|
|||||||||
| The February ride schedule is posted and available at http://surf-ici.com/chaingang/Schedule/RideSchedule.htm
Dear Chain Gang Members and Friends: Now that the holidays are over we can start concentrating on riding again. As many of you know Cindie and I went on a short bike tour in Northern Baja, Mexico during the X-Mass holiday after visiting with her family in L.A.. We rode from Tijuana to San Felipe and rode the bus back. There were some very good days of riding but the border area does not have the innocent charm of southern Mexico. We quickly got tired of inflated tourist prices and watching our backs all of the time. I much prefer watching farmers leisurely riding their bikes to the fields than Californians with trailers full of ATV's coming over the border to do things that they are not allowed to do at home. We spent New Years Eve in Tijuana and that was very interesting. There was a street festival during the day that catered to families and kids. It was nice to see that there were regular Mexican families in a city known world wide as a drunken party town. It rained so hard during the parade that we saw a marching band push a float up a hill because it lost traction. Tim
Because I have been busier than usual I have had a hard time getting the ride schedule out in time. I think that I will start earlier this time and ask for ride leaders now. March and April are a nice time to ride in the Prescott area. After I have filled these dates my three months are over and another ride coordinator will take over. March 11 (Sat) Tim
*Current meeting time is 9:30 am Every Sunday training rides are common in the valley and now Prescott has its very own. James Lazok has been organizing this ride for several months with bike shop employees and friends and now he has joined The Chain Gang and made this an official club ride open to all. We start at the Red Arrow Real Estate office on Prescott Country Club Blvd. at the entrance to the Prescott Country Club in Dewey. You can see people gathering in the parking lot while driving on Highway 69. The ride can vary but there are always several options to accommodate all skill levels. This time of year the "A" and "B" groups will be mostly doing the 65 mile Cherry Rd - I 17 - Mayor loop and the "C" group can ride to either Mayor (30 miles) or Cordes Junction (45 miles) and back. These roads are not mountainous but have several gentle climbs to keep you busy. The scenery is classic Arizona high desert with mountains all around. Because of a new shoulder on 69 this route is safe from traffic. Make sure that you have all necessary tools, tubes, Etc. because it can be a long way back to civilization. Leader: James Lazok, 520-445-0150 if you have questions . MAP
Several of you have been asking about the bi-weekly Mt. bike rides that were successful last summer. It seems that for most of us meeting friends to ride during the week is a key ingredient in getting us out the door and increasing fitness levels. I have checked sunset times and it will be getting dark around 6:30 PM during the first week in March. We will start at 5:30 PM March 2nd and continue every Tues. and Thurs. until the last week in Oct. This will give us at least enough time to ride one lap on the old race course near the 307 trailhead on Senator Highway. If the snow becomes to deep there are always options in the plowed dirt roads. Check next month's (not done yet) ride schedule for more details I call it the old race course because the Prescott MBAA/NORBA race is no longer going to take place at Groom Creek but will instead take place near Mayer. This is unfortunate because most racers doing the MBAA/NORBA race series said that this was their favorite course and it really showed the rest of the state what a Mt. bike heaven Prescott is. I have heard that there were reasons beyond the race organizers control to cause the race to be moved. Tim
As most of you know the Chain Gang is an extension of the Greater Arizona Bicycling Association (GABA). GABA has bi annual meetings. The last one was on Jan. 15 at Betsy Turner's house in the valley Betsey is famous for her cooking and recipe collection and was a wonderful host. Thanks Betsy! There were no controversial decisions made that concern us but I did learn a lot about liability and club rides during casual conversation. Apparently we need a sign up waiver before each ride. Sign up sheets would also facilitate new membership and supply contact information in case someone gets lost or hurt. A waiver could easily be incorporated in this. I will add the waiver text to a document that Marcee Keller has already made for us and you should be seeing this on our club rides soon. Tim
Hello fellow riders, the Chain Gang Newsletter will now have a new section called the PBAC Corner. Look for a PBAC website in the near future. I (Cindie Travis) have recently become Chair of the Prescott Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) and I plan on updating you on our progress monthly. My first assignment was to meet with Mayer Steiger on the Prescott Today show and discuss our goals for the year 2000. Marcee Keller and I accepted the invitation with much excitement and enthusiasm. Our discussion with Mayer Steiger was aired on January 18, 2000. If you missed it, we will be showing the 15-minute talk at our next PBAC meeting scheduled for February 2, 2000 at 5:30 PM in the basement of the city building. One of the main things that came out of our meeting with Mayer Steiger was his belief that by not accommodating bicycles the city poses a hazard for them, and therefore the city increases its liability. This is a 180-degree change from the previous stance imposed by the city attorney over the past several years that discourages bike facilities because they increase the liability to the city. I foresee change on the horizon. I would like to announce that Lee Nidess, newly elected city council member, has volunteered to join our committee. Lee will be our liaison with the city council. We all look forward to working with Lee and the city on upcoming projects. He plans on attending the next PBAC meeting. I would like to encourage the public to attend as well. The agenda for the February 2, 2000 PBAC meeting is as follows : Quick review of January 5, 2000 meeting minutes. PBAC on the Prescott Today Show will be shown at the beginning of the meeting. After the show, the Watson Woods Bridge presentation will be given. The committee will be going to city council on February 15, 2000 to request that the Watson Woods Bridge be restriped to include Prescott's first bike lanes. Of course we intend to connect these lanes to future bike facilities. This presentation will be open to comments and suggestions for editing. Following the presentation there will be a discussion between PBAC and Prescott Alternative Transportation (PAT) about roles and goals for the year 2000. I will be extending an invitation to the board members of PAT to join in this discussion. The purpose of this discussion is to define roles to prevent the two groups from duplicating efforts and to outline how the two groups can best work together on upcoming projects. Discussion of the Bike Plan update is tentatively scheduled for the March meeting. Cindie Travis Tim Travis - President - Chain Gang Cycling Club Ride Schedule = http://surf-ici.com/chaingang/Schedule/RideSchedule.htm Chain Gang Web Site= http://surf-ici.com/chaingang/index.htmBuilt and Maintained by PrescottYellowPages.com  |
