Hi Ladies

Has the cold/rain got you down?  Are you feeling mushier than your kids peeps?  I know I am! 

I just wanted to send out a spring reminder that there are lots of group training opportunities as well as races etc… coming up.  Here’s a sample, but PLEASE post if you want company on a ride/run or if you know of any other opportunity. Thanks!  Sorry for the long post.

Also, I’m trying to find a few people interested in volunteering on Sun,, April 26^th for the Howard Life Festival, let me know if your interested.  It’s a great way to participate in “behind the scenes” events…you get a whole new appreciation/perspective and meet lots of knowledgeable folks along the way. Happy Spring…Here’s hoping for warmer dryer weather!

Maura

MMTC:

NEW! Gateway rides on Tuesday evenings will be starting May 5th. Check back soon for more information.

NEW! IronGirl rides on Sunday mornings at 9 am, leaving from the parking lot of Princeton Sports to ride the IronGirl bike course. This ride will have a SAG vehicle supplied by Princeton and a ride leader from MMTC. >> Training

Run/Bike/Run workouts have returned on Wednesday evenings! This is a very unique weekly training opportunity.   >> Training

Need Pointers for Biking the Hills? Bob Reid will be conducting another one of his popular Hill Climbing Technique sessions on Tuesday, April 21st at 6:00 PM. Those interested should meet in the Ten Oaks Tavern parking lot (formerly know as MD's Country Pub) at the corner of Ten Oaks and Triadelphia Road. See the >> Training

Spring Bike Clinic will be held at Princeton Sports on April 18th starting promptly at 8:00 AM. The clinic will be tuned towards beginners and will go over ALL things needed to make you safe and capable on the road. We will be putting together a bike survival kit that will contain the minimum but necessary tools that you’ll need for the road. This clinic will be limited to 20 members to make sure everyone learns the basics in a hands-on instructor/student environment. All members should have received an Evite for registration.

Brick-n-Pics for the 2009 season have been scheduled for May 2nd and August 8th. These are multi-club, multi-facetted events. We do a run-bike-run brick workout on the Columbia Tri course in May and the IronGirl course in August and then we have a picnic! This has always been a great time and all parts of the brick and pic are optional. Go at your own pace - this is not a race and no one will get left behind.

Biking 101 will be held on Sunday, May 3rd. The purpose of this session is to provide beginning cyclists with information about road safety, rules of the road and basic cycling skills. There will be a classroom session followed by loops around Gateway during which experienced cyclists will ride with the beginners and offer tips on shifting, bike set up, hill riding, etc. This is a collaborative effort with Baltimore Advocates of Howard County, HoCo Cyclists, and APL Cycling Group. More details will be posted when they are available.

For more, info. and events, go to the website: www.midmdtriclub.org

For newbies, there is also a group that I heard about thanks to Veronica, Ironchix@yahoogroups.com

There are also group rides sponsored by Race Pace on Tues. evenings (Call the Columbia store for info)  and Howard County Cyclists on Wed.  http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hococyclists/

Here’s a cue sheet for some Howard County rides http://www.baltobikeclub.org/index.pl/howard2

Finally, some info from Bicycling Advocates about bike to work day…

For the second year the Howard County Government is sponsoring a Bike To Work Day rally at Columbia Mall (behind Sears) on Friday May 15th. The rally check-in will start at 7am – you can ride to the Mall or park your car and ride from there. There will be cue sheets from the Mall to:

• Temporary Howard County Government Office Building (Stanford Blvd)
• APL/Maple Lawn Farm/Southern District Police Station
• King's Contrivance Village Center
• Gateway -- Robert Fulton Drive
• NSA
• Clarksville -- West to Rte 32
• Downtown Ellicott City
• Catonsville -- UMBC via River Road & through Patapsco State Park
• Elkridge to BWI industrial parks

You can now register at:
http://bmc.baltometro.org/b2w/b2wreg.asp

When you register on the Baltimore Metropolitan Council (Baltimore area) B2W web site, select Howard County - Columbia Mall. Registration gets you a t-shirt and goodie bag; there will also be random prize drawings – you have to be present and check in to be eligible.  In addition for the entire Baltimore region the first 1200 registered also get a reflective leg strap and safety light, and the first 500 get a tire gauge.

Please try to make this a successful event and show the County Officials (last year County Executive Ken Ulman as well as Planning & Zoning/Transportation officials, and County Council were represented) how active the Howard County bicycling community is.

Jack


Jack Guarneri

Chair, Bicycling Advocates of Howard County