HOP Fit Club

For something like 10 years now Charlie and Jeni Schad have opened their home up for the Apple Post Race party.

If there is one thing you should do to start the 2010 summer, it’s go to this Post Race party.

It’s not overly crazy and it’s not a wild drunken affair. It’s good times talking to people with similar interests from the Hop-Fit club and the St Cloud area Cycling/Tri/Running community.

It’s a great place to make friends and start matching faces with names. Charlie is always crazy good on the grill and there is always plenty of fun to be had.

I know my team-mate Jodi and I have been training extra hard just to get ready for the party.

Here is the breakdown and info.

With spring/summer time comes the occasional rain. And if you are as hard core as Charlie then you know that you won’t get fit sitting on the couch while it raining outside. So if you decide to go for a ride in the rain, but are worried about how you’ll dry your shoes in time for the next days ride, here is the simple yet effective trick to drying out your wet shoes.

First step, take shoes off your feet.

Remove foot bed/liners etc. You can usually dry liners in the clothes drier if their not specially made orthotics, if they are I’d place these by a warm air register.

Grab some old news paper (or if you read your news online) junk mail or old bills, just any type of paper that doesn’t have a coating on it. (I like to use old Velonews magazines if I’m short on the Sunday St Cloud Times)

Now stuff as much as that paper into each shoe and wait 4 to 6 hours.

After the allotted time, remove the now wet paper you’ll find your cycling or running or any other kind of shoe dry to the touch.

You are now ready to go meet Charlie for one of his double secret training rides and show him what you’ve got.

Cheers

Eric

You look forward to riding all winter and now spring is here and it’s time to ride but you fear that dreaded first couple rides due to having a sore butt.

Here’s the secret I was told many years ago and it still hold true today.

Ride your bike at least 10 miles each day for 3 days in a row. By the 3rd day your butt will be doing much better.

If you can endure the pain of day 2, day 3 will be better and you’ll be off to a great start for the season.

Cheers

Eric

As one of the founding members of this club I always want to make sure that our members get their best value for joining HOP-Fit Club. I also know that sometimes the best value is something you can’t buy, but comes in the form of advice.

So with that in mind, I’ve decided to spread some of my wealth of cycling/life knowledge onto all of you. With a 28 year history of riding bike and 12+ years of working in the cycling industry, I’ve done, seen and heard just about all of it. Take this for what you want. Some people will know some of this stuff others none at all. My hope is to educate and entertain you with tid-bits of (hopefully) daily advice.

First one: Recovery

Never stand when you can sit. Never sit when you can lay down.

Cheers

Eric

Hello to all HOP-Fit Members

With this fine springtime weather apon us our desire turns to the great outdoors. With that,  we’ve come up with a planned weekly mountain bike ride.

Starting this next Monday May 3rd at 6pm we’ll be meeting at the Jail Trail head. If you don’t know where this is located feel free to drop a note on this blog and we’ll help you out.

To give you a heads up if you’ve not ridden the trail yet, it’s mostly flat with little technique parts to worry about.

And of course everyone of all levels and ages are welcome to join us. This is a relaxed fun time to sharpen your off road riding skills and to perhaps enjoy a beer or two at The House afterward.

If this Monday night doesn’t work for your schedule, we’ll could add another ride on Wednesday evenings. Please give us feedback as to what works for you.

Cheers

Eric