A Progressive Series is a number of rides that help you become a stronger rider. Learn to be road savvy, change a tire, get tips on nutrition and explore the best roads of the bay area. Experience group cycling and road etiquette. Track your progress with other cyclists. Each week we will introduce an exciting place to ride.

The terrain will gradually change and become more challenging. The first four rides are on Sunday’s and roughly 25 miles. This will give you consistency and practice. The next group of rides will be in the 30-45 mile range. This will help you achieve a 50 mile ride. The last group of rides will help cyclists who are driven to conquer that first century or participate in a two day event.

These will be great training rides if you are signed for Cinderella, Seattle to Portland, Grand Tour Double Metric.

The first 4 Easy Ride Series will begin on Sunday, February 28.

02-28 Alameda Creek Trail in north Fremont

03-07 Coffee Ride to Julie’s in Alameda

03-14 Coffee ride to El Greco North Beach in San Francisco

03-21 Las Trampas in San Ramon

Check the web in February for more on the series and the ride descriptions. If you have any questions,

Contact Vicky Ma at 510 813-6690 or chinamite57@yahoo.com

Newark Junior High School Cycling is an after-school program administered by Cycles of Change (cyclesofchange.org), Oakland. Science teacher Mark Dieter is the advisor. The program teaches Effective Cycling at the Intermediate Level (ECIL) that includes traffic-cycling skills and techniques you need to go where you want by bicycle (skills you already know).

The skills students learn are durable, repeatable, and proven both by scientific analysis and by millions of cyclists and motorists miles. Multiple twelve week cycling education programs includes explanation, demonstration, practice, and evaluation using only certified Cycling Instructors, level three or better.

Bicycles are repaired, and maintained throughout the program. Students also learn to repair and make adjustments to their bicycle. We offer Earn-a-Bike, free bike inspections, free tune-ups, and repairs for recruiting. The program will be offered twice for 2009-2010 school year. The program seeks financial support to offer the program this spring and next fall.

FFBC, Valley Spokesman, Transform.org are current sponsors, and your support is needed. A club donation of $500 would be very helpful to allow us to build the program from the bottom up..

Please send your check to

Newark Jr. High School,

c/o Mark Dieter, Cycling Advisor,

6201 Lafayette Ave,

Newark, CA 94560.

510-818-3050

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Wynn Kageyama

Cycling Education Chai

Fremont Freewheelers Bicycle Club Cycling Instructor Ventana Edu

Home Office: 510-659-1360

January's come and gone, but that first month was a busy one for the Club, with the annual ride planning meeting on the 9th, the regular Board and General meetings on the 13th, and the first planning meeting for the Best of the Bay ride on the 18th.  The ride planning meeting saw the calendar fill with lots of big out-of-town rides spread throughout the year, starting with the Tour of Palm Springs in February. 

Local riders need not fear, though, because Vicky Ma is spearheading a big progressive series that will help her get ready for the Seattle to Portland ride in July.  Vicky's progressive series will benefit riders of all abilities.  The series starts with some short easy rides in late February and finishes with some long, tough ones in May and June.

The Board and General meetings on January 14 revolved around getting the newly-elected officers learning some of the responsibilities of their roles, clarifying how communications to Club members should be handled (one proposal is to send out newsletters in PDF format on a quarterly basis by email, and, in addition, the President would send out an email blast a couple of days before Club meetings).  One exciting development discussed at the meeting is the use of a database to put the various aspects of the Club's operation together "under one roof", so to speak. 

This could significantly simplify many activities (like ride coordination, mileage tracking, upkeep of the membership roster, etc.) and make that data more readily retrievable for the CCC website.

The Best of the Bay planning meeting centered primarily on how to market the ride, but a first cut at handing out responsibilities finished out the evening.  One thing was very clear to this observer: the B.O.B. will take a lot of work to happen, and we can use all of the help we can get from our members (and their relatives and friends!).

February promises to be a fun month for club activities, from a nice ride up Mines Road led by Shelley Hinch, to the Tour of Palm Springs for those who are inclined to ride in warmer climates.  Yours truly plans to lead the ride he's "adopted" as his own--the Sunol Meet and Greet, near the end of the month. 

How about you?  Do you have a favorite ride?  Why not share the joy with others and volunteer to lead it?  It's simple, virtually painless, and it feels great when everybody thanks you at the end of the ride!  If you have any questions about what it takes, just ask anyone who's led rides and they can fill you in on the details.

Have a great February!  Stay warm and turn those wheels!

--Mike

Susie Bump, Eva Fallis, Nikki Grimes, Michael Hill, Michael Jay, Vicky Ma, and Mike Nagorka.

Mountain biking pioneers will support Trips for Kids’ at the 12th annual “Brews, Bikes and Bucks” fundraising party on Sunday, February 21 from 2-6 p.m. at the Broken Drum Brewery, 1132 Fourth Street in San Rafael.

Well known mountain bike pioneers such as Gary Fisher, Tom Ritchey, Joe Breeze, Ned Overend, Scot Nicol, Jacquie Phelan, Otis, Charles Kelly, Ross Shafer, Mertt Lawwill, Chris Lang, Rick Sutton and other pioneers will be guests at the event.

There is no charge for admission, but Noah Berry, proprietor of the Broken Drum Brewery, will donate a percentage of the proceeds from food and drink sales to Trips for Kids.

Bike-related prizes will be raffled throughout the afternoon. The grand prize will be a 2009 Jamis Dakar XC dual suspension mountain bike (retail value $1,025) donated by Jamis Bicycles. and a silent auction for a 2010 Marin Bikes Alpine Trail 29er (retail value $785).

The bikes are currently on display at the Broken Drum Brewery. Advance raffle tickets and auction signups are available at our Re-Cyclery thrift shop ( 610 4th Street , San Rafael ) and at the Broken Drum.

Noah is also holding a Pre Brew event on Tuesday, February 2nd from 5:00 – 9;30 pm. 10% of the nights proceeds will go to Trips for Kids. Mark your calendars to join us then too!!

Trips for Kids was founded by Marilyn Price in 1988 to take inner city youth in the San Francisco Bay Area on mountain bike rides. It has since expanded to include an earn-a-bike program and a well know Bicycle Thrift Shop, Re-Cyclery. In 2000 Trips for Kids became a national program.

To date there are 66 Trips for Kids groups. Price says, “Trips for Kids owes its existence to the early mountain bike pioneers – they developed the sport and we are here to be sure that the mountain biking is available to everyone. Our annual party at the Broken Drum is a celebration of this wonderful sport.”

For more details about the Brews, Bikes and Bucks fundraiser or about Trips for Kids call 415/458-2986, email at info@tripsforkids.org or visit their website http://www.tripsforkids.org

Order your club jersey, vest, arm warmers, etc. today.

• Club Jersey (Download a PDF document)
• Club Vest (Download a PDF document)
• Clothing Order Form (Download a PDF document)

• How to Buy a Bike
• Build Your Core and Ride Stronger (Updated12/15/08)

• Since we are refining your new fixed routesheets, occasionally
• there may be some errors. Please inform us so we can
• correct these errors.
• Download route sheet 200901V2 (PDF document)
• Download route sheet 200902 rev 2 (PDF document)
• Download route sheet 200903 (PDF document)
• Download route sheet 200904 (PDF document)
• Download route sheet 200905 (PDF document)
• Download route sheet 200906 (PDF document)

• Monthly Rides ( Download a PDF document )
• Monthly Rides
• Weekly Rides
• Cull Canyon Show'n'Go (Ends in Oct. Returns next Spring)
• Special Events & Rides (click on to see all SER rides)
• How to lead a ride & ride routes for New Ride Leaders
• Ride Rating System
• Leaderless & Route Sheet Library

• 11-11-09 General Meeting Minutes
• 09-09-09 GeneralMeeting Minutes
• 06-10-09 General Meeting Minutes
• 05-13-09 General Meeting Minutes
• 03-11-09 General Meeting Minutes
• 02-11-09 General Meeting Minutes

• Ride Mileage
• Ride Rating System

Announcing the Impromptu Rides

The Problem: Due to busy schedules, many people who would like to lead a ride cannot plan 1 or 2 months in advance in order to get their ride(s) into the newsletter.  Nearly everyone enjoys watching their club mileage increase every month, however, you can only attain club mileage on “impromptu” rides, i.e., those that appear in the newsletter.

The Solution:

Announcing the Impromptu Rides.  Here is how it works

 

• Why should I attend?

• To be informed, be heard, get involved, and make a  difference.

• When are meetings held?

• 2nd Wednesday of the month: 6:30pm – Board Meeting;  7:30 General Meeting.

• Where are meetings held?

• Meetings are at the San Leandro Manor Library on  Manor Blvd.

• (March and April meetings will be held at the Manor  Branch).

• Where are meetings held?

• Yes, attend 5 out of the remaining 9 meetings and get 1/2  off your 2010 membership fee.