Cycling: Club spring party is Monday

As the warmer days get more numerous, there are more and more activities for cyclists. 

For one, the Alta Alpina Cycling Club junior team has started recruiting and training. 

One of the biggest events for the club is the Spring Party, which is Monday at the CVIC Hall in Minden at 6 p.m. for food and 7 p.m. for the happenings of the club.

This is the meeting where most people come and see what the club is up to this year and sign up as members.

We in the club are really excited this year that we have a more diverse group of riders.

In the past, many local cyclists thought that the club was a bunch of racers or people who wanted to ride 120 miles every ride.  We expect this year to have many more diverse rides led by people of differing abilities.  This means you.  Diversity in riding abilities and desires (road, mountain bike, exploring, touring, racing) comes from those who make up the club.

If you are not part of a club that advocates cycling activities, local legislation and policy, riding with other cyclists, you are not part of a solution to make the life of cyclists better. 

We see a lot of cyclists out there that are riding on roads with no bike lane, no shoulder and sometimes hostile drivers as our road mates who are not part of a solution to make cycling safer, more prominent and available to younger people.

One person counted 67 cyclists on Foothill Road for only half of a ride and many of them were riding independently.  As part of a club, you can find riders of your same ability and tastes for riding and have a partner for rides with someone who shares your same passion for putting miles on pavement or dirt.

Chances are that each of us riders can learn new routes, trails, skills and techniques to make our own riding better, and my passion is that any small bit of knowledge I may have can be shared with youth as my first priority and other cyclists as my second.

So the Alta Alpina Cycling Club Spring party is this Monday. Food and drinks are provided.  There will be information on weekend rides, roadside cleanup, the road race series and I hear we have a great lineup for a mtb ride/race series. I hope to hear you have joined us there. 

The local road race series is starting on April 23 with a time trial on Foothill Road.

This is a first race that has no implications for season points or anything. It is a nice event to see in which category, D through A, you would most comfortably ride.  A time trial is ridden on your own with no drafting allowed which makes it great for first timers.  The riders simply ride the course as fast as they can to see who are your peers for races in categories.  This is a great series for those who are curious about racing but think it might be too serious for them.

The D category is a great place to start since there are many people donig their first races and usually there is some coaching and advice from some experienced people.  Some people just come out and do time trials at first and then get drawn into the excitement and challenge of racing in groups.

We even see some triathletes out there refining their bike skills and training.  There is no workout like racing against those of similar ability.  The Reno Wheelmen have started their race series on Tuesday with a Time Trial on Franktown Road.  Rumor is that it snowed on the 23 racers there, but the roads were still dry! I just love the weather in the Eastern Sierra.