The Next TC3-SAS Ride and other Important News

With the help of Minnesota's own Bikesmith, I am happy to announce that the next Twin Cities 3-Speed Adventure Society ride will be as soon as this Saturday! Here's a re-post of Bikesmith's announcement that ran on Gentleman Cyclist and Bike Love today:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The next Twin Cities 3-Speed Adventure Society (TC3-SAS) ride will be Saturday April 23rd.

Meet us at the Princess Station at 11:00 AM for a very casual 16 - 18 mile ride.  Most of the ride will be on bike paths, including the repaved Shepard Rd. bike path and the Great Rivers Trail.  The few streets and roads carry only light traffic.  Plenty of places to stop and visit or admire the still impressive amount of water in the river valleys. 

Pack a simple lunch and beverage as we will be stopping to eat at the W.P.A. scenic overlook near where Sibley Memorial Highway meets Hwy 13.  (While not a great birding spot, it may be worthwhile to bring binoculars.)

BTW The Grand Rounds Ride scheduled for April 16th has been rescheduled for Saturday April 30th.

TC3-SAS was started with this thread on Minneapolis Bike Love - future rides will be posted there, so bookmark it if you are interested.

TC3-SAS is about the ride, the company of like minded souls and the scenery, not so much about the bikes.  These rides are to be done at the leisurely pace of a proper English 3 Speed. So while hub geared roadsters are encouraged, any steed appropriate for a "stop and smell the roses" pace is welcome.

Not a lot of roses to stop and smell this early in the season, but I do plan to stop at a few points of architectural/historical interest.

Lower Your Carbon Footprint - Ride Lugged Steel

Bridge rides are always fun, and this will be reprise of the Flood Ride to some extent, so this promises to be a good time, and the weather will be more clement for this ride. As an added bonus, Bikesmith has probably forgotten more than most people will ever know about 3-speed hubs, arcane bottom bracket configurations and the intricacies of proprietary English threading, so he's a fountain of information. I hope to someday apprentice myself to him and learn these ways (seriously). I can't make this ride due to a clandestine "black op" that I can't really discuss here, but hopefully I'll get some photos from those that can make it.

In other bike-related news, the on-street bike parking project at 48th and Chicago seems to have hit a small impasse. Not unexpected, but a little disappointing nonetheless. It's not a death blow, but we may need to... revise our tactics. I need a little more information before I can map out a path forward and get this organized, but suffice it say that I may some help. Stand by for further information...

Last but not least, the Bike Lovers of downtown will be meeting for lunch tomorrow at Black Bamboo. Click the link for details. If you are downtown and at all bikey, the welcome mat is out.

That's the news for tonight. Now go out and get some fresh air.