Montecito Cruising
Annemarie sends along some pix from a club ride to PLF in Montecito for treats, then back along Mountain Drive. Click pix for larger.
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GVCC President's Column: May 1, 2012
Bicycle Spoken Here, GVCC President: Doris Phinney
968-3143, cyclebug@aol.com
NEWCOMERS RIDE: Saturday, May 5, 9:30am, Java Station, Doris, 968-3143. Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a bike ride. Everyone is welcome to join this leisurely paced ride around Goleta. No one is ever left behind. You must wear a helmet to ride with the Goleta Valley Cycling Club.
GVCC RIDE to EARTH DAY: Sunday, April 22: After coffee and treats at the Handle Bar Cafe, we rode to Alameda Park. Upon our arrival we were photographed on stage,
12 cyclists in the photo. Cheryl, Annemarie, Marit, Julie, Grady, Connie, Amy, Rosie, Owen, Doris, plus two friends we grabbed from the crowd: Steve and Mark.
SAD NEWS: Micki Stern, long time GVCC member, passed away in April.
SANTA BARBARA CENTURY: GVCC will staff a rest stop again this year providing home baked goodies. We will need volunteers to bake and/or work the rest stop. Please let me know if you can help. Ride date is October 20, 2012.
GVCC TANDEM: We have a nice Santana tandem donated by Hal and Fran Finney last year. Contact me if you would like to ride it sometime.
Want to suggest A RIDE? Contact Lori anytime to get your ride on the calendar lorbonz@gmail.com
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Tips on How to Lock Your Bike
First, keep in mind these rules:
- Always lock your bike no matter how briefly you plan to leave it unattended.
- Seek out well-lit public spaces, ideally in an area with video surveillance, and lock it to an immovable object.
Single-Lock Method
- Remove the front wheel of your bike or make sure your lock includes the wheel (the rim, not the spokes) as well as the bike frame.
- Lock your bike to a fixed object that cannot be easily broken, cut or removed. Some thieves go so far as to remove bolts from a signpost, lift it out of the ground and slip off the lock.
- Position the key entry so it faces the ground.
- Position your lock as high above the ground as possible to make it harder for a thief to find leverage.
- Remove unsecured bike parts, such as the seat, lights or bags.
Multiple-Lock Method
- Use a U-lock or chain lock in conjunction with a cable lock. Chances are a thief will see 2 locks and move on to another victim.
- Set up the U-lock around your front tire, frame and some fixed object.
- Then snake the cable through your rear wheel, saddle rails, frame and the U-lock.
- Remove unsecured parts such as the seat, lights or bags.
Bike Lock Tips
- For maximum deterrence, remove your front wheel and use a medium to large U-lock to secure front wheel, rear wheel and frame to a fixed object.
- Choose a lock that leaves as little space as possible between the lock and the bike. A small space means thieves can't use leverage to break off your lock.
- Mark your bike and take a photo of it for future identification. Then register or license your bike at the local law-enforcement office. This process may involve a fee.
- Take advantage of manufacturer theft-protection warranties by completing the paperwork.
- Don't lock your bike through a chain-link fence - anyone with a set of wire cutters can easily snip the fence and steal your bike. Don't lock your bike to wooden railings - thieves can break those, too.
- Use underground parking lots with ample video surveillance cameras - excellent deterrents to theft.
- Don't park your bike in dark alleys. Instead, select highly visible locations such as busy streets or in front of stores. Thieves are less likely to bother with your bike if it's locked out in the open.
- Avoid locking your bike in the same spot each day. Thieves "case" behavior patterns and thrive on predictability.
- Lock your bike next to other bikes whenever possible.
- Keep an extra key to your lock (or the number to a combination lock) in a safe place.
- Periodically give your lock a squirt of a Teflon-based lubricant to keep it in good working order.
New Santa Barbara County Bike Touring Site
Bike touring fans can find a wealth of information on bike touring in Santa Barbara County on a new website: bike-santabarbara.org
Join our rides for fun and fitness!
The club offers a variety of rides from monthly newcomer rides to tougher
tours up the local hills. Check the calendar and come ride with us!
Although many of us wear colorful biker clothes and have road bikes, we
are tourers, not racers. Our greatest passion, and perennial source of
discussion, is safety on the roads -- how routes can be configured for
better bike safety and how bikers can make wise riding choices to maximize
safety.
While it is true that some GVCC members enjoy chasing
down younger race kit-clad speedsters, club rides are cooperative, not competitive..
Non-members are always welcome to come meet club members and try our rides
out. Check the calendar and join us.
GVCC Email Mailing List
Goleta Valley Cycling Club has an email list at Google Groups. Club members
can join or get off the list by contacting Robert or Lori.
Please be aware when you reply to a group email, the reply goes to the whole
group. If you only want to reply privately to the sender, don't send the
reply to the gbike group. Instead, copy out the email address of the sender
and send your email to that person.
In order to avoid exposing GVCC members' email addresses to the public,
the messages and message archives are only viewable by group members. The
mailing list is also not listed in the Google Groups directory and does
not have a Google webpage.
Email posts go to all list members. Post by emailing gbike@googlegroups.com.
Learn about Google Group options at Google
Groups.