to help keep Hellyer available to the entire community.”

2014 Volunteer of the Year - Fergus Tanaka

Fergus Tanaka – 2014

“Fergus has not only become a Supervisor, which he leads the Beginner Saturday session, but has also promoted a number of races this year. The reason why I think he deserves to be the Volunteer of the Year, is he stepped up to own the rental bike fleet. In a very short time, has transformed a system, documenting each bike’s status and has made repairs on all bicycles.”

“I’d like to nominate Fergus for V of Year. He renovated our rental fleet, promoted many events, and supervised Saturday sessions.”

“Gave everything he could to promote races this year even became a new supervisor! Promoted Wednesdays, Fridays and additional weekends when needed!”