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This is one of our favourite shots, taken
of Scott's brother Graham at the Birch Ski Area. The
colours in this picture are just great - to the best of our
knowledge Graham was just wearing what was clean and appropriate
for the weather, but it coordinates just perfectly with the
setting and with his bike. Although it can be a little
discouraging watching a little brother ride much faster and
harder than you can it's also inspiring. Graham is very
fluid on his bike and can leave us in the dust whenever he
wishes, but he usually doesn't.
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Requirements
We
suppose that 'requirements' can mean at least two different things:
(1) What it takes to be a member and what you get in return, and (2)
what the commitment is as a member. We'll try to tackle both
briefly here:
1) Frankly, we're not
looking for huge membership numbers - we're fine if membership
doesn't expand beyond the small core who currently identify with
TheTrainingCoop.. However, we're not necessarily
against a little expansion if we find a family member or close
friend who shares the same philosophy and purpose and wants to be a
part of this. At the moment we're just leaving it at that.
Oh, it might be fair to say straight away that we'd be looking for a
very small monetary payment from each member just to help offset the expenses of this site
(which isn't much).
Becoming a 'member' doesn't
really get you much other than a pat on the back and some
other encouragement (and maybe some casual training partners), but it does
mean that you can identify with like-minded individuals who share
some of the same goals. It also means you can enter MCA
cycling races under TheTrainingCoop.com banner and if you fork over
the dough you can wear a team jersey. And finally (as far as
we can think at the moment) you'll have the opportunity to post on
the Message Board and try to keep your training regimen honest too.
2) In really vague
terms a member of TheTrainingCoop.com needs to feel some affinity
with the aforementioned philosophy and purpose, but that's pretty
subjective. More objectively maybe requirements include a
commitment to training regularly, though we'll leave it up to you to
determine exactly what that means (1 workout a month doesn't cut
it).
We've also long-felt the
need to give a little back to the sporting or athletic communities
that have given so much to us over the years. Early on in life
we were mainly on the receiving end of well coached programs and
well organized events. Now that we have the skill sets and the
resources to help give as well as receive we feel it's incumbent on
us to do just that. For the last few years we've helped with
various events and programs, large and small, and truthfully what
sometimes starts out feeling like an altruistic gift on our part
ends up being just as rewarding for us as the recipients.
Slaving over race logistics and program particulars has its arduous
moments but watching athletes cross the finish line and hearing them
share war stories with one another as they clean up is pretty
rewarding when you know that you helped create that memory for them.
Ideally we'd like to offer
leadership or significant assistance to at least one formal athletic
event a year, and help out elsewhere as we are able.
And of course we'd like to
encourage people wherever we can. That might be as simple as a
friendly "how do you do" as we pass someone riding down the trail,
or it might be sharing a couple of training tips.
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For about two and half years,
while living in Wolseley and having an office downtown, Scott
commuted to work daily by bike. He had a near-perfect
route down quiet streets and river paths almost all the way to
the office. This picture was taken after the first
snowfall of the season on the way to work one early winter
morning. The ride was a little more taxing than normal,
owing to the fresh snow, so stopping for a minute to take the
picture was a welcome break. The colour here is untouched
- this is what it looked like at sunrise.
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