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NEW MEMBER
OF THE MONTH

March 2000

Leland Palmer

First let me thank the Executive Board for selecting me as the New Member of the Month. This honor is just the icing on the cake for all of the exhilarating experiences I have had and shared with all of the other members in the club.

It seems like just yesterday that I pulled into the Lake Community Park to join a 29-mile ride. Earlier in the year I had gotten started on a fitness kick because of having to walk a Dalmatian that I was watching for a couple of months, 5 miles a day. After the dog left, I started running. After a few months, even though I had lost 40 pounds in the process, my knees were hurting and I was getting bored with running. It was in May 1999, that I noticed the old bike in the basement that I had gotten in 1971. It was in a pile of pieces from the last ride I had on it, which was to crash over the side of a culvert in a race 24 years ago. I had been on a bike one other time since then. That was to ride the 3-mile time prediction bike event in the corporate cup games in 1984 on another bike. Working for nearly three weeks saw the yellow Schwinn Continental emerge once again. On June 9, 1999, I was in 'The Bicycle Shop' in Hartville getting a final piece for the 44 pound Schwinn when I saw the riding schedule for the club. And, that as they say, is history.

I called up Andy Brennan to inquire about the ride later that day and he graciously invited me out. I thought that I was in pretty good shape from running and that my bike was in pretty good shape. As soon as I pulled up to the ride, I felt like a clown. I was completely out of sync from everyone else from the shifters to my clothes. I just took a deep breath and started peddling. By about 12 miles I thought that I was going to die. Even though it was a class B/C ride, Josie and Andrew Packard waited for me at every turn to make sure that I was alright and didn't get lost.

The next day I decided that 29 miles was a bit much for now so I stepped back to a 15-mile ride. Over the next couple of weeks I kept increasing the miles. Everything I now know about cycling, I learned from all of you! My basics on cadence came from Ronette & Janek Pulaski, while D. B. Cooper offered a lot of advice on climbing hills and pacing. For the first three weeks I think I went to the bike shop after every ride to get some additional item that I was advised I was deficient of. I would also frequently pick out someone who I thought was a good rider and follow them, watching how they would shift and work the hills. By the July 4th club picnic, I pieced together a 90 mile day. On August 7, 1999, I did my first century during the Roscoe Ramble. Over the Labor Day weekend, I rode to and from 5 club rides and accumulated 451 miles in less than 72 hours. This was when I decided I liked ultra-marathon cycling.

I feel like every ride I have been on has been a memorable experience. There were 128 club rides during 1999 for me on 78 different maps. So, most of the time I had no idea where I was going. Hearing the comments in anticipation of the likes of Nine-mile hill, or Waterfall hill used to fill me with trepidation. But, with each successively longer ride, my confidence and enjoyment grew. Even having to carry our bikes over an incomplete bridge construction was memorable. My first winter 10º ride would have been intolerable had it not been for Jacque & Jean Renault, who gave me the inside tip on how to keep ALL the parts of your anatomy warm. I suggest a monthly winery ride.

The old yellow Schwinn served me well in 1999. It carried me through 7,095 miles, which is more than I every imagined riding on a bike. I retired it December 31, 1999. For the new year, I have gotten a Bianchi-Campy Veloce that I have tied into a computerized virtual reality trainer, a Cilo-Dura Ace that I call my any-weather bike and a Co-Motion Americano touring bike. There are also 3 more Bianchi's being built right now, so stay tuned for the spring showing!

What I have been trying to get across in all of this, is that ever since my first ride last June, I have had an absolute blast cycling in this bike club! And, I have all of you to thank for it. If it wasn't for all the new friends that I have made, the cycling may have faded away like just another fad. So, thanks to you all! Live to ride and ride to live!

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