PO Box 7286 • San Jose, CA 95150 • www.actc.org
The Black &
Blue Bottom
Almaden Cycle Touring Club, Inc.
December 2007
TUESDAY 4th DECEMBER 7PM
First Congregational Church
Leigh & Hamilton, San Jose
Keith Giles will entertain us with photos of his
France/Germany trip
TUESDAY 1st JANUARY 7PM
Carl Stoffel will entertain us with photos of
his off-road venture of the Great Divide from
Montana to New Mexico
Continued on page 3
Getting to Know Rick Madden By Joanne Mitani
ACTC Membership
Rick had a good bicycle club experience with the Rochester Bicycling
Club in his native Rochester, New York. So he was looking for another bi-
cycle club to join when he and his wife Sarah moved to Sarah’s hometown
of San Jose. Rick started doing the South County Old Goats on Tuesday
mornings and Coe Discover y Rides with Bob and Kris Thompson. He had
a lot of fun, liked the people and decided to join, with Sarah, in late 1998.
ACTC Activities
Rick is known for starting the popular Bucolic Sunday “one cow sighting
guaranteed™” rides. He also did the Tuesday Crap Shoot rides in which
he showed up with three route sheets and dice. The outcome of the dice
determined which route they took, ranging between 50 and 75 miles with
Billy Goat ratings of 4 to 6. Due to its unpredictability, this ride was not
nearly as popular as the Bucolic Sundays. Most recently, Rick has been
writing the Tour Tested articles for the Black & Blue Bottom, in which he
evaluates various bicycling clothing and equipment. Rick loves biking and
camping, but due to his last job as a park ranger (working weekends), his
schedule prevented him from participating in the many club campouts.
Still, he managed to do all 99 Billy Goats in 2003 while working full-time .
Cycling Background
When he was five, Rick received his first bicycle, a hand-me-down that
started a love affair with riding. His next bike, about five years later, was a
single-speed red AMF Roadmaster with balloon tires and coaster brakes.
This was the bike that showed off best on the hilly dirt trails around Fair-
port, a suburb outside of Rochester, and introduced Rick to mountain
biking. His first bike modification, much to his father’s displeasure, was to
remove the fenders (too much mud accumulation between the tires and
fenders). When the tire got a flat and couldn’t be removed for repair, it
was declared “ruined” and eventually disappeared from the garage . Bike
#3, a Columbia, arrived the following Christmas. Because the Columbia
Black & Blue Awards Dinner! – Saturday 9 Feb 2008
Time again for celebration & appreciation of you! Please join us as we
recap the 2007 club events and celebrate the achievements, contributions
of your time, as well as acknowledge the accomplishments that you have
done through our awards program. This is a way to say “thank you!” so
we hope you will join us. Night promises to be complete with great food,
dancing, camaraderie, and lots of fun!
This year’s venue will be held in downtown Sunnyvale at the Tarragon
Restaurant. We have the top half of the restaurant reser ved, plenty of
room with a great dance floor. Dinner will be sit down with a choice of
steak, chicken, or fish entrée. Live band will be there for you to dance the
night away as you wish!
Tickets will be on sale from December 10th through to Januar y 11th.
Ticket cost will be $15 per ticket and
can be ordered at:
www.actc.org/events/appnight.html
Once payment is received, tickets will
be emailed to you. If you do not have
internet access, or prefer to not pay on-
line, please contact:
Katherine O’Neill @ 408.807.4700 or
kaoneill@paypal.com
Looking forward to seeing you and your
guest as you wish! Look for more infor-
mation as the event draws nearer.
Achievement Awards Update
John Mazzella
The Awards Committee has come up with some changes for 2007. First,
in an attempt to reduce the number of unclaimed awards, recipients of
Billy Goat, Mountain Goat, Grizzly Bear, and Ride Leader plaques will have
to notify the ride coordinator that they want their award. Second, we are
providing a new type of plaque for 2007. It will be a 4”x6”x1” glass frame
with the ACTC logo. It will hold a cer tificate which will include a listing
of your achievements including mileage for the year. The back side of the
frame can be used for your favorite ACTC photo. You must notify the ride
coordinator by 10th January 2008 if you want your award. Patches and
pins will still be presented as in the past.
