Next month the complete Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team will be meeting in Agoura Hills, California for a week long training camp. It is during this time that the team will meet with the press, conduct team building exercises, focused training sessions and attend anti-doping presentations by USADA and coaching staff.

Prior to camp, select team members will be performing wind tunnel testing in Fort Collins, Colorado with the team’s general manager and technical advisor, Steve Owens.

“Working with Rahsaan(Bahati) and Nathan (O’Neill) will give us the opportunity to explore some creative new theories. Specifically new ideas surrounding sprinting and time trial positions should provide a competitive advantage,” said Owens.

While this will be the first time the team will be together as a unit, Bahati Foundation riders have already recorded solid results in local southern California races. Devin Dunn, a 19 year old from South Africa and a member of the amateur squad, was third in the Boulevard road race in San Diego county. The following day at the Red Trolley Criterium in San Diego, Bahati took the win.

Rahsaan Bahati’s 2009 season could best be described as rocky. He was a member of the Rock Racing team, but due to the UCI rules regarding the average age and the amount of riders allowed on a continental status team, was bumped down to the amateur squad. Later in the season he was reinstated to the pro team, but remained vocal about how the team was being led. As the 2009 season came to an end, it was apparent that Bahati and Rock Racing were going to part ways.

Bahati decided to launch a team that would allow him to give back to the community that supported him early on in his career.

Bahati Foundation Cycling Team’s mission is to inspire youth in inner-city and underserved communities. Through partnerships with event promoters and local bike shops, the Foundation hopes to create a platform for ongoing and sustainable support for youth involvement in the sport of cycling. The Foundation schedules speaking engagements to motivate and inspire youth in tandem with race day field trips that include hands-on experience in all areas of a pro cycling team.

The Bahati Foundation team is contesting the NRC calendar that includes the Redlands Bicycle Classic and Manhattan Beach Grand Prix, but is hoping to earn invites to America’s own big stage races like the Tour of California and the Tour of Missouri.

Bahati is a multi-national champion who has built a reputation as a fearsome sprinter. His victories are typically in the American specialty, the criterium. His most recent national champion win is the 2008 national criterium championship held in Downers Grove.

2010 Pro Team Roster:
Rahsaan Bahati
Nathan O’Neill
Hilton Clarke
Jason Donald
Matt Rice
Cesar Grajales
Ryan Baumann
Corey Collier
Bobby Lea
Alex Hagman
Peter Carey
Phillip Mann
Evan Hyde
Ian Burnett
Lanell Rockmore