We had 14 riders for Tour de Bunny - better known as Germannalupe. Gary created a new map with a bunny in it, so I couldn't resist. Everyone helped themselves to bunny droppings at the start (what were you thinking, it was Peanut M&M's). I must have upset the little fury fella since he took a bite out of my knee the night before. I was told it was a nice day to ride, and several showed up at breakfast afterwards. We had one new rider, Glenn, I guess we needed a substitute.

Jerseys!! Our window for ordering club jerseys for spring/summer is NOW. If you have not picked up a club jersey, click here for details on ordering. Absolutely no whining will be allowed later if you end up without a jersey because you didn't place an order.

Ride Schedule

4/3 7:00AM - NOTICE TIME CHANGE - Yes, we start a 1/2 hour earlier in April. We'll go to the Towers - Mileage options of 30 mostly flat, 42 with some hills, or 50 with a lot of hills. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company.

4/10 7:00 AM - Tour de Mummy Backwards - Head down our Tour de Scottsdale Route and then do Mummy Mountain backwards. Some hills on the longer route. Breakfast at US Egg. Mileage options of 37 or 50 miles.

4/17 7:00 AM - Ohcotukee Loop - Around Ocotillo and then to Awahutukee for some hills. Several mileage options, with the shorter routes being flat, 35 or 45 miles. Breakfast at Bruegger Bagels on Chandler & Rural.

4/24 7:00 AM - Tempe Mountains - Down to Mesa and then back to Tempe, but hills are in Phoenix. Mileage options of 38 or 45 miles, hills on the longer route. Breakfast at US Egg.

Hi All!

Isn't March supposed to come in like a lion and out like a lamb? Apparently our weather doesn't know this. Our pack of 71 riders was escorted out bound today on the wings of a tail wind, which of course, gave way to the teeth of a head wind for the workout back in. The wise ones in the group knew the price to be paid for the cruise out, and opted for the shorter route. All more than earned their free breakfast waiting for them back at the park. We missed the presence of our Sun Lakes division, but maybe they decided the free eats weren't worth the ride into the wind they would have taken to get there. (Nah... that can't be it... what cyclists would turn down free food?)

Coming up...

Saturday 4/2/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. NOTE THE TIME CHANGE!! Tour de Lehi, with route options of 27 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at IHOP, southwest corner of College & Apache.

Saturday 4/9/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. McKellips Loop with mileage options 28 miles or 37 miles, one gentle climb on each. Breakfast at Neighbor's, northwest corner Guadalupe & Alma School.

Saturday 4/16/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. St. Francis Loop. Mileage options of 26 miles or 36 miles, 3 moderate climbs on both. Breakfast at Bruegger's Bagels, northwest corner Mill & 11th.

Tid Bits...

For those that have free time during the week, the Ironman Arizona event approacheth, and they are in need of a few volunteers. They need help running registration on Wed 4/6 and Thurs 4/7, 8:30am to 4:30pm. You can sign up for a full day or half day. All worker bees receive a free T-shirt and full day workers a free lunch! (Hey... Free Food!!) Sign up via the Volunteer link at www.ironmanarizona.com

Jerseys!! Our window for ordering club jerseys for spring/summer is NOW. If you have not picked up a club jersey, go to the website for details on ordering. Absolutely no whining will be allowed later if you end up without a jersey because you didn't place an order.

Ride safe.

We had 29 riders today take off for Mesa. Several new riders today, Wiley, Wen, Amy, and Peter, welcome everyone. The rain stayed away, that lycra rain dance is working, but I guess I need to retire so the lycra rain dance doesn't become translucent! A couple of flats today, Marty, Mike Klein, and Gary. Nancy was happy to do some hills, and after I asked if she wanted more, she couldn't wait to oblige (she just thought I was kidding!).

Matt and Gary worked it out on the hill sprints today, but I was too busy trying to see through the spots in my eyes from lack of oxygen to notice who won. Breakfast was the usual entertainment, most unfit to print (actually, pretty calm today). We even saw a bike statue in Mesa, and guess what, it was a quiet statue!

Lastly, a reminder of our Quarterly club breakfast ride/meeting: 3/26/05 7:30am Kiwanis Park. FREE FOOD! Time for our quarterly club breakfast ride/meetings. Breakfast back at Kiwanis Park after this ride is free to all PMBC/GABA members. Ride route will be Tour de Sue, with route options of 25 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. If you are joining us only for the breakfast/meeting, aim to arrive at the park at 9:30am. If you have not joined the club ($15 annual dues), do so by picking up an application any Saturday morning or or get one here.

Ride Schedule

3/27 7:30 AM - CHANGE OF ROUTE - Since Sunday will be Easter, we'll do a shorter route in Germanalupe. Mileage options of 33 or 42 miles, breakfast at Wildflower at the Chandler Mall.

4/3 7:00AM - NOTICE TIME CHANGE - Yes, we start a 1/2 hour earlier in April. We'll go to the Towers - Mileage options of 30 mostly flat, 42 with some hills, or 50 with a lot of hills. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company.

Hi All!

We had 48 riders ignore the overcast skies and appear for our romp to the Foothills. Ken St. John graciously offered to teach a flat tire clinic in the parking lot just before we left, but the pack expressed their enthusiasm for this by riding out and leaving him alone to his chore (OK... not alone, kept company by the ever faithful and stunning Janet). The new route map was upheld with tradition, with at least a dozen different versions of the route being selected after we made our way to Ahwatukee. Actually, this is a grand way to do the Foothills, all we ask is that on the return all riders access Liberty Lane eastbound instead of coming back in on the Pecos "speedway". It felt like old home week at breakfast with Bill & Sharon Jacobson in the crowd, and then with Henry & Brenda Hogue appearing. We wish Paul Nixon the best as he relocates to outside of San Francisco for work... he's already been recruited for a bike club there!

Coming up...

Saturday 3/26/05 7:30am Kiwanis Park. FREE FOOD! Time for our quarterly club breakfast ride/meetings. Breakfast back at Kiwanis Park after this ride is free to all PMBC/GABA members. Ride route will be Tour de Sue, with route options of 25 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. If you are joining us only for the breakfast/meeting, aim to arrive at the park at 9:30am. If you have not joined the club ($15 annual dues), do so by picking up an application any Saturday morning or or get one here.

Saturday 4/2/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. NOTE THE TIME CHANGE!! Tour de Lehi, with route options of 27 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at IHOP, southwest corner of College & Apache.

Saturday 4/9/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. McKellips Loop with mileage options 28 miles or 37 miles, one gentle climb on each. Breakfast at Neighbor's, northwest corner Guadalupe & Alma School.

Tid Bits...

When you appear to ride with our Saturday or Sunday pack rides, you are asked to sign in for the ride. It's important for the club and important for you as individual that you do this each time you come out with us. If you are member of PMBC/GABA, signing in is qualifying you for the insurance (liability and medical) coverage that is one of your club benefits on all of our rides. If you don't sign in, you are not "officially" a part of the ride we are hosting and as such would probably not be covered under the insurance. That and the fact that we take the head count from the sign-in sheets and it looks really cool to show that we had a whole lotta riders out on any given day. :-)

Thanks so much to those that offered to fill the position of post ride foot massager for your rider leader. That slot is now filled for several months. The need for a ride leader for SatCycling on Saturday 4/2/05 still stands open, though. We need a club member who is not riding in or working at Tour De Phoenix (or any of the other bike related events going on that date!) to step up to lead the home pack.

Ride safe.

We had 21 riders take in the sights and sounds of Lehi today. What a great day for a ride, and more importantly, no rain. My rain dance finally worked, or the rain gods where tired of me dancing in lycra, but I digress...We had a very casual ride today, with a good portion of the pack nursing their legs after the mining country challenge or those that stayed in town and did South Mountain. No one was dropped, and no one complained. Ok, 1 out of 2 isn't bad. I'm just kidding it was a great casual ride, but Nancy does get the quote of the day while passing me no less. "We need to go a little faster, I have something to do today at 2:00." This was followed shortly by, can't you guys in the front pick it up a little (at least that is how I remember it).

The second quote of the day goes to Mr. Nancy (it's all about you today), after TheIceCreamMan said out loud, I'm pretty slow today. Mr. Nancy didn't miss a beat in saying, you are right, you're shadow came by 5 minutes ago. Tom shredded the pack early up the first hill sprint on Extension from the back of the pack. Gary took the other sprints, but I wasn't too impressed with the last sprint, I didn't even work up a sweat on the last one since I only drafted behind him at 36. Geez, you would think he could pull me a little faster next time.

We also had 3 new riders join us, Carole and Ed from Pennsylvania and Brad from AZ, glad you could join us, hope to see you again.

A plea to the group: (stolen shamelessly from Sue our ride leader on Saturday)

Lastly, a reminder of our Quarterly club breakfast ride/meeting: 3/26/05 7:30am Kiwanis Park. FREE FOOD! Time for our quarterly club breakfast ride/meetings. Breakfast back at Kiwanis Park after this ride is free to all PMBC/GABA members. Ride route will be Tour de Sue, with route options of 25 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. If you are joining us only for the breakfast/meeting, aim to arrive at the park at 9:30am. If you have not joined the club ($15 annual dues), do so by picking up an application any Saturday morning or or get one here.

Ride Schedule

3/20 7:30 AM - Tour de Mesa - Mileage options of 35 or 45 miles, and a slight hill on the longer route. Breakfast at Einstein's on McClintock & Guadalupe.

3/27 7:30 AM - To the Towers - Mileage options of 30 mostly flat, 42 with some hills, or 50 with a lot of hills. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company.

Hi All!

We had 42 riders go on a search for wild flowers this morning. We cut our way through the sweet smell of the orange blossoms along the High Line canal path, and then the group spread out for various versions of South Mountain Park. A group of volunteers just spiffed up the park last weekend... and they did a really great job of picking up trash and what not. A few coyotes voiced their opinion of us intruding in their world, and we did indeed see LOTS of flowers! Just gorgeous. Breakfast at 5&Diner was the traditional adventure there, but nobody seemed to mind hanging out on the patio. Conversations ranged from the potential protein content of bugs swallowed on the morning's ride to helping Ann plan her strategy for her quest for gold at the national senior olympics this summer in the mountains of Pittsburgh. (No, there are no mountains in Pittsburgh, but just try convincing Ann of that!)

Coming up...

Saturday 3/19/05 7:30am Kiwanis Park. We debut for the Saturday pack our new AhwaFooty route to the Ahwatukee Foothills. Route options 25 miles with one brief climb or 35 miles with moderate climbing. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company, southeast corner Elliot & 56th St.

Saturday 3/26/05 7:30am Kiwanis Park. FREE FOOD! Time for our quarterly club breakfast ride/meetings. Breakfast back at Kiwanis Park after this ride is free to all PMBC/GABA members. Ride route will be Tour de Sue, with route options of 25 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. If you are joining us only for the breakfast/meeting, aim to arrive at the park at 9:30am. If you have not joined the club ($15 annual dues), do so by picking up an application any Saturday morning or or get one here.

Saturday 4/2/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. NOTE THE TIME CHANGE!! Tour de Lehi, with route options of 27 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at IHOP, southwest corner of College & Apache.

Tid Bits...

In case you haven't noticed, PMBC/GABA is a volunteer driven association. We have no paid employees. The people who organize our rides and work them, do so because they enjoy doing so... but we have been seeing those same faces appearing to help for some time now. The route maps you stuff in your pocket each week, the orange slices you consume at event rides, our website... these type of things don't appear by magic. They are the result of someone giving some of their time and energy to benefit the group as a whole. We have some where in range of 300 members in the club. If each member stepped up just once a year to help... can you imagine what we could accomplish?

We have need of some warm bodies:

Volunteers are needed to help staff a rest stop at the Tour de Cure ride on Saturday 3/19. Contact prez Kathy Mills.

Volunteers are needed to help staff a rest stop at the Tour de Phoenix on Saturday 4/2. Contact prez Kathy Mills.

A volunteer (or two) who are not riding in or working at the Tour de Phoenx are needed to step up to lead the home pack for Saturday Cycling from Kiwanis Park on Saturday 4/2. Contact Sue Fassett.

A volunteer is needed to give your ride leader a foot massage each week. (Just kidding... checking to see if you were still reading!)

Ride safe.

Bob Prochaska has been leading the Pinnacle Peak Pedalers for 10 plus years. I think he should be commended for the commitment has met each week for a sometimes thankless job.

With this in mind. Bob has asked that I begin leading the ride starting in May. As is normally the case when changing leadership, we will be altering format somewhat as follows:

• Schedules will continue to be published on a monthly basis via the GAGA and ABC websites as well as the newsletters.
• Ride days will be changed as they will be held on Wednesdays and/or Sundays.
• Rides will start as early as possible in the summer months with the objective being to be completed by 10 am.
• Refueling (Breakfast/snacks) will occur close to the end of the ride of 35-50 miles during the summer months.
• The rides of the cooler months will start later, possibly as late as 9am, and will be 50 or more miles in length. This will allow for warmer starts and hopefully the avoidance of rush hour traffic.
• The geographic area of focus will shift more the Northeast Valley ,however; this will rule out rides in other parts of the Valley.
• I plan to schedule some day rides out of town such as Yarnell hill etc.
• I also plan to schedule occasional two day rides in the four state area of Az., New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.

Other ride characteristics:

• Average speed will be approximately 15 mph. 10-20 mph riding speed based on terrain.
• Chances of a ride without at least one climb will be unlikely.
• Stops for breakfast/snacks will be predicated on weather, time of year, and ride distance.
• This will not be a pace line group. The objective will be exercise and conversation.

Questions or comments should be directed to me, Vern Hines, at (480) 204-1419.

Hi All!

The down pour during the night didn't discourage the 38 riders who turned out for the start of the ride this morning. All opted to take the long route, which was gorgeous. Every where you looked, green and that just rained glistening clean look. The smell of the wet mesquite with an under note of the orange blossoms just coming on told even the out of state visitors that they were definitely in Arizona. We managed to scoot around the course with just a few drops catching us, except for those who lingered a bit too long over their coffees... and were repayed with getting drenched on the way back to the park.

Coming up...

Saturday 3/12/05 7:30am Kiwanis Park. If you are not headed to the Mining Country Challenge, come with us to check out the flowers at South Mountain, route options of 28 miles with gentle climbing, 42 miles with moderate climbing, or 44 miles with lotsa climbing. Breakfast at 5&Diner, on Priest northwest of Baseline.

Saturday 3/19/05 7:30am Kiwanis Park. The few riders who came out with us on President's Day helped with the revamping of the Ahwatukee route. We debut for the Saturday pack our new AhwaFooty route to the Ahwatukee Foothills. Route options 25 miles with one brief climb or 35 miles with moderate climbing. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company, southeast corner Elliot & 56th St.

Saturday 3/26/05 7:30am Kiwanis Park. FREE FOOD! Yes, for those riders who only appear with us for the quarterly club breakfast ride/meetings, your moment has arrived. Breakfast back at Kiwanis Park after this ride is free to all PMBC/GABA members. Ride route will be Tour de Sue, with route options of 25 miles or 35 miles, no climbing. If you are joining us only for the breakfast/meeting, aim to arrive at the park at 9:30am. If you have not joined the club ($15 annual dues), do so by picking up an application any Saturday morning or get one here.

Tid Bits...

A question came up recently from one of the new riders. The answer seemed obvious to the long time riders, but it reminded us that new riders don't learn by osmosis, we have to occasionally talk about some of the basics for the benefit of those that are new to our sport. (Or sometimes for the benefit of those that have been riding for a long time but are still "newbies" at heart!) The questions was "What is the best thing to wear under your bike shorts?". The answer is... your skin. There should be nothing but a few air molecules between you and your short's chamois. Huge amounts of research and study went into the design of those skin hugging shorts we slide ourselves into. They were created so there would be no seams to chafe or pressure points for your tender areas. If you wear anything under them... like briefs, thong undies, boxers (which gives the concept of "panty lines" a whole new meaning!)... you have just wasted your hard earned cash on the shorts. If you are modest and don't like the everything on view look of cycling shorts, wear something OVER the shorts... like loose fitting running or basketball shorts, or tights in the winter. Please, be kind to your behind.

Ride safe.