Like the Terminator, She'll be back

Ah, finally! Something happy to write about in the wake of all the stuff on doping that I've been typing about for the past two months.
The next Armstrong comeback - Kristin's
Kristin's been working in the wind tunnel on her time-trial bike, preparing for the 2011 season.

I've been a fan of Kristin's ever since I tentatively dipped my toes into the pool that is road cycling back in 2004. I heard about her competing in Athens at the Olympics and how she started racing bikes after finding out she couldn't compete in triathlons due to hip issues. I was [am] impressed. Not everyone would take news like that so well, much less turn it into a stellar career the way she has.

I had the opportunity to speak to her a few times two years ago at a race I was volunteering at, you can read those posts here and I was pleasantly surprised that she was so... normal. It's amazing how often we forget that for all their accomplishments, training, and globe-trotting, professional athletes are people, too.

Good luck, Kristin! I can't wait to see how this season shakes out!

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

"I Can Ride My Bike With No Handlebars

... no handlebars." Not really, but it's a funny lyric, isn't it? And a funky lead-in to today's essay.

Actress Angie Harmon (Law & Order, Women's Murder Club, Rizzoli & Isles) @Angie_Harmon tweeted this morning: Today we're teaching #1 to ride a bike w/ no training wheels... Any tips?? Yikes! Why, yes, yes I do.

It got me thinking about how my dad taught my sister and I to ride a bike and why it worked. I talk through this same process with my customers at the bike shop when they ask me the best way to teach their kid to ride a bike. Here goes:
- Helmets are a must and make sure it fits properly. If the old one is more than three years old, replace it. At the rate a child grows, you might be looking at a new helmet every few years until their head quits growing. Fortunately, helmets these days are incredibly adjustable and you should be able to get at least a year or two out of it.

- Adjust the saddle (seat) height so that your child can touch the ground with flat feet. This will make it easier for them to maintain control of the bike when they loose their balance.

- It helps to have a slight decline to your driveway, and have your driveway empty into a cul-de-sac or a quiet street. This will help gravity do some of the momentum work for you.

- First off, don't worry about the pedaling. Start out just having the child push themselves with their feet and then lifting their feet off the ground. This will make it easier for them to learn to balance on two wheels.

- Once they've mastered balancing with their feet off the ground, have them push themselves with their feet, take their feet off the ground, and put them on the pedals. Don't worry about actually pedaling. That part comes next.

- Once they've got the hang of balancing and putting their feet on the pedals, have them push off with their feet, put their feet on the pedals, and start pedaling!

See? That wasn't so hard, was it?

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Armstrong Retirement, Take Two

They say timing is everything. And because I have an inquisitive mind, I am puzzling and theorizing over the timing of Lance's second retirement from professional cycling.
Lance Armstrong Retires From Cycling

From what I can gather, the plan at the beginning of the season was to make the Tour Down Under Lance's final race on the international stage, and he was [at least] signed up to start several domestic races over the spring and summer.

So, what happened?

It could be any number of things. First of all, Lance isn't the spring chicken he used to be. He's approaching an age where racers are either already retired or are certainly considering retirement. The wear and tear on the body is just too much to keep making it do as you please and expect it to hold up.

Second, he's been riding professionally for many years, spending time based in Europe, away from his home and family in Texas. And while it's exciting to get to ride your bike for a living in some of the most beautiful places on earth, I'm sure life on the road has got to take it's toll, too.

And, of course, some theorize that Lance's most recent retirement was due to the recent allegations of doping that has been levelled against him and his former U.S. Postal team. Personally, I doubt it. Lance has one of the coolest heads in professional sports and a killer business sense. He has also never tested positive for a banned substance. I doubt he would let these more recent allegations ruffle his feathers.

My sense is that he just felt it was time. When he retired in 2005, he was at the top of his sport. He'd won seven consecutive Tour de France maillot jaune and I think felt he had nothing left to prove to himself or to the sport. These past three seasons, I believe, didn't go quite as he wanted. He wanted an eighth yellow jersey and finished third in 2009 and 23rd last year. He didn't complain about it or make excuses, only saying that was the way sport played out sometimes.

Thanks again, Lance, for another great ride. Kick your feet up a bit and enjoy life in the slow(er) lane.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Hang A U-Turn!

Wow. I have to say that I didn't expect this.
Confirmed: Alberto Contador Cleared of Clenbuterol Charges
Spanish fed clears Alberto Contador...

And it sounds like he's going to be on the start-line at Algarve on Wednesday.

I wonder that it turned out this way. I know that Alberto is a huge national hero in Spain and many have hailed him as the next great racer of his generation. However, in the past few years, the UCI, WADA, and other national cycling federations have really begun to clamp down on doping of any kind, seemingly intentional or not. Look at Tom Zirbel's case, if you don't believe me. The sport seems to be really trying to clean itself up. So, why apparently go "easy" on a rider, even a champion, who had a banned substance in his blood? In the past, it seems to me, regardless of intent or how the substance got into a rider's body, they got slapped with a fine and a minimum two-year suspension from rider.

So, what prompted a decision like this? The untarnished image of a champion rider never before popped for doping? The fact that he had enough money to hire lawyers and had a team around him to deflect, spin, and protect? Perhaps I'm becoming cycnical in my old age, but why should that matter? I was under the impression that the system is set up to make sure everyone gets a fair shake, am I wrong?

So, what do I think? I think the decision to drop the charges was a fair one, since no one seems to really know how the clenbuterol entered Alberto's system. But what does a decision like that say about all the other riders who have said they unknowingly ingested a banned substance and their protests of innocence went unaknowledged?

I'm glad I'm not the one making these decisions.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Alberto's Case, Continued

At a press conference in Spain earlier today, Alberto Contador once again protested that he never doped in his career. He lashed out at the media for dragging his name through the mud and the anti-doping rules and the system that enforces them.

At news conference, Contador vows to appeal
Contador Will Appeal Tour de France Doping Sanction

I'm sorry, but I've heard all this before. Floyd Landis sang a very similar song for years and look how that ended up.

That said, I think Alberto will fair better in whatever way he chooses to fight the sanction. He has wisely let his agent and his lawyers do much of the talking, rather than blindly flailing about as Floyd did. Alberto has allowed himself to be advised and guided (to a certain extent) by his legal team and has wisely not proposed any truly outlandish theories (contaminated whisky, really Floyd?) of how he believes clenbuterol entered his system.

What do I think? I think it's odd that only a small amount of the banned substance was detected and that plastics that could indicate blood transfusions were also detected. I think it's a shame that the anti-doping system that is so supposedly broken is still in place, without anyone willing to step up and propose changes. I think it's a tragedy of magnanimous proportions that some riders feel they must dope to gain an edge.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Uh... Uh... Uh...

I step away from my computer for a bit to go workout and this happens!
Contador suspended one year, stripped of 2010 Tour de France title

I am absolutely flabbergasted. I thought Alberto would somehow slide on consequences resulting from his positive test for clenbuterol due to the small amount and the fact that no one seems to really know how the substance got into his system.

I'm not even sure how to feel about this. I'll be back with more once I've let this sink in.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

For Carla

This is quite cool. The Nature Valley Grand Prix has established the Carla Swart Sportsmanship Award as a memorial to Carla Swart, the HTC-HighRoad rider who was killed on a training right last Wednesday.

I never had the opportunity to meet Carla, but from what I gather from what's been written about her, she raced with heart and tenacity. In 2008, she won the Division I road race, individual track titles in 2 kilometer pursuit and match sprint, the cross-country and short track mountain bike titles, the individual mountain bike omnium, and placed first in the US cyclocross nationals. And she did all this as a college student! She also raced in the Nature Valley Grand Prix in June 2008 on the Collegiate All-Stars team and in 2010 for the Vera Bradley Foundation team.

VeloNews published this article Making the Grade,
after her break-out collegiate season in 2008. I remember reading this article and thinking, Wow, now there's someone worth watching.

Here's the press-release:
Nature Valley Grand Prix Establishes Swart Sportsmanship Award

Minneapolis (Jan. 24, 2011) – Organizers of the Nature Valley Grand Prix have announced the establishment of the "Carla Swart Sportsmanship Award" as a memorial to an alumna of their 2008 Ryan Collegiate All Star team. The award will recognize the female athlete at the race who sacrifices her own chances for the good of the team. Carla Swart was a South African Olympic hopeful and the most decorated collegiate rider in U.S. history.

Swart died Wednesday after she was hit by a truck during a training ride in the central Free State province of South Africa. The 23-year-old was a member of the Ryan Collegiate All Star team at the Nature Valley Grand Prix in 2008 and competed professionally on Team Vera Bradley Foundation in last year's race. She won 19 national titles during her collegiate career and most recently finished 10th in the women's elite road race at the world championships in Melbourne, Australia.

"Cycling is a team sport, with talented athletes often sacrificing their own chances to support a teammate,” Nature Valley Grand Prix Executive Director David LaPorte said. "The Carla Swart Sportsmanship award will recognize these unsung heroes. We'll ask the racers to vote for the rider on another team who has sacrificed the most in support of her teammates. Particularly since the radio ban, the riders themselves know the most about who deserves this award."

The Carla Swart Sportsmanship Award winner will be recognized before the race's final stage, the Stillwater Criterium. The honoree will receive a special jersey to wear and a front row call-up, LaPorte said. Besides the recognition, a front row start is particularly valuable in Stillwater since the race hits the fabled 23 percent grade on Chillkoot Hill almost immediately.

Brian Sheedy, Swart's fiancé and a former professional racer, said he and Swart's family are extremely grateful to have an award established in her honor.

"She touched so many people with her vibrant and loving nature and her smile," he said. "She did so many things in this sport in such a short time. She was probably South Africa's top cyclist – man or woman – and their biggest hope for the Olympics, by far. On the world stage, she was making a name for herself really, really fast."

John Barron, director of the Collegiate All Stars, said it made sense to establish an award in Swart's memory because her performance at the Nature Valley Grand Prix helped her gain a professional contract.

“No one will forget Carla's infectious smile, razor-sharp focus and her stunning athleticism that she displayed at the 2008 Nature Valley Grand Prix as a member of the Ryan Collegiate All Stars,” Barron said. “I expect the recipient of this annual award will receive the extra strength, spirit and fortitude she will need to finish the last, brutal stage of the race.”

Swart went on to ride for the Team Vera Bradley Foundation at the Nature Valley Grand Prix last year. Her former team manager, Lisa Hunt, said the award will serve as a long-lasting symbol of the rider that her teammates and friends referred to as the "ginger ninja."

“Few cyclists will achieve what Carla did in the short span of her career,” Hunt said. "And by this, I mean not just the victories, but the relationships she built with her teammates. She gave more than 100 percent in every race. This award will strive to recognize others who display the same unselfish nature that made Carla the ultimate teammate.”

"Good-night, sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

To Languish In Obscurity?

Unfortunately, Floyd Landis has become somewhat of a joke and a pain in the butt to many in the pro peloton. After his positive test for synthetic testosterone and being stripped of his yellow jersey, he's flailed at anyone and anything that may have had anything to do with the sport. Now, nearly five years later, he's finally hanging up his cleats (and hopefully, his microphone).
The Landis Blues
Floyd Landis retiring from cycling, says cycling can't be fixed

Yes, I'm one of those people who believed in Floyd right up until he came clean earlier this year. I've even still got his book on my shelf, I can't make myself get rid of it.

I wish things could have been different. I wish Floyd hadn't doped. I wish he'd come clean after he got popped in 2006. I wish he'd committed himself to riding clean after his suspension was up, like David Millar did. I wish he'd just had a better attitude.

I'm tempted to feel a little sorry for him, what's he going to do now? Can he do anything other than ride his bike? Only time will tell, I suppose.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Gone Too Soon

It's always frightening and sad when a cyclist is killed doing what they love. It's even more scary to me when that person is fresh out of college and at the beginning of what promised to be a great life.
Carla Swart killed in South Africa

Carla was out on a training ride when she was struck by a truck while trying to retrieve her cycling computer. It sounds like the driver tried to stop and even swerved to avoid hitting her, but without success.

How many training rides to we go on every year, never really thinking that we won't be back home in a few hours? How often have we stopped or swerved to pick something up off the road, either because we dropped it or to make sure no one else hits it? This was a training accident, by all accounts, what could have been done to change the outcome? I'm at a loss.

Rest in peace, Carla; you will be missed.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

You Like It Here?!

Yep, I really do!

You might live in Minnesota
- If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by. I don't understand it, but people do it. Forget all day, they'll do it for the weekend!
- If you're proud that your state makes the national news 96 nights each year because International Falls is the coldest spot in the nation. Sure! Is that sad?
- If you have ever refused to buy something because it's "too spendy". Gotta love those "Minnesota-isms.
- If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March. Yes! The one I ride by in the summer is now closed for the season. No Dairy Queen until spring for me.
- If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there. Yes, this really does happen here. I've done it, and people appreciate it!
- If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead. It's either that, or put sunscreen on that bald patch. I think a hat sounds easier.
- If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time. Personally, not a parka, but a fleece, sure. I used to work with a guy who wore shorts all year round: Parka, shorts, and Sorels!
- If your town has an equal number of bars and churches. If it's a small town, they could be kity-corner from each other.
- If you know how to say: Wayzata, Mahtomedi, Cloquet, Edina , Pequot Lakes....and Shakopee. Okay, say it with me: Why-ze-ta, Clo-kay, Eee-dine-a, Pi-qua Lakes, Shock-apee.
- If you think that ketchup is a little too spicy. Ketchup is spicy? Since when?
- If vacation means going "Up North" for the weekend. Up north always means "the Cabin". It might not even be an actual cabin, more likely what the rest of the world calls a house or condo.
- If you measure distance in hours. How far to Grandma's house? Two hours.
- If you know several people, who have hit deer more than once. Yes, and man, your car will be toast.
- If you often switch from "Heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again. Give it five minutes, the weather will change.
- If you can drive 65 mph through two feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching. Nooo, more like 25 mph. Unless it's the first snow of the year.
- If you see people wearing hunting clothes at social events. Yes. I have relitives who have worn camo or blaze to family dinner.
- If you install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked. My neighbors did this, I don't get it.
- If you think of the major food groups as beer, fish, and Venison. I thought it was beer, walleye, hotdish.
- If you carry jumper cables in your car, and your girlfriend knows how to use them. Oh yes, this is a must.
- If there are seven empty cars running in the parking lot at any given time. Yep, they have to warm up before we get in.
- If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit. Don't laugh, my mom used to do this. And there was that blizzard back in '91...
- If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow. Ugh, nasty potholes.
- If you know all four seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and of course, Road Construction. I thought there were only two season: Winter and Road Construction.
- If you can identify a southern or eastern accent. I can. I can also usually guess what region or state.
- If your idea of creative landscaping is a plastic deer next to your blue spruce. Um, no.
- If "Down South" to you means Iowa. "Down South is south of Missouri.
- If you know "a brat" is something you eat. Yes, please. With mustard, and sauerkraut.
- If you find -10 degrees "a little chilly". With wind, or without wind?

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Because It's Fun?

I've been told by many people that I'm crazy to think riding my bike every day for more than a few miles even remotely qualifies as fun.

So, you think I'm crazy? What about these guys? Warning: This video is probably not kid-friendly and is extremely humorous.

And, apparently, it's all true!

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Money Can't Buy Love

But I guess it can buy you out of trouble.
Driver sentenced after controversial plea deal in Vail hit-and-run

I wonder if he'll be able to pay someone to do his community service and probation for him, too?

I was so hoping for a better result.

What makes me justifiably angry about this case is the fact that the defendant was handled with such kid gloves by the prosecutor. A prosecutor that has a reputation for aggressively prosecuting defendants for incidents that, according to common sense, are a lot less serious. Throw a snowball at someone at Copperhead? Prosecute. Fudge a race entry to Leadville? Prosecute. Nearly kill a cyclist with your Mercedes and you've got a s**t-ton of money? Plead him out. Read The Explainer article in the link below, it'll give you a good perspective on the whole case and the circumstances surrounding it.

This double-standard isn't supposed to exist in our justice system. I know that it does, and our courts would collapse under the sheer number of cases without plea bargains; but the prosecutor was very wrong not to take this case to trial. A trial, win or lose, would have brought attention to the issues of safe driving and how vulnerable cyclists really are out there. No matter how many cyclists ride on the roads, as is our right, a car will still outweigh a cyclist, both literally and otherwise.

Wow, don't I sound cynical.

More on this case:
The Explainer: Thoughts on Erzinger and why I won't boycott Vail
Friday's Foaming Rant: Restitution or retribution?
District attorney seeks to bar Vail victim's testimony in plea hearing

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Tipping the Scales of Justice

If a tree falls in the forest and no one's around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Wait, that's not right.

If you take a supplement with a banned substance and the label doesn't list it, did you intentionally ingest a banned substance?

Why yes, yes you did. And here's a two-year suspension for your unintentional mistake.
Court of Arbitration for Sport reduces Flavia Olivera suspension

Perhaps justice in professional cycling does exist after all?

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Evie Stevens Reloaded

I first heard about Evelyn Stevens last autumn while reading through The New York Times SPOKES blog. Then earlier this year, Bicycling Magazine published the story about her rather meteoric rise from amateur to her riding for HTC this past season. Her story sounds like something out of a fairy tale or a Hollywood movie: A young investment banker races her bike a few times, gets hooked, starts training nearly every spare minute, and eventually leaves her job to pursue The Dream.

And pursue, she has. She made some great results this season with her HTC-Columbia team. I can only think that if she continues to work and learn as she has this season, she will have an even better 2010/2011 season.
Evelyn Stevens signs two-year deal to stay with HTC

Evie, you're my hero.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Oh, really?

Landis says clenbuterol is quite common in peloton
Again, I wonder why people keep giving Floyd a soap-box from which to spout. I suppose as an admitted doper, he has certain insights into the dark side of the pro peloton. But, where is his credibility? He lied for years, wrote a book about it, finally came clean (so to speak) earlier this year, and proceeded to implicate other riders. He never apologized, to my knowledge, for lying and misleading so many people.

Floyd, please do us all a favor and hush? Thank you.
You want to be listened to? Stop running your mouth, accept the blame for the choices you made, and commit to riding clean and transparent from now on.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Oh, for the love of...

UPDATE 11/25/2010:
There is always more to the story...
The Explainer: How do we get from aging dopers to the big names?

amateur: noun; (1) devotee, admirer (2) one who engages in a pursuit, study, or sport as a pastime rather than a profession (M-W.com) The origins of the word are French, from the Latin and originally refer to love or the love of something.

News has come down the pipe at VeloNews that a masters racer from Michigan has been handed a two-year suspension from USADA for purchase and use of EPO.

I can't help but think there's something seriously wrong when an amateur dopes. Is winning that local crit or Tuesday Night Sprint series really worth the potential health problems and legal problems that will most likely arise? What really makes this case sad is that this guy didn't really have any results to show. Basically, he risked his health for nothing, and now he can't race for two years.

Let's file this one under "You've gotta be kidding me", shall we?

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Um, what's the problem?

As a cyclist, I can tell you that few things are more frightening than a car zipping by six-inches from your elbow while you're riding on the shoulder. And many drivers of my acquaintance have told me that passing or even just seeing a cyclist on the road makes them quite nervous behind the wheel.

The number of commuters who ride bicycles to get to work and run errands are increasing and I doubt that will change any time soon, thanks to rising gas prices, etc. However, cars and trucks still outnumber bicycles on the road by a large margin; and some drivers don't like sharing the road. So, a bike lane sounds like the perfect solution, doesn't it? Drivers are able to pass cyclists with relative ease and cyclists have a lane where cars aren't allowed, therefore they can worry a little less about being hit. Great, right? Apparently, not.
New York Times: Bike Lanes' Growth in New York Brings Backlash

"And yet, I am unmoved." Now, I don't live on an island where there's finite space for everything and I've never had the pleasure of visiting New York City. From what I can gather, drivers are angry over losing a driving lane and parking spots. I'm also thinking that they feel threatened that with the growth of bike lanes, cyclists are somehow going to squeeze them out and make it harder for them to drive their cars.

True, there's one less lane for cars, cry me a river. Cars still get the majority of the road and an automobile still outweighs a cyclist by a few tons. Driving is a privilege, not a right; and if you can't deal with a repainting of lanes, perhaps you should consider changing your driving routes. It's hard to have sympathy for angry drivers who seem to think a cyclist don't deserve the same rights and considerations on the road as a car.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Shouldered

I've crashed my bike a couple times out of the thousands of miles I've ridden. Pretty good odds, I'd say. And I got off fairly light injury-wise: Painful road-rash and multi-colored bruises. However, both times I messed up my shoulder something nasty.
VN.com: Shoulder Separations Explained
I think I had a Type I separation that first crash. Ugh, it took forever for that to heal.

When you crash, don't hesitate to go see your doctor if something isn't working the way it should. Better to go get it checked and find out it's nothing than to wait and make it worse by omission.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

That's...

not what I was hoping to hear.
Newspaper reports WADA unable to confirm Alberto Contador's tainted beef claim

Man, I don't know what to believe anymore. I really want to let due process take it's time to uncover and analyze the evidence available. But as more time passes, it looks worse and worse for Alberto.

And what's the truth? Is Alberto a doper? Or was this just the worst possible confluence of unfortunate and unintended circumstances?

I think I'll wait until the official report from UCI and WADA is released to pass any sort of judgement.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

What do you call it?

I use this little corner of the interwebs to draw attention to people, stories, et cetera that I believe others would benefit from knowing about. In the past two years, I've written my two cents about volunteering at huge bike races, the local cycling scene, play-by-play of races I've attended, doping cases of some of my heroes and former heroes, and a lot of other subjects.

So, since I'm writer and maintainer here at VeloGirl, I'm writing an absolutely shameless plug for a local non-profit organization I deem worthy of such an honor: Twin Cities Robert Emmets Hurling Club.
I suppose this will require some explanation.

Despite what you may have gathered from this blog, I do a lot of stuff that has little to do with cycling. I write (of course), devour Victorian-era mystery novels, enjoy action movies with friends, sing with the music in my car, and run around on a soccer pitch with a three foot piece of Irish ash in my hands chasing a leather ball in all sorts of weather [playing hurling], among other things.

We have a fairly large Irish community in the Twin Cities metro area and one thing that binds a community is their sport. The Gaelic game of hurling is approximately 2,000 years old and has been played in one form or another in Ireland all that time. The way I describe the game to the uninitiated (and they are numerous) is it looks like a combination of field hockey and lacrosse, but quicker and with less padding (helmets are required, cleats are highly recommended, and shin-guards are optional). A lot of American players have backgrounds in lacrosse, soccer, ice hockey, baseball, and golf to name a few.

I fell in love with hurling two summers ago while walking around a park in Saint Paul. A bunch of people were running around a makeshift field with what looked like axe handles, knocking into each other and smacking what looked like a baseball around. I was intrigued and was allowed to "puck around" on the field after the game was finished. Uh oh. I kept the game in mind when I visited Ireland this past spring and even commandeered our house's television to watch an inter-county match between Galway and Cork, over the groans of my family. I was determined to put some serious thought into playing the game when I got back.



The game is gaining popularity outside Ireland in England, Australia, the United States and is primarily, but not exclusively by Irish immigrants and people with a love for and/or connections to their Irish communities. Games are usually played on a soccer pitch with temporary up-rights attached to the goalposts, as true hurling pitches are curiously hard to find in the US.



Our local hurling club, the Robert Emmets (so named for an Irish patriot) is a 501(c)(3) organization, meaning they're non-profit. They subsist totally on donations from sponsoring companies and dues and equipment fees paid by playing members. Granted, there isn't a lot of equipment, but playing field fees are expensive and the club does travel out of state in the summer to regional tournaments and Nationals.

Anyway, today is Give to the Max Day through giveMN.org and some companies are matching donations to certain organizations. If you are so inclined, click on this link and give. Any amount is greatly appreciated and will be hoisted onto our shoulders. Come check out a match in the spring once the snow melts and the club is allowed back on the pitch.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.