I got this great email today from Kimberly Kraan, owner of The Skate Now Shop in Salt Lake City:

We’ve been established in in Salt Lake City (home of 2002 Olympics) and service both ice and inline speedskating communities. We both come from inline & ice speedskating backgrounds, we both compete inline distance racing, and Eric has competed internationally in long track world cups. We also run a skate school and are certified coaches and instructors for ice speed & inline skating, and quad skating. Eric has a background in technical aspects of skate blades & maintenance as well, as he used to service blades for US team members as well as other world team athletes (he was trained by the best). We bring our expertise of skating technical knowledge to our customers, whether it’s learning how to sharpen skates, read a gauge, or understanding the many technical aspects of skating disciplines. With that we are more than a skate store, our customers benefit from our years of knowledge as well, and can make informed decisions about their skate gear purchases, rather than blindly point & click as one can on most web shops. We have a brick & mortar store located in Salt Lake, so skaters are able to come and see products side by side to make comparisons, and try things on. We strive to bring that same level of information to the web shopper as well, as we understand not all skaters will have the chance to visit us in Salt Lake. That said, we make a point to pay strong attention to skaters’ needs, budgets, etc. , in order to help them align their purchase of skates & equipment with their personal goals for skating. We also spend time up front assessing foot sizing information in order to eliminate the risk of return/exchanging boots sizes.

We hope that we can service your club’s skates & equipment needs in the same manner we have for the many clubs that we offer skates & services to across the US.

We can do discounts for group orders /club orders with volume purchase on most products to assist your club and its members.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you.

Kimberly Simons Kraan
owner, the SkateNow shop

the SkateNow shop, llc
2682 S. Highland Dr., Suite #104
Salt Lake City, Utah 84106
USA
sales@theskatenowshop.com
www.theskatenowshop.com
ph/fax: (801) 944-5516

Here’s wishing everyone a year of happiness, good health and great ice time! Our schedule for January speedskating sessions is as follows:
Sundays, January 8, 15, & 22, from 10:30am-11:30am at Mountain View Ice Arena. Hope to see you there!

Be sure to join our group on Facebook!

Skaters, we will have practice sessions on Sunday December 4th and December 18th.

Also, I just found out that the Puget Sound Speedskating club
is holding their annual meet on Sunday, Dec. 18th, 2011. Details and the entry form can be found on their website. The meet will be from 1:30pm-6:00pm on Dec. 18th at the Puget Sound Hockey Center, 1918 Stewart Street in Tacoma.

This is usually the only club hosting a meet / opportunity to race, in our area – so if you want to try it out just for fun, give it a shot! They do require that you become a member of US Speedskating – click here to join.

Our October 2011 sessions will be Sunday, October 10, and Sunday, October 23, from 10:30am- 11:30am.

Hope everyone has had a good summer off the ice, I’m sure you’re all itching to get back on your skates. With the new skating season starting soon, For those of you who are new, or those of you who need a refresh, here is some info about the club:

*Ice sessions are scheduled month to month.
*Sessions are on Sundays from 10:30am to 11:30am, usually every other week – exact dates are sent via email once they have been scheduled.
*Sessions are $15 per person, paid in cash or check (payable to Mountain View Speedskating Club). Fees are collected by Linda or Max at the rink (this method of payment/collection may be altered later this year, depending on the kind of turnout we get during the Fall).
*Parking at the rink on Sundays is reserved for the church next door, please park by the Rib City Grill when you arrive (next build East of the rink).
*We have a small stock of loaner skates that can be used for the sessions – first come, first serve so get there early!
*All skaters are required to wear long pants, long sleeves, gloves and a helmet. Knee pads are also strongly encouraged.

Hello Skaters,
Hope you are all enjoying a great summer. As we have for the past several years, it’s time to commit to our fundraising activity for the summer so we can earn funds to pay for Fall and Winter skating sessions at the rink.

Why do we need Fundraising?In the past, we volunteered at the Portland Marathon, which donates to nonprofit volunteer groups. After doing this for a few years, we felt that having a minimum of 10 people work for about 5-6 hours and earning only $300 (enough to pay for one hour of ice time) wasn’t worth our time. Then, we discovered the annual Providence Bridge Pedal.

What is the Bridge Pedal? And what does that have to do with Speedskating?If you’re not familiar with it, is a local cycling event involving quite an amazing amount of organization and coordination so that thousands of people can ride their bikes on Portland’s bridges on a Saturday morning in August. This year, it’s AUGUST 14th.

What we have done for the past two years is assemble crews to manage the following:

Closure & placing plywood on one lane of the Hawthorne Bridge
Coning (placing orange cones) along the route (Macadam or McLoughlin, whichever part of the route they need us to do).

When do we need you?As soon as possible, please send an email to either myself or Max (his email is fooddemon666@yahoo.com) and let us know you are available to volunteer.

The Hawthorne Bridge crews – we need 2 crews of at least six – one will work Saturday evening (usually 5pm – 10pm, depending on how efficient the city crews are at bringing the plywood).
The other crew of six (or more) will work after the ride is finished to help pick up the plywood off the bridge and load it onto forklifts.

The coning crews – we need w crews of 3 people each. Adults are best for this job.

These crews have a van filled with orange cones and need one person to drive while one other person hands cones to the person placing them along the route. After the ride, the cones are picked up, stacked in the van and returned to the designated supply location.

Please sign up as soon as you can. We hope you can participate as this activity is not only fun to be involved with, the organization is great and we earn much-needed funds for our club. Plus watching the smiling faces of everyone on their bikes just makes it all worthwhile!

Thank you!
-Linda

Many of you were fortunate enough to join us in Vancouver on Sunday, June 5 for a great dryland workout, followed by a delicious potluck BBQ hosted by Shana & Sterling.

Craig was nice enough to take video of the workout so we can all benefit from it and practice these exercises all summer so we can be stronger and faster on the ice when we begin skating sessions again this Fall! Here they are:

Base Position:

Low Step:

Low Walk:

Lateral Step:

Lateral Hop:

Wall Sit:

Demonstration of Sharpening with Lisa:

Summer Fundraising / Volunteer Opportunities

We have a major fundraising event every summer that is the primary source of our ice time funds (besides the fees we all pay for each session). It’s the Providence Bridge Pedal, which is on Sunday, August 14 this year. You’ll soon be receiving an email from Max, who is organizing the volunteer effort for this event.

We are also considering putting a team together for the Portland HalfRev Triathlon on July 9, held at Blue Lake Park. If we decide this is a viable opportunity and we can get a group of 10 people or more, we can earn even more money to pay for ice time!

Watch for emails soon with more details. In the meantime, Happy Summer!

Hello all,

It doesn’t look like there will be a high turnout for any weekend in May, and with the weather only getting nicer, it’s been decided that last Sunday was our last practice for the season. I want to thank everyone for attending any practices this past year, every skater helps keep the club going!

There may be some volunteer opportunities this summer to help raise money for the club, I will send out notification if anything comes up. NOTE: The Providence Bridge Pedal is Sunday August 14, this is our big volunteer fundraising activity. Please save the date on your calendar!

I’ve also asked the rink manager about a drop-in time where people could come skate. This would be a session where individuals would pay the rink directly, but I’m not sure of the exact arrangements. We had something similar last summer, so I’ll let everyone know when I have more details.

Don’t forget about the June 5th barbecue at Shana and Sterling’s house! If you’re interested, let them know soon!

One last thing, if you’re interested in other ways of skating there are many inline opportunities out there. I can fill you in on details for that, so let me know if you’re interested.

Thanks again for a great season!

-Max

Update – April practice sessions are April 10th and April 24th, 10:30-11:30am. Please try to attend as the ice time is expensive!

Check out this photo taken on a recent Sunday by Matt’s friend, Mitchell of sisters Tama, Becky and Shana, showing us how it’s done.

Washington State 2011 Short Track Speed Skating Championship
HOSTED BY: Puget Sound Phoenix Speedskating Club

Date: March 27, 2011 (Sunday) from 1:00 p.m. until ~ 6:00 p.m.
Location: Puget Sound Hockey Center,
1918, Stewart Street, Tacoma, WA, 98421
CHECK IN: 1:00 p.m. ~ 1:15 p.m. (2nd Floor)
WARM UP: 1:15 p.m. ~ 1:45 p.m.
RACING: 2:00 p.m. ~ 5:30 p.m.
ENTRY FEE: $30 per skater ($70 maximum per family)
ENTRY DUE DATE: March 21, 2011 (Monday before the competition.)

All skaters must be members of U.S. Speed skating or Speed skating Canada. NOTE: This is NOT a U.S. Speedskating sanctioned competition.

Meet Director: Chang Lee (Club Coach)
For more information contact: Jan Zurcher, jan.zurcher@weyerhaeuser.com

Mail or e-mail entries. Payment can be made at rink on race day.
Checks payable to: Puget Sound Speed skating Club or PSSC
Mail to: 31811 Pacific Highway South
Suite B – #373
Federal Way, Washington
98003

Competition will be run using an ability meet format. All skaters will skate 3 distances.

Medals will be given to the all ranks by age class (advanced and novice).
Required Equipment: Helmet, cut resistant gloves, long sleeves, neck protection, knee pads and shin guards. Safety glasses are highly recommended.

Schedule (All skaters will skate 3 distances):
1:15 — 1:29 – Warm up (Slower skaters)
1:30 – 1:45 – Warm up (Faster skaters)
2:00 – 5:30 – Races [ice cut before 1st distance, after a set of races (track only)]
6:00 – 6:30 – Awards

First of all, we’d like to wish a huge “get well soon” to Sharon – hope you’re back on the ice with us soon.

The February practice sessions will be Sunday, Feb. 20th and Sunday, Feb. 27th, from 10:30am-11:30am.

March sessions will be Sunday, Mar. 6th and Sunday, Mar. 20th, from 10:30am-11:30am.

Hope to see you all then!