PHOENIX METRO BICYCLE CLUB |
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pmbcaz.org | The Hub: August 2018 | ![]() |
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The Hub: August 2018 Reports, News, Memos, Ride Reviews, Stories, Etc. Updated 8/26/2018 August 2018 Paul Nichols Passed Away on July 11, 2018 Word has been received that Paul Nichols passed away on July 11. Paul and his wife Jane Larson led PMBC's four-day "J&P Tour" for 13 years. They also led the old Sunday Kokopedalli rides in Scottsdale, were organizers for the Casa Grande Century and served on the PMBC board, with Paul as VP for several years. According to Jane, "Paul and I met on a Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club weekly ride and married in 2005." and "A memorial service will be held Oct. 12 at the National Veterans Cemetery of Arizona." Jane Larson and Paul Nichols (click photo for larger image) Return to TopAugust 18 Saturday Cycling Report Hello Saturday Cyclists! The forty-four cyclists on today's ride quickly splintered into many smaller packs thanks to disruptive traffic lights and the fact that there were 3 distance options. Even though it was a flat route, the 47-mile extra-long version proved challenging due to the heat alone. I'll be unavailable for ride leading the next two Saturdays. Kathy will send you on your way to the club meeting and breakfast on the 25th. The following week, Mike Kirk will be there for the first 7:00 a.m. September start time. Remember that We-Cycle-USA will be at the Hungry Monk next Saturday with a recycle barrel to accept your donations of used bike parts, tires, tubes or tools, anything that might help them refurbish used bikes that they will provide to kids and adults in need. Coming up... Saturday, 08/25/18 6:30 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Chandler-Pecos East Saturday, 09/01/18 7:00 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Mummy Mountain Monday Labor Day Ride, 09/03/18 7:00 a.m., Panera Bread in Gilbert Saturday, 09/08/18 7:00 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Chandler/Gilbert Bronze Tid Bits... Here is a link to the results of the Saturday Cycling Survey. I've sorted the routes by the number of people who called it a favorite, in descending order. Here are a few more of my observations:
The next two PMBC social events have been scheduled. The Chili Cookoff will be November 3 at 3pm, and the Holiday Party will be at 5pm on December 8. Detailed information will hit the web site soon. I was informed that I had been advertising the wrong date for the Amtrak Century. Turns out it is Saturday Sept 15; a week later than I had previously written. Then again, if you haven't already registered, it may be too late. Events
Have fun and ride safely. Return to TopAugust 11 Saturday Cycling Report Hello Saturday Cyclists! We anticipated tire troubles from the road rubble dropped by storms. I know of 4 flats among the 40 cyclists on a long flat route. I don't think any of them could be attributed to the weather debris, but we got the results that we anticipated and that's the important thing. Coming up... Saturday, 08/18/18 6:30 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Lucky 7's Saturday, 08/25/18 6:30 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Chandler-Pecos East Saturday, 09/01/18 7:00 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Mummy Mountain Monday Labor Day Ride, 09/03/18 Tid Bits... Survey Data Preview In the next ride report, I will include a link to the on-line report the monkey-app allows me to share with you. Here is some of what I see so far:
Events
Have fun and ride safely. Return to TopAugust 4 Saturday Cycling Report Hello Saturday Cyclists! We had 37 cyclists show up for the third week in a row of climbing hills in mid-summer heat. Now we're looking at 3 weeks of flat routes for the remainder of August; the last one being our quarterly membership meeting. The Saturday Cycling Survey is quick, easy, and oh-so-much fun. Please share your insights by following this link. Coming up... Saturday, 08/11/18 6:30 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Length of Lindsay Saturday, 08/18/18 6:30 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Lucky 7's Saturday, 08/25/18 6:30 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Chandler-Pecos East Tid Bits... The distribution list I first imported to MailChimp for this report was 587 people large. It made me feel very influential, to have my opinions, ideas and goofy jokes go out to a focused audience of 587 East Valley cyclists. My first dose of humility came when I learned that Global Bikes, in the same region, distributes to well over 10,000 cyclists. Then MailChimp started to show me more information. For example, the convenient little unsubscribe button resulted in a quick drop to 550 recipients. And it tells me that only 33% at best actually open the report; if I procrastinate past Wednesday it drops below 25%. That means on a good week 181 people might actually read it. Still a decent number, but a little humbling. Marketing experts say a 33% open rate is a great number, but then I'm not trying to sell anything. MailChimp also tells me who opens them, and what links got clicked on, which I never bothered to snoop into. Today though I did happen to notice that 22 people clicked on the survey link from last week. The odd thing is that Survey Monkey says only 14 have answered the questions. I wonder what happened to the other eight? Either way, it's a very small number compared to the 176 who opened the email. I'd really like to see at least 50 surveys completed. I don't think that's expecting too much; there are only 6 questions. Here again is the link, thank you in advance. Events
Have fun and ride safely. Return to TopJuly 28 Saturday Cycling Report Hello Saturday Cyclists! Thirty-five cyclists were blessed with a thick-enough cloud cover at the start of the ride to take the edge off a hot, humid morning. Naturally, it did not last, and since all the hills were in the later part of the long route, many of us got to suffer some real summer heat. As usual, we didn't let a little adversity stop us from having a good time. In my case, after being delayed by a flat tire repair, a little shortcut helped. I learned from the master. Coming up... Saturday, 08/04/18 6:30 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Foothills Training Ride Saturday, 08/11/18 6:30 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Length of Lindsay Saturday, 08/18/18 6:30 a.m., Kiwanis Park. Lucky 7's Tid Bits... Some of you may remember back in December of 2012, after my first 1/2 year as Saturday Cycling ride leader, I conducted a survey to get your feedback on how things were going, and to find out which routes were the favorites and which were not. As a result, we made a minor adjustment to our start times, removed one route from the rotation, and revised a few maps to provide a third extra-long distance option. See the January 12, 2013 ride report in the archives for details. Since then we've also added three new routes and retired two that had to go when the new freeway construction started on Pecos. I think it's time to do another survey. It has the same 5 questions plus one new inquiry regarding South Mountain and more space for helpful comments. Please take a minute or two to let me know what you think. Be sure to congratulate ride leader Jerry and his wife Rita on their 50th wedding anniversary the next time you see them! Events
Have fun and ride safely. Return to TopMembers add your spoke to The Hub. Send your Reports, News, Memos, Ride Reviews, Member Profiles, Etc, to Terry Wright. |
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pmbcaz.org | The Hub: August 2018 | ![]() |