Start time is (5:30 pm March - May) (5:45 June - Sept) 

We are back on the road; weather permitting.   With the early spring warm weather these rides are back. The rides will be a bit slower and shorter until everyone's legs are back in tip top shape.

This is a pace line ride so experience riding in a group is important. People in this group should be fully self supported. These rides are for those people who want to push themselves to ride faster by riding in a group and cover distances from 30 to 65 miles in a single ride.
 

Join us for a sport paced 18 to 23 mph ride. Distance for the weekly rides are about 36-40 miles. 
 

The location is the Weston YMCA and the 

Starting April 29th.

Start Time 6:00 pm

Information:  This ride is for the entry level and family road bikers.  We travel about 10 - 15miles on the paved country roads east of the YMCA.  It takes an hour or a little more with an average speed of about 10 - 12 miles per hour.  This is meant to be a leisurely ride.  Principles of riding with a group, rules of the road, and safety issues will be explained.  Any bike is fine.  It doesn't have to be a road bike.  During the summer months there will be a pie night, wine and cheese night, and chocolate night with dates to be determined. 

One legal point:  These rides are sanctioned by the Wheeler Bike Club and are therefore covered by insurance.  New riders can have their first(guest) ride with the club without being members.  Second and subsequent rides will require membership for insurance coverage purposes.  Membership forms will be made available to anyone interested in joining the club.

Helmets are required on all rides. Note start time will be 5:30 after Labor Day.

What is a Brevet? You might ask.

Brevet, or randonnée, is an organised long-distance  bicycle  ride in the sport of randonneuring. In a Brevet cyclist follow a designated course passing through checkponts. At each checkpoint a brevet card is stamped and marked with the time. The courses range between 200k and 1400k and must be completed within a time limit. This is not a race and rides may only recieive assistance at designated checkpoints.

Randonnée is a French word which loosely translates to 'ramble or 'long journey' (in French the verb 'randonner' originally means 'hiking', but is nowadays also used for bicycle and even motorized tours). Brevet means 'certificate' and refers to the card carried by randonneurs which gets stamped at controls; it is also used to refer to the event itself, ie: a certificated ride.

We are discussing plans for a 200K brevet in July. More information to follow.

A quick update as we near the final Wausau Area Metro Bike & Pedestrian plan. A few projects that were identified during the planning process have already received some federal funding. The first project is a stretch of County Hwy NN west of I-39 to Whippoorwill/Red Wing Rd will be resurfaced with extended paved shoulders (similar to Cty KK). The second project is adding paved shoulders to a stretch of County Hwy N from Thorneapple Rd to Red Bud Road. This will provide a safer connection along a very busy county highway. The last project is to extend a bike/pedestrian path north along the east side of I-39 from the I-39 tunnel (past Kocurek auto dealers) up to Eagle (past Wausau Health and Fitness).

Also for those of you unaware of some current projects that are in process:

1. State Hwy 153 (Main St.) bridges in Mosinee are being reconstructed and will provide sidewalks as well as a bike/ped path on the north side.

2. Kowalski Rd overpass over I-39 in Krownenwetter is being reconstructed with a bike/pedestrian lane.

The draft of the Wausau Area Bike & Pedestrian Plan will be going to the Wausau Metropolitan Planning Organization in October/November for approval. Then the real work will begin making sure the plan gets implemented.

New Jerseys - Thank you to our sponsors

Rib Mountain Cycles  and  Builer's Cycle & Fitness Center

Please do your shopping at  these sponsor locations!

Jerseys have arrived. See Dave to pick up. We have a couple extras too.

Beginning in June of 2007 the Wausau Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) formed a Bike & Pedestrian sub-committee to help develop a long range comprehensive transportion plan for Wausau and the surrounding areas.

Members of this sub-committee are working closely with a consulting firm (Schriber/Anderson Associates, Inc.) from Madison, hired through grant money, who will help develop this plan.  For more information about the planning process please visit Marathon County's Bike & Ped Sub-committee website http://www.co.marathon.wi.us/infosubcon.asp?dep=27&sid=313 or Schriber/Anderson's site regarding this project.