Every riding adult is required to read every Tuesday Newsletter.
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Dear Parent
Good to see so many of you on Sunday. A special welcome to Odin, Ryan, Sam, and their families. Your first ride was a warm one!
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DATES AND TIMES
Tuesday, November 7. 7 pm. Parent meeting. Bring the kids.
Design 39 School. MP room. Not mandatory
Tuesday, March 26. 7 pm. Parent Meeting. Bring the kids
Design 39 School. MP room. Mandatory
The Escondido Hill Rides
Sun Feb 11 | Sat Feb 17 | Sun March 3 | Sat March 9 | Sat March 16 | Sun Mar 17 | Sat Mar 23
Two are mandatory for each rider. We offer seven. Please plan on coming more often than twice
The RAC Calendar is now updated and final.
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BIKE MAINTENANCE
Don't Ignore Frayed Cables by our very own Dr. Bob. Enjoy!
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HOMEWORK.
Stay in your seat
Please encourage your kids to stay in their seats
Standing up and sitting down (and standing up and sitting down) makes for an uneven experience for the riders behind you
Encourage your child to shift instead of standing and powering through.
Our hills are long. This is a marathon and not a sprint, and it’s the rare 5th grader who can stand for the entire uphill.
If your child stands up for momentum, check the saddle. It might be too low.
The occasional standing stretch to rearrange one’s shorts is appropriate.
Keep at it. What we saw last weekend was very good.
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RULES OF THE RAC | New
We ride in a way to be a good example to all 5th graders.
We support everyone, not just our own kids.
We ride predictably.
We single file. We never ride next to each other. Tires never overlap.
If you need to speak to your child, stay behind her/him and raise your voice.
Or pull over.
We stop at stop signs, individually, at the white line, and put our foot down. Every time.
We wear vests and name tags. Front and back. Large enough for us to read
We wear vests over camelbacks. Unless it's neon yellow. Then we don’t care.
We never pass our front volunteer
We scan left before we pass other riders.
We say “passing on the left” when we pass other riders.
We never pass on the right.
We never pass more than two people at a time.
We stop on uphills only when we have to
If we have to stop, we look for a shady and flat-ish spot
If we have to stop, we move to the right to let others pass us
We try to make it to the top of the hill
By using smaller gears, smaller numbers
By hamstering (spinning)
We never pass when there is no space ahead of us.
Kids stay with their parents. Parents stay with their kids.
We say “slowing” when we slow down and “stopping” when we are about to stop and “going” when we are going again.
We are friendly to all passing motorists.
We follow the advice of volunteers and Youth Support.
We treat everyone with respect.
We share this list with our kids.
Safety is our 1st priority. (Fun is our 2nd)
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MEET THE VOLUNTEERS: ANNIKA TROM - YOUTH SUPPORT
5th grade RAC rider in 2018
Youth Support volunteer since 2022
Junior at Poway High
On the swim team and in the Marching Band
Owns a calligraphy and a baking business
Rode RAGBRAI (the ride across Iowa)
“The RAC completely changed my life. I know that sounds totally cheesy, but it really did. It got me into the amazing lifelong sport of biking, which led me to do rides in Mexico and across Iowa 5 years later. It taught me the value of working hard to achieve my goals, and how months and months of training really pay off. I made so many friends on that trip that I’ll never forget. Life is a journey. Enjoy the bike ride.”
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OUR NEXT RIDE
Saturday, October 14
13.5 miles. 752 feet
Mesa Verde Middle School | 8375 Entreken Way, San Diego, 92129
Please arrive by 8:45 a.m. We start promptly at 9 a.m.
Sections of Saturday’s route are on canyon trails. This ride is not a good one for skinny tires. ____________________________________________
Looking forward to seeing you this weekend.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Your friendly RAC volunteer team
Abhi | Ana | Bill | Bob | Christiane | Frans | Hannah | James | Jeff | Joe | Julie | Kate | Kristen | Kumar | Olav | Phil | Robert | Sabine and co-founder Dennis Bueker
Youth Support: Annika | Bryce | Caroline | Evan | Grace | Grant | Jadon | Kendall | Kiki | Michael | Nikhil | Nolan | Olive | Ryan | Sadhika | Sawyer | Sophie | Vishnu |
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All participants are responsible for being familiar with RAC rules, regulations
Repeated failure to follow RAC rules will result in your family's removal from the program.
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IF YOU HAVE DECIDED THAT THE RAC IS NOT FOR YOU,
please inform us immediately.
families on the waitlist are eager and anxious to join us on training rides.
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