Dear Members:
The Spotlight Ride for August has been posted to the website schedule. We will be riding around Grand Island, and then lunching afterwards at The Village Inn. (https://villageinngrandisland.com/)
Did you know that the NFBC used to ride around Grand Island every Friday night? When I first joined the club more than 20 years ago, it was the standard Friday night ride. And it was lovely to ride along the water and watch the sky change as the sun went down. We parked at the Holiday Inn (now the Radisson) on the East side of the island, and after the ride we would sometimes go into the Inn for a beer and some music.
It was not long before the ride began attracting quite a few young “hot shoes” and testosterone started to dominate the ambiance of the ride. They would race each other in a pack on the narrow East River Rd, and compete to see who could be first back to the hotel parking lot. Soon it became a challenge to see if any of them could break the hour mark, that is, complete the 24.5 mile ride in less than an hour. Karen Sprada and I wanted no part of such risky riding, so we’d go in the opposite direction around the island, and were on the other side of the road when the pack came flying towards us.
Finally one night were heard that the hour mark had been broken, and there was significant celebrating going on in the parking lot. Soon after, the Holiday Inn advised us that we were no longer welcome to park in their lot on Friday nights, traffic on the bridges increased, and the ride popularity dwindled.
Ride Around Grand Island hasn’t been on the official ride schedule in several years, and in the meantime, they’ve built a dedicated bike trail all along the west side of the island. So let’s do it! We’ll meet at the parking lot at the WEST end of Fix Road at 10 AM on Wednesday 8/17. Join us.
Liz Skelton
Rebecca Ribis
NFBC Ride Committee