HBRC: a successful 2007 edition

by Kent Peters

Thanks to everyone for making this a successful Historic Back Roads Century Ride!

From my own observation and consistent with a lot of the feedback this was a smooth running century. This is a testament to the time and energy that the coordinators and volunteers put into staging the century. I do want to specifically thank my team of coordinators. So please hear me calling these out like the lead singer acknowledging his band, “We have Mike Hieb on SAG, Steve Wartik on registration, Mariette Vanderzon on first aid, Butch Count on the White Farm Spring House rest stop. And over at the White Post we have Cynthia Priddy with the duo of Ken Rowe and Ken Thompson at the Burwell-Morgan Mill. And handling the parking with precision organization and flagmanship we have Fletcher Carriger and Cyanne Hanson. And where would we be without Emil Regelman and Ken Comer on cues and maps?”

I send a special thanks to my wing man, Bill Michie. When Bill told me he would be my “gopher” all day for the century, I sort of dismissed the thought that I would need someone like that, but Bill knew what he was talking about. Without Bill there by my side to take care of things as they come up, I would have been really frazzled and things would not have run as smoothly as they did.

The food job is daunting, but Sigrid Haines and Barbara Good took it on again. I'm so happy these two know how to figure out how much peanut butter the biking crowd will eat any given day.

There are also key organizations and private citizens who let us use their space and facilities that without them staging the century would be far more difficult. First off is the Clarke County High School as our start/finish staging ground and the Clarke County Ruritan Fairgrounds where we park a lot of cars. Hey, and how about that Bar-B-Que put on by the high school band boosters? We need to thank Ed Keenan of the Burwell-Morgan Mill; Billy Thompson of White Post Restoration and Curtis Mason of White House Farm who happily let us use their properties for rest stops. I'm always amazed at how helpful and happy they are to have us there because I think we must be imposing.

Also, a big thanks to Spokes Etc. Bicycles, Blue Ridge Bicycles, and Haymarket Bicycles for providing repair support this year.

There was also Marc Currie who helped set up a rest stop at the high school and then sell t-shirts.

Pam Mauch made picture perfect contributions with design of the brochure and poster. Peter Klosky helped in a lot of ways – from leading training rides to taking the winning photograph for this years t-shirt.

It's great to have support from our sister biking clubs and organizations. So, thanks to WABA and Reston Bicycling Club for manning a couple rest stops.

And here is the cast of thousands, or at least several dozen volunteers who helped in various ways; my list of volunteers had more than 80 names. If you helped and you don't find your name below, please understand it is not for a lack of appreciation for your helping, but more a of a sign that my record keeping suffered toward the end. No particular order of names, just how I pasted them in from emails and memory.

Tracy Skalitzky, George Moore, Jarla Ulman, Karen Berlage, Paul Phipps, Mark Pankin, Linda Bankerd, Paul Bankerd, Elia Ben-Ari, Karen Berlage, Barbara Binder, Meryl Bloomrosen, Susan Brinkerhoff, Anne Brown, Jean Bullock, Loren Bullock, Catherine Burzio, Laura Clauser, Jay Cormier, Jim Davidson, Mike Davis, Donna Davis, Carolyn Dockins, Bob Doyle, Linda Freimark, Eric Gilliland, Glen Harrison, Beryl Gilmore, Mark and Valerie Gribble, Neil Grotenstein, Charlie Hartsock, Mark Hemhauser, Brian Ives, Linda Jaffee, Steve Jones, Bruce Kapner, Catherine Kitchell, Guy Kramel, Lynn Kristianson, Alan Kurtzweil, Gordon Meuse, Steve Mitchell, Neal Molloy, George Moore, Paul Murtha and wife, Gary Nooger, Mark Pankin, Paul Phipps, Jeff Piper, David Priddy, Mark Repak, Deborah Reynolds, Tom Roberts, Dean Self, Judy Sparrow, Rick Studley, Jack Suddreth, Sue Suddreth, Leslie Tierstien, Gary Timmons, Linda Tischer, Ballard Troy, Rebekah Flatter, Doortje LeGrand, Joyce Gearhart, Paul White, and Ed Robichaud.

Again thanks to you all!

From the Chair

by Catherine Kitchell

Two equally important topics need to be addressed in this month’s column – congratulating Kent Peters on administering a fabulous Century for PPTC in September and getting the club’s act together for January’s Annual Meeting by calling for candidates for the 2008 Executive Committee and for the Good Shepherd award.

Kent was GREAT – and so was the Century. I worked the White Post rest stop which was run by Cynthia Priddy and her husband David. I have to say it’d be harder to find a more organized and enthusiastic leader than Cynthia who also believes in having lots of fun. White Post is a cool stop. The site is owned by Billy Thompson who runs White Post Restorations, a great car restoration shop, now in its fourth generation, and has cars flown in from as far away as the Middle East. For those of you interested in more than bikes, check out his website.

This rest stop is famous for the sandwiches. Originally the tradition started with Ballard Troy and Cynthia had big expectations to fill. Sandwiches made included “The Englishman” – tomato with mayo on toasted English muffin and the “Chix on Whix” – eggs sliced w/mayo on wheat bread in addition to the famous tomato, cucumber, onion sandwiches with mayo and salt and pepper. (If you’ve never tried it, be sure to get really great fresh tomatoes and you’ll be amazed!)

Volunteers at the rest stop included Gary Timmons (Gatorade making), Linda and Paul Bankerd, Steve Jones, Paul Phipps and Jeff Piper. Karen Berlage got pulled off first aid duty and cut tomatoes and made sandwiches too – (though there was quite a debate about who’d put the Neosporin on her finger should she cut herself – could she do it herself or would we have to find another?) As Tom Humphrey commented later in the day when I went back to the high school – “I thought I was working hard riding 100 miles, but the volunteers are still at it.” Everyone deserves lots of credit for all their hard work.

The Club is looking for members to volunteer to be Chair-Elect, Treasurer or Member at-Large. Executive Committee meetings are the third Tuesday of every month and run about 2 hours. A club of 3200 members can not run without a dedicated group of people performing administrative oversight. Please let a current member of the Executive Committee know if you are interested in running for one of these positions. Big issues in the coming year involve continued improvement of the website and working on a new automated ride scheduling system. I hope to work on a redesign of the website once I am no longer Chair in January (and finally have some time!) If you are interested in web design or redesign or just want to comment on what we have already done and how it could be improved please let me know directly via .

Also, nominations for the Good Shepherd Award need to be sent to members of the Ex Com by December 1st. I know there are many great ride leaders out there – let us know who you think should be honored and why.

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Details, details, details

by Kent Peters

Details, details, details. Last year's century organizer Linda Tischer had agreed to meet with me and pass along her knowledge on organizing the Historic Back Roads Century. Needless to say I was a bit overwhelmed. Details, lots of them laid out on paper, in files, on CD - even a Quicktime video of images of the ride put to music. How does one get a handle on all these details needed to pull off this event? How many portable toilets do we need? What variety of tomato is needed for the famous tomato sandwiches? Will Clarke County decide to regulate our event such that we need government approval to hold the ride? How many brochures should we print? Where do we display them? How many gallons of Gatorade will we need? What design should we have on this years t-shirt? Is it really true or only PPTC legend that volunteers pour out of the woodwork the last week before the ride? Oh my! What was I thinking? After all my first century ride was much simpler.

I was 15 years old. It was in was part of Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase, but known today as central Indiana where the roads are surveyor straight for a hundred miles and the only hills are man-made highway overpasses. I was happy because I did not know there was anything better to ride than a 40-pound 10-speed Schwinn Continental. I was on the road by 6 AM and rode in a pair of well-worn cut-off Wranglers. The destination was a family reunion in the northern part of the state at a cottage on a lake. I don't remember too much about the ride all these years later, but I do remember how good it felt after having done one hundred miles in 90 plus degree heat to then cool off in the lake. I suspect that I probably finished off my well earned hunger with homemade ice cream and strawberry pie.

But now instead of images of Indiana corn fields my head is full of appreciation for everyone who is already pitching in to make the century a successful PPTC event. When Mariette Vanderzon is not drafting someone out on a club ride she is busy helping to publicize the event on websites. And one of our brave urban ride leaders, Cynthia Priddy, has already volunteered herself and hubby to help at the White Post rest stop making the famous tomato sandwiches. Marc Currie and Linda continue to feed me advice from their experience organizing previous century rides. Our president, Catherine Kitchell, keeps expressing her fear that my head will explode which always make me think that there is something else she has not told me.

I hope many of you are training for the century so maybe come along on a training ride I'll be along for led this month by Peter Klosky when we will do part of the century as a warm up. If you know you are going to ride the century, pleases go ahead and pre-register online. It gets you committed, guarantees you a t-shirt and it helps us plan. If you don't plan on riding, but still want to join in the fun then please help out by volunteering. Contact me at 301-455-5703 or by .

For more PPTC Historic Back Roads Century info and registration click here.

From the Chair

By Catherine Kitchell

Many of you have already checked it out, but the new PPTC website went up March 1st – if you haven’t seen it, please go to http://www.bikepptc.org and see for yourself. It’s slick and neat and a great round of applause goes to Marc Currie, Steve Wartik and past Executive Committees and Website Committees over many years for all the hard work and dedication that went into it. Many thanks also go to Steve Palincsar for his dedication to developing the old website and his input into the new site. Also, please thank Sherri Core, our staff person, for living through the transition. Some aspects of things like credit card processing one would believe should be easier if they are automated but sometimes a lot more goes on in the background than one would think. Hopefully, all that extra work will be alleviated soon.

There will be a second phase to the new website and that is creating a new system for scheduling rides. Currently rides are scheduled through our ride coordinators who usually send out emails to their usual ride leaders. Coordinators then send the schedule for their geographic area and class to Dan Lehman and Joe Stusnick who work some kind of magic to make the schedule as it appears in Pedal Patter. Coordinators really do a great job making sure, to the best of their ability, that there is at least one ride in every category in every geographic area both days of the weekend. People still like to get Pedal Patter and the first evolution of the new ride scheduling system will be tied to Pedal Patter deadlines. The downside of the system is that often ride leaders are committing to rides 6 weeks or more in advance and it’s hard, in the current system, to get in more “impromptu” rides if the weather should be unexpectedly beautiful or even to cancel rides if the weather is bad. The Executive Committee is aware of these issues and welcomes your comments on how the process will work. We are also hoping to develop some online forums to help with these issues. Please email me at ckitchell@earthlink.net with your concerns and comments as it is important that we hear from a variety of people in the club. The Ex Com has authorized the Website Committee to spend up to $30,000 working with the developer to get this accomplished and we want to know that club dues and money are well-spent getting members what they want.

In other great news, Tom Humphrey has taken over as editor of Pedal Patter. Tom has a degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland and over 15 years of writing and editorial experience. He completed his first century last October at the Seagull Century and he’s a B class rider. Tom can be reached at KiteFencer@comcast.net – please send story ideas to him. Also in PP news, Teresa Noonan is now writing the “Out of Bounds” column – taking it over this year from Chris Moriarity. If you know of out-of-town events that are really great and in the mid-Atlantic area Teresa will be happy to see if the meet the column’s guidelines for inclusion.

Please join everyone for the Volunteer’s Party/Ride Leaders meeting in Fairlington on April 14th. Barbara Binder has ordered up a great selection of food but please bring other items to share. The club will provide the plates, napkins, beer, wine, etc. also. We haven’t had a real party since the Annual Meeting so it’s a great time to see if you recognize people when they aren’t in spandex. You’d be surprised how many members clean up very nicely indeed! It’ll mostly be a party but if you are interested in the nuts and bolts of how to lead rides we’ll address the issues at the event. Again, we are working on building a new ride schedule program this year so this is the year to get involved with that process. If you constantly think “You know I’d like more rides that start earlier or are slower or more social or take place in Manassas during the week, etc.” chances are that someone else in the club thinks the same way and the best way to meet that need is to lead the ride and see who else comes out. Most of the really fast riders don’t need more motivation – they are really fast for a reason – usually they are highly motivated – but the rest of us could always use help and leading rides is the best motivator there is.

Please also check out our schedule of other events for the year on the back page of Pedal Patter. All our weekends are planned and the Nokesville picnic is May 6th. Most of the weekends are already up on the website so you can begin to sign-up.

Just a few more weeks until the Tuesday night rides on the Capital Crescent from Bethesda start up. Thank you Patrice Coss for those – a real harbinger of spring!

Family Biking

Going on organized bike weekends is high on my sons’ list of fun things to do, especially when there are other kids out there as well. So few of their friends at school do any serious riding that they really enjoy getting together with the other kids on the bike rallies.

Here are a few of the Bike rallies coming up this year that we’ve found to be very family friendly. May 6th will be the PPTC’s Nokesville Picnic Ride. This is a multi-class ride with something for everyone. There will be rides from 10-51 miles, covering classes D to A. The roads in the Nokesville area are generally flat to rolling and generally quiet. If your family is just starting out, you can enjoy the 10 mile ride. If you are a bit more adventurous, you can ride farther. Afterwards you can enjoy lunch while the children play. Rides start between 8:30 and 10:15, depending upon the ride class. The picnic starts around noon. Check out the new PPTC web site for more information. Kudos to all the folks who have worked so hard to make this web site more informative and easier to use.

We will start our year at the “Tour de Chesapeake” in Matthews VA. The ride is organized by BikeWalk Virginia the weekend of 18-20 May. I started riding this with Jonathon when he was still in the trailer, and he enjoyed it back then. He is now 10 years old and still looking forward to a weekend with Dad. This year both boys will be with me, and poor Mom will be all alone with her quiet and her bubble baths. Activities start on Friday with pre-registration and a Pasta Dinner, where you can meet some of the other riders. Saturday morning starts off with ride options of 15, 20, 35, 50 and 62 miles in length. The courses are flat, but they can also be windy. The ride includes a lunch stop. Last year it was Subway sandwiches, chips and sodas. There are other rest stops along the way, some with snacks and others just at beautiful locations where you can take a break. When you get to the end, they serve strawberry shortcake to finish up your day. In the evening there is a Bluegrass concert at nearby Gwynn’s Island. On Sunday there are maps for local “No Frills” rides as well as opportunities for hiking, canoeing and kayaking on your own. If there is a downside to this ride, it is a lack of hotels and motels in the immediate area. However camping is available and some of the folks in Matthews open their homes to visitors for a fee. For more information go to: www.bikechesapeake.org.

Memorial Day Weekend is the “Kent County Spring” hosted by the Baltimore Bike Club at Washington College in Chestertown, MD. This is the 25th year that they have hosted this ride and it continues to be a highlight for many families. While it is not a cheap weekend, it is a good value. On Friday there are a number of casual rides, then on Friday night there is a welcoming desert bar for all to meet and greet. After the Saturday morning breakfast, there are a plethora of ride options. However, many of the families do the 20 mile Cliff City Crabbers ride so they can get back in time to participate in the festivities downtown. There is a wonderful street festival celebrating the second tea party. Yes the Chestertown Tea Party occurred when the British decided the ships were no longer safe in the Annapolis Harbor after the Boston Tea Party. They soon found out there were many patriots in Chestertown as well. Children of all ages enjoy the activities. That evening after dinner there is another desert bar and folk dancing. While the parents are dancing the children can play either in the immediate area or in the college Game Room. Sunday morning brings a number of rides, all meeting at Worton park for lunch. In the afternoon you can either extend your ride or head back to the riverside park in Chestertown to shop at some of the streetside vendors and watch the raft races. Some of the rafts are quite exquisite. Squids, Super Heroes, Dragons and anything you can imagine has probably been tried. On Monday morning, many of the folks go off on short rides before coming back for lunch and pack out. For more information go to: “http://www.baltobikeclub.org/” and select the “Rides and Events/Special Events” options.

The last event for this issue is the PPTC/WABITS Family Bike Weekend on the 22-24th of June. This has been a great event over the years. Ride on quiet back roads, take rest stops where the kids can play, have ice cream, and enjoy the swimming pool. There are lots of places for the kids to make noise and wear themselves out, so they’ll sleep well during the night. This weekend is hosted out of the Pocomoke State Park/Shad Landing. Where the Kent County Spring Fling has professional Chefs cooking the food, we have children flipping pancakes. Where the Kent County Spring Fling has exquisite chocolate delicacies, we have s’mores straight from the fire. Both weekends are great fun, just different styles. For more information see the PPTC-WABITS Family Bike Weekend article elsewhere in Pedal Patter, or contact Kevin and Kim Brugman.

Free For All Membership Picnic Ride

May 6, 2007

The annual Free for All Membership Picnic Ride will be held Sunday, May 6th at the Nokesville Community Park in Nokesville, VA. This wildly successful event is a multi-class ride with something for everyone. There will be rides from 10-51 miles, with rides for all ability levels from ride classes A to D. It’s open to everyone - new, old and non-members. An information table will be available before and after the rides to answer questions anyone might have, from choosing the right ride to how to join the club.

Last year we had a great turnout, and it’s a great way to meet people who are not in your normal ride class. It’s rumored that at least one marriage has come out of this ride in the past! We are focusing on attracting lots of new cyclists so that they can all come out and experience riding with the Potomac Pedalers.

After the rides we will gather at the pavilion for hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers and other special veggie sandwiches and drinks, all at no charge. We’ll even have plates, napkins, cups, utensils, and condiments. As always, everyone is encouraged to bring a dish to share. Please mark the date on your calendar and hope for a lovely day, but remember that this is a rain or shine event.

Rides will start between 8:30 and 10:15 depending upon the ride class. The picnic will start around noon. For more information click here.

We need volunteers to help with setting up, cooking, cleaning up, and manning the info table. There will be a special volunteer’s ride of about 20 miles. Anyone interested in helping, please contact Deb Reynolds: email or phone (703-360-2339).

New Map-Brochure of Bicycle Tours in Washington County

The Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) has just released a new Bicycle Tours map and brochure for Washington County, Maryland. The hundreds of miles of low-traffic rural roads in Washington County, almost all excellent for bicycling, have always attracted cyclists. The C&O Canal Towpath and the Western Maryland Rail Trail are also popular destinations, as well as Antietam Battlefield. Several local state parks also have excellent mountain biking, including Greenbrier State Park.

Trails.com rankings show that half of Maryland’s 10 most popular trails are in or near Washington County. Thousands of cyclists explore Washington County annually, many who are escaping out of the confines of the urban metro areas. The new glossy map folds out to include eight different bicycle loop tours throughout Washington County, including one through Hagerstown. Each tour varies in length, from 10 to 34 miles, and explores a variety of terrain. The inside of the map shows Washington County with all eight loop tours and the routes for seven of the tours. The back side of the map shows the city of Hagerstown and the route for the "Hub City Tour," which utilizes the newly constructed Hamilton Run bike path and the new North Prospect Street bike lane. In addition to bicycle maps and routes, the new map includes a welcome to Washington County, pertinent safety information, a listing of local bike shops, points of interest, and a brief history of the county. ??

The tour routes were supplied by the Cumberland Valley Cycling Club (CVCC), which provided a great deal of support and guidance to the CVB throughout the entire process of creating the brochure. The CVCC is a recreational and racing bicycle club that has been based in Hagerstown since 1983. The organization's web site is: www.bikecvcc.com. The new map-brochures are currently available at the CVB Visitor Welcome Center in downtown Hagerstown and will be available from many CVB member businesses, especially hotels and bike shops, throughout the area. The map-brochure will be periodically updated, as well.

The President of the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Tom Riford, said that the entire project is being made web-friendly. "We're moving forward with putting this whole bike map on our web site. We want to be able to reach even more potential visitors, who are looking for cycling opportunities in our area." The CVB's web site is www.marylandmemories.com.

New Virginia "D" Ride Coordinator Needed

It's time for a new VA "D" ride coordinator. This role requires less than an hour of volunteer time per month, and makes a significant contribution to PPTC and our community. A candidate needs to be organized and have good written communication skills, along with a reliable PC and email system. You’ll also need cut and paste word processing expertise. You will be up and running with less than an hour of coaching; I will be happy to provide help to the next VA "D" ride coordinator for a smooth transition.

Please contact me, or someone on the Executive Committee if you're interested so we can support you and help you to succeed.

Thanks,

Kate Schwarz
Advertising Manager
Potomac Pedalers Touring Club
pptcadvertising@pobox.com
703-622-6494

From the Chair

By Catherine Kitchell

I write this month’s chair column after the annual meeting and the first ExCom meeting (only 11 more of these to go!). I ventured last month that these would go well, and gladly I was right. The food was good; a great slate of Executive Committee members was voted in; people actually attended the meeting; ride leaders were recognized and new volunteers coerced into making obligations they probably now regret.

The annual meeting is one PPTC event for which I always pray for bad weather. The worse the weather, the more likely riders will stay off their bikes for a day to just eat and talk. It was very cold, but I think Dan Lehman counted 17 people who amazingly rode their bikes to the meeting. That’s pretty impressive and has to be a record. (I always pass Patrice Coss on her bike when I drive to the meeting. She’s a total marvel. My excuse for driving? I bring lots of supplies!)

The meeting recognized both new Chair-elect Marc Currie and new member-at-large Steve Wartik for their hard work on the new website, which was previewed at the meeting. I’ve subsequently played with it and, well, it’s pretty cool. Please read Marc’s piece in this issue detailing more about the website.

Kent Peters has agreed to chair the PPTC Century on September 16. Kent is a new PPTC member, from Norway and other exotic locales, and we’re thrilled to have him. He’s already been in contact with past Century chairs and is overwhelmed with the demands, but seems to be taking it all in stride -- a good attitude in a human being trying to organize bikers!

Linda Schwartz has agreed to lead the Lewes, Del. weekend. She’s also done the work to set up the Williamsburg weekend, including contacting the hotel, putting together the food and cue sheets, etc., but would be overjoyed to have someone take it from here. So if you’re interested in the relatively easy part of taking reservations in conjunction with PPTC staffer Sherri Core, let me or Linda know. Linda’s e-mail: lschwartz216@gmail.com.

Dates for other annual events have also been set. We didn’t reserve the community center in Fairlington early enough for a volunteers’ party last fall, so we are combining that event and a ride-leaders’ meeting on April 14. The annual Nokesville picnic will be May 6. More on these events is in this issue or will come soon.

I’ll admit I’ve been pretty lame about riding so far this year, both on weekends and during the week. (Hoping to rent a bike for a day or two in Naples, Fla. next week, though I imagine it won’t be too strenuous a riding adventure.) Generally, however, I love my bike commute. Most mornings, riding the Capital Crescent is fabulous. It’s beautiful and calm, and with any luck I even see a little red fox or a beaver. So I’m a big supporter of WABA’s Bike-to-Work Day, coming up May 18.

PPTC is helping sponsor that event with a $1,000 donation, and our ExCom’s Bill Michie is coordinating our efforts to bring out volunteers to help WABA. Check out WABA (click here). Please remember PPTC is more than a bike club -- we are a public charity and part of our mission is to generally promote biking in the area.

Family Biking

Dreams of a Bike Rally

Seven years ago, I approached my wife Kim with an idea; I wanted to host a family bike rally. We had participated in several tandem rallies over the years and had a lot of fun.

We then read about the Family Cycling Tour and how it was started by several area cyclists, one couple being Harvy and Susan Sachs from the PPTC. They told how they had been at some bike rallies where children were not really welcome and decided to start up there own. Members of PPTC and WABITs strongly encouraged us to start it up. So after listening to more of their stories, we were convinced. We were going to host a bike rally!?!

We figured we needed someplace with quiet back roads or bike trails, things for the kids to see, low cost, places to play without disturbing others and Ice Cream. This was going to be a child centric weekend where everyone could relax. We scouted around and found Pocomoke State Park. We had ridden a lot of the local roads on the Seagull Centuries. They had a mixture of cabins and camping spots so we people could come at low cost or spend a little more and stay in side. These decisions were made in the fall of 2001.

The next spring came the first real hurdle. Convince the Executive Committee of the PPTC to support us. We got a pass on this, the President of the PPTC said, stay home, send me the paperwork and I will convince the board. A couple of weeks later, we were officially sanctioned to hold the first Family Bike Weekend. To paraphrase, “Host a rally and they will come”, but would they?

We initially set our goal low. If we had 20 folks attend, we would count it a success. The registration started out a little slow but a couple of families from the Family Cycling Tour joined in to help and ended up with 32 folks attending that year. The children ranged in age from 4 to 15 and all had a wonderful time.

One of the big things we learned that year was to relax and let the weekend develop it’s own pace. We had brought along song sheets for campfire songs and crafts for the kids to include making kites and sports equipment. What we found was that the children preferred the pool and unstructured playing to include more biking around the loop at the campground.

Over the years we have continued to host the rally out of Pocomoke State Park. We still do the rides to Furnace Town and Public Landing. Our registration fee is still only $25 per family, plus $50 (camping) or $100 (cabin) for lodging and shared food. Last year we had 46 folks register, of which two families were on the original rally and a majority of the other families had been on at least one other Family Bike Weekend.

This year we will once again be hosting the 2007 Family Bike Weekend at Pocomoke State Park over the weekend of 22-24 June. This is the weekend after Father’s Day. The registration cost is still $25 per family for PPTC members and $30 for non-members. If you are interested in attending, folks are required to make their own accommodation reservations. For more information see the Family Bike Weekend article in the Pedal Patter for details or contact me directly at kbrugman@cox.net or call evenings between 6 and 10 PM at 703-339-3948.

PPTC Launches Website Upgrade

By the time you read this, a new PPTC website should have launched. The history of this project is long and varied and a wide range of PPTC volunteers are responsible for its implementation. The upgraded website has two main purposes: 1) online reference manual, and 2) online event registration and ride scheduling.

The upgraded website uses a content management system ("Drupal" for those technically inclined). This system uses "roles" to enable PPTC volunteers to add and maintain their own content (e.g. Lewes weekend, classified ads, etc.). Also available are databases enabling searchable ride start points, cue sheets, etc. This is still a work in progress and we are working hard to complete the automated event registration and ride scheduling system.

What's new: there is now a PPTC members only area (login required). The same content as before is available to the public (except the cue sheet library). The member area provides:

1. Ride start points: tabular view for sorting by name, acronym and state as well as a search feature. Directions and links to online maps (google, etc.) - like a turbo-charged reference manual.
2. Cue sheet library: searchable with a tabular view for sorting by title, state, mileage, and ride start point.
3. Bicycling Forums
4. Online member directory. Exactly the same information as in the reference manual, now searchable. A new feature includes the ability of members to add information on their bicycles under "bike(s)" for a more friendly environment. Suppose you were on a ride and met someone named Mike (what was his last name?), and, of course, you noticed he rode a Cannondale Six13. Using the search feature with "Mike" under first name and "Cannondale" under bike(s), you just might find him. Pretty slick, eh. (editor’s note: this is waaaaay cool. CAK)

There has been a great concern about identity protection and spam reduction, and this is quite understandable. Let me allay any concerns by informing everyone that there are many means of protection built into this system: password protection, no email lists, no membership list (names listed, contact info. only available one at a time), and, one can "opt out" just as before in the reference manual. Is it secure? Yes. Is this fool proof? No, but is anything (e.g. your home computer)? Remember, PPTC does not store your financial info, just your name, addresses, and phone number (so does the DMV/MVA and phone company).

As mentioned, certain areas of the website are available only to PPTC members. For efficiency, usernames and passwords will be distributed via email. The PPTC office's records, however, are accurate for less than 40% of the membership's email addresses. To get these into Sherri's database (for official PPTC business ONLY), there are two ways to handle this:

1. contact Marc Currie at PPTCaccount@gmail.com
   • include your name (first, middle, last) and postal address (the address removes uncertainty)
   • family membership: list postal address and then list each family member with their respective email address.
2. if #1 alarms you, contact Sherri at the PPTC office (although please try not to overwhelm her with thousands of questions and calls, as she is already quite busy).

Once I get these entered for Sherri, go to the new site and:

1. click the "request new password" link in the "user login" block,
2. This opens a user account page,
3. Enter the email address you sent (in #1 or #2 above) to us (don't worry about the username field),
4. Your username and password will be sent to the email address you just provided. You will be able to change both your username and password after your first successful log in.

Please let me know if you have any comments (problems, issues, etc.) with the site. Look for up-to-date announcements at bikepptc.org and enjoy.

Tour Point of Contact

Last year I volunteered as Tour Point of Contact for the club, to keep track of tours that people were riding outside of Virginia, Maryland, and DC. It was fun to know what tours our members were riding, and I helped put a few people in contact that were riding in the same tours. In doing this, I saw a big need for someone to help our members put together teams for Bike Virginia. In fact, our people seemed to want this service more than help connecting with other club members riding tours outside of the area. As Membership Secretary, I see a benefit to our membership by providing this service. If anyone would like to volunteer to coordinate teams for Bike VA, please email me or phone 703-360-2339.

Deborah Reynolds
Membership Secretary

Volunteer's Party & Ride Leaders Meeting

April 14 in Arlington

This year’s annual volunteers’ party will be combined with the ride-leaders’ meeting to kick off the spring biking season. The meeting/party/potluck is open to anyone who worked for the club last year or is interested in volunteering and leading rides this year. Remember that volunteering and leading rides are the easiest ways to meet club members! It should be a fun evening of food and good company. The club will provide some food (Lebanese Taverna?), beverages including beer and wine, plates, utensils, napkins, etc.; but it’s a potluck so please bring some food to share.

The party/meeting will be from 6-10 p.m. at Arlington’s Fairlington Village Community Center. While enjoyment will be emphasized, there will be a short program to discuss issues relevant to PPTC ride leaders.

Directions: Fairlington Village Community Center (same place as last year) is at 3005 S. Abington St., Arlington. If coming from I-395, take the King Street (Rt. 7) west exit. From westbound King, shortly turn right onto S. 30th Street. Go three blocks to S. Abington. The center will be right in front of you.

If coming from eastbound King Street, turn left onto S. 28th. It becomes S. 29th by keeping right as you go up the hill. Turn right on S. Abington at a stop sign. The center will be on your left in one block.

W&OD Trail Patrol Seeks New Members

The W&OD Trail Patrol is seeking new members to be on-scene ambassadors of safety, courtesy, information, and goodwill. The Trail runs through the communities of Arlington, Falls Church, Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Sterling, Ashburn, Leesburg, Hamilton, and Purcellville. All adult trail users--cyclists, walker, runners, skaters, carriage pushers, dog walkers, horse riders, or wheel chair users--are eligible to apply. Two orientation sessions are already scheduled for 2007: One will be held on Saturday, March 31st at the Vienna Community Center at10 am, and the other session will be held on Tuesday, April 3rd at the Herndon Library at 7pm. Future sessions are planned for other trail communities.

For further information and to sign up please contact John Boone by email or phone 703-726-6993

From the Chair

by Catherine Kitchell

To meet Pedal Patter deadlines I am writing this column two weeks before the PPTC Annual Meeting at the beginning of January but you'll get your issue after the meeting. So I can't really report that the meeting went completely smoothly but I'm sure it will -and presumably I actually was installed as your Chair! If you didn't come to it you should have because I'm sure the food was great and everyone had a wonderful time! This issue of PP is also remarkably small - nothing is apparently happening in mid-winter in the local biking scene though we've had remarkably good weather except for Dan Lehman's New Year's Day ride.

The Executive Committee voted in the December meeting to award Brin Luther the Good Shepherd Award for 2006. Brin epitomizes good ride leader shepherding. She leads lots and lots of rides, she always looks out for new members and makes sure everyone has a good time and that everyone gets back. She often plans social events afterwards at her house. Plus she's just a hard-working cyclist with a big heart. Bad weather, too many hills, too many miles, lack of companions, nothing really stops her. I've ridden in the back with her many times and she's just one tenacious rider. She is also tenacious in her advocacy work for the W & OD trail - don't get her started unless you want to hear the whole story! Members who have not been on a ride with her should go on them and everyone should congratulate her on her dedication.

The Ex Com also voted to recognize Marc Currie and Steve Wartik on their work on the new PPTC website. It's been a long time coming but hopefully it was actually revealed at the Annual Meeting and will soon be completely rolled out. It's all about the details and Marc and Steve have been remarkably patient at hammering them out. The content management system is running well, the cue sheet and ride start locations are online and the membership directory is in place. The whole project has been the bane of the existence of many an Ex Com and they both deserve a huge round of applause for, well, shepherding it through to completion!

Linda Tischer and Mike Heib received life-time memberships to PPTC for their work on three PPTC centuries. They are a phenomenal team and the Century really is a landmark event for the club - it's a great and beautiful ride and has provided an opportunity for many members of the club to come together as a team. If you really want to meet new people in the club mark your calendars for September 16th next year and resolve to volunteer more! As a matter of fact, the club is still looking for a Chair for the 2007 Century - the framework of the ride is in place and Linda and Mike have done such a great job that it should make next year's ride much easier. To volunteer, please contact me at ckitchell@earthlink.net.

PPTC is a charity and the Ex Com, along with the Community Services Committee, this year decided to grant $2200 to Trips for Kids and $1500 to Bikes for the World. Many thanks to John Ordway and Pat Childers for soliciting bids and evaluating them. Both of these programs promote biking in the area especially to under-served youths and are well worth us supporting. The committee needs new members so if you are interested in volunteering please let someone on the Ex Com know.

I would like to thank all the out-going members of the 2006 Ex Com. Butch Counts, Clara Martinez and Emil Regelman have all contributed much more to the club than a few hours the third Tuesday of every month. Please express your appreciation to all of them. (Especially thank Emil for ordering up those new PPTC caps that were delivered at the Annual meeting that hopefully took place!) I'm sure once the weather gets better all will be leading more rides with their new found extra time!

Lastly, if you haven't met Sigrid Haines, the outgoing Chair of PPTC, well you've missed a great person. We've worked well as an Ex Com this year and she and I have worked personally well. I will miss her a great deal at the meetings but with any luck I hope to, uh, shepherd her into other roles in the club!

Also, let's congratulate the new Ex Com members for 2007 - Marc Currie hopefully knows what he's agreed to by being the new Chair-Elect. Gary Timmons has some idea what to expect as the new Recording Secretary since he has attended meetings for a year already. And please be kind to Steve Jones, Steve Wartik and Deb Reynolds. All of them are enthusiastic so please let them know your ideas for making the club better. But don't forget to praise them for the jobs they are already doing well!

Happy Cycling to everyone in the New Year!

Pedal Safely

Pedal Safely Vol 1 Issue 6
by The Black Tie Bicyclist Copyright 2006

A good way to start off the New Year is with a new helmet.

Of course you should always cycle with a helmet. Helmets, like seat belts, need to be replaced if they've been involved in a crash. Also, though, did you know that helmets that have never been crashed should be replaced every 2~ 4 years depending upon use and other factors? A helmet is nothing more than a Styrofoam cup for your head. It has a pretty and smooth outside cover to protect the Styrofoam, to let the helmet slide should you fall, and not snag maybe causing your neck to break. Take your Styrofoam coffee cup and put it inside the microwave for 6 minutes. It does melt. Every day and every season the Styrofoam in your helmet does the same expand and contract like that coffee cup and after a few seasons it's not as strong as a new one. This is damage that can't be seen by the naked eye. The more you wear it, the more sunlight, heat, and cold it's exposed all shorten the helmet's lifespan. If you can see cracks, dents or damage you need to throw it away. If your budget allows, you should have a couple of helmets just in case you notice damage to one you have a back up and won't miss a ride.

A helmet for normal errand rides around town and maybe one with a lot more vents for those fast club rides is a good combination to have on hand.

According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute more than 10 % of bicyclist's emergency room visits involved head injuries. Two-thirds of cyclist's deaths are from traumatic brain injury. Estimates of cyclists brain injuries that could have been prevented by a helmet range from 45 to 88 percent! The greatest number of cycling deaths occurred in the 35-44, 45-54, and 55-64 age groups, increasing as much as 21% from 2004 to 2005. These 3 age brackets account for nearly 50% of all fatalities. Helmets are not just for kids!

Remember like seat belts, the helmet is your last safety item. Defensive pedaling, sound equipment, bright lights and clothing are all used for your safety. If one or more of them fail then the helmet is the last thing to protect you.

The technology that makes helmets safe isn't expensive. In most cases it doesn't matter if you paid $20 or $200+ for your helmet, your head will be equally safe. Just make sure it has a sticker stating that it meets the standards of the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) or ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials). Higher priced helmets may weigh less and have more air vents but they won't save your head any better.

So the price you pay is for fashion or high tech doesn't matter when compared to the price you pay if you are in an accident and don't wear a helmet.

Helmets to work properly must fit properly: Snug Level Secure are the key words. It may take 10-15 minutes to make sure the helmet you choose fits you properly.

Place a helmet on your head without clipping the straps. It should fit like your baseball cap, not flop around but if you hit the front of it upward it will roll up and back over your head without falling off. That's the size you need. Snug enough to stay on and centered if you turn your head left or right. Not so tight that it will give you a headache when you wear it for hours in the heat. Use the pads that come with your new helmet to obtain that correct fit. Most come with thin, medium, and thick extra pads. Depending upon the manufacturer this could change a medium helmet from medium to medium/small or medium/large.

Make sure that your helmet is always level. You should be able to have only one or two finger widths of forehead between your eyebrows and the bottom of your helmet. Too many people lift the helmet up exposing the forehead to potential harm in a forward crash. Usually it's a good test to have the helmet on and walk into a wall (slowly!) the front of the helmet should touch the wall before your nose does (depending upon the size of the nose).

Secure the straps. Use the straps and pads to get a secure fit. When they are secure you should be able to only get one finger in between your strap and your neck when your mouth is closed. It should be secure enough that if you open your mouth all the way you can't get a finger in there. With your mouth open wide you should feel the helmet pulling down on top of your head. The straps should form a Y around your ear. The front and rear straps should be evenly balanced and secured with the ear the center point. There should be no play left to right, up and down when you shake your head. If you can tap your helmet up more than an inch in the front, leaving your forehead not completely protected, you need to tighten the front straps, if you tap it in the rear and it rises back there more than an inch you need to tighten the rear straps. Raise the helmet in the front - it should cause the skin above your eyebrows to tighten/stretch with the movement (remember not more than an inch) if it doesn't, put in thicker pads or choose a different helmet.

Just like a car's seat belts won't work if you don't click them on, it doesn't matter if you have the most expensive helmet, fits right, is on level and you look good in it, if you don't fasten it on it won't save your life.

Always always always fasten your straps.

The helmet you wear should be specifically designed for cycling. A skateboard helmet might work great if you are only going the speed of a skateboarder but most cyclists easily go much faster. A helmet designed to withstand an 8 MPH crash won't you do much good in a 15-to-45 mph crash.

Remember it's sometimes called a Brain Bucket for a good reason. It's carrying the most important part of your body. They can install a prosetic arm or leg, transplant and eye or heart, they can even now give you a new face, but they can't do much for you if you shake, dent, or damage your brain.

Wear it around the store while you do the rest of your shopping. It should be so comfortable you forget you are wearing it. You don't notice you are wearing a seat belt when you are in a car, or even remember that you are wearing shoes when they fit right, the same thing applies with helmets. If you don't remember you have it on you have a good one on.

For more information and links to helmet videos visit the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute website.

Pedal Safely!

BlackTieBicyclist@yahoo.com

Family Cycling

Is 2007 the PPTC "Year of the Family"?
by Kevin Brugman

I was struck by how many of the articles dealt with children and bicycling in the January issue of Pedal Patter. Besides this monthly column, Pat Childers wrote about his experiences with Bike Rodeos over the past 15 years and leading rides specifically for children. There was also a job vacancy for a Youth Bike Program Director for Bikes for the World. Finally there was an article by Craig Degenhardt that should be mandatory reading for every parent buying a bike for their children.

As I look over the riders at many of the rides or at the annual meetings, I imagine that many of us are at an age when we learned to ride as children to play with our friends. We used our bikes as transportation to our friend's house, to the baseball/football/playground area. Sometimes we just got on our bikes to ride somewhere to get away from Dad, Mom, sisters, brothers or life in general. Bicycles were our tickets to freedom. I still see kids wanting to ride to get away from it or to it. They will ride to the playground down the street or around the block to get away from family life. But the days of heading out for a day of riding without supervision may be gone forever in the Washington DC area. So how do we encourage the next generation of cyclists?

Pat has taken the step of introducing children to biking through the Bike Rodeos. There are a lot of kids that come to the rodeos as a day of escapism. Safe riding, seeing the police as friends not someone to avoid, exercise are all things kids crave. Not just want, but CRAVE! If you are involved with or hosting a Bike Rodeo this year, please let me know at least 6 weeks in advance and I will try to reference it in this column.

Pat and Julie took it a step further and took children out for rides. Even these children know the difference between being out riding a bike and going for a bike ride. For many of these children, this is an adventure escape from everything.

Bikes for the World is an outstanding organization that arranges for unused bikes in the US to be gathered up and sent to third world countries. I read once that there are more bikes sold per year in the U.S. than automobiles. If this is true, then there are a lot of unused bikes in garages and back yards. This program provides cheap, efficient transportation to hundreds around the world and generates local enterprise. Now they are expanding to youth programs. No longer will bikes be something just for adults, they will be available to children for fun, for getting out of the neighborhood, to meet more friends and find out that the kids down the road are just as fun as the kids next door.

Finally, Craig's article on bike helmets was right on. As much as I want the local bike stores to get as much support as possible, I recognize that many bikes and helmets are bought at large discount stores. Unfortunately, these shops do not have the staff, time, or expertise to properly fit helmets to children or adults. Even for those who do buy a children's helmet at a bike store and get the staff to properly fit the helmet, children grow fast and what fit six months ago, now needs to be readjusted. I frequently see bike stores offer free bike adjustments when you buy their bikes, I would bet that many would be willing to help with helmet adjustments as well. Just do not go in at the busiest time and insist on an immediate refitting. After all they want return customers as well.

So what else can we do as PPTCers to make 2007 the year of the family? First, if you have children, go out for bike rides with them; offer to take a neighbor's child out with you for a ride. Do local rides around the neighborhood. A half mile may be all some of the smaller ones can do to start with, let the rides expand as experience grows. Second, arrange to ride with other families; there are a few PPTC specific family rides held every year, plus there are some D-rides that are short enough or slow enough to encourage multiple families with children. Third, lead a ride yourselves; get the children involved with organizing the ride. I am getting my own two boys into organizing some family rides this summer and figuring out how to make them more fun. Their number one suggestion: Bring their friends along! Be the Johnny Appleseed of biking. Fourth, get involved in community events helping children ride. Assist or lead a Bike Rodeo, get involved with one of the groups leading youth rides, or find some other way to preach the gospel of bike riding.

Let's make 2007 a year of growth for family biking.

Ride Leader Guidelines

(Editor's note: the Ride Leader Guidelines are available in the PPTC reference manual. They are being reprinted here to remind new and experienced ride leaders of the best practices for all rides. The riding season will start up again in earnest in March - resolve to spend February preparing for it! - CAK)

Ride leading is exciting, rewarding and available to members only. It is the heart and soul of our Rides Program. Ride leaders should be especially welcoming and attentive to those who are new to our rides, members or not, as first impressions are important and lasting. The ride leader is the face of the club for all new and prospective members. Advance planning, up to seven weeks, is necessary in order to meet Pedal Patter deadlines. The specific dates for each issue are available on the web site under Ride Schedules/Ride Coordinators heading, or from ride coordinators.

Date/Route
Decide your ride classification and contact the appropriate coordinator with a date and route. If you don't have a favorite ride in mind, and would like suggestions for one, the coordinator and/or the cue sheet librarian will be happy to provide you with a route from a particular start location and specific length. Ample lead time allows for better planning. Sometimes there are conflicts with rides, start locations or local events, and there needs to be enough time to make changes.

An important purpose of the classification is to allow riders to re-group at rest stops so that new or prospective members do not end up riding alone (except by choice.) Not being alone mitigates other safety issues: getting assistance for repairs or a medical emergency; not getting lost, not running out of food or water. In the past, rides have been listed with multiple classifications, but there must be a separate leader for each class "B" and lower on a multi-class ride, so a co-leader should be found. If you cannot do this yourself, contact the coordinator of the other classification and they will try to find a co-leader for you. This should be easy since you are doing all the pre-ride work and your co-leader just needs to take responsibility on the day of the ride.

Ride Description
Once the date and route are decided on, then you need to submit a ride description to the coordinator. There is a standardized format to follow for the first line that lists the class, distance, locality, start time, location and weather notes. Example: B * 45 * MD * 10AM * Poolesville HS (POO) * 50/35%. Terrain indicators, eg. (F) Flat, (MF) Mostly Flat (MH) or (H) (Mod Hilly, Hilly) may also be used following the ride classification.

Next is the title and body. These can be time tested ones, or you can exercise your writing talents, or a combination. A title is required. Then the basics are noting scenery & landmarks, rest stop(s), if there are bathrooms or not, other facilities, terrain, special occasions, etc. Specify where your pace will fall within the published range. You can invite other ride levels in the body of the text, as long as readers will understand how they will conform to the expectations of that classification (if you will lead from the front or sweep from the back). Include any other info, weather restrictions like wet roads, if you are planning a lunch or other gathering after the ride, helmets required, etc. Finally, include contact information - name, [email] phone xxx/xxx-xxxx (follow this format) so that riders may reach you if they have any questions.

Pre-Ride
Because conditions change, it is best to preview (via bike or car) your ride prior to leading it, so you can make last minute changes to the cue sheet, or be able to alert riders the day of to detours, road work etc.

Prepare sufficient copies of your cue sheet, generally 30 will be fine, more depending on weather conditions and what other rides are offered on the same day. Your sign up sheet will be automatically mailed to you. If it does not arrive from PPTC in time, make a copy from the reference manual or web site, and write in the date, ride name and leader at the top.

The Day of the Ride

• Arrive Early
• Have your cue sheets and waiver with pen available, and have each rider sign the form.
• Compare the number of signatures on the sheet to number of riders: if they don't match, mention it, and remind those who haven't to please do so!
• If possible, have club brochures on hand for prospective members. Contact the club phone at 202/363-8687 or email the PPTC office, to have some sent to you.
• Introduce yourself. Ask if there are any new or non-members, and have them introduce themselves. Ask if anyone is alone, unsure of pace, etc and if possible find a riding buddy for him or her.
• If the group is small, then have introductions all around.
• Give a pre-ride briefing: Mention info about unusual terrain, rest stops, hazards, cue sheet tips etc. State you will be riding at the advertised pace and if you are sweeping or where you will be. Remind that everyone should have water, food, and basic repair tools and parts. Emphasize that each rider should have ID and emergency contact info with them. You could bring some stickers to give anyone who would like one to put in his/her helmet with pertinent info. Review safe cycling practices: Experience will tell you how much of this is necessary for the group you are leading, but here is a comprehensive list:
  • Observe ALL traffic laws. Stop at stop signs & red lights.
  • Stay out of right turn lanes when going straight. Do not hinder traffic.
  • Ensure safe crossings.
  • Make space for cars to pass in large groups.
  • Use hand signals on turns.
  • Warn if stopping or slowing with hands signals as well as calling out.
  • Warn if passing on left or right.
  • Call "Car Back" and "Car Up", and move to single lines when traffic is present.
  • Point or call out potholes, gravel, etc. to those behind.
  • Stay right, and do not pass on hills with limited sightlines or curves…just like in a car.

Although helmets are not officially required by the club, you can set your own policy for your own rides and deal with any rider without a helmet as you see fit. Set a good example ALWAYS wear a helmet.

You can never be sure who will come on any ride. Every ride draws some riders who are faster than the advertised class because they like the location and/or distance. Tell them lead off and otherwise do not worry about them. You are not responsible for keeping close tabs on everyone; but you should have some sense of how people are doing. This is usually done by natural regrouping at rest stops. If you are going to the front, you may ask someone to sweep. Some leaders circle back and forth, but it is not expected. If there is someone seriously lagging and alone, some guidance may be needed.

Encourage others to lead rides, or join the club. Give names of those who you feel might be interested to the ride coordinator so they may be contacted.

VA Bike Map

Virginia Publishes Official Bicycling Map
By Jeff Day

Cyclists looking for ride possibilities in Virginia have a new resource – the commonwealth's first official bicycling map.

Developed by the Virginia Department of Transportation and Virginia Tourism Corp., the statewide Bicycling in Virginia map shows major on- and off-road bicycle routes and includes elevation charts for featured routes. Major mountain biking locations are also noted.

The front side of the large format map – 45 inches by 19 inches – shows the entire state and offers thumbnail descriptions of surface types of major bike routes, as well as the location of adjacent parking areas, public restrooms, and drinking water access. It shows Virginia's 838 miles of United States Bicycle Routes 1 and 76, among other roads and trails designated for bicycle use.

Also featured on the statewide map are names and general locations of national, state, and major local parks near bike routes, as well as the general locations and names of bicycling clubs that can provide advice on local rides and surface conditions

The reverse side includes a map of Northern Virginia bike routes, advice for bicycling safely and legally in the state, short descriptions of selected Virginia bike routes, and recommendations for obtaining more detailed information about biking in the Old Dominion.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine announced the map's release Nov. 21 in conjunction with the opening of the first phase of the planned Virginia Capital Trail.

That pedestrian/bike facility will connect the Canal Walk in downtown Richmond with Jamestown and Williamsburg, by way of the James River/Route 5 corridor and the Colonial Parkway

The trail will link Virginia's current capital with its colonial capital and the site of the nation's first English settlement. The 400th anniversary of Jamestown's founding will be celebrated in 2007.
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The map is available free of charge by mail or in PDF format by visiting VDOT.

Annual Meeting - Eat, drink, and socialize

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Featured Talk on Yoga for Cyclists

Note: Chair-Elect candidate needed!

The 2008 PPTC annual meeting will take place Saturday, January 13, at the River Road Unitarian Church, 6301 River Road (MD Route 190), Bethesda MD. This is the same location as last year. The annual meeting is a great social event beginning at 11:30 am, an opportunity to recognize the people who work hard to keep the club going, as well as the venue for electing a new Executive Committee for 2008.

The club still needs a Chair-Elect – we can field nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting but anyone who has even a vague interest should contact or as soon as possible. Our club is more than a social club – we are a registered charity and we need volunteers to keep the business of the club moving forward. Please consider helping your club.

Dale Hunt has agreed to run for Treasurer. Eric Pilsk and Len Wilkinson have agreed to run for the At-Large positions. The ballot is included in this issue of Pedal Patter. Other agenda items at the business meeting include recognition of persons who have led 10 or more PPTC rides in 2007, and volunteers who kept PPTC and its events running smoothly in 2007. The recipient of the Good Shepherd Award will also be announced. Also we have two new awards to give out this year – Rookie Ride Leader of the Year and Best New Ride of the Year.

The potluck lunch will begin at around 11:30 am. Please bring a dish to share. Beverages, plates, cups, and utensils will be provided. This is a lot of fun and a great chance to meet members of the club who aren’t in one’s usual ride category. The PPTC business meeting starts at 1:15 pm.

In between the eating and the meeting, Suzanne Siquenza from Unity Woods Yoga will speak on yoga for cyclists. As she says, many cyclists spend much time hunched over their handlebars, contracting their anterior spine and chest, or with their shoulders shrugged up towards their ears. As a result, tightness or pain in the neck, shoulders, or posterior and lower spine, may occur. Suzanne will demonstrate and teach you yoga poses that help to open the chest and shoulders to help maximize intake of breath, bring the spine into a better alignment, and bring more vitality on and off your bike. This should be a very informative talk for everyone.

Volunteers are needed to help out at the meeting at the entrance table, setting up the food area, cleaning up afterward, etc. To volunteer, please contact .

All PPTC members are encouraged to attend the annual meeting and to vote. Hope to see you there! It’s a fun meeting.

Directions to the Church: The church is located inside the Beltway between Wilson Lane and Goldsboro Road on a wooded lot at the northeast corner of River Road and Whittier Blvd.; the parking lot entrance is on Whittier Blvd. The intersection of River Road and Whittier has a traffic signal. From exit 39 on the MD Beltway, travel south on River Road toward Washington approximately two miles, turn left at the intersection with Whittier Blvd., and the entrance to the church parking lot is the second driveway on the left. From points south, Whittier Blvd. is the first traffic signal on River Road north of Goldsboro Rd. (MD Route 614); turn right onto Whittier Blvd., and then turn left into the second driveway.

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