We had 25 riders and 23 bikes (if you have to ask, there were two tandems) on today's wonderful journey through the historic and wonderful town of Lehi. No incidents, almost one flat, but it wasn't and that was it. Two fascinating and entertaining regroups helped get us all to the Paradise Cafe for breakfast. There was a small intrepid group of six who just wanted MORE and rode another 15 miles after bagels.

Hi All!

We had 71 riders arrive at the park this morning, dodging hordes of participants gathering for a running event. It was easy to tell which people belonged to which group... they dress scimpier than us and all looked very serious. Our very unserious gaggle managed to eventually get ourselves out on the road, after we got the lead riders going in the right direction, and we were off. The almost cool dawn quickly digressed into humid warm, and we found that staying in motion was preferable to standing still and condensing. We checked out the gritty, pot-holed sections of 40th and University, which reminded us to enjoy the freshly paved streets we have going in Tempe. Breakfast chatter ranged from summer travel plans to talk of the Tour de France. (Interesting that so many in our group know so much about EPO!)

Coming up...

Saturday 7/19/08 2:00pm to 4:00pm Half Moon Grille. In case you haven't been able to keep up with our ever changing schedule for Tour de France watching gatherings, it's today for this weekend. Half Moon is on the southeast corner of Elliot & Kyrene in Tempe.

Saturday 7/26/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Tour de Mesa takes us to the northeast with route options of 29 miles or 39 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner Guadalupe & McClintock.

Sunday 7/27/08 5:00pm to 8:00pm Half Moon Grille. Come watch and celebrate the final stage of the TdF with us! Who will win? Come cheer on your champions and the underdogs. (Note that this event has since been changed to Saturday July 26th from 2:00pm - 4:00pm.)

Saturday 8/2/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Mummy Mountain, original route, with options of 27 miles with moderate climbing or 40 miles with a few more climbs. Breakfast at IHOP, southwest corner College & Apache.

Saturday 8/9/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. The Tour of Lindsay takes us east bound, with route options of 29 miles or 39 miles. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner McClintock & Guadalupe.

Saturday 8/16/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. We head for the hills on the AhwaFooty route, 24 miles with one gentle climb or 25 miles with a couple of moderate climbs. Breakfast at AZ Bread Co, southwest corner Elliot & Kyrene.

Tid bits

PMBC member Mike St. Louis died in a bicycle accident on Tuesday July 15th, while riding at mid-day near his home in Sun Lakes. What happened hasn't been completely sorted out, but no matter what the details, the result is the same for us, Mike is gone from our pack. At age 65, he didn't have the typical road cyclist appearance, being a big guy built like a brick wall, at 6'2" and 220 lbs. A lifetime athlete, he was a wrestler and pro-ball player much earlier in his life and was proud dad of Brad St. Louis, who has played with the Cinncinati Bengals for many years. Known as "Iron Man" to his riding buds, due to the miles he cranked out every day, Mike was also refered to as the "St. Louis Express", when his friends would hang in his draft with him seemingly effortlessly towing them around all day. His services are taking place this weekend back in Kansas City and his spouse has suggested that if you would like to do something in rememberance, you could make a donation to the LIVESTRONG Foundation in his name. Mike's postings under his profile name of "mpstl" and his 5,999 miles year to date will be left on the www.BikeJournal.com site until the end of the year. Considering the competitve streak he had, he'll probably get a kick out of still placing pretty high in our club mileage rankings at the end of the year. Ride safe, and keep your head up.

Ride safe

Hi All!

We had 71 riders arrive at the park this morning, dodging hordes of participants gathering for a running event. It was easy to tell which people belonged to which group... they dress scimpier than us and all looked very serious. Our very unserious gaggle managed to eventually get ourselves out on the road, after we got the lead riders going in the right direction, and we were off. The almost cool dawn quickly digressed into humid warm, and we found that staying in motion was preferable to standing still and condensing. We checked out the gritty, pot-holed sections of 40th and University, which reminded us to enjoy the freshly paved streets we have going in Tempe. Breakfast chatter ranged from summer travel plans to talk of the Tour de France. (Interesting that so many in our group know so much about EPO!)

Coming up...

Saturday 7/19/08 2:00pm to 4:00pm Half Moon Grille. In case you haven't been able to keep up with our ever changing schedule for Tour de France watching gatherings, it's today for this weekend. Half Moon is on the southeast corner of Elliot & Kyrene in Tempe.

Saturday 7/26/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Tour de Mesa takes us to the northeast with route options of 29 miles or 39 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner Guadalupe & McClintock.

Sunday 7/27/08 5:00pm to 8:00pm Half Moon Grille. Come watch and celebrate the final stage of the TdF with us! Who will win? Come cheer on your champions and the underdogs.

Saturday 8/2/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Mummy Mountain, original route, with options of 27 miles with moderate climbing or 40 miles with a few more climbs. Breakfast at IHOP, southwest corner College & Apache.

Saturday 8/9/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. The Tour of Lindsay takes us east bound, with route options of 29 miles or 39 miles. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner McClintock & Guadalupe.

Saturday 8/16/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. We head for the hills on the AhwaFooty route, 24 miles with one gentle climb or 25 miles with a couple of moderate climbs. Breakfast at AZ Bread Co, southwest corner Elliot & Kyrene.

Tid bits

PMBC member Mike St. Louis died in a bicycle accident on Tuesday July 15th, while riding at mid-day near his home in Sun Lakes. What happened hasn't been completely sorted out, but no matter what the details, the result is the same for us, Mike is gone from our pack. At age 65, he didn't have the typical road cyclist appearance, being a big guy built like a brick wall, at 6'2" and 220 lbs. A lifetime athlete, he was a wrestler and pro-ball player much earlier in his life and was proud dad of Brad St. Louis, who has played with the Cinncinati Bengals for many years. Known as "Iron Man" to his riding buds, due to the miles he cranked out every day, Mike was also refered to as the "St. Louis Express", when his friends would hang in his draft with him seemingly effortlessly towing them around all day. His services are taking place this weekend back in Kansas City and his spouse has suggested that if you would like to do something in rememberance, you could make a donation to the LIVESTRONG Foundation in his name. Mike's postings under his profile name of "mpstl" and his 5,999 miles year to date will be left on the www.BikeJournal.com site until the end of the year. Considering the competitve streak he had, he'll probably get a kick out of still placing pretty high in our club mileage rankings at the end of the year. Ride safe, and keep your head up.

Ride safe

Hi All!

Even with the dire predictions from the weather gurus and the draw of the White Mountain Tour going, we still pulled in 68 riders for our romp over thru Mesa. Fortunately the wafflized pavement on College Ave that we had to vibrate down last week was beautiful covered up with a nice fresh surface. Somehow we managed to pick up a head wind with every turn of the route (how does that happen?). The rapidly rising heat and humidity kept the regroups short, and there was no dawdling on the roll back in to the breakfast stop.

Coming up...

Sunday 7/13/08 11:30am Half Moon Sports Grill. Sorry kids, due to a change in the broadcast schedule, our TDF watching event for this weekend has been cancelled. Check the club website towards the end of this week to watch for details about getting together next weekend.

Saturday 7/19/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. The Roundabout route loops around town with route options of 25 miles with no climbing or 35 miles with a couple of moderate climbs. Breakfast at IHOP, southwest corner College & Apache.

Saturday 7/26/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Tour de Mesa takes us to the northeast with route options of 29 miles or 39 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner Guadalupe & McClintock.

Saturday 8/2/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Mummy Mountain, original route, with options of 27 miles with moderate climbing or 40 miles with a few more climbs. Breakfast at IHOP, southwest corner College & Apache.

Tid bits

The wind is your friend, or it is if you let it be. Cyclists tend to struggle against it much too hard, raging against the challenge. Lighten up, and ramp it up... your cadence that is. Many riders tire quickly in windy conditions for the same reason that they burn out on climbs before they get to the top. God blessed you with how many gears on your bike? (All you fixies and single-speeders, just hush now.) It's amazing to watch riders on bikes with multitudes of gears, not using them. Are you saving those for a special occasion?? Shift, and keep shifting. Stay aware of the rhythm of your feet. Keeping a quick pace on your stroke will let your legs and lungs take you much farther before you run out of zing. And the next time you are cruising along in a tailwind, offer up a thanks to the wind, to balance the times you uttered something else to it.

Ride safe

President's Message
7/2/2008

The full PMBC "kit" has arrived just in time for the Tour de France. We may not have the physical fitness and finish of the "pros" but we can still look good! The feedback has been they are very comfortable and fit really well. We will probably be ordering again in late summer or early fall if you are interested in additional items.

If you paid to have it mailed to you, and it hasn't arrived, send me an email.

We do have a few men's and women's short sleeve jerseys as well as. If interested in what we have, send me an email, with the size you need.

It's July in Arizona and it is hot! If you haven't guessed - drink lots of water. It is also important to re-fuel on a regular basis. Eat and drink before the ride starts and then refuel during the ride. Drink lots and lots of water or a good energy drink.

We had a couple of accidents this past weekend. Both were single rider incidents, but both crashes occurred in packs and could have been disasters. Pace Lines can be a lot of fun - if done right. Unfortunately there are still a few riders who are strong, but don't have the knowledge, or experience, to ride in a pace line at 22 mph.

Don't forget about riding safe. For those of you who took the pace line clinic you are already better riders. Remember, DON'T DO ANYTHING SUDDEN; RIDE SMOOTH; DON'T DO ANYTHING SUDDEN; LOOK AHEAD - DO NOT LOOK DOWN; DON'T DO ANYTHING SUDDEN TO SLOW DOWN -RIDE YOUR BRAKES; DON'T DO ANYTHING SUDDEN. I hope you get the idea.

Ride smooth - be safe.

Ron Waller, President

Hi All!

A first, our holiday romp for the 4th drew more riders than our regular club ride on Saturday. We had 77 patriotic peddlers appear to check out our new route Friday and 64 stumbled out of bed early Saturday morning after their evening's celebrations the previous night. Both days, we did some up close inspection of various areas of construction around town, deciding they were all pretty un-bike-friendly. To Ken St. John, thanks for designing what turned out be a great new route. And to Mat Kas, thanks for accepting being volunteered (?) to keep an eye on the standard route riders on Saturday.

Coming up...

Saturday 7/12/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. The McKellips Loop takes us to the east (and usually into the wind) for 28 miles standard route or 37 miles advanced route, with one gentle climb on both. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner Guadalupe & McClintock.

Sunday 7/13/08 11:30pm to 1:30pm. Half Moon Sports Grill. Our next Tour de France watching gathering, held at the Half Moon Grill, (southeast corner of Kyrene and Elliot). Our remaining get togethers will be Sunday 7/20 11:30am to 1:30pm, and grand finale will be on Sunday 7/27 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.

Saturday 7/19/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. The Roundabout route loops around town with route options of 25 miles with no climbing or 35 miles with a couple of moderate climbs. Breakfast at IHOP, southwest corner College & Apache.

Saturday 7/26/08 6:30am Kiwanis Park. Tour de Mesa takes us to the northeast with route options of 29 miles or 39 miles, no climbing. Breakfast at Einstein's, northwest corner Guadalupe & McClintock.

Tid bits

Some things that we do in cycling are instinctive and work best if you don't put too much thought into them. Like staying balanced on those tiny contact points with the road or breathing... either one, if you focus on them too much, they start to feel awkward. But some things, it's to your benefit to over-ride what your body wants to instinctively do. We have talked before about your front wheel being your life, that you must never let it go some place unsafe as long as you have any control over it. Where is one if the most unsafe places for your front wheel to go? Up against the rear wheel of the rider in front of you. The best solution is to not let that happen. But if it does, that is the moment when it is key for your brain to be in charge, not your body. Your instinct will be to steer hard and quickly away from that hazard. A jerk of the handlebars, at any speed, throws your body weight on the bike off-balance and unless you have primo recovery skills, is going to result in a fall. If you hear and feel that zinging sound and sensation that that is tire on tire, don't be a jerk. You only need a fraction of an inch of space to get you off the wheel in front of you. Soft pedal (let up on your pedal stroke), try to avoid actually braking if you are in a line. If you suddenly brake, the rider behind you is going to be on your wheel. Lean your body weight away to the side that you want your bike to go and gently and subtly steer away to that side. It's touching that you want to be that close to your friends, but let's not take that literally.

Ride safe