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Fresno Cycling Club - March 2023 |
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Greetings to all our super fantastic bicyclists
Some of us have been riding all winter. These riders are called the “hardcore bunch,” who ride no matter what the weather.
For the rest of us, your time is just about here! In March, the days get longer and a bit warmer, so it is time to come out of hibernation and get out riding.
Riding events tend to start up this time of year, and for Fresno Cycling Club, this year starts off with the Annual Everyone Loves Raymond gravel ride, followed quickly this year by the Annual Kirch Flat Century and Rides.
For all cyclists throughout the Central Valley, the first rides coming up is the Reedley Lions Annual Blossom Trail ride on March 4th, which many of our club members have ridden for years. Even if you have not been riding much these last few months, there are shorter ride options on each of these events.
As it is the beginning of the riding season for many cyclists, the message I want to stress is that no matter where you ride, you must always be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Safety should always be foremost on your mind. When riding by yourself or in groups:
- Be courteous, thoughtful, and watchful.
- Always keep a safe distance from others that is comfortable for you and your abilities.
- Get to know your capabilities and ride with groups of similar capabilities.
- If you are not sure what type of ride you are intending to do, do not hesitate to ask someone.
- We use group categories to help identify the types of rides to help you choose: Fresno Cycling Club - Ride Levels
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME Sunday, March 12 starts Daylight Savings time. This annual time change gives us more daylight in the evenings so that we can get some evening rides. Look forward to the A-Train Mondays, the Taco Tuesdays, the Wild and Wacky Wednesdays, the Testosterone Thursdays and the Why not Friday’s evening rides to come.
It would be great to get some volunteer ride leaders who would like to put one or more of these fun rides on. Contact Ride Coordinator Henry Pretzer or any Board member to let us know if you are interested. The rides can start as soon as we get some ride leaders.
Ride safe, and ride legal. See you on the road, in the gravel or on the trails! The Prez, Dennis Ball |
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FCC BOARD MEETINGWednesday, March 1st, 2023 6:30 PM Me N Eds Victory Grill 4010 N Cedar Ave
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MEMBERSHIP RENEWALYour Membership Renewal Date:{Member_Upcoming_Renewal_Date}
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"GRAVEL?"
If you have not gotten into Gravel riding yet. Here are a few things to consider.
- It does require a road or gravel bicycle that can accommodate larger tires such as 700-35 or bigger with some type of tread. As an alternative, a mountain bike should be fine.
- In the past 5 years or so, bicycle manufacturers have realized a growing market for gravel riding and have created a variety of gravel bike options.
- Most riding is done on gravel roads with little or no traffic, making the rides safer.
- Gravel riding can typically be done most of the year, without worrying about slippery roads.
- Gravel events are becoming more popular and plentiful throughout the state.
- Gravel is more casual and relaxing compared to road riding. You must still pay attention to the road (sometimes even more so, as gravel roads have rocks or ruts you may encounter along the way). But, you get to enjoy the scenery more as you are not riding as fast.
Gravel or Road, the point is to have fun and enjoy the ride. It is such a wonderful way to keep you in good health. |
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ALAN'S RIDE ACROSS AMERICA
Have you ever thought about riding across the United States? Many people think about it, and many people have done it. A number of Club Members have done it: I recall Ken and Diana Herrington did it back in 1976 in celebration of the Bicentennial. Past Club President John Fries and a small group of club members did the journey several years ago. Even several of our members have done the Annual RAAM (Race Across AM-erica).
Club Member Alan Jacobsen set off last Saturday, Feb 25th to ride from Huntington Beach, CA to Florida. Alan is on a journey to honor and thank Valley Children’s Hospital for saving the life of his grandson and many other children through their awesome work. His goal is to raise money through donations received as he rides. All proceeds will go to Valley Children’s Hospital. You can follow Alan, and make a donation, on his YouTube channel Inspiration Ride 2023 Across America for Valley Children's Hospital Day 3 - YouTube
Or, you can follow him on our website: Fresno Cycling Club - Alan Jacobsen's Ride Across America Travel Blog. Follow Alan on his journey and if you are able, give a donation to his cause. 100% of the money raised goes to the Valley Children's Hospital Oncology program. |
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TIME TRIAL SERIES
Time Trial Season starts this month. If you love “time trialing,” or even if you have never done it before, you will be excited to learn that FCC Member William Haines has volunteered to take the leadership role in coordinating this years' Time Trial series. William had been involved in riding the time trials for several years and offered to take over the lead. He has some innovative ideas he wants to implement to make the monthly events more attractive to riders.
Time trialing is a terrific way to gauge your conditioning. It is typically a 10-mile course (5 mile out and back), starting at Belmont Avenue and Academy, done as fast as you can. It is a race against the clock. The series schedule will appear in the Ride Calendar and announced on our Facebook pages.
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EVERYONE LOVES RAYMOND
The 5th Annual Everyone Loves Raymond gravel ride was originally scheduled for February 25th. Two days prior to the event, the ELR team decided it would be wiser to postpone the event for the safety and well-being of the riders and the volunteers. As it turned out this was a great decision as there was snow in Raymond on Saturday morning!
Fortunately, we were able to reschedule the event for Saturday, March 11th, as our venue, vendor and volunteers were all available on the new date. We are hoping that we will have clear weather on that date. We look forward to providing a magnificent event for all our riders.
You can still register: https://fresnocycling.com/event-4734875
KIRCH FLAT RIDES
Do you ever wonder how some rides became legendary? Well like the origination of the Climb to Kaiser, the Kirch Flat Century came about from a group of FCC riders who decided to do a ride out to the Kirch Flat Campground. They had one driver who followed them to provide support and gear (SAG). The “turn-around” point on this out-and-back ride was at Kirch Flat, where they enjoyed the lunch that was brought by the SAG. They felt it was such a great ride that they decided to share it with the rest of the Club, thus creating the Annual Kirch Flat Century ride.
It was for years a “members only” ride. That ride “encouraged” many riders to pay their dues each year! In the past several years the ride has grown to be a fully supported ride with fully stocked rest stops, rest rooms, SAG, and communications support. Over the years the ride date moved around somewhat, but was generally held in May. Last year, the Board decided that our rides needed to be spaced out better, so as not to overwork our volunteers. As a result, it was decided to move the Kirch to the month of March. This year, it will be on March 25th.
You can register at: https://fresnocycling.com/event-5078965 |
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EVENT CALENDAR FOR 2023This year, we made some changes to the Event Calendar. This is an effort to spread out our events, and reduce the workload on our generous volunteers. Without their selfless dedication and tireless work, nothing could happen for the Club members! The Event Calendar is as follows: - Everyone Loves Raymond Gravel ride – Saturday March 11, 2023
- Kirch Flat Century Rides – Saturday March 25, 2023
- Tour De Femme – Saturday May 13, 2023
- Climb to Kaiser – Saturday June 17, 2023
- Tour de Lakes – Saturday July 29, 2023*
- Grizzly Century and Gravel Rides – Saturday Oct 7, 2023
- Bass Lake Powerhouse Double Century Ride – Saturday Oct 14, 2023
*= free members rides |
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WILD APRICOT FOR MEMBERS MOBILE APP
Fresno Cycling Club utilizes a company called Wild Apricot to manage our club’s membership and financial information. You may not be aware but there is a Wild Apricot “Members App” available to download. It gives you access to the FCC members contact info (phone/email of only those who checked the box to allow inclusion), and also has the following features:
- shows you upcoming events and allows you to register.
- shows you which events you have registered for.
- it allows you to access your membership card (to show if requested for bike shop discounts).
- it allows access to our new rider Waiver and the Volunteer Waiver.
- it also allows you to edit your profile.
- you can show your membership card at The Bike Shop at Woodward, and The Trek Store for 10% member's discount!
To allow your contact info to be seen by other members, log into the FCC website, click on your name in the upper left corner. That will open your profile, click on edit profile, then click on Privacy, then you can select the details you want to allow to be seen. Then click the Save button. This allows members to contact one another to set up rides, plan get togethers, go have coffee, etc.
If everyone will go to their profiles on the FCC website and make these changes, it will make it a lot easy for members to stay in touch.
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LOOKING FOR FCC RIDES??
The following is a list of FCC ride groups and locations to find FCC Rides.
Groups in Facebook Messenger
- FCC Mountain Men and Women/Velominati – C/D rides, foothill & mountain routes 50 – 80+ mile rides
- FCC Spinoffs Cycling - C rides, 30 - 60-mile rides
- FCC Gang Rides – C/D rides, 20 – 60-mile rides
Facebook
EMAIL
FCC Website
- FCC Ride Calendar: https://fresnocycling.com/Ride-Calendar
- Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday Riders – Herndon/Armstrong
- ROG’s – Retired Old Guys
- Tuesday Taco Rides – 6 pm at Enzo’s Willow - Shepherd
- “A” Train rides – Monday’s 6 pm from Enzo’s Willow-Shepherd
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Club Ride Calendar For the Latest Information on the daily, weekly, and event rides for Fresno Cycling Club, please be sure to check out the Ride Calendar!! |
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FCC - P.O. Box 27571, Fresno, CA 93729-7571 www.fresnocycling.com
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