smiles for miles
Transcription
smiles for miles
spoke’n word ID Smiles for Miles Article and photo courtesy of George Raimer WHEEL EN M • B I B U • RA P official newsletter of the Rapid Wheelmen Bicycle Club 03.2016 CLE CL Y C the board Randy Higgins President [email protected] Evan Wilson Vice President [email protected] Tad Smedes Treasurer [email protected] Jessica Ambrose Crawford Secretary [email protected] Mike Burden Director Emeritus [email protected] Susanne Aldridge Head Ride Captain [email protected] Jesse Munroe Safety & Advocacy Chair [email protected] Bob Ayars Membership Chair [email protected] OPEN Special Events & Publicity [email protected] Dave Durkee Road Race Team Manager [email protected] OPEN Off-Road Race Team Captain [email protected] Susanne Aldridge Website/Social Media [email protected] Rochelle Wieber-Omland Newsletter Editor [email protected] Dave Durkee Time-Trials Coordinator [email protected] president’s spin President Randy Higgins smiles for miles Smiles for Miles George Raimer Greetings, I would like to officially welcome two new members to the Rapid Wheelmen Board. Bob Ayars is our new Membership Chair and Jessica Ambrose Crawford is our new Secretary. Thank you for joining the board. We’re looking forward to another great year! Our next speaker for the March 3rd meeting is Dale Phelps from Village Bike. I had the privilege of spending time with Dale a couple of weeks ago when I signed up for his bike fit. Dale is certified in Body Geometry Fit along with many other certifications. He has a brand new fit system and fit bike, which Dale guarantees will help you ride with more comfort, farther, with less injury and even ride faster! When speaking with Dale, he gets to know you, how you ride and what kind of injuries you might have. He takes some measurements, you lay on a table and he takes some additional information from that process, after which you are ready to put yourself on the fit bike. But wait! There is another step! You get wired up!. There are wires and sensors that are attached to all the moving parts of the body that you use while cycling. The fit bike is preset from measurements taken from your bike. When you start riding, you are able to see yourself on screen and all kinds of interesting data, about which I will let Dale go into further detail. What is really neat as well is that as you are spinning, Dale can make adjustments to the fit bike. You do not have to get off or stop. You just keep spinning along, you feel the adjustments and you also feel what your body does as the adjustments are being made. Very cool if I may say so! So please come out and see what Dale has to say and to offer. I know it made a world of difference in my riding and how I feel on my bike. I was very surprised by the adjustments made to my bike as well. You might be surprised as well and it will be a great learning opportunity for all of us. What is the difference between a child on a tag-a-long and an old man on a fat bike? Not the smile because they are both wide as can be. Gray hair and wrinkles give the old man away. I’m still a kid at heart. Sunday afternoon my daughter called to ask if I wanted to go for a ride. She lives in Saranac, less than a drivers distance from the trail, speaking in golfers terms here. As soon as my wife and I pull into their driveway, our 5 year old grandson proudly proclaims that he is going too. Soon we have the co-pilot connected to my daughters Trek because we’re in too much of a hurry to switch the adapter to my fat bike. Down to the depot we head to start our ride on the Grand River Valley Rail Trail. The paved trail is about 1.25 miles long before crossing a bridge and transitioning to crushed limestone. Tricia hasn’t ridden all winter and soon is out of breath and commenting on the difficulty. We roll on for about ¾ mile when I suggest switching bikes. After adjusting seat heights on both bikes and raising Titus’s co-pilot seat about 2 inches we takeoff again. Man is that 5 year old growing. Now I’m huffing and puffing and Tricia has the big smile. It’s her first time on a fat bike and the difference between sinking into the limestone surface on 1.9” town and country tires pulling a co-pilot with a heavy 5 year old versus 4” fat bike tires on a Mukluk 2 is like night and day. Soon we’ve ridden 2.5 miles from the depot and Titus decides it is time to turn around so we head back to Saranac. As we approach the pavement again Titus requests a stop for a rider change so we swap bikes again, adjusting saddle heights, and head back home. As we were heading back on the pavement I managed to get a nice motion shot as we rode side by side. I think Titus is going to be Grandpa’s biking buddy. Thanks for reading and see you on the road soon, be safe! Randy Higgins President, Rapid Wheelmen Bike Club Grandpa’s biking buddy, Titus, pictured on the front cover. club news club social GRATA Central Station 250 Grandville Avenue SW Grand Rapids - 2nd Floor Thursday, March 3, 2016 6:00 pm Board Meeting 7:00 pm General Meeting Guest Speakers: Dale Phelps from Village Bike will discuss proper bike fit and his brand new fit system and fit bike. Dale guarantees it will help you ride with more comfort, farther, with less injury and even faster. (check the Yahoo Group for the latest updates) Thank you to the Colorburst recipients for joining us at our February club meeting and sharing their projects for this year. The Rapid Wheelmen were able to donate a total of $2800 between the four chosen organizations: West Michigan Trails and Greenways Coalition, Friends of the White Pine Trail, Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition and Elves and More of West Michigan. Thanks again for your support! John Morrison. Director WMTGC David Heyboer. Director Friends of WPT Donna Messina, Chair & Jay Fowler, Director GGRBC ride calendar - march 2016 sunday monday 28 tuesday 29 wednesday 01 thursday 02 Mystery Ride, 11am FOBID, 6:30pm 06 07 08 friday 03 saturday 04 Club Meeting, 7pm 09 10 Mystery Ride, 10am 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 Mystery Ride, 11am FOBID, 6:30pm 20 21 22 27 28 29 19 Mystery Ride, 10am 23 24 25 Mystery Ride, 11am FOBID, 6:30pm Easter Sunday 12 Mystery Ride, 10am Mystery Ride, 11am FOBID, 6:30pm Daylight Savings 05 26 Mystery Ride, 10am 30 31 01 02 Mystery Ride, 11am FOBID, 6:30pm Pace Info: Easy: 9-11mph Casual: 11-13mph Moderate: 13-15mph Good: 15-17mph Fast: 17-19mph Fast Plus: 19+mph MARCH 2016 DAY DATE RIDE NAME RIDE START RIDE DETAILS CONTACTS WED 2,9,16,23,30 Mystery Ride 11:00am start WPTH, Belmont Keep an eye on Yahoo Groups for changes and more details. Coffee at Panera at Knapps Corner at 2pm on bad weather days. WED 2,9,16,23,30 FOBID 6:30pm start Challenger Elementary 2475 52nd St. SE, Kentwood A night of Cross Country Skiing, a fun time with something a little different, come on out and enjoy a night out under the sky’s. Lights required! Keep and eye on Yahoo Groups for changes. Mike Burden, 616-915-2048, [email protected] SAT 5,12,19,26 Mystery Ride 10:00am start Keep an eye on Yahoo Groups for changes and more details. Coffee at Panera at 10:00am on rainy days (28th St. east of the Beltline). Bob Ayars, 616-780-9590 Maps to ride start locations are located at rapidwheelmen.com check it on: Groups (don’t leave home without it) Maps to ride start locations are located at rapidwheelmen.com Bob Ayars, 616-780-9590 walk, run, ride 4th Annual New Year’s Resolution Walk, Run, Ride George Raimer more words about dressing for the cold weather and hung up, excited about what tomorrow might be like. Mark’s bike is a Trek 26 inch mountain bike with 26 x 2.2” studded tires so I knew he wouldn’t have any issues with traction on ice. What we didn’t know is whether the snow would be stiff enough to support the weight since the trail was not groomed and if you remember, it was that nasty, heavy, slushy stuff that froze in place if you didn’t get right on it with a shovel to remove it from your drive and sidewalk. For the 4th year now we have held a fun event for anybody daring to brave the chilly temps in Saranac. We meet at the Saranac Depot on the Grand River Valley Rail Trail to enjoy an activity of your choice, whether it be walking, running, or cycling. Of course, being a Rapid Wheelmen member, you probably can guess which activity I enjoy the most. This year the temperature was in the low double digits and there weren’t as many participants as past events. This year was really exciting for me for a couple of reasons, one being people that show up, and the other one is the conditions. First, I received a call early New Year’s eve from a friend in Saranac. Here’s how it went. “Do you think I’ll be able to ride with you on the snow tomorrow”, asks Mark. Mark started getting serious about restoring his health last year. Well, I said, I won’t know until you try. First off, you’ll have to run your tires at or below the lowest recommended pressure. All we can do is try. You know you’ll be able to ride to the end of the pavement at least, I said. We exchanged a few New Year’s Day arrives and it is cold with a pretty good breeze blowing. As I set up and try to find a live outlet to plug in the coffee pot to heat the water for hot chocolate, hot cider, coffee or tea, my mom rolls into the parking lot. She is an active member of the Saranac Boston Historical Society and they take care of the Depot museum. She points me to a live outlet at a bell between the depot and GRVRT so we get the water heating. Many friends show up and we get ready to walk, run, or ride. For me it is riding, of course. It’s cold out so some of the participants leave before picture time. This is a start when you want and go as far as you want event with no rules except for being safe. This year there are only 3 riders that show up, Mark, and Ron, and I. Ron is the Mayor of Belding and is also a director on the board of the Friends of the Fred Meijer River Valley Rail Trails. I talked Ron into trying a fat bike in 2014. He had a lot of back problems and didn’t think he could ride any more but due to the nature of the soft ride Continued next page. 4th Annual New Year’s Resolution Walk, Run, Ride at Saranac Depot Museum. Photo courtesy of George Raimer. walk, run, ride on a fat bike he found that he could ride and really enjoys it. Ron enjoys his Pugsly and really enjoys the studded tires he is riding on this year and is out on the trails several days a week. Mark is another friend with a fascinating story. Mark is a cancer survivor who started riding more in 2014 and our paths crossed several times, stopping to chat with each other in 2014 when we’d meet on the trail. In 2015 Mark decided to ride from Saranac to St Johns with me April 18th for the CIS Trail ribbon cutting ceremony. Mark called me up the night before that event and asked me if he could ride with me. I knew Mark was a pretty strong rider but he was also not in the best of shape, weighing over 300 lbs. Mark let me know that he just wanted to ride over and Karen, his wife would pick him up in St Johns. St Johns is on the CIS trail which starts at Prairie Creek in Ionia where the GRVRT stops so you can actually ride from Saranac to Owosso without getting on a road. To get off this side story, Mark made it to St Johns, dropped 90 pounds between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and 120 pounds total last year. As we depart the depot to ride to Prairie Creek and back the excitement builds. The village of Saranac keeps the paved section of the trail plowed in the winter to keep a safe venue for the residents to exercise away from traffic and noise so the ride is easy. At a bridge on the trail near Jackson Road east of Saranac the pavement ends and crushed limestone starts. This is where the big question will be answered. Will the mountain bike be able to stay on the top of the crusty snow like our fat bikes sporting 3.8 and 4” tires? As we start rolling on the crusty snow I see Mark is moving right along with the occasional sound of crushing snow but to our amazement he was able to ride on top of the crust. With a fresh dusting of snow on top it was very quiet riding with the occasional sound of the crust crumbling. Ron, Mark, and I ride together fascinated by the wonderful conditions and are amazed at the smooth, quiet ride and loose ourselves in conversation. Soon we cross the new bridge over M66. Ionia doesn’t plow the paved section of the trail so it is no different than the limestone section between Saranac and Ionia. As we make our way through town it is more difficult riding through and over the banks of snow on the trail, remnants from the plows clearing the city streets. Mark succumbs to one and ends up in the snow. A fairly smooth landing but nun the less ends up on the ground. On the bikes again, we reach Prairie Creek and enjoy the sound of rushing water as it flows over the rocky creek bottom. We enjoy some more conversation and consume energy bars and start back toward Saranac. Before we reach Cleveland Street we see another biker approaching us. It is Fred Harrer, another trail supporter, so we stopped to talk with him for a while. He was on a 29er and had made it from the Depot, after arriving late for the event. He was really enjoying the conditions too and wondered who the crazy one was that was riding all over the place, on the shoulders and through ditches. We departed company and Fred continued on to Prairie Creek and would catch up with us later. As we crossed the snow banks I started acting a fraction of my age again and tried to crush snow boulders left by the snow plows. I hit a big one that rolled, I went airborne, and everybody including me started laughing. Seems like between Mark and me, I gathered the most style points. After that, I settled down and acted a little more my age. As we crossed the 466 foot long bridge over the Grand River we started to ride at different paces and soon Mark was off to the depot. I rested for a while in the Ionia State Recreation Area and waited for Ron so I could keep him company for the rest of our journey. Soon Fred passed by and then Ron approached so I mounted my Mukluk and we again were riding together talking about the trail and life. Before we get back to pavement, we meet 3 guys on fat bikes heading out to ride single track out in the ISRA. There are 4 connectors between the GRVRT and Chief Cob-moo-sa MB Trail in the ISRA and many people ride from Saranac and Ionia out to the single track trails. Soon we are back at the depot where we enjoy a hot cup of chocolate and down some fresh homemade cookies. My mother is so kind, sticking around in the cold to hand out participation cards she makes and gives to people as they complete their favorite activity and sign our participation log. Next year will be our 5th and I hope to see some more new faces. It’s been a blast these 4 years and our family enjoys putting on this fun event to get people out and enjoying the great state of Michigan. Mark your calendars for a fun event January 1st 2017 at the Saranac Depot. We hope to see you there. fat fun Fat Fun George Raimer Saturday brought about a sunny sky with stiff wind out of the west. Friday night I received a text from George Trowbridge, the Ionia Trail Coordinator, confirming our meeting location as being the Otisco Township Office on 6 mile road on the west side of Smyrna at 8:30am. We’d be riding to Greenville and back on the Flat River Valley Rail Trail with another fat bike riding friend. The Flat River Valley Rail Trail is largely unimproved from when they pulled the tracks and ties up in 2012 so the going is slow and rough with anything but a fat bike. The ride up to Belding was nice with no wind to speak of and the Flat River within sight for well over half of the 3 plus mile ride. As soon as you reach M44 in Belding the trail is improved with asphalt pavement for 2.2 miles. There are 3 nice bridges crossing the flat river, one under M44, one near the middle of town, and the third about 1000 feet south of Long Lake Road. The pavement is nice and the wind out of the west pushes us through town as the trail turns toward the east and then turns north again. As we head north we leave town and come onto a nice size ash tree across the trail, remnants of the record winds yesterday, so we dis-mount our bikes and push it off the trail. On the bikes again, we cross the last bridge and hit the 1000 foot section of crushed limestone. It is soft from the frost heaving the limestone. Soon we come upon glare ice across the entire trail and I ride it like it wasn’t even there. Studded tires are wonderful. Matt and I are quickly beyond the ice and turn to see George nowhere in sight so we turn around and head back only to see him approaching. Seems he took a wild ride on the ice. No bruises that I know of and he was in good spirits, laughing so all was good. Next we cross Long Lake, Hock, and Berridge roads. We’re making pretty good time and then we start to hit more ice but it is pretty spotty and Matt and GT ride around it while I ride the smooth hard ice because it is easier. Next thing I hear is a thud and carbon fiber ringing. Matt’s carbon fiber Fatbak was flat on the ground and he was rubbing his knee. Ouch. While we wait there for Matt to recover I talked GT into riding my Mulkluk with studded tires up the trail a ways on the ice. He was impressed with the traction. We considered turning around and heading back to Smyrna. I suggested that I ride up the trail to see how much more ice lie ahead. Only a couple hundred yards and bare ground again so I called GT and reported the conditions. Before long they caught up and soon we were just south of M57 when 2 deer bolted to our side then stood frozen while we passed. While we rested and downed some trail mix at Jackson’s Landing we talked about bikes, dogs, and life. This was a therapy ride for Matt, having to put down their family pet Thursday. It was fun riding with friends again. It was Matt’s first ride on the FRVRT. We then turned south on the Flat River Trail until we reached Fairplains and then took that to the FRVRT. Soon, we were back to the ice but now instead of glare ice the sun had softened it enough that the non-studded tires were even getting a pretty good grip. As we crossed Long Lake Road again I hear Matt say something about a flat so I turned around and GT’s 4.8” Lou was getting pretty soft. I pulled my Crank Brothers pump off my frame and started pumping it up and noticed a nice splinter protruding from the sidewall. The pump up lasted a couple of miles, through town to M44 where I pumped it up again. That lasted until we got about two thirds way back to Smyrna where we inflated it one more time. Soon we were climbing the hill back into Smyrna, straight into the wind with a flag straight out reminding us of the wind speed and soon we were back to the township hall. Another nice spring ride just short of 23 miles. Nice not to ride on salted roads or muddy singletrack. bike shops 1. 3rd Coast Cycles 5211 Cherry Ave #170 Hudsonville, MI 49426 (616) 662-1710 www.thirdcoastcycles.com 2. Ada Bike Shop 597 Ada Drive Ada, MI 49301 (616) 682-2453 www.grandrapidsbicycles.com 3. Alger Bikes 120 - 28th St. S.W. Grand Rapids, MI 49548 (616) 243-9753 www.algerbikes.com 4. Central District Cyclery 52 Monroe Center St NW Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (616) 719-1265 www.spinful.wix.com/centraldistrict 9. Speed Merchants 106 E. Bridge St. Rockford, MI 49341 (616) 866-2226 www.speedmerchantsbikeshop.com 13. Village Cycle & Fitness 5991 Kalamazoo Ave SE Grand Rapids, MI 49508 (616) 455-4870 www.villagebikeshop.com 10. West Michigan Bike & Fitness 2830 East Paris Ave SE Kentwood, MI 49512 (616) 942-1880 www.westmichiganbike.com 14. Village Cycle & Fitness 2844 Thornapple River Drive SE Cascade, MI 49546 (616) 285-1670 www.villagebikeshop.com 11. West Michigan Bike & Fitness 4300 Chicago Dr. SW Grandville, MI 49418 (616) 531-9911 www.westmichiganbike.com 15. Village Cycle & Fitness 5278 Plainfield Ave NE Grand Rapids, MI 49525 (616) 361-3661 www.villagebikeshop.com 12. Village Cycle & Fitness 450-A Baldwin Jenison, MI 49428 (616) 457-1670 www.villagebikeshop.com 5. Freewheeler Bike Shop 915 Leonard Street NW Grand Rapids, MI 49504 (616) 451-8011 www.freewheelerbikeshop.com 9 6. Gap30 Cycles 3423 Lousma Dr SE Grand Rapids, MI 49548 (616) 301-1057 www.gap30cycles.com 7. Grand Rapids Bicycle 1311 Fulton St E Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (616) 458-2200 www.grandrapidsbicycles.com 15 8. Grand Rapids Bicycle 644 Lovett Ave SE Grand Rapids, MI 49506 (616) 272-4861 www.grandrapidsbicycles.com 5 4 7 2 8 12 11 1 3 10 6 13 14 Rapid Wheelmen PO Box 1008 Grand Rapids, MI 49501 Support your club, ride in club colors! Items will be available for purchase at club meetings and events. t-shirts - $12 shorts - $65 bib shorts - $70 jersey - $60 water bottle - $5 (or 2 for $8) To arrange a purchase, contact: Randy Higgins at [email protected] © 2016 wieber-omland • B U B I Get daily ride information, brag about your new rig, join in some fun trash talk or just network with other group members. • http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ rapidwheelmen/ CLE CL Y C Join the Rapid Wheelmen Yahoo Group! ID WHEEL EN M Groups RA P rapid wheelmen rapid wheelmen time trials