Hi All!

The perfect riding weather tempted 67 riders out to join us this morning. Thanks to Gary Wachsmuth our new route to AhwaFooty is now on a cool high techie map... which apparently some riders carefully wadded up and stuck in their jersey pocket before following their own version of our romp in the Foothills. Hey, the maps are just a "suggested" route, right? Most eventually found their way back out of the hills, with almost the entire group descending on Atlanta Bread for post ride carb and caffeine consumption. Just what was Nancy Kirk drinking that had her laughing like that?? Steve Fahrner apparently has that affect on women sometimes.

Coming up...

Saturday 5/7/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. The McKellips Loop with mileage options 31 miles or 38 miles, one gentle climb. Breakfast at Neighbor's Cafe, northwest corner Guadalupe and Alma School.

Saturday 5/14/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. Mummy Mountain, original route. Mileage options 27 miles with a couple of climbs or 40 miles with a couple of additional climbs. Breakfast at Bruegger's Bagels, northwest of Mill & 11th.

Saturday 5/21/05.... Payson!! The pack heads north. In answer to a newbie's question, no, we are not riding from the valley to Payson... though that would be nice jaunt for our advanced pack to do sometime! No, the Tour de Payson is just that, a tour loop ride around Payson. Registration opens at 8:00am, the ride departs at 8:30am. Lunch is included in the ride fee. For details click here. We do have riders asking about car pooling for the adventure. If you have room for riders or bikes, or have need of a ride for yourself and your bike, zip a note to Sue Fassett.

Saturday 5/21/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. If you just can't make the sweet pines and cool air in Payson, appear at Kiwanis instead for the St. Francis Loop. Mileage options 25 miles or 36 miles, both with three moderate climbs. Breakfast Bruegger's Bagels, northwest corner Mill & 11th.

Tid Bits...

After Payson, our next road trip adventure coming up is the White Mountain Tour in July. Ride Leader Jay Stewart sends the following:

"This year's White Mountain Tour is being held July 9th and 10th. We hope to return to the old loop that was used prior to the construction on the northern half of the tour loop. We still need volunteers, both experienced on this ride as well as anyone else who would like to help out. We very seldom have too many volunteers. Contact Jay Stewart or afternoons and evenings at 480-250-1613."

In the "done us proud" column, Neal Thomas and Larry Lyons hung with the big dogs in last week's Tour of the Tucson Mountains. They placed 42nd and 43rd, with a finish time of 2:45... only 3 minutes after the first finisher. Well done, boys.

This morning we talked about the "penalty" for riding through a red traffic light during one of our pack rides. The threat of having to buy your ride leader's breakfast is actually the minimum price for this misdeed. A more stinging penalty is a traffic ticket. A bit steeper cost would be your family buying your ride leader breakfast out of the vending machine in the hospital ER waiting room. The maximum penalty is death by car. When you ride your bike, stop for red traffic lights, wait for them to turn green, then roll on. If stopping results in you getting "dropped" by the pack, either use the opportunity to work on your sprinting to try and catch them again... or chat up some of the riders you never meet in the pack cuz they ride more moderately than you. Live to ride another day.

Ride safe.

Ride report is from Sue - thanks Sue and Carter for helping out...

We had 20 riders ignore the fact that it stormed during the night and turn out for our romp this morning. The weather was perfect, except for a gusting wind that changed directions about every 15 minutes during the course of the ride. Randy found out just where he ranks in the pecking order when he had a flat and the entire pack rolled on by, leaving him fornlorn by the side of the road. When the group reached the climbs, Ann graciously decided to give others a chance at the King of the Hill and held herself in check, giving Matt the opportunity to take the first two climbs, with Skater snatching the last one. Ron Stevens sacrificed his own intense training schedule by skipping two of the climbs in order to accompany the hard working ride leaderess direct to the breakfast stop so we could reserve a spot on the patio for the group. Our Zen pancake fest under the trees was disturbed by Neal calling in from the finish of the Tour de Tucson Mountains on Dr. Klein's phone... talking so loudly that the entire table could hear the ride results without Mike repeating the comments for us. Actually, congrats to Neal and Larry are in order for doing us proud in that event. (And Larry should get some kind of special award just for spending that many hours in Neal's company!)

Ride Schedule

5/1 7:00 AM - Halfway around the mountain - half way around south Mountain and back. Mileage options of 45 or 20 or anything in between. Breakfast at Brueggers Bagels.

5/8 7:00 AM - Tour de Love Birds - check out the love birds in Mesa. Mileage options of 50 or 35 if you cut it short. Breakfast at Einstein Bagels - Guadalupe & McClintock.

5/15 7:00 AM - Tour de Scottsdale - All flat miles heading out to Scottsdale. Mileage options of 44 or 40 miles. Breakfast at Wildflower - Guadalupe & McClintock.

5/22 - 7:00 AM Germannalupe Loop - All flat miles of either 33 or 39 miles. Breakfast at Wildflower at Chandler Mall.

5/29 - 7:00 AM To the towers before it gets too hot. Mileage options of 42 or 50 miles with a little to a lot of hills depending on miles. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company.

In addition - Our club is once again sponsoring the Tour De Payson Route on Saturday 5/21. Go to the website NOW and register. Gorgeous romp around the Payson area, beautiful weather, clean cool air, and a great lunch after. Pre-registering gets you a break on the cost and gives your hard working volunteers the head count they need to host an over the top event like this.

Hi All!

Our 58 riders this morning were greeted by a Jacarunda tree in early purple bloom in the parking lot, and then as we headed out a number of Palo Verde trees were seen already laden down with their beautiful yellow flowers. Either the trees are confused, or we are in for a very early summer. Those that hadn't ramped up their speed yet as we rolled south through the Research Park caught an up close and personal view of a couple of contented looking coyotes. Guess the rain that brought on a plethora of rodents and rabbits has the coyotes happy! The short route riders caught a quick look at the beach volleyball competition at Tempe Beach and then headed on to try and reach the breakfast stop before the rest of the pack chased them down.

Coming up...

Saturday 4/30/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. Ahwafooty. Just when we were getting used to our new route, the city has added a bit of "interest" by installing a rather confusing stop sign set up at Pecos & Desert Foothills. We'll go check it out, with route options of 25 miles with no climbing or 35 miles with moderate climbing. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company, southeast of Elliot & 56th Street.

Saturday 5/7/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. The McKellips Loop. Rumor has that the McKellips river crossing has been re-opened, so we'll see if the river running over it for a few months filled in any of the potholes. Mileage options 31 miles or 38 miles. Breakfast at Neighbor's Cafe, northwest corner Guadalupe and Alma School.

Saturday 5/14/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. Mummy Mountain, original route. Mileage options 27 miles with a couple of climbs or 40 miles with a couple of additional climbs. Breakfast Bruegger's Bagels, northwest of Mill & 11th.

Tid Bits...

Earlier this year our crew for the Mining Country ride were challenged by their event. Not by the ride itself, but by trying to plan a ride in which the majority of the riders who appeared to participate did not preregister. Waiting to register for a ride until the day of an event may work good for your schedule, but it plays havoc with our worker bees who put together food supplies and what not. Your chance to make good is upon you. Go to the website NOW and register for the Tour De Payson. The ride is on Saturday May 21st and you don't want to miss this one. Gorgeous romp around the Payson area, beautiful weather, clean cool air, and a great lunch after. Pre-registering gets you a break on the cost and gives your hard working volunteers the head count they need to host an over the top event like this.

Beware of lips. This is not dating advice (but if it applies, take your advice where ever you can find it!). "Lips" are the variances in surface heights between roads and driveways or gutter pans. When you ride those skinny road bike tires, lips are your enemy and you must be on guard and wary when dealing with them. When turning right off a road surface into a driveway, be sure to glance at the lip. Is it sharp and high as opposed to low and rounded? If so, if you hit that entry at a shallow angle, your front wheel is going to track along that lip... while your body's momentum is already leaning into the turn, taking you right off the bike for a tumble. When crossing a lip, change the angle of your approach so your front wheel impacts it at close to a right angle for safe passage.

Ride safe.

Below is the ride report from Randy with some extra added in. Thanks Randy and Gene for being ride leader...

Overall the ride was like a well oiled machine at least for the first half. King of the overpass - Matt and QUEEN of the hill - Stacy. Larry had a flat and another minor mishap trying to mate his front spoke with a rear derailleur - not a compatible couple. I had a flat while helping the flathead of the day (Ironman Walt). Before getting back on the bike Walt ended up with four bad tubes - better this week than last. The main group got a jump on most because the co-leader, Gene, turned at 17th!!! So on this ride one leader gets lost by the group and the other shortcuts the group. Oh, I forgot that we had one missing cyclist, later found waiting at Bruegger's.

Ride Schedule

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!

Even with competition from the Lion's Ride For Sight, the Bike Swap Meet, the GABA Bisbee ride, and the Tillman run/walk... we still drew in 62 riders today. Must be our gorgeous spring weather tempting them all outa bed in the morning! Our romp around town and over hill and dale gave us some great views and made for a beautiful ride this morning. Swinging back down into Tempe we encountered the Tillman walkers (now that was a big pack!) doing their thing over the lake bridge. We fortunately beat most of them to the bagel stop afterwards!

Coming up...

Saturday 4/23/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. The Research To Oak route takes us thru south Tempe, then loops north and eventually east. Mileage options 31 miles with no climbing or 38 miles with a couple of moderate climbs. Breakfast at Einstein's Bagels, northwest corner Guadalupe and McClintock.

Saturday 4/30/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. Ahwafooty. Our new route through the Ahwatukee/Foothills area offers route options of 25 miles with no climbing or 35 miles with moderate climbing. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company, southeast of Elliot & 56th Street.

Saturday 5/7/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. We'll give the McKellips Loop another try, now that the Ironmaners are done with it. Rumor has that the McKellips river crossing has been re-opened, so we'll see if the river running over it for a few months filled in any of the potholes. Mileage options 31 miles or 38 miles. Breakfast at Neighbor's Cafe, northwest corner Guadalupe and Alma School.

Tid Bits...

For a lot of our riders, riding their bikes is a weekend pass time. A few, though, have discovered the wonders of a cycling based lifestyle. This coming week is Bike to Work/School/Where-ever Week. If you don't normally use your bike for transportation, give it a try. Commuting by bike is an easy way to get in your daily exercise, save money on gas and is a great de-stressing activity to add to you day. To add encouragement, in Tempe we are even being offered FREE FOOD and FREE T-SHIRTS for being on our bikes on Wednesday morning. Wed 4/20 from 6am to 8am, appear at any of the following locations:
Whole Foods, northwest of Rural & Baseline.
Wildflower, southwest of McClintock & Guadalupe.
Berning's Jewelry, 1721 E. Warner
Bruegger's Bagels, northwest of Mill & 11th

And join our new mayor, Mayor Hugh Hallman, for the Tempe Community Bike Ride. This is a short (4 miles?) ride departing from Whole Foods (NW of Rural & Baseline) at 7:00am that day. The ride will head north to Bruegger's at Mill & 11th. FREE FOOD on both ends!

Do you know where your front wheel is? This is not a training tip, but instead a literal question. For one of our riders this morning, someone who drove to the start and parked on the south side of the parking lot, the answer to that question is "Heck if I know!". Following today's ride, someone left a Mavic front wheel in the parking lot. If you would like to claim it, please contact Sue Fassett for discussion of ransom terms.

Ride safe.

We had 24 riders today take off for the Scottsdale and reverse mummy route. Now affectionately known as Tour de Scummy (I didn't name it). There were 3 flats along the route, looks like Mike and Marty are trying to take Flat Head of the Year honors from me. Speaking of Mike, Nancy and him are heading to Texas for a week of tandem riding. There were comments of Nancy's preparation for the event. While I won't discuss them here, I have another theory. I believe Nancy has been training all along, just her training was the shopping kind...Hope you have a good time.

Ride Schedule

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!

The draw of the Desert Classics ride and the Ironman event reduced our crew to 42 riders this morning. The last minute change of route got us away from the chaos of the triathalon... and right into the heart of the traffic being detoured due to the closure of I-10. OK... so we got to see how the traffic circle south of the Pointe works with heavy traffic mixed with bikes! (It worked pretty well, all things considered.) South Mountain park was absolutely beautiful and the unusual wind pattern this morning made for a great romp either to the Towers or out to San Juan. The roll back east was a hoot due to the wind being primarily behind us. We finished our route with a heart rate cranking mile or so thru the grid lock just east of I-10... but it was worth the trip for the welcoming atmosphere at the breakfast stop.

Coming up...

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.

Saturday 4/23/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. In attempt to dodge the southeast, we'll bring back an old route, just to give everybody a chance to get lost again. The Research To Oak route takes us thru south Tempe, then loops north and eventually east. Mileage options 31 miles with no climbing or 38 miles with a couple of moderate climbs. Breakfast at Einstein's Bagels, northwest corner Guadalupe and McClintock.

Saturday 4/30/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. Ahwafooty. Our new route through the Ahwatukee/Foothills area offers route options of 25 miles with no climbing or 35 miles with moderate climbing. Breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company, southeast of Elliot & 56th Street.

Tid Bits...

Twice a year we offer an order period for our cool looking club jerseys. Every time we do, just a few people submit their order. Then when the order arrives, everybody that DID NOT place their order wants to buy one. The idea is to order one if you want to have one. Grasshoppers, the time is now. Our jersey order window closes this Friday April 15th. If you have not mailed in your order, go now to the website and do it today!

The Ironman event drew some spectators, but if you want a spectator friendly cycling event, you have to go watch a crit race. The State Championship Crit will be held tomorrow, Sunday April 10th. See details at: http://www.teamoneracing.com/Pages/Crit.html. These races will be held in downtown Scottsdale and will have expo's, bbq, kids races, etc. Should be a gorgeous day to go check it out.

Road cycling, when you are not climbing or sprinting, is primarily a lower body project. Any extra movement of your upper torso, shoulders rocking, head bobbing... is wasted energy. (Of course, if you are in this for the calorie burn and not the speed... then you just keep right on rockin' and rollin'.) When we ride west bound early in the morning, you are handed an excellent training tool. Your shadow! Next time you have the sun behind you, check out your shadow-self. Are you bobbing your torso up and down? Do your head and/or shoulders move side to side as you roll along? Be still. Doing so will smooth out your line and your stroke. And it also looks way cooler. :-)

Ride safe.

We had 117 riders today, wow, what a crowd. You couldn't believe all of the cyclists. Of course, I was completely unprepared for this large of a group, but we managed. You should have seen that many riders going up South Mountain today, and breakfast, Atlanta Bread Company did a great job getting the 72 plus who opted to stop some food. Soo many stories to tell, but alas, I don't want to Fool you no longer (a bad April Fools, but it got your attention, right!).

Ok, we had 17 riders today, and I was still unprepared, so it wasn't that much of a stretch. A pretty calm day and almost everyone made it to the top. Mike Kirk managed to fit his petite feet into Nancy's cycling shoes before going to the top. Breakfast was entertaining as usual. We also had several riders take part in the Tour de Phoenix yesterday, so congratulations on everyone who did it.

A word from your ride leader: I would like to start stressing that we use the bike lanes more than we have lately. Today was a good example, baseline has been repaved with a nice wide bike lane. On our way back, the entire pack was not riding in it and we were going single file! I know we are entitled to the road just like everyone else, but we also need to use the lane that is provided to us. If a car was driving in the bike lane, we wouldn't like that either. Let's do our part and use the lanes when they are available - thanks....

Ride Schedule

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!

The draw of both the Tour de Phoenix and the Ride To The Ruins being held on the same day reduced our pack to 26 bold adventurers this morning. We rolled out into a beautiful still morning, which gave way to a bit of a breeze... due entirely to Randy commenting that the winds of the last couple of days seemed to have dropped off. Our line grew as we rolled along, picking up various riders who missed our new earlier start time. Lehi was peaceful as always, and the romp back across Rio Salado was enhanced by a sweet tail wind. That romp was cut short by the discovery of signs just west of Priest tellings us "thar be dragons"... actually the signs told us the road was closed to traffic. A few minutes later, after nearly being scoped up by a giant shovel and almost squashed under the treads of a road grader, we flipped around and took on the wind instead. Most eventually found their way to IHOP, where we all experienced the service that location has become famous for.

Coming up...

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.

Saturday 4/23/05 7:00am Kiwanis Park. In attempt to dodge the southeast, we'll bring back an old route, just to give everybody a chance to get lost again. The Research To Oak route takes us thru south Tempe, then loops north and eventually east. Mileage options 31 miles with no climbing or 38 miles with a couple of moderate climbs. Breakfast at Einstein's Bagels, northwest corner Guadalupe and McClintock.

Tid Bits...

"Watch your line." We have chatted about this comment in the past, but it bears repeating for the newer riders coming into the pack. (Or for the long time riders that are a bit slow on the learning curve!) What is "your line"? It is the path you are following forward... the trajectory of your forward motion. When you ride solo, if you want, you can ride all over the dang bike lane if you so choose, noodling back and forth as you go along. It looks a bit goofy to the world, but no harm done. When you pack ride, it's important to ride in a smooth consistent line going forward, keeping your side to side movements as minimal as possible. When you corner, note your distance from the curb as you enter the turn, your placement in the pack in relation to other riders, and hold to that as you round the corner. If you swing wide as you turn, or cut the corner closer in as you swing thru... you are going to cross paths with others in the pack that are "swimming with the school". Riding safely within a group of other riders is a skill to develop, and a joy to behold when the pack is in the groove rolling along.

Ride safe.