PO Box 7286 • San Jose, CA 95150 • www.actc.org

The Black &

Blue Bottom

Almaden Cycle Touring Club, Inc.

October 2007

Tour Tested

Jerry Schonewille

Il Falco here, filling in for Rick as he takes a break from “Tour

Tested” and tour France instead. I’m so jealous! Two of the most

common touring questions I’m asked are: 1) Which is better, a tour-

ing bike with panniers or a trailer, and 2) Where did you get your

panniers?

The advantage of trailers is that they are relatively cheap and will

work with any bike. Since most bikes are not designed for loaded

touring, trailers allow you to try self-contained touring without

making a significant financial investment. Actually, several ACTC

members have one and will be glad to let you borrow and give it a

try. The most popular trailer is the BOB, which has a single wheel

and attaches to your bike on a special skewer that replaces the

quick-release skewer on your rear wheel.

My first self-contained bicycle tour was a one-week trip down the

coast to Santa Barbara pulling a used BOB trailer behind a Trek

5200. It was a great trip and sold me on touring. But I found I had

to alter my riding style. I like to get out of the saddle when climb -

ing; the first thing I noticed is that my bike fishtailed while out of

the saddle and pulling a trailer. With some practice I could reduce

the effect but not completely eliminate it. I experienced fishtailing

on downhills too. Bike handling would change depending on how

much weight was in the trailer and how it was distributed. The

point is: Pulling a trailer is going to significantly alter the handling

of your bike and place greater stress on the braking system.

TUESDAY 2nd OCTOBER 7PM

First Congregational Church

Leigh & Hamilton, San Jose

Andrew La nier, Sa n Jose Bicycle Club’s

Junior Coach will present his program on

developing young cyclists into capable, safe,

and competitive racers.

Continued on page 16

Continued on page 16

Progressive Dinner

Karin & Steve Crosby

Join us Sunday 14 Oct for an all day event of celebrating our club’s

unofficial motto, “Ride to Eat and Eat to Ride”. We ride to four dif-

ferent houses to have appetizers, salads,a main meal and desserts.

Bring an appetizer, salad / side dish, or dessert to the start of the

ride and it will be taken to the appropriate

place by our volunteers. Please email or call

us (scrosby@sbcglobal.net or 292.8252) to let

us know what you plan to bring so we won’t

be overloaded with one type of dish. Although,

are they ever really too many desserts? Ride

specifics are in the ride listings.

Getting to Know Michele Rae & Dan Swinehart

by Joanne Mitani

ACTC Membership

Michele and Dan joined ACTC in 2002 when they were looking for

organized rides to do in addition to rides they were doing on their

own. They had seen other clubs out riding and were interested in

checking them out. Dan discovered ACTC after doing a web search

for bicycle clubs in the San Jose area. They did one newcomer ride,

but then did not ride with the club again for another year due to

other commitments. They started by doing a Grizzly Bear ride, but

really became hooked on riding Billy Goats with the club after do-

ing a “Paul Metz with Brendan in the Burley trailer” ride up via

Santa Teresa/Scenic Vista. They enjoyed the challenge of the hills

and started regularly riding Billy Goats.

ACTC Activities

For the last four years, Dan and Michele have been Tierra Bella

staff members at the Uvas Rest Stop with Henry Perez. They have

also been on campouts at Olema, and they are ride leaders for

rides with multiple Billy Goats with minimal flats, e.g. Mt. Pleas-

ant/Clayton/Lower Mount Hamilton/Quimby East/Aborn, or their

“4 Goats in 40 Miles” Old Santa Cruz Highway/Wright’s Station/

Granite Creek/Mountain Charlie.

Cycling Background

Michele rode her bicycle as a child but from college on focused more

on running. However, during her running days, she did ride cen-

turies several years for muscular dystrophy with a friend (without

preparatory training on her bicycle!) She discontinued doing the

event when the organization went to a two-day format because she

found it difficult to be on the bicycle seat a second day with no

conditioning. After running daily for 25 years, Michele was forced

to quit running due to back problems and took up bicycling as an

alternative aerobic exercise.