Archive for Events
VeloSprints 2012 Rolls Out!
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(the video linked above doesn’t show that the competitors – and the audience – are watching a computer-generated race-dial that tracks the progress of both contestants over the 500 m distance)
This winter, VeloSprints – Southern New England’s indoor bicycle sprinting tournament – teams up with health and spin clubs, local employers and bicycle shops to raise funds for smart bicycling programs at schools in their communities.
- School kids benefit by bicycling smarter and becoming healthier as they do
- Communities benefit from better overall health
- Venues benefit from contributing to their community
- Sponsors benefit through helping make it happen
VeloSprints Fundraising Events:
Health clubs/spin studios/businesses/bike shops adopt a school – or schools – in their community and host VeloSprints for a day of fun and fundraising between January 3 and March 30. Host venues and their customers/employees donate to sprint 500 meters on our computerized rig. When $500 is raised the adopted school will receive a half-day of our Cycle-for-Health program where they will learn smart cycling, proper helmet fit and nutrition/hydration tips. If $1,000 is raised, the school will also receive a weekend program to involve whole families, or the venue may adopt a second school.
VeloSprints is a competitive event and that competition will intensify this year. Each VeloSprinter’s best time will be posted at usopencycling.org. That time will determine seeding within their age/gender category for the VeloSprints Grand Finale on April 1 at McFadden’s in Providence. As in years past, we will give away thousands of dollars in prizes. Clubs, too, will be ranked on funds generated/programs awarded. A session at any venue costs individuals a $10 donation and “VeloSprinters” may race as often as they wish during a session.
Teams:
We welcome teams! Intramural, club vs. club, company vs. company, community police/fire departments vs. community police/fire departments, spin instructor vs. spin instructor, join the fun! Five per team. Same or mixed gender. Aggregate times determine rankings! Trophies and bragging rights at the VeloSprints Grand Finale are on offer!
Adopt a School!
If you represent an organization (between Groton, CT and Boston, MA) committed to the health and well being of your community, adopt a school and schedule a VeloSprints event! Call us at 401-484-1161 or email rdurishin@usopencycling.org. VeloSprints requires less than 10 square feet to set up and are available from morning through early evening, Monday through Friday.
Get Your School Adopted!
If you are or know an elementary, middle or high school (between Groton, CT and Boston, MA) and you want your student’s health and performance to benefit by developing the life-long habit of bicycling, find a venue (health club, spin studio, employer) and have them call us at 401-484-1161 or emailrdurishin@usopencycling.org or host a VeloSprints event at your school.
Be a sponsor!
If you are part of an organization who wants to benefit your community, you are pro-health, pro-education and pro-sustainability…sponsor VeloSprints. You’ll get the benefits of reaching adults in the health clubs between January and March and reaching families – through schools – from January through June. Just give us a call or send an email to rdurishin@usopencycling.org for more information.
The VeloSprints Grand Finale!
Sunday, April 1, 2012! Thousands of $ in prizes. Overall and category champions crowned. McFadden’s in Providence, from 11:00 am…until we’re all spun out. Best posted VeloSprints time from the “regular season” determines seed order. $40 registration fee for the Grand Finale.
First USOCF Ride Velo Club Ride
Posted by: | CommentsSaturday, 9/10/11, was the first of our weekly Saturday rides and it was just what we are looking to do: integrate cyclists of various skill levels
USOCF Ride Club, First Ride 09/10/11
and help them move forward in confidence, technique and on-road skills. We had riders raging in age from 18 to 60+ and did a 25.5 mile loop through Seekonk and out to Barrington on public roads, then back – at about5:45 on a fairly empty East Bay Bike Path.
It is a good route for folks that have not gone that distance before because of the low motor-vehicle traffic volume, the bike path return and the India Point Park Bridge back into Providence and the start point, Legend Bicycles @ 181 Brook Street. Along the way we had some great conversation, saw a young deer and got to know each other a little better. Cameron did a great job leading the pack and everyone else did a great job of staying together and following the rules of the road.
As the group grows, we will definitely be splitting into groups of various speeds and, I think that we will work to design routes where, regardless of whether you take the shorter or the longer one, we’ll all finish together. Perhaps to retire for some refreshment or just wish each other a good week ahead.
Come on out and join us. In a two-hour ride from Providence’s East Side you will see a little suburbia, farmland that looks for all the world like my home in Ohio and shore scape that makes the Ocean State a great place to be!
Next Saturday. 4:00. 181 Brook Street, Providence. You can register by clicking on the “Events” button above and scrolling down to the PayPal button.
See you there and, until then, downshift! That’s why the thing has 20-odd speeds!
~ Durishin
PS: here’s the link to the Strava.com recording of the ride. Clicking on the map will pull up the dataset.
Group Rides Begin on Saturday, September 10! Come and join us!
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We’ve been inundated with requests for weekly rides so…Ok!
There will be a U S Open Cycling Foundation ride each Saturday from September 10 at 4:00 leaving from John and Brook Streets in Providence (Fox Point).
Cameron Moquin
The rides will be between 30 and 40 miles in length and will be done at a moderate pace. We will add a 15-20 mile ride if we get a minimum of five requests. Rides will be led and swept.
We’re going to do some League of American Bicyclists group riding training along the way because, well, learning group riding technique by trial and error can be both painful and expensive. What we teach will help you sharpen your bicycle handling skills too.
We’re also going to help you reach your personal fitness goals. The mission of the foundation is to help people achieve a healthy life through bicycling for fitness, fun and pleasure and these rides serve that mission and you!
Road bikes and helmets are required. There is a registration fee that – first year will be $45 to cover insurance and the group riding training. In subsequent years, your US Open Cycling Foundation Rider’s Club renewal fee will be less. We also ask for a $5 donation per ride after the first to help cover our time putting together the rides.
Rides will be lead by Cameron Moquin (pictured), Richard Durishin and, maybe, Sarah Thomas will join in now and again.
The registration button is below. Please do not hesitate to email me at rdurishin@usopencycling.org if you have any questions. Cameron, Sarah and I look forward to riding with you!
We’re up to a lot of things at US Open Cycling and we are thrilled to have you involved and riding with us. We’ll also give you the opportunity to share your passion for cycling throughout the community.
To join our weekly rides, please register your USOCF Riding Club Membership below.
The Blackstone to East Bay Bike Path Connector
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This past Monday, I rode along the East Bay and Blackstone River bicycle paths and through a now well-marked network of public roadways which connect them. Bridging these two bike paths to create one, near 35 mile stretch from Woonsocket to Bristol is the vision of Bob Billington, Executive Director of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council. Instead of waiting years for funding to build a dedicated bike-way connecting the existing paths, Bob and a collaborative team of planners and engineers from RIDOT and the municipalities involved laid out a route along existing roads and marked it with pavement paint and signage. It is a low-cost wonder with real power in several ways:
1) For Bicycle Commuting: The connector route provides a vital transportation link between Woonsocket, where bus service has been cut, and Providence. Studies show that employees who bicycle to work are likely to be healthier, more productive and to cost less in health care benefits.
2) For Recreational Cycling: The connector links the boats and beaches of Narragansett Bay to the historic old mills of the Blackstone Valley ~ the roots of the global industrial revolution. Opening the corridor for two-wheeled sightseers, regardless their starting point, is a boon for increased tourism and a potential boost to small businesses along the way.
3) Immediate Gratification: The connector route is delivering benefits to fitness, fun and transportation right now!
Is it a perfect route? No. But even locals who drive know those do not exist. It is a signed route on public streets with “sharrows” (shared road markings) on the pavement and burnt orange street signs pointing the way. There are a few small but thoroughly manageable hills. There is a temporary section where you have to take the lane and share the road with motorists (i.e., no room to pass or be passed). And there is a section, again, temporary due to construction, past an on-ramp to 95 North where smart cyclists will check over their shoulder then, move left, taking the lane, so drivers can get to the ramp without collecting a bicycle.
But, if you know how to ride a bicycle beyond your driveway (going with, not against, traffic, using your hand signals, taking the lane when appropriate and, generally, understanding that the increased maneuverability of a bicycle does not relinquish you from following the rules of the road (or common sense)), then the new connector will work for you.
Pawtucket Mayor, Donald Grebien was one of the 40 or so cyclists who gave it a try and rode all or part of the day’s route from East Providence to the base of the Blackstone path in Cumberland. The ride clearly inspired him to spend more time bicycling in his town — and I hope that it inspires his constituents to do the same. The health benefits will be significant as will be the contribution to cleaner air and the traffic to local businesses.
When Bob Billington first announced this project, a lot of people chuckled. Well, it’s done! And it’s a potentially significant contribution to a healthier, cleaner, more sustainable Rhode Island. “Chapeau,” as they say in the pro cycling world, to Bob and everyone who helped make the connector a reality.
