New Bike Safety Video

Most visitors don't keep track of new additions to the FOGBEE Blog.  We would like to invite everyone to watch the new video we posted from the League of American Bicyclists.  Click on the BIKE SAFETY tab and scroll to the bottom of the page.  Of course you may also want to watch the great videos from the League of Illinois Bicyclists and Music City Moves just above it.

Spring Over-Nighter

. . We didn't have our usual Spring over-nighter last year because the weather was so crappy.  However, several have already asked, "what do we plan for this spring?"  Very likely the weather is going to be significantly better than last year so we are targeting a ride for April 28'th and 29'th.  That will allow those who wish to do the new Spring BRAT to do both.
. . We are tossing around a number of candidate destinations: The Silver Comet, the Virgina Creeper, something in Louisville, the Spring BRAT (instead of our own), and ride from Bristol to Knoxville.  Some even want to repeat the Little Miami ride.
. . So what do you want to do?  How about some suggestions. SOON so everyone can schedule and plan.

Cystic Fibrosis Cycle for Life Committee Meeting

. . The Committee Meeting for organizing the 2012 Cystic Fibrosis Cycle for Life ride has been moved from February 12'th to March 11'th at 2PM in Gary's office.  Our new marketing Director from Cystic Fibrosis Tiffany Kerns has a conflict for February 12'th.
. . If any FOGBEE would like to serve on the Planning Committee or has ideas on how to improve the event please send me a note.  Last year's committee elected to have the annual ride on the fourth Saturday of October.  We will again be at Sycamore Springs and Gary has agreed to have his spectacular Halloween Party that evening so its going to be a gala event.  It'll be a Ride and Party Hardy.
. . Lastly, the long ride was one of the most scenic in the area and well planned by Bruce and Miley.  We received lots of kudos.  But it was tough, especially the approach into Hartsville! Maybe too tough. So we will be looking to level out that section as best as possible in Tennessee and shortening it.  Cystic Fibrosis has also asked us to add a 20-mile route. 

Life Happens

In my never ending quest to keep my fellow Fogbees abreast of how old we really are..take note..it's a sad day as Johnny Otis the creator of the Hand Jive song has died.. :(

JOB Announcement

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is hiring a state advocacy organizer in Tennessee who will build and maintain a network of diverse partners to achieve three main policy objectives: (1) Leverage funding for bicycle and pedestrian construction projects including Safe Routes to School and Transportation Enhancements funds, (2) Facilitate additional street-scale improvements through Complete Streets policies and other mechanisms and (3) Advance joint-use agreements. Policies must benefit lower-income communities and improve the built environment to increase physical activity to help reverse childhood obesity. Applications are due on Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. PT.  The position begins on March 1, 2012.

RAGBRAI 2012

It's RAGBRAI time and Charlene (aka Spinjunkie) is putting together a group to attend this year's event.

Hello Friends! Go here first: http://ragbrai.com/about/ and read. :-)

By now, you've heard me talk about the epic bike tour called RAGBRAI. "Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa." Ragbrai is the oldest and longest bike tour in the world. 2012 is their 40th year! The route changes every year and always travels West to East. Imagine Ten thousand cyclists from all over the world pedaling across Iowa, experiencing the small town life, eating more kinds of pie than you thought existed, friendly local people, pork chops, corn, wait for it...CORN! I've done Ragbrai in 2005, 2007 and 2009. Check out my Ragbrai Albums on my Facebook page for a peek inside this 7 day 500 +/- mile bike tour.

Some of you are already on board with us for this bike vacation of a lifetime...or at least decade. Feel free to forward this email to your cycling friends! I would love to take a big group of Ragbrai "Virgins" with us July 22-28. 

Membership List

Several members are asking to access to the Membership List.  We have ONE log-in for EVERYONE, rather than trying to administer another list of member account ID's.  Click on the Membership List in the sidebar.  When it asks for your ID and a PASSWORD, your ID is ALLFOGBEES@gmail.com.  We have mailed everyone the password on 1/13/12.  These instructions are repeated in the "How To" tab. 

UPDATE

Its a little late, but we have completed the update of our Membership List and Blog Author List.  Members can view the membership list by logging into Google as ALLFOGBEES@gmail.com. You will need a PASSWORD, which we have changed from that used with the prior list.  We will send everyone that password via our LISTSERV (aka Google Group) to which y'all just subscribed.  PLEASE don't share it with non-members.

We have moved member's record who have not responded to the December LISTSERV invite to the EXPIRED worksheet in the Membership List. If you see someone on that page and know they should be on the ACTIVE worksheet, have them send us an note and we will attempt to re-authorize their account.

If you once were able to post to the blog and no longer can, that means we do not have a current active email address for you.  We really didn't want to cut anyone off, but want to keep the author's list to only those people who might actually want to post or comment on the blog.

We have included a list of the FOGBEE Internet Administrators on the "How To" page of this blog.  They are people who have volunteered to service our stuff.  We are always looking for help.  If you have internet skills, we need you.  PLEASE send us a note at FOGBEES@gmail.com

BRAT has new SPRING Ride.

Join us for the BRAT spring ride (River & Lakes Tour) April 20th-21st to knock the dust off your bike and get the winter blues right out of your legs. Come see what makes the Bicycle Ride Across Tennessee so great. If your not sure you can handle our 7 day event in the fall the spring ride is a great chance to see what a multi-day tour is like.
FOGBEES might want to consider this as their SPRING overnighter. Thoughts? Click here for more info.

WHY Fat Old guys keep riding bikes

After Spin goodbye to Jennifer !

As usual we will Spin Thursday night at 6:30 pm at the Y. We had 12 Spinners Tuesday! Several mentioned taking Jennifer to Sams afterwards to wish her well and say goodbye as she's leaving for Virginia (I think)this weekend. Even if you don't Spin come by Sams around 7:45pm and say hello. Jennifer has been a loyal Fogbee rider for years and a devoted Spinner. :)

Update

. . Most of the "heavy lifting" on the conversion of FOGBEE Blog and various websites has been completed.  We are also about to update the Membership List based on those who responded to the Google Group Invite.  About 14 invitations have not been approved by members, some people we know.  However, Google does not permit us to register.  They must do it themselves.
. . Our goal is provide the best website of any club in America and we are on our way to make that a reality.  ALL of it is available to us for FREE thanks to Google.  Please take time to review what we have and offer suggestions.
. . Miley asked for an optional format for phones.  This morning we added that feature.
. . Bob wanted members to be able to have their own page.  We can do that also.  The website is wide open for EVERYONE to contribute directly via Web 2.0. But we need people to volunteer to be trained as administrators for the various sections of the website (see the How To page).
. . We have been archiving all our Photoshows on YouTube.  Its a terribly time-consuming process and Bruce took charge of the work.  For more info on that see our website navigation in the right sidebar. Look under Resources, Photo.

2nd Annual FOGBEES Christmas Parade a Success

The FOGBEES outshone themselves as seen in this shot of Bruce Day.

For a portfolio of pics, go to our Shutterfly via the blog / website icon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL , AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT !

Christmas Lights Ride

Light Up Your Ride

The rain for Thursday evening appears certain! We will ride on Friday evening (12/23/11) instead -- same time, location, and route. Hope to see y'all then.  Jolly Ollie says, "Be ready for Karaoke night and the singing of Christmas carols."

BE READY TO START TO RIDE AT 6:30P

Gary had a great batch of toys to take to the Christmas Program.

Looking for lights for your bike. Best selection in town is at TARGETS and WALGREENS.  Neither Lowes or Home Depot have any.

Click here for instructions to apply lights to a rotating wheel.

To see all the POSTS on the Christmas Lights Ride CLICK HERE.

Now a little song from Gary and the RAIN-BEES to put you in the mood.

,

THE FOGBEES HAVE HEART

Thank you to the Fogbees who contributed to an overwhelmingly successful Christmas gift giving cause for those children who were in jeopardy of having no real Christmas this season. You donated toys and gifts to six children in need. These toys were delivered yesterday (and today) to Gallatin for distribution to the families. Way to go Fogbees. (Note: this picture does not include about 6 other gifts that were left next door to my office that I was unaware of until this morning).

Christmas Lights Ride Regional Competition

The Fogbees are the best bicycle club ever ( no dues, no drop, no ego, etc.) but the guys in Knoxville make a good showing in the Christmas Bicycle Decorating category.  Are are they taking it too seriously?  Perhaps, but no reason to not steal some ideas.
Link to Knoxtrans Christmas Lights Ride.

Special Note on the Toys

If, for some reason, no one is at my office on Friday or Monday when you come by to leave your Christmas gift please just leave it next door (to the left side of my office) at the accounting firm. Thank you. Gary

Toys for Tots Collection by 12/20/11

Because our ride is late this year, we will be collecting toys for the "Christmas Program for Tots, Tween, and Teens," instead of the "Toys for Tots." The Christmas Program collects toys for families whose children will not have a Christmas. The families selected have children of the following ages 2, 3, and 6 year old girls and 4 and 5 year old boys. There is also a 12 year old girl, but Sharyn Evans says she plans to buy for this girl. You can also help with this 12-year old, but we want to try to be sure all the kids get something for Christmas and it is easier to buy gifts that any of the younger ones can use.

Instead of bringing your gift to the Christmas Lights Ride on Thursday night December 22'nd, we ask that you

drop an UNWRAPPED gift off at Gary Williams office during working hours
before Tuesday (12/20/11) noon. 

Gary is out-of-town so leave them in the office with his staff. His office is at 131 Maple Row Bldg #A101 in Hendersonville. Gary will take the gifts to Christmas Program Tuesday afternoon.

Thank you for giving a child a Christmas.

Tom

NEW SPIN CYCLES!

We have new Spinning cycles at the YMCA! Yippie!

Bruce Day , Tom Evans , and David Hardin represented the cycle community eloquently tonight in supporting the Sanders Ferry greenway / walk / bike trail project. A few individuals questioned the necessity of said project; however, the majority alderman sentiment appears favorable to initiating this recreational / transportation public project. One elderly female citizen painted a vivid portrait of pedestrians taking their lives in their hands traversing the guard railed passages over the lake incursions along Sanders Ferry in front of her high rise condo home. She pointed out how other seniors will utilize the walkway regularly.

The vote has been called for the ordinance by Mayor Foster and the aldermen have elected to pursue the Sanders Ferry project unanimously ! Chalk one up for the good guys.

Cycling With Aggressive Dogs Around

I found this in a recent Bicycle Magazine article:

By Neil Bezdek

New York City has its drivers. Colorado suffers from an oxygen shortage. Portland is a monsoon. California can’t afford to fix its potholes. New England won’t thaw till May. The Midwest is a wind tunnel. And the Southeast, my current training ground, has dogs. Every workout is interrupted, or enhanced, by canines looking for a quick meal.

Dogs pose a real threat to cyclists. Some riders carry pepper spray, and others resort to canine-repelling sirens. But this is where I draw the line. I might shave my legs, roam around in tights, and try to keep my body weight on this side of feather-light, but I can defend my place in the food chain under my own power, thank you very much.

So next time you’re out riding and a hound threatens to make you lunch, keep the following in mind.

Tour de Cure May 19, 2012

Is anyone riding the TdC in Nashville on May 19? I registered today and didn't see a Fogbee team. If anyone else is riding or interested in riding, I created a team for us. When you register, it should ask you if you want to join a team. Put in "Team Fogbees" and then click join. I hope we have a good turnout for this.

Jason Sexton

2'nd Annual Christmas Lights Ride - Dec 22, 2011

We have been asked, "Where is Jolly Ollie?"

Here is a link 

Do you need help with Christmas Lights decorations for the ride on THURSDAY December 22'nd? Give us a shout at Fogbees@gmail.com.  Unfortunately, Rudolph, the winner of last year's best decoration can not make it.  He and Gail have been surprised with their FIRST grandchild.  He preferred grand-baby sitting.  That means the competition for the best decoration is wide open.  Again, need ideas? Go to the webpage.

A Nice Little Hill Climbing Route for Bryan

The Tour of British Columbia (TdBC) is an amateur ultra-endurance cycling challenge of epic proportions. Riders have 105 cat 5 climbs, 35 cat 4 climbs, 29 cat 3 climbs, 16 cat 2 climbs, 11 category 1 climbs totalling 48,000 meters ( more than 150,000 feet) of climbing and 5,105 kilometers of non-stop cycling between the start and finish lines. 

RE-ENROLLMENT STATUS

UPDATE 12/9/11 I have just sent out invitations to the remaining 26 member/families, who did not respond to our previous INVITE.  I found new email address for about 9 and sent a SECOND invite to the rest.  I am still getting invalid email address responses to about same ones I noted before.  If you don't get an Invite, contact us as shown below.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
On Sunday we sent out 76 Invitations to re-enroll with the FOGBEES.  Thus far we have received 45 acceptances of our invitation.  However, Google says the following email addresses in our membership list are no longer valid:

If you recognize one of these INVALID addresses, please ask the owner to send us his/her correct address to fogbees@gmail.com

Sad News

For us "OLD" Fogbees a sad note. Nashville Singer/Songwriter Dobie Gray has died. He sang a great song I'm sure you will remember.

FOGBEE HILL CLIMBING ASSIST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs5hjz9qFjk&feature=feedu

Christmas Lites Ride

My prior comment about having a trailer courtesy of Caledonia, AKA David Irvine got buried. Here's what it looks like and the music set to be played. If anyone has some favorite to be added, send me an mp3 or tell me the name and artist and perhaps I can obtain it.  The current playlist is 58 min so we should avoid last years repetitions. The Postman tired of the music after the fourth repeat.

Click more to see playlist

The New Blog

UPDATE 12/2/11: I have revised the background image as requested by Tom_B.  See comments for discussion.
UPDATE 12/3/11: Fixed pixalation of lettering around the logo as requested by Gary. See comments for discussion.
UPDATE 12/4/11: Blog converted.  Only a few webpages have been rebuilt.  This work takes an enormous amount of time, so please be patient.  I plan to do a few hours every day. 
- Membership re-enrollment sent via Google Group Announcement.
-----------------------------------------------
The new blog is ready. Nothing was lost.  I am now rebuilding the website.

Cycling Explained

This guy is obviously not a Fogbee

Hendersonville Greenways & Trails

The City has added a Greenways and Trails page to its website (click here). It provides further details regarding the Ordinance 2011-39, which is in first reading at BOMA and has appeared as a headline article in the Hendersonville Star News (here's a link to the article). The Ordinance includes funding to build a Bike Trail from Gallatin Road to Sanders Ferry Park.  The article alludes to the Bike Trail as a road-widening project for Sanders Ferry. If we could get a Bike Trail down Sanders Ferry Road for $1.5 Million, it would be fantastic.  Because of the heavy traffic and narrow roads on this peninsula, bike and pedestrian traffic on this peninsula is nearly impossible. It would open up Sanders Ferry park to greater recreational use.

Aldermen Stamper and Elsten voted again the Bike Trail. 

Is this something we need a strong show of support for?  What do you think?

IMPORTANT MEMBERSHIP UPDATE NOTICE

Next week, everyone on our membership list will receive an email from FOG-MBR@googlegroups.com with an invitation to join this group.  It is a ListServ which our ride and event leaders can use to send club announcements.  It's private; nobody else can send email with it.

JUST CLICK THE BUTTON ON THE INVITE.

Your response also allows us to update the club membership list and to re-authorize people to POST to our blog. Families only need to respond once, unless the spouse wants his/her own separate listing.  If you don’t accept our invitation by January 1’st, we will delete your record.

Unfortunately, some of our email addresses may be out-of-date (one of the reasons for the update) and during the winter months many don't read the blog. Please help by notifying others that they need to reconfirm their membership.  If you don’t receive something in the next couple of weeks send us a note at FOGBEES@gmail.com . We don't want to lose anyone.

Bottle Cage Warning

On my last ride my bottle cage broke. No big deal. Just remove the bad cage and put on a new one. Should be among the easier repairs. To quote The Band Perry, "Uh,Oh!"

IMPORTANT: Web Site Rebuild & Membership RE-ENROLLMENT

. . Our website was built in 2008 and much of the content is stale.  Also, some of the recent Web Browser updates have buggered up the font rendering.  I just had to reformat everything.
. . As I was redoing every page I noticed just how out-of-date much of it is and how badly everything needs a total redesign

Burn the Calories Off Ride From the Gerst Haus 11/25

Sherry and I are going to ride from the Gerst Haus Friday morning at 9:00AM to the dam and back.  We will have lunch at the Gerst afterwards.   All are welcome to join us. 

Mike Knake