Los Gatos Creek Trail Closure

The Los Gatos Creek Trail from Main Street in Los Gatos to Alma Bridge Road at Lexington Dam will be closed December 6-24, 2004.

The text of the official announcement from San Jose Water Company may be viewed here.

--Jerry Schonewille

December's general meeting

Clubmembers,

Please spread the word that December's general meeting, on 12/7/04, will be held at Leigh High School, 5210 Leigh Avenue at the S/E corner of Leigh Avenue and Los Gatos/ Almaden Road. Enter the parking lot on Leigh Avenue which closest to Los Gatos Almaden Road. The cafeteria doors will be open and the lights on so it should not be too difficult to locate.

After the business meeting, the dessert line will be open. Soon after, Tony Le and Bob Thompson's presentation will follow. The gift exchange will start right after the presentation.

See you there,
John Mazzella

Cyclocross article in Sunday's Chronicle

Check out this Cyclocross article in last Sunday's Chronicle.

McKean Road Sports Complex on SJ City Council agenda tonight!

Are you concerned about the impact of traffic on McKean Road due to the proposed McKean Road Sports Complex?

It is item 7d on the agenda for the San Jose City Council meeting tonight, Monday, November 29. Do your best to be there by 8:00 PM to give your 2¢ worth.

Esther Snively

Due to a number of other agenda items that precede the above item on the Planning Commission agenda this evening, [Nov. 29] we have posted on the agenda on our website that Planning Commission item 7d, the McKean Road Sports Complex EIR & General Plan Amendment will be heard in agenda order, but not before 8:00p.m.. This is in order to help alleviate overcrowding in the Council Chambers.

Stan Ketchum

Dec. 4th Ride Alternate Start

Anybody who is concerned about parking in the Coleman/Winfield Parking lot on my Dec. 4 ride is welcome to meet at my house 30 minutes before the ride. I live at 1645 Canna Lane and you can park assured not to get a ticket or a tow and get in a few more miles to boot!

We will be stopping for burritos on the way home from the ride, so if you want to ride back to my house after the ride with me you may want to allow for that.

There is a great burrito place near the end of the ride!

~Steve Sloan

I will post info of this and any other related changes here:

http://theblackandblueblog.blogspot.com/

And will also update the forum here:

http://actc.21-speed.com/forum/

Coleman/VTA Lot Issues

This is clearly a hot-button issue for several ACTC members and serves as a good example of how a discussion forum can be used. I’ve created a new category for this topic on the experimental discussion forum and set it up so that you do not have to register or login in order to submit or reply to a post. If you would like to express your opinions or view what others have to say then please visit

http://actc.21-speed.com/forum/

Thanks,
Jerry Schonewille

---------------------------------

Sorry to bother all of you again, but this issue is important.

We can help the situation by parking in the farthest quadrant from what Light Rail Customers would use, and at the same time isolate us from the Condo/Apartment people, who are the root cause of the problem, as I understand it.

The farthest quadrant in my lexicon is the far end of the lot on the left as we enter the parking area (at the end, over next to the bike path). The extra distance is immaterial to us, but might help drive our point home. I have NEVER seen a car parked there.

Frank

---------------------------------

I thought others might have an interest in a letter that I sent off to the VTA Board regarding parking at the Coleman/Winfield lot.

Frank La Fetra

To the VTA Board of Directors--

I am not only a VTA, CalTrain and BART customer, but also a bicyclist for both practical and recreational uses.

Recently, I was warned by other bicycle riders not to park my car in the Light Rail lot at Coleman/Winfield in San Jose for fear of receiving a ticket. I many times bicycle, but not always, the 22 miles RT from my home in Evergreen. Recently, the group I frequently ride with, Almaden Cycle Touring Club (ACTC) were accosted by VTA officers and threatened with legal action if they continued to park their cars at the mentioned lot and then ride away for a few hours mid-morning to mid-afternoon.

If this lot was in anyway heavily used, ACTC's presence could be a problem, BUT in the almost two years I have ridden from that start point, NEVER has there been any lack of parking ANYWHERE in that lot. Ten to 20% of the spaces might be used. That leaves a lot of space rarely, if ever used. Other stations could have problems, but certainly not, in my observation, Coleman/Winfield and many, if not all of us are also customers, if not at that moment at other times.

Please review this and take some reasonable steps that preserves the Light Rail Parking (it really is for the transit riders when needed), but 'cut some slack' for a sport VTA should be encouraging at no cost to themselves.

Frank La Fetra, South Evergreen

ACTC December rides and future web hosting

Looking out your window at the rain? Wondering when you can do your next ride? Well, the web based version of the December Ride Schedule is now online:

http://www.actc.org/schedule/2004/dec-rides.html

When you view it you will notice the format for December's ride schedule looks different. This is the great work of Jerry Schonewille, our Ride Coordinator, who had developed a database and a program to automatically generate this web page. Not only is the process becoming automated, but we are looking at offering a more dynamic way to view the ride schedule, allowing you to see the types of rides you are more interested in.

That will require a lot of work, including moving the ACTC website to a new host provider. We have a committee setup that is looking at the requirements to undertake such a move. Your feedback is appreciate. We want to make sure we are focusing our efforts in the area that best benefits the club members.

Franz Kelsch
ACTC Publisher

ROMP Christmas Party Reminder

To all ROMP members & nonmembers: Saturday 12/4 is the ROMP annual Christmas Party.

Tom Ritchey, National Racer & Founder of Ritchey Bike Designs Inc. will speak!

Plus dinner, drinks, party etc. Hope to see everyone there!

Anyone may attend - for info or the sign up form see www.romp.org & mail in by next week 12/2. Any questions, call Linda Wegner at 408 257-8284.

NOTE: You do NOT have to be a member of ROMP to attend

Cycling Performance Lecture

Efficient Cycling and Bike Fit for performance and health

Where: Palo Alto Bikes
When: Thursday December 2nd at 6:30 PM
Cost: Free
PLEASE RSVP – limited space

What: Find out how to be a more efficient cyclist – strength, flexibility, pedal mechs, bike fit, training etc!

Who: Curtis Cramblett, PT, CSCS, Licensed Cycling Coach
Contact info: (408) 371-8844
Curtis@Revolutionsinfitness.com

Whether you are looking for improved performance, efficiency, comfort or health on your bike this lecture is for you!
From John Mazella

Re-scheduling cancelled ACTC Oct. ride for Tuesday, 11/30

Ride to Ladera
9:30 AM . . . . . . . . 48 mi, 1-2 LM-M
Grizzly Bear . . . . . . . . Coffee Ride
Meet at the Los Gatos Park and Ride. From Los Gatos we will go Foothill Expressway and then to Ladera for coffee.
Bill Gallagher . . . . . . . . 997-0216 billtg@earthlink.net

This ride is listed as an LM/M. If there are LM riders who are interested and not sure about doing an M pace, we may break into an LM group and an M group. If this happens I'll lead the LM and will get someone to lead the M.

OLN doing tour marathon

Today, Thanksgiving Day 2004, OLN is doing a TDF marathon. All of the tour stages are being broadcast back to back!

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Steve

Calabazas Cyclery new sponsor

Our newest sponsoring shop is Calabazas Cyclery at 6140 Bollinger Road, San Jose, CA 95129. Please follow this link for more info.

Cyclocross event for Nisene Marks "Free The Trail" cause?

From Kathleen Meyer in a letter to her:

Greetings-
my name is David Gill and I'm an officer of Team Santa Cruz, the race team of the Santa Cruz County Cycling Club.

Our team will hold a cyclocross race on Sunday January 16th, 2005, at the Watsonville fairgrounds and we've come up with an idea to help out the Nisene Marks "Free The Trail" cause.

There will be several races and categories during the day, but we plan on holding a special team relay category at 12 noon.  The plan goes something like this:  Four persons per team, $40 entry per team, each rider does one lap.

All proceeds from this category will go to MBOSC.

To make this even more challenging (and entertaining for the spectators!), we've decided to gather the starting riders' bikes and remove their rear wheels.  We will stage a LeMans-style start, where each rider will run to their bikes and put their wheels on, go out for their lap and come back to the finish&nb! sp;where they will tag the next rider on their team, who will have to run to their own bike which is waiting for them without the rear wheel.  This continues until each rider completes a lap. We are planning on anywhere from 150-200 riders for the other categories, so I am confident we will be able to attract a significant number ofrelay teams. One idea that has come up is why not give four "Free The Trail" T-shirts to each team that signs up.  This basically makes it "buy a shirt, get a free race," or another such way of spinning the text, but you get the idea. The logistics have yet to be figured out since the shirt sizes would have to be dealt with, but I might suggest that someone from your organization come out to the event with a bunch of shirts not only for the teams, but also to sell to the rest of the riders and spectators.  You could set up a tent or booth with information, shirts, etc. Please let me know your thoughts on this proposition, we are eager to hear them!

Thank you for your consideration,
David Gill

p.s. check out the preliminary website, http://www.cyclocross.cx

Local paper looking for Almaden cyclists

From a co-worker of Paul Metz:

Hi,
You may have heard the story of Bo down in Campbell. He is a team mate of mine, a road racer who was attacked and beaten by some motorists. We are trying to apply pressure to the two girls who were driving the car that two men jumped out of and attacked Bo. We are trying to find Almaden Residents for a story that will run in a local paper there.

Any Almaden Residents?

Please read the email from Moryt Milo below.

In case you may not be familiar with the story:

• http://www.pbase.com/bohebe/campbell_reporter
• http://www.pbase.com/bohebe/beating_2004

Thanks,
Alon

Moryt Milo writes:
hi bo, the editor for almaden is thinking of using the story in his almaden paper, but we need to find some almaden residents asap. On this list ( see above) there are 27 people from San Jose. Hopefully some from almaden, any way to find out. or can you hook me up to some almaden cyclists he can talk to. If you want you can send them directly to him. His name is Greg watkins, editor for the Almaden Resident, email is gwatkins@svcn.com or 408.200.1066. Hopefully people contact him quickly.

Thanks, it would be great to spread the word down there.

Moryt
Moryt Milo
Editor, The Campbell Reporter and Willow Glen Resident
408.200.1051
mmilo@svcn.com

Dead Cyclist Identified

A source quoting Bay Cities News Service said, the Morgan Hill bicyclist killed Sunday when he collided with a vehicle has been identified today as 58-year-old David Bishop, according to a Santa Clara County Coroner's spokeswoman.

The source said, Bishop was riding his bike around 1:36 p.m. along Santa Teresa Boulevard near Tilton Avenue when he collided with an oncoming vehicle, according to the CHP.

There were no further details about the collision immediately available.

Ride Scheduler Jerry Schonewille starts rides forum

I'm planning on doing several self-contained tours next year and as I mention this during rides I encounter others with similar interest. Now is the time to be planning spring tours and it occurs to me that this is a good topic for a discussion forum.

Unlike this e-list where postings are "pushed" to all subscribers, you only get content from a discussion forum if you "pull" the information.

If you're not interested you will get nothing. Amen.

I've set up an experimental discussion forum on my personal web host with the dual purpose of discussing self-contained tours and to get some experience with forums in general to see if this is something that ACTC might want to add to their website.

It could be a rough trip – I'm totally new to this – but I think it might be fun and useful. I've set this up (I think) so that anyone can have a look but to make a posting you need to logon with a user name and password.

There is much potential here and I'm hoping others will pick up the ball.

http://actc.21-speed.com/forum/index.php

Enjoy,

Jerry

Nisene Marks Info

From the ROMP List by Mark Davidson:

Hey Everyone,

There seems to be quite a lot of momentum and activity surrounding the Nisene Marks (pending) ruling against mountain bikes. I'd just like to summarize some of the activity so far.

Gary Sprung - senior national policy adviser from IMBA (International Mountain Bicycling Association) has formally written a letter to Dave Vincent, Ruth Coleman and Tom Ward urging them to appeal the ruling banning bikes in Nisene Marks. His well written letter summarizes the representational reach of IMBA, mountain bike participation in California (5.2 M participants, $2B/year to the California economy), perceived user conflict and comments about the interpretation of the Nisene Marks deed. I've posted his letter here:

http://www.mbosc.org/2004/IMBA_appeal_request.pdf

I would encourage those interested in this issue to read it. If you haven't sent your letters yet then this can act as a template for your own letter.

Gary also included a really informative paper summarizing the impacts of mountain biking on the environment when compared to other forms of trail travel:

http://www.mbosc.org/2004/ScienceOfMtnBikes.pdf

The paper concludes that mountain biking doesn't cause any more environmental impact than hiking.

Elayna Caldwell-Grim a marketing manager at Fox Racing Shox is working on the "Free the trail" campaign. Fox is selling T-shirts and the proceeds will go to a legal defense fund for MBOSC (Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz) and IMBA to help with the appeal. T-shirts are available at local bike shops or bought online at:

http://www.free-the-trail.org

Fox also includes a letter with each T-shirt that you can sign and mail to David Vincent (be sure to include Ruth Coleman and Tom Ward).

http://www.free-the-trail.org/Free_The_Trail_LETTER.PDF

Our very own David Baskin will be contacting the attorney from State Parks to get an update on the Nov 19th hearing in which the Judge was expected to issue her formal ruling banning bikes from Nisene Marks. This is the ruling that State Parks needs to appeal. Dave will let us know what the ruling is.

The *best* course of action for us as a user group is to write to Ruth Coleman, Tom Ward and David Vincent of State Parks to appeal the ruling. If they don't appeal then all this activity is moot and biking is banned in Nisene. Period. I have included more details and contact information at the MBOSC website:
http://www.mbosc.org

Finally, at the next MBOSC meeting on Monday December 13, 2004 7 pm at Seabright Brewery we will be discussing the Nisene issue. I'll send an agenda later but please mark that date in your calendar. Hopefully by then we may know if State Parks has filed an appeal - they have 60 days. If the appeal is filed then we would need to figure out a strategy for the next phase which probably includes filing an amicus brief and may include fund raising for the legal battle.

We still have recourse to ensure that biking remains legal in Nisene. If it does then State Parks can implement their general plan - which includes new multi-use trails.

Many of you may be saying: "So what if biking is banned? The riding at Nisene sucks. It's just fireroads". That may be true now but the general plan allows for the development of additional trails - singletrack - which would be open to bikes, and possibly open existing trails as well.

The fight for Nisene Marks is an investment in the future trail systems in northern California. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

Thanks for your time.

--Mark
President, MBOSC
BTW, write those letters!

Cyclist killed on Santa Teresa

John Mazella posted this to the list: "After Marcia and Susie's ride today in Morgan Hill/Gilroy, Leroy Becker was heading home in his vehicle and saw an accident on Santa Teresa in the vicinity of Willow Springs. It involved a car and a recumbent bicyclist and appeared to be a t-bone type of accident. The rider and recumbent were trapped under the vehicle. The EMTs were not able to revive the rider and he died at the scene. Leroy says the recumbent appeared new and was a purple color. Does this sound like anyone in the club?"

Tom Ritchey to speak at local event

Tom Ritchey

Paul Nam of ROMP wrote, and asked if I could cross list the ROMP Xmas party with Tom Ritchey (Sat. Dec. 4 evening). I have been to a couple of the ROMP Christmas parties and they are great events. They are great opportunities to get to meet some great figures in cycling. This should be a lot of fun and the price is very reasonable!

Newsletter Mailing Location

Tonight's newsletter mailing party is at Elizabeth Lococo's house at 1324 Wylie Way in San Jose. It is near Hamilton and San Thomas Expressway. Map is here!

December Black and Blue Bottom

The December edition of the Black and Blue Bottom has been finalized and the PDF version is online. You can access at the ACTC website or click this link: www.actc.org/bbb . The Web Pages for the December ride schedule will be posted by the webmaster. Until that occurs please access the December ride schedule via the PDF files using the above link.

NOTE the December 7th General Meeting will be held at a DIFFERENT meeting place. Due to a building conflict, we will be meeting on December 7th at Leigh High School, which is at the corner of Leigh Ave. and Los Gatos Almaden Road.

Please be sure to come to the December General Meeting. Not only will we have the election of the 2005 Board Members, but it will be our annual Christmas Social. A great program is also planned (see the Black and Blue Bottom page 1 for details).

Since this is my last issue of the Black and Blue Bottom with a new
Publisher taking over for the January issue, I would like to thank those that helped me during the year in putting the newsletter together and getting them to you. I thank Vladimir Baicher, Richard Brunner, and Nancy Ross for great proofreading and editing, Joanne Mitani for the monthly Getting to Know You column, Keith Giles for photo editing, Jerry Shonewille for the ride schedule and Richard Brunner for getting it ready for printing, Larry Brandt for picking up the newsletters from the printer and packaging them for the shops, Don Axtell for putting the Statistics together, John Blaine for setting up the mailing parties and for many club members that showed up monthly to help at the mailing parties. THANK YOU ALL!

Regards,

Franz Kelsch
ACTC Publisher
publisher@actc.org

Dec. 7th Meeting Location Determined

It was announced at last night's board meeting that next month's December 7th club meeting will be at Leigh High School. This is on the corner of Leigh Avenue and Los Gatos-Almaden Road. Please stay tuned for more details.

Local road rage incident in the news

Campbell paper runs story on cycling safety and road rage
Joanne Mitani sent the mail list a link to this article that appeared in this week's Campbell Reporter: Close Encounters - Better road relations is the aim of cyclists.

The story, by reporter Moryt Milo of the Campbell Reporter, is about how local cyclist Bo Hebenstreit's life changed after the cyclist was assaulted by motorists on Campbell Avenue.

ACTC ride parking issue at the Coleman/Winfield

ACTC Ride Scheduler Jerry Schonewille posted this to the mail list, while gathering for an ACTC ride at the Coleman/Winfield VTA parking lot this morning we were approached by a Santa Clara County Sheriff Deputy. She explained that the parking lot is for VTA patrons only and that she has been writing citations for violators. However, due to complaints about the sudden enforcement from people who routinely park there to use the Los Alamitos Creek Trail, her sergeant instructed her to not write any more citations until VTA places prominent signs in the parking lot. This could happen tomorrow, it could happen next year. No guarantees that other sheriff deputies/sergeants will follow the same policy. In other words, if you park at this lot to participate in an ACTC ride then you are at risk of receiving a citation. We appreciate the heads-up from this deputy.

There are many ACTC rides that start at this location. For the remainder of November and for December I suggest you park at Almaden Lake Park on Winfield just south of Coleman instead. Contact the ride leader. Chances are the ride will go to Almaden Lake Park anyway for a bathroom break. Otherwise, you can take a short ride on the bike trail to Coleman/Winfield VTA.

Ride leaders, for future rides please start at Almaden Lake Park instead of Coleman/Winfield VTA.

Meanwhile, I hope political activists in our club will take up this matter with VTA. Perhaps the Los Gatos VTA starting location is a problem too.

Please act to save cycling in Nisene Marks

Friends of cycling in Nisene Marks - Urgent. Time is running out. Please take the time to compose your letters to preserve this great place to ride today.

Address them to:

Ruth Coleman
Director
California Dept Of Parks & Rec
1416 9th St, Rm 1405
Sacramento, CA  95814
Email: info@parks.ca.gov

Tom  Ward
Manager, Recreation
Calif Dept Of Parks & Rec
1416 9th St Room 1404-2
Sacramento, CA  95814
Work Phone: 916-322-3085
Email: TWARD@parks.ca.gov

David Vincent
District Superintendent
Department of Parks and Recreation
Santa Cruz District
303 Big Trees Park Road
Felton, CA 95018
Email: dvinc@parks.ca.gov

East Side Hills Ride Changes Sunday, Nov 21

Patrice Carney is adding in some extra/optional goats and miles for her Sunday ride this weekend. Information on Sunday Ride Changes is here [ PDF File ] This is an 8 page file and is 157.9 KB in size.

Photo site for ACTC cyclist photographers

ACTC Publisher Franz Kelsch reported earlier this month that ACTC has established a new site for viewing photos of club related events.  In the past if was necessary to go to various individual sites to see the pictures that club members were sharing.  This site is being offered as a central place to those who want to post their pictures there.  We will be adding a link to the ACTC home page shortly, but for now bookmark this link:
http://ACTC.smugmug.com  

At the time this was written we had 7 "ACTC Photographers" who are posting photos there.  (There may be more now! ~Steve) The most recent photo can be seen by clicking the "View Recent Photos" link in the upper right corner.  Once photos have been on the site for over a month, that gallery will be moved to one of the various categories we have established.  Some of the recent galleries include the Big Sur tour, the ACTC Academy Graduation ride and Loma Prieta summit club ride.   As I was looking through some of the older galleries posted, Franz said, "I saw myself in some photos I have never seen before!"

It is anticipated that photos will be posted to this site frequently, so check back periodically to see what's new.  If you wish to become an ACTC Photographer, please send me an email to gain access to posting photos at this site.

Whine and Dine, Last 2004 Ride

Whine and Diners, friends and cats celebrate last ride of 2004

The last whine and dine ride of 2004 happened last weekend and was celebrated with a party at the Sloan's. Everybody had a great time, even the Sloan cats!

Nisene Marks - Important Mountain Bike Issue

Fellow ACTC members. We are a mixed road and MTB club. Is this an issue somebody would like to take on?
~Steve

___________________

Dear California Mountain Bikers,

Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz and IMBA are asking you to get involved in saving trail access at Nisene Marks State Park. Please take the time to write a letter or send an email to the California Department of Parks and Recreation asking them to appeal a recent court ruling that would close bicycle access to existing and future trails.

A Brief History:

Mountain biking has been successfully managed at Nisene Marks for more than 15 years. In 2003, the California Department of Parks and Recreation adopted a new General Plan that expanded mountain biking opportunities on existing and future trails in the park. Shortly after the plan's adoption, a group called Citizens for the Preservation of the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park filed a lawsuit to restrict mountain biking.

In September 2004, the Sacramento Superior Court sided with the Friends group. The decision will prohibit biking at the park.

Mountain bikers are urged to ask State Parks to appeal this ruling. If an appeal is successful, State Parks will be allowed to proceed with its General Plan and allow mountain biking on fire roads and on appropriate singletrack. The importance of this potential appeal cannot be over emphasized.

What You Can Do

Please write a letter or send an email ASAP to:

David Vincent, Superintendent
Department of Parks and Recreation
Santa Cruz District
303 Big Trees Park Road
Felton, CA 95018
dvinc@parks.ca.gov

Points to make:
* Thank State Parks for all the work they have done to suggest expanded mountain biking at Nisene Marks State Park.
* Thank them for supporting mountain biking for the last 15 years at the park and for defending shared-use trails.
* Ask them to please appeal the Sacramento Superior Court ruling that would limit mountain biking at the park.
* In your own words, tell them how you value these trails and appreciate the opportunity to experience nature by riding at Nisene Marks.
* Ask them to please defend (again) shared-use trails and mountain biking (one of their largest constituency groups).
* Mention that mountain biking is a popular sport in California with 5.2 million participants last year (2003 Outdoor Industry Association Participation Study).
* Ask them to please defend (again) existing research that demonstrates the impacts of hiking and biking to be similar and that mountain biking is a legitimate, low-impact, human powered sport that is compatible with other trail users.
* In your own words, note the stress this closure will put on other trail systems throughout the area with increased bike traffic.

For more detailed information on this issue visit Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz at: http://www.mbosc.org.

McKean Road Sports Complex, Should we try to cover this?

For all who like to ride out to Calero Reservoir

Here's an update on the McKean Road Sports Complex--

The Planning Commission public hearing on the McKean Road Sports Complex Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and General Plan amendment will be postponed to November 29, 2004. The City Council hearing date remains December 7, 2004. The First Amendment to the Draft EIR is anticipated to be available on November 19, 2004. Copies will be mailed on that day to all individuals who submitted comments on the Draft EIR. The document will also be posted on this website.

Long Distance Training (First story in for Jan edition)

Long Distance Training Ride Press Release
November 8, 2004
by Rick Madden

Do you want to maintain your riding legs throughout the winter? Are you looking to improve your endurance and speed? Have you added a century or double century to your New Years resolutions? If so, block out each Sunday this winter for the Long Distance Training Ride (LDTR) series.

Experienced ACTC ride leaders have organized a series of LM, M and MB paced rides for each Sunday starting in January and ending in April. All levels of riders will start and end at the same location and follow the same basic route, with M and MB riders adding options on to extend the ride distance. Each week, ride distances and/or difficulty will gradually increase. However, these rides are not designed to be thigh burning goat rides. The emphasis will be on smooth riding techniques over long distances. Our final goal will be for riders to comfortably complete a challenging ride such as the century or double metric century at the Tierra Bella Workers Ride or one of the hilly double centuries offered throughout the early summer.

LDTR riders should be able to maintain a LM pace over a long distance to participate. There will be no sweep, and each rider must be able to perform minor repairs, such as repairing flats. We ask that you make sure your bike is in good working order before you arrive at the start location. Pack a lunch, bring plenty of water and snacks and be prepared for changeable weather conditions.

LDTR may push your comfort zone, but the option to drop back to the less speedy group is always available. Breaks will be abbreviated, usually about 5 or 10 minutes. We will reserve socialization to before and after the ride. Most rides will begin at the Almaden Coffee Roasters, located on the corner of Meridian and Redmond Avenue. Feel free to show up early and enjoy coffee and conversation before we hit the road!

If you have any questions, please call Deborah Lefferts at 408-267-3038.

The ride leaders have a goal of improving your strength and endurance. If you have a similar goal, please join us on the first ride. You will soon find yourself building a foundation that will carry you through the summer!

Intro to the Black and Blue Blog

The purpose of this blog is to create a single point of contact for all the folks who are involved with putting together our club's great newsletter. I am hoping to use this as a tool to help foster communication and community in the club. I know I have not been elected yet. But, assuming I am I will have to hit the ground running with the December issue. So, I am going to need all the help I can get!