July 2010 President’s Letter

This past June was my saddest month as president. Sherry Gordon, a long time Kalamazoo Bicycle Club member, suffered a medical emergency during a ride on June 7 and passed away on June 9. Many KBC members knew Sherry from her work with the sports camp for visually impaired children. I knew Sherry from both KBC activities and activities at our church.

Sherry was a remarkable person. She was a gifted student and athlete in high school and college. She was a radiologist for several years until she lost her vision. Sherry considered losing her vision to be an inconvenience rather than a handicap. She continued to participate at elite levels in sports and was a member of the 1992 Para–Olympic goal ball team, which won the bronze medal. She competed around the world with Team USA and remained a national level athlete until she passed away.

Sherry also loved bicycling. I remember the times that I captained her tandem as being extremely strenuous workouts. She always pushed herself. She always wanted to go faster. She also wanted kids who might not have the opportunity to bicycle because of their visual impairments to get the opportunity to bike. I would like to see the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club continue to work with all populations that are interested in bicycling.

July is the month for several KBC activities. The KalTour is set for July 11. The BTR Race is set for July 17. Please get the word out. Invite your family and friends to ride around Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties on the best ride in the area on the 11th. The BTR race needs both spectators and volunteers. The BTR race is a fun, faced paced event that is very spectator friendly. Please put both on your calendar and plan to participate!

Mike Boersma, KBC President

Next KBC Monthly Meeting - July 13, 2010

The next KBC Monthly Meeting will take place at 7:00 P.M. on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at the Kalamazoo YMCA on Maple Street. At this meeting, Robert H. Bauckham, the Assistant City Planner for the city of Kalamazoo, will explain the proposed Kalamazoo bike parking space ordinance. Please come prepared with any questions you might have about this or come just to listen to what he has to say. All KBC members are welcome to attend.

KALTOUR 2010 Update

KalTour is almost upon us. Please join us on Sunday, July 11, 2010 for the KBC's 19th annual summer tour. Ride headquarters is at KVCC next to the tennis courts and riders may start anytime between 7:00 and 11:00 A.M. (Century riders should leave by 9:00 A.M.) June has been a rainy month, but the weather forecast at the start of July is looking drier. Are you ready to go 100 miles? A supported tour with scheduled SAG stops is a good way to find out. KalTour has always been known for its well-marked routes and good food. Our roads are low traffic and take you along some of the best scenery in Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties. Just remember that for every uphill climb there is always a downhill glide, hopefully one without a stop sign at the bottom!

The following is a message from Donna Whitcomb of AMBUCS, one of our charitable beneficiaries:

Alive After Five AMBUCS will serve lunch again this year at the Briar Patch. The club will be presenting an adult bike to recipient Shawncy Pond, who will be on hand to demonstrate how it works. There will be a sign-up sheet for KalTour participants who would like to be a "sponsored" Friends member of Alive After Five. A "Friends" member receives the National Newsletter via postal mail and the Alive After Five monthly newsletter via e-mail. Donations will be accepted that day to help Shawncy with the purchase of the AMTRYKE.

Mike Krischer, KalTour Co-Director

Kalamazoo Bicycle Film Festival

The Kalamazoo Bicycle Film Festival will be taking place Thursday, July 29 through Sunday, August 1, 2010. Movies about bicycles will be shown at various locations each evening and there will be a "Big Kids Urban Bike Challenge" on the morning of July 31. For more information, see www.kalamazoobicyclefilmfestival.com.

Mini–WAM Ride

The second annual Eaton Make-a-Wish Mini WAM Ride will take place on Saturday, July 10, 2010 at the Eaton Truck Group Headquarters off of I-94 at Exit 88. There will be rides of 5, 10, 20 and 40 miles. For more information, the link to the website is www.snapregistration.com/miniWAM.

Ride to South Haven

This year, the Ride to South Haven will take place a little later in the summer, on Saturday, August 7, 2010. The ride will begin at 8:00 A.M. and will be led by Rick Whaley. We'll leave from the southwest corner of the KVCC parking and we'll ride to South Haven and back by way of Lawrence for a total of about 102 miles. We'll take short breaks in Lawrence and a longer break in South Haven, where we'll eat the traditional South Haven subs and then we may eat some semi-traditional ice cream cones, while gazing the shore of Lake Michigan in the hope that we won't see any tar balls. The pace will be around 16-18 mph, but other groups are welcome to do the ride at other speeds, if they like.

Subs, ice cream, and a century ride??!! Let your wildest dreams come true and come join us.

Rick Whaley

Monthly Meeting Minutes

The Kalamazoo Bicycle Club's monthly meeting took place on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at the YMCA on Maple Street in Kalamazoo. In attendance were Mike Boersma, Doug Kirk, Zolton Cohen, Ed Micalizzi, Tom Keizer, Allyn VanDyk, Mike Vandeveer, David Jones, Henry DeVries, Renee Mitchell, Rebecca Sinkoff, Mark Jensen, Terry O'Connor, Victor Van Fleet, Mike Krischer, Rick Whaley, and Bill Figeley.

Mike B. welcomed everyone to the meeting and those in attendance introduced themselves. Tom then gave the Treasurer's Report. There was $1224 in revenue during May and $1764 in expenses involving KalTour and the Bike Camp. There is $3157 in the checking account and $11,036 in the CD.

Zolton reported that there were 35 participants at the just completed Bike Camp and there were many volunteers, including support from local bike shops.

Bill gave a Ride Captain report. The rides have been running very smoothly overall, and the turnout has been quite good for the Monday and Wednesday night rides, although there has been concern about the ride pace and ride size. The former issue will be addressed by announcing at the ride start more detailed information concerning the pace of the ride. There have been no crash reports, although Bill did hear about a minor accident with cuts and scrapes, due to a wheel cross. Bill also noted that riders should carry emergency contact information with them on every ride and this was seconded by several attendees. Victor stated that we should make note of the riders in the sub 17 mph group. Renee asked the ride start schedule be place on the KBC website (Ed note: This has been done.) The question was raised about our facebook status and it was reported that the club is on facebook (with "bicycle" spelled out).

A KalTour update was given by Mike K. The ride brochures have been distributed and have been mailed. He noted that there will be a slightly different starting location at KVCC this year, still near the southeast corner of the parking lot, but right next to the tennis courts. Road painting will be done on June 29, starting at 6:00 P.M. The 62 and 100 mile routes are slightly different this year.

The Tuesday Night Time Trial was discussed next. There has been no official leader of the TTNT this year and Doug and Rick have been the leaders at the two time trials that have taken place so far. Zolton stated that we should find a permanent leader or suspend the series. A motion was made and passed to suspend the series starting in July if no one volunteers to lead it. (Ed. Note: Doug and Rick agreed to continue to run the TTNT, so it will not be suspended.)

A lengthy discussion concerning the draft Kalamazoo Bicycle Ordinance took place. This ordinance will create parking spaces 2.5 feet wide and 6 feet long for bicycles, including 1 parking space for every 3 employees for many businesses and 1 parking space for every 10 seats in the case of larger entities, such as churches. Members of the club thought that this was a large number of spaces and a large area per space. Ed noted that the Kalamazoo ordinance was consistent with ordinances of other communities based on his internet research. Rebecca noted that Denver, Colorado has a similar ordinance. Doug wanted to know if the ordinance applied to existing businesses or only to new businesses. Mike B. suggested that "bike boxes" might be an alternative to the standard bike parking expressed in the ordinance. Victor suggested that another alternative would be to have city owned bike ridden by anyone, but Mike B. and Dougnoted that this has been tried in other cities and has not worked well. Rickstated that he was not in favor of an ordinance that would force entities to create bicycle parking. Terry was also not in favor of the ordinance, although most attendees found the ordinance to be generally acceptable; albeit with further clarification concerning some of the issues raised. Zolton will ask for more specifics and will see if someone for the city of Kalamazoo can discuss this ordinance at a future meeting. (Ed. Note: Robert H. Bauckham, the Assistant City Planner for the city of Kalamazoo will be attending the July 13 meeting to discuss the ordinance.)

Doug reported that he talked with Ethan Alexander about his Open Roads Bike Program request. Ethan was disappointed that he hadn't heard for KBC about this, but it was also noted that KBC had requested more information from him on the financial aspects of his endeavor and that the information we had received was not very detailed. Bill made a motion not to fund the program and the motion carried.

New business was then discussed. It was noted that we have various communication methods, including yahoo groups, the website, and facebook, and that we should consider consolidating these. We also actually have two KBC facebooks and Bill and David will work to consolidate these into one facebook group.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:14 P.M.

Bill Figeley, Secretary

Masthead

The electronically-distributed KBC PedalPress comes out on or around the first of each month.

If you have an article or a notice that you want to go into the PedalPress, please email it to the newsletter editor, fswhaley@comcast.net by the 20th of the month before its intended publication.

For example, if you'd like an article to be published in the August edition (distributed on or around the first of August), have it to the newsletter editor by the 20th of July.

KBC Statistics

Active subscriptions: 253

New members:
Alexander Doublass · Jaime Harding · Laura Harding · Ron Harding · Valentina Harding · Kaitlin McCrorey · Margaret McCrorey · Raymond McCrorey · William McCrorey · Nan Munn

July Expiring memberships:
Susan Atkinson · Jack Bley · Sandy Blix · Mark Brammer · Kim Cummings · Dennis Duffield · Tyson Gilmore · Timothy Greer · Mike Hughes · David Jones · Tom & Celine Keizer · James Kison Family · Brent Liedke · Susan Ray · Robert Rensch · Robyn Richardson · Emily Steimle

Renewed memberships:
Rick Updike · Kevin Cleary · Jeffrey Pregenzer Family · Gary & Terri Feldt · Jonathan & Terra Engelman

Paul Bruneau, KBC Database Manager

Editor’s Letter –Positive Goals

I got to thinking about goals again during the weekend of the National 24-Hour Challenge. Unlike last year, when I registered for the race, but decided not to do it, I didn't even register this year. Still, curiosity compelled me to pay a visit to their website a few days before the race, just for old time sake, if nothing else. On their home page, I couldn't help but notice, in an eyeball vibrating shade of red, the inspirational words "Set your goal, join us, and achieve it!" Suitably inspired, I decided at that very moment to set a goal of sleeping in during the morning of the race and I'm proud to report that I did indeed achieve it. So, I'm looking forward to a glorious future as a motivational speaker.

And now that I've achieved this goal of sloth, I suppose I could set some more tenuously cycling-related goals that involve the six remaining Deadly Sins. But, I think I'd rather set some cycling goals that are just a bit more positive, which raises the question, "What is a positive cycling goal?" It's a little trickier than you might think.

I think we'd all agree (or most of us will, because I know you're out there Mr. or Ms. Contrarian), that a positive cycling goal is one that challenges us to push ourselves a bit harder than we otherwise might and provides some structure in our day-to-day cycling life. It usually involves time (I want to ride faster), frequency (I want to ride more often), distance (I want to ride longer), or some combination of all three.

But, it also must be realistic. For example, I could set a goal to ride 30 miles in an hour, but short of finding the back of an 18-wheeler to draft off of, a la Breaking Away, or indulging in a regimen of steroids, testosterone patches, and EPO, which might also make our Monthly KBC Meetings a bit more exciting, this goal just isn't ever going to be achievable by me.

And the ramifications of not achieving this goal must also be taken into account. Will your spouse leave you? Will your parents or rich uncle disown you? Will your children be ashamed to be seen in public with you? Will your dog bite you? Will your pet goldfish attempt to bite you? Will you be an object of derision, doomed to be humiliated by former friends and strangers, alike, for the rest of you days, only to wind up in a weed choked, unmarked pauper's grave, right next to the local sewage treatment plant? Of course not. For cryin' out loud, get a grip; we're talking about a bicycling related goal here.

So, in order for a cycling goal to be a positive cycling goal, it must be a challenge, but it must also be possible, and it must be taken seriously, but not too seriously. Otherwise, you're liable to turn a positive goal into a goal where the odds that you'll wind up feeling worse about yourself are greater than the odds that you'll wind up feeling better about yourself. If you want to feel worse about yourself, feel worse because you lied to a friend, cheated on your taxes, or ripped off a mattress tag. Don't feel worse because you broke a 13 day riding streak because it was raining outside. In the general scheme of things, feeling worse about yourself because of a hobby is just plain stupid.

And so, with this in mind, there are a lot of good bicycling events still on the calendar this summer and fall; more specifically, our club's own bicycling event, the KalTour. And you might just want to think about challenging yourself at KalTour this year. If you've been doing the 15 mile ride, think about doing the 31 mile ride. If you've been doing the 31 mile ride, think about doing the 62 mile ride. If you've been doing the 62 mile ride, maybe it's time to ride that Century. Or maybe it's time to do your usual ride a little faster. Or, if you've never ridden KalTour, maybe it's time to just do it. (So sue me, Nike.) What's the worst that can happen? If you find that you're riding too fast, just slow down and take a little more time at the SAG stops. If you find that you've ridden too far, take a shortcut back to KVCC. Learn from your mistakes, then try again at a future riding event.

The weekend before the National 24-Hour Challenge, I traveled to Virginia to attend the wedding of the daughter of one of my cousins. At the wedding reception, I got to talking with my uncle, the grandfather of the bride. He was few days shy of his 84th birthday, but in his day, he was an avid canoeist, taking trips up and down the east coast, as well as multi-days trips in the wilderness of the western 48 contiguous states, Alaska, and Canada. A few years ago, he also began competing in races, not surprisingly, as the oldest competitor. He's got a knee without cartilage now, and with the recognition that his canoeing days are just about over, he told me that at this stage of his life, that it was about having memories. He accomplished a lot of goals that he set for himself and we, too, can do the same with our bicycles. Then, someday, we'll be able to look back at what we've done and smile.

Rick Whaley, KBC Newsletter Editor

Some Upcoming Area Rides of Interest

Saturday, July 10, Mini-WAM Ride, Galesburg, MI. Further information about this ride can be found elsewhere in this issue of the Pedal Press.

Saturday, July 10, One Helluva Ride, Chelsea, MI. 15, 39, 63, 76, and 100 miles. www.aabts.org.

Sunday, July 11, KalTour, Kalamazoo, MI. 12, 15, 31, 62, and 100 miles. It goes without saying that this is a ride that KBC members should support, either by riding or volunteering. www.kalamazoobicycleclub.org.

Saturday, July 17, Holland Hundred, Holland, MI. 18, 36, 67, and 100 miles. www.macatawacyclingclub.org/hollandhundred.

Thursday through Sunday, July 22–25, 2010. The 23rd Wish–A–Mile 300 Bicycle Tour. 3 day, 300 mile tour from Traverse City to Chelsea, MI. One day 50 mile ride, also. www.wishamile.org.

Saturday, July 24, 2010, Ability Tour, Lansing, MI. 8, 30, and 50 miles. www.abilitytour.org.

Wednesday through Sunday, September 1–5. 40th Annual Dick Allen Lansing to Mackinaw (DALMAC) Bicycle Tour. Five rides over 4 or 5 days, ranging from 286 and 508 miles. Registration has begun and all rides except for the Quint Century (instead of the Quad Century this year) fill up quickly. www.DALMAC.org.

Sunday, September 12, 2010. Vineyard Classic, Paw Paw, MI. 22, 39, and 60 miles. www.wineandharvestfestival.com.

Classified Ads

RELIV Nutritional Shakes, they are great! For more info contact Mike @ 269-350-5010, 269–266–2671, or cmock88@att.net Independent Distributor.

Several items for sale. Ultegra 10-speed Crankset 53/39 175 mm ($125). Good condition. 105 10–speed crankset 53/39 172.5 mm ($100), very good condition. Burley delight trailer for two, about six years old – very good condition, the hitch attaches to the rear stays ($200). Slingshot cyclo–cross bike – Origin–8 carbon fork, 105 components, race face compact crank, sun/ringlet flea wheelset. 56 centimeters, not typical slingshot set up; standard frame can be seen on the slingshot website ($1200). Call Jeff Robertson at 269–924–8928.

For Sale: Trek Fluid CycleOps trainer, bought last winter, used once, includes climbing block. $140. Please contact Doug Weldon at (269) 372-0758.

Saris trunk mount bicycle rack. One year old and in fine shape. Paid $125 for it and asking $60 for it, Contact John Idema at blumdom98@charter.net or 342–2263.

Shop Notes

Alfred E Bike

320 East Michigan, Kalamazoo, (269) 349–9423
www.aebike.com

Billy's Bike Shop

63 East Battle Creek Street, Galesburg, (269) 665–5202 www.billysbikeshop.com

Breakaway Bicycles

185 Romence at Westnedge, Portage, (269) 324–5555,
www.breakawaybicycles.com

Custer Cyclery

104 North Augusta, Augusta, (269) 731–3492
www.custercyclery.com

Gazelle Sports

214 South Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, (269) 342–5996,
www.Gazellesports.com
Mark your calendar... Gazelle Sports Sidewalk Sales on July 22, 23, 24. Deep markdowns on tons of shoes - 25-50% off selected spring apparel - PLUS, save of socks, soccer and more!

Team Active

22 W Michigan, Battle Creek, 1–800–841–9494
www.teamactive.com

Village Cyclery

US 131 in Schoolcraft, 679–4242
www.villagecyclery.com

Zoo City Cycle & Sports

4328 South Westnedge, Kalamazoo (269) 552–3000
www.zoocitycycle.com

Bicycling Safety Disclaimer

Important: Riding a bicycle is an inherently dangerous activity. There are risks of injury or death. You could ride over something and fall, or get hit by an automobile or strike or be struck by another bicyclist. There are many other dangers to bicycling as well.

While nothing can eliminate all risks associating with bicycle riding, to minimize the danger, make sure you and your bicycle are in good riding condition. Know the rules of the road and also of the group you're riding with, and ride in a manner consistent with the protocols of that group. Always wear a bike helmet, use bike lights if riding in the dawn, dusk or dark, and consider purchasing and riding with additional safety equipment such as reflectors and rear view mirrors.