Conference noted::bicycle

    
    
    	I'm also interested in hearing  people's comments on the
    	Nashoba Valley Pedalers.  (what type of bicyclist the club
    	is geared to, where do they ride, etc...)
    
    							nancy b.
    

    Nashoba Valley  Pedalers  are  based in Acton, and have rides that
    start  im Acton, Littleton, Boxboro, Hucson, Stow, and places near
    there.

    There are  weekend  rides,  one or two weeknight rides per week in
    June,  July,  and  August,  and  a monthly meeting with an invited
    speaker.

    NVP is  a bit slower and friendlier than CRW. I ride with both but
    prefer NVP. NVP only arrows the century rides, all others are done
    with maps, cue sheets, or rarely, riding together with a leader.

--David

    
    For a membership application to NVP, call or write the current
    president, Gordon Taylor, 9 Beth Circle, Acton, MA 01720,
    (508)263-1618 for an application.  It costs $15 a year.
    

    
    In addition to what Dave wrote about NVP, they also have several
    weekend excursions throughout the year, a new monthly "diners' club",
    and XC skiing in the winter.
    
    They are excellent for the beginner and moderate rider, probably
    the best club in New England for the beginner (from what I've seen).
    They have a number of short slower-paced "orientation" rides for
    the newer members.
    
    They're friendly and they *care*.
    
    If you are a beginner, I would suggest that you RUN, not walk, away
    from CRW.  I dislike them for other reasons as well.  Send mail if
    you want my very opinionated brain dump on the area's clubs.
    

    It's been many years, but if things haven't changed I'd second
    a recommendation for NVP.  They won't intimidate you as a beginner
    and are very friendly and helpful.

    I can't comment one way or another about CRW but gather that they're
    more oriented to serious experienced cyclists - a number of CRW
    riders were on the local BMP/PBP Brevet's (which are tough rides)
    in past years.

    - Jim

    I'll be  leading  a  NVP  ride on Saturday 20 July at 11. We leave
    from  the  JFK  school  on Manning St. in Hudson, and the route is
    about  30  rolling miles stopping at Kimball's in Westford for ice
    cream.

    It might  be  a good chance to see an NVP ride and a wierd bike or
    two at the same time.

--David

    
    A weird bike or *two*, Dave?  You can't ride them both
    at once - or else you're more talented than I realized (-:
    

>    A weird bike or *two*, Dave?

    I guess the tandem counts double.

    (Or he expects other people to bring exceptional bikes too.)

    Actually, someone may show up with a Counterpoint Presto, which is
    the  descendant of our Counterpoint Opus tandem. It looks like the
    front half of the tandem.

--David

    A recumbent unicycle?

    In "Bicycles  and  Tricycles"  by  Sharp  (published before 1900),
    there  is  a sketch of a recumbent unicycle which is stable in the
    front to back direction. The trick is that the rider sits inside a
    large  diameter  wheel, so that the center of gravity is below the
    center of the wheel.  I'm not sure if one was built.

    The counterpoint presto does have two wheels though.

--David

    Well, we  survived  the  heat  and  had  a fairly eclectic bicycle
    collection:  11  upright  road  bikes,  a  mountain  bike,  a long
    wheelbase   recumbent  (Lightning  Tailwind),  a  short  wheelbase
    recumbent  (Counterpoint Presto), and our Counterpoint Opus tandem
    (upright captain, recumbent stoker).

    It was  a  fantastic  group  to ride with. Someone rode sweep, and
    someone  else  stopped  at corners to make sure the people who had
    stuffed  the  cue  sheet  in their pockets wouldn't get lost. They
    weren't supposed to be "leaders", they just helped out.  

--David

    Any further rides coming up where we can learn about NVB?
    
    Thanks,
    Nancy

   I'm interested in hearing about mountain bike outings organized by the
   Nashoba Valley Pedalers.  I'm raring to go...

   One early note in this string lists the NVP's president as the person
   to contact for information about membership, upcoming rides, and so on.
   Is he still president?  If not, can anyone provide a current contact 
   number for the Nashoba Valley Pedalers?

   Thanks!
   Scott J.
   DTN 381-1962

    
    For an application, the address to write to:
    
    Nashoba Valley Pedalers, Inc.
    c/o Membership Secretary
    PO Box 2398
    Acton, MA 01720
    
    It's still $15 per year, all memberships expire on Dec 31.
    For family memberships, you pay the $15 plus $5 for each
    additional adult household member.  No extra fee for kids
    under 18.
    
    The basis fee reduces to $10 after Jul 30 and $5 after Sep 30.
    

The Nashoba Valley Pedalers bike club has a Web home page at:

http://www.ultranet.com/~drjames/NVP