*Hello Gators,* Just a reminder that we will begin our transition to outdoor workouts starting in April. April 1 is this Friday, so the first planned club outdoor workout is this Saturday, April 2 (we are still indoors this Tuesday and Thursday starting at 7:30pm as usual). Through the spring, summer, and early/mid fall, our goal is to be outdoors as often as possible on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings, but there will be times, especially early in the season, when weather will push us inside. So here is how we are planning to work the outdoor workouts... - *Meeting Location: *The meeting spot for outdoor workouts will be the Reynolds Dog Park in Oaks unless otherwise noted. - *Facebook Events:* For each outdoor event (i.e. each Tuesday evening and Saturday morning) we will post a Facebook event with the outdoor session details, including start times, workout type (i.e. ride only, ride/run brick, or run only) anticipated duration, and route. If you plan to attend the workout, you should accept the invite so that we can have an idea of the expected attendance and who we should look for. Some additional details... - *Tuesdays:* The plan is to have the same workout each week... Michelle will typically be the ride lead and the workout will be similar to last year... Bike "at your own pace" high intensity intervals on the Schuylkill River Trail between Pawlings Rd. and the Betzwood Bridge followed by a short "at your own pace" run - Due to limited daylight, the initial ride will begin at 6pm, but the ride start time will be moved later as we gain more daylight. - Ride duration will typically be 60-75 minutes and suggested run duration will typically be 15-30 minutes. - NOTE: A new bridge to Valley Forge Park, to be called "Sullivan's Bridge" is being constructed at our turnaround point; it is due to be completed some time this summer. - *Saturdays:* The ride will vary each week on a set of pre-defined routes. - Sometimes we will stay on the SRT and other times we will go on the open road. - TWO ride leaders from our pool of coaches will be assigned to lead. - As long as we have four or more riders including at least one from each group (in addition to the ride leaders) we will have two pace groups... One group will average 13-15 MPH and another group will average 17MPH+. - All groups will be "no drop". - Each rider can select the group that is most appropriate for their anticipated pace. - Ride duration will typically be 1.5-3 hours, although sometimes we may go longer (e.g. to the art museum and back). - *Backup Plan: *Especially early and late in the season (i.e. April, October), our backup plan will be to move indoors... We may make a late call on this, so stay tuned to Facebook for updates. As 80%+ of our members are no Facebook, we will NOT send e-mail updates, so if you are not on our Facebook group, please join. To do so all that you have to do is create a Facebook account and go to our Facebook group page at the following link, which will generate a "group join request"; shortly afterwards you will be accepted and be able to access the group... https://www.facebook.com/groups/msgators/ - *What about Thursday nights? * We've decided that we will at least initially stick with a trainer ride at the Y (Room 2) for the "official club workout" for Thursday nights. The one change is that the ride start time will move up to 7pm. Ride duration will be approximately 90 minutes. Ride lead will rotate between Danny and Don M. - *Why are we doing this?* We think that it's important to continue to occasionally ride on our trainers to achieve our best performance. So we're going to give this a try and see how it works out. As long as there is some attendance, we will continue this series throughout the spring/summer/fall. - *What if I want to go outdoors? * We will promote the Suburban Cyclists Unlimited (SCU) Thursday night rides that begin at 6pm from the Appalachian Brewing Company in Collegeville. These are well organized rides that include two groups (with leads) averaging approx. 12-13 MPH and 15+ MPH. For more information, visit SCU's website... http://www.suburbancyclists.org/ - *What about other ride locations, such as Blue Marsh and French Creek? * We will occasionally use other locations for our rides/runs... Stay tuned to Facebook as event invites with details will be posted for each workout. - *What about Open Water Swims? * Due to Y rules, we are no longer permitted to offer coach led open water swims. However, we can and will offer uncoached swims at Blue Marsh. These may be followed by a coach led ride and/or run (and maybe even a picnic). Some additional notes... - *Emergency Contact List: *Prior to participating in an outdoor workout, you must provide your emergency contact information. The workout leads will have a copy of the emergency contact list at each outdoor workout. If you have not provided your information ahead of time, the workout start will be delayed so that we can collect your information. If you have not already done so, please reply back with TWO emergency contacts... primary and backup. Please include first and last name, relationship, and phone number(s). - *Bike Lights: *Starting on Tuesday, 4/5, each rider must have a front and/or back light on their bike. If you do not already have one, stay tuned for information about some low cost options. As of April 5, if you are not equipped with a light, you will not be able to join a club ride. - *Pool Swim Workouts: *Our tri swim workouts on Monday and Wednesday mornings and evenings will continue as is... - Monday and Wednesday mornings, 10am-11am led by Don S - Monday evenings, 8:30pm-9:30pm led by rotation of Steve and Brian - Wednesday evenings, 8:30pm-9:30pm led by Maribeth - *Yoga workouts: *We are not currently planning to offer yoga workouts during the spring/summer/fall. - *Gator Fitness Challenge: *The GFC will restart in October. Please reply back with any questions/comments. We're looking forward to a great outdoor season! *Don M* > > >