Sept 2004Publication.Pub
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
North Carolina September 2004 Bicycle Club, Inc. NC BICYCLE NEWS INSIDE THIS ISSUE: A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT B Y DAVID COLE, PRESIDENT A Message From 1 Our President for the ride itself, and stop at Pyrenees 2004 2-4 NCBC Summer Rally in September is Labor Day, stores along the route as we’ll defer to the second Mon- needed. There will be food 4 The club held its annual Sum- day (Sept 13). Brandon Sept. Club Meeting back at the park when you Brown, an admitted gadget mer Rally on July 18 at the finish, so you may relax with Shearon Harris Visitors’ Cen- freak, will show off the variety 2004 US Transplant 5 your friends afterwards and of power tap trainers he has. ter. We were favored with tell tall tales how, say, had Games good weather, and 103 cy- How much horsepower can you not run a marathon the you generate over .3 miles? clists took part. They found day before, you could have Sofia-Varna-Sofia 5, 8- Come and find out! This the 100K route to be as ad- sprinted up the hills ahead of (?????-?????-?????) 9, 11 vertised – challenging! It meeting will be held at the pack instead of pulling up Sammy’s Tap & Grill in Ra- Part II goes up both Lysta and the rear so as to scout for Bynum Ridge, with Old Gra- leigh. As always, check the folks being dropped (see ref- NCBC web site for details and Fall Rally/Road Dog 6-7 ham Road in between. (Maps erence to Road Dogs in next and cue sheets can still be directions. paragraph). Rally found on the NCBC web site). NCBC Officers Bike Shop Profile: 10 You may have heard of the Part of what I appreciated Frank’s Cyclery North Raleigh Road Dogs, a about this event was the co- renegade group of club riders We’ll be electing new officers operation among club mem- at the NCBC Christmas party Ride Calendar 12-14 who like to set their own rules bers in hosting it. Adrian about things. They’ve hosted in December (date TBD, but Hands and Bruce Rosar their own Road Dog Rally the the location will be Henri Tho- Membership News 15 marked the route. Henri Tho- past couple years, and we’re mas’ house near Holly mas gathered the food and combining forces this year. In Springs). If you enjoy cycling supplies. Carol Schroeder 15- keeping with Road Dog tradi- and would like to be actively Membership Applica- brought the ice. Adrian, involved with like-minded 16 tion, the century ride will actu- tion & Waiver Daniel Gatti, Brandon Brown ally be 110 miles. There will people, PLEASE contact me to and Zonda Hillman staffed be shorter distances avail- let me know. This doesn’t the sag stops, while Bruce able, too, of course. We do mean you have to be presi- Special Points of and Steve Goodridge swept ask that folks register for the dent - there a variety of things Interest the 100K route. And, oh, I event, just so we can antici- you can do – but I’d love to printed the maps, cue sheets, pate the numbers. See the discuss this with and help you • Pyrenees 2004, Pages 2- registration forms, and NCBC web site at NCBike- find a friendly home within brought the club’s trailer. the club. My email address is Club.org for details. 4 Much thanks to all these folks [email protected]. for putting on the event! • September Club Meet- NCBC Meetings ing, Page 4 NCBC Fall Rally It always surprises me that • 2004 U.S. Transplant more folks don’t show up for Games, Page 5 Our Fall Rally will be a little the NCBC club meetings. We different this year. We’ll have have maybe 5 times the num- • Sofia-Varna-Sofia, Pages a ride (not really a rally – as ber of folks as we had last there will be no charge) on 5, 8-9, 11 year, but these are good Saturday, September 25 from meetings with interesting Blue Jay Point Park. Like • Bike Shop Profile, topics, with good food and most rides, you’ll be expected drink, to boot. You should Frank’s Cyclery, Page 10. to provide your own provisions come! Since the first Monday Page 2 NC Bicycle News P YRENEES 2004 B Y CLAUDE MONNIER, NCBC MEMBER (WITH CORRECTIONS FROM SMITH DOSS AND MARK G ATEHOUSE) The Genesis of the Trip house from Greensboro (Mark workshop was a 130 years val towns this year The South- earned the nick name “El old rickshaw imported from west region of France is fa- Toro”, because he is strong as India, in working condition. mous for its food (is there a During the recovery from our a bull, & rides for the De Oro Mark and Betsy’s new tan- region that is not?), and it did October 2002 accident (and a team), and Kip Clyburn and dem has been named the live up to our expectations. broken knee cap injury), I Anne Bringuier from Taylors- “Titanium rickshaw” as a decided that if I were ever ville, NC (Kip and Anne own 2 mockery of their disparity in able to ride a bike again, I tandems and ride with their fitness level (Betsy admits It is fair to say that in 2 would tackle some of the kids a lot, so hauling panniers “He puts me on the bike”). weeks, we did not have a bad toughest mountains: the Pyre- meal. We had some funny is an easy feat!). So, having a real rickshaw nees, Alps, Rockies etc. So, available for a test ride was experiences: in Audressein after spending the year 2003 an opportunity we could not with a very fancy Belgian Mai- focusing on recovery, getting Bikes and Technology miss. After riding the rick- tre D who forgot to bring us back in shape, avoiding inju- shaw with Betsy, Mark was the extra pasta we requested ries, especially knee tendoni- very glad he had the “ti” ver- – we started the Portet d’As- tis, this year was time to real- Our 3 teams each had a pet the next day on empty travel tandem equipped with sion since the real one was ize one of the magic goals: made out of very heavy steel tanks – and the Hotel owners the Pyrenees. With the popu- couplers. The bikes can be were mad at him for having to dismantled and loaded in and wood. He also had a larity of the Tour de France, better appreciation of the eat pasta salad for another 3 following Lance Armstrong’s suitcases that fit airlines re- days! We also had divine sur- strictions. 2 teams arrived on large difference between victories, many of us are now “some” contribution and prises (Quillan – twice!, and familiar with names such as time and built their bikes with- Saint Gaudens). Kip and Tourmalet, La Mongie, out incident. The last team “none” by a stoker. Anne’s friends in Quillan also Aubisque, Luz Ardiden, Hauta- arrived a day late, their bike treated us to a wonderful cam. They were part of our was delayed one more day, dinner at their house, after and they caught up with us 2 Places to Stay, Places to Eat goals this year. Other goals some of their friends chal- were also to visit some mag- days after the start, frustrated lenged us with some fero- nificent historical and natural but happy to join the fun. We started a 2 weeks loop cious climbs up Port de Pail- from Toulouse (the airport sites, as the region bordering heres (2001 m) and Col de France and Spain is rich in shuttle between the airport We made a stop for 3 days in and the downtown proved Chioula. history. the small town of Quillan convenient and inexpensive). where Kip & Anne had left The loop included stops Weather wise, the Pyrenees, Smith and I planned the their daughters on vacation picked either due to a historic at least from the French side, routes, booked the hotels for with other friends while they interest such as: Carcas- are green mountains, be- the 3 tandem teams that were cyclo-touring. sonne, Tarascon sur Ariege, or cause they block the rain accepted the challenge. The because of their location rela- clouds coming from the Atlan- trip happened during the last It was just our luck to find an tive to the mountains we set tic Ocean. We had 2 rainy 2 weeks of June, to avoid the old store, which a man was to conquer: Bagneres de days, and 2 other cloudy days. after school summer vacation using as a workshop to re- Bigorre, Argeles Gazost. The temperatures remained rush in Europe. The teams store old furniture and weave Many of these places are Tour in the mid 70’s to mid 80’s, were: Mark and Betsy Gate- baskets. On display in his de France stages start or arri- so perfect riding tempera- Left photo (from left to right), Smith Doss, Claude Monnier, Kip Clyburn, Anne Bringuier, Mark and Betsy Gatehouse near “the escargot” (the snail, because the roads go over and underneath the bridge. Above, Pic du Midi, an astro- nomic observatory in the Pyrenees Far right, Mark and Betsy test (not far from La Mongie, another drive the rickshaw in Quillan. Tour de France climb. NC Bicycle News Page 3 P YRENEES 2004 (CONTINUED) BY CLAUDE MONNIER, NCBC MEMBER tures. Do not forget your jack- d’Aspin (July 15th stage), However, it is definitely a ets for the long down hills where the cows literally Our cycling trip could be best climb that we would recom- following long ascents up the chased cyclists’ legs for described as containing 5 mend you do without the bur- mountains.