General TeamICB Training Info

We have a complete set of suggested weekend skates outlined. This suggested list is posted here:

• TeamICB Weekend Skates (Draft 6, July 28 2003)
  (60k .pdf)

These skates alternate among our favorite routes (maps below), with the overall intention of providing:

1) A thorough and sufficient plan for those training to compete in the season epic events, the 100K and A2A; and
2) Monthly paceline training and instruction that allows the opportunity for newer racers to learn how to manage in a paceline and the opportunity for experienced racers to hone and share their skills (green shaded cells in .pdf); as well as..
3) A mix of locations that provide opportunities to welcome skaters of varied levels of experience and speed as fully appreciated members of the team.

In short, we're trying our hardest (within the constraints of day jobs) to create a situation that works reasonably well for the wide range of people that we call TeamICB. For this approach to be successful, we'll need everyone to offer their ideas and enthusiasm towards creating a flexible set of training skates and activities that will help you achieve your skating and fitness goals.

Therefore, we have generally planned distance workouts on Saturdays, and interval/speed workouts on Sundays, although that varies week to week dependent on race dates, etc. The W. Newbury and Winchester routes are short loops where even if some skaters are faster than others, oportunities to re-group abound, and all should feel welcome. Even on our distance skates, we will strive to provide distance options. For example, there are shorter and longer loop options from both the Stow and Littleton starting points. For more on the general idea of periodicity in training, see the "One Approach.." section below.

Note that key race events are in red and bold. These could be considered 'team events' in the sense that these are likely to attract the largest number of team members. The East Bay club social skate is also bolded, as it is a great event, and a great chance to build miles for A2A/100K, as well as enjoy the club barbeque. Several additional races are listed that may interest team members, including one in the Caravan series, and a race for Dan Burger in San Mateo, CA.

Since May 20th, we've been holding a regularly scheduled weekday evening practice in Wayland. Rich and Andrea Leonard have been instrumental in getting this session up and rolling. Thanks! Peak attendance so far was 13, and everyone that has attended has been enthusiastic about the concept.. so, so far, so good! In addition, we support and suggest using ICB club skates for your weekday training, e.g., the Tuesday night skate or DAD on Thursdays. And, send an email to the team list if you're looking for skating company elsewhere!

Please remember that to participate in TeamICB training, you must sign an ICB Waiver each calendar year. So, if you have not already done so this calendar year, please printout, read, sign, and bring with you to the skate an ICB event waiver. This will help us get the skate started on time.

While we try to post training skates on the the ICB event calendar, we don't always have time. The best way to keep informed about upcoming plans is to subscribe to the team email list. We will always post team skates to that list. (See the team home page for the link to subscribe.)

Leading Weekend Skates

Our skate calendar (posted above as a .pdf) shows suggested skates every Sat and Sun for the summer. Clearly, no one person can lead or attend all these skates. Therefore, we will need volunteers to lead weekend skates. The skate leader is responsible for the organizational aspects of the skate - not necessarily being the person "out in front."

Check out the Guidelines and then email Tom to volunteer for a particular date. We'll keep a master list, and post each week's plans to the email list by Wedn.

Routes

Central Park, NYC. The Big Apple (a.k.a. "Thunderdome")
EmpireSpeed map with TK annotations (120K)
Marshall map with elevations (412K)

Littleton 23 miles (and side loop 5.4 miles) (note: print BOTH pages)
Page 1
Page 2

Littleton Figure 8
(see above Littleton page 1 file for directions to meeting point)
Figure 8 Map

Topsfield 26 miles (note: print BOTH pages)
Page 1
Page 2

West Newbury 4 or 8 miles (note: print BOTH pages)
Page 1
Page 2

Stow 13 or 20 miles (note: print BOTH pages)
Page 1
Page 2

Winchester 8 miles
Route and driving directions

Nashua River Rail Trail
Trail home page
Trail map
Close up of commuter rail station and parking at Ayer end. Note that to park, continue on 2A to Groton St. -- Do not try to turn up West Lawton because it is one way in the wrong direction.
Commuter rail schedule for Ayer