Great Whine and Dine Saturday with John and Rosa

Last Saturday John and Rosa had a great party for riders of the whine and dine ride. It was great fun! We started the day with a ride from Los Altos, up Old La Honda to Skyline, across to 84, back down and return to Los Altos. It was one of the most aggressive rides I have done in a long time. You know after the ride and the party, I slept like a rock!

As the after work rides wind down we may start doing more weekend whine and dine rides.

Bill Bliss Follow-up

Colorado police officer charged in ACTC cyclist’s death
According to the Cañon City Daily Record, a Colorado newspaper, the Fremont County Colorado district attorney’s office filed charges on July 25 against Cañon City Police Detective Doug Havens in connection with a deadly car vs. bicycle accident June 24 which killed ACTC member Bill Bliss on Colorado highway 67 near Wetmore, Colorado.

Havens, 34, was charged with careless driving causing death, a Class 1 misdemeanor traffic offense in Colorado, and speeding (77 in a 65 mph zone). He was driving a pickup northbound on Colorado state highway 67 — while off-duty — and collided from behind with a bicycle ridden by Bliss. Bliss, 69, died at the scene.

Havens, a Westcliffe Colorado resident, was uninjured in the crash, which took place about 11:25 a.m. a couple miles north of Wetmore. According to Coroner Dorothy Twellman, Havens was traveling about 60 mph when he hit Bliss, who died of a neck fracture at the base of his skull. A long-time ACTC member, Bliss was doing a cross-country bicycle tour.

Sanborn Hostel, Great Destination

On Wednesday we rode to the youth hostel on Sanborn, off highway nine. This is a great place to ride too. The hostel is this tranquil quiet place that is way off the beaten path. I can't recommend it enough. Up until the incident with the motorcyclist, that is.

September Queue Is Open

September Queue Is Open:
It can be found at this link [link].

Michael Curtis assaulted by motorcyclist

According to former ACTC president Michael Curtis, as well as several witnesses to the incident, Curtis was injured on the evening of Wednesday August third when a motorcyclist shoved him to the ground causing him to crash. Curtis was traveling eastbound on Los Gatos Blvd near Los Gatos Saratoga Road in the bike lane.

Curtis said the motorcyclist entered the bike lane and came close to him. According to Curtis words were exchanged. Then the motorcyclist reached over to him, from his motorbike to Curtis's bicycle while both were in motion, and shoved Curtis to the ground. Curtis was riding from the end of the Wednesday club whine and dine ride to the evening dinner after the ride, also in Los Gatos.

Witnesses stopped and helped Curtis, except for one that followed the motorcycle and got his license plate number. According to police they are investigating.

Steve Sloan came upon the scene and Sloan and Curtis went to the hospital. Curtis was banged up, he had several wounds and some road rash but no broken bones were found.

A great wedding

My eldest son Steve and new daughter-in-law Luci had a great wedding in North Bend, Washington. I am blogging about this on my family blog.

On vacation again

I am in Seattle with family for my oldest son's wedding. I will be back in August. I am covering the trip on my family blog.

Final Version of August BBB Posted

The final version of the August newsletter is posted [ download here, 1.1 MB PDF ]. This is it. It is done! It is sent to the printer. No more edits will be allowed. The newsletter is done finished and has gone to press!
~Steve

Second alpha version on August 2005 BBB posted!

The second "alpha version [ definition here ]" of the newsletter is posted here. It is all 20 pages and may have missing content! This is the last pre-release version.

Here is what I know is missing from this issue:

• The table of contents is still from the July issue
• The Sierra-to-the-Sea photo spread is not here

Other than that this is pretty much what it is going to look like! Any edits, comments or corrections will be greatly appreciated.~Steve

First alpha of August 2005 BBB Posted

The first "alpha version [ definition here ]" of the newsletter is posted here. It is just the first 12 pages and may have missing content! More will be posted as it becomes available.
~Steve

August Queue Posted

The Queue for the August BBB is located here:
http://homepage.mac.com/s_sloan/bbb/200508/
It has the first draft of the composite story on Bill Bliss and will include more content as soon as I can get it posted.
Thanks:
~Steve

Bill Bliss Story #3

Here is a link to Bill Bliss's story about his trip down Hwy I-5 in 1997.
-Donny

Bill Bliss Story #2

My first memory of Bill Bliss was back in 1991. He was leading a ride down to GWBR, so I decided to come along. This was my first time, so Bill showed me the route. Bill had been riding this route for many years, going south of Hollister on Hwy 25 on some very isolated roads. Bill showed me all of the places to stop for water and food. We ate breakfast at Jerry's in Hollister, and Bill would always tip with a $2 bill, saying it was more special that way. I've used this same route every year since then, leading a group or riders down to the Rally. But it was going along with Bill that first time that made this route possible.

-Donny

Bill Bliss Story #1

I have one story about Bill that shows what a really tough guy he was.  Way back in '83/'84, when we worked together at Lockheed, he fell on his commute to work since it was SNOWING!  He got up, continued on the trip and got to work.  He had broken his pelvis. I sensed something on the other side of my cubicle wall and got up to see why it was moving. It was Bill, hanging onto it for support. He was having a very hard time walking!   Eventually, his boss got him to agree to go to the doctor and they wheeled him out of the building on an office chair.  He was told not to cycle for 6 weeks, but I think he was back on his bike before then.
~ Sandy Vaurs

Editorial: Thoughts from the saddle

Bicycle riding can be many things. It can be very social where you ride for hours laughing and talking with your friends. It can also be very solitary and an opportunity to spend a lot of time with yourself and your thoughts. Maybe that is why partly I love it so much, I get a lot out of both these activities. Cycling has been something I have been thinking so much about since the death of Bill Bliss and with the death last August 4th of ACTC club member James Mills on a club ride. Is it worth it? Yes, I think despite the lurking danger, the threat of sudden death around the next bend, I think it is. But never forget to be careful out there.

Picture of Bill Bliss

Bill Bliss Remembered

Bill Bliss Obituary

Here is a link to the obituary published in the June 28, 2005 San Jose Mercury News.

The end of the ride

Susie met me in San Francisco at the end of my Sierra to the Sea bicycle ride. She was visibly happy to see me and proud of my ride. I can't think of anything more wonderful to see than her smiling face.


Sadly we just learned yesterday of the death of Bill Bliss, another member of our bicycle club, while riding his bike. That is the second death of a member of our club while riding a bike in the last year. Bicycle riding in traffic is a clearly dangerous activity.

Back from the journey

I have returned from my bike tour!
Sierra to the Sea 2005 was a great bike tour. It was a bit cooler than past years and that was to the better. I had some great ride and saw many old friends and made new ones. I just returned yesterday so I have not yet processed a lot of the memories. On the last day many of the riders talked about their journeys. It impressed me that the experiences everybody shared were so different that at times they could have been talking about different trips. I guess life, and bicycle tours, is like that.

Kenneth has moved to his new home
Today I helped youngest son Ken move his bed and some of his belongings to his new place. Tonight is his first night in his own place. For me, for the first time since 1976, the nest is empty.

I am going off the grids

I will be a short turn drop out
For the next nine days I will be off the Internet grid and off the power grid. I will be on a bicycle touring the middle of California. If you want more information I will be on the Sierra to the Sea. I am really looking forward to the adventure and will blog about it after I return.

Blog full disclosure statement
Every now and then I like to post a link to each of my six blogs. This link gives a more honest view of my Internet identity than does reading one or two of the blogs alone.