Nowak's Nordic News

Now that the white stuff is around (and looks like it will be for some time) it is a prime opportunity to get out and do some x-country skiing.  Here is a list of places to ski with my own trail report.

 

Arrowhead GC - (located on Butterfield Rd in Wheaton)  There is a big loop that has been groomed for skating.  Skate lane is fair.  There are a LOT of diagonal tracks that have been skied in and appear to be fair to good.  You can rent ski's here if you don't have your own for a minimal cost.  Many links into Herrick Lake FP

 

Herrick Lake FP - Good to very good.  Skated a couple of the loops yesterday and was very surprised.  Very little foot traffic and the tracks were in good condition.  The DuPage FP does groom this as well as other places.  More info on where the FP grooms can be found on their website.

 

Bartlett Hills GC (located just west of downtown Bartlett) - Good to very good.  There are trails that have been groomed for diagonal striding.  The tracks are solid in some places and ok in others.  There is no ski rental here so you must do so from somewhere else(???) or have your own equipment.  This is a nice workout as there is very little flat areas and you are either climbing or descending

 

Deer Grove FP (Palatine - Parking lot 1/4 mile east of Rt 14 and Dundee Rd)  - If you skate this is the place to go.  From the parking lot there is a unused road that is about 5K out and back that is human-groomed (i.e. skied in)  The conditions today were about as good as it gets.  The terrain rolls a bit and is challenging.  There are also many skied tracks that are also in good condition.

 

Rock Cut State Park - I have not been out to RC yet this year.  It is groomed by the IL DNR.  There are typically reports on ninordic.org

 

Finally if you are willing to drive to the So. Kettle area, McMiller and Nordic are in very good condition also.  More info on these can be found on skinnyski.com or the Wis. DNR website.  There is a fee to park and for a trail pass.

 

Enjoy,

Jim

ABD: A Year in Pictures

I put some (215) pictures from this years ABD events and races up on my gallery.

Enjoy: http://gallery.mac.com/kglinka#gallery

Hope everyone has a GREAT 2010 !!!!

Be safe.

Ken,Sandy & Joseph Glinka
ABD Cycling Team

Masters Men & Women 60+ Indoor Race on Sunday, January 3rd!

Prairie Path Cycles is hosting an indoor race at the ABD Cycling Center for all Masters Men & Women 60+ on Sunday, January 3rd. Riders will compete one lap of the famed Morgul-Bismark race course: 12.5 miles with a 6% grade at the finish! Finish times are expected to be between 35 and 50 minutes.

Riders from the following categories are eligible to enter, just $15!
Men 60+
Men 65+
Men 70+
Men 75+
Men 80+
Women 60+
Women 70+

If there are four or more riders in a category then the winner get $50 and second gets $25
If there are three riders in a category then the winner gets $30 second gets $15
If there are two riders in a category then the winner gets $25
If there is only one rider then the winner gets his or her entry fee back

Races will be at 8 AM & 9:15 AM- but we will add a 10:30 AM start if we have enough participants. Start times will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis.

To reserve your spot email prairiepathcyclesinfo (at) gmail.com with your name and category.

Registration for the 2010 Indoor Time Trial Series is Open!

Registration is Open for the 2010 ABD Cycle Club Indoor TT Series!

Details are posted and Registration is now Open for the 11th Annual ABD Cycle Club Indoor Time Trial Series! Go to www.ABDcycling.com to sign up now!

UPDATED for 2010! The Indoor TT series consists of four events:
- ABD’s traditional 10k FLAT time Trial Course
- Computrainer’s Official Rolling 10k Course
- An all NEW 9k Hill Climb course with 4k “rolling” and an increasing climb the last 5k!
- The John Fraser Memorial Time Trial

TAKE HOME A TRAINER PRIZE FOR CATEGORIES WITH AT LEAST 3 RIDERS!
We are purchasing 16 brand new Cyclops JetFluid Pro Trainers (MSRP $369) for warm-ups at the three indoor Time Trials and the overall winner of each category with at least 3 riders will take one home after the John Fraser Memorial Time Trial!

Start times are assigned on a first come, first serve basis so pre-registration is very important! Pre-registration closes 1 week before each event to allow us time to schedule everyone and day-of-race registration will be available only if we have available start times.

Preliminary start times will be posted at www.ABDcycling.com the Tuesday or Wednesday before each event.

Nowak Report: CCC #10- Boy was that fun!!!

Hey all,
  The last chapter in the 2009 CCC reports here.  As many of you who have been reading, this has been one of the most fun, exciting, challenging, and painful 'cross years that I can remeber (and I have done a LOT of 'cross in the past, 17 years I figured).  Each race was challenging not only in the competitors, but the course design and conditions.

Turin was the sponsoring club for the final stop at Montrose, which also doubled up as the State Champs.  The course was laid out in what i would consider 3 distinct sections; beach/sand, Cricket Hill, and then some nice technical twisty-turny sections.  I'm not sure what the temperature was when I got to Montrose, but it was below freezing as the sand was still frozen and riding thru it was actually quite easy.

My one and only goal that I had this year was to get into the top 10 overall for the series.  I was currently sitting 11th, and would need a good race to move up one slot.  After doing several laps of the course in pre-ride, the next big question was what to where.  Do I go with leg warmers or embro, heavy gloves or medium, long sleeve undershirt or short???  In the end I made the right decisions on those as my hands were not cold, the legs were good, and I never felt over heated.

The next challenge was getting a good start spot on the line.  After the call ups of the top 10, I slid into the last remaining spot on the front line next to Stanley who was sitting in 10th overall.  He and I wished each other well in the race, and got ready for the whistle.  Off goes the whistle and I get a good jump.  Into the first corner I'm sitting 3rd.  Onto the beach comfortably in 4th with the leaders.  Mark Yurcheshen yelling at me that all is good!!  Once we hit the hill however, the gaps started to open, and I lost another 2 spots and was riding alone in 6th.  But there was Mark again, cheering me on.  The leaders were about 5 seconds ahead, and I had a gap on a group of 6 chasers.  Got thru lap 1 fine, and then my stuggle lap (lap #2).  I kept telling myself to push and don't look back.  Keep the leaders in sight, ride smooth, and keep the power on.  Again hit the beach and there is Mark giving me info and keeping my spirits up.  Sure enough got thru that lap in good shape, but I could see Suyko (who has beaten me in the last 3 races) coming on strong.  He is a notorious slow starter and fast finisher.  Into lap 3, nice and smooth until I hit a technical section and my front wheel washed out on the thawing ground.  I got back up quickly, but the damage was done, he caught me.  The next 2.5 laps were he and I working together to maintain our growing gap on our chasers, with Mark following us around the course giving me encouragement and energy

Into the bell lap, Suyko and I are neck and neck.  We hit the first set of barriers,  side by side, Mark is again on the beach yelling at me.  However, I made a bad line on the drop-in and Suyko gapped.  I tried and tried to get back to him, but I just couldn't.  He got 6th and me 7th.

While during the race, I felt good the whole time, I was spent.  However, I did end up getting into the 30+ to have some more "fun" and just experience the race.  This time I was less in a zone and more aware of what was happening.  There were a TON of people out cheering and yelling, and just made the race so much fun.

So I have met my goal.  I ended up in 10th overall only 1 point out of 9th.  If I had beaten Suyko I would have gotten 9th with Stanley in 10th.

I have to give credit to Mark.  He came out and braved the cold, and his constant encouragement all over the course really kept me focused and driven.  Thanks a lot!

There again was good representation of ABD, and we also hung onto our 10th place in the team competition.  Besides myself the others that I saw were Brad Dash, Ben Demong, Gina Kenny, Sue S. and the Jr Girl St. Champ Jessie Prinner.

Congrats to everyone who raced.  Sad to see the season come to an end, but as I sit here writing this, the white stuff is coming down which only means that this weekend instead of a bike, I will be on my skis.

Thanks again for reading.  I have got to say that I am already looking forward to 2010 CCC!

Jim

Gina Kenny: Jingle CX Report

Sue S. & I represented ABD at Jingle Cross held the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving in Iowa City, IA. Unfortunately, neither of us was at 100% as she was still recovering from swine flu and I had your common variety cold. Still, the two of us combined managed a total of seven races in a span of less than 48 hours. And, my three-year-old son Christopher did his first cross race!!! = )

It did not rain or snow on us but there had been enough rain earlier in the week that there was plenty of mud. I want to give a huge thank you to Sue, who after racing with me in the Women' 2/3 race, was my impromtu pit crew for the Women's 35+ race. I didn't even make it through a full lap when I had so much mud on my bike that I was having problems just getting the wheels to turn. She hosed it off for me while I rode a lap on my old Schwinn. 

The organizers managed to have a different course for each day and, even with the mud, the races were a lot of fun. There are loads of videos on YouTube, for those interested -- just type in "Jingle Cross 2009."

As Jim already mentioned, Sunday is the last race in the Chicago Cyclocross series at Montrose. The fans for the ChiCrossCup rival any. It is a load of fun. ABD'ers will be racing throughout the day so bundle up and come cheer us on! = )
-Gina