Prairie Cycle Club – Bicycle Club for Champaign County, Illinois

ChampaignCountyBikes.org is pleased to announce C-U Bike to Work Day will be held Tuesday, May 4. We invite Prairie Cycle Club to participate in our first community-wide Bike to Work Day!

The new C-U Bike to Work Day website is up and running, so check it out at http://www.ChampaignCountyBikes.org .
-Be sure to register for the event with the "Register" button so every one of us is counted.
-Download the flyer and print and post it at work, the coffeeshop, or wherever you can find a bulletin board.
-Please feel free to forward this email or send the event flyer to your co-workers and friends and encourage them to try biking to work.
-From the website, you can join the Facebook fan page (C-U Bike to Work Day) and help spread the word that way, too.

With your help, we will make our first community-wide Bike to Work Day an incredible event!
Thanks!
Rick Langlois
CCB Chair

Get your sedentary friends out on this one :)

Art Gallery
Bicycle Tour
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009

They took Art to the Streets
We're taking the Streets to Art

Join us for an urban bicycle tour of the galleries and unique shops in Champaign-Urbana. This is a leisurely ride for which you set your start time, 10 AM to Noon, ride at your pace, stop for lunch, and visit each gallery for as long as you desire. Discover galleries that you may not know and see art of all kinds including glass, painting, fabric, and sculpture. You will also receive chances on a drawing for a new Trek 7100 Hybrid bicycle donated by Champaign Cycle and additional prizes donated by the participating galleries. Participating local restaurants will offer discounts so you can enjoy lunch on your tour or a snack at the end. Your entire $10 entry will be donated to 40 North | 88 West Champaign County Arts, Culture and Entertainment Council.

Urbana Galleries: Champaign Galleries:
Beads & Botanicals Boneyard Pottery
Cinema Gallery GlassFX
Fleurish Indi go
Furniture Lounge Larry Kanfer Gallery
Heartland Gallery Wind, Water, & Light
Kalarte Gallery Springer Cultural Center
Madeline's Confectionary Arts Studio

Restaurants: The Great Impasta, Le Gourmandise, The Morning Cup, Jim Gould, Silvercreek, and more by the day of the event.

Start: Anita Purvis Nature Center, Crystal Lake Park, Broadway & Country Club Rd, Urbana. The galleries open at 10 AM so we suggest you start at your leisure between 10 AM and Noon. Figure in time for lunch and a snack after the tour to enjoy an easy day of urban bicycle touring and visits to the many varied galleries and shops in Champaign-Urbana.

Entry Fee: $10. The entire amount will be donated to 40 North | 88 West. Champaign County Arts, Culture and Entertainment Council. You can enter on the day of the tour. Fee $12.

Drawing: Your registration will enter you in the drawing for the prizes. For each gallery you visit you will receive another entry in the drawing. The drawing and reception will take place at ~5 PM 9/26/2009 at Indi go. If you are not present you will be notified by email.

Prizes: A Trek 7100 Bicycle from Champaign Cycle Value $440
A pair of hand painted plates by Laura O'Donnell from Cinema Gallery
A women's merino wool cap & men's tweed hat from Heartland Gallery
A Guatemalan sash from Kalarte Gallery
An Illini fused glass plate from GlassFX
An orchid of your choice from Fleurish
...and more

This event is presented by Champaign Cycle.

A few extra chances to get out and ride -

THursday -- the all member welcome ride at the Assembly Hall parking lot, 6:15 p.m. -- First and Saint Mary's, NorthWest Corner. An easy cruise or you & your buddies can take off! I'll need to practice making smoothies for the Fourth of July Parade, so hang around if you get back before I do.

Friday, July 3 -- this is "the holiday" for so many people that we'll do the "Ride around the twin cities" starting at the corner of Neil and Curtis - what once was "Pages for All Ages" and near Body and Sole. 8:00 a.m. -- Here's a link to the map & I'll try to print some out & bring them so you can do your own thing. Going all the way around is close to 50 miles; there are many chances to cut in and make it shorter.

Saturday, July 4 -- being a holiday, it's technically "show and go" but I'll be out at Meadowbrook at 8:00 to lead the Saturday Saunter and we'll get back in time for festivities and parades. I've been told to don facial hair and red lipstick with blue eyelines to salute Lincoln and the red, white and blue... I dunno about that...

The Verizon Wireless Cycling Team and Wild Card Cycling are proud to bring an exciting weekend of national caliber racing to the streets of Champaign, IL. Saturday course is the classic 1 kilometer flat Downtown Champaign Criterium course last used in 1999. 4 corners, wide roads with a mild chicane on the back stretch. Sunday course is a .8 mile 4 corner crit on wide roads with small elevation change on the back stretch.

http://www.wildcardcycling.org/

The idea of a Ride 5/30 to support Habitat for Humanity is too good to abandon. This is not sanctioned by Champaign County Habitat for Humanity, but by members of the cycling community determined to support Habitat's goal to "help improve the lives of families needing decent shelter." We'd like to make the ride happen anyway.

Meet at the same starting point (since those who heard about the ride via word of mouth may not realize the "official" ride has been canceled) Habitat for Humanity of Champaign Co. & ReStore
119 E University Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820

Donations will be accepted for Habitat and maps & cue sheets will be linked shortly (when I find the address; it's the same stuff as before). More details as folks put 'em togehter...

The ride of silence happens May 20, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. We start at the parking lot near the assembly hall at First and St. Mary's. The route will be N on first to Stadium Drive, then across 45 (Neil Street) to Randolph and through downtown Champaign, then South on First and then down Green Street, then a bit North on Busey to Main and through downtown Urbana, then South on Vine to ILlinois, then Lincoln, then Pennsylvania, Fourth and back to the lot. It's about 9 miles and we'll be going less than 12 MPH and regrouping whenever we get spread out.
In the past we've had about 35 riders; if riders wear black armbands (a garbage bag cut into strips works) or have a sign on bikes indicating who they're riding for, then it communicates what we're doing to passersby.

The purpose of this ride is
• To HONOR those who have been injured or killed
• To RAISE AWARENESS that we are here
• To ask that we all SHARE THE ROAD; that drivers recognize that there’s room for all of us out here, and that a bicyclist may be around the next corner and has every right to be.
We are looking for respect, not retaliation; for visibility, not vengeance. Let us show how to share the road by a positive example. Please follow the rules of the road. Ride as you would in a funeral procession; ride predictably.
Point out potholes and road hazards; signal turns and if you slow down. Momentary inattention is the number one cause of accidents -Be aware of what is in front of and BEHIND you, watch your line, and keep your hands near your brakes.
We are riding as a group, silently but use your judgement regarding both. Allow for breaks in the group when it makes sense.

Two extra chances for riding this week - the All Member Welcome Ride on Thursday May 7, Assembly Hall Parking Lot First and St. Mary's (SW corner), 6:15... your fearless leaders will go at a very gentle pace but you can set your own agenda... then those so disposed can drift over to Houlihan's on the corner afterwards.

Then Friday evening, it will be something like a Full Moon rising around 8:30 - which is also when Civil Twilight ends. Hey, even if it's cloudy, let's sneak out to MEADOWBROOK PARK to see what the East Side of the World looks like. Suggest routes would be the 9-mile horsey loop http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2795158 or Anne's Favorite Almost-Philo, Almost-Tolono 20-mile loop http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2795175 (and those miles are what Google says, not some random rider ;))

It should be linked to, below!
Rides start April 18... and lots more is happening.

On the 18th, hopefully the snow will be a memory and official rides will start - here's the list!
Monday Moderate Ride - Level 2 Averaging 20 miles at 12 to 15 m.p.h. 6:00 P.M. from Countryside Day School, corner of Kirby and Staley, Champaign. Emphasis on socializing, not speed. One of the most popular rides.

Monday Moderately Manic Ride–Level 3-4 Same as above but faster. No leader —but lots of fun folks to ride with.

Tuesday Pedal for Pleasure – Level 1 Averaging 12 to 16 miles, 12 to 13 m.p.h. 6:30 P.M. from Champaign Cycle, 506 S. Country Fair Drive, Champaign. Suitable for beginners and any rider who wants to meet people and enjoy a leisurely ride. Mountain bikes welcome.

Tuesday Morning Tour – Level 2 30- 50 miles Time varies w/season; sometimes show and go depending on leader availability. 8 a.m. June-Sep. Hessel Park (Kirby & Grandview) Champaign. Ride will gradually increase in length as season progresses, from 30 to 50 miles, including brunch stop. Leader Ed BonDurant 359-1529

Wednesday Long Ride – Depart: Burwash Park, corner of Burwash & Prospect, Savoy Time: 5:45 pm
This is a ride for folks who want to ride hard and don't mind getting dropped. Usually average around 20mph, distances of 30-50 miles.

Thursday New Member Ride (1st Thursday of the month) – Level 1 6:15 P.M. from First Street & St. Mary's Road (Assembly Hall Lot), Champaign. For new members and anyone who feels like they’re starting over.

Saturday Club Rides – Meadowbrook Park, (Windsor & Vine) Urbana 8:00 June-Aug. for all the rides; Saunter ride starts at 9:00 in April and May, then move to 8 in June when it's hot.
Fitness ride - level 3/4: leader Rick Francis (351-7587, rikfrancis@hotmail.com) Saturday Scramble – Level 3 Leader: Brian McKneight
Level 2/3/4 8:00 A.M., Emphasis on fitness. June-August. Medium & often extended rides.

Saturday Saunter – Level 1/2 Averaging 10 to 20 miles at a leisurely pace (10-13 mph), Common destinations are Philo, St. Joseph or Tolono, with water and rest stops. Smaller groups often break away for longer/faster rides. All frame types of cycles and riders welcome.

Sundry Show and Go Rides: Any day or night (sometimes under the full moon), we may get on the phone or email and get together and ride. Sometimes it becomes a regular thing—if you want to get the word out, hit ‘contact’ and let us know!

Pre-season Social & Membership Kickoff
Village Inn, Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 6:30pm

Pizza and beverages... come and see who's riding when, with whom! Get your membership paid - no stamps and free food!

It's at 1801 W Springfield Ave
Champaign, IL 61821
(217) 359-1736

Bring a friend!

P.S. Rides start April 20 or thereabouts. It WILL be warm.