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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tara Alfonsi on -
I wanted to send everyone a BIG THANK YOU for coming out this year - and bearing with my three-months-on-the-job newbie hiccups! We had beautiful weather, some superfast competition and a TON of fun. Stay tuned for 2010, our 15th anniversary event. We are going to add some terrific new twists!
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Permalink Reply by Theodore Peterson on -
What fantastic weather! I had a great race and thoroughly enjoyed it as always. I hope to recruit more skaters for next year.
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Permalink Reply by Jim on
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Tara,
This was my 12th straight NSIM and from my viewpoint, overall it went very well. I am concerned though about the published date of Sept. 11th for next years race. The race has always been held 2 weekends after Labor Day. I hope that date is incorrect as it would create conflicts with other traditionally scheduled events for that weekend. Plus, one of the reasons the NSIM was choosen to take place 2 weekends after Labor Day is that time period had the most favorable weather for the event. Other than the rain at the beginning of the 2006 race, it has been dry every year for the race. You'd hate to mess with that sort of fortune.
Jim
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Permalink Reply by Thomas Stergar, II on -
I’m still a newbie being two years into racing. So far, road races are my thing and I have not been to one outside of the US yet. This being my first NSIM, I was absolutely blown away. No question that all of the other races out there, small or big, are outstanding, and I am truly grateful for them but this race absolutely blew my mind. Now I understand… Now I get it!
I was in the A wave kerfuffle that eventually caught the pro women. Right from the start, the mass of eight wheeled humanity just was not going to make one pace line, plain and simple. Not sure why but it is what it was. After that first water station when the pavement got smooth everyone got really fired up. That’s when the three line thing started because almost everyone found their feet and wanted to reposition and the pullers were dying a little after the start and the suckers were coming up on them, so it may simply be that we were just trying to just avoid a concrete face plant; I was! There really was no choice but to either run over someone or cut one way or the other. I remember pushing (more like straight arming!) some poor dude early with the back of my hand right on his bottle. Unfortunately his pop top was open and his sports drink found the path of least resistance (sorry man…). And, well uh… you can imagine the rest. Not a pretty sight. Note to self for next year: always close your bottle. So you had three lines and then small breaks of 5 to 10 skaters on each shoulder every few minutes. That makes five or four and a half or whatever!
Lemon drop Hill separated some of us but there were still a bunch of us hanging tough in the front. You can tell from the 100+ of us that finished at the same time, but the dueling pace line thing was just not going to stop. I remember pulling the lead pack until I hit the off ramp to the frontage road that takes you to the finish (can’t remember the name of the ramp but you know which one it was). I did the ‘Tin Man Dance’ at 25 MPH off of some crack that I didn’t see and thought I was done for sure. Thankfully I recovered but lost about 20 places getting my bearings going up the ramp. But I got lucky. On the over pass, down the hill and into the two last left turns a lot of folks slowed down and some of us went outside, including me, so I was able to make up a little more than I lost on the ramp in the last 1000 meters.
It was unfortunate that the pro women had a tough time getting by us but there were so many of us and it was really crazy. Anyone else in that pack knows what I mean.
All things aside; hands down it’s definitely the most incredible racing experience that only someone who races it can understand. As I said before, and it must be like this for others, now I understand. This race is the anchor event that makes you look forward to next season. Maybe others see it a different way because of their experience but this is my perspective. Will I be back? Oh you betcha'!
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Permalink Reply by Dale Larson on -
I was in wave 1 and a summer of hard training left me well prepared to try and finish high in the open wave. A little lolly-gagging in the staging area got me to the start line a little late and I was half way back in the pack when we started. I ducked and weaved through the group and finally caught up to the main paceline. A group of three or four people were out on an early attempt to separate but they were reeled in after three or four miles.
The pace was pretty quick and the line a little sloppy, full of people in good shape but with not a lot of experience skating in a pace line; 'tis the nature of the open wave. Around mile 10 the group was sailing down a hill near 25 mph when a skater one or two people in front of me ate the pavement. I pulled a leg up in the air and he pretty much rolled right under me. I almost shared his fate but was able to recover. I think he only took out one persone, thankfully. He later caught up to us and was bloody from face to shins but was still skating like a champ.
The pace stayed respectable until we hit London road and people started slowing down. The inconsistent pace got the pace line going all goofy and I eventually clicked skates with someone and did a little superman dive. Luckily we were going slow and I just got a little rash on my knees and elbows. I took a few minutes before I could breath right again and, by that time, I couldn't catch my pack. I finished about 2 minutes behind them with my best marathon time by more than 10 minutes (1:23:03). A great race, I'm already excited for next year.
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Permalink Reply by Ron Marfori on -
I was also in wave one. I skated toward the front of the pack for most of the race. There were 3-5 skaters that kept trying to break away and I had the task of reeling them back in a couple times. I was up towards the front of the pack when I heard that guy fall. I was pretty sure he took a few people with him, so it's good to hear that it was only one other person. I did notice the pace starting to slow on London road. I was actually hoping it would pick up because the road is so smooth there. There were a few people towards the front that were try to pull for a little longer than they should have and slowing down the pack. I still finshed over 9 minutes faster than my PR with a time of 1:21:25. I'm hoping to break 1:20 next year if the conditions are as good as they were this year.
Dale - Where do you train? I train a lot at Hyland Park in Edina, Minnehaha Parkway, and the lakes of course. Hyland has some great hills for training for Lemon Drop!
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Permalink Reply by Robert Burnson on -
Cale Carvell's NorthShore report:
IT DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!
Many of you probably know that I was going to have a booth at the Expo to sell skates. This meant that a break from current tradition. The Rainbo Party Van was going to be hauling lots of stuff to sell at Duluth Expo, along with Jody, a former employee and great friend. We left at 5am on Friday with the hopes of getting to Duluth by 12 when the Expo officially started.
As we drove along at 55 MPH (yea right!), there was a loud "BANG" . My left rear tire, literally exploded and the van began going out of control. It was very scarry for a while......I have crashed enough lately! I was able to stabilize things and get us to the side of the road, where we discovered that the tire was shredded. Having never changed a tire on the van, we had to figure things out. Guy, Brian, and Kris came buy and laughed and drove on!!!..........No, just kidding! They stopped to help us, which was a good thing, because Jody and I were still reading the manual. We were only about 30 miles to Duluth, and we made it with no further problems, because of their help, but we were an hour behind schedule
The dinner Friday night was it's usual festive atmosphere. We had about 40 people, with the main topic, of course, being skating and Duluth. I am sure some of the family members in attendance cannot understand how we can keep talking about the same thing all the time.........They obviously have their priorities mixed up! Don't they know that "It doesn't get much better that this!"
5am.......morning, we are up! Off to the buses and the usual trip out to the start....the weather was just a little chilly, with the promise of being perfect when the sun came up . The weather was absolutely perfect. No wind, sunny, and not to hot. "It doesn't get much better that this! " My potato chips and Gatorade tasted especially good this morning, I could tell I was ready to race. When we arrived, we all made our way to find other team members. Anticipation and excitement filled the air. Pretty much every skater that we have ever known is there. Plenty of time to socialize, as we had an hour to wait. That guy who was the announcer must have had double, double, double, caffeine Late', cause he was about to have a heart attack from all the effort and energy that went into his encouraging words.......a little warm up, and it's race time. "It doesn't get much better than this"
The Veteran and the Grand Veterans all race together, so we had over 50 guys ready to roll......The gun goes off, and so do we. It is fast, but easy to maintain, because it is downhill. Most of these skaters have lots of skills and abilities because of years and years of experience (same as "OLD"). Their were numerous surges, that strung the pack out quite a distance, but the front guys were getting tired of leading, and kept letting the pack get back together. This was really one of the easiest, and uneventful Duluths that I have been at. I have been skating well, and I never really felt in any danger of not hanging on. I was able to jump out of the pack and work my way back up, a little closer to the leaders when necessary. I did not want a surge to happen and be too far back, and miss the break. I wanted to maintain a position of about 10th, in the pack. I even got in front and pulled a couple of times (note to self: Don't do that anymore). Jeff Terrwilliger pulled away from the pack with about 6 miles to go. His teammates clogged up the front, and let him get the jump on everyone. He got about 400 yds ahead of us, but never seemed to be in danger of getting away to far. We were reeling him in a little, and got satisfied. The gap stayed the same, and then he picked up the pace. Before we knew it, the gap became to big for us to close up.....the race was his, on a great strategical move. When we got to Lemon Drop hill, everything picked up. We hammered up the hill....my Sears training was paying off as I got out of the pack and went up the side. As we got on the Highway, I found myself in 3rd place, behind a blistering pace being held by Morgan Williams, and Hernan Diaz. Usually lots of games are played on the Highway, but this year many skaters were just barely hanging on. Now it was the time for the ramp off the Highway.....this is the most important point in the race, if you are still in the front pack. The first ones at the top of the ramp making the left turn, usually are on the podium. Hernan and Morgan continued to press the pace....no one caught us on the ramp, we turned and headed for home. As soon as we made the next left turn they really hit the afterburners.....I just did not have that gear in my arsenal. Herb Gayle was behind me and passed me and stayed with them and finally beat them at the line. I kept my head down and hammered as hard as I could. I couldn't believe that no one was catching me!!!......When we made the final last turn, heading for the finish line, I peeked behind me, because my legs were starting to crumble, and my lungs were about to explode. I had to know how close they were. I was amazed to see that we had enough gap to the next skaters that unless I fell, I would not get passed. At that moment, Gary Johnson, who had been drafting on me, jumped around me and I couldn't quite catch him. I didn't even know he was there! Good move by him......I was thrilled that I won the Grand Veterans category for the third straight year....time 1hr 13 min. 08 sec. I would have been 6th had I skated Veterans. "It doesn't get much better than this!" Side note, the Flying Fossils finished 1,2,3,4,9,11,14 in the Grand Veteran category........Not bad for a bunch of old farts! There were 24 skaters age 45 and older who finished in under 1 hr. 13 min. 30 sec.
Team Rainbo has much to be proud of. We had over 40 skaters participate. It would have been over 50, but circumstances kept some people from coming at the last minute. We had a great lunch, great accommodations, a great Saturday night out, and people watching, at Grandma's bar. (What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's) So much fun is had in Duluth, that I can't wait til next year....get it on your calendar! Sign up now, and save some serious money! Team Rainbo skaters who made the podium include:
Kyle Brady
Cale Carvell
Margo Carvell
Marcy Turek
Gary Blank
Herman Boehm
Casey Darby
Kris Festelhausen
Doris Hoffie
Jan Kopis
Liz Nelson
Murphy Quinn
Bob Ryan
Mary Jo Shear
Needless to say, if I missed anyone, please speak up, and accept my apologizes. My congratulations to them for their accomplishments, and to everyone who was there. I think that our presence, friendliness, and amount of skaters, impresses all that see us, and encourages everyone to participate. "It doesn't get much better than this!"
To top things off, my booth did great!. Next year two booths and more stuff.......I miss the ride up there with the van full of team members, so maybe I can find an alternative for next year.
I could go on for a few pages, but I would like to see if some of you skaters could put out an email about your Duluth experience. Long, or short, just something about your race and highlights of the weekend. We had quite a few who were at their first Duluth.....it would be great to hear about what you think.
As the 14th year of Duluth comes to an end, I wish to thank all who represented Team Rainbo, and as I think of what skating has brought to many of our lives, and the friendships that we have all made I just have to say.......come on now.......get ready.....hear it comes.....all together now .........................................
"IT DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!"........CALE
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Permalink Reply by Rayna Meyer on -
Dale and Ron-
Being one of the main lead pullers of that wave 1 pack, I say, if the pace was too slow for you on london road, you guys were more than welcome to take your turn at the helm and give us a break, we were just trying to save our energy for lemon drop and the off ramp. Seeing our breakaway efforts were less than stellar, staying with the pack and resting was a good choice. Sarah (the 13yr old girl, main puller) tried several attempts to break away, I just didnt have the muster to help her much. That guy who fell and bloodied himself still managed to catch up and give some major pulls, kudos to him, but he was a bit scary to skate behind, not too sure of himself on his skates.
Tip for next time: if you are in a large pace line that just isnt turning out the speed you want, go out on a flier, I'm sure people will follow and help you break away, you arent going to get anywhere if you dont take that chance.. Only the people pulling the pack can control the pace. If that paceline had the same 4 to 6 pullers as ours did, of course the pace will slow, the ones doing all the work will tire, and the wheel suckers in the back will be standing up with energy to burn. Go ahead and burn that energy and take your turn pulling the pack, when you drop back to rest you will get that energy back.
My lesson learned: I need to work on my speed and endurance so when I do go out on a flier or breakaway, the pack cant catch me. heheheee
anyways. I did have somuch fun skating with everyone, this is for sure my favorite race.. I had a sick baby with 102 fever but dragged him to Duluth anyways, there was no way I was missing this race, he ended up breaking his fever friday night, so that was good for my husband who was in charge of watching him while I was skating.
see you all next year.
Ron Marfori said:I was also in wave one. I skated toward the front of the pack for most of the race. There were 3-5 skaters that kept trying to break away and I had the task of reeling them back in a couple times. I was up towards the front of the pack when I heard that guy fall. I was pretty sure he took a few people with him, so it's good to hear that it was only one other person. I did notice the pace starting to slow on London road. I was actually hoping it would pick up because the road is so smooth there. There were a few people towards the front that were try to pull for a little longer than they should have and slowing down the pack. I still finshed over 9 minutes faster than my PR with a time of 1:21:25. I'm hoping to break 1:20 next year if the conditions are as good as they were this year.
Dale - Where do you train? I train a lot at Hyland Park in Edina, Minnehaha Parkway, and the lakes of course. Hyland has some great hills for training for Lemon Drop!
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Permalink Reply by Michael Garvin on
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Permalink Reply by R(O)(O)(O)(O)ger-Photo by J.Kent on -
Calle, great story of YOUR race, MAN I missed being there with you all. And yes....."It doesn't get any better than this."Thanks for the post and all of Team Rainbow Skaters that made the trip, I always enjoy skating amongst the team members. You had a banner year Calle for sure. R(O)(O)(O)(O)ger
Robert Burnson said:Cale Carvell's NorthShore report:
IT DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!
Many of you probably know that I was going to have a booth at the Expo to sell skates. This meant that a break from current tradition. The Rainbo Party Van was going to be hauling lots of stuff to sell at Duluth Expo, along with Jody, a former employee and great friend. We left at 5am on Friday with the hopes of getting to Duluth by 12 when the Expo officially started.
As we drove along at 55 MPH (yea right!), there was a loud "BANG" . My left rear tire, literally exploded and the van began going out of control. It was very scarry for a while......I have crashed enough lately! I was able to stabilize things and get us to the side of the road, where we discovered that the tire was shredded. Having never changed a tire on the van, we had to figure things out. Guy, Brian, and Kris came buy and laughed and drove on!!!..........No, just kidding! They stopped to help us, which was a good thing, because Jody and I were still reading the manual. We were only about 30 miles to Duluth, and we made it with no further problems, because of their help, but we were an hour behind schedule
The dinner Friday night was it's usual festive atmosphere. We had about 40 people, with the main topic, of course, being skating and Duluth. I am sure some of the family members in attendance cannot understand how we can keep talking about the same thing all the time.........They obviously have their priorities mixed up! Don't they know that "It doesn't get much better that this!"
5am.......morning, we are up! Off to the buses and the usual trip out to the start....the weather was just a little chilly, with the promise of being perfect when the sun came up . The weather was absolutely perfect. No wind, sunny, and not to hot. "It doesn't get much better that this! " My potato chips and Gatorade tasted especially good this morning, I could tell I was ready to race. When we arrived, we all made our way to find other team members. Anticipation and excitement filled the air. Pretty much every skater that we have ever known is there. Plenty of time to socialize, as we had an hour to wait. That guy who was the announcer must have had double, double, double, caffeine Late', cause he was about to have a heart attack from all the effort and energy that went into his encouraging words.......a little warm up, and it's race time. "It doesn't get much better than this"
The Veteran and the Grand Veterans all race together, so we had over 50 guys ready to roll......The gun goes off, and so do we. It is fast, but easy to maintain, because it is downhill. Most of these skaters have lots of skills and abilities because of years and years of experience (same as "OLD"). Their were numerous surges, that strung the pack out quite a distance, but the front guys were getting tired of leading, and kept letting the pack get back together. This was really one of the easiest, and uneventful Duluths that I have been at. I have been skating well, and I never really felt in any danger of not hanging on. I was able to jump out of the pack and work my way back up, a little closer to the leaders when necessary. I did not want a surge to happen and be too far back, and miss the break. I wanted to maintain a position of about 10th, in the pack. I even got in front and pulled a couple of times (note to self: Don't do that anymore). Jeff Terrwilliger pulled away from the pack with about 6 miles to go. His teammates clogged up the front, and let him get the jump on everyone. He got about 400 yds ahead of us, but never seemed to be in danger of getting away to far. We were reeling him in a little, and got satisfied. The gap stayed the same, and then he picked up the pace. Before we knew it, the gap became to big for us to close up.....the race was his, on a great strategical move. When we got to Lemon Drop hill, everything picked up. We hammered up the hill....my Sears training was paying off as I got out of the pack and went up the side. As we got on the Highway, I found myself in 3rd place, behind a blistering pace being held by Morgan Williams, and Hernan Diaz. Usually lots of games are played on the Highway, but this year many skaters were just barely hanging on. Now it was the time for the ramp off the Highway.....this is the most important point in the race, if you are still in the front pack. The first ones at the top of the ramp making the left turn, usually are on the podium. Hernan and Morgan continued to press the pace....no one caught us on the ramp, we turned and headed for home. As soon as we made the next left turn they really hit the afterburners.....I just did not have that gear in my arsenal. Herb Gayle was behind me and passed me and stayed with them and finally beat them at the line. I kept my head down and hammered as hard as I could. I couldn't believe that no one was catching me!!!......When we made the final last turn, heading for the finish line, I peeked behind me, because my legs were starting to crumble, and my lungs were about to explode. I had to know how close they were. I was amazed to see that we had enough gap to the next skaters that unless I fell, I would not get passed. At that moment, Gary Johnson, who had been drafting on me, jumped around me and I couldn't quite catch him. I didn't even know he was there! Good move by him......I was thrilled that I won the Grand Veterans category for the third straight year....time 1hr 13 min. 08 sec. I would have been 6th had I skated Veterans. "It doesn't get much better than this!" Side note, the Flying Fossils finished 1,2,3,4,9,11,14 in the Grand Veteran category........Not bad for a bunch of old farts! There were 24 skaters age 45 and older who finished in under 1 hr. 13 min. 30 sec.
Team Rainbo has much to be proud of. We had over 40 skaters participate. It would have been over 50, but circumstances kept some people from coming at the last minute. We had a great lunch, great accommodations, a great Saturday night out, and people watching, at Grandma's bar. (What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's) So much fun is had in Duluth, that I can't wait til next year....get it on your calendar! Sign up now, and save some serious money! Team Rainbo skaters who made the podium include:
Kyle Brady
Cale Carvell
Margo Carvell
Marcy Turek
Gary Blank
Herman Boehm
Casey Darby
Kris Festelhausen
Doris Hoffie
Jan Kopis
Liz Nelson
Murphy Quinn
Bob Ryan
Mary Jo Shear
Needless to say, if I missed anyone, please speak up, and accept my apologizes. My congratulations to them for their accomplishments, and to everyone who was there. I think that our presence, friendliness, and amount of skaters, impresses all that see us, and encourages everyone to participate. "It doesn't get much better than this!"
To top things off, my booth did great!. Next year two booths and more stuff.......I miss the ride up there with the van full of team members, so maybe I can find an alternative for next year.
I could go on for a few pages, but I would like to see if some of you skaters could put out an email about your Duluth experience. Long, or short, just something about your race and highlights of the weekend. We had quite a few who were at their first Duluth.....it would be great to hear about what you think.
As the 14th year of Duluth comes to an end, I wish to thank all who represented Team Rainbo, and as I think of what skating has brought to many of our lives, and the friendships that we have all made I just have to say.......come on now.......get ready.....hear it comes.....all together now .........................................
"IT DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!"........CALE
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Permalink Reply by R(O)(O)(O)(O)ger-Photo by J.Kent on
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Super post Mike, really enjoyed it and totally relate to it all. For this is the best show to go to. R(O)(O)(O)(O)ger
Michael Garvin said:
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Permalink Reply by R(O)(O)(O)(O)ger-Photo by J.Kent on
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This is the "SHOW" Thomas, each time you go you learn many valuable lessons, lessons that will make your training next year a little different. Pacelines, oh my how I get off on all of that energy/adrenaline. You have been bitten, you will become a adrenaline junky too. Nice report, thanks. see ya next year. R(O)(O)(O)(O)ger
Thomas Stergar, II said:I’m still a newbie being two years into racing. So far, road races are my thing and I have not been to one outside of the US yet. This being my first NSIM, I was absolutely blown away. No question that all of the other races out there, small or big, are outstanding, and I am truly grateful for them but this race absolutely blew my mind. Now I understand… Now I get it!
I was in the A wave kerfuffle that eventually caught the pro women. Right from the start, the mass of eight wheeled humanity just was not going to make one pace line, plain and simple. Not sure why but it is what it was. After that first water station when the pavement got smooth everyone got really fired up. That’s when the three line thing started because almost everyone found their feet and wanted to reposition and the pullers were dying a little after the start and the suckers were coming up on them, so it may simply be that we were just trying to just avoid a concrete face plant; I was! There really was no choice but to either run over someone or cut one way or the other. I remember pushing (more like straight arming!) some poor dude early with the back of my hand right on his bottle. Unfortunately his pop top was open and his sports drink found the path of least resistance (sorry man…). And, well uh… you can imagine the rest. Not a pretty sight. Note to self for next year: always close your bottle. So you had three lines and then small breaks of 5 to 10 skaters on each shoulder every few minutes. That makes five or four and a half or whatever!
Lemon drop Hill separated some of us but there were still a bunch of us hanging tough in the front. You can tell from the 100+ of us that finished at the same time, but the dueling pace line thing was just not going to stop. I remember pulling the lead pack until I hit the off ramp to the frontage road that takes you to the finish (can’t remember the name of the ramp but you know which one it was). I did the ‘Tin Man Dance’ at 25 MPH off of some crack that I didn’t see and thought I was done for sure. Thankfully I recovered but lost about 20 places getting my bearings going up the ramp. But I got lucky. On the over pass, down the hill and into the two last left turns a lot of folks slowed down and some of us went outside, including me, so I was able to make up a little more than I lost on the ramp in the last 1000 meters.
It was unfortunate that the pro women had a tough time getting by us but there were so many of us and it was really crazy. Anyone else in that pack knows what I mean.
All things aside; hands down it’s definitely the most incredible racing experience that only someone who races it can understand. As I said before, and it must be like this for others, now I understand. This race is the anchor event that makes you look forward to next season. Maybe others see it a different way because of their experience but this is my perspective. Will I be back? Oh you betcha'!
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