The weather forecast for Sunday, Sept. 18 looked pretty threatening but it turned out to be a great day to ride.  Yes, there were a few light sprinkles here and there but not enough to “dampen” our enthusiasm. We had 405 people register and it sure sounded like everyone was having a good time. Dave Young’s chicken corn soup got rave reviews as did the home made cookies, walk-around tacos and other great food. We got lots of good comments about the enjoyable routes, too.  The financial report on the Century isn’t finalized yet, but we’ll post that at a later time. 

In the meantime, we owe a big thanks to The Pedal Pusher Bike Shop and Recycle Bicycle for their help with bike repairs, Wegmans and Giant Food Stores for their generous donations of gift cards, and a big pat on the back is due to all the hard-working volunteers who make this such an enjoyable event for the participants.  

And of course the Three Creek Century wouldn’t happen at all without the Century Committee Coordinators:

Chair – Tim Roden

Co-chair – Alan Adelman

Sags – Matt Winslow

Food – Dave and Lois Young

Rest stops – Ed Reynolds

Registration - Donna Finn

Routes – Terry Drachbar

Parking – Dick Norford

Cookies – Diana Bermingham

Rider Hospitality - Kelly Szymczyk

Volunteers and Publicity -  Marilyn Chastek

T-shirts – Howard Ross 

Check out the Three Creek Century and HBC Facebook pages for pictures from the event. Post yours there, too. 

Mark your calendar for next year’s Three Creek Century! Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017

2016 Kings Gap Time Trial
September 3, 2016

The 6th annual Kings Gap TT began with clear skies and temperatures in the low 60s. There was a refreshing fall chill in the air. After climbing the hill, however, riders were rewarded with the warm sun shining through the clearing as they crossed the finish line. We are happy to report that 42 riders came out and challenged the hill.
Once again, Jerod Stoner came out on top for the guys with a winning time of 10:19, crushing his 2015 time by 22 seconds!

Your chance of recovering your bike if it's stolen are greatly increased if you register it. Bicycle South Central PA encourages the use of Bike Index, which can be used for free by anyone in any location. It's wide reach is used by police departments, bike shops, and bike owners. Almost 100,000 bikes are registered on Bike Index and over 3,000 stolen bikes have been returned to their owners. All you need is your bike's serial number, make, model number and a general description of your bike. A photo is recommended, too. The process is quick and easy. For more information, go to https://bikeindex.org

In my fourth season of riding, all of it with the Harrisburg Bicycle Club, I was finally ready to experience my first Fall Tour. 

For the past four years I had heard about riding my bike from Harrisburg to Cape May, New Jersey and how great a trip it was.  Unfortunately, timing (and maybe a bit of trepidation) kept me from experiencing riding this far from home.  But this year I was ready and the calendar worked, so I signed up. 

Recycle Bicycle of Harrisburg gets over 900 people each year onto two wheels so they can get to the places they need to go. However, RBH keeps having to relocate because the warehouses they use get sold or turned to other uses. 

A small group of individuals that is interested in helping Recycle Bicycle Harrisburg raise money for a permanent home is offering to match all individual contributions for the remainder of 2016.   The offer is good to a maximum of $4000 match. 

Make a donation to RBH this year and RBH will receive double the amount. 

Your donation can help to make a positive difference in someone’s life.

Make checks out to:

Recycle Bicycle Harrisburg

And mail to:

Terry Turney

307 Weatherstone Drive

New Cumberland, Pa. 17070

The meeting on October 11 was an important one.  The by-law changes were passed and are now posted on the website. The 2017 slate of officers was voted in unanimously and they are:

President: Dave LeRoy

President-Elect: Susan Casto

VP 1: Howard Ross

VP 2: Glenn Wareham

Treasurer: Dick Norford

Secretary: Peggy Hampton 

Anthony Berger from PennDOT explained a lot about the procedures PennDOT uses to get input from the public and how PennDOT is gradually changing to be more inclusive of all road users. Geoff Knight, Harrisburg City Planner, spoke about a lot of exciting improvement that Harrisburg is working to implement, including adding multiple bike lanes and bike routes. One big project Harrisburg would like to see completed as soon as possible is the reconstruction of the Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge on the south end of City Island so it could be used for bikers, pedestrians and mass transit.  This bridge would provide and important connection between Lemoyne and Harrisburg.  This picture above represents one conceptual vision for this bridge. 

And Mark Riordan won the 50/50 raffle which benefits the HBC Janet Pontius safety fund. 

Save the dates for these 2017 HBC General Membership Meetings:

Wed. Jan. 11 at HACC, Midtown

Wed. Feb. 8 at HACC Midtown 

Tues. Mar. 14 at Camp Hill Giant