The Carolina Tarwheels Bicycle Club

Welcome! The Carolina Tarwheels Bicycle Club is a group of friendly bicycle enthusiasts who organize social rides in Orange, Durham, Wake, Alamance, and Chatham counties of North Carolina.  Tarwheels May Meeting The next members meeting of the Tarwheels will be on Thursday, May 15th at the Carolina Ale House at 3911 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd. near Sam's Club and Target. Dinner is at 6:00 PM and the program will start about 6:45. We have a very interesting program lined up. Have you ever heard of Paris-Brest-Paris? This is a famous continuous 1200km (that's 720 mi) ride in France. Last August over 5,300 cyclists, including 21 from North Carolina, attempted to complete this ride in less than 90 hours. The drop out rated exceeded 30%, a new record, as the international field battled some of the worst conditions ever in the 116 year history of the ride--cold, wind and rain. Come hear how the NC riders fared as Jerry Phelps shares pictures and stories from the road and other riders. Questions? Call Sharon at 732-4866. E-mail me at sharonrogg@aol.com only if several days in advance.

Letter from the President

Well, it’s that time of year again…the changing of the guard, and a time of change and new beginnings. A new Board and club officers were elected at the January club meeting. This includes Linda Charles – President, Helen Warner – Secretary, Bill Heemstra – Treasurer, returning Board members Sharon Roggenbuck, Alan Seiferheld, John Swartz, Juli Tenney (for another term), and new Board members Mira Gloss and Cindy Blair.

As newly elected president, I would like to give special thanks to departing officers and board members. Ken Dietel has been on the Board and/or Treasurer of the Tarwheels for 6 years. He has also been a past webmaster and Bikefest Director. Additionally, he has acted as the club’s unofficial historian, and recently provided a collection of archive Coghaulers and board meeting minutes from the many years of the club’s history. More recently he lead two IT Workshops to get members involved on how we can improve our website. Thank you Ken for all your hard work on behalf of the club over the past many years. Also retiring from the Board is Connie Winstead who has been a tireless worker during her two years on the Board. As Bikefest Co-director she organized all the food, rest stop coordinators, and made sure everything worked smoothly in Hillsborough. She was also instrumental in updating the Tarwheels membership brochure. Cheryl Lytle has been an active contributor to Board meetings and decisions, leading club rides, and has been our liason with the Department of Transportation. I would like to thank Mira Gloss, who is stepping down as President but will remain on the Board. Mira was always willing to go the extra step to communicate with the community regarding Tarwheel activities and take on the every day correspondence that is required. We look forward to continuing to work with Mira this coming year. Finally, last but not least I’d like to thank Juli Tenney who has provided a lot of legal insight into the workings and communications of the Club. She has helped tremendously with reviewing correspondence for potential liability and could see implications in communications that the ordinary person would never anticipate. I’m extremely glad that Juli has agreed to “re-up” as a Board member and continue providing this valuable input. When you see these folks on rides, please thank them for all the work they have done in support of Club activities.

Now, the new beginnings. As seems to be the theme during this political season…change will be the word for the Tarwheels also. You will see several changes this year with respect to the way the Tarwheels conduct their routine business. We have heard clearly that Club members would like a better way to list rides, especially without having to plan 3 months ahead to post their ride in the Coghauler. Thanks to Barbara Keyworth, Buz Gaver, and Jeff Klee, who initiated the discussions on this topic, the club will embark on revising the website so that all members can submit rides that can be posted within a few days prior to when the ride will occur. All the details have not been worked out but based on information gathered at the two IT Workshops held in December and January, we have formed an ad hoc IT committee lead by Bill Heemstra, to work out the Club’s needs. We hope to have the ride posting function up and running before the Spring riding season.

In addition to the ride posting capabilities, we also realize that keeping up with the Club membership could be a lot easier. Rich Crandall and Paul Caldwell have been keeping track of membership renewals for the past two years, and it is a very cumbersome process. As a part of the web upgrades we are looking into how we can allow members to renew their membership and update their “biker profile” online. Finally, we also hope to find an easier way to send out emails to all club members. Right now Sarah Broome and Libby Evans must filter through over 100 emails a day (after spam filters) to send out all those emails that come to info@tarwheels.org.

Finally, to try to make the email job a bit easier in the interim, we are asking club members to send ALL messages that they want to distribute to the membership to info@tarwheels.org. Please stop using the Tarwheel@tarwheel.org address immediately. This includes emails for pickup rides.

I look forward to seeing you on the road on Tarwheel rides. Feel free to contact me at lcharles@nc.rr.com or one of the other Board members (email addresses on the website) if you would like to volunteer for any of the club’s many jobs or if you have any ideas or suggestions.

Keep on peddlin’
Linda

Bicycle News

Tarwheels Pedaling for MS

The Tarwheels has a team that has taken part in the Eastern NC MS ride for the last 4 or 5 years. We're not a very big team but we make up for it in dedication to the cause. Our team has always ranked among the top ten fund raising teams and last year we had the second highest fund raising average. We have recieved trophies and plaques for our accomplishments. Two of our team members are among the top ten fund raisers. It isn't just about fund raising though, we have a good time riding and socializing. Multiple Sclerosis is such a devastating disease and it affects adults in the prime of their lives. Almost everyone knows someone with MS. The ride takes place this year on Sept.13th and 14th in New Bern, NC near the coast. It is a figure-eight ride with the start, overnight, and end at the Convention Center in New Bern. Ride lengths are 30, 75, or 100 miles each day. It is a very well organized and fully supported ride. Everyone from newbies to seasoned cyclists are welcome. Registration is open now, go to the National MS Society Tarwheels Webpage. Click "Join Carolina Tarwheels" to register as a member of the Tarwheels team. There are many training rides available and you have plenty of time. Don't wait too long to get a Hotel. There is plenty of camping across from the Convention Center. Co-captains are Sharon Roggenbuck sharonrogg@aol.com and Gwen VanArk gvanark@mindspring.com. Contact us if you would like more information.

Donate Your Old Bike to a Good Cause

Bikes for the World (BfW) is hosting a used bike collection in the Triangle on March 29th. BfW collects bikes that are no longer being used and sends them to partners in developing countries where the bikes will get people to work and school. It's a great program because it recycles bikes that might otherwise end up in one of our local landfills, and at the same time, the donated bikes have the power to change the lives of the persons getting them.
So, here's the summary:
1. Donate a bike on Saturday March 29, 10:00 to 2:00
Where: Headquarters Park, 2224 E NC Hwy 54, Durham 27713 (on 54, between 55 and Alston)
2. Make a cash donation to cover the shipping of donated bikes.
A minimum $10 per bike donation to Bikes for the World is suggested to defray the cost of shipping to overseas charity partners, who repair the bicycles and distribute them to people who need them for access to work, school, and health care. (The bike value and cash donation are both tax deductible.) If you do not have a bike to donate, but wish to support this cause, you can send a monetary donation to 1609 Edgevale Road, Durham NC 27701.

Tarwheels Club Rides

Everyone is welcome at club-sponsored rides. Of course, we encourage you to also join the club and receive the other benefits of membership. The current ride list is available online. 

Newsletter Deadline:

Email submissions to: John Swartz or coghauler@earthlink.net. Snail mail to: Tarwheels, Attn: Newsletter, PO Box 111, Durham, NC 2770
Ride Deadline: Submit rides to a ride coordinator.
Membership Renewal: Renewal details are on the Info page. Renew today!

Tarwheels Chat List

You are welcome to join the unofficial Tarwheels-chat e-mail list. Unlike the official club list, which is moderated and for official club notices, there is also an unmoderated chat list, on which it is open season for just about anything. Best of all, you can subscribe to it yourself. Here's how.

If you have comments or suggestions then send e-mail to the Tarwheels Web Master.