The Cue Sheet

The Newsletter of the Elmhurst Bicycle Club
Riding Strong for over 31 Years

June
2009

September Self-Contained Ride

By Richard Diebold

On Wednesday September 9 we will be leading a self contained ride around the Finger Lakes in New York State. There will be no sag support on this ride. We will be camping mainly in state parks where there are very famous and interesting hikes. If you wish to stay in motels you must make your own reservations.

The Tentative Itinerary:

• Tuesday, Sept. 8      Arrive at Ferenbaugh Camp Ground 5 miles north of Corning. For those who arrive by 6 p.m. we will go to dinner.
• Wednesday, Sept. 9  Bike 5 miles to Corning where we will spend the day at the Corning Glass Museum and other sights. Bike 5 miles back to campground.
• Thursday, Sept. 10   Bike 15 miles to Watkins Glen S.P. Hike the beautiful trails of the park.
• Friday, Sept. 11      Bike 45 miles to Keuka Lake S.P.
• Saturday, Sept. 12   Bike 40 miles to Cayuga Lake S.P.
• Sunday, Sept. 13    Bike 35 miles to Fillmore Glen S.P.
• Monday, Sept. 14   Bike 30 miles to Buttermilk Fall S.P. Hike up the many falls.
• Tuesday, Sept. 15   Bike 50 miles back to cars. See 215 foot Taughannock Falls.

Bike Shipping Case for EBC Members

By Ray Dal Lago

Through the generous thoughts of Bill Coates and Ted Sward the EBC now has a bicycle shipping case available to club members. I am storing it at my house. It is not rectangular but more trapezoidal. It is flat on the bottom and has two wheels at one end and a handle at the other end. The top side opposite the bottom tapers upward from both ends. The maximum width at one end is 34" and the width at the other end is 25". The length is 57" and the depth is 10". It seems suitable for shipping on an airplane but you are welcome to judge for yourself as it has special locking "screws" and a removal tool. The TSA may have to OK this case and you definitely don't want an inspector to lose the removal tool! The case will be available on a first come, first serve basis by calling me at 630-543-4655 or e-mailing me at dlag10_aol.com.

Awards and Membership Report

By Susan Sperl, Membership Coordinator

We had over 51 members in attendance for our awards meeting! Congratulations to all of you and your accomplishments!

Keith Garland and Susan Sperl modelling the new award jerseys.

Most members seemed to be pleased with the jersey's. We are hoping more members would like to purchase the same. We are, also, hoping, to have enough interest in purchasing matching shorts and jackets. I would like to thank Pat and Sarge for helping with our official logo, jersey design and especially overseeing the manufacturing of the jersey's! A thank you to Steve for printing the certificates, for Ray for picking up the patches, for George seeing that everyone was paid, and Keith for being my model and helper! Special awards were given for attendance in 2008 which went to Paul Boyce, Roland Porter & George Pastorino.

Our EBC family has grown to 398 members who are renewed or new for 2009! Please meet and greet our newest members and answer any of their questions. Thank you making EBC your club of choice!

Water Under the Bridge

By Steve Sinderson

The Salt Creek Greenway Trail gives riders a new alternative route to enter and exit south Elmhurst. As you head south on the Greenway Trail across Butterfield Road towards Oak Brook, you will pass under Roosevelt Road and next to Salt Creek. On most days your trip will be uneventful, however 17% of the time as you head in this direction you will encounter water on the trail as you attempt to pass under Roosevelt Road.

Many of us wonder how to determine if an underpass is under water or not. One tool we have is run by the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey). The USGS maintains a monitoring station in Elmhurst at the point the Prairie Path crosses Salt Creek. The data collected by this station includes Gage Height, Discharge, and Precipitation. This gage information can be found on the internet at: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=05531300    Once you spend some time at this site, you will want to focus on the Gage Height information. The Gage Height along Salt Creek can continue to rise up to 24 hours after a rain event and will take even longer to drop than it did to rise. At the Roosevelt Road underpass, you will find water on the path when the gage reads greater than 6.9 feet. At the St. Charles Road underpass there will be water on the path when the gage reads greater than 8.5 feet. The picture below shows the St. Charles Road underpass at 8.4 feet; you see the water just starting to go onto the path.

When using these underpasses after a rain it is important to know what you will find when you head under the bridge, so if you have checked the gage on the internet you will now know what to expect. If you forget to check the internet, you have one more option. When you're heading south out of Elmhurst going under Roosevelt Road you can look at the bridge support that is in the creek (Roosevelt Rd Depth Gage) and you will find a depth gage. This gage will show how deep the water is on the path. This indicator does not appear to be available if you are heading north at Roosevelt or in either direction at St. Charles.

Late Addition Rides

By Steve Josephs

It's great that we've had so many Ride Leaders put up late additions over the last few weeks. This really builds out our Ride Schedule and helps to make EBC the great biking club that it is.

However, our 24 hour rule requires both a posting using our website form AND an email out to ElmhurstBicycleClub_googlegroups.com. We had 4 rides in just one week where the posting went up fine, but either the email was late or didn't go out at all.

In the spirit of encouraging ride listings and riding, we are going to declare amnesty on these and count the rides for club miles. However, we should get better at this in the future - getting out the emails in time is really the best way to let people know that you have a ride posted.

Nancy Rice Bike Trips

Nancy Rice, EBC's consummate and intrepid solo bicyclist has journals on several of her recent trips at this site:  http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/directory/?o=3Tzut&user=nancyrice&v=7. Check them out!

Invitational Ride Credit

By Steve Josephs

The policy on credit for invitational rides was discussed at the May Board meeting. The guidelines provisionally adopted, are subject to change. Invitational rides shall receive EBC credit if they meet the following criteria:

• The ride must be staged by a bicycle club and the fee for the ride must be reasonable and customary for rides of this type.


• Any such ride must be posted per our usual guidelines, and requires a ride sheet and leader.


• The sponsor club must be located, and the ride held, no farther than 200 miles from Elmhurst. Rides held outside the 200-mile range require two member riders and two months' posted notice. (either in the newsletter or on the club website)

Probably the best listing of local club invitationals is on Mike Bentley's site:  www.mikebentley.com/bike/ilrides.htm

Slower Riders

Looking for a leader? Judy Mikesell is willing to lead slower rides. Please contact her (mikesell2_at_juno.com) to discuss scheduling.

Please submit articles and/or photos for the newsletter to Cindy Reedy (cmreedy_prodigy.net) AND Sharon Hermach (ganskesh_hotmail.com). The deadline is the 15th of the month.

June 2009   •   •   •   Club Rides

Note: The most current ride schedule can be found on our website at http://www.elmhurstbicycling.org/rides/currentRide.aspx.

Ride Pace - by Steve Josephs, Ride Captain
Where there is not a miles per hour to describe the pace of a ride, please use the following as a guide:
   8-10 = very slow    10-12 = slow    12-14 = moderate  
14-16 = medium    16-18 = fast    18-20+ = very fast
 

Note: The most current ride schedule can be found on our website at http://www.elmhurstbicycling.org/rides/currentRide.aspx.