As we approach the middle of the year, I’d like to provide a few brief updates about what is going on at DSSF:

1) MEMBERSHIP: Thanks to all of you, paid membership in our club just reached 97 yesterday. With just 3 more to go to reach that magic 3-digit number, I’m thinking you must have some awesome cycling buddies who can help us hit the century mark before PRIDE. As an added incentive, membership dues have been reduced to half price ($10 single, $15 family) for the remainder of 2014. So now is a great time for your friends to join us on a trial basis if they have been considering it. Remember, all memberships expire on Dec 31 each year.

2) IS THERE LIFE AFTER ALC? Congratulations to all of our members who participated in ALC this year! You all did an amazing job and have a lot to be proud of. So many inspiring stories came out of that ride. So what’s next? Are you suffering from PALCLBD (Post ALC Love Bubble Disorder)? Do you still have an uncontrollable urge to hop on your bicycle and ride long distances with some of your favorite people on the planet? Do you need more pictures of yourself in spandex? Do you miss shouting out directions to all the cyclists around you: “On your left!”, “Stopping!”, “Rolling!”? Fortunately, DSSF is here to help. Check out the Ride Calendar on our Web page at least once per week and sign up for some of our rides. Bring your friends and a camera along. Or better yet, post your favorite ride and invite your friends to join you. It’s all just a few clicks away. And don’t forget to join us for the monthly Jersey Ride this Saturday (June 14th) and the second Saturday of every month.

3) JUNE BOARD MEETING: The next DSSF Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 18th at 6:30 pm. If there are items or issues you would like us to discuss, please send an email to: president@dssf.org OR talk to me about it at the Jersey Ride on June 14th.

4) EVENTS CALENDAR: The 2014 DSSF Special Events Calendar is now posted on our Web site at:

http://www.dssf.org/dssf_html/pdf_documents/events2014.pdf

5) PRIDE FESTIVAL, Sunday, June 29th: Once again, DSSF will have a booth at the Pride Festival to sign up new members and get people excited about riding. This is a great opportunity for outreach and to make DSSF known in the wider community. We need your help to make this happen! We’ll be looking for volunteers to work 2 hour shifts from 10am to 4 pm. More details to come.

6) CLUB PICNIC AND BIKE RIDE: The annual club picnic is scheduled for Saturday, July 26th. We’ll be choosing a location at the Board meeting on June 18th. Here is a brief description of some possibilities. Mileage refers to the shortest possible distance for a bike ride from the starting point to the picnic location and back. Of course, it would be possible to configure longer bike rides for any of these locations.

a) China Camp in Marin County – Tried and true. Beautiful location right next to the Bay. Privacy, quiet, and flush toilets. Probably best chance for ideal weather. Main drawback are the aggressive bees that go after the food. About 45 miles round trip from MacLaren Lodge in SF.

b) Samuel P Taylor Park in Marin County – Untested. Beautiful redwood forest. Maybe all shade. It can sometimes be cool and foggy. Don’t know about mosquitoes. About 65 miles round trip from MacLaren Lodge in SF.

c) Junipero Serra Park in San Mateo County – Untested. High up on the ridge of the Coastal Range with sweeping views of the Bay. Web site says, “Expect cold windy weather in summer.” About 35 miles round trip from MacLaren Lodge in SF.

d) Huddart Park in San Mateo County – Untested. Located close to the town of Woodside. Area extremely dry due to the drought. Possibility of no running water or flush toilets. Opportunity for bike ride along the crest of the coastal range. If you ride down to the Pacific coast, it’s likely to be cold and foggy. About 75 miles round trip from MacLaren Lodge in SF.

e) Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County – We tried this in 2011 and people seemed to like it. Multiple options for bike rides in the East Bay. It can be very hot here in July. More people would probably have to drive or take public transport to the start point. Pool party and ride will be in the East Bay in August. About 25 miles round trip from Orinda BART station.

All of these locations currently have at least 1 site available, but could fill up before we make a reservation. I have set up a poll where you can list your preferences and suggest other options as well. To have your opinion count, you’ll have to respond before Tues, June 17th. I am trying Survey Monkey for this poll so that all members can participate, even if they haven’t signed up for the DSSF Yahoo! Group. Just use the following link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XCJSLM8

7) OTHER ORGANIZATIONS – I often get emails from other organizations asking me to promote their events. Here are a few that you might be interested in:

a) Big Gay 10K (run and walk to fight AIDS): http://www.biggay10k.com/
b) JDC Bike-a-thon (fundraiser for Justice and Diversity Center): www.sfbar.org/bike
c) AIDS Walk San Francisco (fundraiser): http://www.aidswalk.net/sanfran

8) VACANT LEADERSHIP POSITIONS – Membership Coordinator, Events Coordinator, Female Outreach, and Male Outreach positions are all still vacant. Please consider volunteering for one of these positions.

Thanks for your time and your participation in DSSF.

Cycle Safely,
Sal
President, DSSF

It’s that time again, time for the Different Spokes Saddle Challenge!

Go to: http://www.dssf.org/dssf_html/sc/

To register, enter your first and last name and ask me for the password.

What is the Saddle Challenge?

It’s our annual event, during the month of March, where members can challenge each other (and themselves) to get out on your bike and ride.

You choose your own mileage goal for the month, whether it be 25 miles, 100 miles or 800 miles, it is your goal!

Then come back to the Saddle Challenge each day and log your mileage, watch your own progress and see how other members are doing too.

Every mile counts, so if you commute by bike, don’t forget to log that too!

Historically, the Saddle Challenge has also been a way for members to raise money for Project Inform where Ron Wilmot, a long time DSSF member started a fundraising ride. You can choose to pledge per mile, or as a lump sum, and this is entirely optional. No one is required to pledge money in order to participate. At the end of the month, we’ll remind members who have opted to participate in the pledge portion to send their checks via the DSSF PO Box (14711), so that all the pledges can be submitted to Project Inform on behalf of all Different Spokes members who pledged.

If you have any difficulties signing up or logging your entry, give me a holler at webmaster@dssf.org and I’ll give you a hand.

So, what’s your challenge? Sign up now!

On Sunday January 27 Different Spokes San Francisco will be celebrating 30 years of providing the LGBT community and its friends with fun, safe recreational cycling. The event will take place at Don Ramon’s Mexican Restaurante, 225 11^th Street, San Francisco starting at 5:30 p.m.

On Sunday January 27 Different Spokes San Francisco will be celebrating 30 years of providing the LGBT community and its friends with fun, safe recreational cycling. The event will take place at Don Ramon’s Mexican Restaurante, 225 11^th Street, San Francisco starting at 5:30 p.m.

Founded in 1982 Different Spokes was one of the “first wave” of sports organizations in the San Francisco gay community. We’ve managed to survive and thrive to reach—gasp!—middle age! If you are a current member of Different Spokes San Francisco, you should already have received an email invitation to attend. If you are a former member or just a “fellow traveler”, you can still join in the fun and celebration by also going to the Pingg invitation site—just go to the following URL—http://event.pingg.com/DSSF30Years—and sign in. Please do so no later than Wednesday January 23. If you want to attend and it’s after January 23 and you haven’t reserved, please contact David Gaus (president@dssf.org) and he’ll see what he can do.

The banquet will include a short (emphasis on the word short!) program with brief remarks about the club as well as recognizing those individuals who led rides in 2012, as volunteer rides are the life blood of the club. The dinner will be buffet style and there will be vegetarian options. Water and soda are included. The cost is $30 per person (including tax and tip) and you can pay at the door with cash or with a check made out to Different Spokes. Or, if you prefer to prepay, you can remit via PayPal to dg@dgolds.com; be sure to mark the payment as a “gift”. Alcoholic beverages will be available however we request that you order and pay for them directly at the bar.

See you there!

At this past Wednesday’s Different Spokes board meeting David Gaus announced that this is his last year as president of the club. It wasn’t a big surprise, as he’s been running the ship for five years now and that’s a long time by any standard. We’ve been extremely fortunate to have his good nature, hard work, and leadership for this long and it’s certainly made being a fellow board member an easier and pleasant task. Having the same president for an extended time has led to a very comfortable continuity in the direction of the club, how the club does business, and getting long term projects accomplished. In David’s tenure we’ve seen an increase in the membership of the club, a stronger connection built with ALC, a marked increase in the number of rides offered every month, and greater participation in our social events. Behind the scenes David has worked on a plethora of projects which keep the club humming but which don’t have a lot of flash or publicity such as handling the mountain of communication which comes to the club, uploading material to the website, and running meetings. While doing all that, he has continued to lead numerous rides, participated on other members’ rides, helped publish our newsletter, and staffed tables at events innumerable. The board gave him heartfelt kudos and appreciation for his vast contribution to the club.

The heart of the club is volunteerism and the willingness to give back to the whole organization. Without volunteers we would not have rides, as no one would lead them. Without volunteers we would not have a newsletter, a website, a blog, or any other means of communication or publicity. And, without volunteers we would have no one to maintain the club by managing its resources, arranging our social events, or have club jerseys, hats, or any other accessories! Without volunteers we would not have made it for 30 years, nor had the Bike-A-Thon or even our contribution to the AIDS LifeCycle events.

If you’ve enjoyed being a member of the club and would like to give something back, please consider becoming a club officer. In addition to the presidency we will need someone to be the club secretary, as that position was just currently vacated. In addition, in 2013 we will need volunteers to take over producing the club newsletter, the ChainLetter. Besides the karmic goodwill generated by giving something back to the club, in return you will have fabulous dining experiences all on the club’s dollar and have your email inbox flooded with messages from a host of secret admirers from throughout the world! Well, I am exaggerating a little bit: you’ll be able to eat pizza and Cokes at the board meetings and sidle up to that new face at the Jersey Ride and say, “Hey, I’m on the board. Wanna enjoy some perks of leadership?” Seriously, David is leaving some big shoes to fill (you know what they say about men with big feet…) but they are eminently fillable. All you have to do is step forward and say “Moi! Moi!”, roll up your sleeves, and then bask in the endless glory and love from your ever-appreciative fellow members.

In all seriousness, if you want to learn more about the responsibilities of the club officers, feel free to speak to any of them in person or by email. You can also download the list of official board member responsibilities at the Different Spokes Yahoo! group site in the Files section, entitled “Board Duties 2012-01-31.pdf”. When you are ready to join the leadership team, please contact the nominations committee. We will need nominations no later than December in order to have our usual election in January 2013.

It’s that time again, time for the Different Spokes Saddle Challenge!

Go to: http://www.dssf.org/dssf_html/sc/

To register, enter your first and last name and ask me for the password.

What is the Saddle Challenge?

It’s our annual event, during the month of March, where members can challenge each other (and themselves) to get out on your bike and ride.

You choose your own mileage goal for the month, whether it be 25 miles, 100 miles or 800 miles, it is your goal!

Then come back to the Saddle Challenge each day and log your mileage, watch your own progress and see how other members are doing too.

Every mile counts, so if you commute by bike, don’t forget to log that too!

Historically, the Saddle Challenge has also been a way for members to raise money for Project Inform where Ron Wilmot, a long time DSSF member started a fundraising ride. You can choose to pledge per mile, or as a lump sum, and this is entirely optional. No one is required to pledge money in order to participate. At the end of the month, we’ll remind members who have opted to participate in the pledge portion to send their checks via the DSSF PO Box (14711), so that all the pledges can be submitted to Project Inform on behalf of all Different Spokes members who pledged.

If you have any difficulties signing up or logging your entry, give me a holler at webmaster@dssf.org and I’ll give you a hand.

So, what’s your challenge? Sign up now!