| Ride with your Sweetheart
This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, February 12th & 13th, in White Springs, Florida, enjoy the Suwanee Sweetheart Cycling Weekend.
On Sunday, the 13th, there will be routes of 25, 52, 62 and 100 miles.
Cycling Savvy Course has a New Fan
Hal Downing, along with Jamie Krzeminski, David Overfield, Brock Magruder and Jody Lazar of Bike/Walk Central Florida took the Cycling Savvy road course last weekend. Here are Hal’s comments:
“Cycling Savvy is a new program developed by Orlando’s Keri Caffrey and Mighk Wilson, teaching you how to ride in some intense traffic situations. It’s not just about knowing the rules of the road – it’s about applying the rules and co-existing. The program started with a 3-hour classroom session last Friday night. Detailed graphics and video have been created and I was not bored. Knowing that you’re going to be negotiating Colonial Drive and other high-volume roadways on Saturday tends to help your concentration Friday night. While I think that the presentation can be compacted, the time went by quickly. Saturday morning, we started at 8:00 with a 3-hour skills class. You have to understand that many people taking this class don’t have the close-quarters experience that many reading this newsletter encounter all the time. For many, this skills session is a confidence-building exercise; I really enjoyed weaving around the cones! Seriously, when’s the last time you had to execute snap turns? After lunch, we hit the road – this wasn’t hard riding; this was figuring out how to behave in heavy traffic through complex intersections in varied situations. Keri and Mighk and new instructors Kitzzy Aviles, Jason Buckner, Rodney Youngblood and Lisa Blount help you analyze what you need to do. Think about coming north on Orange Avenue, turning left onto Princeton, getting past the turn lane and on-ramp for I-4 and proceeding to Edgewater, all at noon. These are not places where bike lanes will help you. As said on the Cycling Savvy website, ‘You lead the dance.’ The epiphany which transforms us into confident cyclists is grasping the simple (albeit counter-intuitive) fact that we have control of our environment. That control comes from predictability, communication and (believe it or not) self-image. You’ll learn how to control your environment in the Cycling Savvy course – I heartily recommend it! The next class is March 11th and 12th.”
Clean Air Ride
Saturday, March 19th, in Inverness, Florida: the Clean Air Ride along the Withlacoochee Trail. Start in Inverness when you feel like it (there’s no mass start) anytime between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m.; the Withlacoochee Trail is 46 miles long – do as much or as little as you like and enjoy the numerous SAGs along the way!
Mountain Bike Trail Coming to Blue Springs
Blue Springs will have a new off-road trail, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Fund Raiser and Ride to Help Cure Diabetes
Put your wheels to work for a good cause – ride the Tour de Cure on March 6th in Lake Nona. On Saturday, February 26th, St. John’s Cycles will host a fund raiser for Tour de Cure! All proceeds from donations sold in its parking lot will go to the American Diabetes Association. Registration fees to ride in the Tour de Cure will be waived for riders who sign up on the day of the sale! St. Johns is giving all the credit to the Seminole Cyclists in an effort to exceed last year, when the Seminole Cyclists were the top fund raisers of the 2010 Tour de Cure. Between now and February 21, 2011, you can drop off items for donation at St. John’s Cycles for a big sale on Saturday, February 26th. All funds from selling your donations will go to the Tour de Cure under the Seminole Cyclists name. You can also purchase a raffle ticket! St. Johns Cycles is located at 1732 Rinehart Road in Sanford. Contact them at 407 323 1550!
JDRF Ride Round-UP
Come out to Muchos Tequila & Tacos, 101 S. Eola, Orlando, FL 32801 on Tuesday, February 15th from 6 – 8 pm for fun, fellowship and info about the Ride to Cure Diabetes. RSVP to Rebecca Annillo at 407-774-2166 or [email protected].
The Friends of the Legacy Trail, a Rails to Trail connecting Venice to Sarasota, is holding a recreational ride of 15/35/65 miles on April 3rd. Proceeds from this event are dedicated to improvements to the trail. The Tour de Parks info is now on the Friends of the Legacy Trail website. An entry form is available there. Online registration is also available on active.com – so click here. For more information, contact Steve Christian, Friends of the Legacy Trail, at 580-705-0011.
Tim Bustos is New FBA Director
Click here to learn more about Bustos, who starts work on March 7th, just in time for the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC on March 8th – 10th.
Bike Bus is rolling
Check it out; join the fun:
The Central Florida Bike Bus
Bike/Walk Central Florida is looking for motivated individuals to lead regular, organized group fitness walks. Contact Brad at [email protected] . We hope to offer walking events in the future. For now, here are our regularly scheduled events:
Recurring Rides
First Fridays: Take it to the streets bike ride to promote civility: 6 p.m. on the First Friday of each month. Check our Facebook Fan page for start locations.
UCF Bike Bus: Downtown Orlando to UCF, then UCF to Downtown Orlando. Follow bike bus in real time via GPS at http://commuteorlando.com/bikebus/
Ride With Steve: Beginner ride. Meet at Winter Garden Wheel Works in Downtown Winter Garden, 8 a.m., Saturdays. – Sponsored by Winter Garden Wheel Works .
Pancake Rides: St. Johns Cycles has re-started its Pancake Rides. You start from the shop at 1732 Rinehart Road in Sanford at 8:00 a.m. for the 60-mile option or from Valentine Park in Orange City for the 30-mile option and pedal to DeLeon Springs State Park to enjoy breakfast at the Old Sugarmill Restaurant – this is the place where hot griddles sit in the middle of the tables – you’re brought a pitcher of pancake batter and you make your own. You need to RSVP to [email protected]. Call 407 323 1550 for more information!
See our Calendar for other family rides:
www.bikewalkcentralflorida.org
S-Cargo farmers market rides featuring utility bikes and trailers
Ice Cream Socials: night rides through Downtown Orlando
Unless specifically designated as a trail ride, our rides take place on public streets. Headlights and red rear flashers are required for night rides. Helmets are encouraged, and are required for children under 16.
We observe all traffic laws and traffic signals.
Our rides are typically 10 to 15 miles, roundtrip, and average 10 miles an hour, a comfortable pace for most adults and teens. May be too fast for younger children and adults with health issues.
These rides are social in nature.
For longer, more aggressive group rides, subscribe to Hal Downing’s group ride newsletter by emailing [email protected]
If you have a social ride you would like us to help promote, please email me at the address below.
Brad
Brad Kuhn
Executive Director
[email protected] |
Transforming Central Florida into a Premier Biking and Walking Community! 
