The May 24 weekend is over and for many it means we really feel like summer is here, even if the cold weather defies us constantly. Most of the rides are pretty local this week, except for Sunday when the Level 1 crowd is going to venture from Beavermead Park up to Lakefield for a well-deserved ice-cream.  While the 1’s are busy ice-creaming, the Level 3/4s will be visiting the Bleasdale Boulder and taking in a whole plethora of lilacs on the “Rock & Lock & Roll” route out near Trenton.  For the mountain-bikers among us, Helmut will have another Friday night adventure for y’all, only this time they’ll be starting from the Woodland Trailhead.

RSVP: 
Members: Please let ride leaders know you are in, using your Cycle Club Account.  
Guests: Those wishing to ride as our guest may leave a comment on the website to let us know you are coming. Please bring a signed Guest Waiver with you (available in the right-hand column of our website)

The Quick Facts: Upcoming Rides (May 22nd to May 28th)

More details about all the rides are found in your Cycle Club account Events page.

Tuesday May 23rd: Evening Ride, 6:00pm

Level 1: 
Start location: Cobourg Memorial Arena, 206 Furnace St., Cobourg

Level 2: 
Start location: Parking lot at St. Mary’s Church in Grafton, 103 Lyle St., South, Grafton

Level 3/4:
Start location: Port Hope Town Hall, 56 Queen St, Port Hope

Thursday May 25th: Morning Ride, 10am

Level 1: 
Start location: Baltimore Recreation Centre, 23 Community Centre Rd., Baltimore

Level 2:
Start location: King’s Field Park at 28 Victoria St., South, Port Hope

Level 3/4:
Start location: Memorial Arena in Grafton, 10766 County Rd 2, Grafton

Thursday May 25th: EVENING Ride, 6pm

Level 3/4 (only):
Start location: McDonald Trailhead, Northumberland County Forest, 507 McDonald Rd, Grafton (about 2Km north of Centreton Road)

Friday May 26th: Mountain Biking, 6pm

Level 3/4 (only):
Start location:  Woodland Trailhead (Northumberland Forest): Intersection of Hwy 45 and Woodland Rd., (a few kms north of Beagle Club Rd.)

Sunday May 28th: Morning Ride, 10am

Level 1:
Start location:  Beavermead Park, 2011 Ashburnham Dr, Peterborough

Level 2: 
Start location: St. Mary’s Church parking lot in Grafton, 103 Lyle St., South

Level 3/4: 
Start location:  Lower Trent Trail Parking lot, 70 Lock Rd., Trenton

Okay, so we aren’t really sure where the sunshiny warm weather has gone, but it makes for some great riding temperatures. In addition to our Regular Season rides this Helmut is taking a group out for Friday Night Mountain Biking (it will surely be an adventure!).

RSVP: 
Members: Please let ride leaders know you are in, using your Cycle Club Account.  
Guests: Those wishing to ride as our guest may leave a comment on the website to let us know you are coming. Please bring a signed Guest Waiver with you (available in the right-hand column of our website)

The Quick Facts: Upcoming Rides (May 15th to May 21st)

More details about all the rides are found in your Cycle Club account Events page.

Tuesday May 16th: Evening Ride, 6:00pm

Level 1: 
Start location: Cobourg Public Library, 200 Ontario St., Cobourg

Level 2: 
Start location: King’s Field Park at 28 Victoria St., South, Port Hope

Level 3/4:
Start location: Hamilton Township Municipal Offices, 8285 Majestic Hills Dr,

Thursday May 18th: Morning Ride, 10am

Level 1: 
Start location: Westwood Park, 665 Carlisle St., Cobourg

Level 2:
Start location:King’s Field Park at 28 Victoria St., South, Port Hope

Level 3/4:
Start location: Bond Head Parkette, at 5 Boulton St., in Newcastle

Thursday May 18th: EVENING Ride, 6pm

Level 3/4 (only):
Start location: Hamilton Township Municipal Offices, 8285 Majestic Hills Dr.

Friday May 19th: Mountain Biking, 6pm

Level 3/4 (only):
Start location:  Beagle Club Trailhead, Northumberland Forest

Sunday May 20th: Morning Ride, 10am

Levels: (1, and 3 & 4 only)
Start location:  Brighton Public Boat Launch at 162 Harbour Street, Brighton

Level 2: Morning ride, 10am
Start location:  Parking lot at St. Mary’s Church in Grafton, 103 Lyle St., South, Grafton

At the moment the weather looks fantastic for the whole week! We have our Regular Season rides this week (Tuesday evening and, Thursday & Sunday mornings), plus there are a few other Saturday rides happening this week.  Debbie will lead a road-ride on Saturday for the 3/4s while Helmut takes the gravel biking crowd out.

RSVP: 
Members: Please let ride leaders know you are in, using your Cycle Club Account.  
Guests: Those wishing to ride as our guest may leave a comment on the website to let us know you are coming. Please bring a signed Guest Waiver with you (available in the right-hand column of our website)

The Quick Facts: Upcoming Rides (May 8th to May 14th)

More details about all the rides are found in your Cycle Club account Events page.

Tuesday May 9: Evening Ride (Level 1, 2, 3/4)
Start time: 6:00pm
Levels:1, 2, 3, and 4
Start location:  Cobourg Community Centre, Northwest parking lot area

Thursday May 11: Morning Ride (Level 1, 2, 3/4)
Start time: 10:00am
Levels:1, 2, 3, and 4
Start location:  King’s Field, 28 Victoria St., South, Port Hope

Thursday May 11: Paul’s Evening Ride (Level 3/4 only)
Start time: 6:00pm
Levels: 3 and 4 only
Start location: McDonald Trailhead, about 2 Km north of Centreton on McDonald Road.

Saturday May 13: Helmut’s Morning Gravel Bike Ride (Mixed Levels)
Start time: 10:00am
Levels: mixed
Start location: Goodrich Loomis Conservation Area parking lot on Pinewood School Road

Saturday May 13: Debbie’s Morning Ride (Level 3/4 only)
Start time: 10:00am
Levels: 3 and 4 only
Start location: Ray Benns Memorial Park in Centreton (Across from the Library)

Sunday May 14: Morning Ride (Level 1, 2, 3/4)
Start time: 10:00am
Levels:1, 2, 3, and 4
Start location: Cobourg Memorial Arena on Furnace St.

Cycle Transitions, our Cobourg based non-profit community bicycle shop has an employment opportunity for a Summer Student.  The position pays $16.00 per hour for 30 hours a week, for 9 weeks.  Start date is around May 22nd.  The individual must be returning to school in order to apply.

The ideal candidate would be a self-starter, able to work unsupervised, with an outgoing personality. An interest in bicycle mechanics & maintenance is preferred but not essential. Some of the duties will include opening & closing the shop, being on premises to supervise shop users, assist with sales of bicycles and parts, and other general administrative tasks. 

Please share and spread the word. If interested or want to ask a few more questions, call Randy at 905-376-8696

Technology fail (human error)—The form to sign up for the Safety Training Course was not functioning correctly and didn’t collect a name and necessary email address.  If you chose and submitted a date already, please re-submit your chosen date.  https://northumberlandhillscyclingclub.com/cycle-safe-safety-basics-online-zoom-training-three-dates-to-choose-from/

A little bit of information could go a long way toward preventing the unthinkable. We know first-hand that the unthinkable can happen to anyone—even to the most experienced! We encourage safety training for brand-new members as well as those who have been cycling for years. In fact, those with experience can add much to the discussions. We encourage all club members to participate in one of our  NHCC Cycle-Safe Basics (online) sessions. There will be three different dates to choose from:

Wednesday May 17th, 7:00pm
Wednesday May 24th, 7:00pm
Wednesday June 7th, 7:00pm

The NHCC Cycle-Safe Basics (online) is a jam-packed session about 2 hours long and delivered by Bruce Bellaire (certified CanBike Safety Instructor from Cycle Transitions) .  This theory will cover essential safety principles and group riding techniques to help you build confidence in riding with a group and in traffic safely. You will be introduced to:

• Cycling and the Law
• Basic Bicycle Inspection
• Traffic Cycling Principles
• Where do you ride
• Collision avoidance
• Lane positioning
• Intersections
• Rules of the Road
• Right and Left turns
• Group Riding Safety 

RSVP:  Fill out the form (below) or email us to let us know which session you would like, or Email us and we’ll send you the Zoom invite.  Easy!  Secretary@northumberlandhillscyclingclub.com

The much anticipated start of our 2023 regular cycling season begins! This means that there will be recurring rides on Tuesday Evenings at 6:00 (Levels 1, 2, 3/4), Thursday Mornings at 9 or 10am (Levels 1, 2, 3/4), Thursday Evenings 6:00pm (Level 3/4), and Sunday Mornings at 9 or 10am (Levels 1, 2, 3/4). The rides for next week have now been posted on Cycle Club! Other rides will also appear on our Ride Calendar from time to time as well, but will be above and beyond the standard rides. 

Full details of next week’s rides are all found in your Cycle Club Account.  If you haven’t already created your account, please do so.  Start here! https://www.cycleclubapp.com

**Although this Tuesday is our first “Regularly scheduled ride”, we anticipate it may get cancelled due to really miserable weather—we will watch & see! Ride cancellations typically occur when it becomes imminent that the weather is just making it either dangerous or too uncomfortably cold & wet. When a ride is cancelled you can see notification of such on your Cycle Club account.

Start time for rides: For the month of May the start times for rides may start earlier or later than usual in order to maximize warmer daytime temperatures. Be sure to always check start time as they may vary.

Note about ride scheduling: Rides are posted on the club’s calendar a week or two at a time. They are NOT posted for the entire season.  This allows the Club to best be flexible and respond to changing needs of those who come out to ride, and those who lead.

The Quick Facts:Upcoming Rides (May 1st to May 7th)

Tuesday May 2: Evening Ride
Start time: 6:00pm
Levels:1, 2, 3, and 4
Start location:  Donegan Park (D’Arcy St. in Cobourg)

Thursday May 4: Morning Ride
Start time: 10am
Levels:1, 2, 3, and 4
Start location: Westwood Park on Carlisle St. in Cobourg

Thursday May 4: Evening Ride
Start time: 10am
Levels: (3/4 only)
Start location: Haldimand Community Memorial Arena

Sunday May 7th: Morning Ride
Start time: 10am
Levels: 1, 2, 3, and 4
Start location: Cobourg Memorial Arena

FAQs

Why do I need  to sign up for a Cycle Club account?
To RSVP to a ride: Allows Ride Leaders to anticipate participants and plan accordingly.  You can see who’s riding too, which is kinda nice, isn’t it? Among others things, it also gives the Ride Leader access to your emergency contact information in the event of a mis-hap.  Ride Leaders only have access to that critical information if you have RSVPd! 

Where and when do rides start?
We like variety! Start locations will vary ride to ride, depending on where the Ride Leaders wish to take the group. Occasionally the start time will also vary, for instance in the heat of July and August when we move the morning rides to 9am in order to beat the heat.  As the season progresses and days become shorter, you may see evening rides starting a little earlier.

How can I ask questions about a Ride beforehand?
With your Cycle Club account, there is a Discussion feature attached to each and Event (Ride) where you can post questions that the Ride Leader or other participants may respond to.

Ride Cancellations:
Bad weather happens—Rides may sometimes be cancelled due inclement weather, and other unforeseen circumstances.  Through your Cycle Club account you will receive notifications of such.

Guest Riders:
We welcome guests! So if you have company visiting, or just know of a friend or two who might like to try it out there are Guest Waivers on our website that they’d need to sign and bring to a ride.  Guests may ride for up to 3 rides before a full membership would be required.

Group Rides, Ride Leaders, and Sweeps:
Most of our rides are Group Rides.  This means that there will be a Ride Leader whose role it is to ensure that the ride is safe and enjoyable while following the Club’s Risk Management Guidelines.  There will usually be a Sweep working with the Ride Leader, and whose role, among others, is to be at the back of the group, ensuring nobody gets left behind. 

Your Ride Leader is the one with the skill, experience and leadership abilities to help guide others. During a ride, a Ride Leader will establish the pace (speed) of the ride. They will not necessarily be at the front of the group all of the time but rather mingling and integrating to ensure overall cohesiveness of the group.  They are the first point of contact for troubleshooting issues and safety concerns.

Which Level should I choose?
Start easy and work your way up! Aim for a level lower than what you think you might be able to handle, and if it’s far too easy for you, you can certainly try out the next level up. We have four Levels to choose from, starting from Level 1 and increasing in speed and difficulty as you move up.  You are not locked into any particular level! You are welcome to participate in any level on any ride, if you are able to keep the pace.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the road!  🙂

We have one more space to fill for the Emergency First Aid training that the Club is providing.  Anyone who might be leading rides this summer and would like to take that remaining spot, let me know! We have one more vacancy.  The course will be self-paced online for up to 4 hours plus an in-person practical session on Monday May 8th.  Email me at secretary@northumberlandhillscyclingclub.com.  

Should be a good weekend for forest mountain biking, both starting at Beagle Club trailhead. Helmut’s got two morning rides planned, approx 2-3 hours each time. If you don’t have a mountain bike he has a spare or two laying around. Just give him 24 hour notice so he can do a maintenance and safety check. The trails are in good shape and not muddy. Some of the trees might be budding.

Saturday April 29, 10am
Start location: Beagle Club Trailhead at Northumberland Forest

Sunday April 30, 10am
Start location: Beagle Club Trailhead at Northumberland Forest

More information about the rides and the ability to add “Discussion” items is all found in your Cycle Club account!

RSVP: Use your Cycle Club account to let Helmut know you are riding!

The NHCC is committed to improving safety standards in every way possible.  Therefore, we have approval to fund 6 ride leaders for Emergency First Aid & CPR Training (Red Cross). The course will consist of up to 4 hours of online modules (self-paced, done on your own time at home), followed by one in-person session on the evening of Monday, May 8th (evening) (local venue & time to be determined). If you think you’ll lead some rides this summer and can benefit from some first aid training, just email us to apply for one of the six spots we have reserved—there’s no cost to you, the NHCC is covering that!   secretary@northumberlandhillscyclingclub.com