Metromint Blog

my year as a metromint all-star

4/15/08
by Lauren Thies, Metromint All Star

Lauren Thies cycling in the Beaver Freezer Sprint Triathlon

I've definitely enjoyed my involvement with Metromint as an All-Star. This year there were a total of twelve participants, and I was one of two swimmers.

This past summer I had an amazing experience representing the U.S. National Team in Swimming at the Pan American Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. I was nominated the Women's Team Captain and came home with two Gold medals!

On April 5th, I participated in my first triathlon: OSU's annual Beaver Freezer Sprint Triathlon. It was my first competitive event since Brazil and the conditions were anything but tropical. The tri involved a 500 yard pool swim, 12 mile bike ride, and 3.1 mile run. Conditions were 44 degrees with winds in the high-teens... I was first out of the swim and ran to the transition area to grab my Metromint cycling jacket and get ready for the bike. Unlike swimming, where you actually rest between events, I now had to hop on a bike and try to average 18mph or better! With rain pricking my skin I tried to bear a smile. The run was great and I found my legs fairly quickly, which was suprising and nice. The event is very well run, nicely staffed and you can't beat the crowd supporting you every stroke, pedal, and step of the way— many thanks to the OSU Tri Club and supporters! I finished 2nd in my age group (25-29), and 9th overall out of 136 women. The woman who beat me in my age group was 1st overall for women— maybe I'll do triathalons more often?

Metromint is a great refresher while swimming, biking, running and doing Bikram yoga. I enjoy sharing both the product and the concept to my circle. I have been taking Metromint eveywhere I go— swim and yoga clinics, corporate special events, a run with a friend, family and social events. In my experience, kids enjoy Orangemint and Chocolatemint the best, my co-workers are nuts for Orangemint, my friends enjoy the mild taste of Lemonmint, and my family thinks Peppermint and Spearmint taste like mouthwash (I disagree!).

Stay hydrated, stay strong and keep believing in yourself and supporting those around you :)

metromint cycling kicks off the new season

3/4/08
by Bruce Johnson, Metromint Cycling

"What is Metromint? Do you work there?" These are two of the most common questions that members of Metromint Cycling are asked while training all over the roads of the San Francisco bay area. The distinctive Blue Dots bring the team a lot of attention. While we don't technically work at Metromint, our philosophies are well aligned: choosing and promoting healthy lifestyles, building camaraderie by working together as a team, and setting and achieving goals through focus and discipline and fun, both on and off the bike.

As the 2008 bicycle racing season begins, Metromint Cycling is putting all the right pieces in place: hours of training on our local roads, coaching from Whole Athlete, technical bike support from Montano Velo and Big Swingin Cycles, and on the bike nutrition from Clif Bar Inc. More importantly, we're building relationships that are a prerequisite to performing well together as a team. The women held their training camp in December, and the men headed to San Luis Obispo in January for their training camp. The all-team camp returned to Petaluma in late-January during the epic rains which flooded many areas in Sonoma County. The sun broke through at the right moment and we had some epic, beautiful cycling both days, taking us along the north coast and through the Napa valley area.

One way to develop as a cyclist and take the team to the next level is to compete in tougher events, against tougher competitors. This year Metromint Cycling is excited about our initiative to travel across the United States and compete in some of the top races in the U.S. which are open to amateur athletes. These include classics such as Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota, the International Tour de Toona in Pennsylvania, the International Cycling Classic (aka Superweek) in Wisconsin, Mt. Hood, Elkhorn and Cascade Cycling Classics in Oregon, and Manhattan Beach Criterium and San Dimas Stage Race in California. Already there have been some positive early results in big races: Fred Stamm and Sean Rhea, both cat 2 racers, headed to Arizona to compete in Valley of the Sun Stage Race. They posted impressive early season results with Fred winning the road race, and Sean taking 8th overall for the general classification (GC). We're excited about the opportunity to take the team to a new level.

One big race that we want to highlight is the recent first ever Tour of California Women's Criterium, held in Santa Rosa, on February 18. Three of our cat 2 women, Jane Robertson, Elis Bradshaw, and Amanda Eaken fired up to put on a brilliant display against some of the best women on the national circuit. You can read about their adventures on our team website.

See you out on the road!!!