Andy Bailey Awarded Lifetime BCI Membership

Many of our members know Andy Bailey and his wife Jeri.  Andy has been a BCI member since 1987.  Unfortunately he was badly hurt in a crash during the Ride 2 Recovery last year.   Jeri reached out to BCI and the board voted to award Andy a lifetime membership.

Jeri and Andy came to our May 7th Jersey Day lunch, where Vice President Penny Poorman presented them with their membership certificate.

Penny (center) presenting Andy and Jeri with a lifetime membership certificate.

There were a few spinkles that day, but the festivities continued indoors.

We all wish Andy the best and hope for a full recovery.  If any members would like to contact the Baileys, please contact one of the board members.

"Prez Sez" message from BCI President Mike Farrell

THE PREZ SEZ

Hi everyone

       It's been a busy couple of months since my last report. We had two general meetings hosted by Penny Poorman, our Vice President. Great job, Penny. There were excellent topics and presenters, including a tutorial on the new web site by Jim Norman and Bill Sellin in February, and at the April meeting, discussions on various aspects of bicycle touring by Richard Sheff and Norm Moyers. Richard has hosted several tours for the club in the past and continues to offer exciting tours all over the country and in Europe too. Norm just took a group to Hawaii for a two week bike tour. And of course the food offerings at both meetings were excellent thanks to our Hospitality director Suzanne McCord, and thanks to Beth Sher, who helped out at the February meeting. We had over 45 attendees at the April meeting. Thanks for your support. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, June 28, at 7:00 PM at the IRWD Duck Club, at 15 Riparian View, Irvine. A new place. Club member Peter Gerrard, who works at Irvine Cyclery will speak on the latest and greatest in the world of bicycle accessories. Mark your calendars. We have hosted two Jersey Day luncheons thus far at the food court near Gelsons at Alton and Jeffrey after the Saturday ride on the first Saturday of each month, which were well attended. Several of the luncheon establishments gave discounts on all their food offerings.       

       Some of the upcoming events on our calendar will be the May 18 Ride of Silence, the June 25/26 Summer Solstice, and July 9, the OC Bike Rally. All info on these events will be posted on the BCI web site. A few comments about Summer Solstice. This event has been an ongoing BCI event for many years, organized and well run by Bill Sellin. It's the equivalent of two metric centuries, over two days, from Irvine to Carlsbad Saturday, and return to Irvine Sunday. This year the overnight accommodations will be at the Motel 6 on Raintree Ct in Carlsbad. A block of rooms has been reserved there for BCI but you'll need to call in your reservations soon to get your room. (There's a 10% discount for AARP members.)There will be a poolside dinner party on the Saturday evening. I will be riding this year so you can be assured that at my pace, the ride will definitely have a sweep, so no one will be left behind. And there are plenty of places to stop for food or rest rooms so it can be a leisurely ride. The fee is $25 for riders and $15 for non riders which covers the dinner cost and the hauling of your change of clothes at the hotel. Add the hotel accommodations. I booked my room already and it was $104 for two guests.

       In my last Prez Sez article I had asked for feedback, comments, and suggestions from anyone who wanted to communicate with me, either by email or phone. One suggestion had to do with the possibility of regroup points at certain points on the ride, in the interests of keeping the riders together as a group. At one time many years ago we used to have them - back in the early 90's. The member who emailed this and I had a back and forth communication about this and I brought it up at the last board meeting, so I wanted to let you all know what we thought and decided.

       At the time the regroups were utilized it seemed that the average pace of the riders was more uniform so when those who had gotten ahead stopped and waited, the wait was not all that long, no more than a minute or two. Today, in looking at the average pace, it seems like there are several paces from the 15-16 mph pace down to the 12-13 mph pace. So to ask the faster riders to either slow down or to wait for the slower riders would be unreasonable. Actually, it would be unfair to both groups. We are a social riding club, and the essence of the BCI riding experience is that everyone should be able to ride their own pace comfortably. So that means not having to wait for those slower than you and at the same time not putting pressure on the slower riders to feel pressured to try and keep up. If a rider wants to challenge him or herself to keep up with a faster group, that is a personal decision, and by all means they should go for it, and they will or they won't, and no pressure is put on any group to do anything other than what they want to do, pace wise.

       Another suggestion was the concept of A, B, and C rides, A being the fastest, B the medium, and C the slower. We felt that our concept of blue, yellow, and green rides was the BCI alternative.  Riders have the choice of distances and paces. Some riders even utilize portions of blue and yellow, or yellow and green, so there are sufficient options to accommodate everyone at whatever biking level they're at. However it was good to have the suggestion made, the discussion brought up at the board meeting and regardless of the decision, that the interaction between members and the board was positive and welcome. So I encourage more of you to avail yourself of my offer and feel free to contact me with any input whatsoever. I also had a compliant too regarding the temporary absence of posted rides beyond two weeks and that was addressed and the posted rides are now past a month, so everything that is communicated is paid attention to.

       Remember, the board and I serve at your pleasure so your feedback is welcome and needed.     

       One last issue. Signing up on the rosters at club rides. This is a critically important issue. BCI has in place an Insurance policy covering the riders, the club itself and the Board of Directors. In order for all of us to be covered the Insurers have certain demands that must be adhered to. For all of us that means your name must appear on one of the rosters for each and every club ride. No exceptions. If you don't sign up and you are in an accident on that ride, you are basically screwed. No coverage. You may have personal insurance, but being doubly covered means that you would most probably be covered for any co-pays which can be expensive depending on the severity of any injury.

       Let's not forget the possibility of a bicycle accident causing injury to someone else. You are not injured but they are and they sue you or the club. So SIGN UP before you ride. Lastly, non members need to sign the guest roster which contains a waiver clause. If you bring someone as a guest, of course they are welcome, but make sure they sign the guest roster. And if they enjoy the ride and want to come again, suggest they join the club. The $20 is no biggie,  but the insurance coverage could be a big deal too them.       

       Finally, in closing Kudo's to Bob McHenry, our Board secretary, for his efforts in promoting the Bicycle Safety classes over the last year and the wrist bands that he has designed for those having completed the classes. Bicycle safety and etiquette are a key part of keeping all of us safe when we climb on our bike and get out on the road. Many of us think we know it all but none of us know everything. And practicing it can be another matter. Way back in the early days of my membership when Pacelines was an actual newsletter, (paper!!) I used to write an article called "On Your Left" and in each issue, I'd address one or two different issues regarding proper riding safety and etiquette. So in closing I thought I would begin to mention one particular aspect of safety that stands out in my mind based on what I see from time to time. So this time I'll address stopping at intersections. The DMV manual lists bicycles as vehicles, subject to all the rights and responsibilities as all other vehicles. We are the slower vehicles so we have to adhere to that classification. Whenwe come to an intersection, specifically one that has a right turn lane. we should stop at the left of the right turn lane and to the right of the lane that is going straight through the intersection. What that means is that you DON'T STOP AT THE CORNER CURB!  When you do that, you 1) obstruct traffic that may be able to make the right turn on the red light or will turn as soon as the light turns green, and 2) you put yourself at risk if the vehicle making the right turn doesn't see you and makes his turn. You expose yourself to being hit. If you were a car, you wouldn't stop in the right turn lane if you were going straight. You can't do that when you are a bike either. You're still a vehicle.  Even if you're at the curb, you're still in the lane. I was riding north through San Clemente once on PCH and had the green but was close to the curb and a motorist came up behind me, didn't see me, and made the right turn and had I not seen him at the last second and swerved, almost falling,  he would have hit me. He never stopped. I almost learned that lesson the hard way.

       Sometimes riders come up to the corner and go up to the curb to hit the crossing signal. First, if there's traffic going straight, don't bother - the vehicles will trigger the mechanism. They don't need your help. If there's light or no traffic, hit the signal, then get back out away from the curb and back to the right of the ongoing traffic lane where you belong. You don't want to be in the right of a right turn lane under any circumstances. My tip of the day. Bye for now. See you on a ride.

       Mike Farrel

Temporary Camp Pendleton Bike Closure - March 28-April 1

From CalTrans:

The U.S. Marine Corps is planning to temporarily close the Camp Pendleton Bike Path—the only bike access between Las Pulgas Rd. and Basilone Rd. along Interstate 5 (I-5)— for military operations between this Monday, Mar. 28 and Friday, April 1, 2016.  Under normal bike path closure circumstances Caltrans would open the freeway shoulders in this segment to bicyclists, however there is a construction project that has closed the shoulders of I-5 in that segment.  Caltrans will provide a 24/7 on-call shuttle to carry bicyclists through the closures in the I-5 corridor between Oceanside and San Clemente.  The phone number for the shuttle is (619)385-3267.  Pick-up/drop-off locations are at Oceanside Harbor in the east parking lot (NW corner of the lot), at the park and ride lot at Las Pulgas Rd., and Basilone Rd.(at the south end of the Trestles bike path, where it meets Old Hwy 101).  Signs at these locations will include the shuttle phone number.  Please share this information and make your plans accordingly. We apologize for any inconveniences in advance.

"The Prez Sez"

Hello BCI Members

This is my first  "article" for the Pacelines as your president so I will start off by introducing myself. I think most of you know me but for those of you who don't, my name is Mike Farrell. My BCI number is 1259, so I have been around since 1989. Been here awhile. I was also president from 2004 to 2007. Some of you remember me as being the originator of the Bear Training rides which have been going on since the mid 1990's, and several of the Remote rides which I will be kicking up again, like the Tour De Five Cities which starts in Dana Point, and the Carlsbad Remote ride, which by the way I have just scheduled for March 19. In addition, some South county coastal rides starting from Dana Point. So look forward to some of those in the summer months.

Anyway, in the last few years, I have not been seen much due to a Spinal Stenosis condition and two resulting back surgeries which have slowed down my pace considerably. I can still bike long distances but am usually somewhere considerably behind everyone.

This year, we went into 2016 with four vacancies on the BCI board after the elections. Fortunately 3 of those positions have been filled, along with our 2 Directors at Large, thanks to members who have stepped up and volunteered and we expect to appoint the 4th volunteer at our next Board meeting, so the board is now at full strength.  I volunteered for the President position, and having served in the past I felt I could be of service and was appointed by the board at the January 29th board meeting. Most of the board members have been close friends over the years so I'm happy I'll be working with them. Also on a personal note, I felt it would be a good way to get back into the middle of things, get to meet a lot of you who have joined morerecently and maybe get to ride a little faster to keep up. BCI has been family to me for many years and I hope to keep up the family ties. So here I am.

I made an announcement at the 2/13 Saturday ride start that I would be submitting this article and would be including my email address and phone number for the purpose of beginning an ongoing dialogue with the membership. Having been appointed by the board on behalf of the membership rather than being directly elected by the membership, I want to say that this is YOUR club, and I am YOUR president, and serve at YOUR pleasure. I believe that one of my prime responsibilities will be to represent and be the voice of the members as best I can. So I invite you all to contact me as often as you wish with your comments, suggestions, questions, criticisms, and complaints, if any, and I promise you will always be listened to and your

feedback addressed or considered, and you will receive a reply as soon as possible.

That said, I also prefaced my remarks Saturday by asking how many had checked out the web site in the past two weeks for any reason other than to look at the upcoming ride routes. I think about 5 or 6 people raised their hands. There has been a considerable amount of work done at the board level to put the present web site together and it is an ongoing process that is still happening. Presently this is the main method of and almost the only means of club communication at this point in time. If hardly anyone reads it then the communication is kind of one sided. In years past the Pacelines was an actual newsletter, sent by mail to the members. Then the snail mail was replaced by email; and you read it that way. Then it went on the web site and became sort of on an ongoing blog. The only problem is that now you have to turn on your computer and click on to it without some sort of physical reminder. So I want to encourage you to check out the web site as often as possible to stay updated with announcements, articles, upcoming club activities both riding and social, and be kept updated at all club levels.

Our next general meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 29th 7-8.30 PM at the Irvine Water District on Sand Canyon Rd. One of the topics will be use of the new web site. That will no doubt be very helpful and informative. I'll be there of course, and I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.

In closing, here is my contact info.

president@bikeirvine.org or mksplfarrell@gmail.com
949-466-6641 

I look forward to meeting and talking to all of you at some point.

Mike

Good turnout for Jersey Day!

Lots of riders turned out today to take advantage of our beautiful warm weather and BCI Jersey Day.   Many members showed their club spirit and some 30 to 35 riders gathered afterward at the Oak Creek Center (by Gelson's) food court to share a meal with friends.  
Thank You Suzanne McCord for coordinating the discounts at some of our favorite places. Join us again next month - 1st Saturday of each month!

Baja Fresh was popular at this table - hungry riders appreciated their generous 20% discount.

New York Upper Crust Pizza, Daphne's and Mustard Café also offered discounts to BCI riders.  (Photos courtesy of Suzanne McCord)

Photo by Phil Norton

Photo by Phil Norton

Photo by Phil Norton

Photo by Phil Norton

Be sure to join in the fun NEXT MONTH - mark your calendars now!

Cycling Through Camp Pendleton - Changes coming!

Riding south from Orange County, we are fortunate that the USMC allows us to ride through Camp Pendleton.  It's an enjoyable route with some rolling hills and light traffic - and it sure beats riding on I-5!

Changes are coming, but the good news is we will still be able to ride through the base. Here is the latest:

Camp Pendleton wanted to give you an update on our visitor access policy.  We value the great relationship we have with the area cycling community and wanted to develop a process allowing bicyclist's continued access to Camp Pendleton.  By Mar. 1, bicyclist will be required to register in order to have access to the base.  An online process will be complete mid-February and base access will be good for one year.  Bicyclists will need to re-register every year.  Until the registration process is finalized, bicyclists will still be able to enter the base with their U.S. or State government issued identification card just like now. After Mar. 1, all bicyclists will need to be registered and show their U.S. or State identification when entering the base.  Once the registration process is up and running in a few weeks, we will share the link.  Our goal is to maintain a great relationship with area riders but also balance that with security and protection for our Marines, Sailors, civilian employees and families.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.

BCI extends our thanks to the USMC for its continuing hospitality.  If you are riding Camp Pendleton, be sure to register once the new system is online, and please respect their rules while you are "aboard"!

Update: Feb 1st the on line form to access for recreational / active transportation is live.
Have you drivers license handy & expect 7 days for processing. Not sure what accommodation will be made for a traveler showing up who did not know or does not have/use a computer. If turned away, CalTrans is currently providing on cal shuttle as the freeway work is making that shoulder unavailable to cycling. 

Board Completed (almost!)

The Board Officers met on January 28th & have filled the vacant director positions; We now have a full board of 11 directors working to lead BCI into 2016 & beyond!  
(well... 10 of 11*)

Congratulations and Thank You to the volunteers who have joined the leadership team.

You can see the board now HERE

(*Update 2/25: Suzanne McCord was appointed to the vacant Director of Hospitality. The 2016 Board is now complete.) 

(*Update 1/30: Jenny Short was not present to agree & was appointed against her wishes, so we do still have no Director of Hospitality... Beth Sher, our 2015 Director of Hospitality will make sure we have refreshments at the February General Meeting, and the Board will appoint a volunteer at their February 25th meeting. If interested in serving, providing snacks & beverages at the General Meetings,  and providing hospitality to help us continue to be our friendly best, contact a board member!)

Annual Meeting & Election Results!

We had 7 volunteer candidates running for 5 of the 9 club officer positions, the votes were tallied at tonight's annual meeting and here are the results:

Vice President                                      Penny Poorman
Ride Coordinator                                  Norm Moyer
Communications Coordinator             Bill Sellin
Treasurer                                              Ann Reichling
Statistician                                            Marc Urias

The new board will be working to fill the positions of President, Secretary, Membership Director and Hospitality Director, as well as the board's 2 director-at-large positions.  If you are interested in volunteering, please email the Board of Directors.

Congratulations to the new board members - please remember they are all volunteers and can use your support and help to make BCI all it can be. 

Vice President Marc Urias, covering for the vacant Statistician, recognized Highest Mileage and presented the lead riders with certificates for custom BCI vests.
The Broken Crank Award: went to David Marino for the Most Club Miles ridden in 2015. David was not present, but was awarded the 'Broken Crank' by Vice President Penny Poorman at our February meeting:

Top 3 men & top 3 women:

David Marino            5,611 miles   
Rhonda Larson           4,780
Louis Iacopetti            4,531              
William Quon              4,090
Judy Quon                  3,601              
Bethany Gray            3,414

Director @ Large Bill Sellin, covering for the absent Membership Director Ramona Dalton, presented the Spirit Award to Paul Haussler.

Man Found Dead Near San Diego Creek Trail and Los Olivos Apartments

The body of a 51 year old man, apparently a cyclist, was found dead and is being investigated as a homicide.  Not a lot more information is currently available and as of this writing apparently no arrests have been made.  The body, with a bicycle nearby, was found alongside the 405 where the trail parallels the freeway behind the Los Olivos Apartments.

Irvine Police have not issued any sort of advisory, we've reached out to them for comment.   Please be careful and maintain awareness of your surroundings as you ride.

From the OC Register:  Irvine man's death on bike path is investigated as a homicide.

UPDATE at 5:30 pm.  I spoke with Irvine PD.  While they cannot release any details due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, they do have reason to believe that this was an isolated incident.  If they felt otherwise they would be cautioning people about using the San Diego Creek trail.  IPD does recommend that riders remain observant and use ordinary cautions.  Also, they ask that if any riders saw anything in the area to please contact them to share that information.

UPDATE: 1/26 : IPD posted info that a 'person of interest' was arrested and may be a suspect - was not a random assault. Facebook 

Incident Reporting - crash@bikeirvine.org

You may have noticed this at the bottom of recent route slips, BCI asks that if you are involved in a mishap, or you see one occur, that you email a report about it to crash@bikeirvine.org.  Why?  Because this is required by the insurance policies that BCI carries, both for general liability and to provide supplemental medical coverage to our members.

What constitutes a mishap?  If a rider goes down, if riders collide, if there is any contact with another vehicle, all of these should be reported to the board.  Better to make the report than not.  It is OK if we receive more than one report.

What to report?  What you know.  Who was involved, what happened, when, road and weather conditions, whether or not police or paramedics responded, etc. 

Promptly reporting incidents allows board members to gather the information needed to report to the insurance company and helps us to quickly get claims forms out to anyone injured.

Website Tips #3

BCI publishes a roster of our members here on the site.  This roster shows the members' names, email addresses and member numbers.  This roster can be viewed by anyone visiting the website, they do not have to be a BCI member.

To lessen the chances of the email addresses being harvested by email spammers, the roster is posted as a scanned pdf file, not a text file, so a spambot program scanning our site will only see an image file, not email addresses.

You may opt out of being included in this roster.  Be sure to sign up on the site and choose your roster option.  If you've already signed up you may edit your profile to opt out.

UPDATE - the roster is offline as 1/13/16 since spammers have already found it. We are working with TidyClub, the site that manages our membership data, to provide a more secure solution.  

Like BCI on Facebook!

If you're on Facebook, be sure to visit and like BCI's Facebook page.  there is a link at the bottom of our website, or simply click HERE to check it out for more pictures, announcements and fun stuff.    Thanks to Director-at-Large Bill Sellin for heading up BCI's social media presence!