Hi All!

Have you ever noticed that runners don't smile as much as cyclists? We had a chance to ponder that fact this morning as we gave up our normal spot in the parking lot to a group of runners, pounding their way off on a 5K trek. We had 55 riders manage to find the club sign-in and get themselves assembled in our alternate start point out on All America Way. We let the serious looking foot powered athletes take off, then we got under way, smiling, laughing, and talking. (If you are going out in public dressed like we do, guess you gotta have a sense of humor!) We managed to find our way through the destruction taking place on Dobson, making us greatly appreciate the completed road work down on Riggs. Special thanks to Kevin Hartke and Tom O'Leary for going above and beyond the call of duty (several times) at a tire changing clinic.

Coming up...

Saturday 8/7/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. The St. Francis Loop takes us around town and through the climbs in north Tempe (or Scottsdale or whatever). Mileage options 26 miles or 36 miles. Breakfast at Bruegger's Bagels, northwest corner Mill & 11th.

Saturday 8/14/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Ahwatukee Foothills with mileage options of 24 miles with no climbing or 34 miles with some moderate climbing. Breakfast is Village Inn, northwest corner of Elliott & Hardy.

Saturday 8/21/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Tandemania! Yes, it's time again to get all of our two seat ships out on the road. Have a couple of new ones in the crowd since last year so we'll see just how many double teams we can get hooked up. We'll need a non-climbing route (never want to use the word "flat"!) so maybe Lindsay Loop... if the construction has died down some. The short route on this one is really scenic through the Lakeview development. Tentative mileage options 29 miles or 39 miles. Breakfast at the Wildflower, northwest of Frye and Price.

Tid Bits...

It seems early to already be talking about the event rides in the fall... but it's a great time to plan out some cycling adventures and goals for yourself. Jim Siart is heading up a group from our pack that is going to do the Las Vegas Century on Saturday October 16th. He says:

"Ride registration is $45. Start point for the ride is close to the north end of the strip and east of downtown. We selected the Sahara Hotel & Casino as it's close to the start of the ride, close to downtown for inexpensive table games, reasonable price as compared to casinos on the central part of the strip, plus there is a Monorail that takes you down the strip and stops at the MGM for those who want to explore the many sites of Las Vegas."

Web Site for Registration:
http://www.lasvegascentury.org/
Web Site Booking Las Vegas Hotels, Sahara Hotel & Casino $82 per night.
http://www.lasvegashotelaccommodations.com/

If any questions about co-ordinating attending the event with riders from our pack, contact Jim Siart.

Ride safe.

We had 23 riders today take on the humidity and wind tunnel of McKellips. We also welcomed new riders Paul and Bruce. A pretty casual day in the pack today, with a sprint won by Mike Klein over Gene and Mike towards the end of the ride. Apparently, these guys had extra energy, guess they needed to give more blood! Breakfast was entertaining with Neal as the topic of conversation. So, I called it correct last week in saying he would embarrass us more in the following week, glad to see he could come through (literally).

And this just in, I'm working on a new route for Nancy, it will be called the Tour de Car Wash. We'll have to find out the appropriate attire for riding through. Glad to see we had so many riders joining us at the viewing of the Tour de France on Sunday, and if you didn't see, Lance won!

Ride Schedule

8/1 - 6:30 AM We'll try an old route, tour de Scottsdale. Mileage options of 40 or 44 miles, all flat. Breakfast at Wildflower Bread Company - Guadalupe & McClintock.

8/8 - 6:30 AM Tour Around Mummy - the new and old combine. Mileage options of 35, 40, or 50 miles with the 40 or 50 with some hills. Breakfast at US Egg on Mill and Baseline.

8/15 - 6:30 AM Ocotukee Loop - Out to Ocotillo and then to Ahwatukee with some hills. Mileage options of 35 or 45 miles, breakfast at Bruegger Bagels on Rural and Chandler Blvd.

8/22 - 6:30 AM Tour de Love Birds - Go out and see the love birds in Mesa. Mileage option of 40 or 50 miles. Breakfast at Neighbors Cafe on Guadalupe and Alma School.

8/29 - 6:30 AM Metro Mania - hit all of the cities in the east valley. Mileage options of 36 or 45 miles, with some hills on the longer route. Breakfast at Einstein Bagels on Ray and Rural.

Hi All!

We had 75 riders appear at the park for our morning's adventure. The age 45+ riders got a bit of a head start... which turned out to be the majority of the pack! Guess our group's median age is a bit more than that. The young pups quickly chased down the riders "of a certain age" and we all headed northbound for several versions of the Mummy route. Most made their way, sweaty but smiling, to the bagel stop... where the topic of the day was the sighting of one of our club jerseys during one of the Tour de France stages this week. And yes, that WAS one of our jerseys, adorning Neal Thomas as he made an unexpected appearence on the time trial route, immediately in front of Lance!

Coming up...

Sunday 7/25/04 at The Vine. 6:00pm to 8:30pm. Tour de France finish line party. See ya there for the big finish! We'll raise a toast to Lance.

Saturday 7/31/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Tour de Sue takes us down south, with options on either Queen Creek or Riggs. Mileage 25 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company, southeast corner 56th St & Elliott.

Saturday 8/7/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. The St. Francis Loop takes us around town and through the climbs in north Tempe (or Scottsdale or whatever). Mileage options 26 miles or 36 miles. Breakfast at Bruegger's Bagels, northwest corner Mill & 11th.

Tid Bits...

We have had some complaints about riders arriving late to the park, delaying the departure of the pack. Just a reminder, on the ding of the hour at 6:30am you should astride your trusty steed (uh, that would be your bike) and waiting attentively in the parking lot to hear words of wisdom from your ride leader just before we roll out. If you arrive at the park at or after the start time, you are making your friends wait, which is not nice.

So, just to see if anybody is paying attention to this request, our pack split next Saturday morning will be those signed in and ready to ride at 6:30am will ride first, those not signed in by 6:30am will be held to ride as a secondary pack. Set those alarm clocks!

Ride safe.

We had 28 riders today. What can I say about today, but it was hot, hot, and hot. Even before we started, it was hot. During the ride it was hot, and after the ride it was hot. For those of you wondering while watching the Tour de France coverage of stage 13, no that wasn't Neal streaking along the riders. I'm sure he will do much worse to embarrass us all!

Speaking of TdF, next Sunday is the last day of the tour, and as a club we will celebrate this event at the Vine in Ahwatukee, on Warner, southeast of 48th Street. We have reserved space to watch the entire OLN coverage from 6:00 - 8:30pm. In addition, we will have some raffle prizes during the event (of course its bike stuff). Hope to see you there.

Ride Schedule

7/25 - Sunday 6:30 AM - McKellips Loop. Let's do some wind training and then eat at Neighbors Cafe on Guadalupe & Alma School. Mileage options of 34, 39, or 50 miles, all mostly flat.

7/10-11 Pinetop/Springerville/Eager, AZ - Since 1982, the White Mountain Tour has provided mid-summer delights to cycling enthusiasts. This year's 22nd annual event was certainly no exception.

Noteworthy to this story is the incredible work of each volunteer. Bill Davisson on registration, Bill Sievers and Bob Hendrickson on transport, Mike Litecki on the SAG stop (aided by his wife Barbara), Kathy Mills on T-shirts, our mechanic Jay Stewart and his wife, and, of course, the "roadies" Jack Graham, Buddy Pylant, and Bruce Oberstein. I volunteered to coordinate this effort, but these people made it all possible.

Friday evening, a group of 20 met at Charlie Clark's Steakhouse in Pinetop to mark the unofficial start of the event weekend. Bruce wins gaudy meal of the evening with his HUGE heaping plate-o-beef ribs. This was protein loading at its max!

Saturday was the first of two wonderfully beautiful mornings. Clear, clean, blue skies and absolutely perfect temperatures. All riders were on the road by shortly after 8:00. Bruce and I departed Blue Ridge High as the sweep riders at 9:00.

As we all moved toward the Sunrise Mountain pass, however, rather ominous clouds began to gather to the east, directly in our path. Soon, those clouds got productive. A little rain … ok, a LOT of rain, along with a healthy mixture of hail. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but mountain lightening will fuse me to my metal bike!! YIKES! Mike and Barbara REALLY did a great job helping riders in distress up at the sag. Grim as this could have been, everyone either got a ride down the hill or waited it out and made the descent on their own two wheels. HEY, we climbed the 2500 feet to get up there, by golly we deserve some downhill! The sweeping 6% downgrade through the forest capped off by an 8% plunge certainly wasn't disappointing.

With everyone safely in town, the skies opened up a bit, again. This time, however, we could enjoy the pitter patter through our hotel or tent windows. Its MUCH nicer this way and a lot less likely to develop hypothermia!

That evening, the group gathered, once again, at Round Valley H.S to dine upon chicken, steak, pasta, cobbler, and ice cream. As tradition dictates, several awards were handed out as well as some pretty cool swag capped off by raffling off TWO cruisers. It’s a little tough for me to be objective since I was running the activities, however, I believe a good time was had by all.

A quick plug for our contributing sponsors, Arizona Bicycle Experts (Tucson), Tempe Bicycle (Tempe), Neighbor's Garden Café (Mesa), Bike Emporium (Scottsdale), and GABA Tucson. We GREATLY appreciate the donations and support.

Sunday morning started just as Saturday did. This day, however, the rain held off until all riders had cleared the mountain. This was a perfect … and I mean ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, morning to be cycling. The White Mountains were certainly in all their glory and every single one of us recognized that blessing.

Fear not, if you missed this year's event, or heaven forbid, you've never done this ride, we'll be back next year with the WMT XXIII classic. We'll get it on the calendar as soon as possible and may even have a few surprises, and options, that just might offer some pedaling nirvana for everyone. Plan on making it a part of YOUR summer!

Hi All!

We had 92 riders take on the not so dry heat this morning. Most were "glowing" before we even rolled outa the parking lot! The White Mountain Tour survivors kept us entertained with tales of sleet, hail, rain and Patty's hair (guess you had to be there!) but sounded like all had a grand adventure. We sweated our way round the route and made it to the restaurant in time to be greeted by a photographer from the Republic. Nothing like posing for pics after a summer ride. She asked a number of non-cyclist questions (love those) and was suitably grossed out when she picked up a rider's helmet and it dripped all over her. Ah, summer in Arizona. Love it.

Coming up...

Today! 11:30am to 1:30pm The Vine in Ahwatukee, on Warner southeast of 48th Street. The pack gathers to go Postal! Join us for another stage of the TdF.

Saturday 7/24/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Mummy Mountain, original route. Mileage options 27 miles with a couple of moderate climbs or 40 miles with a bit more climbing. Breakfast is Bruegger's Bagels, northwest corner Mill & 11th. (Was gonna kid and say IHOP... just to see if anybody who was on the 5th of July ride would twitch!)

Saturday 7/31/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Tour de Sue takes us down south, with options on either Queen Creek or Riggs. Mileage 25 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company, southeast corner 56th St & Elliott.

Tid Bits...

We have a bunch of riders headed to Iowa shortly to do RAGBRAI. Bill Jacobson is stepping up as keeper of the knowledge of who is going. He thought it might be nice for everyone to have a list of names and cell phone numbers (optional) to share in case some of you want to get to together during the trip. If you are going to the ride and want to be in the loop, contact Bill. The list of attendees so far is: Bill Jacobson & Sharon Charlton, Paul Nichols & Jane Larson, Lance & Janet James, Tim Kjellberg, Tom Adams, Charlie Davis, Bill Meacham, and Cheryl Judy.

And speaking of Cheryl Judy... today was her last ride with the pack. Work is taking her to Washington DC. You go give 'em heck over there, Cheryl. We'll miss ya!

A name missing from quest to Iowa list is that of Terry Kane. An update on our wounded warrior... Terry is still camped out at the Scottsdale Osborn Hospital (74th St & Osborn in Scottsdale). He was moved out of ICU yesterday into room 601. He can't talk yet, but can scribble pretty good now and is definitely up for visitors.

And last, an update on another rider missing from the pack, Bob Bogle. Bob had a stroke, did a few days in the hospital, and is now recuperating at home. Betty says he will probably be back in the saddle in not too long. Bet she's anxious for that to happen! :-)

Ride safe.

We had 28 riders take on the heat today. We also had 6 new riders join us today, Rich, Tina, Andi, Cheryl, Terry, and Ann - welcome. We did the Milk Run today, and with a little pre-scouting before, avoided all of the major construction. Everyone made it around in one form or another, with only one flat by newbie Tina towards the end of the ride.

A little comment from the peanut gallery, yes that is me. My topic today is going through intersections, especially left hand turns. When you are in front, you are not only responsible for yourself, but everyone behind you. If only a few people can make it before a car is coming turn when it is safe for everyone. We don't earn any sprint bonuses for making the light, so let's keep everyone safe.

Ride Schedule

7/18 - Sunday 6:30 AM - We'll do Tempe Mountains even though the mountains are in Phoenix/Scottsdale. Mileage options of 38 or 45 miles with the longer route having some hills. Breakfast at US Egg on Mill and Baseline.

7/25 - Sunday 6:30 AM - McKellips Loop. Let's do some wind training and then eat at Neighbors Cafe on Guadalupe & Alma School. Mileage options of 34, 39, or 50 miles, all mostly flat.

Hi All!

Even with the draw of the White Mountain Tour we still had 65 riders turn out at the park today. Guess there's a lot of heat lovin' pedalers in our gang. We got about 1/4 of mile away from the park before somebody got the first flat of the day. Since there didn't seem to be a team car trailing us with a replacement bike (a la Tour de France style) we got it changed and got back on the road again. The pack selected various versions of the Lehi Loop (how many different ways can you go around a square route??) and most eventually found their way to the breakfast stop back near the park. USEgg had their patio open so we managed to find seats for all...either with or without air conditioning.

Coming up...

Today! 11:30am to 1:30pm The Vine in Ahwatukee, on Warner southeast of 48th Street. The pack gathers to go Postal! Join us for another stage of the TdF.

Saturday 7/17/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. McKellips Loop, 28 miles or 37 miles, both with one gentle climb. Breakfast is Neighbor's Cafe, northwest corner Alma School & Guadalupe.

Saturday 7/24/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Mummy Mountain, original route. Mileage options 27 miles with a couple of moderate climbs or 40 miles with a bit more climbing. Breakfast is Bruegger's Bagels, northwest corner Mill & 11th. (Was gonna kid and say IHOP... just to see if anybody who was on the 5th of July ride would twitch!)

Tid Bits...

A message from our newsletter publisher, Bob Beane. If you normally receive your monthly club newsletter "Tailwind" by email and have not received it this month, email Bob Beane. Bob advises a lot of people's copies are bouncing back to him and we need to update that email list. While we are on this subject, if you receive your club newsletter by snail mail and would like to save a tree (and save the club the postage), zip Bob a note and ask him to switch you to the electronic version of the newsletter.

This week was a good week for cycling articles in the newspapers. In case you missed it, you can read back copies of the Arizona Republic (azrepublic.com) for a couple of them:

Tuesday 7/6/04 Sports section, front page, article "A Ride Of Inspiration" contains an interview and photo of our very own Robert Detrich.

Saturday 7/10/04 Chandler section, page 6, article "Local Bike Clubs Proud Of Leaving No Riders Behind". Our Sunday Spin Cycle pack is featured, along with our Saturday pack from Sun Lakes. Nice pic of Judy Klas, Ann Chadwick, and Jessica "Fletchling" Fletcher.

Ride safe.

Happy 4th of July everyone, even though I'm writing this a day later. We had 18 riders join us for a trip to downtown Phoenix. You wouldn't believe how empty the city was yesterday morning. Oh well, we had fun anyways. For the most part, everyone stayed to together and enjoyed a nice pace - oh yea, except for that sprint down Southern beating the bus!

After the ride, we were met by a reporter and photographer from the AZ republic. They did an interview for the Chandler Republic, which should be out this Thursday or Friday. Being Tour de France and all, they were looking for some bike clubs in Chandler, and hey, we were the lucky group. After I wrestled Ann and Neal from the reporter, I talked about riding with the group and how much I enjoy meeting each of you during the weekend. A good time to say thanks to everyone for making this a fun hobby. Oh, by the way, for those that are interested to know, Gary's cadence on his computer is working now, he just needed to pedal (you will have to ask him for the story)!

On to some serious business, I have noticed on several occasions during the past couple of weeks people using "no hands" while in a paceline. I have mentioned this to several, but I'm going to be a lot more direct going forward on this. PLEASE, DO NOT DO THIS, for your safety, and for all of us around you. While your bike handling skills may be top notch, you cannot control someone around you or debris in the road. If you feel the need to go "no hands", do so when there is not a "soul" or "sole" around you!

Ride Schedule

7/10 -11th in the cool crisp White Mountains. Cool off in the White Mountains on this classic two-day tour in mountains and pines of eastern Arizona. The tour, hosted by the Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club, will take you from Pinetop to Springerville via Highway 260 on the first day and then back on the next day. Volunteers are still needed to assist with the tour. Anyone who is interested in helping out with the tour is encouraged to contact John Arle. Click here for more details.

7/11 - Sunday 6:30 AM - We'll try the Milk Run or options route. We'll check construction first, but mileage options of 36, 38, 40, or 44 miles, all flat. Breakfast at WildFlower at the Chandler Mall.

7/18 - Sunday 6:30 AM - We'll do Tempe Mountains even though the mountains are in Phoenix/Scottsdale. Mileage options of 38 or 45 miles with the longer route having some hills. Breakfast at US Egg on Mill and Baseline.

7/25 - Sunday 6:30 AM - McKellips Loop. Let's do some wind training and then eat at Neighbors Cafe on Guadalupe & Alma School. Mileage options of 34, 39, or 50 miles, all mostly flat.

Hi All!

The first day of our own little stage ride weekend brought 74 riders to scope out the new Roudabout Route. We checked out the texturizing the city did in the bike lane on McClintock (yuck) then went for a cruise up 48th Street, through the traffic roundabout (now do you get the ride name?), then 40th Street to University. Interesting change of neighborhoods. Our junior rider Brad upheld tradition by getting totally lost off the route but did manage to eventually follow the scent of bagels to the breakfast stop. See? The new generation already has the routine down.

Coming up...

Tour de France!! Today is opening day of the TdF. Every Saturday for the next 4 weekends the club gathers at The Vine on Warner, southeast of 48th Street. Today's broadcast of the Prologue airs from 11:30am to 1:30pm. Come on down and cheer on our Posties.

Monday 7/5/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. A holiday adventure.. the quest to Piestewa Peak. Mapped route options are 38 miles or 48 miles, both with some climbing, but this is also an easy route to shorten. Breakfast is IHOP, southwest corner Apache & College.

Saturday 7/10/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. If you can't go to France... at least you can do the Tour de Lehi. Route options 27 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. (Sorry we'll leave the over category climbs for another week!) Breakfast is USEgg for eats, southwest of Baseline and College.

Saturday 7/17/04 6:30am Kiwanis Park. McKellips Loop, 28 miles or 37 miles, both with one gentle climb. Breakfast is Neighbor's Cafe, northwest corner Alma School & Guadalupe.

Ride safe.