Mountain Cyclist –
March-April 2001
Club News
...by Karen Morgan
Gary Fisher, the "Dad of Dirt", was our guest speaker on February 2nd in San Jose, at 840 North First Street Restaurant. Gary really put the human face on the sport of mountain biking. His amusing reflections of the early years, his motivations and mistakes, and his continuing passion for the sport that he loves, kept everyone glued to their seats. After answering numerous questions, Gary and Belle, his wife, were each awarded a ROMP T-shirt as a gesture of our appreciation.
Belle proved to be a perfect complement to Gary as they put their heads together to help entertain the crowd of over fifty people with Fisher-related trivia. Prizes were awarded for the correct answers to such questions as "What was the name of Gary's first bike?" and "What was the first bike club that Gary belonged to?" The question for the grand prize was "Why did Gary get suspended from racing in the '60's ?" If you know the answers and you didn't make it to the social, shame on you!
The prizes for the correct answers were a wheel truing at TrailHead Cyclery, won by Adam Havner, a subscription to Bicycling magazine, won by Stephen Lewis, a free tune-up at Summit Bikes, won by Todd Norwood, and the grand prize, a $250.00 gift certificate at Bicycle Outfitters, won by Philip Strenfel.
The restaurant, 840 North First Street, had a wonderful buffet set out for us. Some of the delectable hors' d'ourves consisted of chicken and beef skewers, baked Brie, assorted fruit and vegetable trays, and my personal favorite, crustini. Of course, the free-flowing Samuel Adams beer guaranteed the success of the "social" part of the Social Event.
ROMP would like to thank the restaurant, 840 North First Street, and all the sponsor shops that generously donated these prizes for our event, Bicycling magazine, Bicycle Outfitters, Summit Bicycles and TrailHead Cyclery. Please remember to patronize our sponsor shops when looking for all your bicycling needs.
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...by Rod Brown
ROMP President
Spring is coming; thanks to the recent rains, I've already seen wildflowers blooming while riding at Henry Coe. Thanks to the work of some ROMP members, the first signs of some new rides this spring are also starting to appear. To the north, Berry Stevens and a number of cyclists are adding mileage to a new trail system in Water Dog Park in Belmont. To the south, Patty Ciesla and Charles Jalgunas, working with cyclists from both sides of the Santa Cruz Mountains, are at work improving the trail system in the Soquel Demonstration Forest. In between, MROSD is evaluating opening sections of the Ridge Trail in Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve to bikes. Like the buds on the trees, these new areas show the promise of fruitful riding in a few months.
In anticipation of riding on these new trails as well as my old favorites, I've started ramping up my training. Unfortunately, my fitness, reduced by a winter of work and normal seasonal colds and flu, hasn't been coming along as nicely as these new trails are. It probably would have been easier to spend a bit more time each week over the winter, but better to start now than wait any longer.
Likewise, a little bit of effort applied regularly goes a long way toward keeping trail access. Now, with the help of some new volunteers, we are reinvigorating relationships with much of the trail community. Pete Luptovic has worked hard to attend MROSD meetings, understand the issues facing that organization, and represent cyclists to the district. Kate Drayson and Ron Yara have started attending local Ridge Trail committee meetings and lead the cyclist contribution to that great organization. Karen and John Morgan are working to reach out more to our sponsors and to develop a new chapter of the National Mountain Bike Patrol.
All these efforts will go a long way to help maintain our current trail access and the relationships of cyclists with the larger trail community, and we are already starting to see the results. However, we still have more opportunities than we have people to help with them, especially at the northern and southern extents of our region. To the north, other than with the Ridge Trail, we have almost no representation or involvement in San Mateo County. To the south, we need more help with Henry Coe State Park and the new county parks being developed. To be among the trail users, we must be an active part of the trail community.
Thanks for your support of ROMP and our outreach and advocacy efforts so far. In particular, thanks to the new faces who have stepped up and volunteered to help with club duties, attending trail group meetings, and trail building and maintenance. IMBA recommends all cyclists contribute 20 hours per year toward activities supporting mountain biking. It may sound like a lot, but it can easily be accomplished with just two hours spent attending a meeting one evening each month or 5 hours spent on trail maintenance each quarter. By doing so, not only will you help keep our mountain biking opportunities around in the future, but you will have fun as well. (Honest, just ask someone who is involved already!) To learn more about how you can help, please attend the next ROMP meeting or contact me or any of the ROMP officers (directions and contact information can be found here).
See you on the trails (and in the meeting rooms) !
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If you haven't done so already, ROMP reminds you to get in your volunteer hours for 2000 - there's a convenient form for submitting them here.
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Sunday, April 29th from 10 AM to 4 PM
The LARGEST bicycle swap meet in the South Bay will be at the Cupertino Bike Shop, 10493 S. De Anza Blvd., Cupertino, with over 65 vendors. $2.00 admission price gets you into a huge parking lot full of bike-related parts, clothing, tools, new and used bikes and frames; everything related to road and mountain cycling. No early birds. Please ride to the swap if you can. There is free street parking, but we prefer cyclists to ride. Bring plenty of cash (many vendors do not take checks or plastic). Proceeds from swap meet go towards ROMP's 2001 goals and programs.
Spaces go quickly and are limited. Prices: $100 retail, rep or distributor, $50 w/table, $40 without. Prices go up after April 13th (An additional $25), so get your reservations in EARLY.
For more info, call 408-225-2217 or email sprocket@cupertinobike.com.
ROMP is in need of volunteers to help coordinate and help throughout the day. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Jim Sullivan at volunteer@romp.org or 650-493-8774.
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