Attention, gravel road enthusiasts:

Charlottesville Bicycle Club has in its schedule for this Saturday December 17 a
ride starting from Brightwood General Store, going mostly by gravel roads. The
same day there's also a paved road ride starting from Madison Social Services.
Both rides start at 11:00 AM.

Please go to http://www.cvillebikeclub.org/schedule.htm to see maps and other
information. A wonderful time is guaranteed!!!

Iván Henao.

All,

Tomorrow is the last day to register at $35 per person for the 2012 Cap2Cap
Century. After tomorrow the price jumps to $55. Michael and I are planning to
go; hope lots of you will do the same!

http://virginiacapitaltrail.org/Cap2Cap2012/Cap2Cap2012.aspx

Happy New Year to all! Here's to many happy, safe miles in 2012!

Howdy, y'all! I just registered for the century, starting from Williamsburg. I'm
planning to camp out the night before... What is everyone else planning???

Happy New Year!!!

Aden

Aden Nichols, Warrior-Poet
Fighting the good fight, digitally...

www.AdenNichols.com
twitter: theNeoCelt

Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the
madcyclists group:

Should MadCyclists have a regular, weekday ride this year? (Starting in March)
Please choose your answer and your preferred day. Note that the Culpeper group
rides on Wednesdays and are often here in Madison, so that is not considered a
good day to have a competing group ride.

   o Yes, definitely
   o No, I don't have time
   o Maybe but only occasionally
   o Yes, and I am willing to lead the ride sometimes
   o Monday evening
   o Tuesday evening
   o Thursday evening


To vote, please visit the following web page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/madcyclists/surveys?id=3080651

Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

All,

Our beloved Tour de Madison has finally joined the 21st Century with online registration! Check out the website and click the link to register for the ride and the celebration afterward. See you on May 19th!!  -jane

www.tourdemadison.com

Hey Maddies!

I hope everyone is enjoying this miserable, wet, cold day. Spring is
coming....really! In light of that, I thought I would let you know that there
has been an exciting update to the Tour de Madison website.

Check it out! http://tourdemadison.com/

And while you are there, click on the BikeReg link and register for the ride,
for lunch, and to reserve your FREE t-shirt and purchase a spiffy jersey to add
to your collection.

See you on the road soon! -jane

Hey Everyone,

I am selling my TREK 4900 mtn bike for $400 or best offer. Excellent condition, less than 500 original miles, and all Shimano components. See the photos section for a peek. Any questions my contact info is michael.stumph@....

Thanks Michael

 
 
   

I generally try to avoid roads that have lines on the edges; VDOT puts lines on roads based on traffic volume, and safety/dangerous roads - more cars equals more potential of a driver doing something stupid. My cycling safety mantra is ‘avoid traffic and I cannot get hit’. Some sections of such roads , where there is a good sight distance I wil ride, but just to get to the next turn to get away from the traffic.
 
I also have a great respect for turns in roads with poor sight distance; especially roads where the normal traffic speed is high (like 15, 230, 231, Hoover Rd). Add in the intersection with Oak Park Rd. / Rapidan Rd and you have a ‘perfect storm’ for creating an accident., and there have been some horrible crashes right there.
I agree with Jane, that the turn at Locust Dale on rte. 15 combines all of these situations and 15 has truck traffic that is unpredictable since that road is a short cut for truckers.
 
Jane, perhaps your PTSD is just a good case of learning from a scary experience and applying the ‘lesson’ to make sure to the same situation again.
I believe another word for your feelings that I would apply is wisdom.

I’d rather ride most anywhere else, plenty of great rural roads with no lines at all.
 
Bates
 
 
 

---

From: madcyclists@yahoogroups.com [mailto:madcyclists@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of jane gray
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 9:02 AM
To: madcyclists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [madcyclists] Barry's Birthday Ride‹Routes

  

Barry - this is between you and me but I am absolutely terrified to ride on Rt. 15 ever since I was almost hit. Just looking at the routes brought back some very anxious feelings. I am afraid I will have to miss the ride - it's not worth putting myself through what I would have to go through to ride even that short distance in either direction. I imagine it's some form of PTSD, exactly like what happens to me when I am out and there is a thunder storm nearby. Both experiences were close calls for me and have left me with some real anxiety issues. I'm sorry...

On Sun, Feb 19, 2012 at 10:04 PM, Barry Penn Hollar <barryphollar@...> wrote:

 

Folks,

Just a reminder to put my birthday ride in your calendar: Saturday, March 31st.   I’m planning two loops, one of 35 miles and another of 34, both leaving from the Locust Dale store at the corner of Rt. 15 and 634, the Oak Park Road.   The reason for this start location is that I’m able to design a relatively flat first loop of 35 miles for those who aren’t ready for a hilly 59 so early in the year.  Below are links to the maps.   Let me know what you think.  (Reminder: I said RELATIVELY flat.)


Here is the 35 mile loop:  http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/69793318

The second, 24 mile loop:   http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/69806482

Be sure to let me know if you’re planning to come.  I know many of you may not know for sure at this point AND obviously weather is always an issue. I’ll pick a starting top early in the week before based upon the weather forecast/temperatures.

Also, let me remind you again of the Tour De Madison and our new online registration. Sign up!  https://www.bikereg.com/Net/15105

Barry Penn Hollar

March 15 5:30 pm (Sunset, 7:14)—Ride Leader: Jane Gray;  Starting and ending:   Brightwood General Store
March 22 5:30 pm(Sunset, 7:21)—Ride Leader: Bates McClian;  Starting and ending:   Brightwood General Store
March 29 5:30 pm(Sunset 7:28)—Ride Leader: barry Penn Hollar;  Starting and ending:   Brightwood General Store

We will start with a 17 mile loop or so and get longer as the days lengthen.

PLEASE ARRIVE IN TIME TO GET READY—ALL RIDES LEAVE PROMPTLY AT 5:30PM.

It is best to send out an email if you plan to be there, but it’s surely not necessary.

Here’s the Tour Webpage and from there you can go to registration page:  http://tourdemadison.com/

http://www.berrysports.com/madisoncycling/rideschedules/

 

Friends,

It’s only a bit over two weeks away now.   I’ll be 59 on April 1 so I’m gonna ride 59 miles the day before.

I still haven’t set a definitive starting time as that will depend on the weather, but I’m thinking that 10am or 11 am (if it’s colder) will work.

Again, I am planning two loops so that those of you who aren’t ready for 59 miles so early in the year can participate.  Indeed, the first loop will be a 30 mile “out and back” so that folks can turn around at any point at any number of miles they want from 0 to 30!  It will also be the flattest possible route one can imagine in this part of the world. Just some rolling hills at the beginning and the end with almost completely flat most of the time.   (For those of you who know the area, the route goes from Locust Dale to Rapidan, Mitchells, and Winston. That’s pretty darned flat!)

See http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/74397240

Here’s the second loop which is a bit more challenging:  http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/70161556

If you do the math, you’ll see this only adds up to 58 miles so we’ll get an extra mile in somewhere!

I’m figuring that those who ride the full 59 miles will finish (if we start at 10 am) around 2:30 or 3 pm.   We’ll eat together somewhere afterwards.  Where depends in part on how many of you are planning to stick around for that.  So, please, let me know if you are coming AND if you will stick around for the after-meal and beverages.

Barry

 

Folks,

Something so obvious hit me today that I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before.  (I’ll bet some of you did and hadn’t said anything.):  Why have the folks that only plan to ride part of the ride show up at the beginning and then have to kill two hours or more waiting around before we enjoy a meal and some brews?  That’s dumb.

So here’s the new plan: Those who plan to ride both loops, all 59 miles, should plan to start at 10:30 am.   We will ride the more difficult 29 mile loop first.  I assume we’ll ride at about 14 MPH (at least that’s what I ride around here on these hills) so it will take us just over 2 hours to ride.  So we’ll start the second loop at  12:45 pm or one at the latest.  So those of you who only plan to ride one loop don’t need to show up until 12:30 pm.  That way, you won’t have time to kill waiting for those doing both loops.

This seems like a no brainer to me and I can’t for the life of me figure out why I hadn’t thought of it before.  Duh.

Barry

This is still the starting location for both loops.       2394 Mount Zion Church Road Oak Park, Virginia 22730     http://g.co/maps/3wthu

Here are the two loops:  

The First loop will be the more challenging one:  http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/70161556

Here’s the easier second loop:   http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/74397240

Meet me at the bridge on the Robinson River on Beahm Town Road and we’ll ride out and back to Mitchell’s or even Winston.

Any takers?

Barry