Sustain-a-fest is Thursday the 6th

Sustain-a-fest is this Thursday from 1-5 outside the Larsen Student Union, and Messiah Cycling is partnering with Recycle Bicycle of Harrisburg to provide free bicycle repair! Come on out with any mechanical issues, to talk and learn about green transportation and maintenance, as well as to sign up for the club email list.

Ride Solar!

So several of us Messiah Cyclists participated in Ride Solar this last Saturday. Ian, Sam, Julie and I all got rides thanks to the Collaboratory and some very generous Professors! Thanks for making this possible. Julie and Sam both rode the 30-mile course while Ian and I took the 63-mile route. All was going well and we were both enjoying the scenery very much until my front wheel's hub started to squeak. I had had it overhauled recently at my LBS, but apparently something wasn't right as the friction and noise increased until we were forced to stop at mile 35. While we were waiting for Ian's parents to come rescue us, we watched an Amish farmer mowing a field of hay with his team of horses. It was really interesting to see the clash of more traditional Amish culture with some threads of modern culture. For example, a buggy went by with a bunch of grocery bags from Wal-Mart. When the farmer who was mowing the hay finished, he came over and said hi to Ian and me. When we explained that we'd had a mechanical but had a ride coming, I'm sure he was chuckling inside: "All that fancy equipment and it still doesn't work." A huge thank you to everyone who donated to this ride, even though I was unable to finish!

Liberty Criterium

Liberty Criterium Cat 4 Video and Report from Bikelink on Vimeo.

Raced at Liberty Criterium on July 24th. It was a wide, clean course without technical turns and a slow uphill just after the start/finish line. But as luck would have it, I crashed out on one the easiest courses in history when a rider in front of me touched wheels with another rider to my right. This took a group of us down. At least I felt great until the crash! Here's a video of my race before and without the crash.

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge

Did you know that 40% of all urban travel in the US happens within 2 miles of where people live? 90% of that travel is by car! Realizing the great opportunity to help fight climate change, CLIF BAR created a competition to see how many car trips could be replaced with a bike instead. It’s called the 2 Mile Challenge.

Ride Solar 2011

We are really gearing up for the Ride Solar 2011 in Lancaster on September 17th. Check out the website at http://www.ridesolar.org/Ride_Solar_Site/Home.html. The purpose of this event is to raise money of a solar installation on a school outside Port au Prince, Haiti. Not only is solar energy sustainable, but it is the most viable source of power for Haiti's infrastructure, which hasn't recovered over a year and half after the devastating earthquake.

Summer Riding

Well, I realize that I am quite behind in posts, so I should probably start with a recap of the summer. I stayed down in Grantham, PA for most of the summer due to a biochemistry research project I was working on. I enjoyed living in an apartment owned by "Pops" Dr. Beck. My summer days usually started around 5 or 6 AM with a 35-50 mile ride, research from 9-5 (sometimes later) and then maybe a group ride or another solo ride later in the day. I was able to scout out a bunch of new routes that I hope to introduce to the rest of the team in the Fall. I made it out to quite a few of the Mechanicsburg A-group rides which I found to be quite challenging and fun, even though most of the guys treat it like a race and hammer as long and hard as they can.

Into the Mountains via Whiskey Springs Rd.

I also spent a number of weekends helping out at Recycle Bicycle where I continued to learn the ropes and help Ross out around the shop and the mobile unit, in addition to working on some beautiful new team bikes.

Keane working on the blue Trek team bike at Recycle Bicycle

Jeremy modeling the yellow and white team Trek

Adam and Jeremy came with me and got to see the shop for the first time. As I didn't have a car all summer, I rode into Harrisburg quite a bit. The mobile unit is Ross's "Garden Shed on Wheels," and it's basically the coolest thing ever. As the "bike man" Ross drives a bright red Honda Element with a huge rectangular, box contraption made from plywood as a trailer.

Recycle Bicycle Mobile Unit Hard at Work in Hall Manor Projects

Inside he has everything he could need to fix bikes all over the city. The idea behind the mobile operation is to bring the shop to the kids. We went around to various housing projects, fixed bike and talked with kids. It was an eye-opening experience for me as I have never really spent much time in the inner city.

Waiting for the start of Iron Hill Criterium

In addition to all the local stuff, I got a little racing in on a few weekends in July. A local racer was incredibly generous and was willing to pick me up from my apartment in Grantham and bring me to races. I raced in 4 criteriums (short courses designed for multiple laps) and crashed out in 2 of them.

That said, it was a good test of my legs to see where my fitness was after a slow start to the season due to traveling and school. I am looking forward to a few road races while home in New York and then a lot of group rides and races in September and October back in PA; although the highlight of the season will undoubtedly be Pittsburgh's Dirty Dozen in November!

Recycle Bicycle...again

Last Friday, Caleb and I rode from Messiah College to Harrisburg Recycle Bicycle to help Mr. Russ. While we were fixing bikes kids started coming to the door with flat tires or no brakes. We were flooded with a steady stream of kids for about 1 hour. After lunch we were joined by Brandon Keeks and we started working on the Trek team bike that Ross gave us. It's gonna be sweet if we can ever fix everything--we found a lot more that needed to be done. Caleb and I left at 4:30 and biked back to Messiah in a light drizzle of rain.

So last Thursday we, with an additional 20 Messiah College Students, went out to volunteer at Harrisburg Recycle Bicycle for service day. Some of us had no experience with bike repair, others, like myself, had several years worth. Ross Willard, the guy who runs the operation was very helpful, always available to answer questions and teach. He also talked about ways in which we can use bicycle maintenance as a missions tool. What an awesome day!
What does Recycle Bicycle do? They fix kids bikes for free, primarily concerned with safety, and give out new bikes. Recycle Bicycle gives inner city kids opportunities not only to have a safer form of recreation, but also to develop mechanical skills. The bikes that Ross and his group receive are all donations. The bikes that they can’t give to kids they either give to adults for commuting to and from work, or they ship them overseas through organizations like Bikes not Bombs and Pedals for Progress. These organizations allow people in Africa and other countries to learn mechanical skills and personally invest in a sustainable and efficient form of transportation (they basically build their own bikes).

Coming out of Hibernation

Hello all,
After my first semester at Messiah College and some sporadic road cycling with some friends here, I have determined that the time is ripe for a Messiah College Cycling Team! We are in the process right now of finding a faculty advisor as well as reviewing our application for club status. Please keep the club in your prayers, that we as students would be given the focus and drive to pursue this club. Stay tuned for more information.