Hey Friends!

I’m inviting you to participate in the world wide ‘Ride of Silence’ on Wednesday, May 21 at 7pm. This event is a memorial to people locally who have died bicycling. You are welcome not only to join in, but read a short speech for whatever group we gather, which has varied from year to year.

The meeting location will be near the intersection of Cranston St and Rt 10. Meets: 7:00 PM, Cranston Parkade, Garfield Avenue.

Although the ride goes rain or shine, last year the ride was postponed due to a tornado watch. You only need to show up before 6:45 PM with a bicycle in good repair (a mountain bike would be okay), helmet, and lights (optional, front white and rear red).

We stay together and go slowly. We ride on city streets in Cranston, Providence and Warwick; the route has several eye openers: exposes roads that are bicycling unfriendly (which is illegal), pays homage to Cyclocross Nationals held in Providence (thus a route that goes over small sections of dirt and sidewalks), points out neglected opportunities for improvements. There will be free pamphlets, souvenirs and a map.

During the ride Alan Barta, contact for the Providence ride, will point out things that individuals can do to fight back and refuse to be victims. He’s had many personal successes he’ll mention and be glad to discuss further.

Alan has advocated for bicycle awareness and beyond. His decade long, ongoing agenda of bicycling activism has been fourfold:

1. Change RI motoring code to acknowledge not discriminate against and over regulate;

2. Force roadnet improvements that favor; stop trend to eliminate shoulders and squeeze out other road users;

3. Create an unbroken statewide infrastructure–everyone should be able to ride safely anywhere in state.

4. Encourage versus polluting, wasteful forms of transportation.

Support Bike-to-Work Day next Friday, Bike-to-Work Week, and Bicycle Month of May.

For more information or to find a location near you (if you aren’t in RI) go to www.rideofsilence.org

Hope to see you on the 21st.

Much Love,
Heidi

Cookout for all members following ride! Many great raffle prizes donated by local businesses and bike shops! Money from raffle and ride fees will go to support Trips for Kids.

Directions: 95 N or S, exit 5a onto Route 102, follow for 1/2 miles to the end then take a right onto Route 3 south, follow for 1 mile to the blinking light and take a right onto Route 165 (Little Country Pizza is on the corner), follow for about 1/2 mile and take left onto Arcadia Road. Browning Pond parking lot is on the right.

From the Craigslist post - any questions contact Jim through the ad link.

http://providence.craigslist.org/bik/669377773.html

Once again its the Spring Bike swap at as220. So make yer list for your bike project or bring your goods to swap sell or give. Anything bike related is welcome. Think killer bike yard sale. Its gonna be a good time! Sunday May 11. 12-5pm. As always - admission is free and Vendors are welcome. any questions drop me a line.

This is always a good time with a good mix of bike stuff represented from MTB to road to ‘cross and fixed. There’s also a really good restaraunt, and bar, right next door for all of your lunch time needs.

Thx,
Brendan

brenden dee

Lennon & Jim G

Learn some trail-riding basics to get you started with ZERO pressure!

Saturday May 3rd at 10:00 AM at Big River, West Greenwich

1 hour format, helmets and blaze orange vest required…

Directions: Exit 6 / Rt. 3 from 95
Parking lot at top of Burnt Saw Mill Road, just South of Exit, Exit 6 on 95 - West Greenwich

For more information contact:
jashoard@cox.net or lmmellow@cox.net

It is a bridge building project, but we don’t need any tools and they will have all the materials ready.

We are going to meet at the BROWNING MILL POND PARKING LOT AT 8:30 a.m. If anyone wants to ride up with me, I can pick people up. Good idea to bring snacks, hydration and a pair of work gloves.

This is one of at least two projects we will help them with this year, and I am actually pretty happy that they have sought us out as allies for trail work.

Feel free to email me or Jim Grimley (rimud@cox.net) for more details/directions.

Hope you can make it.

-Lennon

100 volunteers signed in (that means we likely had 120 total). We filled 8 dumpsters! Roughly half were mtbkers. Three full of tires and two with just steel. Our Arcadia vp Jim G headed a group that cleaned sites way down Burnt Saw Mill….. removed old shed, trash from the remains of the houses then went deep to tackle two old dumps in the woods. Our Nemba rep Matt H took a group to three old sites off rt 3. Bob Z’s (who lives in the house across from the cemetery on HH) crew worked two large tire dumps on Division and Hopkins. Yet another group with headed by Jonathan (our web master) took Jeeps and a flat bed and pulled the hulk of the old jeep out of the “wall” trial, removed the car hulk next to the Coaster trail and the tire dump deep in the woods off Cardi Road headed to the Saw Mill cuttings piles. Dan N (head of the WG Conservation Commission) along with Nicole (who choose the cleanup as her high school senior project) cleaned sites way west on Rt 3. Two troops of Cub Scouts worked the Sand Pit and I hear filled two pickup trucks.

At noon about half the volunteers meet up at Big River Inn for burgers, dogs and a raffle.

thanks again for all of your effort…

(here’s a gallery from the last two years
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaltschnee.)

huffin & puffin pete

note to mtbkers: Likely some will get lost in on there regular rides because trash landmarks are gone (may need to put some signs up to say “there was a blue barrel here”!

Please consider volunteering! It is a great opportunity for the mountain biking community to show its support & love for this fantastic ridding spot. Our good turnout each year helps build a positive relationship with the community and the Water Resources Board. Last year there were over 100 voluteers with about half from the ri-nemba. We filled 8 or more dumpsters.

Families are welcome and there are some areas where young children can be helpful.

Be sure to sign in as an RI Nemba member!

Some useful things to bring:
good work gloves (although we will be giving out free ones thicker ones can be better)
bring your pickup truck if you have one (throwing a tarp in the bed probably is a good idea too)
a few sledge hammers and crow bars will help disassemble some small buildings we’re taking down
a few rakes for cleaning up around the two house sites

Free lunch at Big River Inn at noon. Raffle with great prizes of all kinds. Free Clean Up t-shirts!

hope very much to see you there

huffin & puffin pete

April 19, Saturday, Big River Cleanup

April 27th, Sunday, Arcadia Trail Work Party

May 3rd, Saturday, Beginner Skills Clinic, Big River

May 18th, Sunday, Arcadia Fun Ride, Browning Mill Pond

June 1st, Sunday, First Ride of the Arcadia Ride Series

June 15th, Sunday, Arcadia Ride Series

June 20th, Sunday, Arcadia Ride Series

July 13th, Sunday, Arcadia Ride Series

July 20th, Sunday, Burlingame Trail Work Party

July 27th, Sunday, Arcadia Ride Series

August 10th, Sunday, Arcadia Ride Series

August 24th, Sunday, Arcadia Ride Series

September 7th, Sunday, Arcadia Ride Series

September 21st, Sunday, Arcadia Fun Ride, Beach Pond

October 4th, Saturday, Take A Kid Mountain Biking

remember check out this web page for details on each event and last minute changes

Brendan