Blueberries, Alewives, Hot Dogs & Apple Pie (and maybe some Moxie)

We have a great-looking line up of rides planned for the year!  We've managed to design a schedule to take advantage of a variety of local events, including the Benton Alewife Festival, the Wilton Blueberry Festival, and the Monmouth Apple Festival.  A couple of changes: Ken's Hot Dog Ride has been moved up to June 22, leaving the weekend of July 12-13 open - however, we've learned that there is a half-century bike tour (and a shorter option) planned to coincide with the Livermore Falls Moxie Festival on the 12th, so we may work that into our schedule.  We are planning to offer at least one metric century this year, running out of Wilton during the blueberry festival.  And Steve Robe has suggested we might revive the 100-mile Tour de Kennebec from Jackman to Waterville, perhaps during one of the open dates below.  If you are interested in the Century ride, or in any of the other rides or open dates, please let me know.  Hope to see you all on some or all of our rides this year!

 

Here's the updated KVBC ride calendar:

 

April 19, Saturday, 10 am: Augusta "Wake Up the Earth Ride" - Jim Floyd

April 26, Saturday, 10 am: Wayne "The Wayne Way" - Jim Merrick

May 3, Saturday, 10 am: Livermore "The Oasis Loop" - John Lanoue

May 10, Saturday, 9:30 am: East Vassalboro "China Surprise" - Jeanine Libby

May 17, Saturday, 9:30 am: Clinton "Biking with the Alewives" [Benton Alewife Festival] - Jeanine Libby

May 24, Saturday, 9 am: Manchester "Cobbossee Odyssey" - John Lanoue

May 31, Saturday, 9 am: Vassalboro "Velo Vassalboro" - David Lipman

June 7, Saturday, 9 am: Windsor "Tour of the Back 40" - Leanne Moll

June 15, Sunday, 9 am: Mount Vernon "Eleven Ponds Ride" - Jim Merrick

June 22, Sunday, 9 am: Wings Mills (Mt. Vernon) "Ken's Hot Dog Ride" - Ken Louis

June 29, Sunday, 9 am: Damariscotta "A Pedaling Purview of Pemaquid Point" - David Lipman

July 5, Saturday, 9 am: Sidney "Independence Day Ride" - Jim Putnam

July 12 or 13: OPEN (possible Moxie Ride in Livermore Falls on the 12th)

July 19, Saturday, 8 am: Augusta "Capitol Breakfast Ride" - Jim Merrick

July 26, Saturday, 9 am: Gardiner "Back Roads to Bowdoinham" - Roger Rocque

August 2, Saturday, 8 am: Wilton "Blueberry Metric" [Wilton Blueberry Festival] - Jim Merrick

August 9 or 10: OPEN

August 16, Saturday, 8 am: Waterville "The Colby Loop" - Jeanine Libby

August 24, Sunday, 9 am: Vassalboro "Hills and Beans" - David Lipman

August 30 or 31: OPEN

September 6 or 7: OPEN (although we may opt to field a team at Pedal Penobscot in Bangor on the 7th)

September 14, Sunday, 9 am: Farmington "The Ups and Downs of Industry" - Larry Childs

September 20 or 21: OPEN

September 27, Saturday, 9 am: Winthrop "Monmouth a la Mode" [Monmouth Apple Festival] - Jim Merrick

October 11, Saturday, 9 am: East Winthrop "The Big Lakes Tour" - Denise Crowell

 

Many, many THANKS to all our volunteer Ride Leaders!

KVBC Preliminary Ride Calendar for 2014

Leaning into another great riding season

We had a productive ride planning meeting last Sunday in Augusta.  Many thanks to all who showed up and offered to lead rides, and particularly to David Lipman who kindly provided his office and pizza for us.  We all appreciated his warmth and hospitality - especially the warmth, considering how cold it was when we met last year.  The preliminary dates for the KVBC Ride Calendar are below - there are still a number of open weekends, and if you couldn't make it to the meeting and would still like to lead a ride, check over the open dates and let me know if you can fill one of them.  Many of the dates are still tentative (or will be for the next week or two), so some switching around might be possible, too.  As always, we may have some last-minute, spur-of-the-moment, impromptu rides if we happen to get some unexpectedly fine weather in early Spring or late, late Fall.  Keep your chain oiled and your tires pumped up!  If this weather continues I won't have to urge anyone to Think Spring!

April 19, Saturday, 10 am: Augusta "Wake Up the Earth Ride" - Jim Floyd

April 26, Saturday, 10 am: Wayne "The Wayne Way" - Jim Merrick

May 3 or 4: OPEN

May 10, Saturday, 9:30 am: East Vassalboro "China Surprise" - Jeanine Libby

May 17, Saturday, 9:30 am: Clinton "A Fish With(out) a Bicycle" [Benton Alwife Festival] - Jeanine Libby

May 24 or 25: OPEN

May 31, Saturday, 9 am: Vassalboro "Velo Vassalboro" - David Lipman

June 7 or 8: OPEN

June 15, Sunday, 9 am: Mount Vernon "Eleven Ponds Ride" - Jim Merrick

June 21 or 22: OPEN

June 29, Sunday, 9 am: Damariscotta "A Pedaling Purview of Pemaquid Point" - David Lipman

July 5, Saturday, 9 am: Sidney "Independence Day Ride" - Jim Putnam

July 13, Sunday, 9 am: Wings Mills (Mt. Vernon) "Ken's Hot Dog Ride" - Ken Louis

July 19, Saturday, 8 am: Augusta "Capitol Breakfast Ride" - Jim Merrick

July 26, Saturday, 9 am: Gardiner "Back Roads to Bowdoinham" - Roger Rocque

August 2, Saturday, 8:30 am: Wilton "Blueberry Metric" [Wilton Blueberry Festival] - Jim Merrick

August 9 or 10: OPEN

August 16, Saturday, 8 am: Waterville "The Colby Loop" - Jeanine Libby

August 24, Sunday, 9 am: Vassalboro "Hills and Beans" - David Lipman

August 30 or 31: OPEN

September 6 or 7: OPEN (although we may opt to field a team at Pedal Penobscot in Bangor on the 7th)

September 14, Sunday, 9 am: Farmington "The Ups and Downs of Industry" - Larry Childs

September 20 or 21: OPEN

September 27, Saturday, 9 am: Winthrop "Monmouth a la Mode" [Monmouth Apple Festival] - Jim Merrick

October: all weekends OPEN

Note to Ride Leaders - if I have any information wrong, please let me know.  I will check to verify dates, times, ride starting locations, distances - and any objections to my fanciful ride nomenclature.

Jim Merrick

293-3784

hjmerrick@gmail.com

KVBC Ride Planning Meeting

It's time for our annual KVBC Ride Planning Meeting!  We will meet in Augusta on Sunday, January 19th, at 6 pm, at the offices of Lipman & Katz at 227 Water Street, thanks to a kind offer from David Lipman.  There is a public parking lot on Water Street just as you come off the circle.  The phone number at the office is 622-3711, though I don't know if someone will be there to answer it, but if you get lost it's worth a shot.

The agenda: ride planning, pizza, then followed by more ride planning.  It's fun!  Honest.  We will do our best to put together a full calendar of rides for the new season, and you can help!  If you can't make the meeting, and there is a ride you'd like to lead (or suggest) just let me know.

There is still a possibility for people interested to meet earlier for snowshoeing or x-country skiing in the Arboretum before the meeting, although right now it looks like conditions might not be optimum.  Let me know if you might be interested, and I'll try and set something up.  Hope to see you Sunday!

Happy New Year!

 

Happy New Year! May all of your cycling journeys lead to new adventures in 2014!

Season's Greetings!

 

Best Wishes to All of You and Yours

for the Holidays and the Year Ahead!

A Ride to Father Rasle's

Kennebec River near Old Point, Madison

We have a special tour on tap for this Saturday in Smithfield, partly in keeping with our Halloween tradition of cemetery rides. On this last ride of the year during Daylight Savings Time, we will visit the site of the Battle of Norridgewock, the climax of Father Rasle's War in 1724.  We hope to time our arrival to coincide with a site tour and interpretation led by Colby History Professor Daniel Tortora.  The ride will also explore some back roads in Smithfield and some quiet riverside roads in Norridgewock and Madison - there may be some short stretches of gravel to contend with, but we expect to bypass the Rt. 8 construction project.  If you plan to attend please let me know, as I'd like to get a rough head count for our hosts.  Hope you can join us!

 

Saturday, November 2 - SMITHFIELD

"Monuments, Missions, and Massacres" - a scenic and historic river tour through Smithfield, Norridgewock, and Madison.

START:  9:00 AM, at the new Smithfield Fire Station on Rt. 8 in Smithfield, about a quarter-mile north of the junction of Rt. 8 and Rt. 137.

DISTANCE:  approx. 27 miles.

TERRAIN:  moderate to moderately hilly.

HIGHLIGHTS:  a tour of the Norridgewock Village Historic Site, an eighteenth century Abenaki Indian settlement and a French Catholic Mission wiped out by British soldiers in 1724.  Now a tranquil spot on the riverside, we will explore the site and its history, as interpreted by professional historians.

LEADER:  Jim Merrick, hjmerrick@gmail.com.

 

Also, don't forget there will also be a special fundraising event for Leeann Smith in Palermo on Sunday.  Please note that these times below are Eastern Standard Time - don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour on Sunday AM or you'll be an hour late for the rides:

 

Fundraiser for Leeann Smith.
Sunday November 3, 2013.
VFW, Turner Ridge Rd., Palermo, Me.
2 pm - Benefit Bike Ride (three separate speed rides). $20 donation to ride (all funds go directly to Leeann).
4:30 to 6:00 pm - $10 Spaghetti Dinner - Open to Public.
4:00 to 5:30 pm - Silent Auction.

Additional donations welcome!  For more info, call Richard Golden, 485-4088.

 

Fall Foliage Bike & Hike

Norcross Hill, Mount Vernon

We had a very scenic ride last Saturday around Wayne, Leeds, and Monmouth on the Tour de Lacs.  Lots of great views and Fall foliage.  Many thanks to the ride originator, Ray Giglio, who was unable to join us - Get Well Ray!  There is still a lot of Fall cycling in store, so this Sunday we will reprise the Mount Vernon ride, featuring the Chesterville Esker - the roads that were torn up earlier this summer have been repaved, and the route should be much improved (promise!).  Jeanine has also offered to lead a short hike in the Kennebec Highlands following the ride to fully take in the seasonal foliage.  Bring along some trail climbing shoes.  See you Sunday!

 

Sunday, October 20th - MOUNT VERNON

"Fall foliage bike & hike" - a bike tour past many of the hidden ponds and lakes in Mount Vernon, Fayette, Chesterville, and Vienna; and a scenic hike in the Kennebec Highlands.

START:  9:00 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, and across the top of the Chesterville Esker at near peak foliage.  Optional post-ride hike up Round Top or French's Mountain in the nearby Kennebec Highlands.  Possible get-together afterwards at the cafe in Mt. Vernon village.

LEADERS:  Jim Merrick and Jeanine Libby.

 

Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club rides are open to members and to the cycling public.  Helmets are required of all riders at KVBC events.  In case of severe weather, scheduled rides may be postponed or designated as "show & go" rides at the discretion of the ride leader.  For ride updates and reports, follow the KVBC blog or check out our Facebook page.