We had 22 riders head up to the towers today. What a nice day, much better than last week's wind feast. As Pooh would have said, it was a blustery day! All made it up the hill, some of us slower than others, and then bee lined it to breakfast. There, the entertainment started, and was even joined by a few who attended the Tempe Bike Festival even though they didn't deserve to eat since they didn't ride (ok, riding 11 miles at 8mph doesn't count). Let's just say nothing was left out of the conversation.

Starting next week, our rides start at 7:30 for the month of November.

Ride Schedule

11/4 - 7:30 AM - Note new start time. We'll do Tour de Queen Creek by popular demand. Mileage options of 25, 35, 40, 45, or 50 miles, all flat. Breakfast at Wildflower at the Chandler Mall.

11/11 - 7:30 AM - Sacaton - Another by request. Mileage options of 37, 52, 58, 60 or for those that want even more, I can get them 70 miles. Longer routes have one climb. Breakfast at Wildflower - Chandler Mall.

11/18 - 7:30 AM - Day after Tour de Tucson - We'll make it easy and do Tour de Lehi - Mileage options of 35 or 40 miles, breakfast at Valle Luna on Ray & Dobson.

11/25 - 7:30 AM - Turkey day weekend - Tour de Lindsay - Mileage options of 40 or 50 miles. Breakfast at Bogies Club house at Ken McDonald Golf Course - Guadalupe & Rural.

Hi All!

We had 80 riders slip into the park just after sunrise for our figure eight romp up thru town. The short routers did themselves proud, making it about two thirds of the way round the course before being over taken by the express train. Getting to the breakfast stop involved a couple of detours, with the Tempe Beach area being assembled for a triathalon event tomorrow. Our new eats stop drew mixed reviews, ranging from "Great eggs!" to "Uh, what is this I'm eating?". We'll continue our quest for a fuel stop on the north side of the park, so if anybody has any bright ideas, pass them along.

Coming up...

Saturday 11/3/07 7:30am Kiwanis Park. Note the time change! We head south on the Tour de Sue, in reverse. Route options on either Queen Creek or Riggs Road. Mileage either 25 or 35 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner Guadalupe and McClintock.

Saturday 11/10/07 7:30am Kiwanis Park. AhwaFooty takes us into the foothills of Ahwatukee, with route options of 24 miles with one gentle climb or 35 miles with moderate climbing. Breakfast stop for this adventure is still in the works, stay tuned.

Saturday 11/17/07 7:30am Kiwanis Park. If you are just saying no to joining 10,000 cyclists in Tucson on this date, the home team is headed out on the pack's favorite route, Mummy Mountain. Route options of 27 miles with moderate climbing or 40 miles with some bonus climbs. Breakfast stop still being sorted out.

Tid bits

Do you have friends that drive their cars to a gym so they can participate in a spin class? As real world cyclists, that concept makes us laugh, but it isn't much different from the idea of driving your car a few miles to Kiwanis Park so you can go for a bike ride with us. Our start time shifts later next week, so there will be daylight for you to pedal to the start. The mid-day heat of the summer is gone, so you don't have to be concerned with heat stroke for the post ride pedal back afterwards. If you live within a few miles of the park, leave the polluter at home (that's your car, not your burrito fueled significant other) and use your miles to the park as warm up and cruise home as cool down. Tread lightly on the earth.

Ride safe

Hi All!

This past Saturday's ride leader, Ron Waller, sends the following ride report:

"What a glorious morning to ride! One would never know it was the 78th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz. Appropriate since the ride leader forgot his shoes. We had 69 riders join us for our struggle around our own yellow brick road. No wind; no flats and no problems with lots of bright fresh sunshine (once we got the shoe thing straightened out)."

Hmm... don't remember there being a BusMan in the Oz story, musta been in later chapters.

Coming up...

Saturday 10/27/07 7:00am Kiwanis Park. The St. Francis Loop, a figure eight route up through town, with route options of 26 miles or 36 miles, both with moderate climbing. Breakfast stop is Essence, southeast corner of Hardy and University.

Saturday 11/3/07 7:30am Kiwanis Park. Note the time change! We continue our roll into cooler days, with the Tour de Sue, in reverse. A route to the south, with options on either Queen Creek or Riggs Road. Mileage either 25 or 35 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner Guadalupe and McClintock.

Saturday 11/10/07 7:30am Kiwanis Park. We'll go see if the leaves are changing yet on the cacti in Ahwatukee with the AhwaFooty route. Options of 24 miles with one gentle climb or 35 miles with moderate climbing. Breakfast stop for this adventure is still in the works, stay tuned.

Tid bits

At a recent event ride, some of the zippier riders expressed astonishment at how gently some of the more moderate riders approached the adventure. No rest stops left unvisited, no ramping up of the heart rate, just your basic dawdling along the course. On the flip side of that, the rear guard often seems stunned by the way in which the faster paced riders enjoy their miles, pushing themselves to the ragged edge physically, seeking competition, going for the rush a hard ride brings on. Aren't we a wonderfully eclectic group? The smart people in the crowd keep a cleat in each crowd, sometimes running amuck in the front and sometimes taking in the sights trailing the herd. Variety is the spice of life. If we could only echo that diversity and acceptance out into the world, into life in general, what a wonderful thing it would be!

Ride safe

Hi All!

The combined draw of the Cochise ride and the Safety ride reduced our home team to 47 attendees this morning, but they made up for lack of pack size with exuberance. The romp north under cloudy skies reminded us what a paradise the valley is in the fall. The roll around Mummy was the usual adventure, with a few riders adding bonus "scenic loop" miles. (Getting "lost" sounds so negative... you're on your bike, its a beautiful day, what's not to like?) For some reason most opted to skip the breakfast stop, leaving the thugs to do the aftermath play by play themselves, which means they made up their own version of the entire morning.

Coming up...

Saturday 10/20/07 7:00am Kiwanis Park. We head to the northeast on the Tour de Mesa. Route options 29 miles or 39 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner Guadalupe & McClintock.

Saturday 10/27/07 7:00am Kiwanis Park. The St. Francis Loop, a figure eight route up through town, with route options of 26 miles or 36 miles, both with moderate climbing. Breakfast stop is Essence, southeast corner of Hardy and University. For the caffiene-only crowd, there's also a Starbucks on the corner, or for the bean-brigade, Rosita's is across the street.

Saturday 11/3/07 7:30am Kiwanis Park. Note the time change! We continue our roll into cooler days, with the Tour de Sue, in reverse. A route to the south, with options on either Queen Creek or Riggs Road. Mileage either 25 or 35 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner Guadalupe and McClintock.

Tid bits

Are you a righty or a lefty? Do you stop right foot down? Or left foot down? Is one way correct and the other wrong? It depends on who you ask. The only actual wrong dismount method is to unclip both feet while your butt is still on your seat. Once you do that, you have left yourself no way to gracefully, and safely, get your body weight off your seat and a foot down. To keep control of your bike you need to leave one foot clipped in. If you ask the people who design and build bikes, and coaches, they will tell you that correct dismount is to unclip the foot opposite your drive train. Assuming you ride a standard right side driven bike, that means you unclip with your left foot, leaving your right foot clipped in. When you start up, your down stroke is with your right foot. Doing so gives a direct straight back pull of power along your drive train. If you unclip right foot down, when you make that first down stroke on the start with your left foot, you are transfering power through your bottom bracket to the drive train, putting a lot of torque on the bike. The other issue is that new riders (or tired experienced riders) tend to veer off a bit on the side their starting stroke is. If you start with left foot clipped in, you'll veer left into traffic or other cyclists passing you. If you start right foot stroke first, if you veer off it will be to the right, which you will hopefully correct before you become one with the curb. Having said all of that, for recreational cyclists, the "correct" side to foot down on is the one that you are most comfortable and co-ordinated with. If you learned right foot down, or are favoring a knee, ankle or hip injury on one side, unclip on the right to your heart's content. Few of us have the leg power to trash a bike just by the strength of our stroke, and a smooth straight "wrong side" start is always a better choice than a bobbled awkward "correct" start.

Ride safe

We had 24 riders today for a great fall morning. There were arm warmers and jackets even on people, must have been the presence of Roger back to the group. Our ride was interesting and entertaining as always, with a slight detour for some of the pack because of a run/walk. I guess the lead group couldn't follow directions so the rest of us had to add more miles - ha - we got more miles than you. There were rabbits on the road, the real ones and those that tried to break away.

Ride Schedule

10/14 7:00AM - Ohcotukee loop. Head down the flat lands of Ocotillo and then the hills of Awahtukee. Mileage options of 25 flat, 35 with slight hills, or 50 with a lot more. Breakfast at Soma Cafe on Chandler Blvd & Kyrene.

10/21 7:00AM - Around the Mountain. Should be cool enough to do this route. All Flat 50 miles or you can turn around and do less. Breakfast at AZ Bread Co - Elliot & Kyrene.

10/28 7:00AM - To the Towers. Another car free day at South Mountain. Options of 35, 42, or 50 miles, with more hills as the miles go on. Breakfast at AZ Bread Co. - Elliot & Kyrene.

In addition, there are several club events and rides:
October 13 (Sat) Memorial Ride for Safety
October 28 (Sun) 17th Annual Palo Verde Nuclear Century

Hi All!

We had 75 riders (less one who signed in and didn't pedal... ceremonial cyclist?) appear for our breezy romp to South Mountain Park this morning. For the riders who have joined the group over the summer, this first voyage out on the route after our summer hiatus from the climb was a grand adventure. The wind was a bit of a challenge at some points, but considering it was bringing us cool temps, nobody seemed to mind. The group got rather stretched out, depending on what route and speed were selected (and how fast you can change a flat tire) but that worked just fine by spreading the crowd out for the arrival at the breakfast spot.

Coming up...

Saturday 10/13/07 7:00am Kiwanis Park. Mummy Mountain, original route, with options of 27 miles with moderate climbing or 40 miles with a couple of bonus climbs. Our traditional breakfast spot for this route, Brueggers, has for some reason closed their doors. (We certainly did our best to keep them in business over the years!) A new eats spot has yet to be determined, you'll just have to show up for the ride and be surprised.

Saturday 10/20/07 7:00am Kiwanis Park. We head to the northeast on the Tour de Mesa. Route options 29 miles or 39 miles, no climbing. Breakfsat at Einstein's, northwest corner Guadalupe & McClintock.

Saturday 10/27/07 7:00am Kiwanis Park. The St. Francis Loop, a figure eight route up through town, with route options of 26 miles or 36 miles, both with moderate climbing. Breakfast location to be announced when we have it figured out.

Tid bits

Even with the plethora of event rides already on the calendar, here's one you should add, cuz its just plain old goofy fun. Every year PMBC helps out with the Tempe Community Ride. The event is based out of our home field, Kiwanis Park, and draws people on bikes (future cyclists) from the local community. This year the ride will be held on Sunday October 28th. There is no fee for the event, plus there's lots of free stuff... tshirts, snackies, etc. A bike expo with all things bike related on display opens at 7:00am and the ride then departs at 8:30am. Route is about 16 miles, pace is gentle. PMBC will have a booth at the expo, giving away free air (woo hoo!) and we need as many club members adorned in their club jerseys as we can get there to meet and greet riders and to man (or woman) the air pumps. Members are then encouraged to join in the pedal, where we need lots of assistance with young riders and those new to cycling (or old to cycling and still learning!). Come join us!

Ride safe