Members,

We will have a soft opening of our Ride Schedule on June 15th. 

Many of you will feel you need more time or information before you feel safe riding in a group.  Despite the Ride Schedule being open and active, if you are uncomfortable riding in a group under these conditions, don’t.  If you are uncomfortable leading a ride, don’t. 

Follow the 4 C’s

Avoid contact, confinement and crowds. And make realistic choices. 

For at least the first two weeks after opening the guidelines will be:

1. DO NOT RIDE IF YOU ARE SICK. Please report any contact with a COVID sufferer to Amy Horn, our Safety Coordinator.
2. Members must sign up ahead of time on the website. Do not just show up and expect to ride with the group.   You will have to sign up more than 30 minutes before the ride to allow the RL time to print the Sign In Sheet.  During this soft opening there will not be a ‘maybe’ option.  The RL will sign you in upon arrival. **You cannot bring guests to the ride**
3. RLs will have the discretion to limit the group size of their rides. No ride will have more than 10 riders.  This will be posted in the ride comments.
4. Ride distances should take into account the limited availability of rest rooms and food stops. 
5. Every rider should be prepared with sufficient fluid and food for the duration of the ride.
6. Every rider should bring a mask, bandana, or gaiter to be used pulled up pre- and post- rides and at all times when social distancing is impossible.  Try to leave a parking space between cars at the start points. You may wear your mask up when riding if you wish.  And, just like the new Major League Baseball rules – no spitting!  Bring tissue or a handkerchief and dispose of them properly.
7. Every rider should bring a small container of sanitizing fluid to be used when applicable.
8. Riders should maintain an appropriate distance while riding.  6 feet is too little, and 60 feet is probably excessive.  We should attempt to avoid bunching at intersections or when slowing for any reason. Use your good judgement.  We are all adults who have the best interest of our fellow club members at heart, as well as our own health and safety.
9. The foregoing may not be waived by individual leaders. Additional restrictions may be added by individual leaders with the same force and effect as the foregoing.
10. As always, ride leaders have the right to ask any rider to leave the ride when rules are not followed.

The Club may find it necessary to amend these guidelines based on experience or future announcements by local government authorities.  Please monitor the website.

We appreciate your cooperation!  After the first two weeks, who knows, we may be back in full swing.

Remember, we are all ambassadors.  Ride responsibly.

To quote Governor Murphy, “data determine dates”.

As of Monday, there have been 160,445 cases of COVID and 11,698 deaths from COVID in New Jersey.  This is almost as many as New Jersey lost on both fronts of World War 2.

Today we are still seeing 81 deaths per day and 2610 people currently in the hospital suffering from COVID.

While these numbers are frightening to contemplate, they represent a diminishing of the virus’ effect on our society.

Monday Gov. Murphy indicated the Stage 2 openings will occur on 15 June.  This will apply to non-contact sports, outdoor dining, etc.  Outdoor gatherings, limited use of parks and beaches was allowed on 22 May.

We will have a soft opening of our Ride Schedule on June 15th. 

Despite the Ride Schedule being open and active, if you are uncomfortable riding in a group under these conditions, please don’t. 

If you are uncomfortable leading a ride, please don’t. 

Many of you will feel you need more time or information before you feel safe riding in a group.  We get it!

We are working to create guidelines that will keep us all as safe as possible.  For at least the first two weeks after opening we will use these new, but temporary, guidelines to govern our Ride Schedule.   There will be limits to ride size and actions to allow for social distancing before and after rides.

We will have specific webinars for both ride leaders and club members to go over the new guidelines next week.  We will publish the complete new guidelines for you as soon as possible. 

Thank you for spending the past three months staying home, staying safe.  It is time for us to venture out, slowly and carefully, being mindful of our own health as well as others.  Come join us riding again.

As a thank you, for anyone who has an active MAFW membership on June 15, we will add 3 months to your MAFW membership.  This will happen automatically, no action required by you!

Looking forward to seeing you on the road.  It feels good to say that.

Andrew Stroukoff

April 2, 2020

Hi All

We all joined the Freewheelers for the bike riding.  But we stayed because it brought us into this wonderful community that is amazingly varied in interests, abilities and personalities. The basic idea of just wanting to ride hardly covers what we get by being a part of the amalgam that is the Freewheelers.

By now you have looked at our updated website.  All the functions you are used to are there, perhaps in different places, but they are there.

We also have a new and more useful ability to communicate with each other through Forums and Groups.  I have attached a User Guide to help you get started using these to connect with each other in this strange period of isolation. 

There is a new Group called Going Corona Crazy with a few threads to help us see what the rest of us are doing to cope with the strain and some advice to keep us safe.  Check out the good info from the Potomac Pedalers.

There are also Zwift Group topics and info on how to access the Club membership for RideWithGPS to see the entirety of the MAFW Tour Library.

I’m looking forward to when we can all ride together again.

BTW, I saw a video and figured we all know this song from our younger days.  It’s a hoot. Check it out.

https://www.facebook.com/john.a.tiscornia/videos/3403893116305964/

Andrew Stroukoff

Link to Forums User Guide