Winter Passion Trail Bikes eNewsletter #9

This week’s news and info on March 3, 2009:

1. Update: Ride a Test Bike! Demo Days March 7 & 8, and SALE<
2. Return of Weekly Wednesday Wrides next week 5:30pm
3. Waterdog Lake Loop Realignment Project
4. NorCal High School League Team for the Peninsula?


1. Update: Ride a Test Bike! Demo Days March 7 & 8, and SALE

If you are still on the fence about test riding a bike, please visit our webpage for a list of bikes we have available for the weekend. The roster has been updated with info on the dates, times, and reservations already taken. So find a free bike and send us a note so we can put your name on the list!

Specialized will be here with their Test Ride trailer with loads of mountain and road bikes for men and women. We will also have demo bikes from Giant, Maverick, Ibis, Santa Cruz, and Turner.

Berry directs riders to their test bikes at last year’s Demo Day

3rd anniversary party and Sale all day on Saturday and Sunday March 7 & 8.

We will be having a storewide sale with great deals in all departments! Includes 2008 bikes on sale for closeout prices, killer deals on wheels, tires, tubes, and tools, discounts on clothing, helmets, shoes and accessories, and some great packages for parts and service that will get your bike running like new. Our sale happens in a festive atmosphere complete with delicious refreshments and a store full of helpful staff.

Riders enjoy refueling at the food table between test rides on different bikes

Please visit our webpage for a list of bikes we will have for demo rides, and info on how to reserve your spot.

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2. Return of Weekly Wednesday Wrides next week 3/11 5:30pm

Yes, it’s that time of year! Daylight Saving Time starts on Sunday 3/8/09. You lose an hour of sleep but gain an hour of daylight after work. We will launch rides on Wednesday 3/11/09 at 5:30pm, with groups in slightly staggered departures from the shop to help lessen our impact on the streets and trails. Sunset will be at 7:12pm with twilight ending and darkness descending on us sometime around 7:40pm. That gives us just about 2 hours of ride time.

Patty will be away in Washington, DC, working as a bicycle advocate in the halls of Congress for the National Bike Summit. That means food for the post-ride festivities will be pot-luck or pizza. Charles promises to put out a nice spread of chips and dips, and to make sure the taps are flowing with both rooty and hoppy brewed beverages

Riders enjoying one of Waterdog’s great trails

For a refresher on the various rides we usually have, check out our Wednesday Wrides webpage for info. To increase the fun and games, this year we are going to make a special effort to invite and welcome any youth riders who want to join us. Both the FBG and White Socks rides are appropriate for less experienced riders. For kids who gots mad skillz already, there are always adults who enjoy a loop or two through the Carlmont dirt jumps and are usually willing to trade pointers with those who knows.

Also a quick reminder that along with Wednesday Wrides, we are open late on Wednesday nights so you can shop, drop off a bike for service or pick it up. Usually we are here until about 10:00pm.

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3. Waterdog Lake Loop Realignment Project

We’ve gotten final approval for completing the Lake Loop Trail realignment project, including installation of trailbridges that will make it possible for us to have what will turn out to be almost a mile of new multi-use singletrack in Waterdog park.

On Saturday about 9 hardy helpers showed up to help finish some projects that were started last year. One crew of four, led by Alex, moved some large rocks that we had dug out of the trail where it crossed the nose of a ridge, and carried them about 200 feet to a place where the trail crosses a low point and winds around a rock outcropping. Joe, David and Allen helped dig the rocks in and backfill to create a solid retaining wall to raise and support the trail and help it maintain a more constant grade.

The rock moving crew working on their retaining wall

Another project entailed digging out the remnants of an oak tree stump, from an oak that had died maybe a decade ago. The stump still had sturdy unrotted roots and knots that made removing it very challenging. After Ron and a couple other strong guys spent several hours with a pulaski, rock bar, maddock and brute force, the obstruction was finally freed and the trail tread smoothed and backfilled.

Ron working to dispatch the oak tree stump

Rich helped remove a small tree with a growth path nearly horizontal to the ground. He cut it into chunks and placed the wood in a good place to provide for newt habitat as it decays. Then he and Kelly started digging out some new tread in an area with some challenging slope. Kelly, Patty and Sheila worked on a smaller retaining wall, carrying multiple medium sized rocks a good distance across some slippery slopes to relocate them where the trail needed to be raised to go over some oak tree roots.

Smaller rocks placed to protect some oak tree roots

All in all, a great day with wonderful progress on some tough projects, adding another 36 hours of labor towards our goal.

When finished, the trail will be about 4 to 5 feet wide and will circumnavigate the lake on a contour slightly above the level of the dam. There will be a few mild climbs and descents and some switchbacks and bridges as it meanders in and out of the drainages that feed the lake. The wide, nearly flat trail will be suitable for beginning level riders as well as families who visit the lake with small children in strollers. We anticipate that this trail may eventually become the most-used singletrack in the park.

View of the dam from the new alignment of the Lake Loop Trail

More photos of the workday are available in Alan’s picasa album.

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4. NorCal High School League Team for the Peninsula?

We are still interested in helping put together a NorCal High School League racing team for the Peninsula. There is a team at Woodside High School in Redwood City, and if there are enough youth that would like to put together a composite team for San Carlos, Belmont, San Mateo, Burlingame or cities further north, we will be happy to try to make it happen.

If you know any high school students who might be interested in getting PE credit for bike riding, have them contact Patty by emailing patty@passiontrailbikes.com. Also as noted above the Wednesday Wrides are a good place for youth to connect with each other while still getting the support they need from adults who are involved in the sport, so hopefully we can get a group going this spring.

Riders at a NorCal League race

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To contact us, email us at info@passiontrailbikes.com, or call the shop at 650-620-9798.

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