Mid Week Post

Thursday THC Ride out of RRB Bikes

I am assuming no sane person went out Tuesday from RRB for our first formal ride of the season.  If you did go out, it may be best you not announce that as I did qualify "sane."  Given that, and that there is construction on the road out of town, I propose we amend our Thursday route to be Crab Apple .  6 PM Start time, less than 25 miles for the route.  Short cuts available.

Friday Cruiser Ride

  Friday Night at 6:30, downtown Woodstock on the Square. Ride for an hour and adjourn to The Public House on The Square post ride.  

This Weekend- Informal Rides

  Let me know, and I'll amend this post to show who, what, when, where, etc

Treadfest

  From our Race Director, And All Around Good Guy, THE BISHOP.  This is a link to our web page.   http://treadheadcycling.com/treadfest/

 
  Also, here is a message he is sharing about TREADFEST.
 

Hey Treadheads,

The Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) is underway and the club is in the process of planning for our amazing race at the Grand Geneva, Treadfest. This is our sole fund-raiser for Tread Head Cycling and the money generated is used to promote cycling within our community. There are a few developments regarding Treadfest that I'd like to share with you today.

The race is on September 6th, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. This is a week earlier than usual and was changed due to WORS schedule conflicts with the NICA high school races which WORS also manages. We are excited to get racers to make Treadfest a destination race with their families to spend some time in and enjoy the Lake Geneva area. This also allows Treadheads to have a little more fun after the race since most people don’t have to work the next day. We know this can be a heavy vacation weekend and we are hoping to get the volunteers needed to run the race smoothly.

Treadfest will not have the trail run this year. Our numbers for the trail run have always been small and it is not worth the investment in volunteer hours for the return. We are not alone as last week’s WORS race in Iola also removed the trail run from its schedule. Runners I had conversations with seemed to understand and took it in stride.

This year we are going to have our Treadfest volunteer party a week before the race at Simple Café. This will allow a better forum to communicate race logistics and coordination plus have some fun. Simple is one of our sponsors and they have graciously agreed to open in the evening for our awesome volunteers. More details to come on an evening of great food and friends.

To help with Treadfest volunteer coordination we are going to have team captains for the different functional areas. Team captains will lead volunteers in each functional area. To improve communication the volunteers will have one person that can provide information and leadership.

We will soon be sending out requests for volunteers. We really appreciate all of the help that everyone has provided over the years and we hope that we can count on several wonderful individuals to help make this year’s event a success as well.

If you have any questions regarding the race or volunteering please let me know.

Mike Bishop - Treadfest Race Director

National Bike Challenge

  The Wisconsin Bike Federation is encouraging Wisconsin (and you Flatlanders, too, I guess) to sign up and post your miles through the Summer.  Last year, Wisconsin took the top of the podium, and the TREADHEADS are a good group to up that tally.  More information about signing up can be found at https://nationalbikechallenge.org/     Thanks for sharing that information, Dan Getzen.  

Talk To Your Board

If there is something cycling related that you are passionate about, share your thought with a board member(s)  What can we do to make our club better?  

Solo Riding Gets Me Thinking...

Riding makes me think. Thinking makes me write.  Don't ask what happens when we throw drinking into thinking, that is a post for another time.  But here is a little something you might relate to on what the bike does for me.  

It’s Not A Bike;

There is an abundance of research that suggests we are happier when we spend our money on experiences rather than things.  That seems counter-intuitive to many.  We know what happens to that expensive meal once it has been devoured, but a thing costing the same amount of money often lasts well beyond the lifetime of a meal. 

But it is generally not true that things are better than experiences.  New toys lose their sparkle and shine.  But experiences?  They tend to grow, even get better, over time.  Take a vacation where it rained 5 out of 7 days.  A year later, you will remember the glorious wonder of the two sunny days.

A friend of mine is the genius behind The Art of Really Living.  He contends that we can slow time and in effect live (almost) forever.  He has some very specific steps about how to do that.  But the basic premise is to live life so as to create event horizons. 

What are the criteria for shaping event horizons?  For making moments that last almost forever? That slow and expand time?  There are five factors;

•  Emotional Intensity
• Physical intensity
• Uniqueness
• Flow
• Beauty

I took issue with the research that things don’t make us happy.  I pointed to my favorite bike as a prime example.  The bike was a thing.  That thing made me deliriously happy.  Ergo, some things do make us happy.  John corrected me.  It is not a bike. It is an experience delivery mechanism.  It is not a bike.  It is the rides with friends, the cycling vacations to new destinations, it is the early morning experience of seeing the sun rise over the next hill on some back road, flying down a steep descent, or cresting it, happening upon an unexpected lake.  It is…. we all have our memories sitting atop a bike.

So, it is not a bike. It is an experience delivery mechanism.  We just call it a bike for convenience.  

And how many event horizons do I have from riding a bike?  Where do I start?  How about you?  

Like TREAD THREAD?  Tell your Friends.

Hate the TREAD THREAD?  Tell ME!  

Gary