NEWS FLASH: BICYCLING (TRIKING) DIRECTIONS AVAILABLE ON GOOGLE MAPS!

Go to Google Maps and click on "Bicycling Directions" and you'll be able to map your cycling directions from Point A to Point B on Google Maps.  The selection is still in its Beta form, so there will be some revisions needed, but  this is a good start from Google Maps.  I tried mapping directions for my normal trike commute from Escondido to Carlsbad, and the Inland Rail Trail is apparently not known by the mappers.  They got their information from Rails to Trails Conservancy and other sources, but apparently the information is still incomplete.  As soon as we're able, we'll add a "gadget" to our Web Site so you can map your ride and get turn by turn directions directly from our site.

February 6, 2010

Trikes Treks is on the map!!  We rode our first group ride around the San Diego Bay on January 16, 2010, and it WAS a loop trip after all.  We took the 15-minute ferry ride from Coronado back to Broadway Pier.  Well, at least for some of us it was a loop.  We rode about 26 miles from the Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego.  Our staging area was actually across from the Star of India (tall ship).  About 15 riders participated in this first ride.  And although there were the standard minor glitches (flat tire, broken cable, etc.), everyone who commented said they had a great time.  We did learn an important lesson, though, this being the first group ride we've organized.  (And by "we", I mean I, Hoppy.)  We...er, I mean I, delayed the start of the ride, scheduled for 9:00 AM, until after 9:30 in order to accommodate some of the late arrivals to the staging area.  That wasn't fair to those who got there at 9:00...or earlier.  So we'll be sure to start the rides on time from now on.  Not everyone is a fast rider, so late comers should be able to catch up with the rest of the group(s) fairly easily.

Speaking of rider speed, that's another lesson learned: Our original group of abou 15 riders splintered into 2-3 smaller groups based on speed and experience.  We want all riders to feel welcome and to enjoy the ride.  So for future rides, we'll make sure to organize sub-groups before we head out.  Slow riding is not a bad thing.  Neither is faster riding.  Your enjoyment of the ride is the important matter.  So some of our more experienced riders have already offered to lead a sub-group at the smaller group's preferred pace.  Our San Diego Bay ride in January had some riders who finished in around 2 hours and some who finished in over three hours.  I was in the latter group, although I could have finished more quickly.  I had gone back and looped through a park to meet another rider who planned to meet the group there.  Turns out he had already joined the group...and had even spoken to me, but I didn't recognize him.  He was one of the faster riders, though, and if not for some mechanical issues, would have finished in the first group.  There were still others who didn't ride the entire SD Bay route, and others who doubled it and still finished long before I did.  OK, I'm impressed.

Here are a few photos of our first ride, courtesy of Chris C.:

Starting out on Harbor Dr.      Still on Harbor Drive


There were some "upwrong bikes" with us.     Pit stop to repair Pete's idler.
 

Our second Trikes Treks ride is scheduled for Saturday, Februrary 20, at 9:00 AM.  We'll ride around Mission Bay this time.  MB is also in the City of San Diego, but not quite downtown.  Start at the Mission Bay Visitor Information Center on East Mission Bay Drive at the foot of Clairemont Drive, near the Clairemont Drive exit from Interstate 5. Parking next to the Center is limited to one hour, and this ride will almost certainly take longer than that. Park in one of the nearby parking lots to the north or the south of the Center.  For a turn-by-turn description and directions, see http://www.efgh.com/bike/rmbay.htm .  Please call me or send me an email if you plan to ride with us or need additional information.

EXPANDING THE BUSINESS

T. Ryx is expanding, and has become a full service bike shop.  Hoppy's son, Jeremiah, is taking over the reins as manager of the shop, especially during the week.  But it’ll take at least a couple of months to really get set up.  Not to fear, though.  We’ll still be selling and servicing recumbent trikes.  

Jeremiah (or Dylan as many people know him), has already changed the name of the standard bicycle end of the business.  He doesn’t like “PterraSoar Cyclery”, so he has changed the Bike division name to Bike Vault.  Boring...  The PterraSoar connection is very fitting for several reasons:  1.) Obviously the pseudo-dinosaur connection fits in with the corporate image (Tyrannosaurus, Inc.); 2.) We’ve already got a cool logo for it and it’s already on our overhead sign and other places; 3.) name recognition; and 4.) the name itself implies speed on the ground: (P)terra = ground, and soar = fly = speed.  Well, now that you're all convinced, it really doesn’t matter.  Jeremiah has his mind made up, and we’ve decided to let him run with it.  Oh, well…  We may keep the PterraSoar Cyclery name for other specialty bikes, though.  

The good news is that Jeremiah is really getting involved, and it’s taking a lot of the load off Hoppy's shoulders.  He’s reorganized the showroom a lot and gotten a couple of new mechanics working with us (great trike and bike mechanics).  We've also got several new (additional) suppliers for accessories, and we've picked up KMX Karts as a new trike manufacturer for our business.  We have three of KMX's trikes available in our showroom for test riding.  We now sell HP Velotechnik, Hase Spezialrader, Greenspeed, ICE, KMX Karts, Catrike, and TerraTrike products.  All are high quality trikes within their price ranges.  We can also sell Sun trikes through one of our suppliers, although we don't have them in our showroom.  The reason for expanding to sell "upwrong" bicycles too is that even with today's economic slump, we still need to pay the rent to keep our doors open.  We now sell quality Jamis bicycles, with children's bikes starting at a little over $100, and entry level through high end adult road and mountain bikes.  We're also considering a couple of other bike lines.  So while Hoppy's going to need to swallow his pride a lot, Jeremiah is actually doing a great job at converting us to a full-service bike and trike shop!  Not only are we selling standard bicycles now, but we also sell other specialty bikes, including folding bikes and tandems.  We'll be selling Brompton, Dahon, Jango (a Topeak division), and Reise & Müller (including the "Birdie") folding bikes.  We can special order Santana tandems and others.  And of course we sell both recumbent trikes and bikes from the manufacturers we represent.

ORGANIZED RIDES

December 20, 2009

We've heard that some of our customers have been wondering where and when we'll start the group rides.  Well, we chose the Silver Strand in Coronado for our inaugural ride based on input from several of our riders.  The first ride will be on Saturday, January 16, at 8:00 AM, with the following Saturday, January 23, as a rain date.  So far at least 10 people have said they'll be riding with us.  And a couple of them might bring their kids, either to ride along with us or to tow behind in trailers.

Not all riders are currently at the same level, and stronger riders may choose to move ahead to make the ride(s) more challenging.  Others may want to ride a bit more leisurely because children are with them...or simply because they want to have a more leisurely ride.  That's all fine, and we can naturally evolve into sub-groups if it works out that way.

The Silver Stand is a nice, flat ride running from the City of Coronado southward.  For part of the ride both the Pacific Ocean and San Diego Bay are visible within spittin' distance.  It's a Class I bike path along the road for about 8 miles out of the 9 each way.  But if you're not feeling up to the entire 18 miles, there are plenty of places to turn around to make the ride shorter.  If you want more of a ride, you can cruise into town, or you can continue onto the San Diego Bay Bike Path.  The San Diego Bay path is not quite a loop, though, because the Coronado Bridge (SR 75) is not open to cyclists.  (See my comments below.)

We don't plan on making this a one-time only group ride.  On the contrary, we want to make it a periodic event that may grow into a "club" of some sort.  I personally would like to expand into group tours instead of just local rides for anyone interested.  We may ride once a month for a while and then more frequently as riders build up stamina and a desire for more rides.  If the interest is already there, we can immediately start more frequent group rides.  On the third hand, sub-groups may choose to ride together more frequently.  Ultimately we'll see who's interested in longer tours, and go from there.

If anyone would like to join us, or to help organize the rides/group, please call me at the shop at 760.741.0411, or email me at Hoppy@T-Ryx.com.  I look forward to hearing from you and to seeing you on the ride(s).  

Oh, by the way, if you want to ride but need a new trike or accessories, I can give you a discount on anything you need.  This offer is good for anyone joining us in the rides, too.  We're a full-service bike/trike/velomobile shop now, so we can tune up your ride, provide accessories, parts, and apparel, or assist in many other ways.  Come on in or contact me via the above email or phone number.

We were brainstorming about doing some organized rides while Hoppy had a moment to spare (a rare occurrence), and thought about some ideas for inaugural rides for whatever we come up with for a group effort.  We even came up with a temporary name for the group:  Trike Treks.  Pretty clever, huh?  (OK so it’s pretty dumb…so you think of something better.)

There are some other recumbent clubs, and some even specifically for recumbent trike riders, around SoCal.  We don't want to compete with anyone...just to complement them and make organized riding more convenient for anyone who wants to participate.

We've discussed this with other recumbent trike/bike riders, including some customers, and we need help organizing this thing.  We'd want to be sure riders of all levels can participate.  Some, including Hoppy, are not competitive riders, but can ride fairly long distances at a decent pace.  Others are racers, and still others are novices or otherwise limited in how fast or far they can ride.  Some trikes are designed/engineered more for speed, others for comfort, others for touring.  But the rides shouldn't exclude anyone who rides other recumbent bikes and trikes, or any others who ride specialty cycles or even upwrong bikes and just want to ride with us.  The two main goals of the organized rides, whether this becomes a "club" or simply remains periodic organized rides, are to have fun and to just "get out there and ride"!  Hopefully others will pick up on this too.

Anyway, depending on where and when we would start , how many would ride, how long we want to ride, and a host of other factors, here are some ideas for the inaugural ride:

The Mission Bay Bike Path loop: 3-19 miles (Class I and III).  Nice views of Bay and Ocean. 

The Silver Strand: 9 miles each way (Class I for 8 miles) – Part of San Diego Bay Bike Path route.  Nice views of the Bay and Ocean.

The San Diego Bay Bike Path route: 27 miles (Class I and III) Nice views of the Bay, Ocean, and Downtown.  Can’t ride across the Coronado Bridge, so no loop.  It's either one-way with transportation back to the start, or we double back and make it 54 miles.

The Oceanside-Escondido (Inland) Rail Trail: 6-7 miles each way (Class I) – Nice, but nothing all that special.  Hoppy rides it to his day job.  (Part of a 30 mile r/t commute.)

The San Luis Rey River Bike Path (Oceanside to College Blvd): 7 miles each way (Class I) – Similar to Inland Rail Trail.

These rides are all paved and flat or mostly flat, beginner to intermediate.  Obviously the longer ones will be more exhausting and require more preparation.  For rides that are one-way or too long for some riders, we’ll need a SAG wagon and/or vehicle to transport riders/bikes/trikes.  Especially for longer rides, we're thinking we’d want to have a stopover for brunch or a snack or something.  There would most certainly be restaurants or other establishments that would love to serve a bunch of riders periodically.

There are obviously other options for our inaugural ride(s), some here in Escondido and vicinity, and some farther out.  We've just listed a few we found on the Web or otherwise knew about.  We've already ridden some of these, and some of us have ridden most of them.  We're looking for ideas that you can suggest, too.

There are also some tour packages available for San Diego, such as the "Waterfront", "Downtown", and others, that cost some money.  But according to their Web site, if there are more than 10 cyclists, it’s free.  These might be worth looking into at some point.  The listed costs are $45 and $79 per person.  Might be something many of us have seen before, but it could be nice for a social event for our “club”…

Anyone who is interested, and/or anyone who would like to help out, please email Hoppy at: Hoppy@T-Ryx.com.  Otherwise, keep following this page for updates.  We'll try to add new information and updates at least weekly.