Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
Introduce Yourself (Example Post)
This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.
You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.
Why do this?
- Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
- Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.
The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.
To help you get started, here are a few questions:
- Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
- What topics do you think you’ll write about?
- Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
- If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?
You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.
Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.
When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.
Tim Johnson’s Wachusett Fondo back for 2019!
Join New England cycling legend Tim Johnson and a few hundred friends for a fully supported ride on a route Tim describes as ‘The Perfect New England Ride.’ Anchored at the Wachusett Brewery in Westminster, Mass., the event features bucolic rolling roadways, a few gravel sectors, and a fantastic dirt road that connects to the summit road to the top of Wachusett Mountain. From there we descend back to the brewery for a perfect mid-summer post ride meal and beer at the brewery. As the perfect tune up for the state’s largest charity event, this event has been dubbed the “Pre-MC.” And all of the proceeds of the event benefit MassBike, your statewide coalition working to improve conditions for all Bay State bike riders, from Boston to the Berkshires. The event features three distances, including a kid-friendly expedition to a nearby swimming hole! Visit MassBike.org for more information.
Register NOW: https://www.bikereg.com/tim-johnsons-wachusett-fondo-2019
Gran Fondo (10am start time):
A fun, challenging route with 5 well-maintained gravel sections heading north & west through beautiful town commons. Complete the loop with more gravel to tackle Wachusett Mountain from the less commonly taken North Road.
Medio Fondo (11:30am start time):
A shorter but beautiful and picturesque that is 100% pavement and
allows to choose an additional climb of Mt. Wachusett… to join friends
or family who are riding the Gran Fondo route.
*Routes subject to change
The ride will start and end at Wachusett Brewing Co. Kick back after the ride and enjoy some food and beverages with your friends in the outdoor beer garden or the recently opened indoor brew yard. Each registration includes a t-shirt or a beer glass (selected when you check in the day of the event) and a post-ride meal from Farmacy Cafe with a Wachusett beer!
Proceeds from the event will benefit MassBike. The Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike) promotes a bicycle-friendly environment and encourages bicycling for fun, fitness, and transportation. MassBike works with lawmakers to create laws that make sense for the safety of all bike riders and works with state, city and town officials to enforce existing laws. They work through education and outreach to better the knowledge, awareness and skills of both bicyclists and drivers. A 501c3 non-profit, MassBike relies support from members, donors, and sponsors.
Registration will be available onsite, an additional $15 fee will be added to event cost of $85 ($100 total cost).
Register NOW: https://www.bikereg.com/tim-johnsons-wachusett-fondo-2019
Social Media links:
Follow Minuteman Road Club on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
https://www.facebook.com/MinutemanRoadClub/
https://www.instagram.com/minutemanrdclub/
https://twitter.com/MinutemanRdClub
Follow MassBike on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
https://www.facebook.com/MassBike/
https://www.instagram.com/massbikeorg/
https://twitter.com/Massbike
Follow Tim Johnson on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
https://www.facebook.com/timjohnsoncx/
https://www.instagram.com/timjohnsoncx/
https://twitter.com/timjohnsoncx
2014 Minuteman Road Club Cyclocross p/b Landrys Bicycles is October 12th!
Turning of the leaves and crisper mornings can mean only one thing: the Minuteman Road Club’s annual cyclocross race, now in it’s fifth year at the Bolton Fair in Lancaster, is right around the corner on Sunday, October 12! What better way to unwind from the hustle and bustle of Holy Week than to return to a grassroots cyclocross with a great vibe and fun atmosphere.
Remember how we doubled our elite payouts last year? Well, we’ve bumped them up ANOTHER 50% for this year. That’s right, winners of the men’s and women’s 1/2/3 race gets $300! Landry’s Bicycles has stepped up to the plate and is providing GENEROUS gift cards to the podium toppers in the non-elite races. More about payouts and other details of the race in our race flyer.
MRC CX is also part of the NEBRA CX BAR (Best All-Around Rider) Series, tracking points for 16 categories over 13 races.
Single speed racers: Harpoon Brewery is now the beer sponsor for the Zanconato SSCX Series! You can guess what will be waiting for you should you make the podium in one of the SS races
You’ll be competing on grass, pavement, an EXPANDED tractor pull area (with BIG ess turns!) and wood chips. We’ve got Chris Paré collaborating with Colin Reuter for course design – you won’t want to miss what they come up with!
Don’t hesitate, get to BikeReg now – this is right about the time that the 4/5 and 3/4 fields start to fill up: https://www.bikereg.com/25780
MRC Year End Party a Great Success
This past January 25th, 40 MRC members and s/o’s joined at the International Country Club in Bolton, MA, for an evening of great food, drink and awards. Classic New England winter weather greeted attendees as they arrived at the venue: a couple of inches of snow on the ground along with a gentle flurry floating down.
Doug Kennedy Grabs a Cat 4 Podium at 2013 Blue Hills Classic
Using cagey race tactics to recover from chasing an early break by eventual winner Sean Pelletier (Team Stampede), Minuteman Road Club’s Doug Kennedy gains his second podium of the season in the Mens Cat 4 race at the Blue Hills Classic held in Milton, MA on May 5th, 2013.
Pelletier attacked at the end of the first lap and was chased by Kennedy and one other rider but when it quickly became apparent that Sean was gone for good, Doug settled into the peloton to regroup and recover. Nothing much happened until the last lap (as is often the case) when team mate Chris Busick drilled it on the steepest part of the climb towards the finish.
Busick’s effort did a good job of thinning the pack enough for Kennedy to find himself in 4th place as Unquity eased into the false flat to the finish. A handy wheel came speeding by him at just the right time and he latched on for the 100 meters through the false flat and then unleashed his spring for the last 200 meters to finish in second place.
Read all the race reports in the racers own words on our forum.
Registration for the 19th Annual Sterling Classic NOW OPEN!
Don’t hesitate, you know the 4’s and 5’s will fill quickly! Get over to BikeReg now and register!
Team MRC Shines in Early Season Road Races
On a bumpy Myles Standish State Forest Road Race course, April 3rd MRC’s John Smith snagged 4th in the Cat 4 race while team mate Chris Pare survived being pinched off road during his finishing sprint to get 7th. Anna Savage came in 7th in the Juniors 10-14 heat.
The Quabbin Reservoir Classic Road Race on April 23 brought weather reminiscent of last year’s Sterling Classic: hard rain and 40 degree temperatures. The weather didn’t keep MRC’s PJ McQuade from not only outlasting 21 racers who dropped out, but he finished 13th in the Cat 3 heat. Cat 4 standout John Smith finished 6th in a field of 65 that saw a stunning 2/3’rds of the field drop out. The Cat 5 field proved to be a hardier bunch losing only 26 of 67 starters to attrition. Nevertheless, MRC member Jeremy Cratty garnered 9th and Scott Sweeney 14th.
A windy Blue Hills Classic on May 1st saw Chris Pare turn in a strong sprint finish to get 7th in the Cat 4 field. In the Cat 5 race, John Raguin put in a very strong showing and finished 2nd, his best result to that point..
Winter Multisport Clinics Announced
Winter is here, and multisport never sleeps. You could commit time and energy to doing endless flip turns, or put on the layers of clothes for your long run, or spend another couple of hours watching lousy movies on the trainer. Or, you can strap on a pair (of skis) and have some fun in the great outdoors.
A series of clinics will be held at the Weston Ski Track in Weston, MA providing instruction for those who would like to participate in Winter Tris and Dus.
Channel Multisport is the outfit providing the events (and races), with MRC providing support. This is the link to the info on the website: http://www.wintermultisport.com/MAWTTS.html (dead link).
The dates for the three clinics are:
Thursday January 14, 2010 – Clinic (Run) & Race 1
Thursday January 28, 2010 – Clinic (Bike) & Race 2
Thursday February 11, 2010 – Clinic (XC Ski) & Race 3
It cost each person $25 for the whole series, non-USAT members need to buy 1 licence for the whole series ($10) and then the WST trail fee (unless you have a season pass).
And volunteers are needed. If you cannot take part in the clinic, come sip cocoa and watch others get their “nasty bits” frost-nipped.
MRC Clearwater Revival
Two MRC’ers made the journey south to Florida to engage in the high speed race where being able to use the draft is key to victory: Talladega 500 Clearwater 70.3 World Championships. With some reports that people did not appear to be paying close attention to the 7 meter rule and a lack of marshals on the course, times were blazing on the bike. Fastest split of the day was a dazzling a 1:58:57 (28.25 mph). Couldn’t tell you if the owner of said bike split was drafting, but seems that a flourish of Tour de France time trial level speeds over twice the distance might indicate something is amiss. Fabian Cancellara knocked off the 2009 TdF stage one (hilly) 9.63 mile TT in 19:32 (29.5 mph). Alberto Contrador won the final 25.2 mile TT in Annecy in 40:30 (31.2 mph). 28.25 over 56 miles ain’t too bad in comparison.
Our intrepid competitors Crystal Anthony and Kyle Bowers achieved impressive results.
| Swim | Bike | Run | Time | |
| Crystal Anthony | 35:20 | 2:12:54 | 1:28:03 | 4:21:21 |
| Kyle Bowers | 30:51 | 2:22:26 | 1:32:36 | 4:31:58 |
Crystal’s performance was good for 4th in her age group, only finishing about 1 minute outside of third. Very impressive considering that she spotted her competition 6+ minutes in the swim. Crystal also has been competing in the women’s elite cyclocross race New England race circuit with Team Minuteman Road Club. Kyle finished 76th in his age group, just a scant 28 minutes outside of first place. Kyle has had a long season which included Ironman Lake Placid.
Minuteman Road Club 