Erg Racing and Bike Jerseys

Last Saturday my rowing club hosted an erg sprint for the local high school crew teams. This is the fifth year we've hosted the event. It provides the teams something to shoot for as they reach the end of their winter training. They start on water practices the week of the 25th. Lucky them. We run the sprints out of the local Golds Gym where are our club and Golds own about 25 ergs split between Model Ds and Model Cs. We use the new Model Ds for the sprints. We set up ten ergs for the kids to race on all connected to a lap top, which in turn projects the race live on a TV as it happens. Here are the ergs set up and ready to go with the TV in the background.

Getting ready to race are the under 16 girls. The girls in green are from Woodbridge High School.

A race under way. I think this is a coxswain race. They race for just 500 meters. The regular rowers race over 1,500 meters.

A good time was had by all. We had over 180 rowers compete. When you have that many kids together along with parents, you can get some really loud cheering, especially if the race is close. We got some very nice feedback from a few of the coaches and how pumped up it got their kids. Winter training is often boring and tedious so we are happy to provide a distraction for the kids.

Planning for our own rowing season is underway. I was up way to late closing the books for the 2007 season and preparing a budget for 2008. We had a meeting on Saturday morning and the budget was accepted without that much discussion. The downside is we're going to have to raise our fees. Again. That should generate some bitching among the membership. Sigh.

The rest of Saturday was spent watching basketball. VA Tech got crushed by UNC and Maryland beat Florida State. So 50% for the day.

For Daughter#2's birthday last year, we bought her a VA Tech bike jersey. I bought it on line and waited and waited for the confirmation notice that it had shipped. After a month of nothing, I called to find out what the delay was. I was informed that VA Tech jerseys were on back order and were one of the most requested jerseys as a result of the shootings in April. It finally was shipped 3 months after I ordered it. It looks pretty good on her.