Summer BBQ

Penny Poorman pulled her team of Paul Hausler & Communications Director Bill Sellin together again to serve up some burgers to BCI on Saturday, August 26, 2017. Extra help from Beth Sher, Hospitality Director Jane Schrenzel, Laurie Ostrow, and Alice Fascella kept the line moving & riders happy. We started the ride a bit later than last year - and Bill modified the routes to add a few miles to get the riders back AFTER the fire was ready & burgers were cooking and the timing worked out very well. President Mike Farrell helped with the clean up & loading & other than a few no shows who owe for burgers we prepped, we had enough for everyone who wanted one, serving 83!
Here are photos Communications Director Bill Sellin & Director at Large Alex Lim took:

(Lost & Found - Bill has one right hand Pearl Izumi gel black glove left behind at the gazebo!)

Farewell Cathy McCoy!

Sheet Cake is good!

Several BCI members gathered after the Saturday Club Ride on August 19th for a picnic & send off to Cathy McCoy; She is retiring and moving soon to Fernley outside of Reno; We hope she comes back to visit often as she will be missed!

2017 OC Bicycle Rally a Hit!

Coordinators Bob Fairfield & Monica McCarthy
along with BCI's Hospitality Director Jane Schrenzel & Membership Director Deby Six

 A cool & cloudy morning start to the Annual event, held this year in Heritage Park where ample parking and the large picnic area were a better fit for the crowd of cyclists rolling out in waves on the routes offered. In addition to the four leads pictured above, thanks to Ride Coordinator Jim Norman who modified all 4 routes for 2107 and Communications Director Bill Sellin who called out the ride starts and crowd control in the morning. Event details are still on our calendar,  and below is a collection of photos from the starts. 

Onyx Summit Challenge!

Photo Credit - Laura Emery

The BCI members who met in the early morning of June 10th had fabulous weather & enjoyed this challenge! (While those riding from Deerfield had drizzle!)
Photos prove it! 

Special thanks to sweep / support crew - President Mike Farrell and newest BCI member Laura Emery 

Our roving support team of Laura and Mike did a great job covering the route and making sure all the riders had water and treats along the way.  With 2300', 3800' and 6200' routes, the Onyx Challenge has something for every rider.  Plan on it again in 2018.  Training rides start in January!

Irvine is painting more Bike Lanes along side Right Turn Only Lanes

Posted by Bill Sellin

Every week it seems a few more Right Turn lanes are getting a new look: Irvine has been narrowing wide right turn only lanes and adding a segment of Bike Lane on the left. Just this Tuesday (May 30) Walnut was being restriped at the RTOL for the NB 261 & Jamboree. Much of Harvard & Alton have been done & Sand Canyon & Irvine Blvd are already marked up for changes... 

This modernization of Bike Lanes is approaching the current national standard for treating Bike Lanes that are crossed by right turn only lanes. The old design common in Irvine kept the bike lane 'trapped' along the gutter of the RTOL (Right Turn Only Lane) - usually dashed and served by a curbside green signal button to give the cyclist a green light.  The obvious problem here - and why they are no longer recommended - is that right turning traffic are in a direct conflict with strait riding bicycles... and it is illegal to go straight from a RTOL. Most of these trapped bike lanes have been pointed out to the City and have been ground off - but that means the Bike Lane vanishes somewhere before where every RTOL begins. There is an answer in modern design standards.

Road Cyclists know that it is legal, predictable and expected that when the Bike Lane is ending, it is time to merge into traffic & use the right most through lane.  As always, if the through lane is too narrow to allow a truck + 3 feet for you, you should ‘take the lane’ & safely claim it to avoid unsafe passing or side-by-side sharing by motorists.  Filtering up on the blind side of vehicles puts you at risk for motorists who may turn right from the through lane – without warning or blinker - so it is always best to get in line behind others already waiting at a signal or in line for a STOP. 

Edge Cyclists depend on staying as far right as possible - and still follow the gutter - baited by that green light button, and continue to be at risk of 'right hook' turns and violating the law by going straight from the RTOL.  If you are an edge rider, best & legal option is to get up on the corner & act like a pedestrian - cautiously (check for traffic, dismount & walk your bike to be clearly a pedestrian) using cross walk to go straight across the path of turning traffic.    
    
Untrained Cyclists are seen on every ride, moving to the left half of the RTOL then proceeding straight. This 'corks up' the traffic turning right from the RTOL - and is illegal to go straight from the RTOL. Some will straddle the lanes, filtering up on through traffic and making RTOL users wonder what to do...     

Now that the Bike Lane is being provided,  there is no doubt where we should be. The new segments being painted clarify where to be: and with the camera detection system - as long as you stop behind the limit line as you should,  you don't need to push that button on the curb.
If there is not enough room to narrow the RTOL lane & provide a Bike Lane, than you should see the RTOL being removed and the WIDE Bike Lane should be dashed and turning traffic should merge into our Bike Lane (in the last 200') to turn right.  

This is a big improvement - and almost meets the modern standards - but it only applies to Bike Lanes where a RTOL exist... If there is no right only turn lane, the Bike Lane should become dashed in the last 200' to remind riders that motorist are SUPPOSED to merge into the Bike lane to turn right, as the law requires turning right from the lane closest to the right edge - This is actually to protect cyclist from being 'right hooked' by over taking motorists turning across our path from the through lane. Merging, by law requires those turning motorists to signal, and move into our bike lane without impeding our movement - so they should merge in behind us if we are already there...
It is not required, but it is allowed, safer and a courtesy to turning traffic that we merge out of a Bike Lane & into the through travel lane to allow turning to our right. This also positions us to block right hooking turns by those who do not know to use the Bike Lane ( or may be confused by Irvine's continued use of the archaic and non-standard "BIKE ONLY" markings; That was how the first Bike Lanes were marked in 1971 but California has realized it is better to use BIKE LANE and acknowledge that vehicles will be safer when they use the right most lane by dashing the last 200').

So Irvine is not quite up to the modern standards - the federal MUTCD shows what California DOT sees as the standard treatment - we ride in these configurations often in Newport Beach: Note the dotted merge zone & R4-4 signs that alert motorists that they are crossing a Class II Bike Lane path of travel, and guide the cyclist to get out of the RTOL. They also do not dash the Bike Lane before the RTOL begins and often go a step farther by painting a buffer along the bike lane - discouraging motorists from entering the Bike Lane before the RTOL begins.  

An even more progressive standard is offered by the NACTO guide; and that is what we see now going in on Santa Ana streets and other "Bicycle Friendly" cities:

From the NACTO Urban Bikeways Design Guide
https://nacto.org/publication/urban-bikeway-design-guide/ 

Irvine's 'On Street Bike Trails' as they are called in the General Plan, are not perfect, and do not comply with California Class II Bike Lane standards - but they are getting better.
Irvine is getting closer to a modern standard with these new lanes and as traffic continues to increase, improved Bike Lanes can make it safer and less stressful for all road users. 

We may never get up to green paint, but we could at least get as good as Newport Beach. Learning how to properly use the road as cyclists makes all traffic safer and more efficient; You can learn a lot about bikeway design and help city traffic engineers (as well as OCTA & CalTrans) do a better job of providing consistent and predictable traffic management.  

Connect the Loop - June 10th

Another opportunity to volunteer: (if not already doing or helping the Onyx Challenge)

Dear BCI;

I have been asked to round up some of the cycling community to help volunteer and assist with putting on a public program on June 10th. The 66 mile OC Bike Loop is moving forward and the County of Orange partnering with the City of Anaheim and the City of Yorba Linda to promote this upcoming section in their area. 

More details on the actual event will be coming soon but the link to the event this event and others can be found here:

http://gohumansocal.org/Pages/Events/Go-Human-Events.aspx  

The event is scheduled to go from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm with positions available before, during and after the event. 

        Volunteers Needed

Friday (pre-event prep) 3-6pm  
4-6 people needed to help with pavement graphics and bike lane marking production

Saturday: Set-up 7-10am - 12 -15 needed

Event 1st shift:  11am - 1pm - 15 - 20 needed

Event 2nd shift::  1pm - 3pm - 15 - 20 needed

Clean-up: 3-5pm -  (Volunteers optional)

If you are able to help out, please follow this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScy2RwIUa_An_LD_frBZ3YXOg0W6W6QXkRpd3msGzyKod27ow/viewform?c=0&w=1  

I know you have a club of people that enjoy riding, so I hope you don't mind me reaching out to you to see if you would mind getting the word out. Since our club is mainly focused on mountain bike trails, I told them I would do what I could to bring members of the other clubs to help educate the public on what we enjoy doing so much.

Thank you in advance for being willing to help.

Steve Larson
President
SHARE Mountain Bike Club
http://sharemtb.com

BCI awarded "Most Supportive" again for 2nd year at The OC Boob Ride

BCI members were the largest club affiliated group enjoying the OC Boob Ride on April 22nd, securing the second year that BCI has been recognized as the Most Supportive!

The Boob Ride - MOST SUPPORTIVE AWARD 

Reports are coming in of a great & fun event, and our congratulations to Paul Self & team for putting the event ion, as well as our BCI members who participated, had a great time and supported the cause! See more on The Boob Ride here & put it on your calendar for the 2018 event! 

Volunteer Opportunity! Dana Point Grand Prix of Cycling

Hello Bicycle Club of Irvine,
This year we celebrate our 11th year of the Dana Point Grand Prix of Cycling!!
It will be a 1 day event with many family “sports” oriented activities.  Please “save the date”  SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2017

We are looking for volunteers to fill the times below. 
                Shift One :   6:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
                Shift Two:  10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
                Shift Three:  2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Races will begin at 7 a.m.; children’s races around noon; and ending the day with the Men’s Pro race at 4:30.
Please let us know if you would be able to volunteer your time at this fun community event! 
Thank you for your consideration!  You are MOST appreciated!!!

Sincerely,
Kendall Auksunas
Volunteer Coordinator Dana Point Grand Prix
runlegacyvolunteers@gmail.com

2017 LEXINGTON GRAND FüNDO

Bicycling, Bourbon & Bluegrass.
I love Lexington, KY and you will too.
Located in the heart of Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region, Lexington is internationally famous for it’s fine equine, bourbon and the beauty of its pastoral landscape.  For cyclist and hikers, that translates into miles of car-free country roads, some very tasty adult beverages and scenery that’s post-card perfect.
This event has been planned to be profit free.  I use these tours to make new friends & as a vehicle to fund charities whose good works help make the world a better place for all.

HIGHLIGHTS
·     Tour Dates: (Wed) September 6-13, 2017
·     Location: Beautiful Lexington, KY
·     Lodging: Four Points by Sheraton Lexington
·     Cost: Lodging $99 per night S/D
                Charity $50
                Jersey $50
                Registration $200
·     Meals Included: Hot breakfast buffet daily
·     A very “Happy Hour” every evening
·     Physical Difficulty: 3 cycling choices daily… easy to challenging
·     Charity Supported: Big Brothers*Big Sisters
·     Tour Jersey: The most beautiful & unique cycling jersey on the planet
·     Bicycle & luggage transfers are available
·     Complimentary LEX airport & hotel transfers
·     More at…  savvycyclingtours.com

That’s how we roll.
Experience the Savvy Cycling Tour difference.  Join us in beautiful Lexington, KY…
for the best Bicycling, Bourbon & Bluegrass you’ve never had.

Richard Sheff                                                    
Directeur Sportif                

Prez Sez Happy New Year!

Greetings BCI members.
First, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New year, with best wishes and hopes for many more enjoyable and safe bike rides in 2017. Looking back on this last year, I can say that it was a good year for BCI, with many good rides and activities. Riders at all levels were able to participate in rides that matched their abilities and I am happy that BCI was able to provide a venue that made that possible. BCI has always defined itself as a social biking club rather than a racing club, so it has always been somewhat of a challenge to satisfy as many levels and needs of riders as we have been able to, so to those of you who have contributed to that effort, both past and present, thank you from all of us.

We are once again at that time of the year when BCI Board Member elections are about to take place. In the last news alert the nominees for board positions were published and nominations closed 12/21/16. There was only one nomination for each position, so the board needs only to be formally voted on and duly elected, and that will happen at the Annual Meeting dinner on Jan 21. Hopefully as many of you as possible will be able to attend and participate. The 2 directors at large will be appointed by the incoming board at the first board meeting on Jan 25. Anyone interested in serving on the board in that capacity should advise one of the board members prior to that date.

This year 5 board members have decided to step down.  Penny Poorman - Vice President, Suzanne McCord - Hospitality, Norm Moyer - Ride Coordinator, Ann Reichling - Treasurer, and Monica McCarthy - Membership. All have done an outstanding job of coordinating and organizing so many activities. Penny, the general meetings, booking the rooms, getting speakers, scheduling board meetings, along with so many other activities during the year. Suzanne, supplying the food and nourishments at our meetings and social gatherings, and maintaining the inventories and sales of Club Jerseys,  Norm, rides posted online, route slips kept updated, insuring rides always available, the most crucial of responsibilities. Ann, everything pertaining to the monies, bill payments, insurance monitoring, income maintenance, a key responsibility. Monica,  maintaining membership lists and collection of membership dues, helping with remote rides, the Bike Rally, staying on top of so many things. To all of you, thanks so much for all of your efforts. You will all be missed.

Those who will be staying on are Bob McHenry, our secretary, who prepares the monthly minutes of the board meetings,  Marc Urias, our Statistician, who records and maintains member mileage, Bill Sellin, our communications director, and of course, our founder, who keeps everyone posted online with all club upcoming activities, Jim Norman, past Treasurer and Director at Large, a key contributor to our new web site, and consultant on insurance policies as well as many other issues, who will be stepping up as our as our next Ride Coordinator. And finally, yours truly, who will continue as President. Thanks for all you do. Glad you will still be with us.

As to the four new board members. Maya Zeigler, who is be our Vice President-elect is an old-timer in the club whom I have known for many years, and I look forward to working with her. Jane Schrenzel; Hospitality, Deby Six; Membership are not new to the club and although I have not gotten to know them well yet, come highly recommended. I met Steve Buescher at the general meeting in October when he volunteered to put his name in as treasurer and we accepted his nomination at that time. I am excited and looking forward to working with the incoming board in 2017.

It may seem like a lot to say about the board happenings, but then without the board there is no club. We show up on a given day to ride, with certain expectations. A route slip to choose from, an enjoyable ride, a fairly decent rest stop with coffee, a pit stop, some socializing, and then we're off. Of course being able to go online and check out upcoming rides and other events? And how about if you're one of the few that gets into an accident, and suddenly has a need for the insurance that's in place to cover your medical expenses. What does it take to keep all that in place? A tremendous amount of time and effort. It's' the board members who take care of all that, on their own time, with no remuneration except the good feeling of contributing to and being a part of BCI in a meaningful way. So a word of thanks now and then is a well appreciated token of respect and gratitude.

OK, on to another topic. On Saturday, January 21, the first "Bear" Training Ride will be held. Old-timers remember this as being a series of 10 bi-weekly Saturday rides dedicated to giving members the opportunity to work on and improve their hill climbing abilities. They will commence on the 21st and occur every two weeks afterwards. I created this series of rides way back in the early 90's and the purpose was twofold. First, it gave an excellent opportunity for those who wanted to participate in the OC Wheelmen's Ride Around the Bear, a 100 mile century ride which went from Redlands up to Big Bear Lake, then on up to Onyx Summit and down Rte 18 back to Redlands, a total of 9,500 ft of climb. Second, it was also for those who wanted simply to improve their hill climbing abilities. You could do them all, or some of them, or one or two, whatever your preference, or quit wherever on the ride you were if you felt you had enough.

The training rides became a tradition over the years. I was not able to do them in the least several years due to my back problems and resulting surgeries, and they became sort of a combination  of OC Wheelmen and BCI coordinated rides. This year I decided to put them on again in the old format but we have found recently that the Wheelmen will no longer be putting on that century. We will still put in the training rides but now we don't have a name for them. On the one hand the name Bear Training Rides has been a mainstay over time. One suggestion was to call it Hill Training Rides but somehow that's kind of flat. I hear the Wheelmen will make their Breathless Agony Ride their ride of the hills this year so another suggestion was to call it Breathless Training or Breathless Agony training. I think that name might discourage a good number of BCI riders, which defeats the purpose of the rides. I thought maybe I'd call it "Not Bear" training rides for no reason other than the humor of it. In any case, the rides, name or no name, will start Saturday, Jan 21, at 9 AM out of Deerfield. Don't look for me to keep up on the rides. If I do ride I'm so slow I'll be so far behind you won't see me anyway. I'll be sort of a sweep, and may have to shorten my own ride. So do your own pace, and as slow as you might be, don't try to keep up with the faster riders. That may work for a bit on flats but not on hills. Ride your own pace.

On another topic, we are talking about the possibility of designing a new club jersey. We are looking for a few volunteers who would be interested in participating in creating some options to present to the board. Alex Lim has offered to head up this group and Jim Norman will be the liaison between the group and the board. If you're interested in participating you can email Jim or Alex.

 On that note I'll close for now. I look forward to seeing you on a ride or at one of our meetings or social functions. Enjoy your rides and stay safe.

Mike Farrell
President  

Jersey Design Update?

We have had a few questions about a new jersey design.  Some would like to see a jersey that incorporates some brighter colors for traffic visibility and others think it is time to update our look and/or have a full BCI kit available.

The first step is to work out a basic design concept.  The club is looking for a few volunteers to help create some options to present to the board next year.   Alex Lim has graciously offered to head up this working group, and Jim Norman will be the liaison between the group and the board.

If you'd like to help, email Alex@bikeirvine.org or Jim@bikeirvine.org.

BCI Riders Ascend Park Avenue!

On September 11, 2016, the long (blue route) included the climb up Park Avenue in Laguna Beach, rated one of the Top 10 Cycling climbs in Southern California.   It's a tough hill to be sure!

Some of the riders resting at the top of Park Ave.                             Photo by Alex Lim

Riders who make the climb include Alex Lim, Tom Skelley, John Kneifl, Will and Bethany Gray Bruce Campbell, Jim Norman, Ray Alam, Eric Grondorf, Graham Collins, Dov Lazarus, Paul Magno and Tom Weddick.  

Photos Wanted!

Calling all BCI Photo Bugs!
We will have a slide show of photos at our Annual Meeting in January, compiled & composed by Kim Gerrard.
If you are quick to draw out your camera or smart phone, and have pictures of rides, events and fellow BCI members, please submit them for consideration.
If you only have 1 or 2, send them by email - full size - to photos@bikeirvine.org. 
Please choose only your best photos, and change the file name to include the event & date of the picture. 
If you have more than 2 good pictures, please don’t flood her in box: Kim has set up a dropbox to collect your images… send her an email at photos@bikeirvine.org requesting details on accessing the dropbox to upload your pictures directly & she will get you the dropbox instructions. 
If you don't have dropbox access, you can save your pictures directly into our Google Drive. Not on Google? You can open a free Google account to log in using your own current email address (you do NOT have to start a Gmail address)   

Nomination Committee Announced

President Mike Farrell has announced the he, Beth Sher, Ann Gayton & Jennifer Short will be serving as the Nominating Committee for gathering volunteers for the 2017 officers. He will participate as the required Board Member, but Beth will chair the process.

The By-Laws require the Nominating Committee to establish a slate of volunteers, and to collect statements of qualifications to post by December 21st. The Ballot will be posted by December 31st and all ballots will be counted at our Annual Meeting on January 21, 2017.

All 9 positions are open for nominees, and at this point we have at least one member for each 'slot'.

Volunteer nominees, including incumbents, are asked to submit a statement of qualifications to NomCom@BikeIrvine.org (not required)     

More details on the process & updates are posted at http://www.bikeirvine.org/elections

updated 11/23/16

BCI#44 Bruce Wendel; Rest in Peace

Bruce Wendel, BCI#22 joined in 1983 and was BCI's second president in 1984. He has recently been riding with his wife Karen on BCI rides.  We are stunned that he has passed just a month shy of his 62nd birthday. For those who knew Bruce' laughter & joyful personality, we share a bit of the loss to his wife, children and grandchildren.

Bruce sporting his original 1983 BCI Jersey for Jersey Day - still fit after 33 years...

Bruce enjoying a burger at the BBQ

Karen & Bruce at the Summer Solstice Tour susnset

Dear Family and Friends,

It is with deepest sympathy we inform you that Bruce Wendel entered life eternal on September 2, after suffering a stroke that affected his brain. He was surrounded by his wife, Karen, their five children, Bruce's mother, Ruth and family. Please keep them all in prayer.

A service to celebrate Bruce's life will be held on Monday September 12th at 7pm at Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church.  The address of the church is 26001 Muirlands Boulevard, Mission Viejo CA 92691.  A small reception will follow the service.

Bruce touched many people's lives.  We may not have everyone's email address.  Please feel free to forward this.

Thank you,
The Wendel Family