After your first day of cycling, one dream is inevitable. A memory of motion lingers in the muscles of your legs, and round and round they seem to go. You ride through Dreamland on wonderful dream bicycles that change and grow. -- H.G. Wells, The Wheels of Chance
RECYCLERS's Half-Yearly BULLETIN: 2008, The First Half
2008: A Brief Half Year Retrospective
Greetings Recyclers and other bicycling enthusiasts. Well, we're half way into 2008, so it's time for our semi annual Recyclers' Bulletin update. It's really been a fun half year for the Recyclers' Bicycle Club. We've had a number of great rides and events. Some of the events we've hosted, and for others, we have simply been participants, like the ADA's "Tour de Cure" Ride, April 19th, where a good number of us participated, as well as "The Tour de Palm Springs" which was an absolute blast of a weekend where we had upwards of 10 of us Recyclers present. Some of the pictures from the "Tour de Palm Springs" are shown below, but, of course, as is the case with all our rides, the entire albums from all our rides can be viewed at http://sdrecyclers.org/gallery , thanks to our own Greta Larson, of course.
A picture of some of us Recyclers (Marty, Paul, Ruth, Greta, George, and Cindy) at the Spaghetti dinner the night before the ride.
Michael, Dennis, George and Carole along the route at one of many SAG Stops. The terrain and day were fabulous. A very well planned event.
Greta and Paul in route to completing the Century Ride (Took all day).
Needless to say, the "Tour de Palm Springs" event was really one fun weekend, and we're hoping to get more Recyclers out there next year, along with 8,000 of our closest bicycling friends (a huge event).
On the more manageable side, at our most recent Recyclers' sponsored special event, we were able to honor one of the original four Recyclers, Marty Weiss, on his 70th birthday. We honored Marty at a brunch hosted primarily by his wife, Ruth, along with a little help from their family and friends (say about 30 Recyclers). The brunch was delightful, and followed a great 70km ride created by the birthday celebrant himself. Here are some great pictures from the brunch and ride.
Above, the largest "Early Bird" group ever to show up for one of our rides convened at Marty's house for the start of this special day and ride. We later met up with the other Recyclers, making it one of the largest group rides we've had.
Again, a terrific time was had by all. Below are a few pictures of folks enjoying themselves at the brunch following the ride. To check them all out, simply click on the following URL (thanks to Greta Larson and Bill Sperling).
Rachel, Shawna, Ginny and Manual sharing a fun moment.
Bernie and Pat, Neil and Debbie in the foreground, Dave, Linda and Bob at table 2, and my eyes aren't good enough, but I'm pretty sure it's Marty, Ruth, Haven and Dennis at table 3.
One of the nicest moments was when we presented Marty with a special birthday gift created by Greta, signed by us all, expressing our appreciation, and best wishes, to Marty.
In any case, as Marty ponders the aging process and reflects on his good fortune, we too, as a club, might take a moment to appreciate how we've grown. What started out as the brainchild of Bob Groff, Da Wagon Master himself, along with his three buddies Marty Weiss, Don Fritgzes and Jerry Danshen, at their 40th and 45th high school reunions. It took them five years to go from concept to their first group ride, check out our history on the history page ) , has since morphed (from the original 4 + 2 (Dave Nunez and Harry Slayen) into the relatively large and fantastic conglomeration of truly diverse people and personalities we enjoy today. Held together by our mutual respect for one another, and our commonly shared affection for bicycling and the life style it engenders, we continue to put together some fantastic rides each and every weekend. This last half year has seen the continued development of established friendships as well as the development of many new ones. Let's keep the good times rolling. This club is as good as we make it, and, boy is it good. Thanks to all of us for bringing our smiles, warmth, biting humor, and generally good attitudes to all our events.
Upcoming Rides
In addition to our weekly email notifications, all upcoming Recyclers' rides can be viewed at This week's ride page. So check out the schedule.
New Feature
Folks, Neil has added a very nice feature to our web page, a Blog. This allows us all to post comments to the group (to be viewed by all who log onto our web site). Please ask or write Neil for details on how to log on to begin posting your comments.
Final Tidbits
Again, we want to acknowledge the work that both Neil Schneider and Greta Larson, in particular, continue to do on our behalf. The pictures and the web site are great. Thanks also to Paul Shragg for taking the time to write the Bulletins. Again, and most importantly, thanks to all you Recyclers who make this bicycle club the great fun that it is. Without exception, each and every week's ride is an enjoyable and fun experience. This really is a terrific club. The stories we share, the jokes we tell, the banter back and forth make each week's events something to look forward to. Folks, keep up the good work and continue to RIDE SAFE and have FUN!!!!. Be well friends, and Keep the Rubber Side Down.