Latest Club News & Info

Speedtrap Ride Tuesday July 23^rd

          The Speedtrap Ride, Ottawa County’s best Tuesday night ride, will roll out once again from Spoke Life Cycles in Elmore tomorrow, Tuesday, July 23^rd, at 6:30 pm.

          Scott Lang will lead the Ghost Pepper Riders on a 25-mile ride. If you ride with his group, expect a riding average of 22+ mph. Are you up to the challenge?!

          Dan Waggoner will be filling in for Bob Kayden(who is working in Oklahoma. How can this be? He is retired.) to lead the Cayenne Pepper Riders over the same course. Riding average will be 20 – 22 mph.

          Tony Mazurek will lead the Habanero Riders, also over the same course with a riding average of 18 – 20 mph.

          I will lead the Jalapeno riders on a slightly shorter 22-mile ride. We expect to average 16 + mph.

          Marnie Arndt will be on hand to take the Sweet Pepper Riders on a ride over a distance and at a speed comfortable for those in her group.

          The weather looks good for the ride. Predicted is a high of 79 degrees, winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph, and only a 20% chance of rain.

          As has been the custom all season, some riders will likely gather at the Portage Inn in Elmore after the ride for food, drink, and good conversation.

          It is Tandem Night #2. Bring that tandem and ride with a partner! Pictures of all tandems, their captains, and their stokers, will be taken.

          With favorable weather why not come out to Elmore and give the Speedtrap Ride a try! You’ll ride some quiet country roads with some great people, too! Sign-in begins at 6:00, and we ride at 6:30 pm!

I hope to see you then!

Chuck Nicewonder

Mother Nature was kind to us yesterday for our “Mini MetroParks Tour”. That or I really have stolen some weather mojo from Rick Metcalf. When I woke up at 6:00 to get ready for the ride, I was surprised to find out that a weather front had moved through the area and cut the heat, and left us with a nice cloud cover. On the drive out to Whitehouse my car said it was 74 degrees outside. 74 DEGREES! That mild temperature brought out a crowd of 15, including 3 first time Adventure riders - Justin, Brian and Tiffany. (Welcome!) As we left, we were joined by John Wodarski  and Todd Korczynski on their early morning ride to bring us up to 17. 

We rode mostly shaded roads that took us through Oak Openings and gave us some wind protection, until we got north of Airport Hwy and Swanton. But due to careful planning, - ok, it was just plain luck - we had a SW tailwind while we were exposed. Once we got west of 295, we were back into the woods all the way to Secor Park and our rest break. We bid goodbye to John and Todd, who went on their way, and rode south through Spencer Township and by Wiregrass Lake Metropark. We broke out of the woods briefly to ride Lose Rd, one of my favorites, and then burst into the open again to ride back to Whitehouse. On the Cannonball Trail we began to see shadows, but arrived back at Whitehouse at 10:46, just as the clouds began to break up. Temperature - 84 degrees. We had beaten the heat! 

Two special call outs on this trip. Brian had ridden with TAB last year, but this was his first outside distance ride for the year. Tiffany had just picked up her road bike Friday, so this was her maiden voyage, and her first ride at this distance. Both of them killed it, and looked like longtime pros. Thanks for coming out and hope to see you again. You too Justin!

Next week’s ride is with me again. We’re going to head out to Winameg from CycleWerks at Whitehouse and return to meet with the Meanderers for a farewell picnic for long time member Mark Nowatarski as he moves closer to family. Distance is 45 miles. I hope to see you there!

Windsday was truly special. 36 riders braved the heat on Windsday night to meet Tara Ice, Sierah Joughin’s aunt and President of Justice for Sierah. She shared the goals of Justice with Sierah and thanked us for our donation. Even as riders arrived, they asked about adding their donations to the over $1500 raised by TAB so far. You can add your donation to the total at the Justice for Sierah website: 

https://justiceforsierah.org

After meeting Tara, we went on our merry sweaty way with our four groups. With the help of mild breezes, the heat didn’t keep any of us from having a great night. The Fast & Furious arrived back at a 22.5. The Reasonably Fast group stuck together and pushing their  group limit at 20.2. The Reasonable and Reliable came in at a good 17.8. Even the Relaxed group had a good evening with Hubert and Lisa arriving in style at 15.0. Way to go Lisa!

Be sure to join us next week for our fling through the fields of Lucas and Fulton County. We leave promptly at 6:30 from Timberstone JHS, 9000 Sylvania Ave. See you all next week!

With MVA wisely canceling their Metroparks Tour, I thought we could try a mini tour of three parks. I’ve kept the ride to 40 miles with the hope that at our typical average of 17 mph we can be back by 11:00 and safe from the heat. Emphasis on the ride is to find a much shade as possible on the route. 

We’ll leave CycleWerks  at 8:00 with a rest stop at Secor Park. We’ll breeze through Oak Openings on the way out and by Wiregrass Lake on the way back. Be sure to bring at least two bottles of water, and we can refill at Secor Park. There will be some breezes but expect high humidity. Avg speed is a 17 mph target. Hope to see you there!

Link to GPS track: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30597787

              With this message I retract the message I sent out on Monday about there being no TAB rides this Saturday, July 20th. MVA's Metroparks Tour has been canceled because of predicted heat.

           TAB ride leaders will make their own decisions about whether to have regular TAB Saturday rides.

Chuck Nicewonder

Speedtrap Ride Tuesday July 16^th recap

          Sixteen riders rode out from Elmore on a rainy Tuesday for the Speedtrap Ride last evening.

          Heavy rains came down for perhaps an hour, but stopped well before ride time. So, riders did go out, and although they experienced a few drops, did ride on mostly dry pavement. However, there was evidence that there was more rain in the area, and it came just as riders were putting their bikes in their cars after returning to Elmore.

          Scott Lang’s Ghost Pepper Riders and Bob Kayden’s Cayenne Pepper Riders rode out together, but eventually did separate into two groups. Scott reported  a 21.1 mph average while Bob reported 20.1 mph.

          Two other riders and I formed a combined Jalapeno/Sweet Pepper Group. We rode out to US 23. But at that point, one person decided he wanted to go back to Elmore and another said he had really been ill the whole day, so all three of us returned the way we came. We had 16 miles at 14.2 mph.

          It was tandem night. Pictured are the two tandems on the ride: one with Doug and Kathy Metzger, the other with Dan Waggoner and Kathy Slovak.

          Because of the rain, next Tuesday, July 23^rd, will be Tandem Night Number 2. Even if you don’t have a tandem. Please join us. We’ll leave from Spoke Life Cycles in Elmore at 6:30 pm. I hope to see you then.

Chuck Nicewonder

 

Yesterday's ride proved not to be a dry one. 5 of us headed out of Whitehouse with the sun shining. We all knew there was a chance of getting wet. We saw the storms coming at us as we approached the farthest point.  The hope was to head north and beat the storm.  The rain came with about 2 miles left of our ride. We rolled into the parking lot with a 20.0 average and still smiling.

See you next week on Old 24.

Tara Ice, President of Justice for Sierah, and Sierah's aunt, will attend our pre-ride for the Windsday tomorrow. Tara is planning to be there around 6:00 to meet and thank the membership for their donations from the 4th of July Freedom Ride. I’d love it if we could have a great group come out to meet her. Ron and I will be there early (before 6:00) and hope many of you will be there too. 

And while you’re there, plan on joining us for our ride. The weather keeps looking better and better, with the chance of rain decreasing, temps in the mid 80s, light breezes. Honest! It’s a nice ride with fun people and great leaders (except that Dan guy). We have 4 groups for all different speeds, and get this - no hills or overpasses. Just nice flat roads!

So come at 6:00 to meet Tara, stay to ride with us at 6:30. Timberstone JHS, 9000 Sylvania Ave. Avoid Sylvania between McCord & King, only heavens know which way is open! Hope to see you all there!

The Old 24 Ride is tomorrow.  Expect the average speed to be between 20 to 21 mph.  We will be heading out from Cycle Werks in Whitehouse at 6:30 for a 28.5 mile loop out to Old 24 and heading north on County Road 3.  It is the 3rd Tuesday of the month so I will be heading to Local Thyme after the ride.

See you on Old 24.

Speedtrap Ride Tuesday July 16^th

          The Speedtrap Ride, co-sponsored by TAB and Flatlanders, will roll out once again tomorrow, Tuesday, July 16^th, from Spoke Life Cycles in Elmore at 6:30 pm.

          Scott Lang will lead the Ghost Pepper Riders on a 25-mile course. He expects his group to average 22 – 23 mph. Are you ready?!

          Bob Kayden will lead the Cayenne Pepper Riders over the same course at a slightly slower speed, 20 – 22mph.

          Tony Mazurek will lead the Habanero Riders and will likely average 18 – 20 mph.

          I will lead the Jalapeno Riders on a slightly shorter 22-mile course. We hope to average 16 – 17 mph.

          John Galdeen will likely be there to take the Sweet Pepper Riders on a ride for a distance and at a speed comfortable for those in the group.

It’s Tandem Night! Bring that tandem if you have one! Pictures will be taken of all tandems, their captains, and stokers!

Winds will be SSW at 10 to 15 mph, favorable for the return portion of the ride to Elmore. However, there is a 60% of scattered thunderstorms. Let’s hope they’re scattered somewhere other than Elmore!

Ottawa County’s best Tuesday night ride has some great riders, nice people, and goes out on lightly traveled country roads. You owe it to yourself to give it a try. Sign-in begins at 6:00 and we ride at 6:30 pm.

I  hope to see you then!

Chuck Nicewonder