Who can ride with the Thunder Bay Cycling Club? YOU!!!

The Thunder Bay Cycling Club offers riders of all ages and abilities an opportunity to get together and enjoy the sport of cycling. Our Tour Rides, held every Sunday, provide both long and short routes on the paved roads in and around Thunder Bay. Our Women's Only Rides are held on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. These rides are open to women of all ages and are guided and supported to encourage ladies who are new or are just taking up the sport. Our Mountain Bike Touring Rides feature some great gravel road riding on the outskirts of town. All of these tour groups are a great way to get out with a group of friends (or meet new people) and discover the various cycling routes that our community has to offer.

If you are more competitive, the TBCC offers a weekly Thursday night Time Trial Series where you can race against the clock and other people in your age group to judge your own fitness level. Once a month we hold a Road Race where riders compete in four different categories based on skill level for prizes and bragging rights. We also offer Cyclo-cross Racing in the fall which teaches and encourages bike handling skills.

If you are a younger rider (ages 14 to 18) you might be interested in our Junior Program. Our Juniors meet on Tuesday nights in the parking lot of the Lakehead University CJ Saunders Fieldhouse and learn group riding techniques as well as racing skills and strategy.

Come on out and discover what the Thunder Bay Cycling Club has to offer!

COMING EVENTS

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11th - Pancake Breakfast Bicycles for Humanity Fundraiser

8:00 am - 1 pm at Redwood Community Church 2609 Redwood Rd. A great way to refuel on a Saturday and support a great cause.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25th - Bicycles for Humanity Fundraiser

8:00 pm Doors Open - 9:00 pm Rough Cuts Band takes the Stage. At the Outpost (LU) $15 Tickets at both Quality Markets and Fresh Air Experience. Questions? Contact Terry Zeleny 577-8289 or Sandy Guthrie 623-8547 See you there!

NEWS HEADLINES

The Results are In and Available!!

A report is now available which contains the results of the online survey of members conducted between Dec 12 and Jan 6 2012. First and foremost the Club Executive would like to thank the members who filled out the survey. We appreciate your time and interest. You have provided valuable feedback and ideas for improving our club. Some 106 out of 265 members completed the survey. In addition to filling out the multiple choice portion of the questions, people also added their specific feedback and suggestions in the Comment Boxes provided under each question .

The results of the survey were presented and used in the Planning Workshop which was held on Sunday January 8 2012. The purpose of the workshop was to identify ideas to better serve our members. The participants at the workshop included 13 members representing a cross section of club activities and 11 directors with a professional facilitator guiding the process. A report on the Workshop identifying the priority improvements to be pursued in 2012 and beyond will be posted on this web site in the next 10 days. Thanks again to all the members who contributed their ideas on improving our club by completing the survey and/or participating in the planning workshop.

Congratulations to Matt DeGiacomo!

TBCC member Matt DeGiacomo is featured on the cover of SWEAT magazine this month. Sweat is the magazine of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association. If you'd like to see more information about Matt click here.

New Resource

A new resource has been added to our links page, a Guide to Bike Racing for Beginners and Competitors It's a great resource for any time of year.

Bike Lanes are closed for the Season

Bike lanes are not maintained from November 15th to May 1st. This means that when the snow flies, snow is not cleared from Thunder Bay's bike lanes. One of citizen's main concerns was the loss of parking with the implementation of bike lanes. In order to alleviate this concern, from November 15th to May 1st, where parking restrictions have been implemented to allow for the bike lanes, those parking restrictions are now lifted to allow on-street parking during the winter season. Using the bike lanes from November 15th to May 1st, is at your own risk. The City will not be plowing and clearing snow from the bike lanes; therefore, they cannot be deemed 'safe' for all weather use. It should be noted, however, that cycling year-round is legal. For tips on how to do safely, please download the 'Guide to All-Weather Cycling'. The rest of the active transportation newsletter for Thunder Bay can be read here.

New Club Executive for the 2012 Season

It's now official! At the Annual General Meeting the following people were elected and/or acclaimed to the executive for 2012 season. Your new Club Executive is as follows

Racing Director - Dave MacIsaac
Touring Director - Gene Vandal
Womens Ride Director - Kate Tinkler
Rough Road/Cyclo Cross Director - Rick Sklazeski
Coaching Director - Clyde Tuyl
Secretary - Bill Ulakovic
Treasurer - Mary Ellen Ripley
Web Director - Phyllis Dalgleish
Promotions Director - Mike O'Connor
President - Frank Wilson

The new executive will hold its first meeting on Nov 22 to begin planning for the coming year. First on our list is to organize a strategic planning workshop to set goals, identify ideas for improving the Club and expanding the membership, and then priorize these initiatives. The ideas/suggestions provided at the AGM will be used as the starting points for this workshop. Stay tuned for more information on time, date, venue and agenda for this strategic workshop.

To those executive members who have completed their term; we all owe them a big debt of gratitude. They are: Dave Pinner, Berto Pasciullo, Pam Dawes and Katie Spittlehouse. Without their efforts, this Club would not have been able to provide the high caliber and variety of events that it has throughout the past seasons. So do take the opportunity to personally express your thanks to these folks.

I look forward to working with the new executive and with the others who volunteers. For it is they who make this club run effectively and it is they would provide safe and enjoyable events for members of all levels and interests. I and the executive always welcome comments from the members our pictures and email addresses will be posted on the web shortly.

Please email or phone me with your ideas for improving the Club and if you wish to help out in any way.
Frank Wilson
President 807-475-9425
president [at] tbaycc.ca

Safe Cycling

Cyclists have responsibilities under the Highway Traffic Act. Here is a brief summary of some of the laws: Summary Page
For more detailed information check the MTO website

The President's Message - November

TBCC HOTLINE NUMBER

626-8725

Major Sponsors

Petries Cycle and Sports, 125 North Archibald St., PH: 623-7221, petries@shaw.ca

See all Our Sponsors

City Bike Lane Info

Bike Lane FAQ

Bike Lane Brochure

Road Hazards

Watch out for the white stuff between now and April. It can make things a little slippery for those still on your bikes.

Year End Awards

Are you a regular at club events? Why not accumulate points toward the Aronld Devlin Ironman Series Award? Click here to see the Points List

Bicycle Rentals

Of the four bicycle shops we have in Thunder Bay, only two of them rent bicycles. They are Petries and Rollin' Thunder.

Petries is located at 125 N. Archibald St. Phone 623-7221 or email them at petries [at] shaw.ca.

Rollin' Thunder is located at 70 S. Algoma St. Phone 344-2433 or email them at rollin [at] tbaytel.net.

During the summer months only,the Silver Islet Store located past the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, will also rent a few bicycles. Phone them at 473-6310 for more info.

THUNDER BAY CYCLING CLUB

Ontario

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