Spokesman - Fall 2004

TCBC Officers and Board Members
President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Ride Coordinator Newsletter Editor Past President	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	George Kyriazis Vicki Patten Evelyn Painter Jim Britton Ed Nordquist Gene Weisskopf Kathleen Nordquist

Club Undulations from the President

Get Healthy - Stay Healthy - Save the Environment- RIDE YOUR BIKE at every opportunity

I'm happy to report that the TCBC is healthy, both in terms of finances and memberships, and I sincerely hope all of you are, too. With cooler weather setting in, I look back at the Club's wonderful activities and experiences this year.

The 24th Inland Empire Century had the best turnout in years. The Annual Banquet was a great success and the Annual Picnic was simply awesome. The Club's Annual Summer Tour on the Oregon Coast was a great success and a lot of fun.

Another group of Club members, Sunny Young and the Dave and Becky Bechtold, rode a portion of the Lewis and Clark Trail, from St. Louis to Bismarck, ND. Another group cycled the Lewis and Clark Trail in two stages, from Fort Clatsop on the Pacific Ocean to St. Louis, approximately 3200 miles in nine weeks of travel. This group included Club members Mary Kay and Jim Britton, me and my wife Jane Sereda, Ken and Jan Absher for seven weeks of the trip, and Gary and Ann Roberts for two weeks. Jim Britton's daughter and her husband joined us for two weeks, as well.

The Board of Directors has been very enthusiastic, so we'll have many agenda items to discuss at our next Board meeting on Thursday, October 28th (see the meeting notices on this page). As always, this will be an open meeting, so any interested Club members are invited to attend. I encourage members to send me any issues they would like the board to consider; we will be e-mailing the meeting agenda to all members a week prior to the meeting. Topics for discussion will include developing a yearly budget (something new for the Club), determining funds for community non-profit organizations, designing a Club jersey, and deciding about the frequency of our general meetings.

There will not be a general Club meeting in October or November. We will have the Annual Pot Luck Holiday Party on December 16th, when we'll also elect new officers for 2005. We will have the Annual Banquet in late January, 2005. If you are willing to work on the Banquet, please call me.

Speaking of elections, Mary Kay Britton (547-5256) and Kathleen Nordquist (627-1195), past Club presidents, are heading up a Nominations Committee for 2005 Officers. If any member wants to serve or has recommendations for the Committee, please call them.

One last word: Please be very careful riding your bike. Always be defensive and don't assume you have the right of way, even if the law says you do. There have been a number of serious accidents, including Howard Gardner at this year's Century (he's fine now), and a woman lost her life last month on the Cycle Oregon Ride.

Upcoming Meetings

This quarter, we won’t be holding any Club meetings on the usual fourth Thursday of the month. In October there will be a Board meeting on Thursday, October 28th at 6:00 PM at the Richland Maintenance Shops, which any member may attend.

Our annual Holiday Potluck this year will be on Thursday, December 16th at 6:00 PM at the Horn Rapids Golf Club activities room. The Bike Club will provide a meat entrée, and we ask members to bring side dishes such as salads, veggies, or desserts. If you’d like to take part in the gift exchange, please bring an inexpensive gift or treasure (say, $5 or less—use your imagination!). We will also hold elections of officers at this time. We’ll be sending members a reminder postcard in the latter half of November; if you’re going to attend the party, please respond per the RSVP instructions on the card.

We are planning to have the Annual Bicycle Banquet at the end of January; watch for details in the January issue of the newsletter.

A notable event in 2005 will be the 25th Annual Inland Empire Century on May 7th (that’s the day before Mother's Day).

Welcome to the Club

David Beach. . . Mark & Kathy Butcher. . . the Carter Family. . . The Clauss Family. . . Sharon Eaton. . . John Gill. . . David Harvey & Karen Nelson. . . Jake & A.J. Jacobsen. . . Eva & Stina Kuusinen. . . Jerry Nielson. . . Jeff Petersen. . . Charles Rogers. . . Merl & Valda Rosenthal. . . Sally & David Sandoz. . . Ginny Sliman. . . the Sonnenfeld-McGrath family. . . Larry Thomas. . . Thomas Weber. . . Steve Wisness. . . and Wade Woolery.

Touring the Oregon Coast

The 2004 TCBC Summer Tour traveled 400 scenic miles along the Oregon coast, from Astoria to Brookings, during the first week of August. The eight riders included Sue and Dave Gerkensmeyer, Kathleen and Ed Nordquist, Judy and Dick Packard, and Vicki and Tom Patten. We were joined by Kris Nordquist, our cheerful sag wagon angel of mercy, who did an excellent job of assisting us throughout the journey. Dave and Sue Gerkensmeyer did a great job organizing the ride, with overnight stops along the ocean and ample opportunities to dine in good restaurants along the way.

The weather at the start of the ride in Astoria was cool and cloudy, but dry. We were prepared for the Oregon coast, which means the possibility of rain as well as bright, hot sun. We were hoping for sun but, in retrospect, the cool weather was ideal for bike riding.

We made a short detour on our first day to visit Ft. Clatsop, where Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1805–6 before returning to St. Louis. At our late lunch stop at the Pelican Pub & Brewery in Pacific City, we dined on what may truly be the best pizza this side of Italy. The beer wasn’t bad either and we stocked up for the remainder of the tour.

The Otis Cafe was a great place for breakfast. Otis, which is just outside of Lincoln City and has a population of 25, is for sale to anyone wishing to own a town. Our route took a short cut through Lincoln City and completely avoided the downtown area. Knowing about this short cut will come in very handy for future trips to the Oregon coast.

Dinner at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport was mediocre, but the entertainment was exceptional. We played “two lies and a truth” and learned some interesting tidbits about each other and laughed ‘til it hurt. Caution—future cyclists may be banned from the premises, as our good cheer was apparently not enjoyed by all.

We had one day of disagreeable weather, not because of the rain but due to a strong wind from the south that we struggled against all day. We were rewarded that evening with dinner at Paula’s Bistro in tiny Port Orford, a restaurant I highly recommend if you’re passing through. It was exceptional, the best meal of the trip. Our night’s stop at the Castaway by the Sea, on a cliff overlooking the ocean, was also a favorite of mine. I awoke at daybreak to watch the fishing boats being lowered by cranes into the water from the elevated dock, and then see their outlines and lights as they all scurried out to sea.

We awoke the last morning to brilliant sunshine, blue water, and pleasantly warm temperatures for the final leg to Brookings. Three of the heartiest souls ventured even beyond our destination to the border with California.

The tour was everything that a tour should be—a challenging ride, but with time at the end of the day to rehash events with fellow riders over a good meal, and then a comfortable place to lay your head. Upon reflection, I realize how big a part food played in the enjoyment of the trip. We never came close to being hungry and probably all came back with a few added pounds (I know I did.). The scenery was beautiful and the farther south we traveled, the more dramatic and spectacular it became.

Highway 101 has an ample shoulder, but we also spent about a third of the route on smaller, quieter back roads. The bridges were the only really worrisome spots along the way, and we got off and walked across many of them. We enjoyed ocean beaches, forests, idyllic towns, whales, lighthouses and even climbing all those hills. It’s easy to see why this is a favorite tour for so many cyclists.

53 Days Biking the Lewis & Clark Trail

TCBC members Jane Sereda, her husband George Kyriazis, Mary Kay and Jim Britton, and Jan and Ken Absher bicycled from the Tri-Cities to St Louis, MO, along the return route of Lewis and Clark. The 3,000 mile cycling trip ran from July 20 to September 9.

Sleeping in until after 8:00 AM, wandering around the house drinking my second cup of coffee, and reading the newspaper. . . .it’s Saturday, September 25, and we have just decided not to join the TCBC Saturday ride. Maybe we’ll ride out to Benton City this afternoon, or maybe we’ll just ride out to West Richland and back to the Richland Starbuck’s for coffee. How quickly I’m becoming detuned.

I find it hard to imagine that three weeks ago I was in the habit of getting up in the dark to pack, grabbing a quick breakfast, and being on the loaded bicycle by 8:00 for a five or six hour ride covering about 60 miles. A habit I’d grown accustomed to for almost two months now seems almost surreal! It will be good to set down some of my impressions while they are still a bit fresh in my mind.

Most of the planning for our travel was done long before the fact by Mary Kay Britton and Gary Roberts, assisted by the detailed mappings of Adventure Cycling (which can be purchased from that organization for $50). This facilitated getting motel reservations in places where we thought they might be difficult to obtain, and planning for rest days in nice places. So the routes were generally in place before we set out, but were always tweaked a bit at daily route discussions at our group breakfasts and/or dinners. I had relatively little to add to these discussions, but came to understand that the AC maps directed us to travel on small, usually winding, hilly, secondary and tertiary roads, even though there were frequently flatter (and sometimes busier) routes we could choose from the free state highway maps we picked up at the Tourist Info Centers.

Sometimes George and I made the flatter choice and sometimes the rest of the group joined us. We always had the morning and evening discussions, sometimes verbally competing for the award of “best scenery,” “best road conditions,” or “fewest tough hills.” All route choices led to the same motel or B&B, which is a good example of the fact that there are several ways to skin a cat. [That is the author’s viewpoint; The Spokesman does not endorse such practices –Ed]

AC maps gave little graph sketches of the ride profile that sometimes proved helpful in deciding where to stop for lunch. State highway maps give no elevation profile at all, which can lead to terribly inaccurate assumptions, such as “a road on the map that’s a straight line must mean it’s flat.” People who live in the area give the worst guidance about hills, except maybe for women who might say “flat as a pancake” if the road really is. More often than not, the locals would say “it’s pretty flat between here and there,” because they don’t have to shift out of Drive with their automatic transmissions. There are seldom people who ride bicycles around to provide accurate hill information. Anyway, my experience is that hills are not nearly as bad as headwinds.

We chose a route from west to east because winds generally blow that way, right? Well, I can tell you from experience that this seems more myth than reality. We had about three days out of 44 when we did not have headwinds. One day in South Dakota, George and I chose to ride a straight road from the state highway map (see above, “About Routes”) and were rewarded with a relatively flat ride—but we had to cycle 40 miles into a 30 mph headwind. It became our longest day on the saddle. We arrived very tired and wind-whipped at 6:30 PM to the cheers of our fellow cyclists. They had politely waited for us so that we could dine together at the local all-you-can-eat pizza buffet in the very small SD town of Wagner. Very non-gourmet, but we were happy to be there with our friends.

So, a very big part of the cross-country cycling experience is food—quantity, quality, timeliness, but with no concern about how many calories it has. Sometimes it was the first question I asked, sometimes the second (after “hills?” or “how far is...?”), but I always asked it. At first, I would ask “where would you eat dinner?”, but I graduated to asking “what is the very best place in this town to eat?” hoping for better results.

Sometimes there was a great little restaurant, particularly in larger cities. Otherwise, we ate at a lot of small cafes where almost all the food came from Sysco in vacusealed, prebattered, frozen condition. The hot vegetable has been removed from most menus, though we could usually get iceberg salad mix and a choice of Tater Tots or fries. When there was a large grocery, George and I would buy a hot rotisserie chicken, organic salad greens, tomatoes, dressing, wine, etc., and eat in our motel room. Leftovers and extra fruits we’d carry on the bike. In Lewistown, MT, we were taken home for a memorable gourmet pasta and chicken dinner by a delightful couple of university professors. The worst food in the country (so far my survey covers rural parts of 36 states) is in the Dakotas, which was where we started to notice just how large a percentage of people were overweight and unhealthy looking.

By the way, George lost more than 10 pounds and I lost a couple. We never denied ourselves Snickers bars in the afternoon to energize the last 10 miles, a glass of wine or a cold beer when appropriate, or a carton of Starbuck’s ice cream to share with our friends.

People, of course, are the real reason for traveling around all over the place. George and I spent a few hours every day chatting up “the folks,” sharing our story and theirs. It was certainly the highlight of my trip to discover that Americans in general were at least as interested and supportive of a ride like ours as anyone in any of the countries we have cycled in. I had been wondering if people would be very friendly, or if we would have folks driving too close to give us a scare as others have reported, but only one car driver in the two months called out for us to “get off the road.” Rude, but not trip-wrecking.

Some memories that stand out: the 93-year old gent at the Circle, MT, soda fountain (in the drugstore, like it should be) who insisted on buying our milkshakes and then scurried on his canes across the street to get the local newspaper editor to cover our “story;” the woman who drove 10 miles out of her way to make sure we knew that bicyclists who looked like they might have been with us were traveling down a different road (see “About Routes,” above); and Joanne, owner of the Robin’s Nest B&B, who gave us total run of her home, complete with home-baked warm cookies and fresh picked raspberries. People bought us lunches, gave us bottles of water and snacks, offered rides, and invited us home for a night and to come back when we could and stay a while. Several have continued to send emails and I’m sure many followed our trip on Mary Kay’s and Jim’s Web site.

Weather, scenery, wildlife, motel rooms, strange customs, how small towns survive, how some old cities are being restored, bicycle repairs, cycling injuries, clothing, golf on a cycling tour, where to stay in St. Louis—omigod, there’s so much to tell. Perhaps I’ll pen another column, depending, of course, on reader response. Bye for now. [Here’s one Yes vote. –Ed]

A more detailed description of the ride with pictures can be found at the Britton’s Web site:

Ride Calendar – Fall 2004

Tuesday and Thursday rides start at the Richland Community Center (meet on the north side by the bike racks). These are leaderless rides, with the destination chosen by the group. Morning rides start at 8:30 AM, but that changes to 9:30 starting November 2 (after Daylight Savings Time ends). Evening rides are discontinued until spring. If you have a question about the Tuesday and Thursday rides, call Bill Dunbar, at 627-0167.

Saturday rides will generally start at 9:30 AM from their scheduled locations, as specified in the ride calendar.

Ride Codes: Green – less than 15 miles with nearly level terrain; Blue – 15 - 40 miles with moderate terrain; Black – greater than 40 miles with moderate terrain, or fewer than 40 with asphalt moguls

Riders: No need to call ahead unless otherwise indicated. Just show up at the start. Feel free to call the ride leader for more information.

Leaders and Sweeps: Ride leaders and sweeps are always needed. As a leader, you can choose a ride that’s been done before, or create the ride of your choice and have it immortalized in this Spokesman ride calendar. The day you lead the group on your ride, you may be surprised at the number of riders who have never followed your route before. Ride sweeps provide the “rear guard” for the ride, ensuring that slower riders or those with mechanical troubles don’t fall back behind the pack. Call Ed Nordquist 627-1195, to volunteer.

And two more Very Important Notes: First, WEAR YOUR HELMET! Second, please obey the rules of the road at all times. The Club is active in community affairs, which helps us promote legislation that could provide better facilities for cyclists. Don’t ruin it by blowing through stop signs, tailgating left turns, or riding against traffic. If you wouldn’t do it in a car, don’t do it on a bike!

Beginning riders and those who want a shorter ride: Show up at the longer rides and let the ride Sweep or Leader know you’d like a less strenuous ride. They can help you with a shorter route and try to match you up with someone to ride with. We won’t leave you dangling.

October

Oct 9 Hat Rock to Pendleton Loop Meet at Some Bagels in Richland at 7:30 am. Car pool to Hat Rock Park in Oregon. Leave park about 8:30 for Pendleton, through the wheat fields north of Pendleton. Water, food stop in Pendleton. West to Echo along the Umatilla River, then return to Hat Rock. Black, approx. 80 miles. Leader: Gene Weisskopf, 946-1316

Oct 16 Wannawish Dam - Leave from Some Bagels in Richland at 8:30 am. Bike path thru Howard Amon Park and Haines to Van Giesen, out to Fallon, Canal and Grosscup to Harrington. Follow Harrington to the pavement end beyond the Wannawish Dam. Return to West Richland via Grosscup. Return to Richland by retracing route. Blue, approx. 25 miles. Leader: Dave Gerkensmeyer, 628-3084

Oct 23 Clodfelter Road Loop Leave Some Bagels in Richland at 8:30 am. Williams, Goethals, Aaron, by Acme, I-182 trail, Queensgate, Keene, Gage, Grandridge, Center Parkway, Deschutes to Kellogg. Pick up late sleepers at Kellogg Café (320 N. Kellogg, 9:30 am start). Take Kellogg to 10th to Clodfelter. Make long climb to Plymouth Rd., Sellards, Travis and Weber Canyon. Return on Badger Road, Leslie, Keene, etc. Black, 43 miles. Leader: Gene Weisskopf, 946-1316

Oct 30 - Sagemoor Loop Leave Some Bagels in Richland at 9:30 am (not 8:30, even though this is the day before DST ends!). South to I-182 bridge, Court St to Harris to Dent to Rd 68 at Douglas Fruit. Rd 68 to Sagemoor. Return on Taylor Flats Rd. Black, approx. 35 miles. Leader: Bill Painter, 946-1076

Oct 31 - Daylight Savings Time ends; Tues./Thurs. morning rides begin at 9:30 am.

November

Nov 6 Benton City Leave from Some Bagels in Richland at 9:30 am. Ride to B.C. via Van Giesen, Ruppert, DeMoss. Lunch at Bear Hut. Return via Kennedy and Bombing Range Rd. Blue, approx. 40 miles. Leader: Bill Dunbar, 627-0167

Nov 13 Loop the Parks - Leave from Some Bagels in Richland at 9:30 am. Ride through Chiawana Park. Return via Cable Bridge and Columbia Drive through Columbia Park. Blue, approx. 25 miles. Leader: Bob Morford, 375-

Nov 20 Burbank - Leave from the Kellogg Cafe in Kennewick at 9:30 am (that’s on N Kellogg St, half a block from Clearwater). For those wanting a longer ride, start at Some Bagels in Richland at 8:30. North on Kellogg, right on Quinault, left on Grant (past TCCC), right on W Umatilla Ave. Left on Edison, drop down to Columbia Park. East to Cable Bridge (or Blue Bridge) over the Columbia River on the I 182 Bridge, to “A” street in Pasco. Out “A” and Hwy 12 to the old Francisco's (there’s a minimart for snacks). Return via Cable Bridge (or Blue) retrace steps or could go up Fruitland to Canal (instead of pulling Edison), west on Canal to Ely Place, sweep around to Hood to Volland, right to Metaline, left to Edison, right to Metaline, left to Kellogg, back to Kellogg Cafe. Blue approx. 32 miles. Leader: John Ittner, 627-1858

Nov 27 - Badger Canyon Loop Leave Espresso World in Kennewick at 9:30 am (for those wanting a longer ride, start at Some Bagels in Richland at 8:30). Badger Canyon to Dallas to Kennedy to Queensgate to Columbia Park Trail to Edison. Up Edison to Umatilla, Grant, Metaline, Kellogg, Deschutes, Columbia Center Blvd to Espresso World. Blue, approx. 35 miles. Leaderless

December

Dec 4 - Dallas Climb Meet at Some Bagels in Richland at 9:30 am. Out I 182 to Kennedy and Dallas. Climb Dallas to I 82 and on to Badger Road. Return on Leslie. The climb up Dallas makes this ride a Dark Blue, 25 miles (Map: Blue, Dallas Climb). Leader: Bob Morford, 375-0839

Dec 11 - Douglas Fruit Loop - Leave from Some Bagels in Richland at 9:30 am. Cross Columbia River on I-182, exit at Rd. 100/Broadmore Parkway. North on Broadmore Parkway to Harris, West Court and Dent. Right on Rd. 68, right on Sandifur Parkway. Possible stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for fuel. Return via I-182 to Richland. Blue, approx. 20 miles. Leader: John Ittner, 627-1858

Dec 18 - Finley – Leave from Some Bagels in Richland at 9:30 am. Williams, Goethals, Aaron, by Acme, I-182 trail, Queensgate, Keene, Leslie, Clodfelter, 10th to Kellogg. (Late sleepers can catch the crowd at Kellogg St & 10th around 10:00 am.) Continue on 10th to Washington, 27th, Oak, Bowles, Haney, E Game Farm, to Finley. Lunch in Finley. Return via Finley, Edwards, Yew, Chemical, First, Fruitland, through Columbia Park (or cross over and go back via the Pasco side). Black, 40+ miles. Leader: Bill Painter, 946-1076

Winter Preview

Jan 1 - Happy New Year! Polar Bear Ride - Ride a mile for each degree (whatever that means). Meet at the Some Bagels in Richland at 10:00 am. (traditionally, this is a light to moderate ride). Leaderless ride

Jan 8 - Kennewick Konvoy Leave from Kellogg Cafe in Kennewick at 9:30 am (for those wanting a longer ride, start at Some Bagels in Richland at 8:30). Tour Kennewick via 10th and 4th avenues. Possible stop at O'Henry's on Auburn near 1st St. Return via Columbia Park. Blue, 18 miles. Leader: Bill Dunbar, 627-0167

Jan 15 - Dallas Climb Meet at Some Bagels in Richland at 9:30 am. Out I 182 to Kennedy and Dallas. Climb Dallas to I 82 and on to Badger Road. Return on Leslie. The climb up Dallas makes this ride a Dark Blue, 25 miles. (Map: Blue, Dallas Climb). Leader: Gene Weisskopf, 946-1316

Trail of the Coeur D’Alenes

Seventy-three miles, and not a single hill! That’s the Trail of the Coeur D’Alenes, which extends from Plummer on the western side of the Idaho panhandle to Mullan on the eastern side.

On September 24th and 25th, twenty-three members of the Fun, Fit, and over Fifty group (FFOF) unloaded their bikes at the big parking area in Plummer and rode off into “Paradise.” Five of the group rode the entire distance: Jean Olsen, Becky and Dave Bechtold, Jim Watkins, and me, all Tri-City Bicycle Club members. Others rode the distance of their choice and were picked up by the Sag driver at designated locations.

The trail eastward to Kellogg is the most beautiful part of the entire trip, as it took us along lovely lakeshores and marshlands. We found many clean restrooms and picnic areas along the entire distance, and wayside benches offered great views for taking photos or resting. Although we had gotten a late start at Plummer, we arrived at our destination, Kellogg, at about 5:00 PM, well before dark. The trail led us right into the parking lot of the Super 8 Motel, where we spent the night very comfortably. Distance for Day one: 53.8 miles.

On Friday (Day 2), after a Continental breakfast at the motel, we rode the final 20 miles of the trail to Mullan, a small but picturesque mining town. This part of the trail is not quite as beautiful as the Plummer-Kellogg section, but it does follow along the Coeur D’Alene River and passes several interesting little towns that once teemed with silver miners. This section also gave us a small elevation gain, but we scarcely realized that we were climbing. Several of our group stopped at Wallace for lunch, but Dave, Becky, Jean and I had lunch at Mullan before heading back to Kellogg.

The entire 20 miles back was downhill! Everyone was to be at Kellogg by 2:00 PM to load up the bikes for the trip back to the Tri-Cities, but as we approached the end I found myself wanting to just keep riding. The weather, the trail, the scenery and the company had combined to make this trip so enjoyable and relaxing that I wished we could do it all over again. Because we rode the 20 miles back to Kellogg from Mullan, we had nearly 94 miles on our bike computers. . .the easiest 94 miles I’ve ever ridden!

For anyone wishing to make this trip, you could easily ride the entire distance (73 miles) in one day. However, as the days are getting shorter, you might want to wait until you have more hours of daylight. If you don’t want to do the entire route, there are 20 developed trailheads where you can start. Along the trail are 36 bridges and trestles that cross mountain creeks, whitewater rivers, and tranquil lakes and add interest to the trip.

For your information, the trail is managed jointly by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation. They hope, in the future, to connect the west end of the trail to the Washington state John Wayne Pioneer rail trail, which travels from Seattle to Tekoa. They also plan to connect the east end of the trail from Mullan to the Route of the Hiawatha rail trail on the Montana border. I don’t know about you, but when that happens, I certainly plan another ride of the beautiful Trail of the Coeur D’Alenes.

Thanks for Your Support on the TCYAB Ride for the LAF’s Peloton Project

I would like to thank everyone who helped with the TCYAB this first year. I have pledged twenty years to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, so the best is yet to come. I could list here all of the mistakes I made this year, but suffice it to say that I apologize to anyone who suffered my shortcomings, especially in the area of communication (not my strong suit).

Remember that I am just a lowly dentist, Hoosier, Catholic, wannabe cyclist who loves Lance Armstrong and everything that the Lance Armstrong Foundation stands for and promotes—enhancing the quality of life of those living with, through, and beyond cancer.

Stuff For Sale

Lippy tandem, yellow, beautiful! Custom built fillet-brazed frame, size 57 cm front, 52 cm rear (center-center). Phil Wood hubs, Shimano XT drive train and brakes. Less than 200 miles on bike since new. $1,800.

Classic Schwinn Premis road bike from the late 1980s. Size 56 cm c-t. This bike has the same geometry as my 1988 Schwinn Paramount and has a brazed, lugged frame of Columbus tubing. Suntour 12-speed drive train, Dia Compe brakes. $150

Schwinn Paramount 50th Anniversary frame and fork. Size 61 cm c-t. This is a limited edition frameset with a gold-plated fork. Built in 1988 at the original Paramount shop in Waterford, WI, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Schwinn Paramount. $1000. I also have almost enough NOS Suntour Superbe Pro components to build this bike. Interested? Let's talk.

Call Guy Oldfield, 375-1878

Woodrup road bike, 47 cm, red. New frame used only 25 miles, Ultegra equipped, Mavic open pro rims, Speedplay pedals, new Diadora road shoes (size 40), bike built by Two-Wheel Transit in Spokane, $1200.

Call Ron or Tony 509-235-4067 (Cheney, WA)

Almost Immune from Tackweed

To make a long story short. . . .well, I can’t. This is just a really long story that began a year ago with my article in The Spokesman about the new Specialized Armadillo tires I had been using on my red road bike. The tires were living up to the sales pitch and had simply not gotten any flats. I wrote about the tires in each newsletter since then, and now have more statistics to add.

Sadly, I have to report that the tires are not immortal. In spite of their amazing record to date, I finally got a flat tire—two flats, in fact—from tackweed. Very big tackweeds. But here’s the good news.

The front tire has gone 6,510 miles with just one flat. On my previous tires, I would’ve expected a dozen or two flats in that number of miles. My rear Armadillo has gone flat just once in its 3,535 miles. That tire replaced another Armadillo that went 5,336 miles without any flats. Amazing statistics in tackweed country.

By the way, while fixing each flat, I picked out numerous tackweed tips from the tires, but only the one that caused the flat had broken through the “magic barrier.” Also of note, both tires still have road life left in them; they’re not threadbare. So I’m pretty happy all around, at least in terms of the tires I’m using.

Editor’s Note

This is my 16th issue of The Spokesman, a four-year affair of writing, editing, and publishing during my two terms as editor since 1998. But now I’m both happy and sad to announce that it’s time to move on and hand the job over to another member of the club.

I won’t try to pretend that the job is quick and easy, but it isn’t heavy lifting, either. I will say that it’s very satisfying to give the bike club its voice. Looking at the even bigger picture, the editor can take pride in participating in that timeless hallmark of the human race—putting facts and fiction into a book for publication.

The new editor need not carry on what has come before, at least not in terms of style or appearance. In fact, I would encourage the next editor to start fresh and put her or his own touch on the newsletter. In terms of tools, I used WordPerfect to write and lay out the newsletter when I first had the job, and now I’m using Microsoft Word. A typewriter would work just as well for some people.

If you’re interested, give me a call (946-1316) and we can talk about the job. As with biking, putting out the newsletter is a great exercise, albeit without the fresh air and sunshine.