|
|
|
Barbara Wood |
|
|
|
Barbara Wood |
The club was formed in early 1987. On May 14, we received a letter from the Benicia Park and Recreation Department carefully stating its position concerning the club. They would offer clerical support, provide a meeting place, and act as a pipeline between the club and the community. They clearly stated that they
were not a sponsor of the club and did not assume any responsibility for our actions.
We met at the Senior Center, dues were $10.00 which included a green baseball-type shirt with Benicia Bicycle Club printed on it. We rode our bicycles in the July 3rd Twilight Parade and had a few organized rides. Brett
Wakefield was elected President. We started the “Rise and Shine” rides every Sunday at 8:00 A.M. These rides were a moderate pace to encourage the young teenage children of the members to participate. The usual routes were Lake Herman, Marshview, the Lopes-McGarry-American Canyon loop, and to Pierce’s Harbor for coffee. By 1988 we were participating, as a club, in the local Centuries. Park and Rec. was no longer willing to pay for our newsletter – we were totally on our own.
We started holding our meetings at various local restaurants. This didn’t work too well – too noisy, etc. We then held meetings at the homes of various members and continued to do this until the bike shop opened in 1993.
We began 1989 with our First Annual New Years Day Ride. Rain or shine – Pierce’s Harbor for breakfast!!! (We switched to Pappas about five years ago when Pierce’s Harbor was condemned.) We ordered our new jerseys. (They were bright yellow with the big decal on the back) We started riding Saturdays as well as Sundays with an emphasis on training for centuries. We had time trials –10 miles from the Overlook to Marshview and back. We held our first (of nine) annual ride around Lake Tahoe. We held our first metric century. (Benicia to Napa, over Mt George, back to Benicia via Wooden Valley and Lopes Road) This was followed by a barbeque at the Wakefields’.
1990 was very much like 1989. We thought it was time to raise our “profile”. Thom Handa and I were in charge of putting on a program in downtown Benicia. The State Theater offered the facility free of charge. We invited Elaine Mariolle to speak. (She finally agreed to lower her fee to “whatever we collected”) Elaine was the 1986 RAAM winner, a 1990 Iditabike participant, and a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. It was a great evening. The theater gave her a check for the amount collected. A few weeks later we got a call from Elaine saying that the check was written on a closed account. The theater was out of business and the Bicycle Club had to find some money. So much for “profile”…
1992, November 11, Bayside Cyclery opened in the Southampton Shopping Center. Do we affiliate or not? Some argued that we would loose our identity. The pros outweighed the cons and we began meeting at the shop. Our membership increased as did the number of participants on our rides. In 1993 we co-sponsored the Benicia Women-on- Wheels ride. Starting and ending at Bayside Cyclery, the route was American Canyon, McGarry, Green Valley, Rockville, Suisun Valley, Lopes Road, back through Benicia to the shop. There were about 100 registrants. The Benicia Herald wrote a nice article about the event.
In 1994 we again co-sponsored a ride with the shop. This time, the goal was to raise money for the rescue and adoption of non-competitive Greyhounds. Mick Weninger agreed to be the next club president. Bayside Cyclery closed in early 1995. (Totally coincidental)
We became incorporated in 1996 (Joe Brewster and Ed Harris helped out with this) and opened our bank account. We also opened a post office box. We participated with a local Boy Scout troop so they could get their bicycle badges. We continued the weekend rides, the century rides, the Lake Tahoe ride, and went back to meeting at the homes of members. A new jersey was designed. (Three bicycles along the water, with a background of hills and clouds.) Currently are jerseys are designed and made by Voler. They are yellow with red highlights and have a gray band that symbolizes the road.
Bill Schmidt was elected president in 1997 and continues to serve us through the present. Early on he had the sole responsibility of writing, editing, printing, and distributing the newsletter too. Now we have separate folks that handle that. We continue to ride Saturdays and Sundays. We also ride on Tuesdays and Thursdays We ride in the evenings. We ride centuries. We have new jerseys. Our summer meeting program is the best ever. What more can I say?
Barbara Wood