All

The weather is finally warming up and be on the lookout for some additional details in what we have in store for 2024.  The Board and the various members helping in this 2024 campaign are excited and you will be as well.  I promise.

In the meantime, I wanted to bring a couple of upcoming events (including ours) to your attention.

1. The 15th annual Revolutionary Ramble is scheduled for June 8th and will be run from Raritan Valley Community College this year instead of Drew University due to scheduling conflicts.  The Revolutionary Ramble includes scenic rides through rolling terrain in the seat of the American Revolution, you can challenge yourself to one of five routes from 25 to 100 miles with the peace of mind provided by fully supported bike event — well stocked rest stops, and a fabulous post ride lunch.   We will be utilizing food trucks this year and you will all love it.  Several members of the club have stepped up and are playing key roles in the ride this year and its highly appreciated.   If you are not going to ride – please volunteer as we can use your help.   In addition, we are looking for sponsors.  If you are interested in volunteering or have some sponsorship ideas or contacts, please let us know and I will get you to the proper individual to take the next step.
2. From one of our club partners in NY comes the annual TD The 5 Boro Bike Tour on May 7th.  The organization reached out and asked the bike club to promote the tour as the NY Bike Club participates in our ride as well.  The tour provides a unique experience by allowing you to ride 40 miles car-free in one of the greatest cities in the world.  The tour, which is one of the most popular rides in America gets about 3oK participants annually and takes you on a unique journey through the 5 Boro’s as you take in some of the Citi’s most famous sites and breathtaking views. In addition, any rider who registers for Bike NY will get a chance to win a free ride in Twin Lights. Here is a link to the 5 Boro Bike Tour if you are interested in signing up: https://api.community.getplaiced.com/c/6afff77f45  I have participated in the past and had a great time.
3. Lewisburg Spring Bike Weekend in Lewisburg, PA, May 17-19, 2024.  Although I have not done this ride myself – several members from the club have participated in the past and have only had great things to say about the event.   This is an all-inclusive, 3-day/2-night (Friday-Sunday) weekend package of hotel stay, group rides with Leaders, ridewithgps.com links and cue sheets, meals, snacks, parties, etc.  They will have group rides for a wide variety of speeds and distances.  In addition, the bike routes are tandem-friendly, and they will have tandem teams joining as well. See link below for more details.  A little different then a one-day event but an excellent experience. Link to the Lewisburg Spring Bike Weekend: https://landingpages5.wixsite.com/lewisburg-bike-wknd

Regards

Joseph Reo
President

All

We lost another longtime member on Jan. 28.  Charlie Kinsley, age 89.   Let’s kindly remember one of the Morris Area Free Wheelers OGs.

Some insights from one of his riding partners – Lili.   Charlie joined the club in 1983 and immediately became one of the small group of riders who never missed a weekend ride. In those days, there was only one, alternating Saturdays and Sundays and alternating long and short. We went to work during the week and hoped fervently for good weather on the weekends. Once we met at the start at a coffee shop in Hackettstown and waited two hours for the rain to stop. It didn’t. When we did ride, Charlie was usually at the rear welcoming and encouraging new slower riders. He could have gone faster, but he enjoyed conversation and seeing the sights. We stopped to watch the goats play king of the hill and to admire the woolly lambs up in Warren County. Charlie would often do over a hundred miles on ride days, because he rode from his house to the ride start and then back home again after. Home to a typical start was 25 miles each way. He volunteered for years at the Multiple Sclerosis fundraising rides, coming in late on both weekend days, shepherding the riders at the end. He was a long-time treasurer of the club, retiring only when the club began doing its business on the internet. When he and I both stopped going even on slow rides, we still sometimes joined the bikers at lunch or after the ride, and last year he was still riding around his Parsippany Lake neighborhood.

There will be a celebration of life service on February 17, 2024, at 11:00am at the Parsippany United Methodist Church, 903 South Beverwyck Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054. Arrangements are under the direction of the Par-Troy Funeral Home.

In Lieu of flowers, donations in Charles’s memory can be made to the United Methodist Church of Parsippany. 903 S Beverwyck Rd, Parsippany, NJ 07054 (https://parsippanyumc.org/) or Parsippany Animal Control and Shelter. 1069 Parsippany Blvd., Parsippany, NJ07054 https://www.parsippany.net/Departments/animal-control-shelter

Regards,

Joseph Reo – President