(Note: the 2010 Summer Tour was cancelled due to a lack of compatible dates in the areas selected for the tour.) TCBC Is Back in the Touring Business In 1988, the Tri-City Bicycle Club was formed as a cycle touring club. Until 2003, the club had a tour every Summer, plus several 3-day weekend tours in the Spring and Fall. We're proud to announce that we will be getting back to our roots. Tour dates: July 31 through August 7. The route for this year's tour will be Canada's Sunshine Coast, starting in Vancouver. The route will take us across to Vancouver Island, up past Nanaimo to Comox, across the strait to Powell River, and back down the coast to Vancouver. Lodging will be in hotels. A bag/Sag wagon will be provided, so no tourist need carry anything but the usual stuff for a day's ride. The route will encompass about 300 total miles. The projected cost is in the $800-1000 range per rider. If you are interested in joining this tour, please respond to the club's general email address. The tour leaders are Ed & Kathleen Nordquist and Dave & Sue Gerkensmeyer. Further details and a closer cost estimate, plus a schedule for deposits, will be announced soon. [archived 6-29-10]

Hill Climbing Preparation from The Bicycle Paper Russell Cree, a Portland cycling specialist at Upper Eschelon Fitness, offers some suggestions for hill climbing preparation and technique in this article from the 2010 NW Tour Guide. [Archived 6-18-10]

Propose Your Own Rides Don't like what's currently offered in the Ride Calendar? Use either of these forms to send a ride proposal to the Ride Coordinator. Word (form-fillable) or PDF (mail-in). [Archived 6-18-10]

2010 Northwest Tour Guide from The Bicycle Paper In conjunction with the Seattle Bike Expo is the annual release of the 2010 Northwest Tour Guide offering dates and information for cyclists in our region. [note: This is a 28Mb file.) [Archived 5-3-10]

RAAM Rider Needs Crew The Club received this from Ross Muecke: I am a Kennewick resident who will be racing in the men's solo division of Race Across AMerica. I am in fairly desperate need of one more crew member for my attempt. Ross [Archived 5-3-10]

Get your ride ready (from the Seattle Times) It’s time to dust the cobwebs off of your bike and get it back on the road. But first, you’ll need to give your bike a thorough once-over to ensure that it’s safe and ready to ride. Lots of good info on a single page. [Archived 5-3-10]

Keep Your Bike Safe and Efficient Here are two maintenance resources for keeping your bike safe and working properly. One is from Edmund Burke at Active.Com and the 2nd is from Lennard Zinn at Velonews. Bike Maintenance Checklist 5 Quick Tips to Keep Your Bike Running Its Best [Archived 3-9-10]

A LONG WAY TO GO (reprinted from BikeBits) [Adventure Cycling Association] Art director Greg Siple recently reminded Bike Bits about a group that visited Adventure Cycling headquarters this past summer. "They were doing a supported fundraiser ride for MS on the TransAm Trail," Greg said. "There were twelve riders in the group; one of them, Bret Taylor, mounted a camera on his handlebars and set it to take a picture about every five miles. He strung all the photos of the trail together and added lively music." Consequently, by clicking on the following link, you can take a virtual, six-minute-and-eighteen-second tour of the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. Note the notable absence of car traffic on so much of the route. Beautiful! How did we ever manage to find roads like that? Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx9ju-iiPDA  [archived 3-8-10]

More Winter Training Tips Setting Up An indoor Training Area from Active.Com/Cycling: There are a lot of options for cyclists who want to build fitness during the winter months. Here's how to set up an indoor training area, so that it's ready to go when the weather turns nasty. Strength, Power, & Speed Training On A Stationary Bike from Active.Com/Cycling: For many athletes, staying on top of their training while traveling is one of the biggest challenges. While running and even swimming are relatively easy on the road, cycling presents the greatest challenge. [archived 3-5-10]

TCBC's next regular membership meeting is Thursday, January 28, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting location is Roundtable Pizza on Leslie Rd in south Richland. The Board meeting is at 6:00 pm and members are also welcome.  Topics include: Club officers for 2010 - nominations may be taken from the floor. Nominees are:     President - Rob Witcraft     Vice-President - Ed Nordquist     Secretary - Bobbi Garrison     Treasurer - John Ittner Bicycling Community News & Updates Club rides: base list, proposal form, leaders Family ride series Club Tour Planning Misc. [Archived 1-29-10]

Are you still riding or trying to figure out how to keep riding this winter? Here are three articles from the Active.com archives about riding in cold weather. (thanks to Rob Witcraft for researching this subject.) Be Prepared for the Elements During Winter Riding Tips to Stay Warm on the Bike Cold Weather Riding

Try, Try Again The City of Richland was notified in early October that the League of American Bicyclists has decided not to award Bicycle Friendly Community status at this time. The BFC Committee (George Kyriazis, Carl Berkowitz, and John Ittner) will meet with Parks & Recreation Project Manager Phil Pinard in November to review the results and plan the improvements needed to improve the City's chances in the next submittal. [archived 1-15-10]