LOTS of appreciation for Olympic Masters Women

You can spend your time, waste your time, or invest your time. It's your choice.

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Olympic Review ~ Like most of you, the Olympics really interfered with my sleep needs. Long after I should have been in bed each night, the TV would be lit up bringing to life way too many exciting Olympic events. When I was a kid growing up in rural Maine, folks had access to just 3 TV channels with Olympic coverage limited to only NBC’s Saturday afternoon “Wide World of Sport” viewed on 19 inch black and white TV sets. Thanks to a generation of technological advancements, Americans now have access to at least a half dozen high-def TV channels and at least as many internet websites all offering 24/7 and pay-per-view coverage of nearly every minute of nearly every Olympic event on crystal clear 52 inch plasma screens.

I could not help but be struck by certain female athletes who stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Gymnastics ~Silver Medal ~ 32 yr old Oksana Chusovitina (GER). Never mind that Oksana is twice as old as any of her competitors and never mind that she has a 9 year old son who survived luekemia…Oksana won the Silver Medal on the floor exercises in Beijing in her 5th Olympic appearance.

Marathon ~ Gold Medal ~ 39 yr old Constantino Tomescu (ROU). Nuff sed.

Swimming ~ 2 Silver Medals ~ 41 yr old Dara Torres (USA).

Cycling ~ 49 yr old Jeanie Longo. Although Jeanie did not medal this year in Beijing, she is the most decorated female cyclist in the history of women’s cycling winning a lifetime best of 4 Olympic Cycling Medals in 7 Olympic Games in addition to numerous National and World Titles.

Everyone reading this should be encouraged and motivated.

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Sat Aug 30 ~ The Encino Velodrome will be hosting its annual “Far West Championships”. Race Session #1 begins both days at 4:30PM. Race Session #2 begins both days at 7:30PM. Please read the event schedule carefully to find out when your division races!

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Tues Sept 2 – Sun Sept 7 ~ Masters Track Nationals in San Jose The national championship race week begins Tuesday immediately following this Labor Day weekend.

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Sat Aug 30-Sun Sept 13 ~ The LA Velodrome is CLOSED for 2 wks. Please see the Event Center’s on-line calendar for an up to date schedule.

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Saturday Sept 27th ~ The 3rd and final event in the 2008 LAVRA Cup race series is just around the corner. Make plans now to join us for another exciting day of racing. With Time Trials in the morning and an Omnium in the afternoon, this is a great opportunity for those preparing for ADT’s Elite Track Nationals the following weekend.

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Thurs Oct 1- Sun Oct 5 ~ ADT will be hosting the Elite Track National Championships. Register early and train hard…the competition will be awesome! If you are not racing, we always need VOLUNTEERS!!

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Speaking of Volunteers ~ ADT will be updating the discounted track fee program effective immediately following Elite Nationals. Please become familiar with the new process. Information will be posted on the website as soon as it is available.

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Have you seen USA Cycling's Web article featuring the LOTS program? If you, your employer or anyone you know, is interested in sponsoring the LOTS program, please contact me. The LOTS program is dedicated to introducing women to the exciting sport of track cycling and we intend to grow this program as far into the future as we can see!

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2008 Championship Track Events ~ As we move closer to the end of the road season we also move closer to the beginning of the Championship Track Racing Season.

1) June 21 ~ SCNCA Jr Track States at ADT (done)
2) July 26-27 ~ Masters Track States SD. (done)
3) Aug 1-2 ~ Elite Qualifier SD. (done)
4) Aug 14-17 Jr Track Nationals at ADT (done)
5) Aug 16-17 Elite Qualifier Encino. (done)
6) Aug 23-24 ~ Elite Qualifier ADT (done)
7) Sept 2-7 ~ Masters Track Natz San Jose
8) Sept 11-13 ~ Collegiate Track Nationals Co Springs
9) Sept 13-14 ~ Elite Track States Encino.
10) Oct 1-5 ~ Elite Track Nationals at ADT

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The 2008 USAC Athlete Waiver is available on-line.

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The 2008 SCNCA Racing Calendar is available on line.

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The 2008 USAC Rule book is available on-line.

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One of our Cycling Moms, Donna Stern, is a licensed CPA. She will be conducting several classes on Bookkeeping throughout the Summer. These classes are geared toward High School Students, New business owners and especially Women who may be returning to the work force or running a family or home based business. Donna’s classes are located in The OC near John Wayne Airport. Please email me for additional information.

Have a super week Ladies!!

Julia Cross