Triathlon Association of NYC Members

-TANYC Topliner: Cliff Scherb
-Wacky, But True
-Whet Wednesday, May 9th, Blondies (79th & Amsterdam)
-TANYC Membership Cards - Get Great Discounts All Around NYC!
-Fly in the Ointment, Monkey in the Wrench, Pain in Our...
-New Member Login Procedure
-You Asked for It, You Got It! - Website Upgrades; New Member Login
Procedure
-TANYC Race Results Tracker
-Uniforms & Training Registration

In every edition of TidBits:
-TidBits Triathlon Trivia - WIN FREE TANYC GEAR!
-Weekly Rides Continue Every Thursday
-Bike Box Rental
-TANYC Resources
-Thought of the Week


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TANYC Topliner: Cliff Scherb
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TANYC's membership is filled with extraordinary people, all with great
stories to tell. Our latest TANYC Topliner is Cliff Scherb because
he's living his dream...

Cliff Scherb is doing what most of us can only imagine doing. He
turned the hobby he truly loves into his livelihood after growing
weary of the drudgery of hustling for a Fortune 100 company. Now
Cliff hustles for something much nearer and dearer to his heart. He is
founder and president of TriStar Athlete LLC, a Manhattan-based
triathlon coaching firm.

Cliff's first client came along quite by chance. A friend of a friend
wanted to do a 1/2 IM. The friend offered to introduce him to Cliff,
who'd completed a number of Ironman events. They hit it off and Cliff,
who loves helping people, agreed to take him on as a project, having
never formally coached anyone. Cliff coached him to the finish line,
while juggling his own training schedule and the corporate job. That
first client told another friend about Cliff's comprehensive knowledge
of the sport and nutrition and his patient, practical, inspirational
coaching style and she told another friend, and, soon enough, he found
himself having to make a choice about how he wanted to spend his time.


"It really was no choice at all. A desk job would have been the worst
form of torture for me. I'm very lucky that I get paid to do what I
love."

After he made the decision to start his own business, he got his USAT
certification and studied the F.I.S.T. bike fit method (we didn't know
exactly what this was, either, but trust us, it means Cliff knows his
stuff). Now his roster of clients is so deep that he only takes on new
ones by referral and then only after a thorough interview process. His
selectivity helps to explain why every client is a success story. Or
well on his/her way to becoming one.

Always athletic, but never one for organized sports, Cliff discovered
triathlon while still a student at Wake Forest University. He finished
his first race, the Chattanooga Dam Sprint Triathlon, at age 21 in
1:53 and has mostly improved with every race, and there have been
dozens of them.

Cliff would not have seen such personal or business success without
the loving support of his family and friends, who were at the finish
line in Chattanooga and have been at every single finish line since.
When he told them he was thinking of giving up his job with cushy
benefits to coach when he only had a few clients, they were hesitant,
but got behind him 100%. From Clearwater to Kona, Malaysia to Montauk,
his people are always there, cheering him on, as they will be this
coming Saturday when he competes in the St. Croix 1/2 IM.

"Did I say that I was lucky? I have incredible friends and family. I'm
really lucky."

Luck, though, has nothing to do with Cliff's race day performances and
now he is looking toward the seven long course events for which he is
registered this season. He trains for breakfast, lunch and dinner and
never takes a day off. He eats like clock work every two hours and
never goes near junk food. His secret weapon is steel cut oatmeal,
which, he tells us, has the lowest glycemic response of any grained
carbohydrate so that it stays in the system for a long time without
setting off the seesawing energy spikes that can result from eating
foods like pasta and rice.

His dedication has paid off. Most recently, he finished the Brooklyn
1/2 Marathon - his first - in 1:21 and the Empire State Building
Run-Up (an invitation-only event) in 13:48, placing 28th overall out
of more than 200 climbers.

Cliff's performance last year in the Ironman Championship caught the
attention of scientists at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute and
earned him a coveted invitation as a research subject to their
facility in Illinois. There, in a warm, airless room, hooked up to
breathing apparatus, surrounded by a team of researchers constantly
drawing his blood and assessing his electrolytes and fluid balance, he
rode 56 miles on a stationary bike and ran 13 miles on a treadmill.

Despite all of his training and preparation, he still has off days.
Last year at the Harriman 1/2 IM - a course in which he was unfamiliar
- he mistakenly began a fifth loop on the bike when he only needed to
do four. A few miles into that fifth loop, he realized his mistake
when he saw people who'd been behind him the entire race running,
including a good friend who gave him the 'WTF?' look. He alternately
cursed and laughed at himself as he turned his bike around and for
much of the next several miles, but he still managed to finish 15th
overall and to win his age group, regardless of having done six
unnecessary miles. The lesson he learned that day could be a metaphor
for life.

"You can never predict what's going to happen, but if it's within your
power, the least you can do is know the course."


Click here for more info on TriStar Athlete
http://r.vresp.com/?TANYC/6edf3418bd/934287/TEST/TEST

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Wacky, but True
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Cliff's story proves there still is good in humankind. Even in
sometimes-less-than-human New Yorkers.

I'd just finished a seven and a half hour ride and was a few blocks
from the George Washington Bridge, near New York-Presbyterian
Hospital. Like everybody who regularly rides in the city, I'm
extremely careful and aware of my surroundings, but this time, I was
eager to get home and didn't notice a van whose driver jumped a lane
without signaling and turned left right into me. He hit me with
enough force that I was thrown a few feet and landed on the cement
right in the middle of Haven Avenue. The hit dazed me for a second
and, laying on my back in the middle of the street, staring at the
sky, my first two thoughts were, "If I have to get hit, at least I'm
steps away from the best doctors in the country" and then, "I bet this
driver is going to take off." But, surprisingly, he got out and ran
over to me to see if I was alright, along with a half dozen or so
other people who'd witnessed it. Miraculously, I was fine. Not even a
scratch.

He helped pull me up and I looked around for my bike, which I couldn't
immediately see. What I did notice was that he couldn't have been
older than 25 and had holes in his shoes. And then I looked at the
van's bumper, which was held up with layers and layers of duct tape.
Just south of the duct-taped bumper, was my bike, with its front wheel
crushed under the weight of the van. My brand new Cervelo P3C. I'm
not usually an emotional guy, but at that moment, I cried a little on
the inside.

Luckily, though, only the wheel was ruined. But the bike couldn't be
ridden without having the wheel repaired, which I knew would be
costly. I looked again at his holey shoes and then at the duct tape
body work on the 15-year-old van with paint covering rust spots and
groaned inwardly at the $400 hit my wallet would definitely take. Then
I thought about how painful it would feel to have to walk my bike to
the subway and take it to midtown to get it fixed when I was already
beyond exhausted and had literally just gotten hit by truck.

The driver felt completely terrible and kept apologizing, but couldn't
have been happier that I was OK, so he stepped up and did the right
thing. Not only did he offer to pay for the wheel, but he put the bike
in the back of his van and drove me the 100+ blocks to SBR to have it
replaced. It was the most awkward hour I have ever spent with anyone,
but it showed me there are still a few decent people out there.



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Whet Wednesday, May 9th, 8:00 p.m., Blondies
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It's just about that time of the month again...join your favorite
triathletes at Blondies, 212 W. 79th St., between Amsterdam and
Broadway, next Wednesday, May 9th at 8pm.

And if you know of a great bar that's friendly to hard-partying
triathletes, let us know and we'll look into using it as a future Whet
Wednesday location!

Send your Whet Wednesday location suggestion to tanycinfo@....


Click here for more info on Blondies Sports
http://r.vresp.com/?TANYC/b66faa8f18/934287/TEST/TEST

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TANYC Membership Cards
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Print off your TANYC membership card and use it at gyms and retailers
all over the city for great discounts, including City Sports, Jack
Rabbit, SBR and any of the 19 full-service branches of the YMCA of
Greater New York City.

Below are instructions on printing your membership card:
Go to tanyc.org
Click "Login" at the top right of the screen
Login in using your e-mail address and password
Click "Members" on the left panel
Click "Discounts"
Click "TANYC Membership Card"
Print screen and take printout to participating retailers and YMCAs.


http://r.vresp.com/?TANYC/cbdd722e55/934287/TEST/TEST

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Fly in the Ointment, Monkey in the Wrench, Pain in Our...
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We are aware that a few of our members have been getting notification
that their membership has or is about to expire and needs to be
renewed. These members' renewals or joining fell within the limited
dates while we were transitioning to the new system. Please be assured
that these bugs in the system are being addressed.

Thank you for your patience while we complete our upgrade!



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New Member Login Procedure
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As we are actively in the process of upgrading, the member login
procedure has changed. In the member login section (including current
members), you will need to click on "forgot your password." A new
screen will appear that will prompt you to input your email address.
Do so and a new password will be sent to you. Once you have your new
password, you can re-login with your userid (which is ALWAYS your
email address) and TANYC-generated password. And you can then change
your password. You will only have to do this once.



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TANYC Responds with Dynamic Web Updates; New Email Address
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In response to the many member requests to make tanyc.org more
user-friendly, we've made some dynamic changes. Now, both the world
triathlon newsfeed and discussion group postings can be found right on
our homepage. The days of multiple click-thrus and searching are over.
Discover the latest in the world of triathlon, as well as what's on
the minds of your fellow NYC triathletes right from TANYC's home page.


If you need to email us for any reason now or in the future, please
send your message to tanycinfo@.... We have disabled
info@....



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TANYC Race Results Tracker
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As part of our mission to be the primary triathlon organization
serving the entire NYC triathlon community and its clubs and to
provide free services to them, TANYC is hosting a free race results
tracker on www.tanyc.org.

TANYC Tracking is open and free to ALL athletes, regardless of club
affiliation. Races tracked are triathlons, duathlons, running races,
adventure races, etc.
TANYC Tracking will:
- Promote city-wide club and athlete competition;
- Show best male and female per race;
- Show best club per race;
- Be fully searchable by name; and
- Track automatically (non-members must manually add their results
ONCE to be included in this service).

Since the race results will be made available IMMEDIATELY and will be
published in TidBits for major races, please make sure you notify us
of errors (time, club affiliation, etc), by sending an email to
tanycinfo@... with 'RACE RESULTS' in the subject line. We are
going by our current mailing list of TANYC members and former members.
We apologize in advance if there are any inaccuracies and will update
the listings within a few days of notification. Similarly, if you are
a TANYC member or former member and do not wish to be included in the
race results tracking, please let us know!


TANYC Race Results Tracker
http://r.vresp.com/?TANYC/18b4d25412/934287/TEST/TEST

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Training Program Registration and Uniform Orders
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Registration for all 2007 training programs (Bricks, NYC Triathlon,
Half Iron) and uniforms has opened! Please visit the link below.

Our brand new 2007 uniform (jerseys and singlets) designs are in!
Please allow approximately 6-8 weeks for delivery. We strongly
suggest purchasing these high quality uniforms now while they are
substantially discounted as part of our registration opening!

Training Program and Uniform Orders
http://r.vresp.com/?TANYC/167d1362f6/934287/TEST/TEST

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TANYC Trivia
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TANYC will give FREE GEAR EVERY WEEK to the first person to correctly
answer our weekly trivia question. Only current TANYC members can win
and you can only win once in a four-week period. Good luck!

Here's this week's question: what U.S. athlete competed in three
different Olympics in two different disciplines and is seeking to go
to a fourth one in a third discipline (something no American has ever
done)?

Hint: Triathlon is one of those disciplines.
Hint #2: That's her on the right.


http://r.vresp.com/?TANYC/70a5729414/934287/TEST/TEST

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Weekly Rides Continue Thursdays - You Must RSVP
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Don't let weather conditions keep you from your training program.
TANYC is holding weekly group rides every Thursday morning, leaving
from Engineers' Gate at 5:45 a.m.

If you are interested in participating, you must email Coach Dave by
8:00 p.m. Wednesday evening. He will decide, based on the number of
responses received, whether the ride will go on by 9:00 p.m. and post
to the newsgroup.

RIDES WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE CANCELLED IF TEMPS DROP BELOW 40 DEGREES,
OR IF IT IS RAINING. Also, for the first several rides, we encourage
you to have a headlight and taillight on your bike as it will still be
dark at this time of the morning!

For details or if you're interested, contact Coach David at
CoachDave@....



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Bike Box Rental
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Need to take your bike on a trip but unable to invest in a bike box?
TANYC has available bike boxes available to rent at the very
reasonable rate of $40 per week, with a $70 security deposit on
SEPARATE check or money order. Once the box is returned to us in good
condition, your security deposit will be returned to you.

Please contact Betsy Fader for more details at bfader@....




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TANYC Resources: Email Address
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Email us on any issue, large or small at tanycinfo@....


http://r.vresp.com/?TANYC/94b8575f20/934287/TEST/TEST

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TANYC Resources: Newsgroup
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Click here to link to TANYC Newsgroup
http://r.vresp.com/?TANYC/773b5e13db/934287/TEST/TEST

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TANYC Resources: Race Results Tracker
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Click here to link to Race Results Tracker
http://r.vresp.com/?TANYC/1a40e3d734/934287/TEST/TEST

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TANYC Resources: Training Program Registration and Uniform Purchase
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Click here to link to program registration and to purchase uniforms
http://r.vresp.com/?TANYC/e27ef592ed/934287/TEST/TEST

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Thought of the Week
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The difference between failure and success is doing a thing nearly
right and doing it exactly right.

-Edward C. Simmons