Friday, November 14, 2008
No snow here. My sister reports snow on the ground at her home in Milliken, Colorado. But none here. I understand that ABR has opened.
Chuck Wallin and I were in Milwaukee yesterday and did a very nice 65 minute pole walk in Whitnall Park.

There was a lot of e-mail traffic earlier in the week about winter trail use by skiers vs. runners/hikers at Rock Cut. Apparently there are going to be several trail races during the winter which will probably be an issue. Dan Riggs understands the issues for skiers and is willing to post signs, but has no budget. I'll keep you posted.

I seem to be "lazier" than in years past. I'm guessing that I will be doing less roller skiing and maybe less skiing this season. So I won't be out there taking photos and getting conditions quite so often. I will continue to post everything that is sent to me so keep watching here for conditions and information and results. I will be relying on all of you to send me whatever you would like shared. Here's what I received so far:

From Rick Nelson, Sunday, November 9
Roller ski workouts are under way.
Regular workouts:
Saturday 7:00 AM In the Northenmost Rock Valley College Parking lot on Mulford between the Athletic field and the rec path loop (directly across from Pepper Dr.
Agenda: Warm up and then self time a designated 4.3 mile loop on residential streets. The course has one minor change this year to eliminate some bad pavement.
Currently we are doing 1 fast lap.
Sunday 7:30 AM: Rock Valley Parking Lot (same as above)
This is a longer workout, mostly steady with an occasional fartlec. Currenlty up to 2 hours but participants can shorten it for themselves. No set course.
A couple of us are also doing intervals midweek. Times and days vary according to work schedules. Call if interested.

From Tom Walsh, Sunday, November 9
I am in my final 3 weeks of training for Tecumseh Trail Marathon. I Ran 23 miles today from PEAK into Rock Cut. It was a good run with a lot of hills which we need since Tecumseh is very hilly. It took me 3:05 to complete. Leonhardt was about 4 to 5 mins ahead of me in the finish (he's running well).
Not sure if you know this but they are planning to put in a new path/trail on the east side of Rock Cut . They have already had 2 bridges delivered for the creek crossings. This new trail will connect the Lions trail to the trail that runs along the north side of the lake. Not sure they will have this done this year but this is the plan accourding to one of the works I talked to a few weeks ago.
One last thing. Larry Swanson is going to have another winter trail series this year at Rock Cut. The races will be in Dec. (5K) Jan.(10K) Feb.(15K) March.(20K). He assured me that the races will not be on the ski trails. However, many of the runners go out and train on the trails during the winter. I continue to try to get the runners to avoid these trail but I don't know all the runners. In Dec I plan on sending a "avoid the ski trails" reminder e-mail to the runners I know and ask them to spread the word. I will also try to place a reminder in the Roadrunners news letter. The problem is we get people from out of town coming here to run the trails as training for the winter series. I just wish the park would help by placing signs asking people not to walk/run on the ski trails.
Any other ideas?

From Tom Detzner, Saturday, November 8
I SKIED for over an hour both yesterday and today!! It was SO great to be on snow in early November! I rented a car and drove up to the powerline trail in Chugach State Park in Anchorage. It was cold (about 18) and conditions were good for skating (ungroomed but well skied in). The mountain scenery was spectacular and I saw 6 moose today including 2 young bulls who were sparring and making a lot of noise. I took some pics with my cell phone and will try to send them as soon as I get someplace where I am able to.