2009 Cap2Cap bike ride

Register by April 15th and save $10!

To make your Cap2Cap experience one you will never forget, we're rolling out some new features this year:

More distance options of 100, 50, and 25 miles leaving from a NEW STARTING LOCATION at Rocketts Landing in Richmond and Chickahominy Riverfront Park in Williamsburg.

Also offering a special 15 mile family course, completely on the Virginia Capital Trail, available from Chickahominy Riverfront Park in Williamsburg.

A mass start for each distance, complete with lead vehicles and police escorts the first couple of miles.

A delicious lunch at the finish lines with refreshments throughout the route (no more mid-ride lunch, save it for the PARTY after the ride.)

A post-ride celebration at Rocketts Landing in Richmond.

Visit for start times, fees, mail in registration, and other ride details.

Not only will you be treated to beautiful scenery and gently rolling terrain, we hope to pamper you with delicious and well-stocked rest stops, a big lunch waiting at the end of the ride and the friendliest volunteers around.

And most importantly, by participating, you will be helping the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation pursue their mission to make the Virginia Capital Trail a world class destination all Virginians will be proud of. Whether you are an avid cyclist or you've not been on a bike since your Huffy spider bike with the banana seat and footlong sissy bar, join us for an unforgettable experience.

The Virginia Capital Trail is an ambitious project connecting over 50 miles, five jurisdictions and two Virginia capitals. Currently, eight miles are complete and heavily in use in James City County, with seven more nearing completion in Charles City County. The project is scheduled for completion by 2013. The Virginia Capital Trail Foundation is the principal advocate, raising funds for enhancements such as interpretive and way-finding signage, bike/pedestrian accommodations, and trailhead amenities including benches, bike racks, and shade structures. The Foundation also actively promotes the trail through numerous initiatives to draw visitors and their tourism dollars from outside the region and Virginia's borders. We also partner with V-DOT on construction and alignment issues, working to make the Virginia Capital Trail the best it can be.

Help us achieve our goals, to the vast benefit of future trail users, by making a tax-deductible contribution when you register. You'll receive our e-newsletter with updates, issues, and ways to get involved in trail efforts!

Online registration open now! Check: www.virginiacapitaltrail.org/html/events.html

Talk about it here: Cap2Cap Ride

Bicycle Gearing

People often talking about how hard or easy it is to pedal their bike, but really don't understand how all the gearing works.

While the cyclists most interested in gearing tend to be single speed or fixed gear riders, everyone should know that not all cranksets and rear cassettes (the pieces of your bike that actually create all the gear inches / ratios) are created equal.

Let's defined a few terms that you will need to know.
1) Chain ring: The ring(s) that are attached to the cranks. Bikes will have from 1(single), 2 (double), or 3 (triple) chain rings.
2) Cassette, Freewheel, Cog: All terms used to describe the gearing rings used on the rear wheel. Each is similar, but different.
~ A cog is single ring, that usually attaches to the rear wheel and does not have a ratcheting mechanism. Without ratcheting, your pedals will constantly turn even if you try to coast, and use of this system is called riding "Fixed gear."
~ A Freewheel is a cog mounted on a ratcheting mechanism, which allows you to coast when you stop pedaling.
~ A cassette is a cluster of cogs mounted to a freewheel, offering you the ability to switch between gears. (cassettes can range from 2 -10 gears)

There are two terms used in gearing, Gear Ratio and Gear Inches.
Ratios take into account the direct relationship between your chainrings & the rear cogs; while Gear inched is similar, it also takes into account the size of the wheels/tires that you are using too.

It may sound complicated, but it really isn't.

With so many wheels sizes being used these days, Gear Inches is the most accurate way to make sure you are gearing all your bike alike.

For the sake of time and ease, we'll just cover a Single Speed / fixed gear ratio and inches.

~ Gear Ratio = Chainring size / rear cog size.
~ Gear Inches = (Chainring size / Rear cog) * wheelsize in inches

Here are a few examples:
A 43 tooth chainring and a 20 tooth cog being used on a bike with 29" wheels would look like this:
~ Gear Ratio = 43/20 = 2:51 ratio.
~ Gear Inches = (43/20)*29 = 49.4 gear inches.

So what's the difference?
Let's say you feel comfortable pedaling your current bike that is using a 32t chainring, 16t cog, and 26" wheels; but now you bought a new bike and want to have the same gearing.
If you do the math on your current bike:

~ Gear Ratio = 32/16 = 2:1 ratio.
~ Gear Inches = (32/16)*26 = 52 gear inches.

But what if your new bike has 29" wheels?
If you use the 2:1 "Gear Ratio", You'll find that it's not the same pedal stroke. In fact it'll be much, much harder.

Using a 29" wheel and 32t/16t = 58 gear inches!
So now all you need to do is change a few values until you locate a Gear Inches for the new bike that is similar to your old bike.
In this case, using a 32t chainring, 18t cog, & a 29" gives you a gear ratio of 51.5 gear inches, which is very close to your old bike.
For fun, you can do a few options +/- to fine tune your choice.
( 32/17 )*29 = 54.6")
( 32/18 )*29 = 51.5")
( 32/19 )*29 = 48.8")

JROC Gear Swap April 18th, 2009

Richmond-MORE & Westview on the James create MOU.

RA MORE / Westview Cooperation

A verbal MOU agreement has been reached between the property owners/land managers of Westview On the James and Richmond-MORE for trail development on their land.

Notable facts:
~ Ed Jones, AKA "Cycle'sEd" fantastic trail building at Camp Brady was the reason Westview approached the club about such a co-op.

~ Greg Rollins and Steve Hodson are the duo working on behalf of Richmond-MORE to develop this plan with Westview, as well as design and develop the trails on the land.

~This project has been in the works for approximately 1.5 yrs and still has much more work to come.

~ Opportunities for Richmond-MORE members as well as the general public to get involved will be coming up in the future.

In the up coming month the club will be taking a property survey of the property, so Stay Tuned!

Last minute info and chat about this topic: Ra-MORE/Westview Trail MOU.