Maine Maple Sunday

 

 

Spring is just about upon us, the Posted Roads signs are out, the sap is running, and the weather is turning nice (finally).  Time for a short bike ride!  The weather tomorrow looks to be sunny, warmer, and not so windy.  And it is Maine Maple Sunday, with small local sugarhouses open to the public and giving out free samples.  All those interested can meet at the Manchester Elementary School on Rt. 17 and we will set out on a short 12-mile ride in search of some syrup!

 

Sunday, March 24th - MANCHESTER

"Maine Maple Sunday in Manchester" - a syrupy, posted roads tour around Manchester.

START:  11:00 AM, at the Manchester Elementary School parking lot on Rt. 17, near the junction of Rt. 17 & Rt. 202.  The school is on the left just after you turn off Rt. 202 onto Rt. 17 West.

DISTANCE:  12 miles.

TERRAIN:  moderate, with one long hill.

HIGHLIGHTS:  We'll ride some paved (albeit sandy) back roads to the Hilltop Farm on Prescott Road for some maple syrup sampling as we tap into Spring.

LEADER:  Jim Merrick.

KVBC 2013 Ride Calendar

We had a great ride planning meeting last Monday - in spite of the last-minute snow squall.  Thanks to all who ventured out in the slick driving conditions, and to the Bicycle Coalition of Maine for our "one last time" use of their Augusta offices (and good luck on your move to Portland).  Here, below, is what we came up with for the KVBC 2013 Ride Calendar.  Many, many thanks to all who volunteered to lead rides!  For those of you who signed up for rides, please check the listing below and the Bicycle Coalition of Maine's EVENTS Page to verify the accuracy of your ride: start time, location, distance, etc.  Please get back to me by Friday, February 8, with any corrections.  If you are not on the list and you would like to lead a ride, please note the OPEN dates on the calendar and get back to me.  We have some great rides planned for this year, including the Kennebec River and Jay-Farmington Rail Trails, a return of the Camden Vineyard tour, and a few rides out near the coast.  Can hardly wait!

 

Jim Merrick

hjmerrick@gmail.com

 

Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club

2013 Ride Calendar

4/20 – 10 AM – Wake Up The Earth Ride, Kennebec Rail Trail, Augusta – Jim Floyd

4/27 – 9 AM – Wayne Refrain, Wayne Elementary School – Ray Giglio

5/5 – 10 AM – Cinco de Mayo – Windsor Fair Grounds, Windsor – Bud Newell

5/11 – 10 AM – China Surprise – Vassalboro Hist. Soc., East Vassaboro – Jeanine Libby

5/18 – 9:30 AM – Big Lakes Tour – Tom’s Bike, Ea. Winthrop – Denise Crowell

5/25 – 10 AM – Tour of the Back 40 – Windsor Fair Grounds, Windsor – Leanne Moll

6/1 – 9 AM – Velo Vassalboro – 6 Fairway View Drive, Vassalboro – Dave & Laura Lipman

6/8 – 9 AM – Readfield Roundabout – Readfield Post Office, Readfield – Ray Giglio

6/15-16 – OPEN (Trek Weekend)

6/23 – 9 AM – Eleven Ponds – Mount Vernon Post Office, Mount Vernon – Jim Merrick

6/29 – 9 AM – 4^th of July Ride – Bean Elementary School, Sidney – Jim Putnam

7/6-7 – OPEN

7/13 – 9:30 AM – Camden Vineyard Tour – Cellardoor Winery, Camden – Ray Giglio

7/20 – OPEN

7/27 – 9 AM – Biking to Bowdoinham – Richards Elementary School, Gardiner – Joe Renda

8/3-4 – OPEN

8/10 – 9 AM – Ken’s Hotdog Ride – Wings Mills (Mount Vernon) – Ken Louis

8/17 – 9 AM – Whistle Stop Rail Trail – Jay – Bud Newell

8/24-25 – OPEN

8/31 – 9 AM – Rt. 8 Figure 8, Smithfield – Jim Merrick

[9/7 – TBD – Idyllic Islesboro – Larry Childs]

9/14-15 – OPEN

9/21 – Ups & Downs of Industry – Farmington Plaza, Farmington – Larry Childs

9/28/29 – OPEN

10/5-6 – OPEN

10/12 – 9 AM – Tour de Lacs – Wayne Elementary School, Wayne – Ray Giglio

10/19-20 – OPEN

10/26-27 - OPEN

2013 Ride Planning Meeting

From Photo-Manipulations by Erik Johansson

Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club Planning Meeting

Monday, January 28, 2013, 7:00-8:30 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 - including a new vacancy for the Club Treasurer/Membership Coordinator position.

 

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 capital 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 (we can take dues at the ride planning meeting if you wish) 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!

The 2012 Year in Review - In Pictures

Here is a link to an album of photos of the 2012 Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club Year in Review! Many of the photos have been published here in the past year, but others are compiled here for the first time.

Many of the photos were taken "blind" - with one hand on the handlebars and the other holding a compact digital camera behind-the-back - so they hardly merit any artistic consideration composition-wise. In many cases I didn't even know who was behind at the time, and some people may not have been aware that they were being photographed. So if you should find yourself in one of these images, and you would prefer that it not be plastered all over cyberspace, just let me know and I will take the photo down, or photoshop you out of it somehow.

Now, if you are crestfallen that you photo is not among these pictures, there are several ways to remedy this in the future:

1. Ride as slow as Jim
2. If apprehensive on an unfamiliar route, ride with Jim under the mistaken impression that Jim knows where he is going (people usually only do this once)
3. Ride with someone else who has a camera

If you are requesting removal of a photo, we are assuming that it is your photo. Otherwise, if you want us to remove someone else's photo, there is a right way and a wrong way to do so:

• Incorrect: "I can't stand the sight of so-and-so. Please take their picture down at once."
• Correct: "I can't stand the sight of so-and-so. I'll volunteer to lead a club ride and buy you coffee if you take their picture down at once."

And as always, hope to see you on our rides in 2013! "Smile!"

Merry Christmas!

High-Wheel Santa (Louis Prang)

Merry Christmas to Everyone from the Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club!  May you all have a fine year of cycling ahead!

This past year we had a terrific calendar of rides, most of which had fine weather and were really well-attended - one of our best years ever!  Many, many thanks to everyone who volunteered to lead rides and who helped out in many other ways - we couldn't have done it without you.  I also want to note that several of our "regulars" - due to circumstances unforeseen and otherwise - were unable to ride with us this year: I want you to know we missed you all, and we hope you can make it back and ride with us again in the coming year!

Winter Events coming up: we will once again schedule a Ride Planning Pizza Party sometime in late January or early February, most likely at the offices of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine in Augusta.  If you could send along to me any preference for evenings that you could (or could not) make a meeting, I'll try and sort through the responses and arrange a date fro us to meet.  If the Old Farmer's Almanac predictions are correct and we get substantial snow this Winter, we might also try to schedule a snowshoe/x-country ski event, too - just to keep your cross-training honest!  And if the OFM is full of baloney, and we have a few opportune mild days, we may try to stir up a club ride or two at the last minute.

Facebook: as I already administer two other work-related Facebook pages, I'm considering whether it would be manageable to set up a KVBC Facebook page to help get ride notices out and attract new riders.  If you are already on Facebook, please let me know, so I know what kind of member participation might result - I wouldn't want our "outreach" to exclude our current membership.

Club Dues: there is a concern that the League of American Bicyclists might be forced to raise next year's club insurance rates for member clubs (such as KVBC) but right now it looks as if the club can absorb the increase without raising our membership dues.  We had some good fortune that the insurance fees have been quite modest and have held steady over the past few years - and that we've never had to draw on the insurance!

May you all have a safe and enjoyable year a'wheel next year!

Veterans' Day

 

 

 

We had a great ride last Saturday in Wayne, taking advantage of some nice late-season riding weather.  A good group of nine of us rode in crisp, sunny late-Fall conditions, stopping at the Wing & Kent round cemeteries, the Home Nest Farm scenic overlook, and the warm confines of the Wayne General Store.  The weather this weekend looks favorable for a Veterans' Day ride on Sunday in Mount Vernon - for all you KVBC veterans this may be your last chance to get in a group ride this year!  We will reprise part of the arrowed Mount Vernon ride from last June - there is a hilly 14-mile option, and a more ambitious 29-mile option that also takes in a delightful run along the Chesterville Esker.  We may also get together after the ride at the cafe in Mount Vernon (which closes at 2pm).  Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

Sunday, November 11th - MOUNT VERNON

"Veterans' Day" - a KVBC veterans' ride past many of the hidden ponds and lakes in Mount Vernon, Fayette, Chesterville, and Vienna.

START:  10:30 AM, Mount Vernon Post Office, just off Rt. 41 on Main Street in Mount Vernon.

DISTANCE:  14 and 29 miles.

TERRAIN:  Rolling with a few good hills.

HIGHLIGHTS:  rural back roads winding through many small ponds and lakes; longer loop runs across the top of the Chesterville Esker.  Possible post-ride get-together at the cafe in Mt. Vernon village.

LEADER:  Jim Merrick.

 

 

Hallows and Gallows

"Bring out your Dead" - Cycling Undertaker, Netherlands

I hope everyone stayed high and dry during the past storm.  The weekend is looking much better - cool and dry - so it's time for a final, post-Halloween, pre-Election, apocalyptic ride!  We'll meet in Wayne at the Elementary School and work our way past the historic "Wing Ring" cemetery and up to Kents Hill, scene of an unsolved murder many years past, and we may stop at the Apple Shed and talk about what life will be like next Wednesday.  Will there be a turnover?  Apple or raspberry?  Even if your taste by now may lean to hermits, come find out!  We'll see you then!

Saturday, November 3rd - WAYNE

"Hallows and Gallows" - a post-Halloween ride featuring some historic cemeteries.

START:  10:30 AM at the Wayne Elementary School, 48 Pond Road, Wayne.

DISTANCE:  15-20 miles.

TERRAIN:  moderate, creepy in spots.

HIGHLIGHTS:  the Wing family cemetery, the Kents Hill orchard, perhaps a notorious historic crime scene, and other local haunts.

LEADER:  Jim Merrick.