Fresno Cycling Club - January 2025 |
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Happy New Year 2025!
Greetings to all our wonderful bicycling friends who make up this great organization we call the Fresno Cycling Club. As we welcome in the New Year, I want to thank you all for being a part of our big bicycling family. This past year was amazing as we worked together to provide many opportunities for member involvement in weekly rides, bicycling events and out-of-town trips to do rides. We look forward to another exciting year for 2025.
Starting off the New Year with our Annual New Years Day ride is always a great way to get your legs back on the bike. Especially if you have been off the bike during the cold and rainy weather. We always open this ride up to non-members, if they register and check the waiver. So, invite your friends and neighbors to come out and join you. Hope to see you out there on 01/01/2025.
I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to our faithful members of the Board of Directors who have just been re-elected to serve yet another year. They are a truly dedicated and passionate team providing continuous leadership for our Club.
President - Dennis Ball Vice President - Janet Lucido Secretary - Mary Stubblefield Treasurer - Elida Gonzalez Newsletter Editor - David Wright Tina Sumner - Advocacy/Legislation A/B Ride Coordinator - Open C/D Ride Coordinator - Open
Also serving on the Board in non-elected/appointed positions are:
Membership Coordinator - Michele Sosa Killer Bees Coordinator - Joseph Cassinerio Honorary Historian - Ken Herrington Marketing Coordinator - Laura Moore Volunteer Coordinator - Open Ride Leader Coordinator - Open Communications Coordinator - Rob Mavis SAG Coordinator - Open Everyone Loves Raymond Coordinator - Henry Pretzer Kirch Flat Coordinator - Sarah Mata Climb to Kaiser Coordinator - Dennis Ball Tour de Lakes Coordinator - Mary Stubblefield Bass Lake Powerhouse Double Century Coordinator - Gia Parker Tour de Femme Coordinator - Janet Lucido
And what would we do without our Standing Positions:
We owe much gratitude to these folks for their dedication in helping to serve our bicycling community in all that we accomplish. Many have served for over a decade in their respective positions. Some are already opting out and others may follow soon, it's time for our membership to think of what positions you would like to fill in the future. Starting the year off you can see that we have 5 open positions that we need to get filled. As much as members think we are doing a great job at some point a person needs a break.
We are looking for members who would like to fill 5 open positions. As listed above the five positions are.
A/B Ride Coordinator C/D Ride Coordinator Volunteer Coordinator Ride Leader Coordinator SAG Coordinator
These are appointed Board member positions which meets on the first Wednesday of the month. Appointments are made by the President and/or the Board. If you're interested in a position, please contact any of the Board members. Our first Board meeting of the year is on Jan 8th, 2025, if you want to learn more about the available positions come to the Board meeting at 6:30 pm at the Me N Eds Victory Grill 4010 N Cedar.
Effective February 2025 there will no longer be a Portable Toilet at the Spring Valley School. The Club has been providing this portable toilet for the past 10 years to keep bicyclists from utilizing the hallways of the school as their restroom. The school has been completely fenced so it really isn’t as good a stopping point as it once was. With the completion of the service station and market at the corner of Highway 41 and road 200, we feel that the portable is no longer necessary. The station is only a little over a mile and a half from SVS and has clean restrooms, restaurants, and lots of snacks making it a perfect place to take a break on the ride. This will save the club $150 a month.
Looking forward to some exciting rides this year. As always “RIDE SAFE AND RIDE LEGAL”.
Cheers,
The Prez
Dennis Ball
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Keeping the Monthly Birthday Rides Going in 2025
In the second half of 2024 the club started holding monthly birthday rides that featured three different ride levels all starting and returning to the same point. These rides were very popular averaging around 60 riders per month. To continue these events in 2025 we need volunteer ride hosts. On a monthly we basis we need approximately 12 ride hosts, three for each ride level, A, B, C, and D. Hopefully each volunteer would help us out two times in 2025 meaning we need a total of around 60 volunteers out of our close to 600 membership base. For those good with math you should think we need 72 but when we combine the birthday ride with an event such as the New Year's Day Ride (see below), or the Christmas Cookie Ride, it reduces the total number of volunteers required. The target date of the birthday rides is the first Saturday of the month, but will move to a different Saturday when there is an FCC or other local cycling event on the 1st Saturday. For example, March 1 is the Reedley Blossom Trail Ride, a very popular event among our members, so the March Birthday ride is scheduled for March 8. See the FCC & Local Events Calendar Below for upcoming rides. The number of birthday rides and total ride levels available from month to month will depend on the number of volunteers available. If you participated in one of our birthday or holiday rides in 2024, please volunteer. You can volunteer as an individual, where we will put you together with two other ride hosts, or as a team of 2-4 riders to host a ride together. Besides being a ride host, you can also volunteer as a SAG driver. Learn more and volunteer to help with the Birthday Rides. |
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NEW YEAR'S DAY/JANUARY BIRTHDAY RIDE - Wednesday, Jan 1
The Fresno Cycling Club invites everyone to start off the New Year with our annual New Year's Day ride sponsored this year by Maison Law who is covering the snacks at Lost Lake Park and providing raffle prizes! Additionally, Sad Tire Coffee will be at Lost Lake to provide specialty coffee drinks at no charge to club members.
This Ride is a great way to kick start your Cycling season. We meet at Willow - Nees at the Stevens Bicycles Parking lot by 09:45 with wheels down at 10:00 am. For the month of January, the New Year’s Day ride will also serve as our Monthly Birthday Ride.
This is an all-level ride to Lost Lake Park for hot cocoa, coffee, snacks, fun and fellowship. Members will be provided with a raffle ticket and must be present during the time of the raffle to win a prize.
Riders are free to ride beyond Lost Lake to either Spring Valley School, the Back Side of Millerton, the Circuit, the Tesoro loop (gravel ride) or just return to Stevens.
The ride is free to everyone, but non-members must also register for the New Year's Day Ride and approve the waiver. |
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FCC ANNUAL MONTEREY 17 MILE DRIVE RIDE - Saturday, Jan 18th
Date: January 18, 2024. Meet at Jewell Park, 578 Central Avenue, Pacific Grove at 9:30, ride at 10 am.
17 mile drive. Lunch at From Scratch in Carmel. 34 miles. No drop. B ride level. No cost. Register for 17 Mile Drive Ride.
This is our 9th year coordinating this ride. We have been rained out a couple of times, but every year otherwise has had amazing weather! Everyone rides along the 17 Mile Drive route to lunch. We split up into several groups depending on speed of the riders. This works well so we do not inundate the restaurant and all show up at once!
On the way back after lunch we offer two routes. Back the way we came or the “high route”, which adds a little bit of climbing. This is an enjoyable ride that Jim and I love leading.
Because we start at 10 a.m., the ride can be a day trip for those who do not want to stay over. We hope to see you there!
Jim and Janet Lucido |
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FCC Everyone Loves Raymond Gravel Rides on March 29!
Registration for the 7th edition of FCC’s gravel extravaganza, Everyone Loves Raymond, is open! Don’t miss our fun day on the foothills on March 29, 2025. If you’ve ridden with us before, you know that our rider friendly event is a can’t miss day on the bike. If you haven’t yet ridden ELR, then this is your year!
There is no better way to motivate yourself to ride and train than to register soon! Even if you don’t ride we absolutely invite you to volunteer!! Register for Everyone Loves Raymond. |
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UPCOMING FCC AND OTHER LOCAL EVENTS
- Annual New Year’s Day Ride – Wednesday, Jan 1. Free, open to both members and non-members.
- Annual 17 Mile Drive Ride in Monterey – Saturday, Jan 18. Free, open to members only.
- Reedley Blossom Trail Ride - Saturday, March 1
- Everyone Loves Raymond Gravel Ride – Saturday, March 29
- Southern Sierra Cyclists Century - Saturday, April 26
- Kirch Flat Century Rides – Saturday, May 3
- Climb to Kaiser and Tollhouse Century – Saturday, Jun 21
- Bass Lake Powerhouse Double Century – Saturday, October 11
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FCC BOARD MEETING
Wednesday, Jan 8th, 2025
6:30 PM
Me N Eds Victory Grill
4010 N Cedar Ave |
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MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
Your Membership Renewal Date:
{Member_Upcoming_Renewal_Date} |
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31 RIDES OF THE CIRCUIT Because I have a RWGPS account and too much time on my hands I started contemplating all the possible routes you can create with the 5 "extensions" of the circuit. In my mind, the 5 extensions are Old Millerton Road to the stop sign at 168 (168), Prather, Sky Harbor, Backside of Millerton to the Campground (BOM), and Spring Valley School (SVS). Many of us have ridden those routes with casual observation telling me that if someone is going to do two on the same ride the most popular pairing is BOM and SVS. In total, there are five singles (one route for each extension) 10 doubles (i.e., 168 + Prather or the previously mentioned BOM + SVS), 10 triples (i.e., 168 + Prather + Sky Harbor) which we rode last year as part of our Tollhouse Century training rides. There are four "quads" (i.e. 168 + Prather + BOM + SVS) which we did last May on the hottest Saturday of the month. And of course, the ultimate ride, which I refer to as the Close to Home Century, riding all 5 extensions in a single ride. Depending on your starting point it may be +/- 100 miles but includes 6,400 feet of climbing according to RWGPS. Sure, there are more interesting ways to ride close to 100 miles and 6,400 feet of climbing such as a ride to Shaver, but staying along the circuit provides easy bail-out options should something go sideways and ample access to bathrooms and snacks. If you were to ride all 31 options in a single calendar year it would total 1,945 miles and 120,000 feet of climbing. I created a collection in RWGPS which you can see at the link below. Probably because I did something wrong, rides 1-7 appear at the bottom of the list and there are a few others that are out of numerical order but you can see all 31 with mileage and elevation gain. 31 Rides of the Circuit RWGPS Collection |
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A NEW YEAR, A NEW YOU
I have a proposal. Every year hundreds of thousands of people launch the new year with one thing in common… a New Years Resolution.
According to Forbes, the most common resolutions are:
- Improved fitness (48%)
- Improved finances (38%)
- Improved mental health (36%)
- Lose weight (34%)
- Improved diet (32%)
As cliché as that is, let’s work on a resolution together. Since the articles focus every month is on Bicycle Maintenance, the proposal that I suggest is to join me, and our editor David (editorial note - this seems like a personal dig), in keeping our bikes cleaner this year than we have in 2024. Every time we ride, we can take a few minutes either before or after to clean a little bit. It can be as little as wiping the frame down, wiping the tires to inspect them for debris, or clean the chain with a damp microfiber cloth and reapply lubricant. If you’re as obsessed as I am, you’ll do a full clean after every ride. You’d think the name of the Ride & Shine Express suggests an easier way to keep your bike clean by adding its location to your ride route, but I looked and there’s no Strava Segment for them.
The national average for the lifespan of a New Years Resolution is the second Friday in January, known as “Quitter’s Day.” Don’t be a quitter on this one. I’ll help you along the way by adding reminders each month. Let’s do this one together.
Happy New Year!
Richard Lawley
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LOOKING FOR FCC RIDES??
The following is a list of FCC ride groups and locations to find FCC Rides.
Facebook
EMAIL
FCC Website
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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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