Rochester Active Sports Club

Currently due to a spamming problem, Mayo Outlook e-mails are not being received by people with msn or hotmail accounts. Hence we are posting the most recent newsletter on line below for those of you who did not receive it via e-mail.

Road Biking

The 2010 biking season is almost upon us. Is your bike ready?

The first ride of the season will start at 6pm at Bamber Valley school on March 15 (when we have daylight saving time starting). We should be able to ride until about 7:30, and that should be a long enough ride to start the season  That's in less than 2 weeks!

So, we anticipate this season going a lot like last year. 6pm Mondays at Bamber Valley, 6pm Wednesdays at Bicycle Sports, and Saturdays as posted on the RASC bulletin board (time varies depending on the weather) from Dunn Bros South. Hopefully, we will be able to post maps to the board for each ride again this year.

Get ready, and stay tuned to the RASC bulletin board for any further updates as we get closer to starting!

RNST club skis at the end of the 2009/2010 skis season. All waiting to be waxed, and prepped for next year ! 

Skiers from Lakeville North, Lakeville South, Winona, and Rochester participated.

Dave Greymont snapped some photos of the Micro cross event at Eastwood on December 12th. A small group of bikers who refuse to quit, even in 12" of new snow, turned up for the event. The course was about 1.5 miles of snow covered paved trail, single track and rough mowed grass and sand. Check out more photos here. 

We received approval for multi-use trails at Indian Heights on Tuesday (October 6).  When completed, there will be 4 miles of trails available for mountain biking, hiking, trail running, and snowshoeing. The approval allows us to start clearing this fall and working on the existing trails - no digging on new trails. In the spring, there will be a walk through on the proposed new trails to determine if there are any portions of the new trails where native plants or unique plant habitats exist. If so, we can adjust the trail. We plan to start rough clearing this fall. Please check the RASC bulletin board for trail sessions. Also, I am updating my email list. Please contact me at  jrob5630@aol.com so I can add your name to my contact list.
Jeff Robertson
 

In conjunction with the 2009 RASC Monday/Wednesday evening group bicycle rides (which began on March 9th), the Easy Riders routes have been included since April 13th. 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.

NOTE: Due to diminishing length of daylight, on Sept. 7th the start time for this ride was changed from 6 pm to 5:30 pm; and the last evening ride that will include the Easy Rider option will be on Wed., Sept. 30th.

 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.)

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.