BIG NEWS, film at 11:00.

We have to cover a lot so lets get right to it.

Last weeks TT went great as most are improving times and looking better doing it. We have been very lucky with weather as it has been great almost every time. This Sat. we are going back to some forced technique work. We have been doing that already but now I have a name that everyone should understand.   It means simply that you overwork (or overload) a particular technique and it's specific muscle groups. Single sticking is a good example. Look at the Carpe Skiem From the Birkie web site for Sept. Volume 1 issue 4 for more details. We will roll off at 7:59 Sat. Be there.

HILLBOUNDING:

You have have been waiting to finally get back on the hill and your wish has been granted. I asked a few weeks back for opinions as to Sat. or Tue and the strong feedback was Tue. Nights (as we have done in the past) Our own Phil Nelson summed it up best when he said we can hillbound at night ( the hill is powerfully lighted) but you need daylight to rollerski, good point. With the waning light it is hard to find good rollerski time. A Tuesday hillbound also allows for more recovery time as it is a hard workout, probably the hardest you will do. Having a group to do it with is great motivation and helps technically as you glean skills off others. Here is what you need: 1/ Short poles. Classic length or shorter. These do NOT have to be good but they should have straps.2/ A water bottle, towel and dry clothes are good ideas.3/ If you like, digital cameras so we can post them on line and review styles and technique.

WE START SEPTEMBER 21. 5:30 pm.

Bairds Creek Ski Hill (park top of the hill)

A typical workout will look like this:

5:30 easy warmup jog and facilitated stretch for 10-15 minutes followed by 2 or 3X 8 reps with/without poles. 1-3 lactate intervals. Warmdown and stretch. It should take about 90 minutes. Early on we will have enough light to use all the hills but with decreasing daylight it will get condensed to one or two. The nice thing about bounding is NO ONE gets left behind. If you get tired you sit out a rep (or 12 if your CS). Plan on lots of technique work the 1st two weeks. We want no bad habits and we want to minimize DOMS. See you there.

 

CALL TO ARMS

Many of us skied early on the ponds at Barhausen last season. Most where very surprized at how good it was. There are two loops available of about 2 and 3 km long. We are going work on cattail removal this fall to enable a complete loop on the south pond. The county has said they will groom a loop for us snow/ice conditions permitting. These are shallow, quiet and low lying ponds that freeze early and solid. They are resonably well sheltered from wind and have  very twisty canals and channels that make for interesting skiing. Barkhausen is very close to GB and there is parking right next to the ponds.

Years ago when I raced in Europe, the often snow starved central european races used snowblowers to harvest snow from adjacent areas and blow it into a path. Then it would be groomed.Thats where YOU come in. I am organizing a "Blower Brigade" that once we get safe ice AND some snow cover we can go in echelon fashion and harvest snow into a path and the county guys will groom it with a Tidd Tech. We could produce two loops that could buy us an extra month or more skiing. If we do get early snow we won't bother but I'm not holding my breath. We need 10-15 people to enroll so that if we get snow we can mobilize 5-10 blowers to get the job done fast. You need a blower and a way to get it there. Let me know and we can start a email hotline as we closer.

STC: What is DOMS?

See you Sat. Whew!