This week's Topics:

0. This newsletter issue is chock full of amazing news, really!
1. Ohlone summer weather
2. The Last Wregular Wednesday Wride: savoring the singletrack
3. Demo day photojournal on the Passion website
4. MidPen Open Space Ward 7 election candidate info for mountain bikers
5. Bailout bill includes $$ bonus for commuting by bike
6. George W. Bush to open National Parks to mountain bikes
7. Biketoberfest in Fairfax Oct 18th
8. Pumpkin Ride and Picnic October 25th
9. Halloween Party at Passion November 1st
10. 16th Annual Tour of the S.F. Hills Sunday Nov 2
11. Bicycle Expo and Swap, presented by rideSFO @ the Cow Palace, Nov 29 & 30


0. This newsletter issue is chock full of amazing news, really!

I don't usually include so many topics, or so much mind-boggling stuff in one issue! You might want to grab a cup of coffee for this one, though -- it's worth a thorough read - in particular, just try and wrap your head around topic #6. Wow.

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1. Ohlone summer weather

OK, this is why we pay the big bucks to live here. Honestly. I think today's weather has to be worth at least $50. Yesterday's too. Is this paradise, or what? Sunscreen in October! It's time to make some serious plans to escape your responsibilities and RIDE, you silly dog you!

The forecast from the Weather Underground for Waterdog Park, Belmont, CA is below:

Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
76° F | 50° F 24° C | 10° C	74° F | 52° F 23° C | 11° C	74° F | 54° F 23° C | 12° C	74° F | 52° F 23° C | 11° C	67° F | 49° F 19° C | 9° C
Clear	Clear	Clear	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy

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2. The Last Wregular Wednesday Wride: savoring the singletrack

Sunset is at 6:30pm this Wednesday 10/15/08. Twilight ends and darkness falls about 7:00pm.

This week, we are encouraging you to take full advantage of your ability to slip out early. The EARLY RIDE may have a slower group and a friskier group, depending on turnout. Come ride as many of the trails as you can fit in before dark! There will not be a Wednesday Wride next week, at least not one organized through the shop, and Patty is putting away the pots and pans for a while. So start getting phone numbers and emails to connect a little more personally with your new friends, so you can put together your own shenanigans! Starting next week, we are switching to an irregular, as announced, rides, trailwork, and social calendar. We will be doing more stuff launching from the trailhead rather than the shop, and visiting preserves and parks nearby as well as further afield as weather permits. Thanks for a great summer! You have all made the shop a really rich hub of life and we are so very grateful!

Reminder for everyone: Hustle hustle! We're still hustling! So arrive with your shorts on and your camelback already full of water. Let's make a really good effort to actually launch the rides at the alloted time. Stragglers will straggle and make up their own ride (there may be several of you this week). No waiting around!

P. L. E. A. S. E. . . . P. U. T. . . . L. I. G. H. T. S. . . . O. N ! ! ! !

Please remember to put a light on your handlebar and have a blinky ready for the ride back to the shop! CA vehicle code requires it. Don't get caught out on the streets in the dark! Also, a reminder that we need to be super conscientious about stopping at stop signs and lights, yielding to pedestrians, and operating our bikes predictably and responsibly while on the roads. While we are not the only cyclists out there we are certainly the biggest group and the easiest place to lodge complaints. Let's be safe and kind out there.

For all the details about what makes each group unique, please refer to this webpage. If your questions aren't answered there, you can also email us for info at info@passiontrailbikes.com.

There will be the usual variety of rides on the twisty narrow singletrack that makes Waterdog famous. All rides start pedaling from the shop: Passion Trail Bikes, 415 Old County Road, Belmont, CA 94002 650-620-9798

The EARLY ride will go out at 5:00 PM.This week we are encouraging anyone who can get out early to come and savor the pleasant evening!
The RIDICULOUS ride will go out at 5:15 PM.
The REGULAR ride will go out at 5:15 PM.
The FBG or Fat Bottomed Girl ride will go out at 5:20 PM.
The WHITE SOCKS ride will go out at 5:20 PM.
The STRAGGLERS ride goes out at 5:30 PM.

All groups will meet back here at Passion Trail Bikes right around dark for the usual story telling & beverage enjoyment. We will have stuff for the BBQ along with some carbo laden side dish, chips and fatty snacks and EANABS to pair up with the Devil's Canyon Brewery's Full Boar Scotch Ale, Silicon Blonde Ale, and Backpack Babe Root Beer. We will hang out until about 10pm, so come on down, even if you can't make the ride! Passion Parties are better with YOU in the mix!

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3. Demo day photojournal on the Passion website

We've been posting some pictures and a report of the Demo Day up on our website. Check it out! Over 90 test rides, and a whole lot of smiling faces!

Specialized brought over two dozen bikes in all sizes and models. Awesome!

Jay and Kevin oogle the Maverick ML8. Poor Jay. He doesn't really NEED a new bike, does he?

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4. MidPen Open Space Ward 7 election candidate info for mountain bikers

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District has elected board members. This year Ward 7, which includes Redwood City, San Carlos, Half Moon Bay, and other areas, has a contested seat. Patty wants you to know that she has been working with Cecily Harris, who is challenging incumbent Ken Nitz, on the San Mateo County Parks Trails Master Plan Update Committee, and is impressed enough with her credentials and open-minded approach to multi-use, that she is endorsing her candidacy and recommending that you vote for her. Vote for Cecily Harris.

MROSD incumbents are pretty much never defeated, and due to lack of term limits, the board has grown older and older and is increasingly out of touch with what mountain bikers want, or how to manage mountain biking fairly. But Cecily may very well have a viable candidacy and we hope her campaign will be successful. Cecily will breathe some new ideas and bring a new perspective to the board, which is badly needed. Please read ROMP's questionairre with the candidate's answers here: http://www.passiontrailbikes.com/files/MROSD_Ward7_election_questionairre.doc.

A sample of contrasting questions and answers:

Q: MROSD currently allows docent-led night hikes but prohibits all bicycle use after dark. The Santa Clara County Open Space Authority recently had an event and hosted a night ride for bicyclists on one of their preserves. East Bay Regional Parks allows all users, including bicyclists, without restriction until 10pm at night. Would you support modifying MROSD regulations to allow for docent-led night rides or some other night time access for bicycles?
A: Ken: Seems rather dangerous especially with steep slopes and narrow tracks. It could also prove difficult to find an accident victim at night and we don't patrol at night (but we do have officers on call). The expense of patrolling at night would be too much I think. We don't allow hiking at night except for docent led hikes, so that might be something to look into.

Q: Would you consider trying innovative management strategies to reduce user conflicts, such as these: alternating day access (for example: bicycles allowed on even days only), one-way access only for bicycles, single use bicycle trails (eg, posted as "not recommended" for hikers and equestrians), permit-only bicycle access?
A: Cecily: Absolutely! Land managers must consider innovative strategies for resource protection as well as recreational usage. I do endorse the concept of Alternate Day Access programs. In the Salt Lake City area, some of the canyons host alternate trail use on weekend days. For example, hikers are allowed on some canyon trails on specific weekends and cyclists on alternate weekends. This apparently works quite well. The rules are prominently signed and trail users self police. The Royal Gorge ski resort has a very long one-way access trails for cross-country skiers from its main lodge to Rainbow Lodge. It makes perfect sense being single track and one way because it is steep. I can understand the same applying to cyclists.

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5. Bailout bill includes $$ bonus for commuting by bike

Get Cash For Your Bike Commute

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is happy to announce the following: "After seven years of slogging, the federal Bicycle Commuter Benefit suddenly became a reality last week as part of the $850 billion bailout bill signed by the President on Friday. The "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008", (link opens a huge pdf file, scroll to p. 205), contains language that will amend the U.S. Tax Code to permit employers to reimburse employees, tax free, for "reasonable" expenses related to bike commutes, including bike and equipment purchases, repairs, and storage if the bicycle is used as a "substantial part" of the commuter's trip to work for the month. The benefit option will go into effect for tax year 2009 (so start saving those receipts come January). Thanks to Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer and Senator Ron Wyden for their years of work on this initiative (though, as it happens, neither Blumenauer nor Wyden voted in favor of the massive bailout bill!)."

This means your Passion Trail Bikes expenses related to your commuting, such as slick tires, fenders, lights, etc, could be reimbursed by your company! Is that awesome or what?????

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6. George W. Bush to open National Parks to mountain bikes

We weren't sure if it was April 1st or not, but this appears to be for real. Absofrigilutely amazing! Patty's head might have exploded when she heard this news, if it weren't for the fact that she was fortunately wearing a helmet at the time!

From Salon.com:
Bush to open national parks to mountain bikes
By DINA CAPPIELLO Associated Press Writer

Oct 14th, 2008 | WASHINGTON
The Bush administration is taking steps to make it easier for mountain bikers to gain access to national parks and other public lands before the president ­ an avid cyclist himself ­ leaves office.
The National Park Service confirmed Tuesday that it is preparing a rule to allow park managers in some cases to decide which trails to open to mountain bikers.
Once it's finalized, the rule would take this authority away from federal regulators in Washington, who sometimes take years to decide whether to allow bicycles on individual trails.
A park service spokesman said the rule would be proposed no later than Nov. 15 in order for it to be finalized before Bush leaves office.

Environmental groups are upset that they won't so easily be able to hold up converting hiking trails to multi-use. Read one critique, by PEER, here. We were wondering if our Mountain Biker in Chief was ever going to do anything to improve bicycle access on federal lands, and it looks like he will. Good news indeed.

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7. Biketoberfest in Fairfax Oct 18th

Volunteers and attendees sought for Biketoberfest! Saturday Oct 18th, 2008 Fairfax

Access4Bikes and Marin County Bicycle Coalition present Biketoberfest, Saturday, October 18, 2008, at FairAnselm Plaza lots, Center Blvd, Fairfax, from 11am-6:00pm. Join in on an Octoberfest and bike festival rolled into one: Biketoberfest! Over a dozen micro-breweries, local organic gourmet food purveyors, live music, group rides, entertainment, kid's activities and the Expo Marketplace filled with great gear, buys and info. from northern CA bike frame builders, manufacturer's, bike stores, bike teams and advocacy organizations! www.biketoberfest2008.org

Volunteers needed and loved! In order to keep this a free festival, it is exclusively volunteer driven. Shifts of 2 hrs. (Coffee, beverages & snacks provided), 4 hrs. (Plus lunch & beer chit) or...? (Plus some swag!) Thanks everyone!!!!!

Volunteer needs: Set-up and break-down/ hefty truck and driver for table &chair pick-up and drop off locally and Santa Rosa/ Volunteer Coordinator(s)/Volunteer Check-in/Vendor Check-in/Ticket Sales/Food and Beer assistants/BBQ Chef & assistant/Music assistant/Kid’s Activities Coordinators/Kid’s Rides Coordinators//Poster-flyer distribution/Sign design and production/Raffle Prize seller(s) and more!

Vendors: Great rates and lots of exposure-see contact below:

Contacts:
General Info. and volunteers:
Heidi Adler hcadler@comcast.net 415-686-1526
Vendors:
Tom Boss tomboss@mac.com 415-272-2756
www.biketoberfest2008.org

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8. Pumpkin Ride and Picnic October 25th

ROMP Pumpkin Ride & Picnic! Join ROMP for our annual pumpkin ride on Saturday, October 25, 2008.

Pumpkin rides start from the northern Purisima Creek Open Space Preserve parking lot (next to the old Kings Mountain Store). Rides leave the parking lot at 9:30am. Ride from Skyline down to a Half Moon Bay pumpkin patch, select your gourd(s) large or small, affix them to your bike or stow them in a pack, and carry it all back up to the ridge. Prizes for best costume & biggest and best pumpkin haul. The great pumpkin weigh-in and annual ROMP Picnic will be held at Passion Trail Bikes in Belmont immediately after end of ride. Food is sponsored by Passion Trail Bikes. Fun and games may include a pixie bike contest. Families may elect to drive to HMB to select their pumpkin, and ride on the bluffs instead. All are welcome! Come on and pick your pumpkin and enjoy a wonderful gathering with a great group!

Fast Fred Stanke loads his handlebar bowl.

Bill Schmelzer and friends contemplate pumpkins that are more their size

Bill and Berry climbing Purisima Creek Road with their "haul"

Paul Nam, loaded, knees wrapped, on the climb and ready to suck some blood

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9. Halloween Party at Passion November 1st

Friday night is the night for little kids. This year Saturday night is for big kids! Plan on joining us for a super fun candlelit evening of socializing and scaring each other with our alter-egos. Healthy food to dilute all that candy you ate, intoxicating conversation, boiling beverages, what more could you want? Oh, costumes. Wear one!

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10. 16th Annual Tour of the S.F. Hills Sunday Nov 2

16th Annual Tour of the S.F. Hills
Sunday, November 2nd, 9am
Meet at the parking lot across the street from the Marina Safeway at 9 A.M.

The ride explores a multitude of neighborhoods in the city, taking the most difficult path from cafe to taqueria. With the many hilltops in the city, and with the usual good luck with weather conditions, the riders are treated to frequent magnificent views.

The parade of cyclists winding down Lombard St. and then climbing the 32% grade on Filbert St. always attracts the attention of tourists. Other sites explored on the ride are Potrero Hill (with the fast descent down the "other" crookedest street in the world), Coit Tower, Nob Hill, and Mt. Davidson. A bonus feature is the optional ascent of the Broderick St. sidewalk in Pacific Heights. This street, below the Levi mansion, is so steep that it is blocked off to traffic - the upper half being a driveway more crooked than Lombard St.

A casual pace on the ride ensures that the attrition rate is low, but the prospect of climbing Hill St. after scarfing burritos in the Mission always sheds a few riders.

For more information contact Gary Gellin: gary AT cmihvac DOT com

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11. Bicycle Expo and Swap, presented by rideSFO @ the Cow Palace, Nov 29 & 30

But be sure to mark your calendar for the upcoming Bicycle Expo and Swap, presented by rideSFO. The 2-day event takes place November 29th and 30th, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. I'm sure you remember the Velo Swap of past years, but Nor-Cal has been lacking a premier Expo. We decided to bring it back with our style (and more affordable) than before.

Booth spaces are available for all levels of participation, and the rates are staggered to maximize the value of your participation. Check out www.ridesfo.com for details.

This will be a hot-spot of everything bike related, there will be something for everyone. Whether you are a dealer with old inventory to move, a sales rep with a sample account that needs to get cleaned up, a manufacturer with a great line that needs an audience, or a bike enthusiastthat wants to find NOS Superbe Pro shift levers, the Bicycle Expo and Swap is the ticket.

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To contact us, email us at info@passiontrailbikes.com, or call the shop at 650-620-9798.

Happy Trails, the PTB crew
Charles, Patty, Berry, John, Bret, Sterling, Daryl, Daniel, Peter, Reba and Buster