Thursday, October 30, 2008

Olympians Headed to the Methow


The Wenatchee World has done the first story of the year on Olympic athletes coming to the Methow to train for the 2010 Winter Olympics. MVSTA friend Mark Waechter of Nordic Ultratune shared his insights on the athletes training schedule. Read the full story here.

Photo is U.S. Olympic athlete Torin Koos at last year's MVSTA Ski Rodeo.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Let It Snow? Absolutely.


New York magazine just wrote a little story on the best places to embrace the upcoming snow season. The Methow Valley was sandwiched in between such places as Lake Placid, Taos and Aspen. Here's what they had to say about us:

Methow Valley, Washington
Four nights + cross-country skiing + buffalo burger = $554 for a long weekend.
Located 230 miles northeast of Seattle in the North Cascade Mountains, Methow Valley isn’t exactly convenient, but it is wallet-friendly and spectacularly foreign for East Coast skiers. The undulating, glacier-carved valley is laced by 120-plus miles of groomed Nordic ski trails ($20 for one day; $45 for a three-day pass; mvsta.com) for cross-country and skate-skiing. In Winthrop, upgrade to a king room at the Chewuch Inn (from $125, including breakfast; chewuchinn.com), so you can laze by your own fireplace. Mingle with the locals (a liberal-leaning crew of farmers and hunters) over buffalo burgers and microbrews at nearby Twisp River Pub (methowbrewing.com).

The full story can be found here.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Sports Swap Nov 8th & Debut of Methow Mitts


Mark your calendars, the annual MVSTA Sports Swap is Saturday November 8th from 10-1pm. This is a great opportunity to buy and sell sporting equipment. More information on how to become a seller can be found here.
MVSTA season passes as well as Loup Loup season passes will also be sold.
To help celebrate MVSTA's expanded 56 kilometers of dog-friendly ski trails, a new booth will be appearing at the market...Methow Mitts, the ultimate dog bootie. Here's what skier, dog-owner and designer Mary Ann Ottinger had to say about the Methow Mitts:
"I take my dog on the trails alot, and she is one of those dogs who constantly gets snow and ice in her paws, so I have to put boots on her. After trying out at least 4 different types of boots (none of which were cheap), I found that almost none of them stayed on very long. So I decided to sew up a set I designed myself. They worked like a charm, and last winter, I had oodles of people who stopped me on the trail and asked where I got them, as they had the same problem. So I got some material and sewed up a few dozen in different sizes."
The booties have been trail tested by now 13 year old Cassie (photo above) and are available for $20 at the Sports Swap.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The forecast calls for.....


Here in the Methow Valley we use a lot of different techniques to predict the weather but nothing is ever as "dead on" as Bill Biddle's forecasts. Bill (pictured here at our annual wooden ski race) is the Weatherwatch Meteorologist for the Methow Valley News. Here is what Bill has predicted for this season:

"This coming winter will be a humdinger. It will start with a late October snowstorm and won't end until an unusual late March snowstorm. The Methow Valley will live up to it's reputation of six months of winter interrupted by a Fourth of July"

Bust out the skis!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Profile of a Winner!


Con Rigas of Bellingham was the Curtlo Frame Winner at the 22nd Annual Fall Bicycle Festival. We asked Con for a cycling bio and here is what we got. Congratulations Con, we hope you'll love the Curtlo as much as your Woodrup.

I am 65 years young(edited by MVSTA).
Bicycling has been an important part of my life almost from day 1.
My 1951 Columbia saw me through my paper route, undergrad college, and medical school. When I married, in 1967, my trusted Columbia served us well: shopping, laundromat,etc. This was our major source of transportation. After medical school,1970, my wife and I were able to afford Raleigh 3 speeds.
I became more serious about bike touring and went on to purchase a
Woodrup,about 1980. The Woodrup family only produced 200 frames per year. They took great care in making their frames. The Woodrup is still my favorite touring bike. I plan to do a transcontinental trip next year. My interest in off road cycling grew when I discovered the fat tire trails near Cable, Wisconsin. I continued to ride these trails on a regular basis for over 15 years.
About 2000, I also became interested in recumbent riding. I will vary the kind of riding I do depending on the group I am with, but use my touring , off rode, and recumbent bicycles on a regular basis.
I discovered off rode biking in the Methow Valley just this year.
I am very fortunate to have won this frame.
Constantine ( Con ) Rigas

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

And we're skiing.....


We have snow! Yesterday the North Cascades got a nice layer of our favorite form of precipitation. Mark Waechter, owner of Nordic Ultratune, sent us this photo of his ski outing out the Overlook Road at Washington Pass. Mark reports there is about 4 inches of snow; enough so that your skis don't hit the pavement! (Jay would like to follow with "No, MVSTA does not plan on grooming up there"). Still, get up there and enjoy it!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Bike Festival T-shirts and socks still FOR SALE



We still have a few Fall Bike Festival t-shirts and socks for sale. Call or email us with our your credit card and we will be happy to send them out. T-shirts are $15 and "Ride the Methow" socks are $5 (plus the actual cost of shipping).

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Cross-Country Mountain Bike Races

Congratulations to all the racers! It was a perfect day: fall colors, strong competition and loads of fun.
Here's a slide show from the races. (Click on the photo to view in a larger window)
Enjoy!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Fall Bike Festival Day-Saturday's Events

WOW!
What an action packed day! The rain held off for most of everyone's rides! Despite some muddy faces everyone seemed to have a good time. Here's a few photos from today...mostly of the kids because they are so darn cute!
To view the slide show in a larger window just click on the photo.
Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Just Days Away


The Methow Valley Fall Bike Festival is just days away and it is shaping up to be a great celebration of all things cycling. The largest party will certainly be on Saturday from 1-5pm in the Winthrop Park. Here is where food and fun will be served. We have a beer garden hosted by the Twisp River Pub and coffee from our local specialty roaster Blue Star Coffee. Check out amazing cycling and cycling related products from vendors Methow Cycle and Sport, Nunatak, Curtlo, Anaerobic Zone, Outdoors NW, Methow Time, Shimano, Hutchinson, Dakine, Continental Tires, Pearl Izumi and Black Diamond. Don't miss this!