BtCnJ tOUrs - the Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey

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14 BTCNJ AND THE BERGEN COUNTY BICYCLE TOUR By Ted Semegren Why Have Two Rallys? Over 60 BTCNJ’ers volunteered last year to help out at our Bergen County Bicycle Tour (BCBT). We hope that many of those volunteers, and many more new volunteers, will help support this year’s ride on Sunday, June 5th. But why does BTCNJ sponsor two rally events each year (BCBT and the Ramapo Rally)? Rallys Help Publicize the Club Attract New Members First, the BCBT is a great way to publicize our club. We get great publicity in local newspapers, bike stores and especially by word of mouth. Posters and flyers are widely distributed announcing the event. As a result, we get many “new” members to join the club after the event. Many are cyclists who have never ridden on the road before. We also get lots of family riders with kids as young as 5 years old. Establish Contacts in Local Government Second, since BCBT is co-sponsored by the Bergen County Executive, Kathleen Donovan, it enables us to highlight our club with local government officials. These contacts help get us involved with bike legislation and safety programs, and help us gain access to Bergen County parks, such as the Campgaw site for the August Ramapo Rally. Raise Money for Charity Finally, it is a vehicle for our club to give back to the community. Last year, when BTCNJ took over the overall running of the Bergen County Bicycle Tour, we decided to use the event to raise money for a charity. The charity, last year and again this year, is Adopt-a-Soldier Platoon. Their mission is to improve the morale of our troops. They do that by sending care cartons, engaging in special projects, visiting our wounded warriors and doing what they can to support the military and their families. Last year, we generated almost $4000 from the BCBT and donated the entire amount. How Did the BCBT Get Started? About 7 years ago, we spoke with the head of the Bergen County Parks Department, Frank DeBari (then also the New Milford mayor) to learn if he was familiar with other bike events being sponsored in New Jersey. We suggested that it would be great if people in Bergen County could have a bicycle event to promote cycling and health. We were very glad to find him receptive. Shortly thereafter we began to put together the first BCBT. We used the Hackensack Court House area parking lot as the starting point. Mr. DeBari even put out road signs the first year on his motorcycle (we also painted a few arrows ourselves). The routes were designed by BTCNJ – essentially by Bill Mayser) with 4 routes of 40, 25, 12 and a family ride of 5 miles. The routes went through Hackensack, Bogota, Teaneck, New Milford and a few other towns. We had almost 150 riders the first year. After Five Years Almost 300 Riders A similar event with different Parks Department heads was held over the next four years and the date of the event was changed from early May to early June. The event continued to be based in Hackensack, though the 40 mile route was extended to 45 miles. Over the next few years, BTCNJ took more control of the event though the County was still very involved. By the fifth year of the event we had attracted close to 300 riders. The current BCBT event is very similar to the original tour. We continue to have a hot dog lunch and prizes are given out by the County Executive. The major change is that the starting point changed from Hackensack to Bergen Community College. In addition, in 2009, the County gave BTCNJ more roles in running the event and new routes were developed. BTCNJ Takes Control In late 2009, the County agreed to hand over the entire running of BCBT 2010 to our club. We were to do registration, set-up, cooking, rest stops and SAG. The County police however continued to help with safety in the 5 mile family ride. We also continued to design the routes, paint arrows and provide ride leaders. Last year we started to use BTCNJ ride leaders to marshal the longer rides. Don Schaller pitched in for the first time and became one of the three coordinators of the event. We also returned to our original cue sheets with the Cyclesport location in Park Ridge as our rest stop. Last year we were able to get over 40 ride marshals/leaders to lead rides. BTCNJ took over the cooking of the hot dogs and supplying the food. We raised the entry price to a still very reasonable $10 ($15 day of event). We set up the site (with the help of some support from Bergen Community College) and handled the registration, cooking, serving, clean-up and close-down. We had a number of SAG volunteers and Gordon Beattie again (as he had in prior BCBT events) set up a professional communications group to keep track of riders for first aid/bike pickups. The Bergen County Executive will again be a co-sponsor in 2011. Our other two co-sponsors include Bergen Community College and the NJ Bike and Walk Coalition (an independent politically active bike & walk organization). We will shortly include an Active.com sign-up link to the BTCNJ web site as well as a PO Box for mailing checks for the 2011 BCBT event. BCBT Co-coordinators Bill Mayser Don Schaller Ted Semegran BCBT Volunteers needed! If you can help out at the event, we need ride leaders/marshals for the 45, 25, 12 and 5 mile family ride. We also need some folks to run the SAG wagon. Furthermore, we need people to do the set-up, registration, food sourcing, cooking, serving, close-down as well as painting of arrows. Finally, we need two people to help out at the rest stop at Park Ridge Cyclesport location during the day of the event (rest stop for the 45 and 25 milers). Please e-mail ted_semegran@hotmail.com
15 Early Spring Update During March, the temperature warmed and most of the snow melted as we moved our clocks ahead for daylight savings time. With the worst of the winter behind us, our cold-weather riders came out for rides, happy to shed the booties and extra clothing layers. Many others logged their first few rides of the 2011 season. The Rides Committee met and discussed plans for the year. These include updating documentation to be made available on the website, scheduling new member rides, scheduling new leader workshops and coordinating rides and riding events. Ride Leaders are receiving reminders from the Ride Lieutenants to list rides. The spring rides schedule is filling nicely, however, there is always room for more rides -- traditional BTCNJ and new rides. I have approved several requests to "Become a Ride Leader" and would love to have many more of you join the ranks - please contact me if interested in leading or co-leading! Mark your calendars for the May 12th General meeting - our 2010 Leader Award presentation will take place at that time. As always, many thanks to those leaders who have listed and led rides early this year. Please keep them coming. The Rides Committee is looking forward to joining you on the road and trail! Captain’s Corner -Laura Van Riper, BTCNJ Rides Captain TERRAIN DESCRIPTIONS Hilly: Numerous long and steep climbs Moderately Hilly: Numerous climbs, with no “killer” hills Rolling: Some small hills, farmland ups and downs Flat: Minimal gear shifting required Responsibilities For Leaders Bring maps and/or cue sheets. Discourage riders with unsound bikes from joining the ride. Within the first few miles, urge riders who are unable to maintain the advertised pace to leave the ride. Adhere to the advertised speed of the ride. Advise riders exceeding your intended pace that they will be considered to be on their own. RIDE LEADERS MUST SUBMIT THEIR SIGN-IN SHEETS TO EARN RIDE LEADER POINTS. Responsibilities For Riders Riders must obey NJ motor vehicle laws. Bring tools: tire irons, pump, and spare tube. Bicycle must be in good working order. Don’t ride in a category that is too difficult for you. Advise leader if you are making an unscheduled stop or leaving the group. Rides will not go in the following conditions (unless otherwise noted in the rides description): rain, snow, wet or icy roads, or temperatures under 32°. Rides will leave 15 minutes after the published meeting time (unless otherwise noted.) For rides longer than 15 miles, bring snacks, for rides over 30 miles, bring lunch (unless a deli stop is indicated). Note: anyone under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian on all rides. Every rider is required to wear a helmet that meets CPSC Performance Standards on all club rides. Headphones are not permitted on rides. RIDE CATEGORIES Ride Categories Category Average Speed (mph) Description A 17+ For strong/experienced cyclists. Stops every 30+ miles. B* 15 - 16.9 Average speed on flats 17.0 - 18.0 mph. For Strong cyclists. Stops every 20 - 25 miles B 13 - 14.9 Average speed on flats 15.0 - 16.0 mph. For solid cyclists. Stops every 15 - 20 miles. C* 11 - 12.9 Average speed on flats 13.0 - 14.0 mph. For solid cyclists. Stops every 15 - 20 miles. C 9 - 10.9 Average speed on flats 11.0 - 12.0 mph. For average cyclists. Stops as needed. D Under 9 Average speed on flats 10.0 mph. For new, inexperienced cyclists. Frequent stops. F Varies For families, frequent stops, child friendly. A, B*, B Categories: No obligation to wait for stragglers if advertised pace is kept and written directions (cue sheets, maps) are issued. C*, C, D Categories: Group will wait for stragglers and assist those having mechanical difficulty. MTB rides: the slowest participant dictates ride pace; no rider is ever left behind. MTB - B MTB - C Challenging, commonly rocky, trail surfaces. Primarily single track with many and varied obstacles. Extended ascents/descents. Uneven trail surface with minimal obstacles and gradual, moderate climbing. Some single track. MTB - D Wide trails with a flat, obstruction-free riding surface and little change in elevation.
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BtCnJ tOUrs - the Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey

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