Attention all new and returning Gears Girls members!
Many of you have asked about starting the Gears Girls season earlier than the end of May (which was originally announced). I know that many of you are participating in the Ride to Conquer Cancer and Bike 4 Betty, so getting on the road earlier is a definite bonus! With that in mind, I am happy to start the Saturday rides on May 1st (at 9am), but I will need all of you to either renew or pay your 2010 membership so that everyone’s OCA insurance is up-to-date. You cannot ride if you do not have OCA coverage!
Membership fees for returning members is $50 – this includes OCA coverage. Fees for new members is $135 – this includes a Gears Girls cycling jersey and OCA coverage. Membership fees can be paid in person at Gears Bike Shop (www.gearsbikeshop.com). Please keep in mind that if you would like to start riding with us on May 1st, you will have to be a club member.
Following are some important dates that you might want to mark down:
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 – Gears Girls 2010 Meet and Greet:
Drop by Gears Bike Shop anytime between 6pm and 8pm to renew or pay for your 2010 Gears Girls membership; meet current and new members; purchase Gears Girls clothing; and of course chat about the upcoming ride season! Check out the evite for additional information: http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/GEFUQDZIXGKWLWBNSVYS/gearsgirls. Feel free to forward the evite on to anyone you think might be interested in joining or helping out with Gears Girls.
Sunday, April 18th and Tuesday, April 20th – Start of the Oakville Cycling Club Touring Pace season:
If you are a Gears Girls member and have also paid ($25 in addition to club fees) to ride with the Oakville Cycling Club, this is the start of their ride season. Check out the OCC website, specifically the touring pace page: http://www.oakvillecc.com/ for additional information.
Saturday, April 24th and Sunday, April 25th - Women’s Learn to Race/Ride Skills Camp:
The Eat-Clean Diet® Women’s Cycling Team – sponsored in part by Gears Girls – is pleased to host this awesome 2 day camp. You don’t have to be interested in racing to take part in this camp! Participants will learn intermediate to advanced bike handling skills…sure to make you a stronger and more confident cyclist! Only a limited number of spots are remaining – check out the website: http://www.womenscyclingteam.com/camp.html for additional camp information and online registration form.
Saturday, May 1st, 2010 – First Saturday ride of the 2010 Gears Girls Season:
Ride will start at 9am from Gears Bike Shop. This will be an easy ride to get the blood flowing after the winter followed by coffee at Starbucks or brunch at Sunset Grill. Be sure to renew or pay for your membership fees before May 1st so that you can participate in the ride. A full ride schedule for the 2010 season will be forwarded soon!
Saturday, May 15th, 2010 – Gears Girls refresher/warm up clinic:
Offered free to all Gears Girls members, this clinic (time and location TBA – will be before noon on the 15th) will teach you some on-bike cycling basics and work on important bike handling skills.
Sunday, May 30th – Bike 4 Betty:
Bike 4 Betty (http://www.bike4betty.com) is an awesome annual charity event that raises funds for Trillium’s Betty Wallace Women’s Health Centre and recently opened Betty & Buster Lockwood Cancer Detection and Treatment Centre. Gears Bike Shop is one of two founding sponsors for the event – this is a great opportunity for Gears Girls to help support the shop that made our club possible. If enough people are interested, we can form a Gears Girls team and participate; otherwise, we can register as individual riders. I would like Bike 4 Betty to be become an annual tradition and start of the Gears Girls season! If you’re interested in participating, please let me know as soon as possible!
Wednesday, June 2nd – First official weeknight ride:
Meet at Gears at 6:15pm, ride at 6:30pm. Depending on amount of day light, the ride will be either 1 or 1.5 hours. We will extend the ride to 2 hours as the season progresses and we have more daylight. Not a bad idea to bring lights if you have them – white for the front, red for the rear.
I will be forwarding a more complete schedule with information about individual rides and start locations soon. In the interim, feel free to drop me a line (gearsgirls@hotmail.com) with any questions you may have. Also, be sure to check out our blog: http://gearsgirls.blogspot.com/ for regular updates.
Looking forward to riding with all of you soon!
Mel
