Bicycling

One last post from the February 1994 newsletter of the Aiken Bicycle Club. Like the Whence & Whither, the meeting minutes, are from the previous month. The meeting minutes are compiled by the Club Secretary. And like the ride reports, quite a bit of the time that position was held by Donna or I, so it was easy to add them to the newsletter. And even if the Secretary wasn’t one of us, I would always take their meeting minutes and Brian-ize them.

MEETING MINUTES:
New President Woody Huffines called January’s meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. at the home of Brian & Donna Bogardus. An astounding 23 members were present. The 24th member arrived fashionably late, mid-old business. The New-as-well Treasurer Donna Bogardus reported a new year balance in the Club’s account of $788.42. Alice Walker (who is not even the Old Secretary) was subbing for the New Secretary, Sherri Lott, who was absent so as to attend to her ailing “in-fink.” So he won’t feel left out, I’ll also mention the New Vice President Ed Leibfarth.

Old Business:
1) Chairperson Gene Luder reported that the Annual Aiken Bicycle Club Checking Account Audit Committee, or AABCCAAC, had found zero errors in the financial books of the club under Dennis Ducate’s talented treasurership. This report was approved by acclimation of those present.

2) The long anticipated Club jerseys are a reality. If you ordered one, they are at Cyclesport, and can be taken home for the sum of $28.

New Business:
1) President Woody Huffines gave the assembled (and to you too, now that you are reading this) their homework for the month. To wit, he would like everyone to think about participating in some worthwhile non-riding projects for the coming year. In other words, we should perhaps fulfill some of the items mentioned in Article II of the Club Bylaws besides just bicycling. A couple that he proposed, would be for us to turn some of our bank account and some solicited donations into bicycle helmets for local kids and the other would be to help in conjunction with the Aiken Department of Public Safety (ADPS) in a bicycle safety course for kids prior to school letting out for the summer. Bobby Harison suggested that maybe we could purchase a bicycle and donate it to the newly formed bike patrol of the ADPS. If you would like to help with any of these projects or have one of your own for consideration, please attend the next meeting to have your voice heard.

2) May 8th is closer than you think. It is not to early to start soliciting donations for our spring century. Rae Felix, Jaye Pearce and Gene Luder volunteered to take on the task. Last year we asked for $50 dollars and the sponsors got their logo on the T-shirt and mention before the beginning of the ride. Bobby Harison suggested that we accept smaller donations form proportionally smaller businesses. As of now when the sponsors are solicited, they will be told that the money is for century T-shirts, but that some of the proceeds might end up going towards other worthwhile cycling projects. Ed Leibfarth has spoken to the ham radio folks and they said they may be able to offer their support again this year, but could not guarantee it because of the Mother’s Day date. A new loop 4 it still an issue. A way to avoid a very busy and no shouldered Pine Log Road for the last 4 miles or so needs to be found. One suggestion was to turn right at the Exxon station after the first 3/4 of a mile and wind in the back way. Bill Young has an idea about a route that uses Hatchaway Bridge Road which he will try. Woody Proposed that the March/April ride leaders check out some new rides. Gene Luder mentioned that safety should be the #1 concern on a new loop, as cyclists are the most tired by then. Diane Gilden suggested that the Police, both city and county be made aware of the century. The President said he would see to it.

3) The winners of the Never Tires T-shirt Contest were presented with their well deserved Never Tires T-shirts. The shirts were yellow in color, decorated with the club logos and embellished with Never Tires T-shirt Contest Winner wording. Alice Walker was the Women’s Division winner with a total of 362 miles and Bill Young was the Men’s Division victor with 420 miles. Curiously enough it was Alice who named the contest and Bill who suggested the format. Bill suggested we keep the same format and Alice suggested (and the members present approved) the name be Sunday Wonder T-shirt Contest for this year. Will history repeat itself? Stay tuned…

4) Jaye Pearce would like for posted ride leaders to call a substitute if they can’t make it. Woody Huffines suggested that we have a backup ride leader assigned for a certain period of time. Somehow the discussion drifted into having 2 Sunday rides with one being more difficult for the people who have to work on Saturday. The miles for both rides would count as the same for the T-shirt contest. Maybe this would occur only once a month. Brian Bogardus tried to reel in the conversation with a suggestion that he could publish the ride leader’s phone number in the newsletter if that would help. Those present agreed to this. Then Doug Walker pointed out the solution to this was just as Jaye said, in the unwritten rules that govern bike club ride leaders everywhere, rule number one is if you can’t make it, find someone who can.

5) Ed Leibfarth pointed out that now that we are outfitted in the new club jerseys that bear our names we should ride in a more courteous manner. Bill Young interjected the point that there is a single file law in South Carolina and that we should always give way to cars in this respect.

6) Clint Johnson said that he would like to lead Sunday mountain bike rides and he wondered about mileage credit. This brought up the whole T-shirt thing, again. An official motion was made to keep the T-shirt Contest rules the same as last year and it was passed. So you dirty off road riders can ride all you want on Sundays, but you ain’t gettin’ no shirt!

7) Gene Luder then reported on the first meeting of the Palmetto Cycling Coalition. He had in his hand a copy of the opening speech made by Tom Dodds the South Carolina State Bicycle and Pedestrian coordinator, all 4 pages of it. Gene thoughtfully gave us the Reader’s Digest condensed version. In a 1989 article, the League of American Wheelmen ranked the states in their bicycle friendliness, and guess where we finished? That’s right, dead last with a score of 15 out of a possible 215. In the 4 years since that article, we have made great strides. If we were counting up the points today we would be at 92, a 400% increase. While though this is good we still have a long way to go. Hopefully the P.C.C. will help in achieving a higher mark in the future. He then gave an update on the figures for safety. Through mid November on S.C. roads, there have been 829 motor vehicle accidents in which a bicycle has been involved: 23 people have died, 22 of which were cyclists; 692 have been injured, of which 665 have been cyclists. Gene then gave a brief synopsis of the actual meeting. He said as soon as he gets a typed copy of the minutes that they would be available for anyone to look at.

There being no further business, the February ride schedule was penciled in and the leftovers were divvied up.

Every ride leader was supposed to submit a list of folks who were on the ride and give a brief description of anything interesting that happened to the newsletter editor/publisher. For a majority of the rides, either Donna or I or both of us were usually in the group thereby freeing the ride leader from those reports. This was another place to interject my personality into the newsletter.

WHENCE & WHITHER:
…Dec 31, Brian Bogardus led Donna Bogardus, Clint Johnson, Sherri Lott, Steve Nolan and Ohio branch member Bud Puskarich on one of the quicker Moonlight Levee Rides in club history. Everyone, except Bud, felt it was a little on the cold side, the temperature was around freezing. He said it was positively sub-tropical compared to the weather he left behind in the Buckeye state. In celebration of the evening, two roman candles (1 dud) and a large bottle rocket were launched back at the South Carolina side of the Savannah River.

…Jan 1, Bud Puskarich, Jay Rumsey, Jaye Pearce, ride leader and cookie bringer Doug Walker, Joey Hopkins and all three of the club’s two seaters, the Bogardi, Steve Nolan & Sherri Lott and Gene & Gloria Luder gathered for the traditional ride to Aiken State Park. Unfortunately, mid-gather, it started to rain. After waiting and waiting, hoping for a clear spot in the skies, it was decided that it wasn’t going to happen today. Donna Bogardus elicited from those who could, a promise to meet at the same time tomorrow and try again. Even though we did not ride, we still ate those delicious homemade Walker cookies. We might have been dumb to attempt to ride in the marginal weather in the first place, but we were not stupid.

…Jan 2, Seven of yesterday’s eleven, plus three different riders rode to Aiken State Park and back today under much better conditions. On arrival they had to settle for store bought cookies, some of which were so tasteless and unappetizing that an orphaned and nearly starved hunting dog (ol’ 293) refused to eat them. Gene & Gloria Luder, Diane Gilden and Bobby Harison went on the official Sunday Fun Ride and staked their early claim on 1994’s Sunday Wonder T-shirt with 10 big miles.

…Jan 8, The Bogardi and Jay Noonkester showed for the mountain bike ride today. They made a single, cold and slightly muddy loop of the Horn Creek Trail at Lick Fork Lake.

…Jan 9, “It was no summer progress. A cold coming they had of it, at this time of the year; just, the worst time of the year, to take a journey, and specially a long journey, in. The ways deep, the weather sharp, the days short, the sun farthest off in solstitio brumali, the very dead of Winter.” Bishop Lancelot Andrewes

…Jan 15, In weather that was at least ten degrees below the legal limit (so it really didn’t officially happen and I shouldn’t even be writing about it) one other rider showed up to join leader Gene Luder in a 20 mile ride, Jaye Pearce.

…Jan 16, “The parching air Burns frore, and cold performs th’ effect of fire.” John Milton

…Jan 22, Crystal clear blue skies and upper 40’s greeted the group today. Unfortunately today’s ride leader Woody Huffines had a dose of the flu and couldn’t come out and play. But before his voice totally gave out he deputized Doug Felix as substitute ride leader. Doug found the Bogardi, Jaye Pearce, Bill Young and Clint Webb eagerly awaiting him at Odell Weeks. With so little route preparation time and the posted distance being 25 miles, a century loop was in order, and #4 it was.

…Jan 23, On what started as a sunny ride Alice Walker lead husband Doug, Steve Nolan, Bill Young, Dennis Ducate, The Bogardi, Clint Johnson and all three of the Club’s Js (Noonkester, Pearce & Rumsey) out through Couchton and Montmorenci , then home. Three people showed up with handwriting samples, and Dennis had the early lead in the sloppiest contest until Steve showed up with a note that he either worked on all night or had Jeffrey forge for him two minutes before the ride.

For the January 23rd ride, the title and description I totally made up were: Handwriting Day Ride Please bring a hand written note to Alice Walker telling her why you would like to ride in today’s ride. Prizes will be awarded for the neatest and also the sloppiest handwriting.

I was the editor/publisher of the newsletter for the Aiken (South Carolina) Bicycle Club for most of the 90’s. The best part about it was creating the ride schedule because I kept the format my predecessor created, giving the rides names that referenced something that happened on that particular date. The club did a ride on both Saturday and Sunday. Ride leaders volunteered for the day and the the length of the ride at the monthly meeting of the previous month but I made up the ride title. Here is the ride schedule for February 1994…

Sat. Feb 5 – 8:00 AM
Track Kitchen Ride. The Cold Weather Rule is suspended for this 8:00 am ride. Don your warm woollies and cycle with Woody Huffines <642-7257> on this 1.5 miler to the Track Kitchen, a horsy Aiken institution, to put on the breakfast feedbag. (3 miles/E)

Sun Feb 6 – 1:00 PM
Longest Drive Ride. Donna Bogardus <642-0767> will lead this edition of the Sunday Fun Ride, 23 years after Alan Shepard hit the longest golf drive ever. It was also the longest drive to get to the course, 239,000 miles. (10-15 miles/E)

Sat Feb 12 – 1:00 PM
The Vanishing Red M&M’s Ride. Doug Walker <649-5929> will lead today’s ride on the 18th anniversary of the FDA’s banning of red dye #2 in food, drugs & cosmetics. (30-40 miles/M)

Sun Feb – 1:00 PM
Disavow Your Copernican Beliefs Ride. Ride along with Doug Felix <649-1780> as he retraces Galileo’s route into Rome to stand trial before the Inquisition in 1633 for his belief in the heliocentric theory of planetary movement. (10-15 miles/E)

Sat Feb 19 – 1:00 PM
Diathermy Machine Ride. Come ride with Bill Young <648-3898>, as he offers up his idea for a new loop 4 today. Hopefully, when finished, no one will need the services of this device first used 70 years ago on this date. (25 miles/M)

Sun Feb 20 – 10:00 AM
Bankruptcy Ride. Clint Johnson <649-4972> will lead a careful off-road ride so as not to duplicate Austria’s trick of going belly up back in 1811. Put your MTB on the car rack for the ride to a local trail. (10-12 miles/E-M)

Sun Feb 20 – 1:00 PM
First American in Orbit Ride. Join John Glenn lookalike ABC V.P. Ed Leibfarth <279-9161> on a fun ride that promises to be shorter than Friendship 7’s 4-hour & 56-minute flight in 1962, but no less exciting. (10-15 miles/E)

Fri Feb 25 – 6:15 PM
Moonlight Levee Ride. Brian Bogardus <642-0767> will lead this night trip along the Augusta Canal. Meet at Weeks @ 6:15 for the caravan-o’-cars over to, or meet at the Confederate Powder Works Chimney @ 7:00. (12 miles/E)

Sat Feb 26 – 12:00 Noon
National Currency Act Ride. Jaye Pearce <642-3856> leads her second ABC ride, 131 years after President Abraham Lincoln assured his place on the $5 note by signing this bill into law. (40 miles/M)

Sun Feb 27 -1:00 PM
Double Golden Ride. Come out and help Leslie Romano <649-6204> celebrate what she says, is her and husband Joe’s 100th wedding anniversary, by riding approximately 1/10 of a mile for every year of what, up until now, Joe thought was matrimonial bliss. (10-15 miles/E)