Our summer of Masters rollerskiing has begun! Thanks to our stellar coach trio of Andy, Rick, and Liam we had all abilities covered: this is a rollerski group for ANYONE so be sure to check it out if you’re interested! We have several pairs of rollerskis for folks to try if they never have before.
After breaking into groups, newer rollerskiers worked on balance and coordination while experienced skiers took a trip into the hills of the neighborhood. Check out some photos and video!
Join Coach Andy this Thursday for our first session for newer rollerskiers at Williston Central School. If you’re already a roller-crushin’ Master looking to get in a great session, this is also the place to be! Coach Liam and Coach Rick will lead more experienced skiers.
To get there: turn into Williston Central School via the Williston Library (off Rt 2). At the stop sign, take a right and drive to the very end of that parking area where you’ll see soccer fields, a gate, the bike path, and skatepark.
These sessions will run 8 weeks, so please don’t forget to register here.
Everything begins at 6PM! Below is a note from Coach Andy:
Welcome beginner (and novice) roller skiers!
A couple a quick thoughts as we approach our first adventure this Thursday, 6/13/19 at Williston Central School.
We’ll meet out back of the school, left rear parking lot at 6:00pm.
No experience required.
Please join us even if you don’t have any rollerskis yet and want to learn more about how to get started. MNC may have some additional rollerskis for your use.
Bring: nordic ski boots, helmet, ski poles (skate/classic to match your ski type), running shoes, water, biking (or light gardening) gloves, roller skis (if you have them) and your adventuresome spirit! Dress in athletic outerwear. Longsleve shirt/jacket and pants are suggested.
We’re lucky to have a lot of terrain so close to us…you might not think of the Southridge neighborhood in Williston as a “ton of terrain” if you ski there all the time…but many ski teams and clubs are forced to ski almost exclusively on bike paths or even smaller neighborhoods. Rollerski route options are probably the only true benefit of suburban sprawl if you’re an athlete, and we sure have it here.
We can do a long ski from Williston Central School all the way to the edge of Taft Corners, with a mix of hills and curves and generally safe, friendly drivers. Or, we can plan out hills to make an ideal loop for intervals or, in the case of the Masters, a great timetrial course. We’re just down the road from Burlington but we’ve got a whole network of “trails” to rollerski on.
So, we donned out hi-viz clothing and hit the roads for the first ski-specific intensity of the year on Thursday; a little L3 rollin’ in the neighborhood.
On Saturday, we gathered at Cochran’s for another adventure on trails that are really not that expansive when you’re comparing them to the Long Trail or peaks of the White Mountains…but still feel a world away all the same. These are the BEST trails around, and I’m happy to fight anyone who says otherwise! They have EVERYTHING…from flow to gnar, traverse-able terrain to grueling mountain climbs and white-knuckle descents.
Half of us were biking, and half of us were running. We used the Eastern Cup radios to communicate, set off from different start spots, converged atop the peak, and sent it down to the other side and Dugway road. There, some stashed water and food awaited us to make the journey back via the River Trail. Richmond is really becoming a small mountain biking hub, and plenty were out enjoying the area by the time we finished up.
There were crashes. There were wrong turns. There were moments of chaos as we fought to survive the insidious forests deep in the deadly jungle-land known as the Richmond Mountain Trails…
We’ve gotten a few weeks of spring training under our belt, and the 2019/2020 season is underway. We’ve begun putting in some running mileage, some rollerski kilometers, and some reps in the gym. It’s been great to have a mix of returning skiers and new faces; athletes who finished last winter ready to make the most of the off-season.
It’s been a tough spring for good access to running and mountain biking, with mud taking over nearly every trail. But things have dried out just enough to start returning to some of our favorite spots like the Preston trails in Richmond and of course Bolton for the uphill run test!
Nothing like running as hard as you can uphill for 20 minutes straight to get in the mood!
After the run test the other day, we ventured deeper into the woods…an hour later we made it here
When we aren’t climbing the trails, we are cruising the streets..
There are still a few weeks left until the start of summer training…be sure to sign up AND if you have not yet, be sure to sign up for either Mountain Camp or Mini Mountain Camp while a few spots still remain for those adventures!
Call them what you will…spandex shorts, compression shorts, “hotpants”, “rollerpants”, etc…the lineup of MNC summer apparel continues to grow. Thanks to Michael Gaughan for crafting some sweet rollerskiing/running shorts! These will be available in a Podiumwear online storefront through June 5th.
