Summer Vacation Dreaming at Passion Trail Bikes

This week’s news and info on June 9, 2009:

1. Wednesday Wrides: Montar en Bicleta el Miércoles 6:30pm
2. Trail Work Tuesdays 6pm
3. Vacation Planner Meet Weds 6/17
4. La Honda Creek OSP Master Plan Hearing in San Carlos 6/16, 6:30pm
5. Female Friday is June 26th


1. Wednesday Wrides: Montar en Bicleta el Miércoles 6:30pm
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Sunset is at 8:30pm this Wednesday 06/10/09. Twilight ends and darkness falls right around 9:15pm. Next week the Regular Ride launches at 6:30pm

This week, we’re not walking like an Egyptian. Nope. We’re riding like a Mexican! Actually, on Cinco de Mayo, we learned we aren’t truly qualified to claim we ARE riding like Mexicans, but we CAN claim to be IMAGINING that we’re riding like a Mexican, because none of us here actually know a darn thing about how Mexicans ride. We’re hoping we will get someone with roots from that lovely country to our south to show us how to do it right so we don’t feel totally lame. If not, we will just have to laugh a lot, and smile and say “Hola mis amigos” when we pass on the trail.

The whole point of riding like a Mexican is so we can come back and eat and drink like one and not feel totally unprepared. The reason is that Patty is totally into making her famous taco bar spread for dinner tomorrow. Can you say YUM? She says her chicken en mole might be served alongside her cilantro steamed fish, and you’ll have to decide… will it be chicken? fish? or one of each?

Not only will you have to decide what to put in your tortilla, you’ll have to decide which beer you’ll pour into your pint glass. Root, Amber or Habanero? Yes, Devil’s Canyon brews a mean beer with a bit of a capsaicin kick, and this week you’ll get to sample a glass and tell us if it tingles your tongue in a teasing or terrible way.

Oh, and the wrides. Yes, bring your bike, and your sombrero, and your good cheer, because the Ridiculous Ride is back!

P. L. E. A. S. E. . . . P. U. T. . . . L. I. G. H. T. S. . . . O. N ! ! ! !

Please remember to put a light on your handlebar and have a blinky ready for the ride back to the shop! CA vehicle code requires it. Don’t get caught out on the streets in the dark! Also, a reminder that we need to be super conscientious about stopping at stop signs and lights, yielding to pedestrians, and operating our bikes predictably and responsibly while on the roads and trails. Let’s be safe and kind out there.

For all the details about what makes each group listed below unique, please refer to this webpage. If your questions aren’t answered there, you can also email us for info at info@passiontrailbikes.com.

All rides start pedaling from the shop: Passion Trail Bikes, 415 Old County Road, Belmont, CA 94002 650-620-9798

Riders queuing up for the launch of the Wednesday Wride

The EARLY ride will go out at 6:15 PM.
The RIDICULOUS ride will go out about 6:20 PM.
The REGULAR rides will go out between 6:25 and 6:35 PM.
The FBG or Fat Bottomed Girl ride will go out at 6:35 PM.
The WHITE SOCKS ride will go out at 6:35 PM.
The STRAGGLERS ride goes out at 6:45 PM.
For future planning, we have the upcoming start times each week for the REGULAR ride posted on our Community Calendar

Note we may not have leaders for each ride but usually someone knows their way around. All groups will meet back here at Passion Trail Bikes right around dark for the usual story telling & beverage enjoyment. We will have stuff for the BBQ along with some carbo laden side dish, chips and fatty snacks and EANABS to pair up with the Devil’s Canyon Brewery’s Full Boar Scotch Ale, Silicon Blonde Ale, and Little Devil 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!

Riders enjoying one of Waterdog’s great trails

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2. Trail Work Tuesdays 6pm
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Construction plan for a seep zone with multiple culverts and elevated turnpike trail through the willows.

We had a great turn out on National Trails Day with over 33 volunteers taking turns digging, installing culverts, pounding stakes, slipping in the mud, and setting boards for our ribbon of retained dirt along the north side of the lake at Waterdog Park. Hopefully we can get some photos up to share with you soon, since we got a ton of work done and there were a lot of smiling faces.

Much work remains on this trail, and we still have a stack of boards that need to get brought in closer to their final resting places. Patty is keeping the momentum going through summer with a plan to do a little bit of work with a few helpers roughly every other Tuesday evening, with a lot of work with a larger crew once a month on a Saturday morning. The Tuesday workdays will be drop-in friendly – no need to RSVP or wear special clothes – so you can ride up to the lake, drop your bike and put in an hour or two on the project and continue your ride. Patty hasn’t decided if she’s going to the La Honda meeting or will be up there next week, on 6/16. She does intend to be there on 6/23 and will send out reminders with upcoming workdays in this newsletter.

To get find out more send Patty an email at patty@passiontrailbikes.com and let her know you can pitch in.

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3. Vacation Planner Meet Weds 6/17 8:30pm
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Last year we planned a number of trips up to Downieville, including making hotel and shuttle reservations, creating menus and doing shopping, and planning rides. This year, for a variety of reasons we will be taking a break from owning the logistics, and will not be hosting road trips per se. Instead, we will help our friends and customers gather together periodically to talk about road trips, look at maps, share photos, and form your own plans. We will share what we know about where we’ve been before you head out, and do a little armchair travelling with you when you return with tales of glory.

Next week we will offer up a corner of the store after the Wednesday Wrides (on 6/17 at 8:30pm at the shop) for anyone who wants to set up a road trip either with their regular riding buddies or with some of those new friends you’ve made here at the shop. Patty is threatening to get the hand truck out and bring out the filing cabinet full of maps, although she’s also a bit worried some of these special hand-drawn treasure maps might get stained with beer and rendered unreadable. We’re not sure why she’s so weird about it, but perhaps after you look at the booty she’s got you’ll understand.

We are collecting info and will publish some links in next week’s newsletter to get you thinking “outta town”. If you have any of the following already written up and would like to share, please send a note and a link to Patty at patty@passiontrailbikes.com.

• old vacation reports, blogs, photo albums
• info on nearby destinations you’ve been to
• info distant destinations you’ve been to
• questions about places you want to go to someday

Also coming up in next week’s newsletter:

• Tips on traveling with your bike
• Fancy bike boxes for rent
• Cardboard ship kits and PTB shipping/receiving service
• Coupon for car rack parts
• Airline and UPS oversized fees
• Bike rentals
• When your friends visit California
• What’s in Charles’ travel toolbox and small parts kit?

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4. La Honda Creek OSP Master Plan Hearing in San Carlos 6/16, 6:30pm
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If you weren’t able to attend the meeting in Half Moon Bay last month, PLEASE, get involved and attend this one next week!

“Join us on June 16 as the District’s Board of Directors receive community input and discuss the Draft Master Plan for the La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve. The meeting agenda (pdf) is now available online.

“Participation is key to a great plan!
“The MROSD Board of Directors will again receive public comment on the La Honda Creek Draft Master Plan at the June 16 Public Hearing in San Carlos and will take no action. A third public hearing for the Board of Directors to receive public comment and consider tentative approval of the Draft Master Plan will be scheduled in July (date, time, and location to be determined). A final hearing for Master Plan adoption/environmental certification will be held later in the summer. To view the Draft Master Plan, please visit www.openspace.org.”

When: Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Where: Hiller Aviation Museum
601 Skyway Road
San Carlos, CA 94070

The 5,759-acre La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve consists of working ranch land, grasslands and forests near the town of La Honda. The District is creating a 30-year use and management Master Plan for this preserve that aims to balance the preservation of viable agriculture, cultural history, and the natural environment with public education and low-intensity recreation.

For additional project updates and information, please visit the La Honda Creek Master Plan project page.

Email questions or comments to lahondamasterplan@openspace.org or
call Project Manager Ana Ruiz at (650) 691-1200, or visit the project page at the link above.

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5. Female Friday is June 26th

We have randomly selected June 26th for the next Female Friday. Executive Chefs, Sous Chefs and Ride Leaders are now being recruited. Also, drink recipies. Save the date and tell your girlfriends!

Read back issues of the Passion Trail Bikes Community e-Newsletter on our website

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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