Springtime Passion Trail Bikes News! Issue #12

Today’s Topics:

1. Wednesday ride featuring VINTAGE
2. National Trail Day June 7th: Waterdog trail trimming
3. SFPUC rides in the watershed
4. MROSD open space user survey
5. Free cleat install/alignment with new shoes
6. AquanFest, Foster City, June 14-15
7. First Friday: The Females’ Fiesta, an evening for women wriders, Friday June 6th, 6:30pm


1. Wednesday ride featuring VINTAGE

Starting this week, this email will only provide key info on the Weekly Wednesday Wride. For the long-winded version of the Wride Write-up, with all the important details, please refer to this page on our website. If your questions haven’t been answered by clicking on the previous link, you can also email us for info at info@passiontrailbikes.com.

Note: The new Weekly ride page will be updated weekly on Tuesdays for the next day’s Weekly Wednesday Ride.

Sunset is at 8:23pm this Wednesday 06/04/08. Come on down and enjoy the twisty narrow singletrack that makes Waterdog famous. All rides start from the shop: Passion Trail Bikes, 415 Old County Road, Belmont, CA 94002 650-620-9798

Special this week: VINTAGE BIKES. Please bring your old school hardtail or other retro steed for a trip down memory lane. Jeans and work gloves welcome too!

The EARLY ride group will go out at at 6:15 PM.

The REGULAR ride group will go out at 6:30 PM.

The FBG or Fat Bottomed Girl ride will go out at approximately 6:10 PM.

For those that can’t sneak out of work on time, or are habitually late, we will be offering a STRAGGLERS ride group that goes out at 6:45 PM.

Please bring a blinky light for the back of your bike, and a white handlebar light for the front.

All groups will meet back here at Passion Trail Bikes shortly before dark (about 8:30pm) for the usual story telling & beverage enjoyment. We will have stuff for the BBQ along with some carb laden side dish, chips and fatty snacks and EANABS to pair up with the Devil’s Canyon Full Boar Scotch Ale, Silicon Blonde Ale, and Backpack Babe Root Beer. We will hang out until about 10pm, so come on down, even if you can’t make the ride! Passion Parties are better with YOU in the mix!

Reminder: Even if you don’t join the ride, the shop is basically open until really late. Like, 10:00pm! So if you want to shop, or drop off or pick up a repair, we will be here LATE on Wednesday nights, although there’s a strong possibility there will be a frothy cold pint o’ beverage on the counter. Yes, you can have one too. Please bear with us if you have to go into the lounge to find the help. Yes, you can have some chips too.

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2. National Trail Day June 7th: Waterdog trail trimming

Please join us and help us recruit for this upcoming project! Care and Trimming of Waterdog Park will start at 9:30am, Saturday June 7th and end around noon. We need your help to celebrate this important date when trail lovers all across the nation give back to the parks that keep us smiling!

We are noticing that despite a fairly dry spring, we have a lot of vigorous growth along the singletrack in Waterdog that is making shades, gloves and long sleeves darn near mandatory. Belmont has decided to help boost our productivity by providing a hedge trimmer to speed the process of hacking back the vegetation.

We need helpers to use loppers on the thick stuff, and rakes and other implements of destruction to move cut brush off the trail. We will probably concentrate our efforts on the John Brooks and Rambler Trails high up in the park, making the trails wide enough to be able to stay out of the brush and pass other users.

Please sign up for this important project, and recruit your friends! Food and refreshment will be provided at the trailhead in the morning, as well as back at the shop afterwards.

Please sign up at www.trailworkers.com so we can plan ahead. Thanks for your support!

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3. SFPUC rides in the watershed

Did you know that you can go for a ride in the Crystal Springs Watershed? The SF PUC manages this land and has developed a system of docent-led rides so that the public can access this segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail.

Unfortunately, you must join a docent-led group to enter the watershed. To view the list of available hikes and bike rides on the Ridge Trail in the watershed, visit this page on the SF Water website.

Map of the Crystal Springs Watershed

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4. MROSD open space user survey

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District manages many of the preserves and trails we love to ride. Recently, MROSD has built a new trail in El Corte de Madera Open Space Preserve, done significant maintenance work on the trails in Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve, and has been modifying the draft master plan for La Honda Open Space Preserve.

Did you vote today? Do you consider yourself to be an involved citizen? No matter how you answer the previous questions, you can have an impact on the way your trails are managed, but only if you express your thoughts and ideas to the agency that manages the trails for the public. Government by, for, and of the people requires the people to be involved! We encourage you to share your experiences with both the district staff, and with your elected representative on the MROSD Board of Directors.

To provide feedback to MROSD, you can choose one or more of the following methods. Make sure you let them know who you want your message distributed to (eg. Board of Directors, Trail Maintenance supervisor, etc).

Email them directly at info@openspace.org.
Visit their website and fill out their visitor feedback form
Visit their and provide detailed feedback in a form that they can aggregate.
Find out who is your representative on the Board of Directors here
And use their online email form to send in your comments.

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5. Free cleat install/alignment with new shoes

Did you know we sell quite a lot of shoes? And did you know that we will be happy to install your cleats on your new shoes for you, to make sure that they are properly aligned with your own body’s geometry? Cleat alignment is something you just can’t buy on the internet, and it’s important!

Because your foot is trapped on your pedal when you use cleats, you’ll want to make sure it is in a happy place so you don’t end up with burning feet, hot and angry knees, or other annoying issues.

Stop in and talk with one of our knowledgable shoe geeks about your feet and your knees. We will fit you to the right shoe, install a shoe bed and/or varus wedge, and install your cleats to give you that happy foot feeling on your bike.

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6. AquanFest, Foster City, June 14-15

our partner Peter has a kayak and loves getting out on the bay. Here’s a message he asked us to pass along, and it sounds like fun.

AquanFest, which is billed as the ‘Bay Area’s Largest Paddlefest Adventure Sport and Greenfest for the Environment”, is happening on June 14-15 at Leo Ryan Park in Foster City. Along with water sports, there will be vendors and teams related to adventure racing and triathlons, so this could be a good time to find out more about these activities. Also lots of environmental groups will be at booths, such as VOCal (a group that does large trail projects around NorCal) and Acterra (the folks who manage Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto). See http://www.aquanfest.com for info.

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7. First Friday: The Females’ Fiesta, an evening for women wriders, Friday June 6th, 6:30pm

Following on the warm reception we got from slower ladies on the idea and the implementation of the FBG rides, we have decided to feature one night a month that is just for women.

We have set aside the First Friday of each month for all our female friends to come ride, hang out, socialize and shop in an atmosphere that has a reduced testosterone level. Much like the Wednesday Wrides we will start from the shop and ride up to Waterdog Park, and split into groups of similar levels. All rides will leave about 6:30pm.

The Fat Bottomed Girl ride, featuring Patty as the ride leader, will pedal off at a sedate and social pace. Fat bottom not required! This ride will NOT include most of the singletrack, but will instead stick to one of the following: either A) 90% or more paved and dirt roads, and/or B) Skills practice around the dirt jump area.

The Long Legged Ladies ride, with a ride leader TBD, will enjoy a brisk and lung-opening spin up pavement to the narrow and twisty singletrack that makes Waterdog Famous. Steep climbs, switchbacks, singletrack slaloms, and other technical fun awaits those who can pedal with aplomb. Long legs not required!

The Mid-pack Mommas ride, with a ride leader TBD, will fit the bill between slow and frisky. Motherhood not a requirement! This ride will offer frequent regroups and will feature opportunities to “do-over” some of the technical features that might trip you up on the first look. Singletrack, including narrow hillsides, switchbacks, and other challenges will help you advance your skills in a supportive group.

Depending on turnout, rides may combine, split, morph or stop at the coffee shop. We’re not sure what these women will decide, but we are sure it’s going to be fun.

Post-ride, we will hang out in the lounge, enjoy a taco bar with low-fat and vegetarian options, imbibe various libations, and partake of some good old fashioned smack-talk about boys.

After re-fueling and rehydrating, we will lay waste to the women’s clothing section. Patty will have her notepad as we discuss the finer points of fabric, fit, function, and marketing fluff. Bring your favorite clothes and tell us why you love them! Our goal is to help improve the selection of womens’ specific products that Passion Trial Bikes carries in the store. There will also be a gear swap where you can bring any clothes that don’t fit your figure or your style. There will also be a donation barrel for any unwanted goods that remain; these items will be donated to girls on the NorCal High School League teams around the Bay Area. If we have enough enthusiasm after handling all the soft goods, we may play around with some of the cool parts to make your bike prettier or way more fun to ride.

Lastly, we will pull down the silver screen and throw the switch on the projector to let us all unwind watching some seriously stunning boy-talent in the film “Seasons” by the Collective.

For more info on the First Friday Females’ Fiesta, email Patty at patty@passiontrailbikes.com.

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Happy Trails, the PTB crew
Charles, Patty, Berry, John, Bret, Sterling, Daryl, Daniel, Peter, Reba and Buster