Saturday Ride Anyone?

Anyone interested in joining me for a ride Saturday, 02/21? I proposing departing from the shop at noon. Out and back for a couple hours and home in time to wash your bike and still make the CCCP meeting at the shop by 5pm.

Last Sunday felt so good to be on the bike that I'm looking for a repeat feeling. Nothing arduous, just enjoy the day on two wheels.

Email me if you are interested or leave a message on my cell: 776-1453!

Dana

Bobke Shaves His Head for Fatty Through Livestrong Donations

Tour of California Prologue

Fat Cyclist posted some live updates during the prologue of the Tour of California. It's worth a read.

http://www.fatcyclist.com/2009/02/14/liveblogging-the-tour-of-california-prologue/#comment-424812

Enjoy!

Rumor Has It....

Rumor has it that Big George Hincapie will ride the Demsey Challenge in October. That's way better than riding with Lance, in my humble opinion.

Dana

Saturday Ride

It's official, there is a ride Saturday. Scotty and I are riding at 10am. Let me know if you are interested. I'm not sure if we'll leave from the shop or the Shaw's plaza in Falmouth.

The plan is to ride to at least Freeport via Route One, which looks clear.

With sunny skies and temps in the mid-30's it should be a great ride.

Dana

Warm Weekend

Anyone riding outside this weekend??

Dana

Corporate Challenge Indoor Triathlon

This looks CRAZY FUN!

Great Weather for an Indoor Triathlon

The Portland YMCA will hold a Corporate Challenge Indoor Triathlon on February 28 where Corporate teams of three will be using the Y’s heated pool, treadmills and stationery bicycles to compete in a sprint type triathlon. One member of each team has to either swim, run or bicycle for 15 minutes. The distance covered by each team member will be combined for the total distance covered.

The Corporate Challenge Indoor Triathlon is a co-ed event with each team having to have at least one female competitor. Entries will be limited to 15 teams in this inaugural year. Deadline for entries is February 18.

All participants in the Corporate Challenge Indoor Triathlon will receive an event t-shirt. Winners will take home a trophy, plus the chance to win tickets to The Longest Dinner, the CCY’s major fundraising event to be held in June 2009.

The Indoor Triathlon will raise awareness of the YMCA’s commitment to providing programs and services to all, regardless of their ability to pay. Each year the Cumberland County YMCA awards just under $600,000 to children and families who would not otherwise be able to afford Y facilities and services.

Here is the Registration Form. For more information, please call Debbie Reed, wellness director, at 874 – 1111.

An indoor triathlon! What could be more fun for a great cause??

Rather serendipitous the way this information presented itself to me. Perhaps you and your office might want to throw a team together!

Dana

Social Gathering at the White Heart

It was so great to see everyone that showed up at the White Heart for a little club socializing Thursday night. Hopefully we can do a couple more in the next couple of months.




Now, for all you Belgium beer loving bikers, thought you might like to know about what looks to be a fun night of eating and drinking. Hugo's is hosting a beer dinner with Novare Res Bier Cafe. If you've not had the pleasure of attending a wine dinner at Hugo's, I can assure you they are outstanding and well worth every penny. So check it out and make a reservation - you'll be glad you did!

Exciting Women's 3/4 Racing Opportunity

Stephanie Chase asked that I post this exciting information for all you women bikers:

Folks,

I know CCCP has a fair amount of gals in the club as well as a fairly large following in general so I wanted to pass this along to you.

Katherine (NEBC), Karen (CVC), and Janet Ramos, have asked Julie and I (IBC) to help out in making efforts to try and get the Northeast Women’s 3/4 Series going in 2009. I'm basically working Maine and NH while the other gals are working the larger demographic of Mass and Connecticut. The IBC women's team ran a couple of cx clincs for Cat 3/4 women this past fall, that were a huge success so we'd like to work with Katherine, Karen and Janet to get the road/crit scene going as well. In order to build women's racing, we have to 'encourage' girls to get on the line and we can only do that by reaching out to all involved in competitive cycling on any level, beginner, intermediate, mens, womens and masters. A couple of us are cat2 and three gals are cat3 that are attempting to get this going but basically we need everyone's input no matter what level they are racing at. (read: don't feel like you have to be new to the sport to participate and have input)

For those of you who are not familiar with the Series (which last ran in 2006), it is a points competition to encourage participation in Women’s beginner (cat4) and intermediate races (cat3). The first 15 finishers in a race will be ranked according to finish position with the rest of the field awarded points for participating. There will be a leader’s jersey and prizes at the end of the year. With the points system it is possible to still be a leader even without podium spots as long as you participate. We’ll also be awarding merchandise at races as prizes and primes to make things a little more interesting.

Right now we’re still establishing a schedule for the year but could use your input in deciding which races should be part of the series. Karen has created a brief survey, which you can aquire by emailing me or Dana McEwan. If you send back the completed survey to me at (thinair29@yahoo.com) , I will pass them along to Karen, Katherine and Janet so that we can use the survey results to help determine what races fit everyone’s needs and also to guide promoters in offering more women’s fields.

In addition, I'm psyched to say that Portland will have a cat4 women's development team that will be on the line in several of these races and am very excited to see how these girls do. We're hoping it's only the beginning. It does nothing but good for the sport and the sport in Maine, specifically.

Thanks, in advance, for the input~


I am happy to report that I will be one of the women she speaks of in the local Cat 4 development team, along with Julie Fitzgerald, Meg Moore, and a few other ladies. (I'm leaving their names off for now in the event they have changed their minds.)

Dana

Star Power and Another Bike Ride in Maine

Looks like Joe Cupo has a little competition. Both great events and both for a good cause.



Too bad The Demsey Challenge conflicts with the Cadillac Challenge Century Ride. I can't decide which one I'd rather do more!!

Dana

Sunday Ride?

Anyone sick of the trainer and dying for a real ride?

With temps predicted to be around 50-degrees Sunday it's very tempting.

Any takers? Leave the shop at 10am, ride the safety of Route 1 to at least Freeport, perhaps Brunswick, stop for coffee, and return the same way?

No hammering necessary. Just ride, enjoy the bike and the company of friends, with fingers crossed for an early spring.

What say you? (Comment here or send me an email.)

Dana

Spreading a Little Holiday Cheer

A few of us were successful in spreading a little holiday cheer last weekend.

Most of us dressed as reindeer, some might call us Antler People, with Tracey posing as Santa, complete with sleigh and presents.


In addition to riding two-by-two around the boulevard we made our way to the Old Port and Arts District to wish shoppers a Merry Christmas.



Of course we had to stop at the tree for a photo.


We were greeted with smiles, cheers, and honking horns (this time in a good way). It seemed we were well received and hope to make this an annual event.

Thanks to Richard, Paul and Don for taking great photos that I've posted on our Flickr site and to Rocky for shooting the video below.




Enjoy!!

Dana

A Letter from Santa

For those of you not involved with the Santa/Reindeer event that is taking place this weekend, and thus out of the string of emails going back and forth about said event, I thought I would share with you a message from our beloved Santa:

********************************************

To All:

I have been very quiet concerning these weekend plans. Apparently I won an election. I have been nominated, elected, appointed, and drafted to be CCCP's "Santa Claus". I wasn't running for this role, and am not at all certain about accepting this unpaid position. At the very least, we should all go into this with open eyes, and all should be very clear about expectations.

First. Are you all out of your minds?

Second. I personally hold Tracey Merrill responsible for any and all damages or injuries to myself, or others around me, that may result from my operating a bike, wearing Santa gear, being pulled, I guess, in some sort of sleigh device put together by a couple of unsupervised kids. This is an accident waiting to happen. I want a complete film record of this mess; to be used as evidence in any subsequent legal proceeding. The last thing I want to do on Dec 6, is show up at a local emergency room, with a broken collarbone, wearing a bad combination of biking attire and a Santa Claus outfit, and having to explain what exactly I was thinking of, and being forced to take a sobriety test, for obvious reasons. And let's remember this. If I show up at that emergency room, with probably seven or eight more of you, all of us injured and maimed, blood flowing freely, spoiling our holiday and biking attire, we are making national news; I'm thinking The National Enquirer, The Drudge Report and any other tabloid wanting to have more fun at the expense of cyclists

Third. No one is getting on my lap. No exceptions. Don't even ask. Just because I'm sitting, isn't a reason to be jumping onto my lap, throwing a wrestle hold around my neck., and reciting your list of god awful trinkets that you want me to deliver on XMAS eve.

Fourth. No photos, or a least no photos linking me to this event. Any photo captions are to list Claus as being played by Will Ferrell. The sun glasses will stay on during the entire time I am wearing anything red colored and fur lined.

Fifth. Their will be only one single, very short, and not very loud "HO HO HO". I will determine when that single HO HO HO is said. Pay attention, Otherwise, this Santa is mute, and I will have the ACLU in your face should you ask for more. A mute Santa Claus is perfectly acceptable and politically correct. My version of Santa is best played by Bela Lugosi, not Tim Allen.

Sixth. This is most likely not a family event. If any of you are inclined to bring drooling and obese children looking for Photo Ops, go to Macy's. Most children are scared of me, and my wearing a dime store Santa Claus outfit, will be a horror movie event. XMAS is not a time for terrorizing your kids. Keep the kids at a distance. Explain "Santa Claus is sick today, he can't talk, and had a tough Friday night". Throw in something about Santa being seen leaving Forest Gardens early in the morning. Tell them Forest Gardens is a rehab center. Confuse the hell out of them, and start lecturing them about substance abuse. XMAS time is the right time to introduce your children to a dysfunctional Santa. This whole thing is beginning to sound like a good idea.

Are we all set? Now, How do I get into these damn, fur lined, red pants?

If someone else wants this mess, it's all yours. Anyone want a recount?

Russ

One More Sunday Ride?

Is anyone planning to ride Sunday at 10am??

Christmas Spirit?

Hello all!

I was wondering if anyone would like to help me with a little project. I am thinking of putting together "Santa and his reindeer" (the cyclists version) for a ride and a photo op for a Christmas card. I am thinking reindeer antlers on our helmets, riding 2 by 2 with Rudolph up front, Santa in back. We would need a blinky red nose (wondering if my backlight might somehow hold to someone's nose). Jingle bells. Anyone have a tow along we could make into Santa's sleigh? I would love the photo op and anyone who wants can partake of the photo to share with others for your own Christmas card or something if you would like. Then we can ride around Back Cove, or longer depending how this whole thing turns out.

I know it sounds corny, but don't you think it would bring out a lot of smiles? :) We can do it some weekend in December, weather permitting. Please let me know if you would be interested. I am tired of writing my Christmas cards with "Nothing new. Work, bike, eat, sleep. Repeat."

Tracey