HOP Fit Club

Mark your calendars now for next year’s Pine City Freedom Fest Triathlon! When? Um… Well I guess I don’t know when next year’s is, since this year’s was just this past Saturday. But mark your mental calendars for sometime late next June.

What’s that? Why are you marking your mental calendars? Sorry, I guess I should’ve led with that. Here goes (better late than never):

I just discovered the coolest little beginner triathlon. And if you’ve ever toyed with the idea of doing one, but have some lingering fears, I really think this would be a gentle one to help you over those humps.

If a multi-sport event could ever be described as “cute”, this one would.

It’s a 300-yard swim in a clear, small, warm, weedless “lake”. But, even better, that 300 yards is mostly just a suggestion. Out to the paddle boat and back is 300 yards. But if you don’t want to go that far, you can just go out to the swim raft and back. It’s okay.

(Did I mention that this race is untimed?)

The swim is short and simple. The bike is flat and along mostly decent roads. The run is short, and the third quarter of it is a nice, long, gentle downhill bringing you right back into town.

Oh, did I mention? It’s wicked cheap. Early-bird registration would have been $15. I missed that and had to pay $20. Including long-sleeve t-shirt.

Granted, there are some concerns with a race this small and informal. They need lots more volunteers and some law enforcement presence for traffic control on the bike and run course. (Although they were comfortingly well-staffed for the swim part. Lots of lifeguard-looking folks on the shore and in paddle boats and kayaks.)

All in all though, I think it makes a great event for a first triathlon. My mom ran it this weekend as her first and I wrote a big, long post about it with all kinds of race details here.

Just a suggestion!

Skoog

I had two race goals this year – both stretch goals. I wanted to do the 20-mile distance at Earth Day. And I wanted to do a half-ironman triathlon.

First goal; achieved. Went great.

But when it came time to register for the second goal…I couldn’t pull the trigger. It’s not that I’m afraid of that distance or that I don’t think I’ve trained properly. (Those things are both TOTALLY true.) It was more the deep, abiding sense of cheapness that grips me at my core. With current circumstances being what they are (which I shan’t go into in this forum), I couldn’t bring myself to spring for $100 for the registration fee.

So what am I gonna do? Quit? Hell no. I still want to test myself at this distance this summer. I mean, think about it. Did that one Greek guy who ran the first marathon stop off for gyros and ouzo and blow off the rest of his run? Not a chance. Did Teddy Roosevelt get tired and puss out halfway up San Juan Hill? You bet your big stick he didn’t.

I’m doin’ this thing, dammit. Just the way our forefathers would have. I’m building my half-iron from scratch.

Who’s with me?

Here’s the way it’s going to go down. On Saturday, July 10, at 7 a.m., I’m going to start out at Gold’s Gym in Sartell. I’m going to jump in and do my 44 laps to make up 1.2 miles.

After that, I’m going to head out to the parking lot, climb aboard my trusty Stealth Bomber, ride out to St. Joe, pick up the Woebegon trail and ride until my computer says 56 miles.

At that point (somewhere just after Osakis) I’ll hop off my bike, switch shoes, put on my oh-so-techy iPod with its handy Nike Fit chip, and continue on down the trail until the little voice in my ear tells me I’ve run 13.1 miles.

That’s going to leave me somewhere on the outskirts of Alexandria; the city where my parents spend their summers. So I plan on meeting up with them to rehydrate with lots of water…and probably a couple of beers.

Here’s where you come in:

I’m not implying that you might be crazy enough to want to join me for the whole thing (though that would be awesome – I’d love the company). But maybe you’re interested in joining me for an event or two. Know what I mean?

Do you like swimming? (What the f is wrong with you?) Let’s make plans to meet at 7 and crank out a whole bunch of laps.

Looking for a nice, flat bike ride? Let’s hit it! In fact, if your summertime stretch goal was to do a century ride, I’ll bet if you met me at the St. Joe trailhead as I rolled by, my transition point would just about be your turnaround point. Just a thought.

If you’re a runner (with an apparent lack of anything better to do on a Saturday afternoon), get in touch with me and we’ll arrange to meet just past Osakis. We’ll go for a nice, long run and then get something to eat and have a beer. Heck, I could probably even arrange to drop you off at your car in Osakis on my drive home!

I don’t know. I don’t have all the logistics worked out. I’m making this thing up as I go. I’m working on talking my fantastic wife (and potentially a couple of kids) into taking a long, scenic drive up to Alexandria that day, making frequent stops to find the trail and catch me with water bottles as I roll by. If you’re helpful like that, let me know. I’ve got a feeling that’s an area where we could use some helpers.

In the end, don’t feel guilty if you decide this isn’t something you want to do. I was planning on doing this all by myself when I came up with the idea. But it was suggested that I post about this and see if I can get any takers.

So what do you say? You crazy enough to come along and supplement my half-iron experience?

Let me know,

Skoog

gskoog@creativememories.com

The ride will begin at St. Cloud City Hall (400 Second Street South) and will conclude at River’s Edge Park in Waite Park. A number of community leaders including Mayors Dave Kleis and Tim O’Driscoll have confirmed participation along with Stearns County Commissioner Mark Sakry. BLEND, the Nordic Ski Club of Central Minnesota and the Trauma Outreach Program at St. Cloud Hospital are partnering in support of this community event to raise awareness of bicycle and pedestrian activities in Central Minnesota. We are also pleased to announce that Gold Cross Ambulance will be handing out Dairy Queen coupons to kids wearing helmets.

The Mayors’ Bike Ride kicks off Bike Walk Week which is June 5th – 11th. In addition, the Caramel Roll Bike Ride (Saturday, June 12th) caps off this week of activities!

HOP Fit Club Members if we had mandatory events to attend this would be one of them. Please show up to this ride if you can and wear your colors.

Remember, Saturday Morning rides start at 10am from Liquid Assets in Sartell.

Hope to see you all there.

Eric

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

10am-ish tomorrow morning rain or shine ride meets at Williams Integracare and then rolls down the street to start at Liquid Assets.

Hope you have fun on the ride!

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

Due to the potential for rain and chilly weather this coming Saturday morning we’re going to start the ride at 3pm from Williams Integracare and then we’ll roll down the street to pick up other riders who need their latte or scone fix at one of our newest sponsors, Liquid Assets.
Remember this ride is for all abilities and fitness levels. We’ll decide where and how far we’ll ride on Saturday. I’m going to assume we’ll ride around 30 miles and try to keep out of the wind as much as possible. If anyone else wants to ride more during or after the ride they can break off at that time.
Hope to see you all this Saturday at 3pm at Williams Integracare or Liquid Assets!
Cheers
Eric Nacey