Gainesville Cycling Club
February 6, 2015 eNews

Annual Meeting

Saturday, March 7, 5 to 9 pm
Holy Faith Catholic Church Social Hall
747 NW 43rd St.

Watch the announcement in the Members Area for the caterer for this event (we guarantee it will be good food!).

We will provide soda pop, ice tea, wine, and beer.

Cost to attend the event is $10 per person for GCC members. This fee covers rent for the room, beverages, the meal, and incidentals. It is heavily subsidized by the club.

We prefer you pay here with PayPal. You can also mail in a check.

Cost for non-member guests is $25 and must be paid in advance. RSVP by email and we'll provide instructions for making the payment.

RSVP Deadline is Friday (March 6) at 3 pm.

Special Event: Concours d' Elegance
Bring your "special" bike to compete for an award in the Ninth Annual Concours d' Elegance. Members will vote for the winner in four categories:

Modern Road - must be a bike in current use by a member on club rides
Presentation - any beautiful bike
Antique - manufactured before 1990
Commuter - a bike used regularly for commuting to work, school, or for shopping - to be eligible, the bike must be ridden to the meeting!

Due to space limitations in the hall, limit one bike per member entered in the competition.

Dress is as casual as the weather permits. Seating is limited, so get your RSVP in soon.


City Commission Candidate Forum on Monday, February 9th

by Ally Gill

Gainesville Citizens for Active Transportation (GCAT) invite the public to attend its City Commission Candidate Forum on Transportation on Monday, Feb. 9th at 6:30 p.m. at the Santa Fe College CIED Building 530 W. University Avenue. on the corner of W. University Ave. and NW 6th St.

Two Gainesville City Commission seats are open, now that Commissioner Lauren Poe has decided not to run for re-election as At-Large Commissioner #1. The District 1 seat currently held by Yvonne Hinson-Rawls, who is seeking re-election, is also on the ballot.

GCAT's forum will focus on questions that pertain to the transportation needs of all citizens, including those who walk, ride the bus, and cycle. Our City Commission, including out Mayor, make important road design and other policy decisions that impact all of us. (Remember the proposed mandatory bike licenses? Remember N.W. 8th Avenue?)

Come on out, meet the candidates, and ask a few questions of your own.

Plenty of parking outside CIED and across the street near the old Central Florida Office Plus. It's also easily accessible by bike from the 6th St Trail.


Commuter Interest Group Get Together

Saturday, February 28, 2015, 6 pm

Chop Stix Bistro, Thornebrook Village NW 43rd St

Calling commuter cyclists, past, present and prospective! The GCC Commuters Group is reforming after a hiatus. If you are interested in talking about commuter cycling - bikes, street etiquette, aggressive drivers, traffic law, commuting routes, and other pertinent topics - the Commuters Group is for you. We will be a "safe space" for discussing commuting, eating good food, and otherwise "shooting the bull." The first meeting will be on 6 PM on Saturday February 28, 2015 at the Chop Stix Bristro. Come one, come all! If you have questions, contact Stephen Perz, Commuter Interest Group Captain.

RSVP in the Members Area.


Millhopper Crew Gathering

Sunday, March 1, 6 pm

The mission of the Millhopper Crew is to keep the bike lanes on Millhopper Road free of significant obstacles. To do this, we ride the road, removing stuff from the bike lanes as we go.

The more folks we have on the Crew, the better we can do this job, and the easier it is on everyone as we can spread out the work better.

Come on out and meet the Crew, and sign up for a shift!

We'll be serving dinner, so please RSVP so we'll know how much food to provide. Directions are on the RSVP page.


Ride To Remember 9

Saturday, March 14, 9 am
Boulware Springs

Get in your first century of the year (or shorter options from 1 to 75 miles) and support Al'z Place, a local charitable organization providing Alzheimer's Day Care.

See full info at the event web page.



GCC Brevet Series

Three rides remain in the Gainesville Brevet Series to qualify for 2015's Paris-Brest-Paris. The 300k is Feb 28, the 400k is Mar 28, and the 600k is Apr 16. See much more information on the Brevet web page.


4th Annual Heartbreaker Cycling Invitational Charity Ride

Sunday, March 1, 9 am
First Magnitude Brewery, 1220 Southeast Veitch Street, Gainesville

There is still time to sign up for this gravel road adventure.

See much more info at gravelcyclist.com


CyclingSavvy Dates Set

Dates for the first-ever CyclingSavvy class in Gainesville have been set! Friday, March 20th - Sunday, March 22nd. A classroom session will be held for all participants on 03/20 in the evening, with the outdoor bike handling/training and road ride with instructors on either Saturday or Sunday, on a first-come, first-served basis. Want to learn to be an empowered cyclist who can ride safely and confidently in traffic, to go everywhere you want to? There are a limited number of spaces available. If you'd like to join us, contact me. Cost is $75. Cost of riding anywhere: priceless!


Big Doin's Downtown

Greetings Friends
Our new nonprofit Freewheel Cycling has found a home at the old Gainesville Neon Signs Building located at 618 South Main Street in beautiful downtown GNV. This will house our Community Bike Collective, classroom, offices, and bike library. We were able to lease the building for 10 years securing a home in a most desirable location long after rising downtown rents would make that impossible. Even cooler is the sheer size of the building and lot it sits on. The main warehouse is over 10,000 sq ft. with two detached offices measuring another 1000 sq ft., and a total lot size close to 3 acres of cleared land big enough to build a small CrossCrit track, bike polo court, and event area right in downtown.

While this is incredibly exciting, it is also quite scary. This will be the biggest undertaking of our lives (both physically and financially) and for it to work out well and allow our budding nonprofit to bloom it is essential that we have a successful initial fundraising campaign, sublease a majority of the interior space as well as the two detached offices, and have a good core of volunteer help. Please put on your vision goggles and view this amazing property’s interior and let us know if you could see relocating your business or organization there or know someone that would. If you want to volunteer to help us fundraise, or get the property up and going, or join the Freewheel Cycling family, please get in touch. We’re going to need a lot of help in a lot of areas. If you have some extra cash, old bikes, tools, tool boxes, large fans or other items please consider making a tax deductible donation to the cause.

Please consider getting on board with this project and enhancing the resources for the Gainesville Cycling Community. With a lot of help now, Gainesville will have something very special for a long time to come.

Thanks
Ryan Aulton
Executive Director of Freewheel Cycling


Board Position Open

We have an opening on the Gainesville Cycling Club Board of Directors for the 2015 year.

The Member At Large does not have any assigned duties, and is limited to one year in that position. The purpose of the position is to expose a member to the operations of the Club so that they will be able to step in to another position at the next election.

We are also looking for a person to be the Group Captain of the Advocacy Committee. This is no longer a position of the Board, so you will not have a monthly obligation.

If you are interested in one of these positions, contact any Board member.


GCC Office Closed

The GCC Office will be closed Feb 9-21. While we may be able to answer some emails and process some payments, don't count on it. Mail will not be opened during this time.