Saturday, September 27, 2003

a few new pics up on the Medora page

including a close-up of Chris's hospital tag. Proof of medical involvement. We're still waiting for the president's x-rays...
new Medora pics

Thursday, September 25, 2003

will we ride oct. 11?

as per the last meeting, in which we almost determined that Oct. 11 would be a possible ride date, is anyone up for a day ride? the bit of the Trans-Canada Trail south of Morden was suggested.

please hit the comment button at the end of this post to respond. make sure you include your name at the top of the comment form.

Thursday, September 18, 2003

Another Bike Club event?

Fans of the bicycle,

Here's another event that I think is worthy of FGBC representation. CMU is once again organizing a bike rally in honour of world car free day. It's not an exclusive event. There are always a bunch of other riders that add on to the CMU train. Unger & Co., here's your chance to take back the street. It might not be as powerful a statement as shutting down Portage on a Sunday evening, but it's a start. Meet Monday Sept. 22 @ 6pm in the CMU parking lot for a liesurely group ride to the Leg.

Chris.

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

FGBC Minutes, to a certain extent...

[Well, faithful minute readers, these will not be in the most formal arrangement... I was too busy eating dogs to take adequate record. the secretary.]

Location: Juan Eppstein's back yard.

Likely present: Chris, Juan Eppstein, Dave U, Jonny G, Dr. K, Glenn B, James F, the president, Luke S, special guest Bram ?, and me, the secretary. [again, dogs happily took the place of accurate record keeping. apologies to anyone missed. please add a comment below if such an oversight has taken place.]

The Wolsely contingent put in a very appropriate showing, arriving early on bikes. Those of us flung further afield had to make do with other vehicles. Little time was wasted before the first agenda was tackled: dogs, and for many, the beverage of our namesake.

No sooner did the first round of dogs get consumed, than did business break onto the scene.
  1. Gender inclusiveness.
    • yes, it had apparently been on the mind of numerous members. There was a general, and gentle affirmation that it is good for "the boys" to get together now and again. After that moment had passed, it became a shade more testosterone driven, and numerous postures were struck. eg. "there's nothing stopping them from getting together," etc. etc., only to be outdone by, "last time I was in a bar, women were allowed".

    • as the FGBC is proud of being a self-governing collective, (no vote was taken, nor edict laid by leadership, (figurative or otherwise)), there is no official position, other than what might be perceived as testosterone inspired, peer pressurized consensus: "no f'in way." (excepting certain domestic, task related roles)

    • this discussion is likely not done... (like most of the bs we enjoy). the unspoken understanding, as precidented by the Medora event, will likely be that some mixed events will take place, but they will need to remain teetering on the edge of "Non FGBC Event Status". Sorry.

  2. Next event
    • recent casual conversations have led to the place where it seems right and good that another event be considered that actually included some bike riding.

    • recent experiences on the Trans-Canada Trail, south of Morden, as taken in by Davey U, point at this location as a strong candidate for a fall ride

    • Hal L, has suggested he might join us as a guide. not all were, well... keen on the implication that the FGBC was internally not able to guide themselves.
    • whether we have the wherewithal to actually come to agreement on a date remains to be seen

    • the strongest date option appears to be Saturday, October 11.

  3. Big event next summer
    • five day trip to Medora

    • the technical director asserted that this might be the best long ride within a day's drive

    • it's clear it will take us a full winter to process the effects of scheduling such an event

  4. Next meeting
    • no date determined.

    • Hummelt hockey should start around the beginning of October, so regular tuesday evening meetings will become possible.

Monday, September 15, 2003

Dog fest

Dog fest @ Juan Eppstein's, 9:00pm, Tuesday Sept 16.
BYO-everything. (don't forget chairs)
I expect there will be some minor agenda discussed. Most specifically if we can get another Manitoba chapter ride in, the details of the US chapter ride, thoughts around gender inclusion/exclusion and hopefully a revisit of the story of Chris' trip to the hospital during the Medora event.

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

first u.s. chapter event

jon neufeld and I biked about 60 k.m. this past weekend to and from an AMBS retreat - maybe not as demanding as medora, but hey, we were dragging kids on trailers so that needs to count for something. we did not manage to consumate the event with a beverage, so you may dispute if this was even an official event, but we may get that opportunity yet!

any feedback on the idea of inviting jon to be an member? i suspect he'll be a more loyal participant than bechtel. its kind of lonely out here in the bike club diaspora.

andy

Tuesday, September 09, 2003

penner, you've got nothing on this guy

though pres. penner's broken collarbone makes him the only true cyclist among us, let it be noted that he has a long way to go to reach elite status. aussie roadie cadel evans retired from the vuelta a espana (tour of spain) yesterday after having broken his collarbone for the third time this year!

medora update

a short update on the medora event to keep the secretary off my back--though i'm beginning to suspect nobody besides the sec. actually reads this drivel.

medora has come and gone--unlike the foul smell of shit that hovered over our campsite all weekend long. aside from the smell of shit, the fire ban, the lack of grocery store, lousy maps, and the unpredictable hours at the bike shop, i think it is still safe to declare it a successful weekend. there is growing sentiment that we should approach krispy kreme as a secondary sponsor. i don't know about the rest of you, but my jersey still have room on the left shoulder for a supplementary logo.

the riding was delightful. not nearly as technically demanding as ingolf. mostly singletrack, with some moderate climbing and several fast, windy descents. a very fast trail. no serious crashes to report, though unger and rachel did end up going over the handlebars. we probably did less than 10% of the trail, so there is lots more to be done. some preliminary discussion took place concerning the feasibility of a 4-5 day ride of the entire trail as a possible 2004 bike club event.

given the participation of rachel, anita, charlene, and cheryl at this event, there was some serious debate about whether the weaker sex were actually permitted full membership in bike club. no conclusions were reached, though cheryl has been elected bike club wench. she will prepare food and keep the campsite in good order at all future events.

finally, as with all officially sanctioned bike club events, there was a trip to the emergency room. official diagnosis: acute abdominal pain due to partial blockage in the right colon. though the diagnosis has been the subject of some dispute, the good news is that the tech dir. was back on his bike by morning.

pics of the president being loaded into the ambulance

yes, a few nice shots of our president being loaded up, are to be found on page 3 of the Ingulf trip pics. I'm glad I was having a Medachschlop at the time.

Medora event over, check pics

well, the Medora event is over and it sounds like it was a success. Chris will be posting an update here soon. There are a few pics up.