Athens Bicycle Club Meeting, March 28, 2000

Present: Tim Creamer, Ben Chleboun, Gary Chleboun, John Chleboun, Meredith Erlewine, Don Harse, Malcolm Idleman, Tracy Kitts, Peter Kotses, Chip Krieg, Eileen Schulz, Paul Schulz

Next meeting: The next meeting will be held Wed., April 19 at 7:15 p.m. at Chip Krieg's house, 78 Elmwood Place.

1. Club insurance

The club unanimously approved the purchase of insurance to cover club tours. The cost is $100 for this year and will provide $1 million of coverage for a total of 200 riders.

2. Tours of the Hocking (TOH) and Zaleski (TOZ)

A cost analysis of TOH indicates that the cost to provide food, lodging, etc. is $21 per rider. The club decided to stick with the fees of $26/adult and $15/children under the age of 18.

Tim Creamer volunteered to price T-shirt printing costs and the committee will consider printing TOH T-shirts at the next meeting.

Lake Hope officials have granted the club (through Paul Schulz) a special-use camping permit for the Grouse Point area during TOZ (Aug. 19-20). Paul also will reserve cabins that the club may cancel up to 15 days before the event.

3. ABC meeting with Paul Whyte

Malcolm Idleman, Chip Krieg and Paul met with Paul Whyte, district forest manager for district 4 (Athens). The club requested that the state allow cyclists to utilize the backpacking trails at Zaleski. The initial response was not very promising.

Mr. Whyte said that the state would want to first see a formal request letter as well as proof, through polls of current and historic users, of support for the allowance of cyclists on the trails.

The next step is for the club to provide Mr. Whyte a written proposal requesting to use the backpacking trails. Chip and Paul will draft the letter.

Paul will draft a trail use survey and request club feedback at the next meeting. The survey could be used at events such as the DiDi Mau Classic mountain bike race so that the club may begin collecting statistics for future use.

4. Trail maintenance work party, April 15

ABC members and friends as well as representatives from the International Mountain Bike Association and the Central Ohio Mountain Bike Association will spend the weekend of April 15 working, camping and riding at Lake Hope State Park near Zaleski.

Those interested in participating in the trail maintenance weekend should meet at Athens Bicycle, 14 W. Stimson Ave., Athens, at 9 a.m. on April 15 OR at the mountain bike trail head at Lake Hope State Park at 10 a.m. on April 15.

Objectives include repairing forest fire damage on Sidewinder and finishing sections of Copperhead. Depending on the number of participants, groups will split up and work on different sections.

Participants should bring gloves, lunch, boots, sunscreen, water, long pants and shirts, camping equipment (for those who wish to camp Saturday night), and cycling equipment (for those who wish to ride on Sunday).

ABC will host a spaghetti dinner for participants who camp on Saturday night.

5. Treasurer

Tom Wolf resigned as club treasurer and the club installed Peter Kotses as new treasurer by unanimous vote.

6. Meeting with Lake Hope State Park officials Rod Garey (park manager) and Dave Sapienza (park naturalist)

On April 18 ABC representatives will meet with Mr. Garey and Mr. Sapienza to discuss both parties' expectations. Some items to be discussed:

* Cabins: Right now, people can only rent cabins by the week. This presents a problem for mountain bikers who would like to spend a weekend riding at Lake Hope.

* Camping: There is no camping near the mountain bike trail heads.

* Lake trails: These are open to mountain bikers on a trial basis right now. What steps do we need to take to make that permanent?

* Training for mountain bike patrols: Would Lake Hope sponsor mountain bike patrol training for interested volunteers? The training could include conflict resolution (ex.: hiker/biker), first aid and basic bicycle repair.

* Signage for the trails (courtesy rules, trail head signs, etc.)

* Rating system for the trails

Anyone with suggestions for this meeting should inform Paul or Chip at the April 15 work party.