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A Memorable Memorial Day Ride

As part of our countdown to Spring, here is the first of a series of ride reports from last Summer, starting with the Memorial Day weekend ride on May 29, 2010, starting in East Winthrop at Tom's Bike Boutique on Rt.202.

We had a fine turnout, considering that the ride was scheduled at the last minute on a long holiday weekend. The weather was dry, although mostly cloudy.






It's usually a good sign when the ride leader is smiling! (Or perhaps that's the trademark of a professional dental hygienist?).














The route took us over the back roads of Winthrop and into Litchfield and Monmouth.
















We rolled past historic cemeteries and many lakes and ponds.



As customary, we often stopped to chat while we waited for others to catch up.












And once everyone had caught up, we more often than not, continued to chat.












But there were more fine roads to explore, so we were soon on our way.

If you missed this ride, don't miss it twice - Denise will be leading it again on April 30th! Thanks, Denise!

Getting Anxious For Spring?

If you're one of those people who think all of this wonderful, winterful, ice-crystalled Currier & Ives scenery would've looked REALLY great about a month and a half or so ago, you probably have lots of company. But have faith - we are just 46 days away from our first scheduled KVBC ride on April 23! And we will begin our countdown here on the POSTED ROADS club blog with ride reports from last year serving as previews for the rides ahead (if I can find time to post reports and get my bikes and legs in shape in the next six weeks). A special salute should go out to those who have been riding through the winter. In case you missed it, the Morning Sentinel had a nice profile of Denise Crowell last month: http://www.onlinesentinel.com/reallife/ice-biking-keeps-you-in-shape-all-year_2011-02-12.html.

KVBC Club Dues: our annual dues for 2011 become due on April 1st - still dirt cheap, at $10 per person or $15 per household. The money goes to pay for our insurance coverage, as well as club affiliation with the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and the League of American Bicyclists. Send your dues with a signed copy of the KVBC Membership Form (the link is under the Club logo on the blog) to Sandi Hodge at P.O. Box 511, Alna, Maine 04535. Please note the new mailing address which may not appear on the online form. Thank you!

We still have a number of open dates available for ride volunteers. If you can lead a ride, please contact Jim Merrick at 293-3784 or hjmerrick@gmail.com. We also have two additional rides to announce (one is actually an updated listing):

August 13 (Saturday) - Ken's Hot Dog Ride, 9:00 am, Wings Mills (Mt. Vernon), 25-30 miles Road, Ken Louis.

August 27-28 (Saturday & Sunday– KVBC Downeast Sunrise Trail, Time TBD, Ellsworth, 30-40 mi per day, one or two day ride (overnight option) on packed gravel surface to explore the new trail; Dave Wood.

THINK SPRING!

KVBC 2011 Ride Schedule

Ahh, the Bike Boom years. I came across this great blast-from-the-past image in the Time/Life photo archive, dating from 1971. Hard to believe that was 40 years ago! And what a great ensemble of groovin' Mod Squad cyclistas, ready to roll. Pre-index shifting, pre-suspension, pre-computer, pre-helmet - pretty much pre-everything. Didn't stop them at all. And check out those retro jerseys! Looks like some of those jerseys have double breast pockets. You might still find a bike from that era, but you're not likely to come across one of those jerseys any time soon. I've found some old bike jerseys in bike shop bargain bins, but nothing like those. If you know where there's a stash of them, let me know. It'd be great to try and recreate this photo sometime, perhaps on one of the rides we have coming up this year...

Here is the 2011 preliminary ride schedule for the Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club. We still have a few open dates to fill, and I am expecting that we will have a few more rides to add as we get closer to spring. If you have a favorite ride that you would like to share, map it out, pick a date, and let me know the details. Many, many thanks to all of you who signed up to lead a ride. We have some really interesting rides in store, and here's hoping that the weather will be just perfect for all of them. Here in winter, with a thick snow pack and sub-zero temperatures, we're allowed to hope for perfect weather, since just about anything would be perfect by comparison, so we're not askin' much. Except maybe for one of those jerseys.

Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club 2011 Ride Calendar

April 23 (Saturday) – KVBC Wake Up the Earth Ride, 10:00 AM, Wayne Elementary School, Wayne, 25 mi. Road; leader: Frank Rosen.

April 30 (Saturday) – KVBC Three Lakes Tour, 9:30 AM, Tom’s Bike Boutique, East Winthrop, 25 mi. Road; leader: Denise Crowell.

May 7 (Saturday) – KVBC Manchester in May, 9:30 AM, Manchester Elementary School, Manchester, 23 mi. Road; leader: Jim Merrick.

May 21 (Saturday) – KVBC Tour of Litchfield, 9:30 AM, Purgatory Village, Litchfield, 25 mi. Road; leader: George Luckhurst.

May 28 (Saturday) – KVBC Single Chainring Tour, 8:30 AM, Lunch Pad Restaurant, Livermore, 25 mi. Road; leader: Frank Rosen.

June 11 (Saturday) – KVBC Cobbossee Odyssey, 9:00 AM, Tom’s Bike Boutique, East Winthrop, 25-30 mi. Road; leader: Cynthia Snow.

June 25 (Saturday) – KVBC Capital Breakfast Ride, 8:00 AM, Hussey Elementary School, Augusta, 25 mi. Road; leader: Connie Brown.

July 2 (Saturday) – KVBC Fourth of July Ride, 9:00 AM, James H. Bean Elementary School, Sidney, 25 mi. Road; leader: Jim Putnam.

July 16 (Saturday) – KVBC Biking to Bowdoinham, 10:00 AM, Laura Richards School, Gardiner, 40-45 mi. Road; leader: Joe Renda.

July 24 (Sunday) – KVBC Eleven Ponds Ride, 9:00 AM, Mount Vernon Post Office, Mount Vernon, 30 mi. Road; leader: Jim Merrick.

August 13 (Saturday) - Ken's Hot Dog Ride, 9:00 AM, Wings Mills (Mt. Vernon), 25-30 miles Road, Ken Louis.

August 21 (Sunday) – KVBC Alna Alternative, 9:30 AM, Alna Post Office, Alna, 20-25 mi. Road; leader: Sandi Hodge.

August 27-28 (Saturday & Sunday– KVBC Downeast Sunrise Trail, Time TBD, Ellsworth, 30-40 mi per day, one or two day ride (overnight option) on packed gravel surface to explore the new trail; Dave Wood.

KVBC Ride Planning Meeting and Pizza Fest

We had a wonderful New Year's Day ride last Saturday in Hallowell. The roads were clear and even dry in sections - not messy at all, and traffic was very light. With the clouds moving in, I'm not sure if the temperature actually got up to 50 degrees, but it was very pleasant for January 1st - even if I was overdressed. We rode out Town Farm Road towards Litchfield, and explored some back roads on our way back to Hallowell, just over 14 miles in all. It wasn't until we got back to Hallowell that I suddenly realized that we had to climb a very difficult hill up Winthrop Street back to the ride start at the Hall-Dale School. I had completely forgotten it. Oh, fudge. Turned out it wasn't as bad as I remembered it. It was worse. Oh well, at least Duane was very good natured about it. Have to remember to consider the entire route next time I make up a ride at the last minute.

We will have our annual KVBC ride planning get-together at the BCM's Augusta office on Thursday, January 20th, for pizza and planning. Let me know if you can come, and if you can't make it and have a ride in mind to lead, let me know as well. See you then!

Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club Planning Meeting

Thursday, January 20, 2011, 7:00-9:00 PM

Location: Bicycle Coalition of Maine Headquarters

341 Water Street (2nd Floor), Augusta

The BCM Offices are at the beginning of Water Street as you come off the circle, and there is a free parking lot across the street. Map & directions can be found at the BCM website: www.BikeMaine.org, 623-4511.

Purpose of meeting is to put together the KVBC ride calendar for the year. We will also discuss holding other events and get-togethers, possible joint events with other clubs, and other KVBC issues.

Pizza and other refreshments will be served. All members and interested individuals are welcome to attend.

The Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club (KVBC) is a recreational road riding club located in the central Maine capitol district. An all-volunteer club, the KVBC offers weekend rides on scenic local cycling routes designed by its members. Most of the club's rides start within a 30-mile radius of Augusta, with some further afield. KVBC rides vary in distance and terrain, and are intended to offer regional day tours that will appeal to riders of different abilities. Riders are free to ride at their own pace - non-members and newcomers are welcome. Helmets and signed waivers are required for all participants at KVBC cycling events. Annual membership dues - $10 for individuals, $15 for households - are collected in early April to raise funds for the club's liability insurance and its affiliate membership in support of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine (BCM). KVBC rides and events are posted on the BCM's events calendar (both on-line and hard copy versions), with further details distributed by e-mail to everyone on the club's free contact list. If you are in our area and are interested in participating in a KVBC scheduled ride, please feel free to join us!

Happy New Year!

I don't know about you, but I have always loved riding on New Year's Day. The weather can be pretty intimidating in our neck of the woods, but looks like this year might be an exception. If anyone is up for a ride tomorrow, I'm game. Incredibly, they are predicting temperatures around 50 degrees, which is almost shorts-weather! I'm not sure I would go quite that far, but it's too nice to pass up. Let's meet at the Hall-Dale Elementary School off Winthrop Street and see what we can find for clear streets. Maybe we'll check out the Rail Trail before heading over to Slates! Hope to see you there!

Saturday, January 1st - HALLOWELL

"Happy New Year!" - a scenic tour over hill and dale through Hallowell.

START: 11:00 AM, Hall-Dale Elementary School, 26 Garden Lane off of Winthrop Street in Hallowell.

DISTANCE: 15-20 miles.

TERRAIN: moderately hilly.

HIGHLIGHTS: a new year, great weather, Slates Bakery (yes, they're open) and part of the rail trail perhaps.

LEADER: Jim Merrick.

As proof of my fondness of New Year's Day rides, here's a selection of old patches from rides in the past. My old club, the Charles River Wheelmen, holds an annual New Year's Day ride in Boston starting from Park Square. I took part in every one of the rides run in the 16 years I lived in Boston, I led the ride twice, and I've been back to visit on New Year's several years since. On some years, they have had over 100 riders on the New Year's Day ride!

Season's Greetings!

Season's Greetings to you all!

We had a terrific season of cycling in 2010. From Earth Day to Halloween, we had 23 rides scheduled over 28 weekends (with most of the rest filled in by major cycling events). Only one ride was canceled due to bad weather (thunderstorms); another was postponed but we substituted another in its place. I'm personally pleased that I made it to all but one of the rides! I want to thank all of the ride leaders who graciously offered to share one of their rides with us, and for all the folks who showed up to keep me company on the rides I led.
Thanks, too, to all those who welcomed us into their homes and shops for baked cookies and other treats. Thank you all!

Today I had my first "Posted Roads" placard sighting, which means it's already time to start planning for next year! Sometime in January we will have our annual ride calendar planning party and pizza fest. Those of you who would like to attend - either to plan rides or just socialize (yes, both are eminently acceptable and not necessarily exclusive) - drop me a line on what evenings are best for you (or not) and I will try to find a good day to meet. We have traditionally met at the Bicycle Coalition of Maine offices in Augusta, but I will entertain suggestions for another venue, if any entertaining options come to mind.

In the meantime, I hope to spend the rest of the Winter trying to catch up on my ride reports from this past summer, going back to Memorial Day, I think. Obviously, I was spending more time riding than blogging, but keep an eye (or a browser) on http://postedroads.blogspot.com and I will try to give you something to recall the roads of summer while you are waiting to be plowed out. I'll also resolve to try and figure out the intricacies of online mapping, Facebook, and all those things currently beyond my limited comprehension. I expect that by March I'll be more than ready to get out and ride. Perhaps I'll see you out there, too.

Thanks again, and Best Wishes for the Holidays!