Our LWA Event Coordinator, Janna Baum, has made arrangements for Erin Smith Sparrold, a Performance Nutritionist, to present at our LWA November Meeting on November 17.

Erin, who holds a sports specific nutrition certification in Metabolic Efficiency for Athletes, will talk about nutrition for athletes followed by a healthy snack for all so please RSVP on Meetup for a count of attendees.

Erin has been helping people for over 20 years live healthier lives and you can learn more about Erin at:

• Nutritionist – Matryx Performance

• (2) Erin Smith Sparrold Performance Nutrition | Facebook

See https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Wheelmen-Association/events/279479878 for details on meeting, which you can attend either in person or via Zoom link.

I talked to Dave Sheffield this morning about the LWA Holiday Party at the Bear Creek Lodge on Sunday, 5 December 2021.

As usual, Dave is doing a great job at planning this event that will include a cash bar cocktail hour starting at 6 pm and at 7 pm, a buffet dinner.

After dinner, we'll have a brief club meeting including a 2021 year in review, 2022 Officer Elections, Appreciation Awards.

We will also have a Jack Helffrich developed slide show of our 2021 Rides including a Donut Derby Video.

We urge all who want to attend to RSVP via BikeReg.com as soon as possible:

This past Saturday while at the Philly Bike Expo, Mark & Tammy Doran, Jack Helfrich, Clyde Odom, Carl Zvanut and I attended s 2 session seminar on "How to be a Quality Ride Leader” led by League of American Bicyclists Certified Instructors: https://phillybikeexpo.com/come-on-lets-ride-how-to-be-a-quality-ride-leader/

I learned that we here in LWA do many things related to our rides that are best in class including use of Ride With GPS, Meetup and our ride leader guidelines as articulated in these documents on our website:

• http://lehighwheelmen.org/files/documents/rideleaders-guidelines.pdf
• http://lehighwheelmen.org/files/documents/Guide%20to%20Group%20Riding.pdf

I think we do an exceptionally good job at explaining ride classifications by using distance, terrain elevation, and pace as explained in: http://lehighwheelmen.org/files/documents/LWA%20Ride%20Classifications.pdf

I also learned that bike clubs have various approaches to how to best handle vehicle traffic on the road but most follow the rule not to call out “clear” as we do.

I noted that many clubs are more cautious than we are with stop signs, and we should more completely stop especially when in the towns that we ride in.

At our LWA October Monthly meeting, Tom Kellogg of Spectrum Cycles was our guest speaker.

Tom recently retired from his long career as a custom bike frame maker, and he presented several topics including:

The Philly Bike Expo is back this year see: 2021 Philly Bike Expo – Nov. 6 & 7

There is a car full of us planning to attend as posted by Jack H on Meetup:  Philly Bike Expo | Meetup

Others who want to attend can plan on other car pool options.

I attended several years ago and found the Expo very intesting and made some good purchases of cycling clothing.

In addition to the Expo, seminars are available per: Seminar and Event Schedule – 2021 Philly Bike Expo

 Tom Kellogg of Spectrum Cycles has graciously agreed to be our guest speaker at our October LWA Monthly Meeting tomorrow, October 27,  at 7:00.

Here is the final installmemnt of our series to let you know about our newest LWA Ride Leaders.

The LWA has now had ten members become Ride Leaders since the Spring. You may have already met some of them on a recent ride. All have filled out a questionnaire as part of the process, and here we share some of their answers (some edited) with our cyclists.

1) Meet Patty Wilson:

For sale: Garmin 1030

Need a Garmin? This used model is in great condition. Works great for cycling stats, navigation, tracking your rides, and displays phone notifications. Asking $250 (retail price is $599.99). 

Email Amanda at ajwsings@yahoo.com 

Garmin 530 Edge has been sold. . .

Christine Penn, our LWA Secretary, is now recovering from a bike accident,

Her fellow members of LWA Leadership team wish her a speady recovery.

For next few weeks, Chris will be recovering at:

St. Luke’s Lehighton Campus

After hearing how Lachlan Morton raised $700,000 for World Bicycle Relief,  I set up a fundraising page in the name of the LWA.

We had a great presentation at our September LWA monthly meeting monthly meeting on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 by Damien Dugan who shared his experiences with his 2021 cross country bike trip.

Thanks to Damien for presenting and to Jack Helffrich for organizing this event.

During the meeting, we thanked Bert Mukkulainen and his team for the great 2021 Donut Derby.

During the discussion, I learned about “Notorious B.O.B.” and found this YouTube video of his participation of our 2021 Donut Derby:

https://youtu.be/1kUXhz3Zd0E

The LWA has a team in  the Spinathon for Community Bike Works.  It's a friendly competition and the rules are simple - just record your miles.  Team members: Rich Ferrera, Lenni Maguire, Raine Fussner, Steve Crampton, Jane Derby, Clyde Odom, Jack Helfrich and Carl Zvanut.  This is a big fundraiser for CBW, an organization we all know and appreciate for the good work they do.  If you can, please make a contribution.  Here's the link to our team's site:

https://www.pledgereg.com/3930/Team/17148

Thanks and stay safe on the roads and trails.

Note: Donut Derby Slide show coming soon!

We had a FANTASTIC 2021 Donut Derby & Munchkin Mile on Labor Day!

The weather was perfect, and both the Donut Derby and Munchkin Mile were very well attended and there were no calls for SAG support.

A big thanks goes to Bert Mukkulainen, our LWA leader of this year's events, and his entire committee listed below.

2021 Donut Derby & Munchkin Mile Committee:

Here is continuation of our series to let you know about our newest LWA Ride Leaders.

The LWA has now had ten members become Ride Leaders since the Spring. You may have already met some of them on a recent ride. All have filled out a questionnaire as part of the process, and here we share some of their answers (some edited) with our cyclists.

Hi,
I used to train with the Wheelmen many years ago. I'm moving to Florida and would like to donate two Cycleops trainers (Cycleops and Cycleops Fluid+). Both are clear and in excellent condition.  Interested parties would need to pick them up in Bethlehem. Call 610-360-1766 if interested. Bob Wells

In the Fall of 2019, we decided to no longer create the LWA Newsletter known as “Quick Release.”

We made this decision based on our ability to use a more modern communication tool, which is our LWA News/Blog located on our LWA website at: https://lehighwheelmen.org/index.php/latest-news

Since the beginning of our 2021 season, we have posted 34 New/Blogs to this site, which generates notification emails to everyone who has “subscribed.”

As the year has proceeded, I have been asked about “what’s new” with LWA and I refer to these many News/Blog posts that I and others have entered.

I also recently learned from Dave Drummer, our Website Manager, that a relatively low number of LWA members have subscribed to the LWA/Blog notification emails.

I hope everyone is having a good and safe summer.

I know of one member who had a significant accident while cycling.  Steve Kelly was injured while on a Fitness Central ride a few weeks ago.  I ask that you wish him and Dina a quick recovery.

We have had many rides this summer and I will let Kathy Crampton, our VP of Touring, update you on the number of rides, but I have heard that some of our recent News/Blogs posts may not have gone out with email alerts so be sure to catch up on some of our new Ride Leaders on these following posts from Kathy:

Here is continuation of our series to let you know about our newest LWA Ride Leaders.

The LWA has had nine members become Ride Leaders since the Spring. You may have already met some of them on a recent ride. All have filled out a questionnaire as part of the process, and here we share some of their answers (some edited) with our cyclists.

Meet....Andy Samuels:

I rode bicycles as a means of transportation here in the Lehigh Valley as a teenager. As an adult, I got back into cycling in 2006. I am a member of RUSA and like randonneuring. My favorite type of cycling is climbing although I am quite slow. 

When I plan routes, I like to stay as far away from automobile traffic as I can get. In the past few years I have been riding on trails more often.