Tomorrow Sunday is our Spring Kickoff. If you are coming be sure to sign up on the website and go to the schedule to sign up for one of our rides.
Thanks, Manny
Tomorrow Sunday is our Spring Kickoff. If you are coming be sure to sign up on the website and go to the schedule to sign up for one of our rides.
Thanks, Manny
Just a reminder to go to the MAFW website and sign up for the Sunday April 16 Spring Kickoff. After signing up be sure to go the ride schedule and sign up for a ride. The kickoff is this Sunday, and we need a headcount so please sign up.
The Ride Leader and Volunteer Party is set for 5/18. Go to the website to sign up and to get details.
5/13 is the Spring Picnic at Colonial Park. The official signup is not set up yet.
Thanks, Manny
The Five Boro Bike Tour will be held Sunday May 7. This special event has been added to the MAFW schedule with John Storey as the ride coordinator. John has invited anyone who has registered for this event to join him and to sign in on the schedule and be part of team “Freewheelers-Biker Chicks- and Friends”. He is planning on starting at 9am. Not sure but registration may already be closed but try anyway.
I just want to share this group riding safety guide from BTCNJ that borrowed this safety guide from Westchester Cycling Club. I am now borrowing it for MAFW. I think you will find it very informative. Please follow these best practices.
Manny
Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey Group Riding Safety Guide Behavior when riding. The club expects all cyclists to follow these best practices on our group rides. What We Do
We Communicate
What We DON’T Do
Recommendations
Be safe out there! Have fun! We want to thank the Westchester Cycle Club for granting us permission to use this edited version of their “Guidelines for Group Rides”.
Spring Kickoff – Riding Safely
Warm greetings to the entire MAFW family. As we kick-off another year of cycling fun, adventure and friendship, it’s important that we put safety first. Unfortunately, fatalities in traffic crashes involving bicyclists and other cyclists continue to rise. From 2011 to 2020, bicyclist and other cyclist fatalities increased by 38% from 682 in 2011 to 938 in 2020 (source: NHTSA report March 2022). Many crashes occur because the motorist “didn’t see the cyclist”.
In the spirit of safety first, the MAFW Club will now highlight a specific safety topic each month. These safety topics will be reinforced by the Ride Leaders during their “safety moment” at start of each ride. Additionally, these topics will be addressed via the monthly newsletter.
Here are a few actions that YOU can take, that will help make YOU more visible and safer when cycling:
Here are links to reference materials:
https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/bicycle-safety
https://www.nj.gov/oag/hts/bike.html
https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/commuter/bike/regulations.shtm
I posted rides for the Spring Kickoff and need ride leaders for those rides. Contact me if you want to lead. I already have two rides covered. If you have a suggestion for a ride let me know.
Also don’t forget about Celebration Rides. Info is on the website.
I will start preparing rides for the Spring Picnic from Colonial Park. If you want to lead and have suggestions for rides let me know.
Thanks, Manny
In addition to the rides on our schedule we have some special events coming up:
APRIL 16 SPRING KICKOFF MEETING FOLLOWED BY RIDES FROM BED 1. Location is Hills Highlands Clubhouse at 75 Hansom Rd, Basking Ridge. Start gathering at 8:30am with some refreshments followed by a meeting and we will do our best to keep it short. Following the meeting there will be rides at different levels from Bed 1. Rides start at 11am but could start earlier. You can start signing up for rides now. This kickoff meeting is a great opportunity to have any questions or concerns addressed. IMPORTANT THAT YOU GO TO THE WEBSITE AND SIGN UP SO WE CAN PLAN REFRESHMENTS.
MAY 13 SPRING PICNIC This year the Spring Picnic will be from Knob Hill Lot C at Colonial Park. More information to follow soon.
RIDE LEADERS Finally, if you want to be a ride leader just contact me and I will step you thru the simple process. Being a ride leader is a very rewarding position and you get to choose your rides and time/date. We especially need ride leaders for the D and D+ rides. One of the first steps is just shadow a ride leader for a few rides. I will be at the Spring Kickoff if you have questions on being a RL.
Thanks, Manny
I just want to bring to your attention that Bike Virginia is back and scheduled for Friday 6/23 to Wed 6/28 in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. For more information and to register go to our website under Members > Calendar. This has been a popular ride with our members. At the Spring Kickoff April 16 there may be members who have attended past Bike Virginias you can talk to if interested.
Manny
I just want to point out one day ride and two weekend rides that are coming up.
TOUR DE FRANKLIN April 30. Great ride that supports the local Franklin Food Bank. Several distances to choose and there are rest stops with refreshments.
SPRING-N2-CYCLING WEEKEND May 19-21. This event is run by the Philadelphia Bike Club(PBC) that also ran the Fall weekend ride at Hanover, Pa near Gettysburg. A few MAFW riders attended the Fall ride and we had a great time. PBC reserved all rooms at 2 hotels for cyclists that weekend and still had a waiting list. For the Spring ride PBC reserved the entire Best Western at Lewisburg, Pa. I will be attending this event and there are rides for all ride levels.
ROY’S PENN DUTCH RIDE June 23-25. Once again our Roy Fischman is running this weekend ride near Lancaster. This is a great trip even if you are not cycling since there is so much to do in the area and at the hotel. Lancaster Bike Club will support this event by setting up rides.
Check the Calendar under Members for more information on these rides and to register.
Regards, Manny
Seth Cohen has taken the time to set up a series of training rides that will be posted on the ride schedule and supported by Xue Li and Mike Shapanka. Thanks to Seth for setting this up.
Below is the proposed schedule for TB training series. The primary ride will be Tuesday evenings; Thursday evenings will be for rain dates and/or a second session if people want, assuming a ride leader is available.
Week | Day | Date | Start Time | Route # | Route Name | Distance | Terrain | Program | Pace | Sweep/No Drop? | Ride Leader |
1 | Tuesday | 4/4/2023 | 5:15 PM | 973 | Pluckemin-Along Mill Rivers-Short | 25 | C+ | Group riding basics/Getting the rust off | TB- | Yes | Seth Cohen |
2 | Tuesday | 4/11/2023 | 5:15 PM | 1023 | Pluckemin-Pottersville Cut and Paste | 27 | C+ | Riding in a paceline | TB | Yes | Seth Cohen |
3 | Tuesday | 4/18/2023 | 5:30 PM | 298 | A Few Roads Less Travelled 2 | 31 | B | Climbing and riding in a paceline long | TB | Yes | Xue Li |
4 | Tuesday | 4/25/2023 | 5:30 PM | 457 | Pluckemin-Mountainville 2 | 30 | C+ | Sprinting | TB | Yes | Seth Cohen/Mike Shapanka |
5 | Tuesday | 5/2/2023 | 5:30 PM | 1099 | The Whole Enchilada | 31 | B | Climbing | TB | Yes | Seth Cohen |
6 | Tuesday | 5/9/2023 | 5:30 PM | 1108 | Hub Hollow & Back | 32 | C+ | Riding in a rotating paceline | TB | Yes | Seth Cohen |
7 | Tuesday | 5/16/2023 | 5:30 PM | 998 | Pluckemin: A Few Roads Less Traveled | 33 | B | Putting it all together | TB+ | No | Seth Cohen |
8 | Tuesday | 5/23/2023 | 5:30 PM | 282 | Stanton Roundabout (School Rd) | 35 | C | Full speed finale | TB+ | No | Seth Cohen |