Rochester Active Sports Club

Paul Scanlon is at it again. This coming weekend he plans to do a kayak trip and bike ride as a fundraiser for the Red Cross. Paul has been doing this (or a variant thereof) for the last few years. This year he plans to do a kayaking marathon (26+ miles) followed by a 100 mile bike ride (next year he swears that he is going to scale it back to something simple like a circumnavigation of the Great Lakes!). The Red Cross continues its relief work, much needed in the past year with severe flooding in SE Minnesota.  Pledges have been a bit slow this year, probably because of the economy, but if you can find your way to help the Red Cross this year, please let him know. 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

RASC Volunteer Ski Trail Grooming started this season on December 1, 2007 and concluded on March 16, 2008. This year was the best season in many years with good snow cover for greater than 100 days. During that time, a team of 7 volunteer groomers (Dave Greymont, Brennan Kelly, John Resman, Jeff Robertson, Greg Rowley, Bruce Walk, and Henry Walker) performed trail grooming on approximately 10km of trails at the Quarry Hill Nature Center and on a 3.6km loop at Schmidt Park. They groomed a total of 67 times taking 215 hours and covering over 1316 km of trail !!! The full report is presented below.

The RASC Easy Riders group is back on Monday/Wednesday evenings starting on April 14th. 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 BIKE and the ReCycle pages.

The All City Nordic Ski Team wrapped up the most successful season yet with a fun ski at Quarry Hill and an End of Season Banquet. Full photos on the ACNST Photo Album page.

A large contingent from Rochester competed last weekend in the 35th annual American Birkebeiner and Korteloppet events. The trail was in the best condition for many years and the weather was perfect with temperatures in the mid-20s by race finish for most skiers. Henry Walker was the top Rochester finisher in the Birkebeiner with a time of 2 hr 23 min. ACNST skier Mike Resman was the top local finished in the Korteloppet with a time of 1 hr 9 min. A full list of all local participants can be found on the ski page.

About 65 ACNST skiers and coaches enjoyed a fantastic weekend of skiing up in Maplelag. A big thanks to John Resman for all the time put into organizing this trip. Plans are already underway for a repeat trip next year ! Full set of photos and results of the Sunday time trial are on the ACNST page.

RASC Annual Meeting - Quarry Hill Nature Center
Saturday 17th November, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Minutes of the Annual meeting have now been posted to the web site - access details have been sent out in the lastest RASC e-mails new bulletin.