Mt Itasca on Sunday, rifles turn in, and Nationals

Good Morning Everyone! Just a followup to earlier emails!

  • We are making plans for the trip to Nationals at West Yellowstone. We have 9 from the Midwest signed up, with 2 or 3 more on the fence yet. Jeff Bosek is the trip leader. Jeff, Mark Torresani and I are planning on coaching. If you plan to attend, please look over the Covid protocol above and the Nationals Invitation. Fill them out and note they must be submitted online no later than the afternoon of Sunday 21st of March for registration. There is no onsite registration!!! And please let Jeff and me know if you are coming and haven’t already contacted us; or if you need to confirm. When you are registering and if you will be shooting on Tues or Wed prior to Official Training, try to get the 10:00-12:00 slot for range time. Jeff will be available on the range to coach those days. Some of us are staying at the Day’s Inn. We suggest a direct call vs online to save a few $$. 
  • All MN Biathlon rifles leased for the year are due to be turned in at the end of the month. A questionnaire has been sent to all those who have rifles, or have expressed interest in leasing next year. If you misplaced that, or didn’t get one and would like to lease next year, that form is also attached. If you want a rifle next year, you need to fill that out and return it to me—either by email or by mail to the below address by Monday the 15th of March. 

If you are not attending Nationals, please thoroughly clean and then turn in the rifle asap or after the Sunday race. If you have had good participation and would like to lease again, please put a piece of masking tape on the stock with your name on it. After the coaches go through the rifles and clean them, check them over, and replace any missing/damaged parts, we will be re-issuing. Who gets a rifle, who gets an upgrade, or who will need to buy their own to continue will be determined based mostly on the questionnaire answers and the coach’s discretion thereto.  If you are going to Nationals, we can look the rifles over at West and re-issue for next year. Please contact me if you have any questions!!

Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

Jan 2021 updates

Due to the last Covid rules which curtail competitions per se until the 14th of Jan, MN Cup #2 as rescheduled is now cancelled. Our planning has gotten short range by necessity, and for that I apologize—but we do have a couple of events that should be ok and should happen!!

This coming Sunday—Elk River- we will have a time trial course set up where you can come, zero yourself and time yourself. It will use the normal winter course Pursuit format so PPSS and a 5 lap total of 9.1km of skiing plus penalty loops.

To accommodate both zeroing and time trialing we will need to do this by 10 maximum wave appointments with me. 9:30 or 11:00. Please sign up shortly. If we run out of slots [10 x 2], I will open up another time slot in the early afternoon We will need to zero quickly so be there on time and ready to go. I anticipate no more than 15 min to zero. Once we switch to metal, all zeroing will be done for that wave. Watch your email, as I might move you or your group to anther time slot.

The 23rd/24th weekend is not yet determined—we may do more time trials at Elk River

and the 30th/31st will be Regional races at Mt Itasca, with an announcement/invitation coming out shortly.

I am anticipating at least two events in Feb, another Regional event in March along with Nationals in West Yellowstone.

I did note this past weekend that quite a few of our Biathletes participated in the JNQ races in Houghton MI with some really spectacular results!! Training pays!!

Enjoy the Journey!
Bill Meyer, Coach

Vermont camp and Lake Placid camps cancelled

All Athletes, Coaches and Parents,

The Saga continues.

Yesterday we received notice from the USBA office that both the Vermont camp and races there plus the follow-up elite camp at Lake Placid have been cancelled due to the virus concerns and inability to host large numbers of people safely. For those who were looking at the scheduled races as part of the Trials for IBU or World Cup Team positions, USBA will be scheduling some additional events later in the summer/fall for a fair trials contest.

In MN our plans will be to continue to hold Daycamps around the state, and localized weekly training practices; along with 3 or 4 rollerski races at Elk River as scheduled pending any changes in the rules. Currently MN is one of the few states where the numbers of new cases are declining.

With all this in mind, it is even more important that you do your own training as planned, work at improving your own Personal Records and keep up with the tests and times we are asking you to do. And keep reporting those back to me. At the end of the upcoming Mt Itasca Day camp, I will circulate some of the up to date spreadsheets so you can compare yourself with others. Collectively we have made equal or better gains in the basics this year than we have in normal years!! We are stronger, skiing better, and shooting better than ever before!!

Stay safe and practice good personal habits, even if those around you are careless or don’t recognize their obligation to other people!

Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

MN Biathlon June and Early July 2020 Schedule

Please find below the tentative schedule of training events and day camps around the state. All these events are subject to any new rules by the Governor, or other unforeseen changes. Note: the RR grade at Elk River is closed to roller skiing until 1 July. Access to the range is open. Please bring a facemask to all training. Masks are mandatory for rifle fitting for both coach and athlete! Hand sanitizer is also recommended. Limited ammo will be available for sale at $35 a brick [500 rds]. Also note: helmets are mandatory for all roller skiing. Knee pads, elbow guards, and gloves are optional but recommended for beginners. 

Rifle fitting focus- by invitation only: 

  • 5 June, Friday- Elk River- 2:00 pm in the parking lot at Woodland Trails. Bring roller skis etc. also. 
    Open shooting after- 4:00 until 6:00 pm. Max numbers 10. Please contact me for signup. Bill & Holly. 
  • 11 June, Thursday- Elk River- 2:00 pm- fitting by invitation only
    Open shooting 3:00 until 6:00 pm. Max numbers 10. Please contact me for signup. Bill & ??

Daycamps- day long training–9:00 am to 4:00 pm—bring your own lunch and water! Max group size 10. 

  • 13 June- Bosek range at Alexandria- coaches: Kaisa, Jeff, and Bill. Please contact me for signup. 
  • 20 June- Snowflake range at Duluth- coaches John, Sean and Bill. Please contact me for signup
  • 27 June- Mt Itasca at Coleraine- coaches Vlad, Bill and maybe Jeff. Please contact me for signup

Shooting practices- 

Races-

The Elk River event scheduled for the 25th of June is cancelled due to the RR grade construction. Local events running or biking can be scheduled by the local coach as long as the starts are well spread out and the event has no more than 10 total participants counting both coaches and athletes. 

16 July, 13 August, and 17/18 October- Elk River. These events are tentatively scheduled pending completion of the construction work. We will get an invitation out when closer to those dates.

For further information, please contact me or one of the coaches listed above. Stay safe, be careful, and encourage others to do the same!!

Bill Meyer,
MN Biathlon Coach

MN BIATHLON POLICY/GUIDELINES FOR JUNE 2020 DUE TO COVID 19 PANDEMIC

Good Morning Everyone,

Attached is a Policy/Guidelines for all Biathlon Training and Racing for June 2020 in MN under the auspices of MN Biathlon, but subject to the Governor’s rules and any guidelines scheduled to be coming out on June 1 from his office.

Based on the Policy and the underlying considerations, the two Camps scheduled for June [Mt Itasca and Elk River] are both cancelled. MN Biathlon will be putting together a new schedule for June to include Beginner rifle fitting/ indoctrination, Day Camps, and hopefully a race. Elk River is closed to roller skiing until July 1st to allow for a pipeline construction down the RR grade near the range. The range and other trails are open yet.

This Policy/Guideline is predicated on the assumption, and subject to our obligation to each other, that we practice safe habits to avoid spreading the Covid 19 virus. II is critical that we live up to this obligation.

Sincerely,
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon


MN BIATHLON
POLICY/GUIDELINES FOR JUNE 2020
DUE TO COVID 19 PANDEMIC

MN Biathlon Annual Membership

Good Morning!

Attached please find the annual MN Biathlon Membership form for this training year. This is due each spring—US Biathlon membership is due in Oct each year.

While many athletes from the Twin Cities area are using the range at Elk River periodically, at this point we have been unable to organize weekly coached practices. I do anticipate I will be down once every couple of weeks, and we will hopefully have a camp there in June along with 4 summer races scheduled there. We will send notices and invitations out as those get closer to fruition.

As to everyone across the state, if you plan to lease a rifle from MN Biathlon this year—and I have talked to most of those folks recently, you do need to be a MN Biathlon member even if you belong to one of the subsidiary clubs.

Thanks for your interest in Biathlon!
Bill Meyer, Coach