Weekend Ride Invitations 5/17-18

Okay, so it rained out our first Ice Cream ride of the year. Is that going to spoil your week? Nah.

Actually I did get out for a commuter ride to the post office and to Costco for a new digital camera. On my way toward Evans, I met a tourist just at Red Wolf. I turned around and chatted him up. He was British riding out of San Diego and headed to New York with Adventure Cycling’s maps. “I’ll be a life member when I get to Montana,” he said.

The rain was just a tease at this  point but he had full rain gear on and huge Axiom panniers front and back and he was traveling slow. I took him down port drive and across the blue bridge to the trail. He’s headed up Winchester and down 7 mile to avoid the lower section of 12. I wished him luck, glad that I wasn’t climbing Winchester with a load this weekend with temps turning hot.

As for me? Well here’s the weekend plan:

Sage Bakery

Saturday May, 17th: Bad weather kept everyone but Nicki and Debbie off our bikes and even they chose to ride to the Lewiston Sage Bakery instead of UnionTown. This ride starts at the Southway Boat Launch at 10 am Saturday. Some of us may choose to start early or ride on. If you are interested contact me.

Sean has proposed the club run a road race up Spiral to Uniontown, across Thorncreek Road and back on the Idaho side. I’m thinking of doing that loop Saturday rather than returning with the group from Uniontown.

Hog n Grog

No its not a ride but it is Sherie’s Shindig.

Hereth Park from noon to 5 on Saturday May 17th to benefit the Huntington’s Foundation. Call 208 746-8393 for more information. Adults $20/12-18 $10/under 12 free. This may be just the thing for after your Sage BAkery Ride.

Sunday 1 pm Start

Come join us at 1 for a 2 to 3 hour ride around the valley at a conversational pace. Good place to meet other cyclists and get started. Riders of all levels welcome. No drops.

Sunday May, 18th 8 am Asotin Chief Looking Glass Park Fat Tire Ride

Doug hosts a fat tire ride from Heller Bar to the Cache Creek Ranger Station. You’ll need you fat tire bike. We’ll meet in Asotin to see what we can do about car pooling. Doug says the area is richly green and the ranger station is well kept with rest rooms. But there is no food. Packk a lunch and your favorite snack bars and bring lots of water. Should be cooler than Lewiston but if Lewiston hits 90 degrees, . . . This should be 46 miles round trip. On a mountain bike this counts as a long ride.

Note: all rides begin at Southway Boat Launch except the Cache Creek ride on Sunday.

Be Predictable; Be Visible

Your safety on a bicycle is directly related to how predictable you are but that only counts if the driver knows you are there. –Corrie

Little Things Get You Noticed

A couple months ago my daughter drove past me as I was pedaling home in the dark. When I walked into the house she told me that she had seen me, so I took the opportunity to do a little research.

Me: “Could you see me fairly well?”
Miss T: “Yeah.”

Me: “How far away did you notice me?”
Miss T: “Pretty far.” – which turned out to be around 500 feet.

The next question was the one I was leading up to. At the time I had on a jacket with reflective stripes and reflective ankle straps and was running a rear blinky.

“What did you notice first?” Her answer took me by surprise. “Your ankle straps.” Seriously, these things were a stocking stuffer that my wife got me a couple Christmases ago so I’d stop using the small bungee cords I swiped from her. I liked the Velcro straps but never really thought about them as being particularly attention grabbing.

Ann Weatherill Cycling Classic

You may remember Ann. She was a local teacher who moved to Walla Walla. She was killed in a cycling collision on Mother’s Day 2004. The Wheatland Wheelman sponsor this metric Century on June 21st in her memory.

They include

Tips for Bicycling Around Cars & Driving Around Bicyclists

Tips for Bicycling Around Cars & Driving Around Bicyclists
from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance
www.bta4bikes.org

Driving Around Bicyclists
1. Check the bike lane – when turning right across a bike lane, always look behind you for a bicyclist; bikes can travel fast enough to catch up with you even if you passed them more than a block ago; if someone is approaching, wait and yield rather than trying to “beat” them; think of the bike lane like a train track – never sit and idle on it, don’t start across until you know you can clear it

Hog and Grog

Sherri Kole once again sponsors a day of fun and food to benefit victims of Huntington’s Disease this Saturday, May 17th. We are doing a Sage Bakery Ride but you’ll be back in plenty of time to join Sheri. Just finish your ride at Hereth Park by 4 and pig out.–Corrie

2nd Annual
Hog ‘N Grog

Pig Roast, Silent Auction, and Raffle

Benefit for the
Huntington’s Disease Society of America

Come and join us as we roast another pig to raise money for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. This year, we will be having roast pork, potato salad, baked beans, rolls, beer, soda, bottled water, and a rip roaring good time.

http://www.hdpigroast.com

Cycling Safety and the Law

According to the League of American Cyclists, 35% of bike-car collisions can be attributed to the cyclist. The concept is called Vehicluar Cycling. The rules of the road make you predictable. Dodging and weaving like a messenger cyclistin New York City may be exciting, but it is dangerous and creates resentment among motorists. Here’s a great blog on this principal.

Bicycling and the Law.

Here’s an interesting video, pointed out by Ed at CycleDog. The debate rages on about what a cyclist can legally do when he or she is riding, alone or in groups. I plan to put up an interview with someone in the Medford Police Department about this subject, so folks can get it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

And over at Take the Lane we have

Moron of the Week, #13

I had trouble figuring out which one was the bigger moron: the cyclist who was leading the duo into danger or the cyclist who was blindly following.

Cyclists and motorists can share the road in most cases safely and courteously. There will always be a moron or two who must shout or throw something, but most just want to get where they are going. –Corrie

Rights and Duties of Cyclists

Scott, Jen, Linda and I successfully completed the League of American Cyclists Road I course taught by Eileen Hyatt in Spokane this last Tuesday evening and all day Saturday. Eileen is a certified League Cycling Instructor with lots of experience. She is on the Board of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington as well. Joining us was Louise McCrody of the Alliance. She tells us the Alliance wants to open a branch in Spokane to serve Eastern Washington.

Take a look at the this video produced by the League on the Rights and Duties of Cyclists to get an idea of what the course was like. Eileen took us all around streets near Shadle Park and then took us right downtown Spokane for lunch at the Spokane Club. She stopped us every few blocks to point out turns and maneuvers we’d need to negotiate. She was very thorough and got us all back safely.

Linda particularly enjoyed the roundabout.

–Corrie

Bike To Work Week May 12-16

Bike to Work

By now you should have started your commuting. If not, put your plans together for Friday. Check out the Bike Month page for lots of information on getting started.

10,000 mile challenge

Don’t forget to log your mileage in May. Doesn’t matter if you have done so yet. Just total ‘em up and enter ‘em.

Health and Wellness Fair

Lewiston City Employees are having a fair on Thursday at the Community Center and Twin Rivers Cyclists will be there with a display constructed by Linda. Sorry, she’ unable to atttend so you’ll be stuck with me and Nicki. But stop by and visit us, pick up a flier for Jen’s class, or even stick around to help. We don’t have enough volunteers yet.

Ice Cream Ride

The first of the summer series of rides from Clarkston’s Baskin Robins starts on Tuesday at 6:30. Join us for the ride, or just join us for ice cream about 8 when we return.

Crazy Ladies

The crazies roll every Wednesday Morning at 10:30 from the Southway Boat Launch. This week is an exception. They will start from Helen’s House (contact Pam). And next week they’ll be back at the boat launch but starting at a new, earlier time: 9.

Time Trials

Downriver Road (Bennett Lumber) at 6 pm. Be sure to arrive a bit early to get into the line up. This isn’t a competition but you’ll receive your own start and finish time.

Sage Bakery

Bad weather kept everyone but Nicki and Debbie off our bikes and even they chose to ride to the Lewiston Sage Bakery instead of UnionTown. This ride starts at the Southway Boat Launch at 10 am Saturday. Some of us may choose to start early or ride on. If you are intersted contact me.

Hog n Grog

Hereth Park from noon to 5 on Saturday May 17th to benefit the Huntington’s Foundation. Call 208 746-8393 for more information. Adults $20/12-18 $10/under 12 free. This may be just the thing for after your Sage BAkery Ride.

Sunday 1 pm Start

Come join us at 1 for a 2 to 3 hour ride around the valley at a conversational pace. Good place to meet other cyclists and get started. Riders of all levels welcome. No drops.

Invitational Ride

This doesn’t mean you have to be invited to join me. It means I don’t know what I’m going to want to do on Sunday yet. I may choose to ride a bit before the 1 pm start or if the weather looks good, I might prefer to call for a century starting at 8 am maybe around Wawawai Canyon. Look for my ride invitations later in the week.

–Corrie

Skirt Guard in San Jose

You don’t need fancy lycra tights and bright jerseys just to ride though the League of American Cyclists recommend them for comfort and safety for longer rides. In Copehagen, where about 70% of the population are on bikes, bright colors might not be necessary, but now the trend is coming to San Jose.–Corrie

I was cycling down Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose last week when I looked south down 1st Street and I spotted a distinctive white Dutch style bike with a skirt guard the next block down on San Fernando. Since I’m crazy about bikes — especially slightly unusual bikes — I raced down 2nd Street to meet this stylish cyclist. I caught up to Dolin on San Fernando in front of San Jose State University. She’s obviously a stylin’ gal, and then I learn that Dolin is a fashion designer in San Francisco.

The Bike Industry is Coming Along

In Copenhagen nearly everyone bicycles. They don’t fool with lycra either. In the US we are looking at about 1.5 percent of the population on bikes. Its the culture, the surge of an internal combustion engine, the hills, the distances and just maybe it is the bike industry aimed at lean, lithe, young athletes.–Corrie

April 19th, 2008 by Tim Grahl

My biggest beef with the US bike industry is the lack of vision of what a bicycle is and can be. The bicycle was stolen by the sport market and they are now seen large and wide as a hobby and/or toy.

But things are changing.

Bike to Work Week May 12-16

MapMyRide is my favorite of the mapping sites and the journal sites. You can see my reviews on the Journal pages. So this flier is a promotion both of MapMyRide and Bike to Work Week? Print it out and post it anyway and your place of work. –Corrie