Spring on the Big Lakes

Well we almost lucked out with the weather last Saturday, but the rains only held off until about a half-hour before the start, and then mixed with sleet. With temperatures dropping, Frank & I decided to postpone the ride till some other day with less hypothermic conditions. Not the way we drew up the start for the season, but we'll just hit the "reset" button and give it another go this Saturday! More showers are on the way this week, but they most likely won't last through all of April, and we'll find out on the last day of the month when Denise takes us on a tour of the big lakes in Winthrop, Monmouth, and Manchester - hopefully on dry pavement! See you then!

Saturday, April 30th - EAST WINTHROP

"The Big Lakes Tour" - a ride along the shorelines of Lakes Maranacook, Annabessacook, and Cobbosseecontee.

START: 9:30 AM at the parking lot of Tom's Bike Boutique, 2208 Rt.202 in East Winthrop, accross from D.R Struck's Nursery.

DISTANCE: 25-30 miles.

TERRAIN: moderate with some hills.

HIGHLIGHTS: Some nice lakeside runs along backroads in Winthrop, Monmouth, and Manchester.

LEADER: Denise Crowell.

Wake Up The Earth Ride

OK. We've had the late, late Winter snows and enough April showers to fill several flower shows. Enough of that already! Now it's time to Wake Up the Earth! Come on out and join us in Wayne the day after Earth Day, to kick off the Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club's 10th season! It looks like we have a great lineup of rides scheduled (and more to come) and we hope to get off to a great start in Wayne on Saturday. If you haven't gotten many miles in yet, no worries - this is a fairly flat route and a great first ride to start the season. All are welcome! And with gas nearing 4 bucks a gallon, never a better time than Earth Day to start traveling as "car-free" as you can. Hope to see everyone this Saturday!

Saturday, April 23rd - WAYNE

"Wake Up the Earth!" - an Earth Day tour of the lakes and waterfalls around Wayne, Leeds, Livermore, and Wayne.

START: 10:00 AM at the Wayne Elementary School, 48 Pond Road, Wayne.

DISTANCE: 25-30 miles.

TERRAIN: moderate, with some surprisingly flat sections.

HIGHLIGHTS: some very nice scenic shore roads, meadows, and waterfalls - and we're back riding again!

LEADER: Frank Rosen.

For more information about the Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club contact Jim Merrick at hjmerrick@gmail.com

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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!