Naples Velo Bicycle Club is a not-for-profit organization promoting cycling at all skill levels and dedicated to improving cycling safety and awareness in southwest Florida.
Newsletter
November 2019
We hope you enjoy our Ninth Newsletter!
President's Message and More
by Mark Dillon
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING:

This serves as official notice of the Naples Velo Annual Member Meeting. Meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 at approximately 5:45 PM at the South Street Grill, 1410 Pine Ridge Rd, Naples, FL. All members of Naples Velo are invited. 
The official purpose of this meeting is to vote on candidates for the Board of Trustees and the member dues structure. There will also be a State of the Club presentation.
There will be lighter food provided and beverages available.


  A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT:
What’s new at Naples Velo for 2019-2020?
 Well first of all we are excited to help promote and support a truly remarkable young man who is doing something really meaningful to promote cycling safety for kids (and not necessarily just kids either).  His name is Cooper Tunkel and he is focused on making sure that anyone who rides a bike can have access to a helmet. He has given out many so far with the help of the CCSO.  You can read more about Cooper at his web site ( https://www.coopershelmethero.com). Naples Velo has promised to work with and support Cooper in his efforts. More information about that will be coming up soon. 
 We are also working hard to create more group rides, especially more moderate pace rides. And we are planning on some ride opportunities in other areas of Naples too, especially to the South so stay tuned for that. Velo is planning on introducing a 15mph ride on Saturday mornings that will likely start either at our regular Marketplace location or in front of Fit & Fuel so watch for details. If you have ideas for rides please let us know.
 I would also like to also remind everyone that the Annual Naples Velo Holiday Party is set for December 11 th at 6:00pm at the Naples Grande Golf Club. Great food and music! Do please hold the date and we will see you there.

THE KIT STORE IS OPEN WITH A FEW DIFFERENT OPTIONS!! CHECK THEM OUT AND GET YOUR KITS ORDERED TODAY!!

Fit kits are currently at Trek Store in Naples (9051 Tamiami Trail N).

There are TWO different jersey and styles available. Both can be previewed with fit kits and both have a little different fit.

PLEASE GO AND TRY THEM ON PRIOR TO ORDERING!!  Sales are final. There are no refunds or exchanges offered. The password to get into the store is:  NVMMBERS20

If you are paid up on your dues, you are eligible to receive a  20% discount !! The code for the paid membership discount is:  NVMEMBERS20.  Anyone attempting to use this code that is not current on dues will receive an invoice for the additional amount with the option of becoming current on membership.

Bike Law by Ted Zelman

DISTRACTED BIKE RIDING
 
 
This year has seen a texting while driving ban in Florida. Bicyclists know well the danger to them that distracted driving poses.
There is another type of distracted driving. It has to do with wearing a headset. It has never been easier to stream music. This means it has never been easier to listen to music while riding.
Florida law regulates how we can legally listen to music while riding a bicycle. The same law applies to bicycle riders, motorcycle riders, and car and truck drivers. 
You cannot wear a headset or ear buds in both ears while riding a bicycle. What you can do is wear one bud while riding a bicycle which can be connected to your cell phone. This allows you to listen to music or talk on your cell phone while the other ear is free to hear voices of other riders or traffic sounds. 
This is what is legal. Whether it is advisable to listen to music or talk on a cell phone while riding is another matter. It is also legal for adult bike riders to not wear a helmet. If you are on a group ride, many groups ban helmetless riders. Group rides can also make a determination whether they allow who uses an earbud while riding.
Safety is important for each of us, whether we ride alone or in a group. Let's be careful out there.

To read more about Florida Bike Law go to www.zelmanandhanlon.com/blog
Tech Tips by Greg Pelican
Tubes vs. Tubeless?
If you are like most of our club members you are a "roadie" and you ride a clincher tire with a separate tube. By contrast most serious mountain bikers have reaped the benefits of converting to tubeless tires years ago.

Tubeless tires require a tubeless specific tire, a tubeless compatible rim and rim strip, a valve and some sealant. Installation is a little trickery but the benefit is being to able to run at lower air pressure, having less pinch flats and the possibility of the liquid sealant stopping a puncture leak.

For me, until recently, tubeless made sense for wider mountain bike and gravel tires where lower air pressure was a big advantage but I couldn’t feel any real advantage with a 23mm road tire. Even without a tube the heavier tubeless tire just didn't feel as good as the best clincher setup.

But this is starting to change. There have been recent advances to tubeless tire technology. And we are now using wider tires for road cycling. 25mm is now the norm and 28mm or even 32mm tires have become standard on disc brake road bikes.

The most recent offerings from Continental (GP 5000 Tubeless) and Schwalbe have more supple tire casings that not only make them easier to mount, but decrease the rolling resistance compared to the equivalent clincher tire and tube.  See Comparison Test.

If you want to save some watts, and get a more supple ride you should try the latest tubeless setup soon.  The following is a short video that compares a tube vs. tubeless setup.

See you on the road!

A Common Affliction of Cyclists
                                       SKIPPING BEATS
 
Several Naples Velo riders have shared their personal stories about atrial fibrillation (AF) with me. This privilege I assume had something to do with my 40+ years of practice as a cardiologist and their hope of my offering some insights on this heart rhythm abnormality.
 
It is no wonder that the term ATRIAL FIBRILLATION has
entered our vernacular with the amount of advertising that pharmaceutical companies have promoted for their novel blood thinners (e.g. Apixiban, Pradaxa and Xarelto).
 
When a person has AF the normal beating of the upper chambers of the heart (atria) is irregular and blood does not flow as well as it should from the atria to the lower chambers of the heart (the two ventricles).
 
This condition is often silent (the patient does not experience symptoms). Common symptoms include palpitations, shortness of breath, reduced exercise tolerance and chest discomfort.
 
AF is the most common heart rhythm abnormality in men and women over the age of 65. In the U.S. it is estimated that 2.7-6.1 million people have AF which includes 9% of people aged 65 years or older. Because AF cases increase with age and women generally live longer than men, more women than men experience AF.
 
In the U.S. there are more than 750,000 hospitalizations annually because of AF at an estimated annual cost of about 6 billion dollars.
 
AF increases your risk of stroke by four to five times compared with stroke risk for people without atrial fibrillation.  When indicated, stroke risk can be significantly reduced by use of blood thinning medication (anticoagulants) which reduce blood clots from forming in the atria.
 
Risk factors for AF include advancing age, high blood pressure (hypertension), obesity, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes, heavy alcohol use, obstructive sleep apnea, and an over active thyroid (hyperthyroidism).
 
Treatment options are highly individualized  and can include medication, lifestyle modification and in select patients AF ablation( an invasive catheter based therapy ).
 
Timely detection and evaluation of AF remain paramount to reducing risk and optimizing the quality of life. So if you have concerns about your heart health (symptoms etc.) it is best to discuss them with your primary care physician who can provide the initial evaluation and make the appropriate referral where indicated.
 
In the meantime exercise regularly, keep your weight in a healthy range and manage your risk factors optimally.
 
Dr. Ric Christian
Social "The Hub"
Annual Members Meeting on November 13, 2019 at 6:00 PM at South Street Oven and Grill, 1410 Pine Ridge Rd., Naples, FL 34108

Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 11, 2019 6:00 PM at Naples Grande Golf Club, 7335 Premier Dr., Naples, FL 34105
Safety First by Don Rupprecht

It’s a new season. Let’s make it a safe season
The 2019-2020 tourist season has started. The car trailers are arriving daily. Tamiami Trial is converting into a parking lot. The daily number of fire department emergency runs is increasing. And law enforcement is struggling to balance the rights of vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians who use of the roads and sidewalks. As well established and recognized advocates for the safety and enhancement of cyclists of all skill levels, Naples Velo Bicycle Club strongly encourages all cyclists to respect the rights of others and assume a cooperative mind set.
A couple weeks ago, I returned to Naples for the season. I was anxious to get on the bike and ride. On my first ride within the first 10 miles, I was cussed out by a motorist for not changing lanes fast enough. But since then, I have had the pleasant experience of motorists stopping to allow me and my fellow cyclists to cross intersections even though the motorists had the right a way. If we could clone the latter behavior the season for cyclists could be a marvelous experience. We can’t clone the behavior, but we can encourage the behavior by setting a good example. Obviously, blowing through stop signs and darting between cars at a high rate of speed is not cyclists’ behavior that is conducive to gaining the support, respect and cooperation of motorists. Such behavior is inappropriate and totally condemned by Naples Velo. Fortunately, I have observed on numerous occasions groups of cyclists stopping at four way stops and waiving motorists through the intersection either as a jester of good will or to take a break and recover.
In any event, it is essential for all cyclists of all skill levels to engage in controlled riding, using good judgment and respecting the rights of the 3,000 pound vehicles with whom we share the roads.
Be courteous. Be safe. And enjoy the season.
Member Services by Bill Percival

Naples Velo Strava Club

With the summer hiatus over, monthly time trials have started again.  If you are not familiar with the time trials, Naples Velo tracks the quickest monthly times for two road segments in the Naples area. One segment is for group times. The other is set to measure individual efforts.

To access the Naples Velo Strava Club, go to the following link:

To access the site, you must be a Naples Velo Club member. You also have to make a one-time request to gain admission to the site. You can easily request access directly from the Club’s site on Strava. You should receive your approval within a day.

Group Time Trial / Gordon Drive: This segment begins in the southbound lane at 20 th Street South and finishes northbound at the start location on 20 th Street. If you have never ridden on Gordon Drive, there is a circular turn-around at the end that makes for an easier transition from travelling south to north.  

Following is a link to the segment details:

The KOM / QOM times are 8:10 and 8:21 respectively which translate to average speeds of 27+ MPH.  However, because you will have to slow down considerably at turn-around at the end of Gordon Drive, the top speeds will be even higher.          


Individual Time Trial / Bonita Beach Road (east of I-75)

This segment begins on the eastbound lane of Bonita Beach Road approximately 3 miles east of I-75 and finishes about ½ mile east of I-75. There is a turn-around to assist the transition from traveling east- to west-bound.  Segment length is 5.9 miles.

The KOM / QOM times are 12:31 and 13:55 respectively which translate to average speeds of 25 to 28+ MPH.  


OCTOBER TIME TRIAL RESULTS

Group Time Trial – NV 20/20 Gordon Drive TT

Women:  Jen Pade was top of the list on October with a time of 8:30 which translates to an average speed of 27.2 MPH

Men:  Paul Carbone set the best monthly time on this segment at 8:27 which translates to an average speed of 27.4 MPH.

Kudos to both and great efforts on both of your parts


Individual Time Trial Efforts - Trek Tri TT

There were no club results on this segment during October.  


New Time Trial Segments

We are looking for new group and individual time trial segments and would appreciate any suggestions.  The only hard criteria for selection is that a segment should not involve any stop signs or stop lights within or at the very end of the segment.  

Preferably any selected segment will minimize conflict with pedestrian crosswalks, but that’s hard to do in this area. That said, if you avoid segments that run by hotels or parking areas that support beach access, they will probably be OK.  

If you would like to recommend a segment, please send a message to the club through the Facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/Naples-Velo-107297581775/


November PSA

We “fell back” on November 2 nd, increasing the likelihood of finishing late afternoon rides in the dark. Simultaneously, seasonal traffic is ramping up quickly.

Please do a quick check on your tail and headlights to insure they are providing you with maximum protection. Headlights are self-enforcing. If you’re not getting light where you need it, you’ll adjust it as needed. Taillights are somewhat out of sight, and therefore out of mind so it’s worth taking a look at them.

If your taillight is mounted on your bike (as opposed to your helmet or jersey), make sure it is level, pointing straight back and the mounting bracket is tight. It’s not uncommon to see lights that are twisted off level or off the bike’s direction of travel.  While it may still be bright, it will not be as visible further out to traffic as it would be if mounted both level and straight. 



239 Racing Team Update by Eric Camacho

Naples Velo is a sponsor of the 239 Racing Team.

239 Racing Team was created in 2017 with the plan to help everyone who likes racing, pin a number on them and race in a safer closed course instead of the streets. At that point between myself and help from Rock Solid Countertops, a group of 7 were able to race. They were the following: Juniors- Harrison and Daniel, Masters- Mike, Gustavo, Chris, myself and a soon to be Pro 1-2- Justin. Together we had some fun.

2018-9 was great. Justin Bolde went from Category 5 to 1. Harrison and Daniel won a few races in those first two seasons. Daniel Vargas went to ride on a Junior team and finish his education in another state. Now Daniel is following in his father's footsteps and becoming a pilot.

Last month we entered the Florida State Championship Road Race sanctioned by USA Cycling, in Ocala, FL. We had some good results. Marc Lippens, our Naples Velo member, took First place in the 75+ age group. Eric O took First place in the 35-9 age group and I earned fourth in the 40-5 age group. We had two State Champions in our area!

Next year I want 239 Racing to enter more races. We want to help and guide both our team members and anyone interested in racing toward a better understanding of racing and the preparation needed to compete successfully.. Then go race together if we can.

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