Tri America in Anderson, SC; HELP NEEDED

Volunteers and Racers needed!!! –
Lets come together to support this local event. This is a wonderful opportunity to have a longer distance race in our own back yard not to mention the “home road” advantage. Somers Sports (they also manage the Great Floridian iron distance race) does all the setup and timing but they need racers and a good team of volunteers to put on a safe and enjoyable race. It looks like they will need around 60 volunteers on Saturday for the kids race and super sprint and around 140 on Sunday - that is a lot of people!! – I think the chart below shows 20 course marshals alone. The course venue is Darwin Wright Park so the bike course will be a lot of our usual Saturday and Tues night ride. For those cyclists thinking about tri-ing a new event – the super sprint on Saturday would be an easy entry – it consists of a 200 meter swim, 6 mile bike and 2 mile run. There are also 2 kids races on Saturday for 6-10 year olds and 11-15 year olds. On Sunday there are two races… the short course is 1 kilometer swim (.62 miles), 30 kilometer bike (18.6 miles), and a 7.5 kilometer run (4.7 mile run). – and the Tri America Distance is 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) for the swim, 60 kilometers (37.3 miles) for the bike and 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) for the run.

Athletes interested in competing in the Anderson event can register online at www.sommersports.com/events/triamerica/tour/anderson/. For additional information about the TriAmerica National Series Tour, contact Fred Sommer at fred@sommersports.com or 352-394-1320. Those interested in volunteering for the Anderson Race should contact Andy Blondeau (andy@visitanderson.com) at the Anderson Convention and Visitors Bureau at 864-716-3660.

Thursday, August 23
TASK H OURS QUANTITY SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Event Set-up
8:00am - 6:00pm 8 Can be physically demanding

Friday, August 24
Event Set-up
8:00am - 6:00pm 8 Can be physically demanding

Saturday, August 25 - Super Sprint Triathlon (7:30am Start) & TriKidz Triathlon (9:00am Start)

Registration
5:45am - 7:45am 6 Adults Preferred

Body Marking - Chips
6:00am -

Transition Area
6:00am - 11:00am 6 Adults Preferred

Course Marshals
7:30am - 9:30am 10

Finish Line
8:00am - 9:30am 6

Water Stations/Food
7:30am - 9:30am 10

Saturday, August 25 - Triathlon Registration (9:30am - 5:00pm)
USAT Check
9:30am - 5:00pm 2 Adults

Registration Cards
9:30am - 5:00pm 2 Adults

Packets & Shirts
9:30am - 1:00pm 4
1:00pm- 5:00pm 4

Food Tent
8:00am-11:30am 6
Assist with food set-up and distribution


Sunday, August 26 - Triathlon Registration (5:45am-8:00am)

USAT Check
5:45am - 8:00am 2

Registration Cards
5:45am - 8:00am 2 Adults


Packets & Shirts
5:45am - 8:00am 6 Adults


Sunday, August 26 - Pre-Race

Body Marking
5:45am - 8:00am 7

Chip Distribution
5:45am - 8:00am 4 Adults

Transition Security
5:45am - 8:00am 4 Adults

National Anthem Singer
7:45am 1


Sunday, August 26 - Race (7:30am start)

Food Tent
8:30am-12:00pm 6 Assist with food set-up and distribution

Lifeguards
7:30am - 10:00am 10

Course Monitors
7:30am - 1:00pm 20 Adults - hours vary with location

Transition Area
8:00am - 1:00pm 8

Swim Finish
8:00am - 10:00am 4

Bike Finish
9:00am - 11:30am 4

Water Station - Swim
8:00am - 10:00am 6

Water Station - Bike #1
8:00am - 10:30am 8 Athletic

Water Station - Transition
9:00am - 11:30am 6

Water Station - Run 1
9:00am - 12:30pm 8

Water Station - Run 2
9:00am - 12:00pm 8

Post Race Food & Water
9:00am - 1:00pm 10

Chip Retrieval
9:00am - 1:00pm 6

Finish Line Timing
9:00am - 1:00pm 4 Adults

Tear-down Clean-up
12:00pm - 4:00pm 10


PAID WORKERS
Opportunities available to help with the event set-up and tear down.

Ride for Saturday 7-28 at 0800

Who Wants To Ride?
I do, I do, I do…. But for me, it’s time to pay the piper… after a week in vacation land, and selecting many “anti-riding” choices like sourdough breads, 5 course lunches and 7 course dinners (just not on the same day), snacks along the prier, and a visit to The Cheesecake Factory, I must pay my debit… So, this Saturday morning (7-28-07), I’ll join fellow riders at New Springs parking lot for the SVR (Saturday Velo Ride). We’ll roll out at 0800 sharp….(that’s if Whaley can find his wheel)…. Perhaps some of you can come early in case he needs help finding it…. I guess some folks lose their marbles… and Whaley just loses his wheel… hmmm

Having missed the last 2 SVRs, I’m assuming the custom will continue of riding the neutral zone until Timms Mill Rd, then divide into groups of similar abilities…. Then everyone regroups in Pendleton. Riders doing one loop can expect a ride of about 40 miles, give or take… some riders may venture out to Mac’s for a second time to get a few more miles…

I’d appreciate it if you’d show up and take a pull at the front of my “paceline of 1”… just me on the back… looking for a wheel to follow…. Maybe next time, I should take my bike on vacation.

Mike “the sweeper’ Madden

PS, please do check the blog later this weekend for information and a call for volunteers for the Tri-American Triathlon this is coming to Anderson late August… maybe you want to compete, maybe you want to help.

Saturday Ride 8am from Newspring 7-21-07

Great weather conditions are predicted for this Saturday's ride. We'll leave Newspring and cruise to Five Forks Rd. via Shackleford and Timm's Mill Rd. From Five Forks to Downtown Pendleton the group will usually divide into 2 groups depending on your speed. We'll re-group downtown Pendleton then continue back to Newspring. Some may continue back to Mac Smith's for a few additional miles. For those looping once total mileage should be around 40. Riding back up to Mac Smith's and back will add another 10 miles. This is a no-one gets dropped ride.

Tally Ho, Ready to GO

Riders,
This is your friendly weekly ride reminder...there's a group of riders planning to assemble at the parking lot of New Spring's Church this Saturday (7-14-07) They rollout at 8am SHARP. The route is the usual... they're such creatures of habit... but, hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.... or in cycling terms, if the route works, why change it....
FWIW, the group last week was HUGE... we even had 2 visitors... one from Georgia in town visiting his in-laws and one from Virginia who was visiting one of our new SVR regulars... I wonder how many riders will show up this Saturday??

The group will continue to observe a neutral zone until Timms Mill... after that, to each his own... the standard loop is about 43 miles..

This weekend, I will not be in attendance of the ride.... I'm off for some family fun.

Best of luck to Fast Freddie and Whaley.. who'll be ripping up the tri course in the lower part of the state... SEND RIDE REPORTS... If someone else is racing... let us know...

NOTICE: Keep an eye on the BLOG... the ride announcement for next weekend might ONLY be posted on the BLOG... I have a volunteer... (actually, the FOUNDER of the SVR -Saturday Vance's Ride) who has agreed to make the next announcement... however, sharing email lists and addresses is somewhat "difficult"... cuz we're not IT guys... we're RIDERS... and other types (aka swimmers, runners, and folks that do all three)...

All Aboard

Riders,

It's RIDE TIME... The train leaves the station (New Spring's Parking Lot) at 0800 this Saturday for the standard loop of 43 miles. The train will observe "city speed" for the first few miles. At or about Timms Mill Rd, the train will throttle up to cruising speed. After we chug up the hill onto Five Forks, there will be a short hesitation as more "coal is dumped on the fire"... (note: this is your chance to jump on the train!!!!) THEN, the engineer will release the brake, batten down the hatches and lead out the A-Train for Mac Smith's.... The big engines up front will include several of the SVR regulars and they will tow the "rest of us" until sparks start to fly on the track....

On the last little uphill rise approaching Mac's, Fast Freddie (who will be well positioned several riders back) will make a daring move and jump left and hammer the sprint... This has been his tactic for the past 2 weeks... he's caught everyone by surprise.... but this time, I understand the other riders will jump on HIS WHEEL and have him tow them to the "official sprint" zone start...

The "rest of us" will continue on and rejoin the riders at the brief stop-overs (or regrouping points) at Mac's and on the Square In Pendleton and again at the intersection of Timms Mill and 5 Forks... some will ride AGAIN to Mac's..... just to get a few more miles... others will turn towards home at Dalrymple...

It's a great ride...

Richard's Crew

Riders,

I just couldn't let this go... here's the secret why Richard is so successful in winning all the tri events... it's his CREW!!!!

Mike

Richard Brings Home the GOLD!!!

CONGRATs to Richard!!!! We thought you'd enjoy reading about "one of our own."

Story as told by Richard to several SVR regulars... via email...

Louisville, KY
July 1, 2007

National Senior Triathlon (Senior Olympics)

The weather was ideal for the triathlon. Temperatures were in low 80’s with light winds. National events are always intimidating to me as many of those in your age group come with very lofty credentials. The other daunting aspect is the amount of high tech bike equipment….very cutting edge.

That all being said, I am happy to report that I experienced a very close to perfect race. The swim was right on my projected time, my transition was a record for me, considering the many 90 degree turns, the bike was solid and the run surpassed my expectations (my split included the transition time) The result……GOLD! Yes!! It was hotly contested as I won by a mere 30 seconds. Second and third were separated by just two seconds.

Ribbons are presented for 4th through 8th and medals for the top three. They do the Olympic music and the whole enchilada. The bronze medalist on my right is from Massachusetts and had won the men's road race. The silver medalist is from Tennessee and had taken a third place in his age group for the Hawaii Ironman.

I would not have been successful without my support crew.