[C4 Rides] Fall Ride Update

[Earnhardt, Sean]

I'll update other places as well (Facebook, Twiter, the web page) but wanted to put this out on the email list for anyone that may use this as their sole communication source.

With DST approaching on Sunday, the official Tuesday Train Ride and Thursday The Right Gear Shop rides are on hold until time changes back in the spring.  There is a group that wants to do night rides, when possible, and we are looking at keeping that to Tuesday nights starting at the Train Station in K-Town.  The start time will be a hair later to give those riding TO the ride a bit more time to add lights, batteries, and layers of clothing.  For tonight, we are looking at 6:15 to roll out (Once the group and attendees normalizes, this may change).  If you want to ride and get there early, do loops at the research center until time to roll out.  Also, if you want to participate, you are REQUIRED to have a strong front light (not just a "to-be-seen" light) and a rear blinking light, along with your helmet.  Most of us will run one or two lights on our bars and a third on our helmet.  These rides can be social and we'll probably ride 2 wide where possible, but we are not looking to go "slow" until the temperature won't allow us to go faster!  Tonight's route should be 30 miles and I'd expect a 17ish speed, but 16+ plus wouldn't be unreasonable.  Not looking for less, but not looking for 19 or 20 either.  We feel that, with the lights, blinkys, and group size, we may just be more visible than if we were riding in the daylight.   Anyone is welcome as long as you are good with these expectations.

As for Thursday, there is another steady group that will be riding mountain bikes at Rocky River Trail.  Again, we shoot for 6pm but this can sometimes go to 6:30 start as well, depending on traffic.  This ride is definitely social and there are many re-group spots.  The normal winter route at RR is around 9 miles I believe as we do not do the whole route.  Again, headlights and helmets are a must.  If you or someone you know would like to ride, just let us know or just show up on Thursday Nights.

To my knowledge, there isn't an agreed upon standing ride for Monday, Wednesday, or Friday in the winter but if one happens, we'll let you know via Twitter, Facebook, and the www.CentralCarolinaCycling.com web page.

Saturday still has a fast A paced Swag ride that usually roles before 8:00 am in Concord.  If you are interested, let us know.  At the moment, the SAMBO "keep it together" ride on Saturday is in a bit of flux.  If you'd be willing to commit to this ride and we can get a few folks on it each week, we can keep it going.  Otherwise, there may only be the SWAG option for Saturday and that is a full-drop ride that wouldn't be suitable for new-comers or slower folks unless they are confident and ok riding solo when dropped.  During the Winter, the mountain biking crew will be looking to ride on Saturday as well so you have 2 options.

Sunday also has an early "recovery" Swag ride before 8:00 am from Concord and rolling through Kannapolis (multiple spots to jump on!) as long as the temps are above 40 degrees.  Lastly, we are starting the Flowe ride back, officially, starting on 11/4 at 2 pm starting from Flowe Park near Central Cabarrus High School.  There's a strong group that likes to get up early and get 'er done and theres also a strong group that likes to sleep in and ride when it's warmer!  Unfortunately, there are only about 5 folks that seem to go EITHER of those ways.  As such, we'll be looking for that good solid core group of riders to make sure the Flowe doesn't go the way of the SAMBO.  It has been proven that you can ride the Sunday swag AND Flowe and still not be last... just sayin'!

Hope that clears everything up and I hope we continue to have a strong group and grow the club numbers and participation.  If you have comments or suggestions, as always, drop us a line and let us know.

Lastly, the MAIN way we have been communicating 2-way and real-time is using a group texting app called GroupMe.  You do not HAVE to have the app, but you have to be added to the group and the communication will look like texts.  If you are interested in being added to the roadies or MTB group (or both) respond with a name and a phone number.  You WILL have to at least respond once added or it'll drop you.  If you don't care about the real-time updates, then please continue to monitor Twitter (@C4Rides), Facebook Page (and group if you are a club member), and also the C4 web site above will have a copy of the Twitter feed.

Thanks,
Sean Earnhardt
C4 VP