Even though the NHL players and owners are having trouble figuring out how to divide up an incredibly large cake, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be hockey this fall. My own recreational hockey (or is that wreck hockey) begins next Thursday in Hazelridge, and I know many others are either already on the ice themselves or taking the kids to the rink.

About a year ago I began hunting around for some good tutorials to improve my own game, as I haven’t been in a formal hockey practice for nearly 25 years, and even then, my fundamentals weren’t that hot.  As it turns out, there’s a ton of great material on the web (surprise!) be it Youtube videos or websites dedictated to the coaching / training side of the sport.

One particularly good site is How to Hockey.com which features training videos and articles on things like improving your shot, stickhandling, skating and coaching. There’s a lot of material to check out, and more importantly to practice and use in a game. So have a look and let me know what you find interesting (or better yet, create your own post on the topic).

My main goal this year is improving my shot, which is inconsistent to say the least.  In a fast paced game, the chances to score a goal can be few and far between – so it’s important to make the most of your opportunities. So to start with, I found this advice on taking a good snap shot.

Bonus Feature:

Here’s a great little video of Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capital displaying his shooting prowess. Funny guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpUVJYJQ9dI

Keep your head up, your stick on the ice, and have some fun.

OK, I’m starting to feel like solo-blogger here. Where is everybody?

I have good news, and I have bad news.

Let’s start with the bad. Rebel Rider Michael Whalen who has has been with the team almost every year since 2004 has had to drop out due to other commitments. Michael and has raised a lot for MS in that time and he’ll be missed. Sure hope he can come back next year. It just won’t be the same without him at the front of the pack.

Now for the good. Four sleeps to the MS Riding Mountain Challenge on September 8-9 and your RR Rebel Riders have a new member, Gurdeesh Ghuman from NDC Security! Not only that, we’ve topped $3,000 and are #4 on the top-fundraising-team list for the event! Thank you RRC!

So this will likely be the last bio before the big ride, partly because I don’t yet have one for Roxanne or Gurdeesh. But I do have one for Mike!

Yes, Mike is man enough!

This will be ride #4 for Mike Poitras, and it all started when I emailed him a link to the sign up page with a single comment:“Are you man enough?”. The rest is history.

As Mike says, “I have enjoyed every year that we bike as a team. Great company, scenery and a worthwhile cause!”

But Mike was cycling long before the MS Ride. Like most of us, he cycled daily as a kid, first with Dad holding the back of the seat, moving after many skinned knees to a 3-speed with a banana seat (remember those?), and finally to a 10-speed road bike. But a driver’s license at 16 resulted in the bike slowly collecting dust.

It was his wife to be (Vi) that got him back onto the saddle, encouraging him to try a mountain bike and to commute. Since then he’s used a ‘cross’ bike that is light enough to help him ‘keep that edge’, but sturdy enough to commute with heavy saddle bags. They have been having friendly challenges every year since to see who can put on more kilometres (last year he put on 5,000!). They regularly bike together and plan their holidays with cycling in mind. Now, Mike can’t imagine a life without biking.

“Every spring when I hop on, I am reminded of how much I enjoy it. It reminds me of my youth and that feeling of being ALIVE! I have met some wonderful people. I have discovered that there is a bond amongst those that bike. My personal hero is a fellow in his 70’s who still will regularly ride on 100 kilometre trips.” (I wonder who that is?) “I can’t keep up with him! One of my dreams is to be able to still ride when I’m in my 70’s. My second dream is to bike to Montreal!”

And so Mike and the team are just about ready to go again. You still have time to push us higher in the standings and to help your Red River Rebel Riders top $3,500 for 2012. All your donations, 100%, go directly to MS research and to helping those suffering with MS. Your rrrr… Riders must each pay a registration fee and raise a minimum of $250 to be able to ride, and though  we are graciously allowed the use of College vans to get us to Dauphin and back, we pay for our own accommodation in both Dauphin and Clear Lake. We do our bit, but we rely on you to make it all worthwhile with a tax deductible donation. No donation is too small. Pledge securely online today at the RR Rebel Riders team page and help us to wipe out MS!

Thanks everybody!

We want you to be part of the movement, literally!

In the name of physical health and to beat the lunchtime-eat-at-desk-blues, Red River College has started a Run Club.

The concept is simple. Meet at the Notre Dame Campus North Gym doors at 12:05 dressed and ready to go. Head out with the group to run/ walk the 5 kilometer ‘out-and-back’ route. Faster runners or those looking to add some distance can complete an additional jaunt through the cemetery at the turn-around point.

Run Club will meet come rain or shine, because as running enthusiast Dayna Graham (Learning Assistance Centre) says, “this is run club, not sugar club!”

• No need to register.
• No need to be an experienced runner.
• The only thing you need to do is give it a try.

And judging by these smiling faces, it sure looks like fun!

Inaugural Run Club runners (left – right): Michael, Judy, Brian, James, Sara, Jackie, Alison, Chau.

Still not convinced of the merits of biking to work? Here are 10 good reasons to start:

1. RRRRewards
   June 4th is the Commuter Challenge Kick Off. Riding to work this week could win you a custom-built bike or an extreme bike makeover (a $700 reward!). Register at www.commuterchallenge.ca or contact Sara MacArthur (632-2166) for more information
2. RRRRigs
   Any bike will do, even that old 3-speed in your garage (especially if you win the make-over above!). A commuter bike doesn’t have to be an expensive investment. My hybrid cost $700 in 2002 (with fenders) and I have put about 25,000 km on it. I get a tune-up every year ($60-70) and have had to put in maybe $100 in parts (1 chain, 1 set of rear gears, cables, a few brake pads). Total over 10 years: about $1,500 – just over $100 per year, not much more than a single month’s bus pass or dinner for two at a nice restaurant (with wine, of course).
3. RRRRubles
   If you live 15 km from work and drive a car that gets 10 litres per 100 km (about 25 mpg), cycling daily to work could save you 15 litres and $18/week. And parking a bike is free! With an office downtown I save another $25/week. Add in the savings for reduced wear and tear, fewer oil changes, etc., and I’m sure I am $200 (600 rubles!) per month richer! And don’t ignore the long-term financial benefits of being healthier. Any way you look at it, bike commuting saves you some serious cash.
4. RRRReducing
   Bike commuting is an ideal way to shed some girth without setting aside extra workout time. My 30 km round-trip burns 900 calories and takes 50 minutes one-way, same as the bus and just 30 minutes more round-trip than by car. And bonus: the U.S. EPA estimates that every mile pedaled rather than driven saves a pound of CO2 (every 10 km saves three kilos)!
5. RRRRelief
   OK, Rush hour in Winnipeg isn’t quite what it is L.A. But who enjoys sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic twice a day? Give my a fresh sunny morning cycle and a late afternoon cruise home at my own pace any day.
6. RRRRoutes
   Biking still requires you to be predictable and maybe even a little paranoid on the roads. But with cycling’s increased popularity, bike lanes are becoming more common, many of them dedicated, and even buffer zones between cyclists and motorists are starting to pop up.
7. RRRRegard
   Your bike commuting may so impress your co-workers that they will be inspired to join you. And if they do, the planet gets double the protection, they get in better shape, and all of a sudden, your positive contribution to world wellness is even bigger.
8. RRRRoutine
   It’s addictive. What other explanation is there for those fanatics who cycle through the dead of a Winnipeg winter? But even if you only opt for fair-weather riding, with all the bad habits in the world, bike commuting is a very sensible routine. Driving your car to work will soon just sound like a terrible idea.
9. RRRRejoicing
   Whether it’s a sticky bun, a black-bottom cupcake, or a berry crumble, I look forward to that now guilt-free reward at the end of a long ride. Just make sure your calorie expenditure exceeds your intake. 
10. RRRR…
    Well yeah! You’ll be in shape to be a Red River Rebel Rider in the September MS Riding Mountain Challenge. A summer of bike commuting will swell your calves to the point where you might consider joining the team (you have to commit to raising $250 yourself). Or, just be a kindred spirit and send a donation our way.

So, convinced? Dig out that old bike and join the growing community of Winnipeg cyclists. Your wallet, your waist, your planet, and your legs will all be glad you did.

(Originally posted on the Red Goes Green blog)

Have you been thinking about leaving your car at home? Not sure what to do without it? Let the 2012 Commuter Challenge be the time to give it a try!

RRC is taking the Challenge and we encourage you to join in! During Environment Week, June 3rd to 9th, join the more than 7,000 Manitobans who will cycle, walk, run, skate, bus, carpool or telecommute their way to work!

The Commuter Challenge is a friendly, national competition that encourages daily commuters to choose greener modes of transportation. Whether you ride Transit on a regular basis, or cycle to work for the first time ever, you qualify as a Commuter Challenge participant. So register for the Challenge and be counted – the more of us that participate, the better our chances of winning!

By registering on the website you will have a chance to win some exciting prizes, two of the largest being a $500 travel voucher from VIA Rail and a night at the Fairmont Winnipeg. You will also be eligible for the the RRC employee prizes which include a $700 gift certificate for either a new bike or an Extreme Bike Makeover at Natural Cycle. You will also help our workplace win as we strive for the highest participation rates in our population category!

On Tuesday June 5th President Stephanie Forsyth will participate in the Commute Challenge by cycling in to the NDC with Sustainability Manager Sara MacArthur. RRC has a history of high participation rates in the Commuter Challenge. In 2010 College participation won a silver placement for our staff population category. In 2009 College participation won a gold placement. Let’s bring our participation back up to gold in 2012!

Here are a few resources to help you get started…

Cycling – Manitoba Cycling Association; Bike to the Future; “The Commuter Cyclist: Tips and resources to make cycling to work as easy as riding a bike”; Winnipeg Cycling Maps are available from a number of locations, including in C409, and in the Environmental Issues display across from the bookstore at the NDC; City of Winnipeg Active Transportation; City Cycling courses being offered, see p. 82 of the Leisure Guide for details.

Walking – Prairie Pathfinders’, Winnipeg Trails Association 

Transit – Navigo, BUStxt

Carpool – www.carpool.ca

Bunn's Creek Trail

If you live in EK or Elmwood, you have to check this out!

• 7:00: Sturgeon Creek (from a Westwood start)
• 7:20: Assiniboine Riverwalk
• 7:25: Forks view of the Esplanade;
• 7:45: Discovery of the week! Just over the pedestrian bridge at Chief Peguis and before McIvor on the Northeast Pioneers Gateway is the start of the Bunn’s Creek Trail: a hidden 2.2 km swath of green and blue that cuts through an otherwise ordinary residential area between Raleigh and Henderson Hwy.  Urban paradise!
• 8:15: reward at the venerable Mountain Bean. It doesn’t get much better than this!

The ride back home wasn’t quite as spectacular, but 5.3 km of my route through St. James was over the fully paved Silver Ave bike path that runs all the way from Ferry Rd. past the airport, the Assiniboine Golf Course, and the airbase to Sturgeon Road (and beyond, but that’s for another day).

rrrr... Fearless Leader

rrrr… Profile: Guy Dugas

It crossed my mind that you avid Red River Rebel Riders (rrrr…) supporters (hi Mom) might like to learn a bit more about this year’s team members. We were six last year, and registered so far are Roxanne Hildebrandt, Mike Poitras, Wayne Ferguson, and me, Guy Dugas, the team captain. 15 of my 16 years at RRC have been with Accounting & Computer Education (at both NDC and EDC) with 1 year as Manager Learning Technologies in 2001. I have a sister-in-law with MS and I hope to personally raise $1,000 again (the team raises $3-6,000 each year). Michael Whalen (also expected to ride this year) and I are two of the original three rrrr…(the other was our first captain, Mark Walc). For all 9 years I have ridden the same old clunker of a hybrid bike that probably weighs as much as the rest of the team’s combined. But it is tough and certainly helps keep me in shape. I figure it now has about 25,000 km on it, my longest ride being a mid-life crisis run from Vancouver to Calgary when I turned 50 in 2002. All I  have had to replace are one chain, a set of brake pads and cables, and its rear gears once. It has also helped me support my eating habit.

This one is for is for Sara MacArthur (our Sustainability Officer). Yes, rrrr… stands for Red River Rebel Riders, your team in the Sept. MS Riding Mountain Challenge. But as I was reminded at a sustainability symposium last Friday, rrrr also stands for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recharge (OK, I added the last one).

• Reduce: Is your bike out yet? Riding will help you to reduce weight, greenhouse emissions, and stress. Reading signs while you ride can also reduce time. And of course there’s the sticky bun factor. The farther and harder you ride, the more you reduce the guilt of indulging in that little sweetie at the end, Like my cinnamon bun after 41 km at Darakeh, the little Persian restaurant  (yes, Persian) in St. Adolphe last week, or my 4,327.13 calorie berry crumble (now I’m salivating) at the Mountain Bean.
• Reuse: You don’t have to reuse the same old routes to get a good ride. A recurring theme at the symposium was that reclaiming, re-purposing, and restoring are central to sustainability: Both new and improved trails are transforming Winnipeg into an increasingly bike-friendly city.Take the new bridge over the Chief Peguis Trail on the recently resurfaced reclaimed Raleigh rail-bed (rrrrr…). This is one route that I do reuse a lot, and a prefect example of reclamation. The only difference between a bike route and a regular street used to be the signs. Not any more. Only 2 of the 30 km from my doorstep in Westwood to the Mountain Bean on Henderson are not over bike routes. And most of that distance is over dedicated paths, from the pedestrian bridge over Sturgeon Creek, past busy Moray through Assiniboine Park, past the bears on the Riverwalk and Gandhi at the Forks, Stephen Juba park, Higgins, and Raleigh.
• ReCYCLE: As in cycle again and again and again. The more you do, the easier it gets to do longer and longer distances. Like my Saturday ride, my previous 82 km run to St. Adolphe was mainly on bike routes, this time through Assiniboine Park and the Assiniboine Forest, along the Sterling Lyon Parkway, up Waverly to Bishop Grandin, and  Red River Drive. What a great way to start the day!
• Recharge: Great… I forgot my water bottle again. So recharging was top of mind on last Saturday’s ride. Come to think of it, recharging is pretty well always top of my mind (lattes, sticky buns, black bottom cupcakes, berry crumble). Or, Bud, Spud, and Steak! As in this Friday at the Palomino to recharge our Dragon Boat Team. And speaking of recharge, what a lift the Rockwell show at the WAG gave me this week! It’s only here until the end of May, so if you haven’t yet taken it in, cycle on down! This has been the biggest show for the WAG since Andy Warhol (who said, in the spirit of sustainability, “I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.”).

Norman Rockwell Triple Self-Portrait

It’s not too late to register for a RRC Spring fitness class!

RRC Athletics and Recreation Services offers a number of fitness classes for staff and students. We have designed a class for everyone and they are taught by the some of the best and most experienced fitness professionals in Manitoba.

This spring we will be offering Yoga, Rapid Revolution Spin, Zumba, Total Body Workout, Aikido, and Dynamic Core. These classes run at lunch and at the end of the work day at the Notre Dame Campus.

Please note that we have cancelled Tuesday Circuit and Thursday Aikido due to low registration numbers. All other classes will run.

The costs are:

• $40 for Yoga – 5 sessions (90 mins each)
• $30 for all other classes – 5 sessions (45 – 60 mins each)

Register for more than one class and you will receive $10 off your registration!

Click here to visit the Athletics and Recreation website for more detailed class information, dates, times and the registration form.

Registration forms, class descriptions, dates, and times are also available on the wall across from the North Gym Front Desk. Register and pay in the Student Services Centre (D101).

Well, I just got my Bud Spud n Steak ticket from Cristina Gomes (Cashier’s desk, C212) for the RR Rebel Dragons Dragon Boat Team’s (rrrddbt…?)  event on May 11th at the Palomino Club. Go Rebels Go! (you can also get yours from Maria Evaristo at mtevaristo@rrc.ca  or Christine Buchanan at cbuchanan@rrc.ca}

Speaking of Rebels, we are now 4 RR Rebel Riders (rrrr…) gearing up for the MS Ride Sept. 8 & 9: Moi, Roxanne Hildebrand, Mike Poitras, and Wayne Ferguson. No team rides yet. But Mike did finally get his bike out this week and has now clocked over 100 km. Roxanne’s been doing two 30 min. commutes a day for weeks already. Wayne made a solo sticky bun run to Niverville last weekend (though the head wind was so bad that he opted for a Clubhouse instead to revive his tired legs; probably could have used a Spud n Steak!). I hit 300 km with a  couple of work commutes this week and a Sat. morning ride along Sturgeon Creek, the Assiniboine and the Red to St. Adolphe. No sticky bun for me either at the end of that run. This time my reward was lounging in the grass off Pembina with a black-bottom cupcake and a grande latte.

We’re off! Guy and Wayne Ferguson  officially launched the 2012 rrrr… season March 31st with a 50 km training ride to the white horse in St. Francis-Xavier and back. Wayne, 73 years young, is rejoining the Red River Rebel Riders after a two-year break.

How’s this for motivation to get out there and exercise: his goal is to ride 3,000 km this season! And I had trouble keeping up with him already.

Wayne rides with one of those gizmos that measures just about everything (heart rate, speed, altitude, distance to the next latte) and it says he burned about 750 calories on this loop. So we didn’t feel too guilty stopping at the Road House Steak House on the way back thru Headingly for a couple of sticky cinnamon buns. We’ll be counting the kms, sticky buns, and flat tires between now and the MS Ride September 8th. Go to our team site to pledge or to join the team.

Note to self: Next time, remember my water bottle.

Submitted by Guy Dugas, Chair of Accounting and Computer Education