Bigfoot Bicycle Club

Greetings fellow cyclists,

If you have heard about this, you’ve probably been wondering when things were going to get moving, if at all. If you have not, this is big. In either case, this is exciting news. In short, there is a plan for the county to purchase a portion of Green Diamond property to the south and east of Eureka and develop a community forest. The attached flyer will give you more details…

Happily,

Tim

Greetings Fellow Cyclists,

In response to several requests, one of which came from John Mello, Bigfoot Bicycle Club will begin hosting socially paced, no-drop group rides once a month on Sundays. In Honor of John Mello, we’re calling these rides Mello Sunday rides.

The first Mello Sunday ride will be held this coming Sunday. We’ll keep it simple to start. The ride will leave the Arcata Plaza at 10:00 a.m. as did the memorial ride for John, and we’ll follow a similar route up to Trinidad. We’ll return on Westhaven Drive, and Dow’s Prairie Road, through Fieldbrook, Blue Lake, and back to Arcata via West End Road.

Feel free to jump in or drop out of the ride at any point along the route. I’ll be starting early here in Blue Lake and finishing at the Mad River Brewery Tasting Room.

See you all on the Arcata Plaza at 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning.

Tim

P.S. All suggestions for future ride routes are encouraged. MTB rides ARE an option.

P.P.S. I’ll leave the trailer at home so I won’t be lagging too badly.

It has been brought to my attention that Mountain View Road, leaving Kneeland Airport was recently graded, and has become an unridable muddy mess. In light of this information, The Showers Pass Banana Slug is cancelled indefinitely. We will reschedule, and likely integrate it with our summer/fall Harvest Series rides.

My sincere apologies.

Tim

I never counted heads, but I would estimate we had between twenty five and thirty riders with us as we left the plaza last Sunday morning shortly after ten. I was confident another beautiful warm sunny winter day was in store. The ride didn’t go exactly as planned. We stopped at the foot of the Hammond Trail bridge to regroup for the first time, then again in Hiller Park instead of at Roger’s Market. Some riders caught up or dropped in later, and others dropped out along the way. Traffic was very light, and I don’t recall any surly motorist, just a couple Surly riders. When we got to the memorial, the mood was somber and hardly anybody spoke for the first few minutes as we stood there taking it all in. The significance felt overwhelming. We broke into separate groups as we departed, and as usual, I brought up the rear.

Rest in peace John, we’ll miss you.

Another glorious day on the north coast greeted us at the parking lot (which we almost completely filled) of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park visitor center. It was a bit chilly in the Eel River Valley as the riders readied themselves, but that there wasn’t any frost in the morning, and the skies were clear, were good indications that it would be plenty toasty up on the ridge where Dyerville Loop Road traverses.

Seventeen riders joined the ride as it left almost promptly at 10:00 a.m. It’s hard for some of us to escape the Humboldt Time mindset, even when an epic ride awaits. Though I didn’t ride the loop (I was keeping time for the riders and would have been bringing up the rear of the pack) I heard from several riders that it was indeed very warm up on the ridge and made for an excellent ride. Even more important, all riders who started the ride finished it, and there were no reports of rude motorists. To the contrary, I heard reports of most motorists being cautious, patient, and courteous. How amazing is that?

The riders finished in the following order:

3:37 Rob Van Kirk (by a wheel)

3:37 Seth Knight

4:06 Jeff Aguiar

4:11 Andrea Achilli

4:15 Brett Rinehart

4:16 Robert East

4:16 Chris Carroll

4:26 Michael Chapman

4:28 Tom Phillips

4:28 JJ Katri

4:28 Tim Wykle

4:28 Rick Beale

4:49 Brandon Schmoele

4:49 Scott Riley

4:52 Jesse Palmer

5:14 Grant Lay

5:49 André Guimaraes

5:51 Sandra Roets

There were no major mechanicals, though Tim Wykle opened up the sidewall of one of his tires, and Rick Beale had two flat tires, they both had assistance from other riders. Notably, Tom Phillips and JJ Katri stayed with them to help them get back on the road. I love the spirit of camaraderie here on the north coast and among cyclists in general. Though they knew we wouldn’t leave anybody out there without going back to look for them, they still offered assistance to the detriment of their finishing time. Some things are more important than winning no? In my book, they’re all winners, as are all those who show up for Bigfoot Bicycle Club Banana Slug rides.

Be sure to join us for our final Banana Slug ride of 2013. We’re riding the Showers Pass Loop Saturday, April 13, 2013. This is a huge ride; be prepared for a full day of riding. More details will be posted shortly.

Greetings Fellow Cyclists,