Wednesday, April 24, 2013

NOLA Motorsports Park There will be 2 groups

Triathlete Night and Bike Racing at NOLA Motorsports Park Thursday! 2 days from now, April 25th. Come Race. NOLA Motorsports Park There will be 2 groups: One group for the tri racers and the other for the bike racers. The track is open to ride on just after 5pm. Mass start training race starts at 6pm! (ish) You don't have to be in the race to ride on the track. There's plenty of room. We'll have 2 races for everyone with a short cool-down in between. Race distances will be about 15 miles (we'll determine how many laps we'll be doing at the track). The New Orleans Chamber of Commerce will be there hosting a meeting and we'll be the backdrop entertainment. They may ask us to leave the track for about 5 minutes so they can take a couple of VIP's around the course in a race car, but it shouldn't last more than 5 minutes, then we'll be back out there. Rain date to be determined. All Summer long! We'll be announcing Monday or Tuesday (or earlier) what event (if any) we'll be having out on the track. Bring your families and friends! There's a lot of activities and services at the track. Seriously, you come out there alone, you'll be immediately on the phone calling people to come out and see what they have and what you're doing. Track opens to bikes when the last car or motorbike leaves the track at 5PM. Get your shoes on, take a few laps when we are given the "All Clear". Assume that you won't be allowed onto the track until 5:30. All races will start after 6. The course will be open only to bicycles. No cars, no motors. Mass Start training races: Will begin at 6:00ish. This does not mean that the course will be closed to others who want to ride on the course. Just be respectful when the group comes past. If you have a bike... come out! The course is 40 feet wide at its narrowest. Most of the corners will be full speed for us, that means pedaling the whole way around, no need for braking. All the corners are just big sweepers at 30mph. Here's a video of a fairly slow parade lap of the main course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEIENJDFg04 The track has a full bar/restaurant clubhouse at the last turn. It's quite fancy and beautiful. There's an upstairs viewing area or you can stand close to the last turn on the bricked patio and watch the action happen. We are not encouraged to bring pots of Jambalaya or ice chests of beer (they won't be checking cars, but this is a $72 million dollar facility and they are trying to turn a profit on anything they can). They are giving us the track for free, considering track rental runs $12,000 to $20,000 per day, this is a tremendous gift. We'll have all of Pitt Row (Gasoline Alley) all to ourselves which has covered shelter, etc. So tents, etc won't be necessary. There's electricity, etc, so run whatcha brung. Go-Kart rental races run until 9:00. I'm just asking personally, that you wait until AFTER the bike race(s) to walk on over to the Go-kart track. We'll do the bike racing first, then maybe a bunch of us will head over and get embarrassed by anyone under 140lbs on the go-kart track. They are pretty fast and the course has 88 different configurations. It's a riot. Go kart races are 10 minutes. It's enough. Believe me, I'm a guy that never has enough of extreme sports and excitement, 10 minutes on these things will leave you whipped and not wanting another session... unless you're 12. Here's a video of one of their longer configurations on the Kart track (The Kart track is completely seperate from the car racing track): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odhi8AP4PXI It's $5 to enter the park. Here's the address: 11075 Nicolle Boulevard; Avondale, LA 70094. It takes 20-25 minutes to get there from the East bank. It's very easy to get there. See you Thursday Ken Bellau

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Red Bug Hill Challenge for Spina Bifida

Red Bug Hill Challenge for Spina Bifida is rapidly approaching. The events include cycling routes of 60, 40, 20, and 5 miles, with an optional timed event up the famous “Red Bug Hill.” There will also be a 5k trail run and a 1-mile fun run. To be guaranteed a t-shirt, please register online at www.redbughill.com, or http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=2082711 on or before April 15, 2013. Please join us for a fun day at our place in St. Francisville on Saturday, May 11, 2013. All proceeds go to support Louisiana children with Spina Bifida. Thanks! Marie and Mike Rourke