AEA Cycling Club Meeting Minutes

June 17, 1999

  1. Bike to Work Week wrap-up
    1. Yes, the results of the "Nonpolluting Commuting Challenge" were very biased by the construction on Douglas and the stalled car on Aviation. We did not plant that car. ;-) We were not happy that the RR and the city of El Segundo decided to fix the railroad crossing during BTWW. We agreed that the ability to navigate around obstacles was a major advantage of bikes over cars. John Gower suggested that we do this monthly so that we can attempt to get a scientific sampling. If there are any volunteers who would like to take this on, please contact Mark or Grace. Otherwise, this will be an annual event.
    2. Because Peggy and Cheryl were unable to attend, they were unable to give us the final head count of how many cyclists rode in on Bike to Work Day. We had the largest turnout in years, around 34 people. What did we do differently this year to get such a large increase in participants? The Orbiter article? The flyer that went out to every Aerospace employee?
      1. Physical security requested that their guards at the main and Douglas street gates count the number of cyclists on Thursday morning. They counted 5. Thomas Nye, the head of physical security, said that number seemed suspiciously low; he could have his people try again. Next year, we might also put a sign-in sheet in the D8 lobby.
  2. Anonymous donors would like to give the bike club 2 baby seats that mount on the back of mountain/cross bikes. We decided to graciously accept them and keep them in the lockers with the bicycle travel cases. If you would like to check them out for extended loan-up to a year-contact Jose Mendez. Jose is also keeper of the bike travel cases.
  3. We had decided to buy a couple of folding bikes (Specialized) from Performance Bike Shop. Performance sells the bikes through their catalogue for $100 less per bike than buying directly from Specialized. However, they have very restrictive rules. (You have to call between 9am-3am EST on a weekday while standing on your head inside a Performance Bike Shop during that shop's normal business hours. This proves problematic for those of us who work in the PDT zone.
    1. We may buy a "Bob" trailer for hauling cargo instead.
    2. We could also buy a Burley trailer.
    3. We tabled this discussion for a future meeting.
    4. We will draft a budget and come up with a prioritized list of capital items (just like at work!)
  4. We would like to resurrect group rides
    1. Dave Kessler is leading a ride on Wednesdays, leaving at 430PM from the entrance of Building 125 in area A of LAAFB. They ride down El Segundo Boulevard, cut over to Grand, and then go down to the beach path. They pick up more riders at the beach, either near Grand or at the Manhattan Beach Pier. They head south to Palos Verdes and ride partway up the hill before returning. They ride at a leisurely pace-most of the riders are on mountain bikes and average 12 mph. About 4-7 people have been participating and the round trip distance is about 22 miles. However, many people peel off from the group on the return trip. If you are interested in this ride, please send email or call Dave Kessler. His phone number at work is 363-0800, his email address is David.Kessler@losangeles.af.mil
    2. Mark Polak used to lead a Sunday Starbuck's ride leaving the Starbuck's in Riviera Village at 830AM. People would meet at 800AM or so to have coffee and chat. They rolled at 830AM sharp. The route went up a little way before the group had to decide whether to take the high or low route that day. Sometimes the group would split and rejoin later. Sometimes, the group would lunch in Riviera Village before breaking up. The ride itself usually finishes before noon. After a few weeks, the ride became institutionalized and went on even when the intrepid leader was out of town. The ride petered out over the winter and has not restarted. Would anyone like to volunteer to lead the Starbuck's ride for a few weeks, just to give it a kickstart? You can move the date or time to suit your schedule.
    3. We would also like to find a volunteer to lead mountain bike rides in the LA area.
    4. If you want to see more club rides, just organize one and tell us about it. We will post it via the club email list. Our core group of volunteers is stretched very thin so there probably won't be many activities this summer unless you offer to lead them.
    5. There was a discussion about creating a separate email list for people who are looking for riding partners. We try not to send out too much email to the whole bike club email list in case we start to annoy people. If you are interested, please email Grace and specify what type of riding you like to do. (E.g. road or trail; short (10-15 miles), medium (25-50 miles) or long (100-200 miles); flat or hilly; slow, medium or fast. We may even start a ride to help people train for the Amtrak Century this fall since many members have set that as a goal.
  5. We would like to plan a Mammoth area weekend trip, about 2 weeks after Labor Day. There is plenty of good riding for both roadies and mountain bikers of all skill levels. We will probably rent a condo and either carpool or rent a van/bus to take us up there. Email Mark or Grace if you are interested so we can get a rough head count.