Whew…this past week was packed full of MNC events and notable happenings, and our Summer Programming hasn’t even begun!
After some high-altitude training last week in Bolton and Underhill, we took our bodies down to sea-level in Charlotte for a classic rollerski. Agility courses on skate skis are all the rage from Park City to Presque Isle, but I think there’s a lack of attention payed to classic ski agility. This is especially true when you aren’t a big jacked racer like Alexander Legkov but you still have to maneuver some long, heavy Marwe or Swenor classic rollerskis around. There are always lots of complaints about how classic rollerskis handle without tracks…the solution? Take control and don’t let your skis be the boss of you!
Some ‘curb slalom’: a traditional slalom made more difficult by going on and off the curb
My favorite place to start a ski from in Charlotte is the Park and Ride, which is really an old train station. For the most part, it is completely abandoned. I’ve probably seen 10 other cars in the past 8 years.
Of course, after the agility warmup we got to enjoy a nice tour down past the lake and up again to the Old Brick Store. Like many others in the area, I ‘grew up’ rollerskiing here. Wide, safe roads, nice pavement and friendly drivers make Charlotte a rollerski haven. Plus, picking terrain is easy: the closer to the lake, the flatter the roads. Head east and you hit hills! Here is Maddie enjoying the flattest of the flats along the beach:
skis, lake, sun and Adirondacks
Uphill DP clip from Greenbush Rd:
Training continued last week with some running and strength. I’d say the most notable event from those sessions was when we learned (by way of an irate resident on a tractor) that the little soccer field right next to the Round Church in Richmond is not, in fact, a public park. Since it was news to me after literally years and years of utilizing that space, it is probably news worth passing on to others!
Saturday marked a big non-training event: the first (annual?) MNC Family Yardsale! We had lots of great donations and some real awesome big-ticket items. Thanks to everybody who was involved…I was pretty nervous as this was an event I had brainstormed earlier in the spring and had no idea what to expect. We ended up bringing in over $500 and had a lot of fun doing it! The expansion plan for next year calls for a dedicated bake sale table so there are already big ideas in the works for version 2.0.
We held practice in Williston to coincide with the sale. Here’s Amy getting some work done on the VasaTrainer…you can tell this is later in the day as much of the merchandise has already been sold!
Another big event on Saturday: the Colchester Causeway races. Brendan, Liam, Tim, Ethan and Will underwent a windy but sunny race day just down the road
Sunday capped off this big week with a more well-established yearly MNC event: the Summer Kickoff bike ride/BBQ hosted by the Solow/Henry family. Over 50 people gathered in Hinesburg to first bike to the top of App Gap and back (40 miles) or enjoy a shorter route around the area. Everyone then convened on the Solow/Henry residence for great food and company and even some swimming. A big thanks for everyone that helped put this together. MNC photographer Gary Solow took this excellent picture of the group before riding off:
MNC cycling crew about to tackle App Gap and more
That seems like a pretty good photo to officially announce that SUMMER HAS BEGUN!
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