Conference noted::bicycle

    Sounds good 2 me!

    
    Does anyone know what happened to the old DEC cycling club?
    Did it do well?  Why did it fizzle out?
    
    How many of you can we entice to come to rides of potential club-member
    such as Rod MacFadyen, Lanterne-Rouge Hemmings, Bat Buchanan, or
    myself?  :-)
    
    -john

     Hey Tom, I'm up for it (WMO Chapter).
    
      Chip

    	Some history:  Back before notes were as popular as today, there
    was a DEC Bike Club with a club T-shirt and E-Mail newsletter. We even
    had an occasional meeting, Tuesday rides from HLO, etc. Unfortunately,
    the club rested on the back of one person (thanks Kathy!). When she
    became less active, the club went into decline. Nobody willing to put
    in the time and effort that she did stepped forward.
    	With notes, I think a revived club would be less of a burden. There
    exists focci of activity now, like the ZKO rides and the LKG rides and
    others, that could be integrated into a great club. (I think it would
    be a mistake to try to alter these local activities, but better to
    build on them and add some larger, probably weekend, events that would
    expect to see more people, but require more travel. And some social
    activities too, like meetings and possibly weekend overnight trips.
    These require a lot of effort and organization [speaking from
    experience, but I'd like to help here] but really make the difference
    between a bunch of people who ride together on occasion, and a club.)
    	- Chris
    

    
    	Great idea.  First club ride could be the TFCE Digit ride
    (NH riders meet at ZKO, Mass riders at LKG???).  Next month
    we could work on doing something outside the N.E. area like
    John Ellis's Tarheel Century in Charlotte which has something
    for everyone(50-75-100 & 200).  Count me in.
    
    					_Jerry
    

    Yeah, I'll join.
    
    ed

    As a semi-regular in the LKG Bike Club (and a regular rider in the 
    Rt. 225 area), I'll join in. I'm interested in doing the TFCE, as well.
    
    I'll have to mention these activities at one of the upcoming LKG rides.
    I'm sure there'll be some joiners. 
    
    I'd sure enjoy meeting some new people. It'd be nice to associate some 
    faces with the the familiar names. Some day we might also meet some of
    the people with the more distant locales, too. 
    
    Russ

	We had I think 10 Deccies taking part in the Sophia Games bike race, and
4/5 of us meet fairly regularly.  I'm willing to contribute to any newsletters
and welcome any fellow sufferers who make it with or without bike to VBO.....

	There is no such thing as a close season down here, so it doesn't
matter when you come !!  (Although I did wear track bottoms in January.)

    
    Add my name to the list.
    
    Sounds like a great idea!
    

    You can add my name to that list. I would like to see putting on a USCF
    race as a fund raiser. Plus in that race you can have one race group
    just for DEC employes. I work in ENO. It is a little to far to go for
    week day rides. But I could make weeken rides.
    
    
    Good-Idea
    Mike

>>                             -< Europe included?? >-

Yes, The biggest reason for organizing; this will allow us to compete or ride
in events that are corporate events with the DECjersey on. Right now we are
sort of doing this in an underground manner. If we organize then we'll be legit
and *maybe* get some support from DEC.

Tom

       

    
    Yes, that means if we have a big enough showing for Mr. Hemmings rides,
    we could ride as a club and participate in the pointage!
    
    To do this, we have to be official (and have official-looking
    registration cards), and it would also help to master some helpful
    phrases such as, "Sacre bleu, c'est dur, non?"
    
    -john

	Add me to the list, please.  I'm hoping to get more into biking, 
	and I think club activities and rides would help motivate me.
	I'm at NUO (Nashua), so I might want to take part in the ZK 
	rides -- depending on how far and fast they go, of course!


	Sue

>>IDEFIX::HEMMINGS "Lanterne Rouge"                     6 lines  24-AUG-1990 02:54
>>	There is no such thing as a close season down here, so it doesn't
>>matter when you come !!  (Although I did wear track bottoms in January.)
    
    	Ok, I give up.....what's the US equivalent of
    track bottoms....lycra tights?  Track bottoms to
    me would be a bike without brakes :) :) :)
    
    				_Jerry

    Well,
    
    It can't hurt to put my name forward but I won't make many of the rides
    :-). Even so I can help greatly with phrases such as "track bottoms" !
    and like Mr Hemmings provide the occasional "view from across the
    pond".
    
    I can see it now the 1991 Digital Bike Vacation Around Ireland !
    
    Have fun ...John

	Sounds like fun, count me in.

Wild Bill

	
	You can sign up some awesome dudes (Artie, Bat, Pollard and 
myself) for a Northern Cal Chapter.  We have some excellent lunch 
rides in the winter.
	
	Later dudes and dudettes 
 

    For those of you who would like to participate in an organized ride,
    I will be leading a ride for the Seven Hills Wheelmen on Sunday
    Sept. 16. The ride is rated at C+, which means the primary moving
    average is about 12mph. Cue sheets will be provided for people to
    ride at their own pace. The ride is about 38 miles with some hills.
    There is a scheduled stop at 20 miles at Bolton Spring Farm for
    apple turnovers and hot apple cider or whatever they're selling.
    Since this is a C+ ride there will probably be 1 or 2 short stops
    for regouping. Most of the ride is on quiet back roads, although
    there are stretches on rt62 and rt117.
    
    Date: Sunday, Sept. 16
    Time: 9am
    Place: Digital Mt. Royal parking lot in Marlboro, MA(intersection
           of rt495 and rt20)    
    Directions: Take rt495 to rt20 west, exit. Go to first traffic light
                and make a u-turn. Parking lot will be on your right
                just after the Exxon station.

    Just show up wearing your Digital jersey. Everyone is welcome.
    
    Dick

	The cyclosportif competitions in France offer 'Inter-club Challenges' 
which are decided on the basis of 'number of club participants and the distance 
they have come'.  I had this idea that we could make up for our small numbers
by drafting in a couple from (say) the west coast of the US, and clean up.  The 
crafty French however have thought of this and categorised it so the maximum 
counting distance is 700 km, meaning that some-one from Toulouse counts the
same as another from Tucson.  Foiled again!!

	On another tack, I'm sure the club idea could be of use in helping us 
to help colleagues on visits so that they don't suffer too many withdrawal 
symptoms.  Provided you're not expecting a titanium "Super-Swifty", completely 
Campag SR equipped, I'm sure I could provide an average sized person with a 
likely machine.  (I have this special with 56 x 12 fixed, and the challenge is 
to the local bread-shop from my house - I'm not saying it's uphill but it's
3 km and bogey time is 15 minutes....   :^)......)

BTW, a track top is what goes over a track vest.
A track top + track bottoms = a track suit.
Then I thought - isn't a 'vest' in the US a tuxedo or something?  I've heard of 
well-dressed bikies and world champions looking the part, but this is crazy...

Ramble.... ramble...... ramble.........

    Tom,
    
    Sounds good to me.  
    
    I guess I would be in the "Western Mass + Enfield" Chapter.  Or is
    that the "Enfield + Western Mass" or the "Greater Springfield"
    chapter, or the "Westfield Enfield Springfield" chapter how about
    the "XXXfield" chapter or the ..........

    John

    	re. last: sounds like you're gonna be out in centerfield. You
    can play John Fogarty's album/song of the same name (my favorite is
    "Buffalo Girls"). 
    	Should we call the eastern Mass. area the infield? 
    
    	MLO = home
    	ZKO = 1st
    	LKG = 2nd
    	MRO = short
    	SHR = 3rd
    
    (sorry, today feels like it should be Friday. My brain is getting
    weird.) - Chris

Now if someone can hit me a fly-ball at VBO, I would be impressed.....

    
    Chris' idea was great! I'll be a shortstop.
    
    re: -1 VBO is a foul ball into the screen behind the plate.
    

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=g=-=-=-=-=-=

    DEC Bike Club II, hmmm?  Well, personally I think that having an
    informal bike club through the notes file is wonderful!  One of the big
    advantages, though, of an "official" club is financial.  Club discounts
    are great!  I forget now exactly how Employee Activities deals with
    clubs, but I think that for each $1 we raise through dues or whatever,
    they'll match us.  When the old bike club started, we didn't have any
    plans on what to spend the money on.  I suggested that we charge $5.00
    dues and give everybody back $10.00 at the end of the year.  But I
    don't think we could get away with that.
    
    I feel personally responsible for the demise of the old club.  I think
    I tried to do too much, and when it came time for me to stop, nobody
    else had the time or interest to do it.  If I had been a better
    delegator, it would have been easier to pass off one small portion of
    running a club rather than trying to dump most of it.
    
    I think that people who are eager to get their names on the "list" need
    to think about what's involved in running a club.  Employee Activities
    has certain requirements like putting together a budget, verifying
    expenses in order to get reimbursed, etc., I forget what else.  Besides
    their requirements, it involves things like keeping that "list" updated
    (no small feat considering how quickly things change at DEC), finding
    companies who'll give us club discounts, sending out membership cards,
    writing newsletters, organizing meetings, planning rides.  The list
    goes on and on.
    
    I'd like to see things stay pretty informal, with an occasional weekend
    ride advertised through the notes file, or maybe some sort of social
    activity during the winter so that we can get to meet each other.
    
    Sorry to ramble so much,
    Kathy

>    I feel personally responsible for the demise of the old club.  I think
>    I tried to do too much, and when it came time for me to stop, nobody
>    else had the time or interest to do it.  If I had been a better
>    delegator, it would have been easier to pass off one small portion of
>    running a club rather than trying to dump most of it.

I can appreciate your feelings about this.  I'm president of a camera club (non-
Digital) and have fallen into the trap of trying to do too much...and then feel-
ing pain when things don't work out.

                    ----------------------------------------

Would it be reasonable to concentrate a club around four, major, seasonal acti-
vities?  By that I mean, pick/create four events and focus all the "club" atten-
tion around making those succeed.  You could still do lots of informal things
which, if they don't work out, you don't care!  The informal things could keep
people busy...but the major events keep things "official."

For example,

FALL    - organized mountain biking weekends in regions where Digital has a
          significant population.

          For example, maybe there's something to be done in New England at the
          Mt. Snow area.  Perhaps similar areas exist elsewhere.

        - or organize a Digital Century day.

WINTER  - Hmmm

SPRING  - Weekend cycling event at your-favorite-place-in-your-region.  For
          example, in New England (OK, so I'm *from* New England) we could do
          something on Martha's Vinyard in early June.  Get a hundred Deccies to
          invade the island...WOW!

SUMMER  - Well, there are charity rides...we could have a organized Digital
          presence.  Maybe we could have a single, organized event (how about
          cycling in Hawaii? ...1000 Digital Cyclists tour Hawaiis volcanos.)

Anyway, the club could do up a monthly newsletter to keep folks posted on the
informal things that go on.  This could be as simple as summarizing the discus-
sions in this conference (assuming that not everyone who's a member of the club
would also *read* these replies.  Or it could be more.

The WORK would then be to:

1.  Identify what the "big" events are...and organize around them.
2.  Get someone(s) to do the newsletter.
3.  Set up the initial proposal to the corporation (following whatever "rules"
    there are to be followed).
4.  RIDING JERSEYS!!!

Dick

    re. .24   Kathy, you should be the LAST person to feel guilty. You
    were 'a tough act to follow', but that implies perfection, concern,
    willingness to 'do it right', etc, not excess.
      It is true that the problems of club officiating seem to usually be
    cause by a lack of delegation - one person tries to do too much. I hope
    that the less formal, more communicative, style of the notesfile can
    prevent that from happening in the future.
    	So, from all those who benifited from your many hours of work:
    Thanks, Kathy!      - Chris

re .25

Fall is Century time, at least from late August to mid October, after that you
might get me to go play in the dirt.

Winter is the time when you do all the maintenance on the bike that you've put
off all year because you would rather ride the bike than take it apart.  Of
course, in order to do this you need a place where you can make a bit of a mess.

Another winter event that I've heard of is roller riding contests.

Rich

    I love to ride my ATB/Mt bike in the winter.  What a blast!  No
    bugs, no bees, just cold knees!  :-)

    John

    We in Valbonne have been considering the idea of tackling the Comit�
    d'Enterprise about funding some of the activities, yes they do match
    contributions and I think you get other benefits.  As was said earlier,
    running a club properly is no simple matter and I personally have
    enough to do getting in the km anyway.
    
    In an informal way I think we could maintain a newsletter to interest
    everyone.  Several of us here are keen on the randonn�e events which
    are all over France and would be only to pleased to post the info and
    get the forms etc for any bikies who want to try it.
    
    We hosted our first successful 'bike-loan' yesterday to Dick Mollin - I
    think he had some shocks but said he would do it again so it must have
    been OK.  The offer is there again for bikies in the 5'8" to 5'11" and
    70 to 85 kg range, just send a mail......
    
    

    I want to thank Robin for his hospitality last week in Valbonne.
    Its nice to feel a real sense of community from people when you're
    visiting places far from home.
    
    Robin was nice enough to organize a ride with two other DECies
    and to lend me a bike. He then introduced me to the mountains of
    southern France. After we drove to a car park to meet the other
    riders we proceeded to ride downhill for about 5 miles just to make
    the climb a little more interesting. ( He told me it was a longer
    but more gradual incline and I believed him) When he showed me where
    we were going I almost fell over backwards to see that high. Actually,
    I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. The scenery was magnificent
    and the drivers extremely courteous. The climb was tough and I
    had to stop twice to catch my breadth. The view from the top was
    spectacular even though there was a slight mist. I think we climbed
    about 8 miles, but Robin probably knows the exact distances. The
    trip down was scarey in parts because of the speed it was posssible
    to build up on the narrow very curvey road without guardrails. When
    I got to the bottom my rims were hot from riding the brakes.
    
    If anyone will be visiting Valbonne, I strongly recommend that you
    take Robin up on his offer and bring a camera.
    
    Dick

    RE: 1714.18
    
    If you are planning on joining me for the ride this Sunday, please
    wear a helmet. The 7 Hills Wheelmen require all riders to wear helmets
    on all of their rides.
    
    Dick

re .30
Thanks for your note, Dick, you were very welcome, I half thought we might have
put you off!!

Details: The Gourdon route is 25 km, starting at about 300 metres, descending to
about 200 in 7 km, and then climbing to about 700 in 10 km.  For a gentle
evening ride it is fine and is much quieter than along the coast (but NO topless
sunbathers!!).

Come and see us...............

    ah, you people make me homesick. The climb to Gourdon used to be one of
    my favorites, often continuing another 500m to the col de l'ecre - a
    nice good climb in a wonderful scenary.
    
    Now I have relocated to Nashua, where early cold is starting to
    announce the end of the bicycle season - my pre-work ride is drawing to
    an end. And there are plenty of hills, all of them 20 meters high -
    just perfect to cut you rythm. If you want a real climb, take your
    car....
    
    
    Sighhhh
    
    JP

Another vote for the Col de l'Ecre - but going the other way !!

Coming from the top down to Pre-du-Lac has just got to be the best value - not
so steep that you have to hang on the levers, smooth with good bends and a view
second to none (provided you don't have vertigo).

I've been at the top at 11:40 and still made it home for lunch at midi !!!

    This Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day for a bike ride through
    Marlboro and surrounding towns. The temperature was cool, about
    50degrees F, for this time of year. However, it was clear, not windy
    and not humid. Sixteen people with a wide range of experience and
    ability showed up. About half were DEC people and half from the
    Seven Hills Wheelmen. Although the ride was advertised as C+, 11-12mph
    primary riding speed, I rode sweep and averaged 13.1mph for the
    37 mile ride. Stopping at Bolton Spring Farm for hot apple cider
    and apple dumplings was a real treat, especially on this cool day.
    Except for a stretch on rt62 and rt117 we rode on some really quiet
    back roads. This was the first time I led a ride and it was a unique
    experience to be on an organized ride and know where I was going.
    
    Dick

    This Sunday, April 7th, I will be leading another ride for the Seven
    Hills Wheelmen. Anyone is welcome to join us, as long as you wear
    a helmet(it's a requirement on all rides sponsored by the club).
    
    Since it will be the first ride of the season for many of us, me
    included, the pace will be leasurely for those who don't want to
    push too hard, too early. Also, the ride will be all downhill.
    
    Start time: 10am Sunday April 7
    Place: Shrewsbury Library parking lot. Intersection of Rt. 140 and
            West Main St. (The section of Rt. 140 between West Main
            St. and Rt. 290 was closed for construction. If you need
            directions, call ma at DTN 223-2506 or send mail to 
            Axis::Mollin or Dick Mollin @MLO)
    Length: 25 miles
    
    Dick

    I forgot to mention that there is a planned stop at the Grafton
    Flea Market. If you want to walk around for a few minutes, plan
    to bring a lock for your bike and some way to carry any purchases.
    
    Dick