Tag: legacy members

community activities, deathride, giving back, membership, schwag

Happy New Year from California Alps Cycling!

2018 was a good year here in Markleeville and I hope you all can say the same about your year. As I cast my mind back (RIP Paul Sherwen) to try and recall the year’s milestones I have to admit some of the details are a bit sketchy. Nonetheless, a massive thank you for your support and I herewith recap the year as best I can with the hope that it gives you a sense of pride in what we’ve all accomplished in a relatively short time.

Advocacy

Two days of spreading the gospel of cycling as I like to call it: One at the Deathride this past summer (when we officially launched C.A.C.!!!) and the other was at the Magical Markleeville Christmas Faire (MMCF).

At the first, our Club Mother, January Riddle, and I, spent some time talking with many riders, some first timers. I think we helped some of the neophytes better understand what was coming. Most importantly, we talked to many members of the community about what we cyclists do (on and off the bike) and why we do it.

At the second, during the MMCF, I brought in a bike and some winter gear so our neighbors could see what we ride and what we wear. I had many great conversations, including some with community leaders, and we also socialized our first advocacy piece, our Etiquettes and Statutes handout!

Community Service

As you may recall, we adopted the 3-mile stretch of Highway 89 from Camp Markleeville to Turtle Rock Park and it irks us something fierce when we see litter on “our highway.” We’ve been known to pull over to grab a lone piece of junk just to keep it pristine. We did two Adopt-a-Highway litter pick up days – both during the 2nd half of the year. Bags of garbage and detritus removed and lots of thumbs up from passers by received…

One of our founders and Club Wife, Patricia, with our Club Mother, January, after our first clean up day in July of this year.

Merch

Many of you have already purchased your kits, vests or tees and it’s much appreciated! We’ve also gotten some cool decals made and this coming summer, we’ll have some cinch bags (aka sackbacks, sackpacks, whatever you want to call ’em) available for our bag drop at the Deathride. Right now I’m working on an online catalog integration with Square and once that’s done (taking way longer than I had hoped) all California Alps Cycling merch will be available online. If something interests you in the meantime, email me at mschwartz@californiaalpscycling.bike and we’ll figure out how to get it to you. Members get at least 5% off so why not join our merry band of troublemakers too? Click here to learn more.

  • california alps cycling, cycling, sierra cycling, cycling in the wind
    Some windblockability,eh?
  • Bibs. Yup, bibs.

Members and miles

We now have sixteen (16) members and collectively we’ve ridden over 40,000 miles this year! That’s a lot of time on the bike and it’s a conservative number (I don’t have stats for all of us). Congratulations to all for a successful and crash free (serious crashes, at least) year.

Weather and Air

Our weather station went live this year, as did our AQI. Check out our Weather and Air Conditions page for some data that matta. It’s cold here today, by the way so I took the easy way out and Zwifted. Brrrr here, jungle there. Cool app., that Zwift.

2019 Goals and Wishes

Goals for California Alps Cycling this year include getting our catalog on line, hosting with aplomb (cool word, aplomb…) the bag drop at the Deathride, doubling our membership (spread the word, will ya?), sponsoring or participating in four (4) advocacy related events and having four (4) Adopt-a-Highway clean-up days. I’d also like to get our social media channels up and running and have a some group rides going too. Ambitous perhaps but as I like to say “You’ve got to have BHAGS (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals)!

Wishing all of you a safe and ass-kicking year on the bike (and any other endeavors in which you are planning on participating).

Happy New Year riders! Now, Let’s Kick Some Passes Asses!


gran fondos, off the bike fun, rides

California Alps Cycling Members Hit the Slopes of Mammoth

Last Saturday, a few of us rode the Mammoth Gran Fondo out of Mammoth Lakes, CA. Members Mario Carmona and Chris Schull, along with yours truly (check out our Strava profiles on the CAC Membership page), rode from one of the southern points of the California Alps, still in the heart of the Sierra Nevada though, into the Owens Valley, and back.

An image of the route taken by a rider on the Mammoth Gran Fondo
Map of my “Medio route” at the Mammoth Gran Fondo.

Mario went for the Gran Fondo distance (i.e. the century) and Chris and I decided to do one of the shorter (the Medio, 70 miles) rides so we could drink more beer on Friday night. I had never been to Mammoth and so was pretty stoked to get a glimpse into what the place was all about. Unfortunately, due to my crazy schedule, we were only able to experience the vibe for a short time. Nonetheless, we made the best of it!

Chris and I arrived just in time for “beertails” and after meeting Mario at our hotel to give him his CA Alps Cycling jersey (yes, they’re in – if you pre-ordered one I’ll be in touch soon), we headed to Mammoth Brewing. Had some good beer and fine grub (those chicken tacos on naan were lip-smacking good) and then decided to make one more stop for a “beerpertif.” Yeah, I know, I’m taking some liberties with the english language here…Can’t help myself!

Okay, enough about the night life, which after all of our talk, really wasn’t much. We’re in our fifties (well Chris isn’t quite there yet but will be in a couple weeks) ya know and we did have a ride to do tomorrow. So, in the end, we were responsible adults and went back to the hotel fairly early so we could prep. our bikes for the next day.

We had brought plenty of cold-weather gear for the start, but as it turned out, the day was a bit balmier than normal. About 45-50 at the start with bright sun, as you can see from the pix below.

The blue in our jerseys works nicely with the sky, don’t you think?

After a short climb out of town we had a nice, long twenty (20) mile descent or so and then it was back the way we came, into the Owens Valley, back out to Hwy. 395 and then back into town. Here’s a few shots I took while on the bike:

Does this shadow make me look fat?

And here’s a bunch more from the Owens Valley, including a couple rest stop pix.

Looking towards Mammoth from near Lake Crowley – during the 2018 Mammoth Gran Fondo

As you can see, it was an amazing day. I still can’t get over the color of the sky in these images. Sometimes it looks almost purple. It’s that color that inspired us on the design of our kits.

I should mention that the organizers did a great job. The rest stops were well-staffed and stocked, and that made to order turkey and cheese sandwich really hit the spot. Thanks!

What else can I say? Another great day on the bike. Kudos to Mario (yup, he finished) and Chris (he had a rough day on the bike but perserved nonetheless) and hey, what the heck, I’ll give myself kudos too. Anyday on the bike…