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

The Black &

Blue Bottom

Almaden Cycle Touring Club, Inc.

November 2007

TUESDAY 6th NOVEMBER 7PM

First Congregational Church

Leigh & Hamilton, San Jose

Swap Meet — One person’s junk is another person’s

treasure. Bring bicycles or parts you no longer want. Jim

Schallau, the ACTC Bicycle Recycling Program, will also

have a table with donated items for sale.

Continued on page 3

Continued on page 13

Turning Wheels for Kids 2007 Jim Schallau

Last December, ACTC members collectively contributed over

$3000 to the Turning Wheels for Kids program which provided

new bicycles for underprivileged children at Christmas time. With

the approval of the membership, the club matched all donations

up to $2000, and the $5000 total was enough to purchase about

100 bicycles ranging from tiny with training wheels to larger

26-inch bikes. The budget approved by the membership for 2007

includes $2000 to be used again for matching donations; however,

the board has approved an increase of the matching funds maxi-

mum from $2000 to $3000. This was submitted to the member-

ship for discussion at the October club meeting and a vote will be

taken at the November meeting. Members’ donation check made

out to “Turning Wheels for Kids” can be sent to: David Hoag, 2270

Shibley Ave, San Jose CA 95125.

ACTC will again participate in the BikeBuild program. Last year

34 club members along with over 200 others assembled 1000 bi-

cycles in about 3 hours – including a break period. This year the

goal is to build 1700 bicycles. More details of the TWFKs program

will be included in the December Black and Blue Bottom.

Getting to Know Herman Wadler by Joanne Mitani

ACTC Membership

Herman began seriously bicycling when his girlfriend lent him an

old “beater bike” to exercise regularly. He first started doing short

rides on the Los Gatos Creek Trail, but after increasing his stamina

to 12–15 miles, he looked for the next challenge. He found that on

a Western Wheelers ride, his start at road riding, and participated

in one of their A (easiest) rides. Someone suggested he try Mar-

garet Barnes and Richard Brunner’s Monday morning coffee ride

(from Los Altos to Menlo Park and co-listed with Western Wheel-

ers). He went on the ride and enjoyed it so much that he joined

both ACTC and Western Wheelers at the same time in 2001.

Cycling Background

As his road riding progressed, Herman decided to train for El

Tour de Tucson Century, for which he had two incentives: His

girlfriend had been a mentor and coach for this event with Team

in Training (event training to raise funds for the Leukemia &

Lymphoma Society) and his daughter lived in the Tucson area.

After successfully completing this event, his daughter was so in-

spired (and impressed) that he did the ride again two years later

with her. Herman switched to riding a recumbent bicycle after

a couple of crashes, the second one resulting in a concussion. He

started out on a Bacchetta (short wheelbase, with pedals ahead of

the front wheel), and later upgraded to Bacchetta Titanium “Aero”

(high-racer style). He recently purchased a RANS Fusion (crank

forward bike), which he uses mostly to teach adults, who have nev-

er ridden before, how to ride a bike. He is authorized to sell RANS

recumbents and crank forward bikes. Recently diagnosed as pre-

diabetic, instead of “living to ride,” he now “rides to live.”

ACTC and Other Bicycling Activities

Herman began attending the monthly club meetings and found

ways to become involved. He currently serves in the ACTC Acad-

Tour Tested

Rick Madden

You’ve all heard the saying “into every life a little rain must fall.”

That may be true, but not when you are on a tour with the Bicycle

Adventure Club (BAC) in the south of France! After our disap-

pointing ride into Canada with Adventure Cycling (BBB, Septem-

ber issue), we were looking forward to a reversal of fortune and

we got it, in spades.

On the advice of ACTC members Bill and Joyce Keckler, we

joined the Bicycle Adventure Club (www.bicycleadventureclub.

org), a non-profit bicycle touring club operated by its volunteer

members. Tours, both foreign and domestic, are organized and

led by fellow BAC members. The club dates back some 25+ years,

and many of the members harken back to its early days. The cost

to join BAC is nominal; $50 (per couple or single) the first year

and $25 each year thereafter. Sarah and I joined last December

and started looking into upcoming travels. If I have a complaint