This Sunday from Kittatinny Limecrest is the next MAFW Social Ride and there will be special refreshments.  We have nice rides set up for the Halloween season thru Shades of Death and you may encounter Ghosts.  If you don’t want to ride there are hiking trails.  Manny

Our social rides so far have been a success.  The October social rides will be from Kittatinny Limecrest in Sussex County, and all paces should be covered. There will be treats at the end of the rides.  Since we are approaching Halloween, I can’t think of a better place to cycle than at a lake where Ghosts reside. If you don’t want to cycle, there are hiking trails in Kittatinny State Park, and you might be able to kayak. Manny

The October social ride will be Oct 19 from Kittatinny Limecrest, a beautiful area to ride in the Fall.  There will be treats at the end of the ride.  I do need ride leaders for the various paces but if you have an alternate tour for a pace you want to lead, please let me know.   To be clear, if you don’t want to travel to Kittatinny you are not restricted from putting in a ride closer to home.  Thanks, Manny

All:

We wanted to tell you about a special event that we are going to participating in and would welcome your help if you can make it. Saturday, October 4th, is the 50th annual Bottle Hill Day in Madison. This is not your typical town street fair. This festival features live bands, sidewalk sales, an antique car show, local food offerings, a beer garden and over 200 vendors. In the past, this event has drawn over 10,000 visitors to partake in all they have to offer. The board recognizes that this would be a great opportunity for us to get our name out there and advertise the Freewheelers to a large cross section of local residents. 

We will have a booth set up with posters and maps describing our routes, where we ride, where we are from, as well as handouts with more club detail. We are encouraging club participants to wear their club jerseys to advertise our brand. The event is from 10:00 am to 5;00 pm and we could use a few more volunteers for a 2 hour shift to cover the booth and tout all our club has to offer. Of course, before and after your shift, you can partake in the event itself.  If  you are interested, please email me at jlspurch@yahoo.com or call me at 908-451-6122 to provide more detail. Thanks for your help. It should be a fun day.

Jeff 

Updates:

BREW & PIZZA RIDE-Next Saturday Sept 27 is the Brew & Pizza ride from Denville.  This is a joint ride with BTCNJ and check out the rides for more information.  Be sure to sign up early so we know how many pizzas to order.  Also please park across from the ball fields in the Park and Ride.  Rides will start from there.

COLONIAL PARK-It is this time of year when I am asked where the Colonial Park rides start from.  To keep it simple rides will continue to start from the Howe Athletic Parking Lot until the porta johns disappear.  When they disappear, the rides will start from Lot C.

CHIP SEAL-There is a lot of chip seal going on.  Just take extra caution.

Apparently, there is a lot of chip sealing going on.   I was just alerted that there is a lot of chip sealing in the Whitehouse area, especially on Meadow, New Bromley and Cedar roads.  We have several rides going on those roads today so be very careful and take it easy on those roads.  You could encounter heavy gravel in some areas.  I was told that one cyclist went down and sustained some road rash. Hopefully the gravel will settle in the next week. Manny

In my last email I meant  “You need at least one ride to qualify for the end of year pizza party and to maintain your ride leader status.”  I did not mean one year.

Manny

As we approach Sept 30, end of ride year, you can check how many rides you have led during this past year and just a reminder that cancelled rides no longer count.  Under the heading RIDE LEADER select Rides I Led and put in the time frame 10/1/2024 to present.  You need 12 rides led to qualify for $50 gift certificate or ride leader jersey.  You need 8 rides to qualify for $25 gift certificate.  You need at least one year to qualify for the end of year pizza party and to maintain your ride leader status.  

As a ride leader I recommend you review the Ride Leader Handbook.  A new version has been placed.

Manny

MAFW + BTCNJ will be hosting the Bike, Brew & Pizza ride, from Denville, on Saturday SEP 27.
There are (5) rides posted on the MAFW website – – please sign up ASAP so that we have a headcount for the pizza (provided by the clubs).
We need Ride Leaders for the B and C+ pace routes.  Each route will have two Ride Leaders: one from MAFW and one from BTCNJ.
Let me know if you have any questions. Manny

CONFLICTING RIDES-The Board agreed that the following applies to conflicting rides with respect to social rides:

It was decided whatever location the social ride is scheduled, no rides will be allowed to be scheduled 2 hours before start of ride or 3 hours after the ride is started. Rides from other locations will be allowed.

To be clear the time constraints only apply if you decide to do a ride from the same location as the social ride. However, as always there can’t be any conflicting rides during the Spring and Fall picnics.

PACES-Definition of paces can be found after logging into the website. Select RIDES>MORE RIDE INFO>PACE AND TERRAIN DEFINITIONS.  It’s important that when you decide to lead a ride that you ride the pace. As the ride leader you lead from behind and to reduce the chance that you may be riding alone you can request regrouping.

RIDE LEADER HANDBOOK-Minor changes have been made to the ride leader handbook and the new version will be posted by 9/14.