May Club Meeting

We will be at Villa Donato “Only for You!” restaurant in Winchester for the monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 14^th, 2008. The business meeting will be held at 7:00pm. The restaurant is just south of the Loudoun St. Mall, at 229 S. Loudoun St. Members start to gather at 6:00PM for dinner and socializing.

April Club Meeting

Our April club meeting was held at Villa Donato “Only for You!” restaurant. To follow are some of the highlights of the last meeting:

· Treasury Report

- Checking $2,655.42

- Savings $7,787.04

- The Winchester Wheelmen are members of:

League of American Bicyclists - $45/year

IMBA - $35/year

Virginia Bicycling Federation - $35/year

· CWPT Park Day – April 5, 2008

At the 3^rd Battle of Winchester on April 5, 2008, 28 members of the club cleaned trails, rerouted trails, constructed benches, and cleared the trash pile near the stream. Mike Perry announced that the CWPT staff of Washington, D.C. would like to sponsor a BBQ for the Wheelmen sometime this spring or early summer. Mike has t-shirts and patches for those who participated with the Park Day maintenance. The CWPT has put several photos of our Park Day work session on their website. To see the photos go to www.civilwar.org, then follow the "Travel and Events” link and then the "Park Day 2008" link. Many thanks to all that helped.

· Winchester Wheelmen Racing Team

Erik Beatley gave a summary of recent racing activities involving the WWRT. Most of the races, organized by a Pennsylvania-based group, are located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and northern Virginia. He reports the registration for entering the races is very competitive. If anyone is interested in purchasing WWRT clothing, contact Erik Beatley. An order will be placed soon.

Call for Ride Leaders/Assistants for SVHR Training Rides

Mike Perry is helping to coordinate training rides for the kids from Winchester Boys & Girls club who are participating in the ride. Some additional help is needed to ensure these rides go as desired. The ride days are Mondays from White Post Restorations and Thursdays from Marker-Miller Orchard. Contact Mike if you can help at mperry@visuallink.com or 540.877.1795

Rich Rau Memorial Ride & Pancake Breakfast

Please don’t forget about this upcoming event on the 17^th of May. See the Ride Schedule for details.

Ride of Silence

Wed., May 21, 2008 - Ride of Silence - Winchester, VA. Meet at Children of America parking lot on Jubal Early Drive in Winchester for a tribute ride to those Winchester Wheelmen who have died after being struck by motor vehicles, while riding their bikes. The ride start time is 7:00PM. This is not a protest ride per se, but a ride to bring to the attention of car drivers and others that responsible adults riding their bikes have been struck and killed. Those fallen Wheelmen are: Kevin Peters (Aug, 2002), Jerry Dambro (Nov, 2004), and Rich Rau (May, 2005). The proposed route is: Winchester Green Circle to Merriman's Lane via Meadow Branch, north on Merriman's Lane, east on Amherst, south on Stewart, east on Handley, south on Valley Ave. to Jubal Early back to the Green Circle start. This is a solemn, silent ride. The ride will be posted to www.rideofsilence.org.

Tour de Cure

Here’s a message from club member Kim Edwards on a benefit ride.

“I recently accepted the challenge of cycling in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event. The Tour de Cure is a series of cycling events held in over 80 cities nationwide. The Tour is a ride, not a race; it features different route lengths from a leisurely 10-mile course to a demanding 100-mile journey. I have joined thousands of others to pedal in support of the Association's mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.”

For more information on June 8^th Tour de Cure, please visit http://tinyurl.com/2twrgj. Contact Kim for more information at kedwards@goldsgym.net.

MS 150 Ride – Tour de Vine

There are many club members riding as a group in this year’s Multiple Sclerosis benefit ride. This year’s ride is called Tour de Vine and is based out of Charlottes-ville, VA. The dates are 7-8 June 2008. The minimum amount to raise is $250 for participation in the event. Link here for more details: http://tinyurl.com/yuczxw . Erik Beatley is the team leader for Winchester Wheelmen. He can be contacted at ebeatley@allprp.com

Physiology Center by Dave Albecker

Hello. I thought it might be helpful to the competitive cyclist as well as the recreational cyclist to get some uncomplicated answers to some of the physiology and training questions that come up. My intention is to identify common questions, research PubMed and other sites that specialize in training, and present the data on the website newsletter. Please feel free to email me at cdalbecker@comcast.net to suggest a question for research. Since my background is cardio-pulmonary physiology, I’ll deal primarily with that but we may be lucky and get a nutritionist or a physical therapist involved for those types of questions. For now, here is one that I have heard a number of times: Why is hydration so important to performance for the cyclist, and how does it affect cardiac output?

I researched PubMed for studies on hypohydration (dehydration), cardiac output, and exercise by placing these terms in the PubMed search engine and found about ten studies that were relevant. I won’t list these studies here, but you can either enter the same words in the search engine or contact me for the list.

First, we lose water primarily as urine and sweat. The sweat component increases dramatically when we are cycling hard on hot, dry days. In turn, this water loss decreases blood volume (hypovolemia) if it is not replenished adequately by drinking. Remember that cardiac output (CO) is the amount of blood that the left ventricle pumps in one minute. It equals stroke volume (SV) times heart rate (HR) where SV is the amount of blood squeezed out in one heartbeat. As a cyclist, when you are hypovolemic, stroke volume tends to decrease which means you need a higher HR to maintain any given cardiac output. At any effort that is below maximal, this compensatory increase in HR works to maintain CO and is called “cardiovascular drift” in one study I found. However, at a maximal effort, where HR is already maximal, you cannot compensate for a low stroke volume in this way, and CO falls relative to where it would be if you were fully hydrated. This drop in CO due to hypohydration slows you down as a cyclist because CO is an integral component of oxygen delivery. Oxygen is king as far as the cardio-pulmonary response to exercise is concerned, and anything that reduces it will slow a cyclist down.

Another thing that came from this research is that when we get dehydrated in a cycling event, our bodies tend to conserve water by cutting down on the blood supply to the skin for sweating. When sweating decreases below what is needed for efficient cooling, we retain more heat, and if you overheat during an event, this will also slow you down.

Lastly, although many studies recognized the slowing effect of dehydration on the cyclist, these same studies stated that there was no benefit in overhydration. Actually, extreme overhydration could be detrimental to performance, as well as health, due to electrolyte imbalance.

Dave Albecker

Future/Out of Area Rides

Future or Out of Area Event Rides

May 4, 2008 - 3 State-3 Mountain Challenge - www.chattbike.com/events/3_state/3stchlng.htm

May 16-18, 2008 – Tour de Chesapeake – www.bikechesapeake.org

May 24 & 25, 2008 - Mountains of Misery - www.cyclingdoubleheader.com/index.html

June 1, 2008 - SHENANDOAH VALLEY HERITAGE RIDE - Winchester, VA. http://www.svhride.org/

June 7 & 8, 2008 - Tour de Vine - http://tinyurl.com/yuczxw

June 8, 2008 - Tour de Cure - http://tinyurl.com/2twrgj

June 20-25, 2008 – Bike VA – 21^st Annual Tour – The Crooked Road Tour, SW VA. www.bikevirginia.org

Aug. 2, 2008 - Mountain Momma - www.bikemountainmama.homestead.com/
Aug. 9, 2008 - Cumberland Valley Century - www.bikecvcc.com/cvcc_century.html

Aug. 16, 2008 - Cheat Mountain Challenge - www.wvcf.org/cmc/

Aug. 24, 2008 - Blue Ridge Extreme - www.blueridgeextreme.com/

Sept. 14, 2008 - Shenandoah Bicycle Club Century - http://www.svbcoalition.org/

Sept. 20-21, 2008 - RIDE IN THE HEARTLAND - www.bikeheartland.org

Oct. 4, 2008 - Seagull Century - www.seagullcentury.org

June 21, 2008 - Ride the C&O Canal – In a Day!

We will attempt to ride the entire length of the C&O Canal towpath trail – 185 miles – in a single day. Ride date is June 21. Rain date is June 28. Cyclocross bikes recommended. We will begin the ride in Cumberland, MD and end in Washington, DC, with 14 hours or more of pedaling. Ride will begin before dawn, so staying the previous night in Cumberland, MD is necessary. All participants need a “bail option”: somebody to provide pickup if you or your bike are unable to complete the ride. We are also seeking friends/family members as volunteers to drive SAG support and deliver food at key points on the trail.

Anyone is welcome. For most people, this ride should be considered an ultra-endurance event. The ride should only be attempted by those willing to commit the time and effort to train appropriately and who have the proper equipment. Note that there will be a “test ride” on the Canal towpath trail before the actual ride date. This date will be selected by the group of riders choosing to participate. The duration of this test ride is TBD by the group, also.

Ride leader is Chris Stubbs. Please contact Chris at chris_stubbs@comcast.net or mobile (540) 336-9232 if interested.

Winchester Wheelmen May 2008 Ride Schedule

Weekday Rides

Mondays. White Post Loop, starting at White Post Restorations. No ride leader. Meet at White Post Restorations at 6:00PM for an 18 mile loop. Here's a URL for the map for where White Post Restorations is located, for anyone who might not know: http://www.whitepost.com/about.html Here's the URL for loop map:
http://www.winchesterwheelmen.org/Maps/White%20Post-Rockland.pdf This is also a SVHR Training ride for May.

Monday. Hill training ride. Easier paced climbing ride starting from Marker-Miller Orchard on Cedar Creek Grade. This road ride will be led by Robert Golightly on Monday evenings at 6:00PM. Robert may be reached at RobertGolightly@comcast.net or by telephone at 540-535-9986.

Tuesday road rides. 2 rides.

1. Meet at Food Lion Plaza east of Stephens City on VA 277. The rides will start from the east side of the plaza. The route and duration determined by those present, though usually about 34 miles. The ride start time is 6:00PM. There is no ride leader.

2. NEW/OLD VARIATION. Same ride as above, led at a B group pace (16-18mph avg.) Ken Tenney and Chris Stubbs are alternating ride leader duties through the month of May. If it’s used, we’ll continue into June. We will use some paceline, but certainly single file cycling for safety on busier roads. If separated, we will reconvene at all stop sign intersections. For May, Ken will lead on the 6^th and 20^th. Chris will lead on the 13^th and 27^th.The ride start time is 6:05PM.

Wednesdays. Wednesday evening MTB Rides: Meet at the Millbrook HS entrance to the Third Battle of Winchester Trail at 5:30PM. Helmets are required to participate prior to the time change. Please check the WW listserv prior to heading out for this ride. There is no ride leader.

Wednesdays. All-comers road ride, starting at Orchard View Elementary School. Ride pace will be determined by those present. Richard Hartman and DJ Arnold are sharing ride leader duties. Ride start time is 6:00PM. Orchard View Elementary School is located on Middle Road (SR 628), about 3.75 miles from the traffic light at Middle Road and Valley Ave (US 11). (Note that there is no ride leader for the 14^th; it’s the club meeting night.)

Thursdays. 3 rides.
1. NEW CONFIGURATION! The Retired/Day Off Rides will continue in May but without a ride leader. May 8th and 22nd will start at Macedonia Church and go to Millwood with a lunch stop at Locke's Store (27 to 32 miles to be decided by the group present). May 15th and 23rd will start at Marker Miller's Farm Market on Cedar Creek Grade and go to the Olive Store for a lunch stop (32 to 38 miles over hilly terrain).

2. NEW LOCATION! Paceline Ride. Meet behind Quarles gas station, at the intersection of Kimble Rd (SR 653) and VA 7 in Clarke County. The new loop is 27.1 miles. This ride starts at 6:00pm. If enough show, there are "faster" and "slower" groups. There is no ride leader. (Park anywhere behind the store in the grass, leaving the gravel driveway clear in case the truck needs to get to the septic tank. There are a few spots on the store side of the drive and a bunch of room on the other side. Parking straight in towards the trees will allow plenty of parking slots. Please do not park on the paved area since that is used by customers.) This whole new set up is provisional for May. We’ll see how it goes.

3. NEW RIDE! SVHR Training Ride. Mike Perry will be riding from Marker Miller Orchard every Thursday with the B & G challenge team at 6:00PM. This ride will vary from 12 miles to 20 miles with a different route each Thursday. I plan on it being an easy paced ride as the kids work on learning gears, hill work, and road smarts. Anyone is welcome to join us. No ride on wet roads.

Note: Winchester Wheelmen Racing Team will be conducting training rides from the Tuesday & Thursday locations. These rides will start 5 minutes prior to the general club ride. Anyone is welcome to start at either time; however the WWRT rides will not be stopping to regroup as often as the general ride.

Winchester Wheelmen May 2008 Ride Schedule-cont’d

Weekend Rides

Saturday road rides. Meet at Blue Ridge Bicycles. Start time is 8:30AM, weather permitting. No ride if raining or snowing. Ride loop will vary depending upon riders present. Typical ride is 17 miles, but can be lengthened or shortened. There is no ride leader for this ride.

Sunday, May 4^th – Fetzer’s Gap - James Wood Middle School, Winchester, VA. Meet at the school at 9:00AM for the traditional CCW loop road ride (RE: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=92606 ) The school is located on Amherst Street (US 50) on the west side of Winchester. Ken Tenney is leading this moderately paced road ride. The loop is ~62 miles. Contact Ken at ktenney@visuallink.com or 540-722-9224.

Saturday, May 10^th – SkyMass - Front Royal, VA. This road ride is approximately 84 miles. Meet at the Warren Co HS in Front Royal at 8:30AM. Ride must depart at 9:00AM. Ride leader - Justin Larsen, jlarsen01@yahoo.com or 540-877-1790.

Sunday, May 11^th – Impromptu Ride – Orchard View Elem. School, Frederick County, VA. Meet at Orchard View Elementary School on Middle Road (SW of Winchester) at 1:00PM. The duration and type of ride will be determined by those present. There is no ride leader.

Saturday, May 17^th – 3rd Rich Rau Memorial Bike Tour & Pancake Breakfast, Berryville, VA. The Town of Berryville will be sponsoring the second annual Rich Rau Memorial Bike Tour & Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, May 19, 2007. Registration begins at Rose Hill Park at 7:00AM with breakfast being served to cyclists, families and friends from 7:30AM to 10:00AM at Duncan Memorial Methodist Church. The Tour begins at 9:00AM. We will again have three routes (15, 30 or 50 miles) to choose from in the beautiful countryside of Clarke County. Additional information and a link to online registration can be found on the Town's web site (www.berryvilleva.gov). You can also contact Christy Dunkle at planner@berryvilleva.gov or by calling 540-955-4081.

Sunday, May 18^th - Ride on the Western Maryland Trail, Hancock, MD. We will meet at JWMS at 10:00AM or at Hancock at 11:00AM at the Western Maryland Trail paved parking lot on Main Street. This will be an easy paced 25 mile ride with a hilly option on the return. Pace will easy. The Boys and Girls "challenge team" will be riding with us as a warm up for the big ride on June 1st. Contact Mike at 540-877-1795 or mperry@visuallink.com

Sunday, May 25^th - "Rookie Ride-Revisited", Frederick County, VA. Never been on a club ride? A little overweight? A little out of shape? Don't have an expensive bike or bike clothes? Just feel a little intimidated? Join the rest of us Sunday at 4:00PM at Marker Miller Farmers Market, on Cedar Creek Grade, Winchester, VA (in Frederick County, west of Winchester – Cedar Creek Grade is also SR 622). The ride will be on gently rolling terrain, no more than 10-12 miles. Learn the dynamics and etiquette of a group ride and build your confidence. Contact Mike at 540-877-1795 or mperry@visuallink.com This is a test ride. If there is sufficient interest, Mike will do a couple more in June.

Sunday, June 1^st - SHENANDOAH VALLEY HERITAGE RIDE - Winchester, VA. The Northern Shenandoah Valley Boys and Girls Club invite you to our first annual Shenandoah Valley Heritage Ride fundraiser. Join us on a ride through the historic, beautiful contryside of the Shenandoah Valley. This is a self-paced ride for everyone from the recreational to the serious cyclist. The ride includes a Family Ride, 30 mile, 50 mile and 70 mile courses. http://www.svhride.org/ The entry fee is $25. Brochures for this event can be found at the local bicycle shops. Club members are strongly encouraged to participate. Rex Richie has offered to donate $25 for EVERY Winchester Wheelmen member who participates.

GENERAL CLUB RIDE NOTES
Approved helmets are required for all rides. If you are not a club member, you must sign a waiver prior to the ride. For all scheduled rides with a designated ride leader, please contact the leader for details (confirmation that the ride is a 'go', weather concerns, other). For rides without a leader, visit the Winchester Wheelmen Topica listserv for the latest information. The direct link to that web page is: http://lists.topica.com/lists/wwlist You can read all of the postings without joining the list.

Winchester Wheelmen, Inc.

P.O. Box 1695

Winchester, VA 22604

Winchester Wheelmen May 2008 Newsletter

Volume 25, Number 5

Future or Out of Area Event Rides