Magnet Sports & Recreational Groups open house

Peter Bejger attended the first (of a series of three) open houses at Magnet, the gay men’s health center and community space in the Castro yesterday. This was a last minute showing on the part of Different Spokes, and big thanks to Peter, who agreed to represent the club at the last minute. Peter contacted Jaime Guererro, who had also shared the information about this event and was attending with the San Francisco Hiking Club.

Peter reported that Jaime was very helpful in throwing together some print matter for display and distribution. The DSSF banner was also displayed at the event. Not terribly busy but some traffic and some nice networking with other sports clubs.

Thanks Peter & Jaime!

Photos courtesy of Bob Callori SF Track & Field Club

Evil Step Sisters

April 5th DSSF had our own metric century — the Evil Stepsisters timed to coincide with the Cinderella Classic, with Michael S, Joe H, Ann D, Wanderson, Jeff P and Erik L. It was a real pleasure to have
Marty C. join us. Marty said he hadn’t been on his bike in nearly a year. He’d been at a Battlestar Gallatica season-opener party the night before. He started talking to Michael. Got inspired and got up
at the crack of dawn game for taking on Mt. Tam.

The route is the Alpine Damn loop and we took the Fairfield first route. The group was small and stayed fairly close together. We had a pit stop at Ruilli Gran Cafe in Larkspur, where we picked up some food and another at Fairfax.

It was a great day for riding — sunny but pleasantly clear and cool.

Lunch at the dam was a tranquil as usual. Alpine Dam is such a peaceful place. Climb up Mt Tam — check. But the seven sisters were the real evil stepsisters on this ride. Big. Ugly and Hostile.

Little did we know that during this time Roger C and Will B were leading a later ride hoping to catch up to us. Apparently, they just missed us at the PanToll station but Schmuki was able to have a coffee with them when they met up a Peet’s.

Kick-Off General Membership meeting

Last night Different Spokes held the 2008 Kick-off Membership meeting at the new Sports Basement Potrero Hill, and what a great turn out! Over 30 members, several having just joined, and many returning members came out to meet the 2008 board and kick-off this new year of cycling and events for Different Spokes.

Highlights included:
* Stephanie Clarke, Ride Coordinator
She spoke to members about the need for rides. There is a growing library of routes available in the Yahoo! group Files section, both member developed and routes from various organized rides. She also mentioned a great way for first time ride leaders to jump in, ask a member or board member to help one co-leading a ride!
* William Bir-Event Coordinator
Will announced the club’s weekend trips and dates for the year. Back this year is the ever popular Russian River weekend, 7/25-27, with a ride to the River on Friday, various ride options on Saturday, and a club dinner being planned for Saturday night. The Amador County weekend returns with three days of riding in the Sierra foothills, staying at the Far Horizons 49er Village, 10/16-19.
* Lorri Lee Lown-Velo Girls
Our guest, USA Cycling Coach Elite, Lorri Lee Lown did a presentation and demonstration on bike fit, with yours truly as the guinea pig on the Computrainer. She went over the issues cause by an incorrect fit and spoke of technique and correct positioning and while we ran out of time, members had lots of question and issues. For more information on a bike fit session with Lorri, check out Velo Girls Coaching Services.

We closed the evening with a raffle and then all members hurried off to shop and take advantage of the 20% off beads for those attending, compliments of Wendy at the Sports Basement. I heard the check out line grew quite long, so we were glad to know that members did take advantage of the discount!

Special thanks to — Chris Contos for organizing the space with SB, Roger Chapman & Chris Contos for coordinating the pizza and beverages, Patrick Heryford for handling reception and the raffle, Lorri Lee Lown for her time and knowledge, Raymond Pelayo for photographing the event, and Sports Basement for providing the space.

Aaannnndddd they’re off!

Well, most of them anyway…

The first 10 days of March have passed and the DSSF Saddle Challenge participants are starting to rack up some serious mileage – collectively they have logged over 1,400 miles! Larry L’Italien leads the way with 263 miles ridden in 9 of the 10 days – just over 40% of his 650 mile goal. The President, Mr. Gaus, is catching up with 232 miles, and Jerome (the frenchman) is not far behind with 226 miles!

When we registered for the challenge, we set a mileage goal for the month. The highest percentage achieved to date (73%), as well as the most days ridden (10 for 10) goes to yours truly 😉

David Gaus currently has the most miles ridden in a single day: 101! I suspect this was the day of the Solvang Century. That record may be broken before the month is over though – there have been rumors of a couple of people doing a double century in the weeks ahead.

The weather has been beautiful so far this March – let’s hope it keeps up!

Happy riding everyone – hope to see you on the road soon!

Register now for the annual DSSF March Saddle Challenge!

Have you been slacking over the winter months? Has your bike been collecting dust in the garage? Are you looking for an excuse to get out and ride again? Well then you sound like a great candidate for the DSSF March Saddle Challenge!

This annual DSSF event lets you set a mileage goal for the month of March. We have set up a logging system on our website that allows you to enter your miles on a daily basis. The tracking system will tally your miles and let you know how close you’re getting to your goal. There are charts available that let you see how other participating members are doing as well.

To get started, you will need to create your login here (use “sc2008” for the password.)

Then on March 1st, just sign in on the same page and start logging your miles!

The Ron Wilmot Ride will not be happening this year, but DSSF is continuing with the tradition of supporting Project Inform in his name. Ron Wilmot was a DSSF member who founded the ride in 1995. He died of AIDS in 1997 and we would like to continue supporting this cause. When you sign up for the Saddle Challenge, you have the option of making a pledge on a per mile basis or as a fixed, lump-sum contribution. Again, note that this is optional; you may participate in the event without a donation.

This event has been enjoyed by members for several years now and, as is the case with most events, the more people that participate, the more fun it is! So whether your goal is 10, 100 or 1000 miles, we hope you will join us in the DSSF March Saddle Challenge!

– The DSSF Web Team

For questions, please contact Jerome at webmaster@dssf.org or Michael at webslave@dssf.org

Board Meeting Minutes

Date: Saturday, February 9, 2008

Time: Immediately following the Jersey Ride

Present: David Gaus, Chair, Will Bir, Roger Chapman, Chris Contos, Dave Glidden, Patrick Heryford,
Michael Schmucki, Jerome Thomere

1. Call to Order

David called the meeting to order at 3:40. Agenda was reviewed and no changes were made.

2. Public Comment

No members present for public comment.

3. Approval of Minutes

As this is the first meeting of this board, there were no Minutes to approve.

4. Board Reports

A. Treasurer: Roger reported that he had a transition meeting with Scott Steffens. There are two keys to the club’s Post Office box. Roger will keep one, and Michael will have the other and volunteered to check the box when Roger is away. The primary expense this time of year is the club’s annual renewal with the Insurance League of American Bicyclists. The premium is approximately $100 and is based on the number of members. Other annual memberships which will be renewed are San Francisco Bike Coalition and California Mountain Bike Association. Roger reported that the club has $3,200 in its credit union account and $800 in its Citibank account. Roger noted there is a $10 monthly fee for the Citibank account. He questioned why we have two accounts, particularly since one charges a service fee. He recommended closing the Citibank account and moving all money to the credit union account. Board unanimously accepted this action. Roger, Chris and Jerome will meet to clarify membership and PayPal instructions.

B. Membership: Chris reports there are currently 57 paid or pending members. Chris will send an email to those who have not renewed. Patrick suggested after the second email that the board divide the remaining non-renewals to see if a personal call will encourage them to renew, or give them an opportunity to discuss why they did not renew. Some work needs to be done to update the PDF that includes the membership card. The PDF still refers to the old eGroups distribution list, and the list of benefits should match benefits listed elsewhere (on dssf.org, in renewal correspondence, in the Member Guide, and other places where club benefits are listed). Chris will update the benefits list. At Pride and for the remainder of the year, memberships will be $10 for the rest of the year.

C. Web Content: Jerome will present suggestions at the next board meeting for combining main website with Yahoo! features. We need a list email function and a polling feature. It might make it easier for members to only have to go to the dssf.org website instead of also the Yahoo! Group site.

5. 2008 Board – Appointed Positions

Four positions are open: Ride Coordinator; Newsletter Editor; Women’s Outreach; and Men’s Outreach. Board discussed potential appointees who will be contacted to determine interest.

6. Newsletter

Board agreed that the newsletter should be a quarterly, four-page publication. We would like to distribute the newsletter to local bike shops as a way of promoting the club. Because of this, the newsletter should avoid “inside jokes” and have appropriate design and graphics to present the club in a positive view. Patrick suggested that a team be formed to help produce the newsletter. Patrick and Chris will oversee the newsletter until the team is formed.

7. Rides and Events Calendar

The calendar was discussed and final decisions were made on key events. David will finalize the calendar in the absence of a Ride Coordinator and post. All rides will be listed on the calendar, but it was decided to make a distinction between those rides actually organized by DSSF and those in which we are participating as a club. Rides used to be referred to as “club sponsored,” which was confusing to some people in that it implied DSSF was more involved, i.e., providing SAG support, making trip arrangements for members, rather than just as a team of riders. Rides will now be designated as either “DSSF Sponsored” or “DSSF Involved”.

Dave reported that the Team DSSF Fundraising Party for AIDS/LifeCycle is Sunday, April 13, 2008. We will continue to have a parade contingent and a booth at the San Francisco Pride festival. We should discuss having a presence at other Bay Area Pride celebrations. Project Inform is no longer organizing the Ron Wilmot Ride, but DSSF will continue to organize the March Saddle Challenge with donations going to Project Inform. Michael will handle the weekly Saddle Challenge reports.

8. Member Guide

David presented a draft of a new Member Guide which will provide helpful information for both new and renewing members. David will continue to work on the guide and all board members are encouraged to send him suggestions and ideas.

9. Website Updating Needed

Two pages need to be updated: Links and Discounts. Michael volunteered to check and update the Links page. We need to work on updating the Discounts page since there is a good deal of bad information there, such as bike shops that no longer exist and a few that have new addresses. There are also new bike shops in San Francisco that have never been solicited to be included in the DSSF discounts program. Jerome mentioned that the most traffic on dssf.org comes through the Discounts page as people are searching for bike shops and the follow a link to our site. So, even if a shop does not give a discount, we should include them on the page. Patrick recommended that perhaps the page could be divided into two, with shops that give discounts more prominently displayed at the top, and other bike shops listed below and less prominently.

10. Communications

A. Monthly Email Blasts: It was suggested that, as a way to further communicate with members, that we institute a monthly email blast, including a President’s Message and other information of interest to members. This would include more pressing information rather than the quarterly newsletter.

B. Annual Report: Patrick will be preparing an Annual Report at the end of the year. He shared a draft of the information that will be collected through the year.

11. Annual Awards

Patrick shared an idea for encouraging participation on rides: a set of annual awards given at the Holiday Party in December. The data for these awards will be collected from Ride Waivers, so it will be critical for ride leaders to return the waivers. Members will be told about these awards early in the year so that they can set a goal of winning one (or all!).

A. Most Road Rides Led
B. Most Mountain Bike Rides Led
C. Most Miles Logged on DSSF Rides
D. Highest Participation on DSSF Rides

12. Meeting Calendar

A. Board Meeting: David will let the board know about the next meeting in March or April.
B. General Membership Meeting: David, Will, Dave and Chris will work off-line on the General Membership Meeting.

13. Jerseys

A. Refunds: When the last jersey order was placed, the club eventually ordered extra jerseys, and as a result the price per jersey was reduced after members made payments. This means that some members are due a refund. Unfortunately, the refunds were not processed at the time the jerseys were received. In fact, so much time has passed that some people are no longer members. However, the board feels the refunds need to be given to the jersey owners with an apology for this not being handled sooner. Records show that two former board members already received their refunds. A total of $738 is owed ($27 per jersey). Roger will email those remaining members due a refund and ask them to confirm their mailing address so that he may send them a check. If they decline the refund or if Roger is unable to locate the jersey owner, the money will be applied to the club’s next jersey order.
B. Inventory: The club has some jerseys left in inventory. Some jerseys were never delivered to members who purchased them at the time of the last order. The jerseys are marked with these names. Michael will follow-up with these members (or former members in some cases) to deliver the jersey. If they no longer want the jersey it will be donated back to the club inventory. Chris will do an inventory on remaining jerseys and send an email to the club offering to sell them to members.
C. New Order: David has had conversations with Voler and will oversee our next order with Dave. If we have an order to Voler by March 17th we would have delivery by the end of April. Pricing: Short-sleeve jerseys: $99; Sleeveless jerseys and wind vests: $92; Long-sleeve jackets: $103. It was suggested that perhaps this time we only order short sleeve jerseys since those are the most popular garments.

14. Adjournment

David adjourned the meeting at 6:58.

By the Light of the Silvery Moon

Aaron reports on Tuesday’s By the Light of the Silvery Moon ride. He was joined by new member Thomas Outt, along with Bill (who was a Tuesday nite regular last summer) for a beautiful ride last night! The weather was stupendous with fresh clear air, no winds, calm waters and diaphanous views of glittering lights around the SF Bay. The city itself was just glimmering like the jewels of the Modonna!

Thanks Aaron!

February Jersey Ride

Saturday’s Jersey ride was quite the spectacular February day! Following up on January’s hazy and crisp Jersey ride, a clear morning and with temperatures in the 60’s it was a welcome break from the rains of the previous weekend.

Chris, Jerome, Michael, Will and myself led the ride out with members Wly, John, Larry, Aaron, Raymond and Cameron, the newest member having just joined the day before. We were joined by Harold, Pierre, Ely and Jeffrey as we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge shortly after 9am. At the bridge, we were joined by Dave, Roger and Jeremy.

It was a bit windier than I expected, but not horrible, as we crossed the bridge. On a gorgeous day like today, it didn’t matter. At the Conzelman parking lot, we met up with Stephanie and were soon joined by Nancy (who had to hurry by Sports Basement and get a new helmet.) This brought the rider count up to 20 riders!

Will and Harold headed on to do the longer Conzelman route, and the other riders had already headed on down to Sausalito. Jerome decided to also do Conzelman, and so Roger, Stephanie, Nancy and I headed after the others.

At Camino Alto, Jerome caught up with us and we caught up with the others at Sharks Deli in Tiburon at lunch. Most of the riders were done with lunch ahead of us and headed back. We said good bye to Aaron, who was returning to the City by ferry.

Thanks for coming out and riding with us!

Many Thanks to the Ride Leaders!

What a year for Different Spokes San Francisco! By estimates, we rode together as a club for nearly (if not over) 23,000 miles!

Special thanks go to Aaron, Jeremy, Will, Stephanie C, Stephanie V, Jerome, Chris T, Cory, David G3, Ken, Patrick, Alfred, Jen and Liz who posted and led or co-led more than one ride. Thanks as well to Chris and Anne for leading most of the Jersey Rides, our monthly ride around the Tiburon loop. And not to ignore members who led or co-led a single ride, thanks also go to Mark, Nancy, Jeff, Rico, Laura, Kim, Erik, Sharon, Russ, Coy, and Tim. And that does not include the DSSF supported organized rides we did as a group, such as Chico Wildflower, Wine Country, AIDS/LifeCycle, the Death Ride, Marin Century, or Konocti Challenge in 2007.

Jeremy took the Alpine Dam/Mt. Tam the “hard way” to new levels, leading this a dozen different times, under some rather amusing names too (I Hate My Sisters, Test of Strength, Dam Tam Fever, Vote for Pedro and Toe Fungi).

Will led 10 different rides and co-led another, starting in January with the Brief Tour of Napa, March with the Del Puerto Canyon and Napa Spring Forward century rides, the Firecracker 4400 and Lucky 7 Double Devil rides in July, three fabulous different rides for the Gold Rush weekend in Amador County and finishing the year with the HMB HWY 1 S ride from Half Moon Bay. He also co-led the Fall Social 3 Bears Loop with Stephanie C, and hosted the Holiday Party at his home.

And we had great representation from the women of the club too! Stephanie V led the East Bay BART to BART rides, Coyote Hills via the Alameda Creek Trail, Tiburon from the Golden Gate Bridge and co-led a Pleasanton Coffee Ride too. Stephanie C started the spring rides with the Marin One Bakery Loop, along with a Cinderella Warm-up training ride, co-led the Half Moon Bay-Gazos Creek-Canyon loop and the East Bay Parks & Reservoirs rides, showed off her new bike with the Shiny New Bike Ride in September, and finished the year with the GLS Tour of San Francisco (with Nancy) and continued the post-Thanksgiving ride series with the Turkey Burn/Marin One Bakery Ride (with David G3.)

Attempts were made to get the club out riding before or after work too (in addition to Aaron’s Tuesday After Work Ride, of course!) Liz started the morning work out by posting the Cap’n Crunch rides (the Conzelman loop) and Jen followed in early summer with the East Bay After Work Ride.

Kim lead the Fast & Flat work out in the East Bay, Chris & Anne led the Nicassio Loop the Easy Way, Laura led the Rosie the Riveter ride for the Fall Social and Sharon finished the year with her classic Mt. Hamilton in the Fall ride.

Different Spokes members ride mountain bikes also. Ken, who competes with Jeremy for the most amusing ride names, started the year with Un Cañon Muy Puro, an 80 mile challenging ride from Millbrae over Kings Mountain Road and down to the coast and back. Tim led the Mountain Bike Ride in Redwood Park before the Fall social (and who can forget his post for riders… “like I said, if it’s only me and I fall and no one is there to help me and I have to drag myself back to the road with only my left arm, that’s ok too!” And Coy ended the year with Anyone Want to Ride a Boy Scout? well attended by six riders in all!

The longest ride posted was the 120 mile Hell-Devil-Liver-Ham (in that order) Happy Ride, led by Ken in early April He followed that epic journey with the Girlie Men/Manly Girls (Arnold? Are you there…?) ride taking Amtrak to Sacramento and then bike 30+ miles along the Sacramento and American Rivers to downtown Folsom for lunch, then return.

And Cory returned to the club in spring with Morgan Territory Circumnavigation, Chilly Hilly, Mary Go Round and a Woodside, Tunitas Creek, San Gregorio, Old La Honda kicker before injury sidelined him for the summer. Not to be held back, he returned in the fall with the Easy Canada Roller, and the Woodside Fast and Flat rides.

And returning member Chris T. brought even more Peninsula rides to the club with the Palo Alto to Los Gatos, South Bay Mellow Metric, Loop Around the South Bay, Stanford Plus Loop, and Mountain View to Pulgas Water Temple rides. He also brought DSSF to the Central Valley for Fresno in the Autumn!

Another competitor for the longest ride, Mark Y led the Los Altos to Davenport Double Century training ride, getting ready for the Terrible Two.

And thanks to Jerome for leading the China Camp loop ride to the Club Picnic and for co-leading the Morgan Territories-Palomares loop. Thanks to Erik for the Tam Quickie, Rico for the San Pablo Bay Loop, Patrick for Patrick’s Birthday Ride, Alfred for the Pleasanton Coffee Ride, and Jeff for the Nicasio Reservoir loop.

So what will 2008 bring? It’s up to each and every one of us as members. The road and dirt track are just waiting for you to lead a group of happy and enthusiastic Different Spokers on a wonderful cycling adventure!

Let’s Ride!

January Jersey Ride

When I left Hollister at 6:15am headed for the City, I was a bit concerned about the 39 degree temperature I saw while on Highway 25. I was relieved to see that as I headed north, and the sun came up, that the temperature was finally approaching the 50’s. Shades of last January’s ride we did in the 40’s, which wasn’t all that bad, as I was dressed for it.

Dave, Michael, Patrick and I led the ride from Peets, joined by Larry, Wly, John, Nancy, and Les, along with Stuart, who had enjoyed one of Aaron’s Relaxing Rides in the past, and came out to give DSSF another whirl. At the bridge, we were joined by Don and Jerome bringing our number to an even dozen.

Nancy and Larry were doing the Conzleman longer loop, and she headed out first, missing the last minute group photo. They arrived in Tiburon together, having kept each other company, while the rest of us opted for the standard Tib loop.

Thanks for joining us!