HOW DOES one figure that cycling is a team sport? Do the other members of the team push the designated leader up the Alpe d'Huez in the Tour de France or pull him with a bungee cord up Sierra road in the Tour of California? Of course not. The concept usually refers to the camaraderie in cycling, the mental and emotional support that gets the leader to the winning jersey at the finish line. Sometimes, however, they discover that their "team" is bigger than expected. When a rider the caliber of Shelly Olds comes along, not only does her misleadingly named all women's team Proman help, but so do as many cyclists as possible. Olds will be representing more than just Proman where she's going. She will be representing San Jose and the United States. Olds is set to race in the Track Cycling World Cups In Melbourne and Beijing.

To get her there, locals are collecting donations and even helping her train. That's where the people at Hellyer Park Velodrome come in. They have put together a series of races, now in their third session, called Ride the World Cups. This fundraiser was made to help send Olds to as many World Cup races as possible, and bring World Cup track racing to the United States in the process. A race was held last weekend at Hellyer Park and there are two more to be announced later in the season. Saturday's event had Scratch and Points races for cyclist categories C to A, the latter being the Elite, and the lap count ranged from 30 to 60, respectively. In this male-dominated field, Olds finished third in the points race and the 40-lap motor paced scratch race, and first place in the Flying Madison.

For more information on track cycling and more fundraisers for Shelly Olds go to [ http://www.ridetheworldcups.com/ ]www.ridetheworldcups.com.

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