NJ’s Safe Passage Law is now in effect! NJ has joined 42 other states (including PA) now that the 4 foot safe passing law has gone into effect. This is welcome news! A big shout out to those who have worked so hard for many years to make this a reality including the NJ Bike and Walk Coalition (who is credited for the graphic you see here), Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, and TEAM4 the NJ Safe Passing Law. Nice work!

What is the law? The law is modeled on the ‘move over law’ already in place requiring drivers to move over for first responders. Specifically, it requires motorists to use caution and make safe passage of vulnerable road users (cyclists, pedestrians, wheel chairs, road workers, first responders, etc.). It requires you to change lanes or move over to provide 4 feet of space or slow to 25mph. Those who violate the law face monetary penalties ($100-$500) and points in situations resulting in bodily injury.

Slow Down | Be Patient | Pass Safely

Sharing the road is not hard. When approaching a cyclist or pedestrian – slow down, be safe, and be prepared to stop if needed for that person’s safety. That person might be your neighbor, nephew, or friend and the only thing required for their safety is a few seconds of your time. A few seconds to save a life.

What can you do to educate road users about the law? Demonstrate – when you are driving, do it right. Spread the word among friends and others you interact with day to day. Remember – this is about sharing the road – safety for all. It is not about Cars vs pedestrians or cyclists vs cars. When the goal is to change habits, emotional education works – personalize and humanize road users. Drivers don’t always consider that the “thing” on the road is a person who might be a neighbor, a friend. Help them understand the risks of bing passed too close at high speed and how easily the risk is avoided.

Start by Educating yourself – here are some resources:

NJ Bike and Walk Coalition article on the signing of the bill its requirements and details, and this additional article with information on who/what organizations can provide information on the bill as well as knowledgable contacts.

and…here is an editorial in NJ.com by Team Evesham member and local rider Betsy Link – NJcom piece “Bad drivers, you’ve been warned”

This is a great step forward for cycling and pedestrian safety out on the roads. Remember, when you are driving vs on your bike it applies to you as well and importantly, the definition of “pedestrian” is inclusive of others with legal rights to be on the road such as construction or utility workers.

Stay safe out there – Team Evesham

 

 

On October 17th, members of Team Evesham rode to remember those who we carry in our hearts in our annual memorial ride. This year honored three cherished souls who have had outsized impacts on the Team, its members, and so many cyclists. For this ride, Team Evesham members were joined by many cyclists from the area as well as other ride clubs to pay tribute to those who have given us and our sport so much (photo above shows riders pausing beside the honorary “Mount Bennis” sign during this year’s memorial ride).

Jason Kilderry: Jason generously volunteered his exercise and nutrition knowledge to coach cyclists and others on the easy and manageable ways to improve and be better day after day. We will always miss access to his incredibly engaging and supporting presence even while we continue to apply the knowledge he offered us to grow and enhance our lives.

Ian Cameron: When you share the road cycling with someone who, in addition to being an accomplished and passionate cyclist, weaved joy and friendship through each person they meet, you cherish what you can carry forward in remembrance. Ian is remembered among riders, D&Q patrons, and across the various cycling clubs throughout the area who benefited from his presence.

Dave Bennis: A founder of Team Evesham, Dave’s pure joy for cycling was something you could not miss. To riders he was a mentor, a friend, to the Team, a leader, cheerleader and more. To numerous local charity rides and the causes they supported he was an invaluable inspiration, and asset helping them improve and thrive to the benefit of so many over the years. Dave’s generous personality and easy nature combined to treat each of us to someone whose presence continues to be felt each and every day.

Keep them, and so many others we carry with us daily, in your hearts when you ride.

Hi Team Evesham Teammates!!

This past weekend we had many riders participating in the Foster 100, including myself for the first time. The Foster 100 is one of our promoted Charity events of the season. Nick, the event promoter, calls this “a Charity Ride like no other” and I have to agree. Riders stay together in “platoons” with the spirit of no rider left behind. These platoons are much like our ride groups on our Sunday rides with a leader keeping riders together and organized. They had some amazing rest stops and the after party at the Aviation Museum in Wildwood was fantastic!

This coming weekend is another cyclists’ favorite event – the MS City to Shore. Many Team Evesham members will be participating in this event including a team called Kelly’s Hero’s. Kelly’s Heroes is named for Kelly Comber who suffers from MS. Kelly’s husband, Kevin Comber, is a long time Team Evesham Member and put this team together to honor his wife and help support the MS society. We wish all of the MS City to Shore riders a fun, safe weekend of riding.

Our Sponsor, The Heart House, is working on a special event for Team Evesham members, stay tuned for details. Here is their latest newsletter about Heart Health.

As promised on social media, stay tuned for Team Evesham Non-Cycling Apparel. We will Have Polo Shirts, T- Shirts, Ball Caps, and Fleece sweatshirts available to order at the end of this year. The polo shirts are modeled below by our Board of Trustees…

Lastly, Save the Date! Team Evesham’s Annual After Holiday Party will be Saturday, January 25th from 6-10. Stay tuned for more details!

https://teamevesham.org/2019/09/17/56024/

For those of you signed up to participate in the Foster 100 on September 14th, 2019, representatives from Foster 100 will be on hand before our regular Sunday ride on September 8th to distribute rider packets and rider information! If you’re not yet registered, waste no time in following this link for more information!

 

JOIN US SUNDAY MORNING FOR OUR FIRST MINI CLINIC

Join us Sunday Morning at Rastelli’s at for our first mini clinic starting at 7:15am. To add value to your Team Evesham Membership we will be holding a series of mini clinics before our Sunday rides to help teach basic bike maintenance and safety skills. If you have a topic of interest please email Scott@TeamEvesham.org and we will add it to our list of mini clinics.

This past Sunday was a great day to be a Team Evesham Member and cyclist. We once again held our fall BBQ event – The Grill and Chill and it was a huge success with fun for all that attended. We had over 125 members ride with us and enjoy the party at Ott’s Greentop where they BBQ’d and treated us like royalty. We had beautiful weather, a great ride and awesome food as we enjoyed hanging out with teammates enjoying camaraderie and celebrating cycling.

This week we will have our regularly scheduled rides including the Friday Morning C+/B ride, Saturday Morning C+/B/B+ ride and Sunday all level ride. We look forward to seeing you on the road!

Join us Sunday, August 25 for our All Level Ride followed by our Fall get together dubbed the “Grill and Chill”. This event is FREE to all members, but you must sign up in advance so that we can get a headcount for food. Go to www.teamevesham.org to register.

You are welcome to bring guests & family members, for the low price of $15.00/person. They can also be registered at www.teamevesham.org.

This year we we’ll ride from Ott’s Greentop in Berlin on Rt 73 with three different Route Options, 65 mile “Foster 100 Training Ride”, a 45 mile route and a 36 mile route! This event has always been a Team favorite as we get to hang out together, eat some delicious food and talk about all of our riding experiences! Check the website for the routes and start times.

This past week offered some beautiful weather for Cycling. Unfortunately, we did have to cancel our Wednesday night C+ and B+ ride due to the phantom storms, the weather report was just too ominous. Friday we had our C+/B pace morning ride, Saturday morning we had our usual Rastelli’s ride and also had a Hill Ride lead by Michael Gibbs. Thank you Michael for stepping up and leading this ride! Sunday, of course, we had our All Level ride with some great routes to Nixon’s in Tabernacle. A favorite stop for Cyclists to take a break and get some refreshments. The weather was hot and muggy, so this stop was well deserved!

 

Upcoming Rides

Don’t forget our future events: Save the dates…

• Foster 100 – September 15th
• Ian Cameron Ride – September 29th
• Post Holiday party – January 25th

We hope to see you all on the road this week!

That’s right, Team Evesham’s Fall get together, the “Grill and Chill”, will be held on August 25th. This year it will be held at Ott’s Greentop in Berlin. We will have three route options that morning including a 38, 45 and a 65 mile Foster 100 Training Ride. Members of the Foster 100 Team will join us on this route. The 38 and 45 mile routes will depart at the normal 8am time, however the longer route will depart early so that those riders will be back in time for the event. Lunch will be served at 11am. You MUST pre-register so that we can get a head count for the food at the after party! This event is FREE to all members of Team Evesham. Family members are welcome for a small fee of $15.00 per person. They must also pre-register so that we have an accurate food count. Register here today!

If you have not registered for the Foster 100, do it now! There are only a few spots left and this is a truly unique Charity Ride.

This past week was great for cycling! We had to cancel our NEW Wednesday B+ and C+ ride due to weather, but we did have our Friday morning B Ride with Rich, Dennis and Ross, Saturday B and C+ Ride led by David Breslau, Scott Downie and Dan Zingaro, and Sunday we held our All Pace ride. The weather was beautiful to get in some miles. Keep an eye on the website for more upcoming Team Evesham rides with new starting points and new rest stops.

This past weekend was a scorcher!  Temperatures above 100 degrees on both days made us consider if it was safe to cycle in this weather!  As a team we opted to cancel the Hill Ride due to the extreme conditions and shorten our Sunday routes a bit.  We decided to ride Saturday and Sunday local with some extreme caution and additional rest stops.  Our ride leaders did an amazing job at getting all the cyclists back safely.  In addition to our normal Sunday Ride, Nick Liermann and a crew from the Foster 100 joined us for one of their training rides.  These brave soles train in honor of Captain Erick Foster that sacrificed his life while serving our country in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  In honor of Captain Foster, Team Foster raises money to partner service dogs with veterans suffering from combat related disabilities.  The Foster 100 is one of Team Evesham’s supported charity rides again for the 2019 cycling season.  If you have not signed up for the Foster 100 yet, hurry, it will sell out very soon!

 

This past Wednesday Lisa Sleeper lead a group of 10 B+ riders on a 25-mile ride Through Mt Laurel and Southampton NJ.  This was the inaugural ride for them, and we hope to continue for as long as daylight cooperates.

 

This Saturday is the Spellbound Century put on by Jorge Carmona and TNT Cycling.  This event always proves to be excellent and sells out.  The event has grown to 1000 cyclists this year.  Jorge has some great local farms for rest stops that are always fully stocked with refreshments!  If you are riding the Spellbound Century this year wear your Team Evesham Kit in support of our team.

We hope to see you out cycling this weekend!

“In life its not where you go, but who you ride with!”