Memberships
Ride Information
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Baltimore Youth Cycling
Welcome To The Baltimore Bicycling Club Website
Group Rides Every Weekend, All Paces!
BBC President's Message - 2020/2021
Goodbye 2020
Last year, 2020, was a year of many surprises. We started the year out strong with a well-attended planning meeting to come up with ideas for increasing rider participation on our club rides. In spite of the meeting being held on what was to become the only snow day in the winter of 2020, over 35 hardy members showed up for the meeting.
Barely 6 weeks later we faced difficult decisions confronting our club due to the arrival of the covid-19 pandemic. We made the difficult decision to suspend all bike rides effective March 28, 2020 and we realized that we had to cancel our annual Memorial Day Weekend event, Kent County Spring Fling. Eventually each of our monthly events was cancelled:
-- April: Season Opener
-- April: Spring Social
-- May: Kent County Spring Fling
-- June: Greencastle Great Escape
-- June: Flatlands Tour
-- July: Picnic
-- August: Corn Roast Ride
-- September: Civil War Century
-- September: Washington County Getaway
-- September: Lancaster Weekend
-- November: Annual Awards Dinner
Although the events were cancelled, members of our club spent many hours in the planning process for these events and we greatly appreciate the effort that was made in planning, but not implementing, these events.
In addition to the event coordinators and their direct assistants, many of our members participate in activities which keep our club running from the giving committee, to our legal advisor, to our web site designer, and many others. And, of course our ride leaders. Although for four months of 2020, we did not have rides posted to our web site, many members volunteered to be ride leaders in the first three months of the year and then after our ride calendar was re-opened in August.
Hello 2021
With the roll-out of vaccinations for covid-19, we hope that we will eventually be able to safely return to the group activities that our bike club normally organizes. Rides are being scheduled through our calendar and must follow guidelines for safe riding during this pandemic period.
One of our goals for 2021 is to help members become more comfortable using Ride with GPS and we hope to offer training to those who request it.
We realize that although a small percentage of Americans have been vaccinated, it may take several months before all of us have received a vaccine. We will patiently hold off on putting our large events on the calendar for 2021. We hope that we will be able to gather later this year and when we can hold these events, we will celebrate in the friendship we have with our fellow bike riders.
We invite members to stay in touch with each other and to contact any board members about ideas for our future activities.
Patrick Lapensee-- President of the Baltimore Bicycling Club
BBC 2021 Board of Director's Election and Bylaws Update Results
Greetings Baltimore Bicycling Club Voters,
Our first online election is over and the results are in.
The slate of candidates for positions on the Board of Directors was approved overwhelmingly and the amended Bylaws were also approved by a wide margin.
The BBC 2021 Board of Directors will be:
One-year terms:
-- President: Pat Lapensee
-- Vice President: Gloria Epstein
-- Secretary: Ellen Hochman
-- Treasurer: John Isaacs
Two-year terms:
-- Member at Large: Eugene Bayer
-- Member at Large: Frank Blatt
Thank you to all who voted. Out of 755 eligible voters, 136 members (18%) voted. We hope to have greater participation next year. For the record, the votes are entirely anonymous. The system provides visibility to who voted but not who they voted for. I doubt there is “paper trail” for recounts or audits!
Thanks again and hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Patrick Lapensee
-- President of the Baltimore Bicycling Club
BBC 2021 Board of Directors:
Request for Nominations and Election
Baltimore Bicycling Club members
This is the time of year when members can consider supporting our club by serving on our Board of Directors.
There will be a couple of openings for the 2021 Board. If you have any interest in serving on the Board, please send me an email at: President@BaltoBikeClub.org and let me know your interest. I would appreciate hearing from you. Please respond by October 15, 2020 if you are interested in serving on the 2021 BBC Board of Directors.
Our club Bylaws state that the club hold an annual election for the Board of Directors. Normally we hold the election during our end of year meeting, held at Oregon Ridge for the last several years. This year we will not hold an in-person meeting, but we will still have our election.
The election for the 2021 Board of Directors will be held via email, using election runner (https://electionrunner.com) an online voter interface that will tabulate the results. All members will be sent a ballot via email. More details will follow in the coming weeks.
Patrick Lapensee
-- President of the Baltimore Bicycling Club
BBC Extends Membership Expiration Dates Due To Cancelled Group Rides
In mid-July, all BBC members whose membership was active on March 28, 2020, the day the BBC cancelled group rides, have had their membership extended by one year.
If your membership expired after March 28, your membership was extended by one year from the date of expiration.
If your membership has not yet expired, it was also extended by one year from the date of expiration.
If your membership was active on March 28 and you do not see this extension when you log into your account, or if you expected that your membership should have been extended but can no longer log into your BBC account, contact the BBC Treasurer at treasurer@baltobikeclub.org.
Larry's Ride
Larry's Ride has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic - sponsored by Bike Maryland - scheduled for October 17, 2020. For more information, read the announcement on the Bike Maryland web page: https://www.bikemaryland.org/larrys-ride-announcement/
This annual event is a key fundraiser which allows Bike Maryland to continue to work making bicycling safer for everyone who rides a bike in Maryland, whether for transportation or recreation. Information about contributing to Bike Maryland is on the announcement page.
President's Message June 2020 - Membership Extension and more..
Greeting fellow Baltimore Bicycling Club members,
Website:At the January 7, 2020 meeting regarding increasing rider participation, the topic that generated the most interest/feedback was improving the BBC Website. One recommendation was to have a Website Manager, whose duties include reviewing and editing submissions as needed, declining non-relevant or inappropriate material and forwarding submissions to the Web Designer for publication.
Our first Website Manager is Alice Smith, whom many of you know as a 13-15mph rider. All website submissions for the front page should now be submitted to: websitemanager@baltobikeclub.org.
Member Benefits:One benefit of BBC membership is access to our cue sheet library on the BBC website. Cue sheets are also available on our club Ride with GPS account. There are many rides of varying distances and start locations to choose from. Although club rides have been suspended, you can peruse the online library for a suitable ride.
Extending Memberships: As was previously announced, BBC memberships will be extended to compensate for the period during which we were shutdown. All memberships will be extended for the duration of the BBC shutdown, from March 28 until group rides are restarted. The membership expiration date for everyone who had an active membership on March 28 will be moved out by the length of time that has elapsed when group rides are restarted. If you are uncertain whether your membership was active on March 28, you can contact John Issacs at treasurer@baltobikeclub.org.
Your Board is working on guidelines for group rides:Your Board of Directors is discussing the criteria for restarting club rides and how this will be implemented. We are taking into consideration the actions of several other bike clubs on the eastern seaboard and our state and local governments to create guidelines to restart rides and we are learning from those few who have restarted. Guidelines will include:
· Group size: “groups” of no more than 10 riders. If 15 people show up for a ride, 2 groups leave 10-15 minutes apart;
· Practice social distancing at the ride start and while riding;
· Bring a mask and wear it at the ride start when signing in; ride with one if you want, and be sure to wear it in a convenience store;
· print out your own cue sheet.
The guidelines will change over time, as needed.
We do not know yet when we can start group rides. We will monitor our government’s guidelines and notify members when we can start posting rides on the calendar.
Civil War Century (CWC) is cancelled:By now you have heard the CWC is cancelled. Many thanks to Larry Kenney and Cindy Wyatt for their tireless efforts in organizing this event. We are all looking forward to the 2021 Civil War Century.
Finally, I would like to express my thanks to the event coordinators who worked hard to plan events which were scheduled earlier this year; Gloria Epstein - Spring Social and Season Opening ride; Bob Carson - Kent County Spring Fling; Phil Manger - Greencastle Great Escape; Ken Philhower and Cindy Wyatt - Flatlands Tour; Bill Blankenship - Picnic ride. All these events were cancelled this year.
Take care and stay safe
Patrick Lapensee
-- President of the Baltimore Bicycling Club
Civil War Century 2020 is Cancelled
As your Civil War Century event coordinators, we sincerely regret to have to announce that our club’s signature event is cancelled for 2020. We hope to see everyone back for the next Civil War Century event on Saturday, September 11th, 2021! As a club member, consider making it a priority to volunteer to ensure our success.
