The Pedaler Newsletter
President's Column
Hope you’ve been able to get out and ride this year so far. It’s certainly been one of the wettest springs I can recall around here and it seems Mother Nature has been particularly vengeful toward the weekends. Considering our dry summers, I guess we really shouldn’t complain and take it when we can get it. At any rate please look over the the ride calendar and come out for some great club and charity rides in May. Check out the new Phantom Crossing Ride on May 16th. It will be familiar to some of us but it’s new to our docket.
Summer picnic reminder: Before you know it the club’s annual summer picnic will be here. Plan on joining us for the ride and then stick around for food and fellowship. Bring the family. Details will be on the website.
Helmet cameras: We are seeing more videos all the time taken with cyclists’ helmet cams. Go on YouTube and you’ll find no end of them. Recently a member sent me a video taken by a riding buddy showing a school bus, of all things, darn near hitting him. The video clearly show which ISD the bus belonged to and it’s number. The member sent it to the head of that ISD’s transportation department for them to take action. I know many of us have had close calls with motorists or dogs or other threats and video evidence of an encounter makes for a practically air-tight case should the need arise.
Please be good ambassadors on the roads. And to go along with that, please do what you can to minimize motorist conflicts when possible. Yielding the right of way to drivers and communicating with them ( in a friendly way - waving, smiling, etc) will produce much better results than anger. Certainly some drivers feel it’s their mission in life to intimidate cyclists but don’t waste your time reacting to them. It’s not going to produce contrition in them and might make a bad situation worse for you or another rider.
Here are a few organized rides coming up soon:
May 9th: San Antonio Tour de Cure, Texas Gran Fondo, SicloVerde
May 16th: Real Ale Ride
Aug 2nd: Tour de Jalapeno (15% off of the entry fee for Race and Tours; discount code is SAW )
April was a rainy month but what was your excuse for not riding?
See you on the road!
Bill Blackford
Easter Hill Country Tour
On April 9, the club board met and voted to end the club’s affiliation with the Easter Hill Country Tour. We polled members for their input and received a 30% response rate. Of those responding only one third or 19 respondents expressed interest in retaining the ride. The board also approved implementing our own annual, one-day ride to commence in the fall of 2016. In our discussions with the other EHCT clubs it was determined that they will continue to operate the ECHT without us, which is good news for those who have enjoyed riding it in the past.
Bicycle Education
The next class starts on September 12. Contact Cliff Hickel at info@sawheelmen.com to inquire or sign up for the class.
SAW Exchange
We’ve created a section of the website that can be used to buy, sell, or trade cycling equipment. The Wheelmen Exchange is a free forum for you to advertise cycling equipment and cycling merchandise that you wish to buy, sell, or trade. Ads will remain in this forum for no longer than 3 months. Commercial advertisements will not be published.
If you have a cycling or cycling-related item that you would like to buy, sell, or trade, please send an e-mail to advertising@sawheelmen.com. The subject should be what you want your ad to say. Include a brief description, price, and your name & contact information in your message. You can also include a photo of the item(s) (it must be less than 1 MB). Once we receive the message, we will review it and then post the item. We will not post any advertisement that appears to be questionable in nature. Any transaction is between the buyer and seller. We do not guarantee anything and do not accept responsibility for any transaction in which you participate. You should notify us once your transaction has been completed.
Please send any questions to advertising@sawheelmen.com.
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Membership
If you recently received an e-mail about renewing your membership, please visit our membership page.
We need your membership and we're constantly looking for your feedback on how we can improve the club. Please feel free to e-mail your suggestions to Tony Beauford.
SAW Merchandise
The latest Wheelmen jersey has the same great design, but more lightweight material! Visit our merchandise page.
Pedro Balawag
VP, Newsletter
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