Category: Memories (Page 1 of 2)

Summer 2016 Community Bike Ride Recap

July 29, 2016 /

There were concerns the Wednesday before, but the weather worked out and it was a beautiful day for a bike ride. Just under 200 people (with volunteers) came out to the Lawrence Rotary Arboretum to enjoy a beautiful July morning to ride bikes.

Thanks to Central Rotary member Lynn O’Neal and to local bike enthusiast and photographer Eddie Davalos for all the awesome pictures!

Thanks to all our sponsors and everyone who came out. And be sure to save the date on your fall calendar for our fall Ride on the Burroghs Creek Trail September 17th. (More info Coming soon)

Lawrence’s First Fall Community Bike Ride

September 20, 2014 /

It was beautiful early fall Saturday morning when approximately 100 riders and volunteers descended on the Haskell Indian Nations’ Stadium parking lot for our first fall Community Bike Ride.

The mile and a half ride up Burroughs Creek Trail and back made for a great quick three mile for riders of all experience levels.

There’s a lot of people to thank:

Anderson Rentals for the tent, tables, and porta-potties
Douglas County Safe Kids, LMH, and Lawrence Fire and Medical members who came out to fit kids who needed free helmets.
The team from The Merc for the great healthy snacks.
Sunflower Bike for the complimentary bike checks.
Team GpVeloTek and Lawrence Bicycle club and other volunteers for keeping people safe out on the course.
Haskell Indian Nations University for the use of the parking lot as a staging area.
Lawrence Unchained Bicycle Co-Op for course support and letting people know about your great work!
And the incredible support of our sponsors: Lawrence Eye Care Associates, Ortho Kansas, Econolodge, McDonalds, Bev West Creative.

One of the riders, Eddie Davalos, had his camera and shot some great pics from the registration area and out of the course. Below is a galley of his images. Thanks Eddie! If you have any images you’d like to share email them to us them to us and we’ll get them posted.

Rain Rain Go Away

July 20, 2013 /

At dawn we woke up to flashes of lightning and quiet thunder. Then the rain started.

At 6:30 or so we arrived at the Arboretum, the Anderson Rental tent would be needed this morning, not for shade, but to keep dry.

The local radar showed the storms to the south of us but new ones were popping up just west of us and there was a discussion that with the lack of rain as of late the streets would be slick with oil that would be pushed up from the water.

Planned for since last year, event organizer and chair Steve Lane didn’t want to do it, but there was no choice. Flashes of lighting just in the distance, the potential for slick roads and while the regular riders probably would be fine, it was the novices we worry about.

So he pulled the plug. There was no choice. In his email this morning he said, “Folks – the unexpected monsoon this AM was a disappointment. A lot of great energy stayed home today (all those kids on bikes). ”

On the upside: Bill Anderson committed today (after we returned the Anderson Rental gear) that Anderson would commit to sponsor the 2014 ride. This is our largest cost for the ride – and with that already set, it provides Lawrence Central and Ride Lawrence with the confidence to put it on the 2014 calendar and to talk it up. So let’s just say it now – Mark your calendars – July 19, 2014 for the community bike ride.

New for 2014? A rain-day plan. Yup, we need one. We can plan now to do two things to reduce the chances of this occurring again:

1. Sunday, July 20, backup rain-out day.

2. Rather than setting tight ride times (this year 8AM for the 10-mile, and 8:30AM for the 3 mile….both incidentally moved up 30 min. from 2012 due to the high heat) we will have an 8AM 10-mile and and 8:30 3-mile each with a one-hour start window. Huh? Point – in great weather, both will start on time. On a day like today – folks will know that the 10-mile is between 8AM and 9AM. Same for the 3-mile. For instance, this year, if we could have delayed everything by an hour and we would have been fine (hindsight).

But, this not only helps with a flash storm…. it also makes this more accessible for families. For those who like the thrill of all starting together with a countdown may arrive and start at 8AM (or 8:30 for the 3-mile ride). But, those that just want a fun ride – can work to arrive between 8AM and 9AM (or 8:30 and 9:30 for the 3-mile) and still do the rides – with full crew support at the SAG and at street crossings. I believe both of these adjustments will boost our ability to make this event better in the future.

Let’s do it again in 2014! We’re planning already.

: Set-up

: Shirts for those who braved the rain

: Keeping Dry

: The Radar’s Not Looking Good

Lawrence Central / Ride Lawrence staffs SAG stop for Octoginta

October 25, 2012 /

It was a chilly Sunday fall morning and the riders were out in force.

Known as one of the best rides in the Midwest, the Octoginta is always a great end-of-season ride. The Lawrence Bicycle Club prides itself in going the extra mile to provide the best SAGs and support along with the gorgeous fall foliage that combined for a great ride.

Here’s some pix of the SAG stopped we took care of.

Lawrence’s 2012 Community Bike Ride

July 22, 2012 /

It was a nice 70 degrees at 7AM when we arrived to set up at the Rotary Arboretum. In the middle of one of the hottest summers in memory, a small army coordinated Lawrence Central Rotary’s Steve Lane and George Brenner descended to set up registration tables, tents for safety, first aid, complimentary bike check outs, an up on top of a gentle hill an area for the training wheel take-off staff.

The back of a rented truck has dozens of water coolers filled with liquids and ice to stave off the oncoming midday heat.

Once ready registrants signed up, got their complimentary t-shirt and other goodies from local bike clubs and at 8AM the first batch of riders took out on the 10 mile ride – 5 miles up to the 6th Street underpass and back. We has a SAG (support and gear) stop at the underpass which was mainly a bunch of iced water, but thanks to the local bike clubs if anyone encountered trouble tools and help were readily on hand.

For safety along the way, volunteers were at the major intersection crossings to make sure traffic was not a problem, for peace of mile for the less seasoned riders.

At 9Am the next larger, group set out to ride a mile and a half out to the Clinton Park Lake overlook and back. It included a lot of the people who had ridden up and back on the 10 mile already too, it was amazing to see the pack of bikes head off down the trail.

Interspersed the entire morning were toddlers and younger kids taking advantage of the 1 mile closed loop course. Kids that did not have helmets and even those will ill fitting ones were set up with a nice new helmet and given a lesson on how to wear it and be safe.

Walking a quarter of the way around the training wheel take-off station was set up.. staffers removed wheels and coached kids running alongside them down the gentle incline until the centrifugal force and a little balance kept them upright. It was amazing to see the big smiles on faces when they realized they were actually riding a two-wheeler!

After each ride or lap around the Arboretum pond the fine people from the Merc had healthy snacks set up for a little post ride energy or in some cases a celebratory granola treat for riding a two-wheeler bike for the first time.

From all of us at Ride Lawrence, Lawrence Central Rotary we want to thank all the sponsors and supporters below – without them this wouldn’t have been possible.

We plan to keep this yearly tradition going and growing, and thanks to everyone involved it looks like we’ll be able to do that!

Below is a gallery of pics from the event taken by Chris Ralston of GP VeloTek. If you have any you’d like to add please email them to us and we can get them posted!

Update: We’ve added some more pics by Scott Wagner too! If you have more keep them coming and we’ll post them!