EBC BikewriterM ay 2007 T he Evansville Bicycle Club N ewsletter

Notes from the President's Corner by Darlene Wefel

Have you seen any of the EBC's postings on local calendars such as the Evansville Courier's w eb current events, Channel 14, etc. “Com e R ide W ith U s” that's the m essage w e are trying to spread. W e w ant to w elcom e new riders and pair them up w ith experienced riders so they are fam iliar w ith our routes, get a chance to know w ho w e are, and get com fortable riding. If you see a new face, introduce yourself, point them in A nn Pendley's or m y direction. W e'll try to pair them up w ith som eone in their level of riding.

U p com ing event; M ay 1st A nn Pendley, R on Pendley, and I w ill be doing a bicycle safety and bike-m aintenance program for the N ew burgh Boy S couts. It w ill be held at the N ew burgh Pres- byterian Church, 642 Hw y 662, N ew burgh @ 6:00 p.m. There w ill be approxim ately 30 – 40 Boy S couts, ages 13 - 16. M ay 15 th at W illard Library, Evansville @ 3:30 p.m., w e w ill be doing a bicy- cle safety program for children ages 6 – 13 and approxim ately 30 children are expected. J une 21, the M ake a D ifference Foundation w ill be giving aw ay 150 bikes and helm ets at Bosse Field and the bike club has been asked to do a short bike safety program . I do not have a tim e as of this printing, but anticipate it w ill be a m orning event. I'll post this again in next m onths new s. I'm looking for several club m em bers to help w ith this project.

S cott G illes has donated a fantastic gift to be raffled off at the banquet this year. It's a $ 500 (FIV E HU N D R ED D O LLA R ) G illes Cycling & Fitness G ift Card for one lucky EBC m em ber. Y ou can't purchase a raffle ticket, but you can earn one. There are several w ays to earn a ticket for the draw ing. For every three club m eetings you attend, you w ill earn one ticket. Every 500 club m iles you ride w ill earn you a ticket. W rite an article for the new sletter and you w ill earn you a ticket (m ax. 2 tickets.) Participate in a club bike safety event or help w ith a bike club sponsored event w ill earn you a ticket. W orking the G PM w ill earn you a ticket, and if you at- tend the banquet, you w ill earn a ticket. Pretty sim ple. S o lets get out there and ride.

Looking for opinions, suggestions, and ideas on w hat you w ould like to see done as a m em orial for S am W olf w ho died at the G PM last year. S o far, ideas have been all over the place. The G PM organizers have been m eeting m onthly planning this year's events. If you have any idea, please em ail them to the club's em ail address evansvillebicycleclub@ gm ail.com

Thanks S cott for your continuous support of our club! R espectfully S ubm itted

Confessions of a Bike Trail Junkie by Charlie Miller

The state of is blessed with a wonderful bike trail system, especially the southwest part of the state where I live. There are hundreds of miles of blacktop paved Rail-to-trails in Ohio and these trails are where I, as on over weight couch potato, first took up riding in 1996. I’ve been a trail junkie ever since. I do a lot of my early spring “tune-up” riding on the trails near my home. The Little Miami Bike Trail is one of my favorites. Its southern trail head is located just a few miles from my home in , and it follows the Little Miami River north to its headwaters in the beautiful Clifton Gorge area of Yellow Springs Ohio. But the trail does not end there. It continues on through to Springfield Ohio and finds its northern trail head currently located near Buck Creek State Park. If you begin to ride at the southern terminus, you will pass through Xenia, Ohio at about the 50-mile mark.

The city of Xenia labels itself as the “Bicycle Capitol of the Midwest,” and with good reason. Upon arriving there the trail will take you into the beautifully restored Xenia Station. The old train station was torn down decades ago with the demise for the Baltimore and Ohio rail yards. But through the determination of local bicycle activist groups, it has been rebuilt to look exactly like the old station. Within the building, you will find a small railroad museum, snack vending machine area, and very clean restrooms. The top floor is dedicated to class rooms, but you can also climb a spiral staircase that will take you up into a central observation platform. If you take the climb, you are rewarded with a wonderful view of the surrounding area. Xenia station is also a focal point where five bike trails converge. The planned Ohio-to-Erie trail will utilize these trails when it is completed. This route will link ’s Lake Erie shore line with the Cincinnati’s Ohio River front. That will be close to 400 miles of beautiful trail riding that passes through some of Ohio’s most scenic areas. The trail also passes through enough cities and towns to offer many hotels, restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts, and even camping options for any- one who wants to make extended trips.

In my travels, I have sought out and ridden many bike trails in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and even Florida. They are all wonderful. But My Heart lies along the Banks of the Little Miami River in southwest Ohio where it all began for me.

W elcom e N ew M em bers J ay Porter

J im Bush

Lee A nn G ee

Page 2 Henderson T ri-Fest R ide by Faye Carter

The annual Tri-Fest bike tour w as held on S aturday, M ay 21 in Henderson, KY . This w as held as part of the Tri-Fest festival in dow ntow n Henderson. Proceeds from the bike ride benefit the R ed Cross.

The m orning w as perfect w hen Charlie and I arrived in Henderson. W e started riding around 8:30 w ith plans to decide w hich route at the point w here they split. I had done one 11-m ile ride and one 4-m ile ride so far in 2007. Tw o m iles into our ride, a rider flagged dow n to tell us a lady had a flat ahead and needed help. He said he didn't have tim e to help and rode on. A bout a m ile on, w e cam e upon tw o w om en standing by the road w ith their m ountain bikes. The rear tire w as flat on one bike. They didn't have a pum p, patch kit or tube w ith them and didn't have a clue how to use any of them even it they'd had tools.

J ust after w e arrived, a S A G vehicle stopped and offered to take them back to Henderson. The ladies did not w ant to be taken in by the S A G . They w anted som eone to fix their tire for them and the S A G person w as not able to do it. Charlie rem oved the tire, and I got out m y S peed Lever tool. Inspection of the tube revealed a crack a sm all distance below the stem . I asked the lady if she'd put in new tubes this year. S he said the tires and tubes w ere betw een ten and fifteen years old. I told her the tube w as probably dry rotting and cracking from that. I got out tw o patches and Charlie and I put glue on the w hole crack and stuck tw o patches on trying to cover as m uch as possible. The tube seem ed to hold air. W e did give the ladies in- structions on patching, replacing it, checking for pinches and airing it. O ne lady had been talk- ing to her husband on the cell phone, and she told him to buy new tubes for their bikes. They took off to try to com plete their 12-m ile ride.

Charlie and I stopped at the 5-m ile rest stop so Charlie could w ash his hands. Before w e left, the tw o ladies rode up. They planned to continue their ride since the tube seem ed to be holding air.

W e couldn't have had a better day to ride. W e decided to do the 38-m ile ride so I w ouldn't be totally w iped out at the end. W hen w e got back dow ntow n, w e bought sandw iches and headed for the shade. W e w ere seated in tim e to w atch the beginning of the Elvis Im personator Con- test. W e really enjoyed that and stayed to w atch tw o of the contestants perform .

The w eather w as perfect for the ride. It's w as a lovely, easy ride w ith alm ost no traffic. D ur- ing the ride, I m ade the follow ing com m ent several tim es:

It doesn't get any better than this!

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Tour Director’s Corner

Tour D irector: J ay V ercellotti

W elcom e to the first edition of the Tour D irector’s Corner. I hope that you w ill take tim e each m onth to check this section for updates that you need to know about. I’m starting this colum n for tw o reasons: First, the ride calendar is overstuffed w ith inform ation so I’ve m oved all the details for area events to the Event Inform a- tion section below . There you w ill find street addresses of starting locations, w eb address, phone num bers, etc. for the area events w hich are eligible for club m ileage. This w ill free up space on the ride calendar and prevent oddities such as the “supercells” w hich form ed last sum m er w hen the text w ould not fit unless I carved into the space for M onday or Friday. S econdly, I needed a place to discuss inform ation the club needs to know , such as new tim es or locations for our regular rides. I’d also like to pick up som ething that w as started a few years back w here w e publish cue sheets for our rides so that new m em bers can have a good backup to our D an Henries. They are very good for m ost of our routes, but you never know w hen the old steam roller is going to com e along and pave over them , or som eone w ith a can of black spray paint is going to pull a m isguided prank on us. First order of business: If you haven’t been to the club m eetings lately, then you are probably confused about w hat is going on w ith the start tim e and the nam e of the S unday afternoon ride. O ver the last few years, w e have gradually shifted the start tim e later each m onth in the spring and earlier each m onth in the fall. S o this year, the Feb. ride w as at 2PM , then M arch w as at 3PM , just like last year. The consensus w as that w as too late for M arch, so for A pril w e m oved it back to 2PM . Here’s how it w ill be now : S ept—A pr start at 2PM and M ay-A ug start at 3:30PM . That is, until w e decide otherw ise at som e future club m eeting. W hat w as that? Beginner and Interm ediate S kills D evelopm ent Ride? N othing has changed except the nam e, and even that has changed again. A nn Pendley has suggested sim ply calling it “Com e Ride W ith U s!” I have to agree that I like that one bet- ter...sorry D arlene. The nam e is being used for the S unday afternoon O lm stead route and the Thursday m orning circuit rides. The idea is to encourage new riders to show up and w e felt that w e need a ride that looks like a good choice for som eone un- fam iliar w ith the club. W e need to help new riders find som eone to ride w ith and to help get them acquainted w ith the club. A lso, if you are a new rider, it is im portant to be ready to leave 30 m inutes early so that you can either ride w ith som e of us slow er people w ho often leave a little early (if that’s your style) or just so you have tim e to find a group that m atches your speed. In case you are w ondering w hat a circuit ride is, the calendar blurb says it best, “W e w ill ride one to one and a quarter hours on a tw o to six m ile (or so) course. A ll Circuit rides w ill count as 20 m iles.” The N o D rop Rides have begun. You m ay have just been thinking, “I thought that N o D rop Rides w ere for the new people?” That is still true, but those are only 6 or 7 tim es a year. S tarting this year, w e plan to prom ote the N o D rop Rides through flyers and printed ads, such as in the Courier & Press, and these other rides are once or tw ice a w eek. If w e can com e up w ith a better nam e, that m ay also be changed. W e w ant people to know that these rides are a fam ily event w here w e ride in a group at a speed that is com fortable for everyone, including the kids. It’s the best w ay to get acquainted w ith the club and find m em bers w ho w ould be good to m eet up w ith at other w eekly rides. If you’re thinking about joining the club, then defi- nitely be sure to com e see us at the next N o D rop Ride! The w eekday century is m oving to Thursdays. The m ajority of the people w ho can’t ride on the S aturday century have banded together and requested that it be m oved from W ednesday to Thursday. S ince I’ve only found people in favor of this m ove or w ho are neutral, and since nobody objected at the club m eeting, this change has been m ade. Please note that the short O ld D am route is only 27 m iles and not 29 m iles. The calendars should reflect this from now on. Last item : Be on the lookout on the w eb site for route m aps. I’ll be giving our w ebm aster som e links to routes that I’m put- ting into http://w w w .bikely.com . This is a m apping service that lets m e m ap the routes and create cue sheets. M y goal is to m ap all of our routes so that new people have an easier tim e.

S ee you all out there on the roads!

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