Latest Club News & Info

          Speedtrap Ride Tuesday June 11^th

       With sunny skies, a high temperature of 77 degrees and west winds at 5 to 10 mph, it looks like it will be a very favorable evening for riding the Speedtrap Ride. We will leave Spoke Life Cycles/Elmore tomorrow, Tuesday, June 11^th, at 6:30 pm. 

       Veteran Flatlander and triathlete Scott Lang will lead the Ghost Pepper Riders on a 25-mile ride.  Last week his group topped 22mph. It will likely be the same this week! Are you ready?

       Tony Mazurek will lead the Habanero Riders over the same course. His group will average 18 – 20 mph.

       I will lead the Jalapeno Riders over a slightly shorter 22-mile course. We expect to average at least 16 mph.

       Marnie Arndt will take the Sweet Pepper Riders on a ride that goes a distance and speed comfortable for those in her group.

       After the ride, some will likely gather at the Portage Inn in Elmore for food, drink, and good conversation.

       So, come out to Elmore! Ride some quiet country roads! Meet some great people, too! Sign-in begins at 6:00 and we ride at 6:30! I hope to see you then!

Chuck Nicewonder

The U.S. Bicycle Route System - Congrats to Georgia + Kansas!

"The U.S. Bicycle Route System will be Adventure Cycling’s lasting legacy to the country." - Victor

THANK YOU to our many supporters who donated to Adventure Cycling’s USBRS fundraiser this May! As the only organization providing nationwide coordination of the U.S. Bicycle Route System, we rely on supporters like you to help us develop new routes. If you haven’t donated yet, our match deadline was just extended to June 15, so there’s still time for your support to be doubled! Donate today.

Happy Trails,

Laura Crawford, USBRS Coordinator

13,733 Miles Designated

Coastal Georgia Joins the USBRS
We’re thrilled to announce the latest U.S. Bicycle Route to be officially designated: USBR 1 in Georgia. This 197-mile route rolls through the historic streets of Savannah and connects to over a dozen communities along the Atlantic Coast.
Explore USBR 1 and all designated routes in Georgia

Coming Soon to Kansas: U.S. Bicycle Route Signs
As part of their commitment to improving safety for cyclists and pedestrians statewide, Kansas DOT has announced that they will be installing signs on U.S. Bicycle Routes 66 and 76 by the end of this year! Check out our Facebook for a Sneak Peek

Did You Know?
With over 13,000 miles of designated routes nationwide, we’re willing to bet you may not know a few of these fun facts.
5 Fun Facts about the USBRS

Want to Bring Your Bike on Amtrak?
Learn more about Amtrak’s different bike services, where you can get your bike on or off an Amtrak train, and how to reserve space for your bike when you make a reservation.
How to Plan Your Bike Trip Using Amtrak

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Tomorrow is the Old 24 Breakaway ride.  Ken Jankowski will be the substitute ride leader while I am in Germany for work. The average speed will be between 19 and 20 mph.

Saturday was a great day for a ride, so 17 riders signed in for our Adventurer ride to the Villages of Fulton County. Phil forgot his shoes (been there Phil!) and left, but Rick Metcalf arrived as we took off on our journey to bring us back to full strength. Wendy and company broke off on their own, as we rode the gently rolling roads by Ai and on to Winameg , with Rick leaving us after Ai. We had a great tail wind for the first part of the trip, but as we turned north towards Winameg we started to encounter our evil enemy - the wind! Fortunately had fairly good windbreaks along the way to Lyons to help offset the effects. Other than couple of flats, we held together well to reach our break at Lyons. 

From Lyons, we headed straight east into the 12 mph winds, without a whole lot of protection. The group did fantastically well, never averaging below 14 mph. We made an unexpected detour for a closed road, riding over 15 miles through Metatmora and into the wind before jogging south back towards Secor Park. Overall pace - 16.7, an outstanding achievement with that wind! Best part - everyone remained positive and reported a great ride. An excellent ride for sure!

Next Saturday, join Deb for at Secor Park, 8:00 for another Adventurer Ride. Where are we going? That’s a secret only Deb knows! So be prepared - bring a snack and breakfast money and come enjoy the surprise.

Sorry for the late notification but it just started raining here in Sylvania and it had looked like we might get it in. SBR is cancelled this morning.

OK TAB members.....

                            The Sunday 1:00 Getaway Ride tomorrow, June 9th, still needs a substitute ride leader(Hugh Benning is away).  So.....all of you who regular participate in that ride......you can do it! Just once!(maybe twice) that's all!!!!

           If you are good enough to go on that ride, you are good enough to be a ride leader.  Yes, there is some responsibility, but it's kind of fun, and not that bad..

          So, if you regularly participate in the Sunday 1:00 Getaway Ride, please help your fellow TAB members by being the leader just once(maybe twice). YOU CAN DO IT!

I hope to hear from you.

Chuck Nicewonder

This Saturday’s Adventurers ride is a tour through some of the smaller villages in eastern Fulton County. We’ll head west out of Secor Park along some of the shady and more scenic roads in NE Fulton County. We’ll swing by Ai, the shortest named town in Ohio. Then it’s over to Winameg, and north to stop in Lyons for a snack break. Finally we head back east, hopefully with a tailwind, through Metamora and Berkey (not in Fulton Cty, but still a village) and back to Secor Park. There is one secret village on the ride, so keep your eyes open. (If you rode this last year, don’t tell!) Total mileage is just short of 45 miles. 

We start at 8:00 from the Nature Ctr/Ctr for Nature Photography at Secor Park. This is a snack ride, so bring a treat for yourself. Target speed is 17ish, with an average rolling pace around 18, but we will adjust for the group. GPS route is on Ride With GPS (link below), and cue sheets will be provided. Pleasant moderate temps are forecasted, so this should be one sweet ride.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27552090

Late afternoon thundershowers never developed, leaving us with a warm but breezy Windsday. And the night didn’t disappoint. 31 riders took advantage of the beautiful night to enjoy a ride through the farm fields. Edgar’s Fast & Furious riders reported a quick 22.1. Jen’s Reasonable Fast group was so big that she had to split into two groups. Group 1 reported a 19.3, with Group 2 coming in at 18.8, a good performance over all. My Reasonable & Reliable group was small but mighty, reporting a solid 17.5. We paced ourselves well on the way out and had a 16.3 average into the wind, and even did a bit of an echelon as we headed west into the NW wind. And Marty and Hubert took our Relaxed group our for a spin at 13.7.

Be sure to join us next week, same time same station, for another ride with a great group of riders. See you then.

Speedtrap Ride Tuesday June 4^th recap

          The Speedtrap Ride attracted thirty-two cyclists to Elmore this past Tuesday, June 4^th

Scott Lang led the Ghost Pepper Riders and reported a riding average of 22.5 mph

          Tony Mazurek led the Habanero Riders and reported a 19.3 mph average

          Ron Berry and I were the only Jalapeno Riders at the start of the ride, but we caught up to five Habanero riders who fell off Tony’s group, and picked up one rider, Claude Watkins, who caught up to us having left the Sweet Pepper Riders. The entire group finished at 15.8mph.

          Marnie Arndt’s Sweet Pepper Riders rode 20 miles at 14.2 mph, while John Galdeen led a break-off group for 16.1 miles, at 14.8 mph.

          Although it looked like rain was imminent for most of the ride, none fell.     

Pictured is John Cheung, whose first Speedtrap Ride was a couple of weeks ago. Also pictured are first time Speedtrap Riders Paula Radabaugh(spouse of Mark), and  John Wodarski, TAB’s best new rider for 2018.

                Also pictured is veteran rider Scott Lang in the kitten jersey, celebrating his birthday. Scott also reported that this was his 135^th Speedtrap Ride, in a span of about 6 years. George Byington,  who will be riding across the USA from San Diego to Washington DC,  is pictured wearing the jersey with the names of other veterans he’ll be riding with. He’ll arrive in DC on July 4^th. Best wishes George!

                To celebrate Scott’s birthday, Kathy Metzger provided her homemade cookies, and several riders spent some time at the Portage Inn in Elmore after the ride.

                Congratulations to Debra Lohr, veteran Ghost Pepper Rider, who completed not one, but FOUR triathlons this past weekend, for a total of 70.3 miles(the equivalent of a half-ironman)!

                Please join us next Tuesday, June 11^th, for the next chapter of the Speedtrap Ride. We meet at Spoke Life Cycles/Elmore, and roll out at 6:30 pm. I hope to see you then.

Chuck Nicewonder

Greetings to all,

               Hugh Benning will be away and will not be able to lead the Sunday 1:00 Getaway Ride for the next three Sundays: June 9, 16, and 23.  Mark Willee said he WILL do it on the 23rd, and maybe on the 16th, but he definitely cannot on the 9th!

          Please help out TAB by volunteering to substitute for Hugh on just one(maybe two) Sundays.

Thank you.

Chuck Nicewonder