East Side Cycling Club

Hello Fellow Cyclists!

We are finalizing the agenda-and have finalized the location of the meeting.  We are going OUTSIDE Avalon-I know-shocking!  The price of the clubhouse has gone up-so Andrew Petty has volunteered the use of his office for this meeting.  The address and directions are below.

The purpose of the meeting is to conduct club business.  As an operating club, we have one year history, and have pulled off some great events-even though we are smaller than most in Orlando.  The Ride of Silence, the Cycling Skills Course as part of Healthy Kids Day, and we have had a couple of very good guest speakers.

We also know that many of you are curious-why am I paying money to ride with this group, and where is my money going?  We’ll show the 2009-2010 balance sheet and talk about our budget and some exciting things we’d like to do for the remainder of 2010-2011.

The goal of the club is to foster an envioronment where people improve their skills and ability on the bike, socialize off the bike, and a focus for bike and fitness related philanthropy in the area.

I hope that you can all make it to the meeting, and I look forward to many good times with all of you, both on and off the bike!

The location is:

10917 Dylan Loren circle

Suite a

Orlando 32825

Do not use google maps it will take u to the wrong location… Very important reminder

It’s one traffic light away from the corner of rouse and lakerunderhill.  Coming from Avalon park

Turn left on Lake Underhill,   Pass school on left. Pass rouse road. Turn left at light. You will see several free standing buildings.

What : Honor America’s recovering veterans with a bicycle ride through Seminole County.

When: 17 October 2010.

Where: The “Seminole Cyclefest” will start and finish at David’s World Cycles, 1201 South International Parkway, Lake Mary, Florida.

How: The ride is open to the public by registration at www.Active.com, “Seminole Cyclefest”.

The “Seminole Cyclefest” is a ride designed to raise the awareness of the physical and psychological rehabilitative values of cycling among the civilian, military, and wounded warrior communities.  All monies raised by this event will be used to assist in the recovery of injured veterans.

R2RFLBrochure

Hello cycling gang,

Both PatrickZ and I have purchased the Tuckaway tunes jersey and integrated speaker system.  Before making a purchase yourself, I encourage you to talk with Patrick and I and perhaps more importantly see it / hear it in action.  If you’re interested in the latter, just let me know.

I plan to have a detailed BLOG review in the near future … so stay tuned, pardon the pun!

Regards,

Gordon King, Ride Director

Join Patrick on Sunday 8/15/10 while Tackling the Wall.

Riding Sunday, 730am  wheels rolling from Kilarny Station.

Casual group, with hard efforts on the big hills. We will regroup and stay together. If you haven’t been to Clermont this will be a good ride. Weather Permitting!!!!!

Tentative plan is to ride the wall, buckhill, back side of sugarloaf (long side), grassy lakeWe will also be heading back into winter garden on the trail for a lunch at the Winter Garden pizza company.

Join Tom Hettenback and ESCC riders participating in an upcoming 165 mile,  Miami to Key West Charity Ride. The first day is 100 miles and 65 on day two.

For more information, feel free to attend an informational meeting on July 22nd or August 19.

Location: Miracle of Love

741 W. Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32804

Meeting contact: Angus Bradshaw 407-467-1517

If you cannot attend that meeting, please visit the website:  www.thesmartride.org

Felllow Riders,

I’ve participated in this event 4 times in the past and will riding again this year.  I’ve ridden in several charity and club rides, but this is BY FAR the most fun I’ve had!  The level of cyclists range from someone who is living with HIV and has never ridden more than 10 miles, to those who enjoy the incredible views along A1A in the Keys,  or those training for the Ironman.

It’s extremely well organized, the crew is outstanding, and 100% of the money raised goes directly to people who are working to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Florida.

Tom

Wildlife Crisis in the Gulf! Please help the rescue effort!

Distance: 40 miles, 17-22 mph

Time: roll at 8 a.m.

Donations will be collected at the ride. Suggested minimum donation: $10.00

All donations will go toward dispatching teams to monitor the coast for wildlife hurt by the spill, restoring nesting grounds, public education and policy work.

Please make all checks payable to:  The International Bird Rescue and Research Center

If you are unable to attend the ride, please send checks to:

2222 Park Maitland Court

Maitland, FL 32751

Attn.: Julie Mills

Post ride celebration: Liam Fitzgerald’s has graciously offered to set up a breakfast buffet & omelet bar designed for cycling enthusiasts.

Normally $12.95. Pelican riders receive a 15% discount.

We hope you can make this ride and join our efforts to help our pelican friends!

*Cycling can be a dangerous sport and we take no responsibility for your safety. You ride at your own risk*

Eastside Cycling Club is hitting the trails!

We’re expanding our road rides to include a monthly excursion to tackle local mountain bike trails.

Who:

Anyone interested in a fat-tire group ride through local trail networks.  Beginners to experts welcome.  Ride captains will be designated for each outing.  Jorge Reyes boeing727tech@bellsouth.net and Bill Vincent bvincent316@gmail.com will captain and co-captain  the first ride.  Please RSVP if you plan to attend this Event. Feel free to contact either of us via e-mail with any questions.

What:

Rides will be official ESCC events, so if you haven’t signed a waiver, it’ll be necessary to do so at the ride start.  Depending on how many riders show up, we’ll either travel as one group, or divide into multiple groups by experience level.  Groups will stay together to ensure that no one gets lost.  Tentative plan is to do about a ten mile loop – but again, we can be flexible based on who shows up and what the group(s) want to do,.

When:

Second Saturday afternoon of each month.  First outing is planned for Saturday, April 10th at 2PM.  Be there 1/2 hour early if possible so we can get waivers signed (for those who haven’t already) and divide into groups.

Where:

First ride will occur at Snow Hill.  We’ll meet at the trail head parking lot (see link with directions: http://www.outdoortravels.com/biking_florida_snow_hill.php).  Note: there is a park fee of $2 per person – you’ll need exact change to leave in a drop box at the trailhead parking lot.

Why:

For fun of course!  Believe it or not, there are some great trail networks (some quite technical) within two hours of Orlando.  Snow Hill is easy to moderate in difficulty with a few reasonably technical areas.  It’s a great local venue to get out an experience Central Florida off road riding.  Hope to see you there!

Hello fellow cyclists,

There have been a number of recent inquiries regarding the use of aerobar bikes in ESCC rides and I wanted to take a minute to clarify a few things.

First, some definitions …

There are two types of aero bikes: clip-on and integrated.

INTEGRATED Aero Bikes

These types of bikes are becoming more and more popular as many vendors are offering great price points with integrated aero bikes.  As shown in the figure to the right, the traits of these aero bars/bikes are 1) there is no “standard” road bike bar, 2) brakes are located at the end of the “outrigger” controls, and 3) shifters are located at the end of the prone bar ends.  In an integrated aero bike, there are only two control positions either 1) prone/aero with arms and hands extended on the prone bars or 2) hands at the brakes on the outriggers.

CLIP-ON Aero Bikes

Clip-on aero bars are extremely popular due to the number of vendors on the market, the relatively low price of quality systems, and the fact that you can convert to/from your standard road geometry bike quickly for USCF licensed events (USCF will not allow any aero bars on mass-start events).  From the picture to the left, you can see that clip-ons offer the ability to ride arms extended with hands on prone bars, or to ride with standard road bike control points of either hoods/brake levers, or in the drops.

ESCC Aerobar / bike Policy

The policy has a few simple elements, depending on what type of bike you ride (integrated, or clip-on).  Let me break down the policy and the rationale behind it:

1) Regardless of bar/bike type, no rider may ride forward in a paceline (that is, in front of any other rider) while in the prone/aero position.

Why? – the primary reason is that while in a prone/aero position, your control of the bike is diminished compared to a standard road bike in two ways:  A) Braking.  Regardless of integrated or clip-on, if you’re prone/aero your hands are a long way from the brakes and in an abrupt situation you may not be able to reach brakes in time (like yesterday when a squirrel came out of _nowhere_ on me, BTW!).  B) Steering control.  Now this is where many will take exception but really if we’re all being honest everyone must admit that while prone/aero your ability to steer is diminished compared to standard road bike control points.  Holding a line is one thing, an abrupt maneavuer, however, to dodge a road hazard or a veering cyclist in front means that you could put those behind you in risk of crashing due to your inability to maneauver.

2) If you ride an integrated aero bike, you may not come forward in the paceline you must remain in the rear, with approximately two bike lengths spacing from the cyclist in front of you.

Why? – there are only two control points on the integrated aero bike – one the prone /aero position just described, the other the outrigger brake controls.  We’ve just addressed the limitations WRT aero positions.  On an integrated bike, the outriggers are only meant to be a temporary control point – mostly to increase lateral stability in a sharp turn, but of course also to provide a means to apply braking power.  A timetrial racer or triathlete wants to spend as little time in this position as possible, and the bikes have evolved to reflect that.  Thus the outriggers are not the most stable of control points – they don’t need to be and aren’t designed to be.  These integrated bikes were designed to do one thing – go fast solo and mostly in a straight line!  There are outriggers to handle the pesky fact that the world does have turns, and one needs brakes since you must come to a stop at the end of the course :).

Now some of you that are avid cyclists and ride integrated aero bikes will say “I”m experienced, I can control my bike from the outriggers no problem.”  Well that very well may be the case but unfortunately a policy must reflect everyone from beginner to advanced, and must be applied uniformly to make any sense.  If ESCC starts opening up “exceptions” to rules that could just lead to a very sticky situation if a crash did occur.  Best to keep everyone on same level playing field.

3) If you have clip-ons, you may ride forward in a paceline/infront of another rider as long as you are not on the aero bars.

Why? – Pretty simple, if you have clip-ons then underneath are the standard road bar control points of hoods or drops.  As long as your hands are on one of these control points you’re good.  The rationale is that you have all the control of any other cyclist in the line at that point.

4) “There are multiple aero bikes in the paceline, now what?”  If you want to ride along with the group and be in an aero position, or if you’re on an integrated aero bike you need to be at the rear of the line as described above.  If there is more than one rider, the only exception is that now you can space yourselves out by about two bike lengths at the rear of the line.  This way, you have some reaction time to handle inadvertant maneauvering.

If you are riding the line in an aero position at the back, and a rider on a standard road bike drops back from a pull, be sure to give a call to them to let them know to come on in infront of you …

Remember, if you have to be at the back you can modulate your training power by backing off the lead cyclist by a few more bike lengths – you’ll get all the workout of being solo, but hopefully enjoy the comraderie of the group at the next pit stop!

Hope this helps & safe cycling,

Gordon

Gordon King, Ride Director

Hello cyclists! Rose and the ESCC will host a “Fourth Friday Off the Bike” on September 24th at the Avalon Park Bistro in Avalon Park. We will meet at 6:30pm. This casual, non-ride “event” is a chance for ESCC members and their friends and families to meet up (and fill up!) on food, drink, and fun before the Saturday morning ride. And wish everyone “Good Luck” on there up coming events. Mark your calendars NOW! We hope to see you there!