Nowak's Nordic News - Issue 2

Hello all,

Hope everyone got a chance to get out to ski in the great conditions that we had the last two weeks.

Nothing really to report other than most everything around here is going buh-bye.

For the die-hards, there may be a good chance to do some crust skiing on golf courses on Sat/Sun depending upon how much rain we don't get and then how cold it gets Fri night. I have a few spots that are my super secret training areas, but would be willing to share if the conditions present it.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Again, if anyone has any ?'s let me know.

Also, pencil in Jan 8th and 9th for local races. Info can be found here: http://www.ninordic.blogspot.com/

Jim

Nowak's Nordic News

I know that there are a few of you who like to x-country ski, and there are many more who are interested in starting.  I've had a few people ask me about it and where they can ski, and where you can rent ski's from.  Here is a quick breakdown on that info with some links to websites where you can get more info.

Local places:
Most of the municipal golf courses will allow you to ski on them.  A few that I know of are:

Arrowhead GC (Wheaton).  Located on Rt 56 (Butterfield Rd) between Winfield Rd and Naperville Rd.  There is ski rental here and they do groom trails for classic and skating.
Bartlett Hill GC (Bartlett).  Located just west of Spin Dr. Cyclewerks.  Basic grooming for classic skiing.

Katherine Legge Park in Hinsdale is groomed by the people at King Keyser.  It is located on S. County Line Rd about 1/2 mile south of 55th St.  A short trail, but good grooming to skate and classic ski.

Dupage Forest Preserve Dist. also grooms trails.  However most of these are multi-purpose which means that people walk/run/snowshoe/bike on the trails.  The FP flattens the middle to skate on and then set a classic track on the edges.  Depending upon how much use and amount of snow we get, the trails can range from awesome to poor.  Some places that I have skied are Herrick Lake, Danada, and Tri-Counties St. Park.  There are a lot of places though that get groomed.  See the FP website for details.  They also have a phone number that you can call to get trail conditions.  Website: http://www.dupageforest.com/Recreation/ActivitiesAndFacilities/Winter_Activities.html

Cook County FP only grooms at Camp Sagawau (Rt. 83 and 111th St.)  I have never been there.  They also groom.  The place that I ski in Cook County FP is Deer Grove FP located in Palatine.  The "grooming" there is human powered, i.e. skied in classic tracks and then a few us have a groomer that we use to create a skate lane on a unused drive.  Parking is best at the far west lot which is located just east of the Rt. 14 (Northwest Hwy) and Rt 68 (Dundee Rd) intersection.  Access to the trails is best there.  Again, these are multi-purpose trails that can get beat up, but are generally very good.  Website: http://www.fpdcc.com/tier3.php?content_id=40

Rockford:
There are several places to ski in Rockford.  Most of the info can be found on this website: http://ninordic.org/ which is updated on a regular basis with trail conditions.  I have skied at Rock Cut and when it is groomed it can be very good.  However at times it is hit and miss.  From what I have heard Sinnissippi Golf Course is supposed to be very good but have never been there.

Joliet:
Woodruff Golf Course is groomed when there is enough snow and I believe that they also rent skis there but I would call before heading out.  Joliet Nordic has a website but it not updated regularly.  http://jolietnordic.homestead.com/

So. Kettle
For those of you who are willing to venture and challenge yourselves, the So. Kettle area west of Milwaukee has some of the best nordic skiing around.  There are several different locations with multiple trail options.  The two closest are McMiller and Nordic.  Nordic is located by LaGrange and McMiller by Palmyra.  These are maintained by the Wisconsin DNR so you will need a parking sticker and trail pass.  A one day pass can be purchased or you can buy a year pass.  Info can be found on the WDNR website:  http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/parks/ski/  Also trail reports can be found here: http://www.laphampeakfriends.org/ViewSkireportsExpanded.php

A few other websites that have info are Bob Richard's blog: http://www.ninordic.blogspot.com/
and Skinnyski.com which is out of Minneapolis but has trail reports, etc. for the Midwest.  http://www.skinnyski.com/

See you on the trails,
Jim

UPDATE: Ski Herrick Lake at lunch. They have rolled it but there are no set tracks. People are skiing in a track. Took a look at Arrowhead GC and they have packed down a skate lane, but there does not appear to be any set classic tracks. Hopefully with the anticipated snow on Fri/Sat they will be able to do so. I'm headed up to McMiller tomorrow in the So. Kettle. I'll try to post a report when I get back. Enjoy the snow, you never know how long we will have it for...

End of Year Wrap and 2011 Sneak-Peak

This past Saturday ABD held our annual EOY Party. The host was gracious (thanks Farrell!), the food was delicious (thanks Vicki and Mary Lee!), and as Lisa Pena pointed out- true to ABD EOY party history- the weather was horrendous!

At the party we took a look back at 2010 and another successful season. Some acheivements we recognized were:
- Tom Weil's second consecutive National Championship!
- Jessi Prinner's silver medal at Nationals followed by her second consecutive trip the Junior World Championships.
- The rapid rise of Konrad Witt as a speedy Junior who took home the hometown win in the Cat 4's at Winfield.
- The racing in the Chicago Cross Cup by Jim Nowak,  Ben DeMong,  Jason Addante,  Jay Corgiat, Walter Stoops, Jessi Prinner & Andy Walker (and also Gina Kenny and Sue Semaszscuk before the injuries!)
- Curtis Bice's storm through the Time Trials this year (and now a Category 2!).
- The success of the Verizon p/b ABD team, including a 1-2-3-4 sweep at Winfield. We're happy to report that Mike Sherer will be joining ABD alumni Reid Mumford at the Kelly Benefit Strategies Pro Team next year! (We also showed off the team videos at the party and you can view them all at the team's YouTube channel).

A few off-the-bike acheivements that deserved props were:
- All of the ABD events went silky smooth thanks to the efforts of all of our volunteers, and a big highlight this past season were the Wednesday Night Races! A big thanks to the Witt's, the Redlich's, Lisa Pena, Mary Lee & Rich Johnson for all their efforts in getting this series off the ground. For anyone who hasn't made it out, we can't recommend these races enough as a fun and challenging mid-week workout.
- A huge effort by Jim Nowak to run the highest-attended ABD event of the year at the Sunrise Park Cyclocross Race- where 432 riders toed the line!
- It's always nice hearing a friendly voice- and a lot of times this year that voice was none other than our own Todd Busteed. In addition to announcing all of the ABD events Todd could be heard at the Tour of America's Dairyland, the Chicago Triathlon, the Hot Chocolate Run, the State Cyclocross Championships and many, many other events.

Last but not least, we were (and are) very proud to announce, after a 5-year hiatus, an ABD Elite Women's Team! A few of the women were able to join us and we were happy to introduce:
- Stacy Applewick, 2010 National Track Champion (from Bouledogue Tout Noir)
- Sarah Demerly, former Professional Triathlete turned roadie (from Wolverine)
- Kristen Meshberg, Category 1 rider and all-around Midwest-speedster (from Flatlandia)
- Jessi Prinner (the aforementioned- we all know her!)
- We're also hoping to add another woman or two and just need to iron out the details.

There's a lot in the works for 2011, not to mention preparations for the Indoor TT Series kicking off on Sunday, January 23rd! (Another date to mark down is the Winfield Criterium Weekend on August 13 & 14). As you might have noticed, Miss Prinner will be volunteer coordinating the event so if there's a job you're itching for please shoot her an e-mail.

We're also working on Winter Camps for our members. If any ABD'ers would like to escape winter for sunny Southern California the second week of February shoot an e-mail to the Prez. This will be a Borrego Springs Camp with riding, hiking, relaxing and EATING (since Bill Heun has agreed to attend as the unofficial chef). We're also looking at a race-prep camp at the end of March somehwere driveable and warm (Tennessee is in the front-running). Stay tuned for details on that.

Thanks to all of the ABD'ers and our participants for an amazing 2010. May you have a safe and fun Holiday season.
-Ebert