Rochester Active Sports Club

Thursday May 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th
6:30pm at the East St. Olaf Church in Rock Dell

Church Address: 6200 County Road 3 SW - Byron, MN 55920-9656

The course is a 14 mile rolling hill course. This is the same course that we have used for the last 2 years.

There is no charge for the time trial, only requirement is that you are a TriRochester, VeloRochester, RASC or WOW member. Ride any bike you want, fully aero, non-aero, tricycle, whatever gets you to the finish line. We will keep track of results on www.trirochester.com so you can see how you do compared to others and how you improve from week to week.

Bring your running shoes to get in a good early season brick to get used to running after a hard biking effort. We'll try to have people on hand to watch your bikes and time each rider but be prepared to time yourself with a bike computer or watch and to be able to lock your bike up before running if no one is available. We can consider adding the run as part of the timed event, mapping out a 2 mile course, and posting times if there is interest.

Here is a link to a map of the course.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/ride/united-states/mn/rock-dell/385714410

The RASC Easy Riders group is back on Monday/Wednesday evenings starting on April 13th, 2009. This is a group road ride at a relaxed pace (11-13 mph average speed) for those new to road riding or for those who are just interested in riding at a non-demanding pace. Full details can be found on the RASC Bike page.

The pasta dinner and raffle was a great success thanks to all the hard work of Lisa Luetmer, Kristen Sorenson, Cindy Macon, Meg Ryan and Tish Torchia. The final total is now expected to be over $8100 - wow ! This is a fantastic boost for the development of the RNST and the trail work at Essex Park. The RNST skiers did a great job selling tickets with Lizzy Shelerud and Peter Luetmer topping the list for selling the most tickets. Some photos from the fundraiser are now on-line (thanks to Jeff Robertson for the photos).

 Bicycle Sports and Bianchi have teamed up to offer Rochester Active Sports Club members special Race Team pricing on Reparto Corsa bikes. This special offer is only available to club members and ends on February 15^th.
(All orders must be paid in full.)

Please call Bicycle Sports for more information (507-281-5007)

Stop in the store at 1400 5th Place NW, Rochester, MN for a brochure or you can see the full spec for the models at www.bianchiusa.com/
(Click on image for a printable .pdf page.)

The RASC Hot box will be shut down soon (end of May). If you have not waxed your skis and put them away, now is your last chance !

For hot boxing, please follow the following steps
1) Iron in a layer of a soft wax such as Swix CH10 or Toko Yellow (hard waxes are not absorbed well at 140F)
2) Drop the skis into Rochester Cycle and Fitness
3) Be sure to put a note or label giving you name and contact info
4) Include a check for $10 (payable to RASC) or $10 bill
5) E-mail me to let me know the skis need to be picked up from RCF. (mkoconnor@mayo.edu)
6) I will contact you when the skis are finished and back at RCF (turn-around time should be 1 week or less).
Note: This facility is ONLY available to club members

Olmsted County has started putting rumble strips on many of the newly paved roads in the county. These are wide grooves at the edge of the white line on the hard shoulder. If you hit these on a regular bike you will definitely understand the implications. It becomes impossible to ride these roads without keeping to the left of the white line – which put you a lot closer to the traffic. Previous studies on bike lanes have shown that closing the separation between cyclist and cars results in a 2-3 fold increase in accidents. Michael Sheehan is the county engineer with Olmsted County responsible for this idea. He indicated that they plan to add the rumbles to all the new roads! The rumble strips are designed to keep sleepy-drunk-text-messaging-cell-phone-yapping-coffee-drinking-drivers on the roads. They just added them to CR 8 south of Bamber Valley School. If this idea is replicated on all county roads, then fairly soon you will not be able to cycle anywhere in Olmsted County with safety. It is VERY important that all cyclists contact Michael to call for a halt to this project until such time as the county and the cycling community sit down and discuss this issue. Michael can be reached at sheehan.michael@co.olmsted.mn.us or call him at 507 328-7070 Fax: 507 328-7090, mail 2122 Campus Drive SE - Rochester MN 55904.

Paul Scanlon completed his kayak / ride event for the Red Cross on May 4th. This is the 3rd time Paul has done some type of endurance event as a fund raiser for the Red Cross. Full details of his 26 mile kayak trip and 100 mile road bike (back to back) are given below. If you are interested in supporting the Red Cross,. you can still do so - pledges / check can be sent to his home address and should be made out to the American Red Cross.
C/o Paul Scanlon
100 Mayo Park Drive SE
Rochester MN 55904

Supporters of several state recreational trail projects celebrated a milestone Wednesday. Earlier this week, funding for several trail systems was included in the 2008 bonding bill signed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The state bonding bill included a total of $15.32 million for state trails, with at least $4.27 million designated for segments of five state trails in southeast Minnesota. The bill included more than $13 million for regional parks and trails across Minnesota.

Local trails getting funding for expansions and improvements include the Stagewood trail (Oxbowpark to Owatonna), $500,000, the Chester Woods segment of the Blufflands State Trail, $970,000; the Great River Ridge Trail in the Plainview area, $1.5 million; the Mill Towns Trail expansion from Lake Byllesby Park to Cannon Falls, $500,000; and several sections of the Root River Trail in the Preston area, $600,000 total. Trails with the best chance at funding were those connected with another trail and ones where construction could start this year to complete the trail, such as segments of the Great River Ridge Trail and the Blufflands State Trail from Rochester to Chester Woods Park.

For full details see the Post Bulletin article