2011 News Items
Posted 12-5-2011
Potluck
Last Thursday (December 1) the club celebrated our semi-annual potluck to an International theme organized and promoted by our Member-at-Large, Sandy Pitt. It was a rousing success with wonderful food and lots of fun. During the meeting, our president, Red Davis, recognized the two recipients of this year's president's award.
- Janie Goldenberg for her many years of service on the club's board of directors, the force behind the fabulous lunch rest stop at our two annual events, and the champion of the clubs tradition as club historian.
- Will Benedict for his creative leadership as clothing coordinator in which he has transformed our jersey design process to produce consistent winning jersey designs, and for his organization of the logistic activities for our two annual rides, integrating communication, sag, traffic control and emergency response into a single interdependent organization.
Here is a gallery of photos taken at the event by Janie Goldenberg and Jeff Kahn
Posted 11-21-2011
Red Davis Honored by Coalition
On November 14th, a reception was held at SLO Vespa honoring Red Davis and his 10 years of service as Vice-President to the San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition. Red is pictured receiving the award from Dan Rivoire, Executive Director of the Coalition. Bruce Gibson also presented a proclamation to Red on behalf of the County Board of Supervisors.
The Coalition will present an Annual Red Davis Award to a volunteer/member who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in their support of the Coalition and its' programs. Pictured with Red is Vanessa Amerson, the recipient of the first annual award. Vanessa is a super-mom in the Safe Routes to School programs at her daughter's school, she volunteers in the Bike Kitchen, and has undertaken all sorts of other Coalition endeavors over the years.
 |
 |
Posted 10-21-2011
Bike Breakfast
The SLOBC supported Ride Share Month by hosting a Bike Breakfast on the Morro St. Bike Blvd. The breakfast is a reward to anyone who rides by on their way to work, school or is just out for a morning ride. Energetic club members Debbie Abrecht, Dave Abrecht, Kathy Cohon, Gary Havas, Jeanne Kinney, Kathleen McHugh, Genie Seagrave-Smith and Ernest Cole showed up before dawn to offer breakfast burritos, scones, homemade cinnamon rolls (thanks, Kathy), yogurt, fruit, juice and coffee.
We think we set some kind of a Ride Share record, serving 69 riders. Never mind that some riders were "railroaded" by Kathleen and Debbie and a few other riders were members of our very own Tortoise group who can smell free food a mile away.
Here is a gallery of photos taken at the event by Dave Abrecht
Posted 10-18-2011
Group Riding Article
This month's newsletter contains a link to a great article on riding safely in groups ("Lost art of the group ride" by Peter Wilborn in the Carolina Cycling News). If you had any problems with the link in the newsletter, use this link to reach it.
Posted 9-28-2011
Activity at the Cove
Paul Thomas, who was part of the crew at Cappucino Cove during last Saturday's Lighthouse, has put together a great video that shows what it is like to work one of our rides - from the set up, to the trickle of earlier riders, then to the crush of high demand, before returning to a trickle and shutdown. The video compresses a full day of work into about two minutes.
Posted 9-27-2011
John Cutter wins Honorable Mention
There are a number of club members who covet the bikes they own that were built by long time member, John Cutter. John participated in the Oregon Manifest "The Constructor's Design Challenge". The goal is was construct the "ultimate modern utility bike." To find out more, visit the "Oregon Manifest" website.
Posted 9-22-2011
Tortoises ride a Century!
On September 17, 2011, two members of the Friday morning Tortoise group, Julie Jarvis and Sue Cleland, completed their first century ride during the Lighthouse Century Pre-Ride. They are very proud of themselves, and all the members of the Tortoise group are proud too.
For all us wimps reading this story with doubt, Stu Goldenberg has added injury to insult with this following addition:
Wednesday the SLO Pokes ride was led by Martin Howell. His rides are always a mystery, even to him. He billed it as a ride of several canyons. We started by cycling part way up Prefumo Canyon and then his plan was to turn around, cycle to See Canyon, and cycle part way up it, then return to Woodstone for coffee and then back to SLO. Part way up Prefumo Canyon, I said to Janie, lets go all the way over Prefumo (on our Friday tandem) and Julie said that she would join us. Martin also joined in and appointed Tom Roberts to lead the group. We pedaled the entire way where as Julie did walk some of the steepest parts. Prefumo Canyon averages 6%. Now are you impressed.
 |
 |
Posted 9-12-2011
Kirk Zirion Memorial Bike Rack
A pair of bike racks were dedicated last Friday in honor of Kirk Zirion and ALS programs to battle the disease.
Pam Zirion beside rack and plaque |
Club members in attendance at dedication. |
Pam Zirion and John Rogers. |
Plaque. |
Posted 8-27-2011
Paris-Brest-Paris (Update)
Kevin Main has now completed the1230 KM ride in 80 hours, 42 minutes. Vickie Backman completed 706 KM of the course, ending her ride at Carhaix-Plouguer on the return to Paris
I found an intersting website with statistics about the riders that participated in this year's PBP ride.
Posted 8-20-2011
Ontario Road Cleanup
View a Picassa album of photos in addition to those below. Ken Price writes...
I want to thank all the wonderful club members who came out this morning to clean up Ontario Rd. We had 25 of us making Ontario Rd. look better than it has in months, if not years. The pile is along the side of the road near the parking area for Johnson Ranch, and there was a lot more than I envisioned after riding through the area yesterday. We had a great time with good coffee, bagels, OJ, and lemonade. Go take a look at how much we collected, as it is impressive. We will probably not do this till Nov. or Dec., but I will check it out as I ride through that area frequently. Thank you for a really great job.
Cleanup Team |
Ken Price - team organizer and leader. |
Product of the effort! |
Posted 8-7-2011
Tortoises now 5 years old!
Last Friday the Tortoises celebrated their fifth anniversary by recreating the original Tortoise ride. Twenty people participated. The ride culminated with a potluck lunch at the Goldenberg's home.
Riders in attendance at the 5th anniversary ride (taken prior to the ride). |
Five original riders plus June Kramer who was given the 51st and final Tortoise patch (Janie Goldenberg, Geni Stedman, June Kramer, Stu Goldenberg, Bob Behnke and Martin Howell). |
Posted 7-20-2011
Lundstrom at 85
About 30 club members gathered at New Frontier to help jolly member, Jerry Lundstrom, celebrate his 85th birthday. Many had joined Jerry on a ride from Los Osos while others rode in from Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo.
 |
 |
Posted 7-14-2011
Adopt a Road
At the July general membership meeting, members approved our club's participation in the San Luis Obispo County's Adopt-a-Road program. The club will be responsible for keeping the stretch of Ontario Road, from S. Higuera St. to San Luis Bay Drive free of trash and debris. Signs at each end of that stretch of roadway will identify the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club as the group responsible for keeping the road clean.
A large number of members in attendance at the meeting enthusiastically said they would help with this effort. We have started an e-mail group / contact list. If you'd like to participate in this effort, please send your e-mail address or phone number to Dave Abrecht (daveabrecht@me.com) soon.
We will post the date of our first work party soon.
There is no getting around the fact that this project involves some work. But, as promised, we are going to make this fun and we'll have the satisfaction of doing our part to keep a well-used section of bikeway clean and safe.
Posted 7-12-2011
SLOBC ALS Ride Participants
Quite a few club members participated in this year's ALS fund raising ride, remembering club members Kirk Zirion and Pat Rogers who recently seccumbed to the disease. The picture at the right is a group of SloPokes and Tortoises who were there.
Posted 7-5-2011
Arroyo Grande Century a Success!!
Here is a recap of the AG Century Bike Event that many SLOBC members either volunteered for or actually rode. Everything went off without a hitch; unless you count the bicycle towing a trailer filled with a dog. Participants came from as far away as Mill Valley, Davis, Clovis, Taft, Sonora, Newport Beach and Los Angeles with many places in between. There were 155 registered riders ranging in age from 79 down to 4 (and yes, the 4 year old was riding his own bike with no training wheels). Not surprisingly most of the registrants were individuals but there were also 34 couples and 3 families that rode together. There were no accidents, issues or complaints. Spirits ran high; smiles were common among participants and volunteers alike. A couple of interlopers even liked the ride so much that they came and registered after the fact.
Post ride participants enjoyed the lunch vendor options while listening to old time music of the Off The Griddle band. Later a few of our local youth demonstrated BMX skills. Excess food was donated to the A.G. Alano Club and the Prado Day Center in San Luis Obispo. The 90 volunteers, including San Luis Obispo Bike Club members, the Huasna Valley Association, and Boy Scouts of troop 413, were instrumental in the success of this biking event. Bicycle safety checks were made by Ira's Bike Shop prior to the participants starting their ride.
Below are a few photos from the event. Go to facebook for more. You are invited to tag the photos you wish.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Posted 6-3-2011
Club's 40th Celebrated
Yesterday, the club celebrated it 40th anniversary at our annual Summer Potluck. Thanks to our Historian, Janie Goldenberg, representatives from each of the decades participated in the fun.
Janie Goldenberg did a fabulous job putting together last night's 40th anniversary celebration. Thank you to Janie and to all the people who helped set up and clean up and contributed to making the evening memorable.
Janie poured her heart and soul into creating a celebration that included everyone who has ever had a part in our club. Please, everyone, take time to thank her for her hard work and for her love for the bike club and its members..
Red Davis
Also included in the celebration was the presentation of this year's Bob Garing award to Sharon and Dale Sutliff.
 Joined in the 1970's |
 Joined in the 1980's |
 Joined in the 1990's |
 Joined in the 2000's |
 New Members in 2011 |
Sharon and Dale Sutfliff |
Bob Garing Award Winners |
 Past Presidents |
Posted 5-24-2011
American River Bike Ride
More than 30 club members joined Bruce Collier on a ride along the American River last Thursday (May 19). Bruce organized the ride with the assistance of two local guides who designed long two routes: one of 52 miles and the other 62. Bruce led other riders on a 28 mile route (a subset of the 52 mile one). Below are a few of the photos that were taken during the event by Stu Goldenberg. Naturally the ride ended with a feast of food and drink!!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Posted 5-11-2011
SLOBC is 2011 Club of the Year
The League of American Bicyclists selected the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club as one of the recipients of the 2011 Club of the Year winners. Our club was featured in their April Cue (see page 4).
Posted 4-6-2011
Chris Fylling's Birthday Ride
Chris and Helen invited the groups to northern Santa Barbara County to celebrate Chris' birthday by riding the rural roads around Los Alamos and Foxen Canyon. Helen set up a rest stop at Foxen Canyon Winery that rivaled a Wildflower rest stop and we all joined Chris for birthday lunch at Quackenbush Cafe in Los Alamos. Those in attendance included members of both the SLO Pokes and Frequent Feeder riding groups.
 |
|
 |
 |
Posted 2-20-2011
Madonna Bike Path Dedication
Dale Sutliff provided the photos below from the "very rainy and windy" (held indoors) Madonna Bike Path dedication... at the Madonna Inn. His message was:
A big turnout, a few short speeches, lots of cheers for the bike path and promoting cycling and walking.
All in all, great to see - even though it was quite stormy.
|
|
Posted 2-12-2011
Scenes from Janie Goldenberg's Birthday Ride
The pictures below were taken on Janie's birthday ride Friday. There were two dozen Tortoises on the ride. Most stayed for lunch afterwards at the Graduate and some Tortoises that were not on the ride joined in the lunch to celebrate.
 |
 |
 | |
 |
Posted 2-12-2011
Tom Roberts Unusual Gear
At last week's Frequent Feeder ride, Tom Robers showed off the new pants Marti bought him. Dale Sutliff felt that we should all get to enjoy a view of them. They do attract the eye!! The socks aren't bad, either. Tom Robert's motto: "It may be ugly, but its very visible."
 |
 |
Posted 1-12-2011
2011 Board of Directors
At our club meeting last Thursday, Joan Petersen introduced your new board of directors for 2011, outlining the responsibilities of each. Please give them your support so our club can continue to function as well as it has in the past.