The ride schedule
is posted and available at
http://surf-ici.com/chaingang

Wow, I am back.  I really never went anywhere but it sure seems like it. I have been busy beyond belief finishing my MA and working.  Cindie and I did sneak in an 8 day backpack trip in the Grand Canyon.  Although I am writing this during a snow storm the riding season is upon us.  I am going to rethink a few things this year. 

The Sunday morning rides had no one showing up from October to now.  This actually makes sense.  The Arizona State Road Championships were in September and after that people naturally want a break.  It does not seem to matter that most people never actually race this just seems to be the regular season to take time off from it all.  Unless I hear complaints I will cancel all rides during the Oct. - Dec. and start again in Jan.  I do not like having rides on the schedule that nobody attends.   I have not spoken with George Woods about the Sat. morning ride I am just guessing that it has been dead. 

I used to keep a calendar on our web site that listed all of the relevant bike events that I could find.  This proved to be more work than it was worth.  I had people writing me from all over wanting me to list their event.  I usually have a few folks from out of state flooding my email in-box because they are mad that I am not listing their event or commercial tour.  The best way I found to deal with this is to delete the calendar altogether.  Both GABA and ABC have schedules on their sites and the excellent  AZcycling.com now has combined  road,  mountain, and cyclocross bike race schedules on the same list.  I could go on and on listing clubs that have rides but these are the main ones.  The local Chain Gang ride schedule will remain on our site and up to date.

The Chain Gang has some money and we seem to have a hard time spending it.  The occasional party does not use much cash.  I propose that we use some of it to run newspaper ads, radio spots or something else that increases membership and participation.   I have thrown around the idea of offering 50 free memberships to anyone who has gone on at least 5 club rides in a 12 week period.   Maybe we could have a weekend morning ride that includes free breakfast.  Late March or April would be a good time to try anything like this.   I am open to any ideas on how to use some of our money to increase membership.  If I receive no objections I will work something up and present it in a future Chainmail.  PLEASE somebody have an opinion (paid member) and provide input on this.  Apathy wears on me!

The last thing I am doing is stepping down as Chain Gang President.   I would still maintain the web site and Chainmail but the rest of the President's duties I never was very good at anyway.   A new president would breath new life into the club.   Any takers?  I think that my official term is up in March so someone is going to have to step up to the plate by then.  I will be out of town almost every weekend for the next 3 months and will not be on any Prescott rides until March.  Since I am resigning in March I will not be doing much as president, other than spending some of our money,  from here on out so the sooner someone else takes over the better.    I have been president for 2 years now. 

The Prescott Chain Gang Email List has recently been growing rapidly.  I have always had 2 or 3 people signing up a week and occasionally an email address goes bad or someone wants off the list but the list has grown steadily.  Just this past month I have been getting at least one a day.  A couple of days have had much more.   It is very exciting.  The list has about 100 local Prescott area people and close to 100 people from all over the world.  If things keep jamming like recently, these numbers will grow quickly.  Many out of town people indicate that they are planning to move to the area soon in the comments section of the sign up form.   I also get many other nice notes and support in the comments section.  Thanks and welcome to all.  I get a real kick when someone signs up from overseas.  I can not imagine why someone from Israel or India would want to receive Chainmail but I love it.  All of this has happened despite the fact that I have been to busy finishing my MA to write decent Chainmail articles.  I am less busy now and feel like getting back into it. 

I would like it if more of you wrote articles.  I have somewhat given up on this due to lack of response but I just want to reinforce the fact that I will post almost anything you send me.  I do not even have to agree with you.  Maybe someone from out of state or overseas could write a fun article on what brought you to be interested in The Prescott Chain Gang Chainmail.

I am writing this to answer the countless questions that are regularly emailed to me from our site.   It seems as though people from out of town are interested in the riding conditions in this area.  Many people from out of town look at the national weather map and think that we have the same weather as Phoenix.  Although Prescott is only 2 hours away from Phoenix it is a good 20F cooler and a bit wetter.  Prescott is close to 4000 ft. higher and that makes the difference.  Phoenix is all desert while Prescott has large pine forests.  Phoenix gets about 6 inches of precipitation in a year while Prescott gets 15-20 inches a year. (I remember Indiana getting 40-50 inches a year) The moisture mostly comes in 2 distinct seasons in both locations.  After these wetter times we can enjoy weeks of dry sunny weather.  Snow can come anytime from Oct. to April but Jan. and Feb. receive the most.  Late summer (July-Aug) is the Monsoon season and very violent storms regularly come in the late afternoon. If you ride in the morning you will often find sunny pleasant weather.  Locals love any form of rain but if you are visiting from a wetter climate you may find this annoying. 

Prescott is a great place if you ride on either a road or MT. bike.  The usual weather is a high of 50F in the winter and 90F in the summer. I read somewhere that Prescott has 300 sunny days a year. This seems about right.  Although we do get a few snowstorms the roads always clear in a couple days and you can get out.  To me, 50F and sunny is pleasant to ride in.  If 90F sounds hot in the summer you can always ride in the morning.  If the daytime high is 90F the morning temp. will be in the 60's. Arizona people like early morning rides in the summer.  There are times when the trails get very snowy but you can usually find someplace to ride off road at lower elevations.  In short you can easily ride outside year round.

Road rides are in short supply but the dozen we do have are spectacular.  There are scenic mountain passes and some flat-ish riding in nearby valleys.   If you are a MT. biker you are in for a real treat.  From downtown there are literally hundreds of options.  Dirt roads, jeep trails, and endless amounts of single track are just a short ride from your hotel room.  To me, this is the most impressive thing besides the weather in Prescott. Overcrowded trails are never a problem and most of the time you will not see any one at all.  I really feel that Prescott is one of the great undiscovered MT. bike towns.  I have lived in Moab and Telluride for extended periods of time (working) and spent some time in Durango.  These places have great riding but crowds are a problem.  I worked at a bike shop in Moab that rented a comparable numbers of bikes as the ski resorts, I have worked at,  rented skies. If you are looking for a bicycle vacation without the jet setters of the "discovered" bike towns try Prescott.

Disclaimer - All of these numbers are in the "more or less" category. 

Hi, I am in Cottonwood off and on all winter. I like to ride trail and road and have both bikes with me. What time are the weekly trail rides . I would like to do a sat morning ride some time. How many miles do you go. I ride mostly in Illinois so the altitude may be a problem for a while. I ride 2500 miles a year trail and road and usually ride about 17 mph on the road. Thanks for any information. I am somewhat familiar with Prescott and have ridden in the Bradshaw wilderness area last year. Mark Philpot    Driverq5no smamaol.com

Tim, can you please place on your ride calendar information on the Laveen Country Challenge that will be held on Sunday, February 11? Registrations can be obtained at any bike shop or on line at lensenet.com

Thanks Silverio Ontiveros

Prescott Bicycle Advisory Committee Jan. 3, 2001, meeting minutes

The Prescott Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) works with city staff, transportation officials and the community to develop on-road bicycleways as a serious mode of transportation to help minimize congestion and noise, keep our air clean and reduce motor vehicle miles traveled per capita. For transportation continuity, we coordinate our on-road designations with Sue Knaup, Executive Director of Prescott Alternative Transportation (PAT), who continues her efforts and accomplishments in developing off-road paths, trails and bicycle access for Prescott.

Attending: Marcee keller, Derek Brownlee, Steve Becker, Tiffany Rich, J.J. McCormack, Chris Frederiksen, Cindy Lee

Bike Plan update: Prescott Community Planner Tiffany Rich said she planned to have a list of bicycle facilities priorities delivered to Public Works Director Tom Long within the next couple days. She also planned to submit to him the full list of identified road hazards from the existing conditions survey under taken as part of the bicycle and pedestrian planning effort. She said the prioritization factors included the type of street -- arterial, collector or residential -- with arterial streets being the top priority. Other priorities are those streets that were components of the PBAC's Phase I plan and are the nucleus of Prescott Bike Route Connectivity such as Ruth and Sixth streets. Tiffany Reported that the public works staff is already addressing some of the existing conditions list hazards. The priority and hazards lists are to help Tom Long and public works staff determine bicycle and pedestrian transportation projects to include in the city's fiscal 2002 budget. Work on the FY 2002 budget is to get under way in February. The committee will submit the list, although City Attorney John Moffitt has not yet provided specific information about which bicycle facilities (signs, striping, parking racks, educational brochures etc.) the city's ONE percent road improvement tax may be used for. Specific questions about use of the tax money will be submitted to John for his response.

Cindy Lee suggested that the PBAC provide bicycle safety and laws brochures to the Motor Vehicle Division Office.

Marcee Keller inquired about whether the future traffic signal at Montezuma and Merritt streets will be bicycle sensitive.

Education/public relations: The committee agreed it would be beneficial to send a friendly, informational letter along with copies of PBAC meeting minutes to bicycle advocates and other organizations who may be interested in the PBACs efforts/accomplishments. The committee agreed that a letter and meeting minutes also should go out soon to bicycle survey respondents who indicated they would like to be contacted by the PBAC. Prescott Communications Director J.J. McCormack will work with Marcee to get the letters out via e-mail and regular mail.

J.J. reported that City Councilman Lee Nidess no longer will be able to serve as the liaison to the committee. The committee agreed to invite Councilman John Steward to serve as Council liaison.

Helmet law: Cindy Lee reported that she needs a letter from the PBAC in order to access hospital records indicating the number of bicycle-related injuries. J.J. will provide and Marcee will sign the letter for the hospital. This data and the written support from other affected jurisdictions and organizations is needed to help the PBAC make the pitch to Council for a helmet law. J.J. will work with Cindy to obtain those letters of support. Cindy suggested we seek a law requiring children 16 and under to wear helmets, instead of under 18. The committee agreed. There was discussion about including skateboards, scooters and in-line skates in the helmet law. Marcee noted that under current city, state and federal law, bicyclists (of all ages) are prohibited from using sidewalks and therefore must share the road with and abide by the same laws as motor vehicles. For this reason, the helmet requirement specifically for youthful bicyclists is important. The committee agreed to prioritize a helmet law for bicycles but also to be prepared to address questions and discuss including the other wheeled vehicles when we make the proposal to Council. Cindy will work with J.J. to get letters of support for schools, emergency service agencies and others who agree that a helmet law is a good idea in Prescott. The committee is aiming to bring the helmet law proposal to Council in February. A dry-run of the Council presentation is planned at the PBAC's Feb. 7 meeting.

CYTPO update: Derek attended the most recent meeting. He said discussion focused on preparations for the Metropolitan Planning Organization. (MPO). The latest word is that neither Chino Valley nor Humboldt, because of their low housing density, will be included in the MPO.

Derek reported that Yavapai County is planning to build a bridge over Willow Creek on Williamson Valley Road. Early indications are that bicycle traffic will be facilitated in the bridge design.

CYTPO commissioned an air quality study showing that fireplaces and woodstoves are becoming a problem in the Prescott area. For that reason, area communities are considering regulating fireplace and woodstove use. Derek explained that as an MPO, the Prescott area will be subject to federal and state air quality standards. Census data for area communities is expected in March. The next CYTPO meeting is Jan. 25.

Road project update: Prescott Senior Civil Engineer Dale was was not able to attend the meeting due to illness.

Trails Projects Overview: Prescott Trails and Open Space Coordinator Eric smith had a scheduling conflict and plans to present an overview at the committee's Feb. 7 meeting.

The next PBAC meeting is Feb. 7.

Respectfully submitted, J.J. McCormack

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.htm