Johnny Ray a huge success

Wow! We had an incredible 13th annual Johnny Ray Century. Thank you to all 250 riders, our generous donors, and fabulous volunteers for making it such an unbelievable success. Please stay tuned as the bean counters total everything. Forthcoming, expect to hear how much you all raised for the Davis Phinney Foundation, a ride debriefing, rider evaluations and all that rich ride wrap up stuff.

In the meantime, if anyone has pictures they’d like to share of their 2015 JRC journey I’d love to post them on our website. Send them to johnnyray@eastalabamacyclingclub.com.

 

 

Johnny Ray pre-Century

EACC Members & JRC Volunteers: Pre-Ride the Johnny Ray Century

7 am, Saturday, 19 Sept. 2015, Trinity United Methodist Church

This from the indomitable Tim McDonald:

There are many perfectly legitimate reasons for not riding the Johnny Ray Century on 26 September. Maybe you'll be out of town cheering on your heroes in Richmond as they chase the rainbow jersey. Maybe you're a fan of finger foods and beer and want to spend that Saturday with 100,000 of your closest friends. Maybe you just don't like to be interrupted by so-called 'rest stops' on your long bike rides.

Or maybe, just maybe, a certain Angela has twisted your arm and you've 'volunteered' to take one for the club and be one of those people whose service it is that makes the JRC such a standout in the ABC Series and one of the finest bike rides in the South.

Whatever your excuse, there's simply no excuse for missing the JRpC, aka the Johnny Ray pre-Century, this Saturday, 19 September. Come join us at 7:00 AM at the Methodist Church in Opelika as we of the EACC grandly depart the parking lot for 105 miles of simple pleasure over simple country roads, without all those speedier out-of-towners constantly passing us by and then having to breathlessly chat with them at the next rest stop about their $10,000 bicycle - ugh.

Those helping out on JRC Saturday AND completing the JRpC will be rewarded with an ABC Series medal. What's not to like about that? Join us for a more relaxed century!

                                -Tim-

The Fort Morgan Ride

The below is from member Kirk Iversen published in Bicycling:

The Fort Morgan Ride

This 40+ mile, out-and-back ride leaves and ends in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The route is flattish with paved shoulders and is not very heavily travelled except during special coastal events. The western end of the ride is at Fort Morgan on the southeastern side of the entrance to Mobile Bay. If you like, a ferry ($5 round–trip for bike & rider) will take you across the bay to Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island, where one can ride several miles and enjoy the island before returning to Ft. Morgan and heading east back to Gulf Shores.

Along the way are convenience stores and restaurants. Bon Secure National Wildlife Refuge offers a small visitors center, hiking trails, and paved roads to the white-sand beaches, where sea turtles and their nests are protected. Alligators live here, too. Forts Morgan and Gaines, which defended the Bay (for awhile – Admiral Farragut made it famous with, "Damn the torpedoes – full speed ahead!"), can be toured. Dauphin Island offers an estuarium, Audubon refuges to walk through, restaurants, and a laid-back atmosphere.

If 40-ish miles is too short or long, Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores has about 10 miles of paved bike trails that go through different ecozones. The towns of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach offer miles of bike lanes along the beaches and intracoastal waterways and lots of restaurants. One is Lulu's, owned by Lucy Buffet. Good food & music. Sometimes her brother, Jimmy, drops in.

The Ft. Morgan ride is on AL Hwy. 180, beginning at the intersection with AL Hwy. 59. The Gulf State Park ride begins at the same intersection, going a west a half-mile to the park entrance. At the intersection is a shopping center with lots of parking. There are also several motels there, including a very bike-friendly Holiday Inn Express. 

May Meeting

This month we will be joined by Kirk Iverson to fill us in on what is happening in cycling's political effort here and nationally. If you didn't already know, Kirk is a club member, AlaBike member, ex-Auburn Bike Committee chair, Auburn Bike Committee friend of the year (2015) and all around swell and informed guy.  Bring that same desire to discuss and we will see you all on Monday May,11 at 7:00 pm. In the Cafe' at the Church of the Highlands!
Dave