April 2003

The buzz around the club

By Dave Lidgey

Ride Calendar-The organized rides will start up again this month. See the calendar for start times and ride descriptions. If anyone is interested in leading a ride or organizing a different ride please contact me so I can include it in the calendar. Don’t forget about the e-group for organizing short notice rides.

Invasion Rides– A tentative list of Invasion rides has been developed and has been included in this newsletter. Usually for the one day local rides we will meet at Depot park early and carpool to the ride. For the longer distance and overnight rides we will be making transportation and lodging plans as the time gets closer. More details to follow. The traditional first Invasion ride of the year will once again be the Metro Grand Tour on May 4th

Race Season Starts– The Spring Training races at Waterford Hills Raceway begins the race season. These races begin at the end of March and go for three Saturdays in a row, March 29th April 5th and April 12th This is a great opportunity to view many of the areas best riders and if you have not viewed a road race before I would strongly encourage you attendance to see what it’s all about. You will not be disappointed. The attendance fee is free and you may want get even closer to the action by volunteering to help with this club’s first event of the year. Just show up at the Track about 9:00 a.m. and Steve can let you know what needs to be done or call the shop for details.

Multi sport Racing—Strong interest in Triathlons has sparked some club members to begin the development of a multi sport team. Steve Bettwy has volunteered to lead this development and more details will follow in the next newsletter as well as the e-group. If you haven’t yet signed up for the e-group, now would be a good time

Club Jerseys– The club will be placing another order for club jerseys by the end of the month. Anyone wishing to get one of the best looking jerseys in the country needs to fill out the order form that will be included in this newsletter and bring it in with a few well earned dollars so we can get these ordered. The deadline for preorders and the assurance of getting one is April 24th.

A thank you from 2002 rider of the year.
I would like to thank Jeff and Louise as well as Doug and Andrea at Kinetic Systems for all of their help and support to keep me racing and riding during 2002. It is truly an honor to represent the Flying Rhino's and Kinetic Systems when I travel and race. This last year was my toughest yet, recovering from two crashes, one early and one late in the year. The thought did occur to me to just give it up. But I could not and did not. As a racer the threat of injury is always there, but I never think about it. It would be wasted energy anyway. As you can imagine, I love to ride and race my bikes. Being part of a bicycle club, and seeing that our primary focus is to ride bicycles, I can only hope that in the future that maybe Jeff's job would be so tough he would have to nominate 5 Rhino's for rider of the year because everyone did so well. I never dreamed when I joined the club 10 years ago that I would be in this position. My wife Mary had to push me to go to Kinetics and join. She probably still wonders when I am going to come home. Up until that point I mainly did tours and centuries. I thought I knew a lot about riding, but I did not, at least not correctly or efficiently. I am still learning by the way. I knew early on that I wanted to get better, improve, and maybe race in the Tour of Michigan. I had no idea the many friends that I would meet, race with, share lives with, be godparents to their children with, or meet JEFF! Or even practice T'ai Chi and consider being a vegetarian. WOW! All of these life influences have been good. I would have never known these had I not joined the club and stuck with it. I have seen a lot of riders and racers come and go. All looking for the quick fix, that gadget, that training regimen, or that food, or that heart monitor, etc. We have access to a gem in the club, namely Jeff. His coaching, training, bike fit and T'ai Chi to name a few are unique. You will not find this knowledge at any other club. We should take advantage of the opportunity. In summary, if you are consistent, persistent, willing to learn, and hard working our club has a place for you. Thanks again Kinetic Systems and Flying Rhino's for allowing me to become the best cyclist I can be and look foreword to a great 2003!
Sincerely,
Mark Wolowiec go ride!

Tucson, Arizona 2003 Riding/Training/Vacation
By Mark Wolowiec
Tucson 2003 has just finished up and I think everyone who attended was very satisfied with the area, available routes for riding whether rolling hills, flats or mountains. The weather the first half of the trip was challenging, temps in the 50's for a high with considerable wind and rain. The Arizona area had experienced an "El Nino" this winter and received 3" of rain in the month of Feb. when they usually only get that for the entire winter. Don Cameron and Dave Luczynski who stayed a few miles down the road from us at a Holiday Inn, we were at Starr Pass Condo's, were able to very easily twist the arm of Joe Brzuchanski to go on the long version of Le Tour D'Tucson in quest of Mount Lemon. Out the window went the small chain ring and low intensity training, we are on an adventure. Because of the weather, I do not think they ever reached the top, except by car. The snowy conditions resembled upper Michigan after several inches of snow and ice! Why did I come here? Without adequate clothes, water, and food these hungry and tired Rhino's were drinking melted snow and eating twigs and bark. A pre-dinner snack was a trip to the sushi bar. You will have to ask Dave what happened on the 4th night. But I think he became friends with the porcelain throne and lost 5 pounds! The other half of the riding condo Mark Wolowiec, Bob Sisson, Anne Schwartz kept the faith and traveled to the Desert Museum, Gates Pass, Pictured Rocks Road, Kitts Peak [a 12 mile climb at 10% grade, 7,000 feet, a beautiful view at the top, several high powered telescopes at top], Mount Lemon to around the 16 mile mark [25 to the top] snow and ice prevented us from going further, and Mission Road ride. Joe and I [Mark W] decided to attend the Wed group ride with the local pro's which included the likes of Gord Frazier and his buddies. The first hour was tame as we gradually left town thru all the stop and go of traffic lights. Once out of town the terrain gets very rolling and steep. we lasted another 45 minutes before the pace was too intense and we were dropped. They are awesome up the hills, no attack, they just gradually pull away as you are at your max. But this is their "in season" and we did climb Mt Lemon the day before. Fortunately we did meet up with the bunch at a rest stop and took the short cut home. I think the Frazier group did 120 miles, we did 75. We also had a non-rider this year, her name is Sandy, Bob's girlfriend, who made a nice addition to our condo. We called her the Starbucks girl because of her frequent visits to the establishment [2-3 times a day]. On the first Sunday of our trip I decided to take my bike to Full Cycle Bike Shop to have the creak in my bottom bracket examined [no not my head] , it was one of the rainy days and we did not get much saddle time in. This place has a coffee, juice, pasta, chi tea bar as you enter. BMX, road, mountain, clothes, etc., on the first floor, repair downstairs, 5 mechanics, and indoor training with video screen. Anyway as I was picking up my bike later that afternoon we ran into Greg LeMond who was helping a lady friend buy a bike. I had my Serotta cross bike in my hands, the one Ben signed 2 weeks before. I grabbed a sharpie and got Greg's autograph next to Ben's. Anne and I purchased LeMond cycling caps and got him to sign these. What a nice man. Friendly, warm, a firm handshake! I congratulated him on the thrills he has given us over the years and on how seeing him race gave me the motivation to take up the sport. He was very humble. That made the trip, gave me goose bumps, and took a dreary with rain and cheered us up. I hope for next year to have twice as many people. Both riders and non-riders, there is a lot to do. there are a lot of authentic local restaurants to explore, not the sushi ones, that are great. If the group gets large enough then riders of whatever ability can seek each other out and not feel isolated. Keep the middle of March open on your calendar for next year, make it a goal, you will enjoy it.

Life On Two Wheels (Part II) Jay Jones
Welcome back...another month and another life time of bikes. As this saga continues I take a look back and I notice how much things change. But the bike is still the bike and it brings me the satisfaction few other things can.
So read on and I hope this has stirred up some of your emotions for your favorite bikes.
The next bike is one of my favorite bikes ever. I don't know why, it just was. I bought it from a little Mom & Pop shop in Burton near Flint Michigan. It was a Fuji dealership and the owner was the nicest man. The jade metallic paint is what drew me to this Fuji S-10-S. It was a beautiful bike indoors and I remember the owner saying, "we have to take this bike outside to really appreciate it."
So we wheeled it out into the April sun and in all it's radiant glory it
spoke to me..."buy me...buy me." Who was I to argue? After striking a deal, we put the new bike on the new bike rack and then headed home. My brother had already purchased his replacement and we both had new bikes in our possession. He opted for a different model in a more understated blue and his bike was a full blown touring bike, mine was a wannabe, but a beautiful wannabe. Those bikes would not only be our touring bikes, but our commuter bikes as well. They took us to our summer jobs day after day, week after week. I believe that would make us eco-minded long before it was chic. They also took us on a full blown tour of Michigan.
We started in Traverse City and prematurely ending in Bay City, one day and 76 miles shy of our home. We met so many different type of people, from rednecks in Harrison to the nicest family from Illinois. We had the pleasure of spending time with them in T.C. and Mackinaw City as their vacation was on pace with our tour. Even with my toasted knee and an unfavorable opinion of Harrison, I
wouldn't trade that trip for anything in the world...unless of course, it has two wheels.
While the S-10-S and the Ltd. my brother had were touring bikes, we were feeling the need for speed. The next bike in line was another Fuji, aptly named Team Fuji. It was a brown metal flake beauty and with the full-twin-mystic-thing going on, my brother got one too. After a few years of individuality, we were matching once again!
To distinguish these two thoroughbreds from each other, I ripped off the stock handlebar tape and then painstakingly hand-stitched tan leather tape onto the bars. This already elegant form of transportation was one up on it's twin rival. The question was, would it make me any faster than him? The answer was no, but I looked good doing it. Thus the birth of my motto, "it's not how you feel, it's how you look."
We must have looked good, because we would always have a pace line behind us at every organized ride we did. Those days were different then today. When you're young and rode as much as we did, you were automatically fast. Plus my brother and I had the ability to ride about 2 inches behind each other for miles on end. Some people said it was the twin thing working again. Some say it was because we rode hundreds of miles with each other, but I think it was a little of both. With our efficient riding technics in place, we were able to work together and make some serious time, hence the paceline behind us. We had the same bike and for the most part the same cycling clothes and people would ask us if we were a sponsored team. We would look at each other with our thought clouds hovering above our heads full of question marks, smile and say no. Then we would mash on the pedals and ride away. In essence, I guess we were a team, at least for the last 20 years that we have been riding together.
The Team Fuji's would take us on numerous organized rides, a couple of Dal-Macs and every dirt road in Lapeer County. They were trusty bikes to the point that we kept them longer then any other bike. And that says something about having a quality bike, it just lasts longer. In fact my brother hasn't had a new road bike since, but I on the other hand WAS a different story. I would be the one
who kept riding, maybe not as much as other years, but I would fuel the riding embers with a organized ride every now and then.
With 4X4 trucks, motorcycles, boats and my mid-twenties, riding a bicycle takes a back seat to everything else. Also it was much harder to justify a ride in a suburban area where all you heard was cussing, honking horns and felt the occasional piece of debris fly from a passing vehicle. So my riding started to fall. But everyone goes through their dark years and mine were short lived.
With the motorized toys losing their appeal I would start to get a yearning to ride again, to the point where seeing someone's brand new Trek 2000 aluminum road bike made me forget about every gas-driven machine I owned. It stirred the riding soul within me to the point that I would start looking to buy a new bike. And you know you always more on a new bike, so I could easily justify the procurement of a new one. While the Trek 2000 was a little out of my price range, Trek did something to address this dilema and produced the Trek 1000. Just as sleek, just as beautiful but with a less expensive part spec. Marketing stiffs were rejoicing in the coffee room. Even though I've rode much of Michigan on my other bikes this two tone white and yellow Trek would take me places that I have never been before, competition. Although I've logged thousands of miles, I have never competed before. So with my signature on my very first race application, I was ready, or so I thought.
It was a duathlon. 2.5 mile run, 18 mile bike and then finish up with
another 2.5 mile run. I was banking on my age to get me through such a brazen undertaking. We won't talk about the run, because this is about bikes, so we will just say that the bike performed flawlessly and much to my surprise, I finished mid pack. With a new found challenge I elected to put a set of Scott aerobars on. With just feel, I would fool around with the fit of the bike and when I didn't have any pain, I would ride. This bike would take me on a Dal-Mac with a very fast group from the Wolverine cycling club. I never rode so many miles so fast. We just flat out hauled! They all asked about the aerobars and some of the old timers would look at me like I just landed my spacecraft next to their house, but they did work despite the new look. Despite my left knew giving me some pain, I finished the ride and had a new appreciation for training.
With the years getting along and the advent of the mountain bike I would be thinking about a new type of riding. One that would make me feel like a kid again, something that everyone needs to experience. So, next month at the
same
Bat time on the same Bat channel, please tune in...

2003 rhino invasion rides

These are the current rides suggested for Invasion. These are by no means final and any other ideas or suggestions are more than welcome.

Sunday May 4th Metro Grand Spring Tour. New Boston, Willow Metropark

Routes up to 62 miles that connect 3 metroparks in southern Wayne county and northern Monroe county. This is a classic annual first ride of the year. For you flatlanders the largest climb is the overpass at the finish. www.lmb.org/dcc/

Saturday/Sunday May 10-11th TOSRV Ohio

Tour of the Scioto River Valley. Contact Jim Owens For more details on this two day two Hundred mile ride.

Sunday May 18th Farrad Tour. Frankenmuth, Mi.

Sponsored by the Optimist club, with an optional mass start Choice of 25,50 and 100K. 989-652-9754

Saturday June 14th 100,000 meter T-shirt Ride Lainsburg. 15, 31, 62 mi. routes over flat to rolling roads in Shiawassee County. 517-882-3700 www.biketcba.org

Saturday June 28th Liberty Tour. Midland 16, 25, 62, and 100 mi. routes. Great low traffic scenic routes and an outstanding catered lunch. Http://mindnet.org/~tcc

Saturday July 12th One Helluva Ride. Chelsea Choice of dirt or road rides up to 100 mi. Mostly rural rolling terrain. Info. www.aabts.org

Sunday July 20th Ride Around Torch Lake. Elk Rapids 25, 62 and 100 mile routes are available on this scenic ride around beautiful Torch Lake. (Note: the LMB calendar has an incorrect date!)

Email: www.cherry-capital.com/cccc

Sunday August 3rd Minard Mills Bicycle Tour & Wienie roast. Jackson 17, 26, 43 mile loop routes. Do any one or any combination of these. 517-563-8836 www.lmb.org/cascades

Sunday August 17th Assenmacher  100. Swartz Creek 20, 32, 50, 62 and 100 mile routes. This is the 23^nd year for the popular ride on good rural roads.

www.Assenmachers.com

SAT-SUN August 23-24th Rhino Club Overnight Ride Join us for the 3rd annual overnight ride in the Thumb area. Gear will be transported via SAG wagon. Group camping will be provided in a local state park.

Thursday—Sunday Aug 28-31st DALMAC Lansing. The Four day west route is the Club Invasion route this year 517-882-3700 www.dalmac.org

Sunday, Sept. 7th Peach of a Ride. Armada 25, 55 and 62 mi. routes. All routes travel through rustic farm country. Info. Peach@LMB.org or www.LMB.org/clubs/spokes.htm

Saturday, Sept.13-14th Big Mac Tour Mackinaw.

25, 50, 75, 100 mi. routes. Scenic routes through Mackinaw and Harbor Springs and the "Tunnel of Trees" ph 888-455-8100 www.mackinawchamber.com

Sunday Sept. 21st Irish Hills Bicycle Tour. Glen Lake

10, 31, 62, 100 mi. routes. Experience the flat farm fields which change into rolling hills and finally into the Irish hills. 419-882-1006 wwww.freewheel.com/hiayh

Sunday Oct 5th Bluewater Ramble. St. Clair Shores

40, 60, 80 and 100 mile routes. 21^st annual international tour. Be the envy of your friends, tell them you did the nautical mile via ferry.

bwr@lmb.org www.lmb.org/crr/

The Michigan Road scene kicks off into full gear this weekend. Here are the upcoming events. For more information check the Michigan Road, Track and Cyclocross Calendar at http://www.flyingrhinocc.com/Michigan_Road_Track_Race_2003/index.htm.
Upcoming events -
March 29th - Learn To Race
March 29th - Waterford Hills Spring Training Series (Spring Fling #1)
March 30th - Fisk Knob Time Trial
March 30th - Ann Arbor Spring Training Series (Spring Fling #2)
April 1st - Maple Leaf Time Trial
April 5th - Waterford Hills Spring Training Series (Spring Fling #3)
April 6th - Ann Arbor Spring Training Series (Spring Fling #4)
April 10th - Ciociaro Club
April 12th - Waterford Hills Spring Training Series (Spring Fling #5)
April 13th - Ann Arbor Spring Training Series (Spring Fling #6)

Events Calendar

• Tuesday nights at the Track. Waterford Hills raceway. 5:00 p.m.
• Casual dirt road rides every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. And Saturdays at 8:00 a.m. (This will start formally on the 2nd Wed. & 1st Sat. in April)
• Fast / Moderate Pace road ride Saturday morning 8:00 a.m. (call the Hot line for details).
• Fast /Race pace road rides Sunday mornings 9:00 a.m.

(call the Hot line or check the e-group for details).

Officers Meeting April 24th

Note from the Editor

By Dave Lidgey

Once again it’s that time of year where the weather is supposed to get warm enough for those of us that tend to hibernate during the winter to get out and ride. Having logged exactly zero miles in January and February, I’m really looking forward to this years rides. It might have something to do with the unusually cold and snowy winter we’ve had although it’s more due to the fact that I don’t enjoy the cold as much as I used to and that I really don’t like having to clean off the salt and ice from my bikes. I have managed to get out a couple of times in March and these rides just increased my desire to ride more. I hope to see more of you out there this year on some of the club rides.

As always, I can be reached at 810-236-5687 during the day, 248-693-8001 evenings or e-mail me at editor_rhino_news@flyingrhinocc.com