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 BULLETIN:
January 3, 2007

Happy New Year Recyclers!

Hope this bulletin finds you all in good health and spirits.

This last year, in my humble opinion, was a smashing success for the Recyclers' Bicycle Club. To begin with, the club's membership grew significantly over this last year with the addition of some great new people. Greta Larson, the Ziegler's (Michael and Carole), Frank Fernandez, George Olmstead, Carol Sawaya, just to mention a few (apologies to those or you not mentioned, as I came on board rather late in the year myself, and I'm sure have missed a number of you folks). In any case, it's great riding with you all!

In addition to the new Recycler riders, arguably, the real milestone this last year was the development of our web site, which was created (and is currently maintained) by our very own Neil Schneider. Neil has done a terrific job of furthering our cause and keeping folks informed as to up and coming rides, posting Greta's (and other's) photos, and just generally carrying the Recyclers' message of safe and fun riding. Neil, a number of riders have commented on the web site and its utility. Thanks again for all your hard work!!!

Also during this last year, we have seen an increase in the number and diversity of different Recycler bike routes. In large part, we're indebted to Marty Weiss for the diversity of these routes, but a number of you have contributed in this regard. But, without question, we're indebted to Marty for our Annie Oakley's Restaurant experience (the restaurant, I understand, has since gone belly up...Guess they ran out of muffins!!!)

In general, we're getting quite a diverse number of rides, allowing us to really mix things up in terms of difficulty and scenery. From my perspective, however, the best thing about this last year is the tried and true. You folks! It really has been fun for me personally to have met you all. We represent a diverse group of people to say the least! Developing ties and friendships with you all has been a pleasure for me, and I trust I'm not the only one who feels this way. My guess is, although he'll never admit it, that even Dave Nunez, one of the original four, feels this way too (hah, hah)!!! The camaraderie and carrying for one another on our rides is infectious and is one of the truly great aspects of our club. The rides have been a blast. The coffee breaks, superb. So, for 2007, let's be resolved to making our rides even more fun, and keeping to our general principals of safe and fun (conversational speed) riding.

Last Few Weeks

Well folks, it's been a while, and many rides, since our last bulletin so I won't go into gory detail about all the rides. Suffice it to say, the rides have been delightful. Here's a brief overview. On Sunday, Dec 10th, we did the Solana Train Station to Oceanside Ride. There was quite a head wind going north for this one, so the ride was a bit more challenging than normal.

The only other thing of note was that about half way up, Greta realized that she left her car unlocked with her wallet in plain view, so she and yours truly (Paul Shragg) rode back to lock her car. We then headed back up north to meet the group, who were on their way back down by then. Greta and I discussed the possibility that the group had probably picked us up a muffin, or something of that sort, knowing that we had to ride the extra miles and probably didn't have time to stop for coffee, muffins and a chat, but the optimistic one in our twosome (guess who that was) was disappointed when Brian Thornburg informed us that he didn't want to bring a muffin down in his fanny pack for fear it might get squashed. Yeah, but what about the muffin, Brian? Sorry you were disappointed Greta, but I told you!!!

The following Sunday was a rainout. The scheduled ride was Rancho San Diego to Alpine Ride. Three of us (Paul Shragg, Greta Larson and Marty Weiss) showed up at Dave Buergey's house for this one, but it was just too wet. We appreciate your hospitality Dave, and apologize for waking your entire family up. We do, however, look forward to you leading us on this ride in the near future, when the weather warms up a bit.

The next ride, the Christmas Eve Morning ride was a blast. A number of us dawned Antlers, Santa Hats, and the like for this one. This was the scheduled Solana Beach Train Station to Oceanside ride with a Sorrento Valley loop added. A few of us met (four to be exact, Ed Michelson, Paul Shragg, Neil Schneider and William Riggs) at 7:15 AM for a 7:30 roll out from the Sorrento Valley Train Station, where we headed north to meet the other Recyclers who met at 8:00 AM at the Solana Beach Train Station. This ride was very well attended, with about 15 riders in all. It was a beautiful day once it warmed up a bit. Maybe the most notable aspect of this ride again includes the name Greta Larson. Unfortunately, Greta thought the directions said HWY 15 rather than HWY I-5 so she was late for the Sorrento Valley departure and was unfortunate (NOT!!!) enough to have missed the early morning chill at the Sorrento Valley Train Station. She did, however, meet us at the Solana Beach Station. She was especially happy to see me (oops!!!See below!!!). Apparently, she and my wife, Diane, however, got along famously, as not only was I ambiguous as to the directions, but I left my cell phone at home that day (on the night stand right next to Diane), which Greta tried a number of times, along with Dennis Webb. Oh well, Diane wanted to get up early in any case (At least I think so...). Below are a few pictures from that ride.

Finally, The New Year's Eve Morning Ride (The Tour De Campus) was a smashing end to a great year. This ride was very well attended (maybe the best attended ride of the year). The group was great, the weather delightful, the surf was up and Ziegler Split. Yeah, that's right. Michael Ziegler made it about as far as Wind `N Sea, saw the surf and immediately let us know that he was leaving the group (for the day only, of course), to conserve energy so he could go surfing. The rest of us made it into OB where we stopped at our favorite OB haunt for coffee and Carbs. A truly fun ride for the end of the year. Some truly great views were had on this day. Check out the pictures below (courtesy of Greta, yet again!!!)

THIS WEEKS RIDE, other wise known as "De Ride" (Sunday, January 7th, 2007):

For this week's ride, scheduled for Sunday, January 7th, we're kicking off the new year with a brand new ride. This ride is brought to us by George Olmstead, who will be the ride master for this one. This ride will be referred to as the Poinsettia Lane Station to San Marcos Ride. The ride will include some familiar coast line as well as some miles out east and back (cities will include Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, and San Marcos). We will meet Sunday, Jan 7th at 8:00 AM for an 8:15 AM roll out, at the Poinsettia Train Station which is just down from Hoehn Porsche, Carlsbad at 6800 Avenida Encinas, in Carlsbad. Hope to see you all then. The route can be viewed at RouteSlip.com.

Final Tid Bit:

Please don't forget to get in touch with Marty Weiss (martw@dslextreme.com), post haste, about arm warmers. Also, just for your information, there are many more pictures on our web site than we have in our Bulletins, so don't forget to check them out every now and again (with special thanks to Neil Schneider, of course) and to all the contributing photographers (Greta Larson, Phil Erdelsky, and Ed Michelson).

Finally, we'll let you all know when we get a definitive word on the new batch of Jerseys (expected soon), and look for us to post the next six or seven rides in our next Recycler Bulletin.