Racing the Sunset at Passion Trail Bikes

This week’s word on the trail, on Sept 16, 2009

1. Wednesday Wrides: Hustle Hustle Starts at 5:45pm
2. Last Call for Freedom Riders Movie at Rio Theater, 9/17
3. High School Kids Ride, Skeggs, Sat 9/26, Adults Too
4. Tour de Fat, Golden Gate Park, 9/26, 10 to 5
5. Female Friday Ends for Summer, Women’s Weekend Begins 9/27
6. Passion Fall Demo Days! October 3&4
7. Interbike
8. Puncturevine, AKA Goat Heads
9. La Honda Open Space Plan Hearing Postponed


1. Wednesday Wrides: Hustle Hustle Starts at 5:45pm
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Sunset is at 7:17PM this Wednesday 09/16/09. Twilight ends and near-darkness falls right around 7:50pm.
Next week on Sept 16th the Regular Ride launches at 5:30PM.

That little freak rainstorm we had a few days ago has packed down some of the dust, washed a few leaves, and freshened things up a bit at Waterdog. And a few of you have returned from Burning Man and still have some residual shenanigans to work out, so we are bringing back the Ridiculous Ride. Bring your favorite silly hat or socks, and your inner 12 year old, because you’ll need them both to get in the mood to test your traction and your sense of humor with this little taste of Indian Summer we got going on here.

Do these sox make my knees look knobby?

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.

Charles gets a bite and a brew in the Customer Lounge

The EARLY ride will go out at 5:30 PM.
The RIDICULOUS ride will go out at 5:40 PM.
The REGULAR rides will go out at 5:45 PM.
The WHITE SOCKS ride will go out at 5:55 PM.
The FBG or Fat Bottomed Girl ride will go out at 5:55 PM.
The STRAGGLERS ride may form and start chasing around 6:15 PM.
For future planning, we have the upcoming start times each week for the first wave of 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 to eat plus 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!

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2. Last Call for Freedom Riders Movie at Rio Theater, 9/17
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Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz presents the Santa Cruz showing of Freedom Riders 7 pm Thursday September 17th at the Rio Theatre. This film is a benefit to raise money for our local State Parks district to replace the sign at the entrance of the Wilder Ranch back country.

Tickets are on sale at Passion Trail Bikes for $10, or if not sold out, will be available at the door. All ticket holders will get a raffle ticket. MBOSC will also sell additional raffle tickets in the theater.

Freedom Riders is the story of a core group of riders who evolved from covertly building rough and unsustainable trails, to creating a precedent setting relationship with the Forest Service and creating some of the best Freeride trails in the country. The Freedom Riders story has parallels with the story of the Braille Trail and other trails like it.

MBOSC is presenting this film because we feel it is a story that could resonate in this community and it could lead to some wonderful future possibilities in our local scene. The current state fiscal crisis and the change in leadership in the local district is creating more dialog between land managers and the local mountain bike advocates. They are looking for allies and partners.

Since February, we have been actively working with our local State Parks district to create more legitimate mountain biking opportunities. We are inviting local land managers to the showing of this film and hope that they can see how co-operation between downhill/freeride mountain bikers and land managers has worked in another part of the country.

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3. High School Kids Ride, Skeggs, Sat 9/26, Adults Too
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Patty is going to lead a casual ride for high school riders on Saturday 9/28 at El Corte de Madera Open Space in Woodside (aka Skeggs Pt.). The route will include some mellow and some challenging singletrack and a few solid climbs but will be at a casual pace. She’s looking for another adult or two to join in on the ride.

There will be a carpool forming at Passion Trail Bikes, please arrive no later than 8:30. We will load and go and try to arrive at Skeggs Pt. about 9:00am. From there we will explore the redwood forests until we have adequately exercised our smile muscles. Depending on when people need to return we will either finish up around noon and return to the shop by 12:30, or possibly stop at Alices’ Restaurant at Skylonda for burgers around lunchtime, and return to the shop around 2pm.

Please RSVP so Patty can coordinate carpools and ride leaders. Send her an email at patty@passiontrailbikes.com and let her know if you or a parent can drive, number of bikes and passengers your car can handle, and any other info.

NorCal League Racers at the Start

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4. Tour de Fat, Golden Gate Park, 9/26, 10 to 5
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This year we are warming things up as Tour de Fat moves from foggy July to (hopefully) sunny September!

Tour de Fat, Saturday, September 26, 10am to 5 pm

It’s time to oil your chain, press your polyester and fluff that feather boa because Tour de Fat rolls back into town next Saturday, September 26 with its ballyhoo of bikes and New Belgium Brewery beers!

Two parts bike rodeo and one part circus, this all-day, all-green festival is full of fire-jumping bike acts, bicycle games, a bike parade through the park, live music from Sean Hayes, March Fourth Marching Band, Handsome Little Devils present: Squirm Burpee Circus, and The Dare Devil Chicken Club Presents: Honeymoon Cabaret, tasty eats and of course, great beer! 

10:00 am – 11:00 am: Register for Bike Parade

11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Cruiser Bike Parade – costumes highly encouraged!

12:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Commence Revivalation! (Beer served to those 21 and older with ID).

Come on out, and have a good time for a great cause (New Belgium Brewery donates the proceeds of the day to the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council and San Francisco Bicycle Coalition). Don’t forget to ride yer bike to the show! Complimentary valet bike parking provided (of course).

Get a FREE beer token at Tour de Fat! Are you, or someone you know, not yet a member of the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council? Get a free beer token AND help get more miles of mountian bike trails around the Bay when you become a member of the Council at Tour de Fat!

Trade in your car for a beautiful bicycle and make Tour de Fat a day to remember! The SFBC (along with New Belgium Brewery) will gift you a brand new shiny bike if you are ready to go car-free. And, not just any bike, a New Belgium, fully-loaded, hand-crafted, Fort Collins-built commuter bike and trailer! Interested?! Submit a video of two minutes or less with your story and desire to be car-free. Complete details can be found at newbelgium.com/trade
 

Volunteer! We need YOU to make it a day to remember! It takes over 150 volunteers to make it happen—volunteer to do outreach at the Bay Area Ridge Trail tent, check IDs, sell drink tokens and valet bicycles. All volunteers get a free Tour de Fat T-shirt! Sign up at with Joel at volunteer@ridgetrail.org

Location:
Bike, walk, run, muni or even drive to Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park (North side of the park, east of Spreckel’s Lake, between 25th and 30th Avenues).

Visit New Belgium Brewing Company to learn more.

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5. Female Friday Ends for Summer, Women’s Weekend Begins 9/27
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This month Patty is trying a new format for the women-only event previously known as Female Friday. She’s moving it to Sunday Morning! We will gather at the shop at 8:30am, sip a cup of coffee and take a little nibble on a muffin or bagel, then gear up and head out for a ride at Waterdog in the morning light. After a few good miles of singletrack stylin’ we will return for a brunch and social hour in the lounge just before noon.

Patty is recruiting for helpers to set up and concoct something yummy to eat for brunch on Sunday 9/27.

Please RSVP if you can make the ride, and also if you have interest and availability for doing something with brunch. Drop Patty an email at patty@passiontrailbikes.com so she can set things up all fancy and fun.

Patty hands out maps before the Female Friday Ride

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6. Passion Fall Demo Days! October 3&4
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The event of autumn you do not want to miss!!! Last year we sent out over a hundred demo rides. We expect 2010 bikes from Specialized (many S-works models as well as women’s-specific geometry), Giant, Santa Cruz, IBIS, Maverick and if we play our cards right, Turner. Stay tuned for the exact mix of bike models, sizes, brands and et cetera, but in the meantime, please put it on your calendar!

If you are thinking you might want to bring a new bike into your life, the Bike Doula will be sending out test rides and taking orders all weekend!

Specialized lines up brand new bikes for the PTB Demo Days

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7. Interbike
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Yep, it’s that time of the year! Charles is heading off next week to Interbike, the annual bicycle trade show in Vegas, so we will have to do without El Queso Grande for a few days. If you have a burning question that only the main man can answer, please either get your queries to him pronto, or chill until he returns. We will be enjoying the show remotely by following various posts on MRBR on the Interbike Forum, as well as hoping he will send us a few reports from the dozen test rides we expect him to be sweating out under the desert sun.

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8. Puncturevine, AKA Goat Heads
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Charlie, who posts as Skyline35 on the NorCal Forum, has posted a great photo essay and story on MTBR about that evil weed of multiple punctures, Puncturevine. Check it out and learn how to identify this nasty invasive plant.

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9. La Honda Open Space Plan Hearing Postponed

Just a quick note to let you know that MROSD has postponed the final public hearing on the Master Plan for La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve until November. We will let you know when they set the actual hearing date, because we hope to get a few folks to attend and weigh in before the final vote.

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

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, Daryl, Pancho, Will, Peter, Reba and Buster