7/27/2019 Oct-Nov 1994

1/4

FROM YOUR PREZHappy October everyone! I want to start off my column

telling everyone who could not make it on the Tsali trip in North

Carolina what an incredible time we had! Friday night a few of us

had dinner (Sherpa Rice) in Nantahala. Saturday everyone met at

the Tsali trail and we proceed to experience J ohnson and Mouse

loops for a combined total of about 15 miles. It was truly awe-

some, perhaps the greatest scenery I've ever ridden in.

Afterwards most of us went back to camp for lunch and a cold

swim in Lake Fontana. Saturday evening, we had R&R. ...dinner

around the campfire ....and then crashed. Sunday morning we

packed up and half the group met at the Namahala Outdoor

Center (NOG) where we rented rafts and took an 8 mile white

water trip down the Nantahala River. Talk about scenery and cold

water .. I would not have missed it for anything!

I would like to take the time to share with you some

accomplishments of BUMP over the past year..things we have

done for the community and for our members as well. First of all

we successfully completed our 17 mile mountain bike loop at Oak

Mountain State Park. Many, many thanks to all who contributed

their precious time over the years! BUMP has also gotten

involved in trail access projects, Le. Bankhead National Forest,

Rockford and Brompton, etc. We scheduled a number of planned

ridesltrips to Sandrock, AL, Trenton, GA, and Helen, GA for the

National Championship series to name a few. We have always

made a strong effort to bring you fun and educational presenta-

tions at the monthly meetings. We helped with educational semi-

nars at Birmingham Sports and more recently at Bob's Bikes. As

far as membership goes, we have increased it by nearly 150%

because of membership drives and Trail Day events. We all have

been working hard to upgrade our little club and by Gosh, we've

done it! BUMP always has been open to suggestions and com-

ments as to how we might do even better. I mean, after all, this is

your club ... Please let us know what more we can do to strength-

en our club.

ELECTIONS IN DECEMBER

Under BUMP's bylaws two Board of Directors

positions will become available at December's elections held at

next month's meeting. Also under those bylaws BUMP officers

are no longer elected yearly by members. The Board of Directors

each year appoint the officers from the Board of Directors. We

believe this system will work well in that first of all, you elect who

you want on the Board of Directors. They are your workhorses

you have elected to run the day to day affairs ofthe Club, sweat

the details, and try to serve the needs of its members. The

"Workhorses" then decide which "horse" will take what position

on the team. (continue on page 2)

Membership in BUMP expires on November 30th of

each year at midnight. Membership dues are payable at the

November monthly meeting which will be November 2nd this

year. This serves two purposes: 1.) You must be a paid up mem-

ber in order to vote in the December elections, 2.) it provides a

lump sum from which the Board of Directors can budget the next

year's projects and expenditures. Some of you joined BUMP late

in the year and as a result those individuals membership dues will

be reduced as set out below. If you joined late in the year, find

your name below and find the corresponding renewal dues. We

hope all present BUMP members re-join. Your dues go to a good

cause and you can actually save money by joining in that you get

a 10% discount on all accessories purchased at Bob's Bikes,

Cahaba Cycles, and River Oaks Cycles.

THE FOLLOWING NAMES ARE OF BUMP MEMBERS WHO

J OINED BETWEEN APRIL 6TH AND J ULY 5TH AND RENEW-

AL IS $15 FOR 1995:CARL R OBE RTS S TE VE YORK

MICHAEL POLLARD LARRY STANLEY

SARAHPATION WALLYRETAN

TRAVIS FOWLER LISA FOWLER

CONNOR MCVEY JOHN OTTO MEtR

J IM YEAL Y TOM COSBY

RANDY CARLETON VICKI CARLETON

KAREN BALLIET SAM J OVINGS

J OSH BURNS KATHY BURNS

KEN PINKERTON MARK WILCOXEN

KEVIN MCCAIN LAURA BASSAUGUS TA CAS H R ALPH CASH

MELISSA DURRETT J OHN GOBER III

E LL YN GAGNON BE VE RLY POWELL

J OHN PEARSON INGER KING

WILLIAM SUMMERS

VIRGINIA POWELL

J OSIE CASEY

DEANNA MCVEY

L1NDAMEIR

GAIL COSBY

MICHAEL BALLIET

KIM J OVINGS

MARLEEN PINKERTON

PAUL DVORAK

GARY WILTNOTHEATH GOEBEL

A.L. GAGNON

TODD FRENCH

STEPHEN MCCONNEL

THE FOLLOWING NAMES AR E OF BUMP MEMBERS WHO

J OINED BETWEEN J ULY 6TH AND OCTOBER 2ND AND

RENEWAL COST IS $10 FOR 1995:KEN CATER J EFF KING

MARSHALL pms PERRY BURNETTR US SE LL ALLE N DAN MEEKS

BILL READING J OHN HARRISON

NANCY BROWER LAURA HARRISON

S TE VE POWE LL J O MUDD

DAVID CHANDLER R B TURNSULLBRENT MARSHALL WILL LUCKETT

LORI KING SHAWN WRIGHT

ALiSA SCOFIELD MICKIE POWELL

EARL HALL

BARBARA OLSCHNER

GREG KILBURN

LAUREN HENDERSON

HOLLY O"SHEA

BILL CHRISTENBERRY

DR. ERIC SOLOMONSHERE MCBRYDE

MICHAEL SAKALIAN

ANYONE MEMBER WHO'S NAME DID NOT

APPEAR ON THESES LISTS WILL BE ENTITLED TO

PAY THE FULL $20 FOR THEIR 1995 MEMBERSHIP.

PLEASE TURN IN YOUR CHECKS AT THE NOVEMBER

MEETING.

7/27/2019 Oct-Nov 1994

2/4

(continued from page 1)

Experience has shown the Board runs on a consenses basis anyway.

Because only two or three Board positions are vacant each year, there

are always old hands on board to help the newly elected board mem-

bers. This method provides some continuity and stability to the club.

The present Board of Directors hopes to bring more members into the

actual workings ofthe club with the goal in mind of getting new bloodon the Board.

Anyway, Hugh Leader (ph. 942-9128) has appointed (they

volunteered!) Mike Herring (ph. 663-6083), Mark Richman (ph. 987-

7991) and Teresa Piercy as the nominating committee. So far three NOVEMBER 5TH.- SATURDAY 10 A.M. TRAIL MAINTENANCE

individuals have expressed an interest in running for the two upcoming WORK DAY. MEET AT THE PARK OFFICE ON TERRACE

Board vacancies. They are Hardwick Gregg, Amy Hunter, and Laurie DRIVE. BRING WATER, WORK GLOVES AND A SNACK.McClennan. There is plenty of time for other interested members to

place their name on the election ticket. The "Regular Ticket" nominees NOVEMBER 12TH _ MAD DOG DUATHAlON AND NORBA

will be presented to the members in November. SANCTIONED MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE, SPR INGVillE,

ALABAMA. THERESE BYNUM, 930-0012.

Bump NewsletterLast month for various reasons, our Board of Directors

decided to cease funding of"The Grinder" and go back to a

Club Newsletter. This decision was announced and discussed

at the OC tober meeting. I am not sure many of you have

noticed, but The Grinder has been copyrighted to its E ditor for

months and is now an independent publication. While we hope

the Newsletter doesn't revert back to "Ransom Note" quality it

once was, it is also not expected to ever develop into a ten or

twelve page publication. We hope this Newsletter will continue

to serve the needs of its members. We will strive to provide an

informative, constructive, and positive Newsletter which is also

less of an expense to BUMP's total budget. This Newsletter will

be an all volunteer, hopefully group effort. It may take a while toget the Newsletter up to speed, but please bear with us and if

you have the inclination, please volunteer to help the Newsletter

make it to print.

MAt) t)()G MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE

NOVEMBER 12, 199'1

ALL BUMP MEMBERS THAT CAN, PLEASE VOLUN-

TEER TO WORK MAD DOG IF YOU ARE NOT RAC-

I NG. C ONTACT THERESE BYNUM AT 930- 0012

FOR INFO.

B UM P H ER DS F O R T H E M O U N TR IN S

BY BARRY HAI RBUMP had a group trip to the famous and ''totally buff' Tsali trails

near the Nantahala River in North Carolina in Mid-September. To

those of you who did not make it, you missed a great time.

(continue on page 3)

CALENDARNOVEMBER 2ND - WEDNESDAY 7 P.M. BUMP MEETING.

HOOVER PUBLIC LIBRARY.

NOVEMBER 4TH-6TH - FAll KNOB SCORCHER AT NANTA-

HAlA OUTDOOR CENTER (704) 488-6737.

LAYAWA Y NOW FOR CHRISTMAS!!

Yournewest

cannondaIedealer.

t ' l i l C A H A B A.,. CYCLES

3120 CAHABA

HEIGHTS PLAZA

967-2003

1927 HOOVER COURT

HWY 31

822-6600

7/27/2019 Oct-Nov 1994

3/4

(Tsali Trip continued)

Everybody but Barbara and J im Dailey drove up on Friday night

(Incredibly, they drove up Saturday, a five hour drive, rode,

turned around and drove back. Sounds brutal). Most people

camped at the Turkey Creek Campground in Almond, N.C., just a

few miles from the Tsali trailhead. I recommend Turkey Creek to

anybody who wants to stay in that area: the bathrooms and

showers are clean, the campsites have electricity, and its propri-

etors are laid back. By the way, it is also cheap.

Anyway, the weather was perfect, the sky was blue and

the temperature comfortable. Twenty BUMP members showed up

for the Tsail ride on Saturday. The Thompson and Mouse Loops

were open for mountain biking that day. The first loop Thompson

is a quicker, picker, upper. You star climbing right off the bat

and from the sound of some riders wheezing around me and the

numbers showing on my heart rate monitor, most folks were

bumping up on their max heart rate. This loop is like the way I eat

birthday cake. Eat the cake part first and save the icing for last.

After some climbing which is steep (but still shorter than Oak

Mountain) you then have several miles of fast, twisting, sweet sin-

gletrack. Everybody raved about the descent. There are several

scenic overlooks on this loop where Lake Fontana is visiblebelow and five thousand foot mountain peaks line the horizon.

Everybody played tourist and stopped to view the scenery.

After a short break, The Mouse Loop was next and was

the same riotous fun. Much of the singlet rack is very tight and

follows the convoluted shoreline of Fontana Lake. At one point I

was descending on the singletrack at a good clip and coming

around a turn, I was faced with a slightly muddy trail for poor

braking and a biker straddling his bike in the middle of this narrow

trail, looking at me in a daze like a deer in bright headlights. Not a

good scenario. I managed to throw the anchor out, get under con-

trol, and squeeze by the rider at a slow speed. Sight distances

can be short on the trails and the singletrack is mostly narrow, so

exercise caution.

After riding both loops, some of the crowd, myselfincluded, grew lazy and thoughts of drinking a post ride beer and

swimming in Fontana Lake seemed like a capital idea. Others

opted for another slice of singletrack. About ten of us went back

to the Campsite and was given instructions on how to get down to

the Lake via an old forest road. Everybody got on their mountain

bikes (swimsuits and cycling shoes) and descended down the

grassy road for a cool dip in Fontana's clear waters. To heck with

training, this was a vacation.

That evening most everybody hung out around the

campfire which felt great since the evening had a slight chill to it.

My theory and story that there is a rare light pulsating green

ground fungus (due to past camping experiences) at Turkey

Creek was called into question by skeptics. Hah! I had seen it

there before in the wee hours of the night and beer had nothing to

do with it. Skeptics were quickly quieted when sure enough, as

darkness advanced, the ground started pulsating here and there

with green light. Two scientific types wanted closer examination

and proof. I was confident of my theory. WeIL ...as it turns out it

was not fungus after all but was instead, a just as rare form of

mutant (you know like penquins are to birds) wingless lightening

bug! To that I have witnesses.

The next morning the campsite was the Land ofthe

Slugs. There were no early morning rise and shine hammerheads

to be found. Most of us opted for a white water trip down the

Nantahala River and blew off riding entirely.

Some of the others went back to the Tsali trails for more riding.

Ask Hugh and J ack about their radical form of boatless white

water rapid shooting. A great weekend was had by all and I can't

wait to go back. Thanks to everybody who joined in on trip. It

was great to ride among so many familiar faces and friends.

t.\ON" T FOR GET IMBA ftUl.t:S

OF THE TRAIL:1. RIt')E ON Or-EN TRAIlaS ONLoY. RESPECT TRAIL

AND ROAD CLOSURES (ASK IF NOT SURE), AVOID POSSI-

BLE TRESPASS ON PRIVATE LAND, OBTAIN PERMITS AND

AUTHORIZATION AS MAY BE REQUIRED. FEDERAL AND

STATE WILDERNESS AREAS ARE CLOSED TO CYCLING.

~. bEAut: NO TRAct:. BE SENSITIVE TO THE DIRT

BENEATH YOU. EVEN ON OPEN TRAILS, YOU SHOULD NOT

RIDE UNDER CONDITIONS WHERE YOU WILL LEAVE EVI-

DENCE OF YOUR PASSING, SUCH AS ON CERTAIN SOILS

SHORTLY AFTER A RAIN. OBSERVE THE DIFFERENT TYPE

OF SOILS AND TRAIL CONSTRUCTION; PRACTICE LOW-

IMPACT CYCLING. THIS ALSO MEANS STAYING ON TRAIL

AND NOT CREATING ANY NEW ONES. BE SURE TO PACK

OUT AT LEAST AS MUCH AS YOU PACK IN.

3. CQNTftOLo YOUR 8ICYCbE .. INATTENTION FOR

EVEN A SECOND CAN CAUSE DISASTER. EXCESSIVE

SPEED MAIMS AND THREATENS PEOPLE; THERE IS NO

EXCUSE FOR IT.

4. ALoWAY:) YIELot')THE TRAI ..MAKE KNOWN

YOUR APPROACH WELL IN ADVANCE. A FRIENDLY GREET-

ING (OR A BELL) IS CONSIDERATE AND WORKS WELL;STARLING SOMEONE MAY CAUSE LOSS OF TRAIL ACCESS.

SHOW YOUR RESPECT WHEN PASSING OTHERS BY SLOW-

ING TO A WALK OR EVEN STOPPING. ANTICIPATE THAN

OTHER TRAIL USERS MAY BE AROUND CORNERS OR IN

BLIND SPOTS.

S. NEVER :)r-OOK ANIMAbS. ALL ANIMALS ARE

STARTLED BY AN UNANNOUNCED APPROACH, A SUDDEN

MOVEMENTS, OR A LOUD NOISE. THIS CAN BE DANGER-

OUS FOR YOU, FOR OTHERS, AND FOR THE ANIMALS. GIVE

EXTRA ROOM AND TIME TO ADJ UST TO YOU. IN PASSING,

USE SPECIAL CARE AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS OF

HORSEBACK RIDERS (ASK IF UNCERTAIN). RUNNING CAT-

TLE AND DISTURBING WILD ANIMALS IS A SERIOUSOFFENSE. LEAVE GATES AS YOU FOUND THEM, OR AS

MARKED.

6. rbAN AHEAt'). KNOW YOUR EQUIPMENT, YOUR

ABILITY, AND THE AREA IN WHICH YOU ARE RIDING - AND

PREPARE ACCORDINGLY. BE SELF-SUFFICIENT AT ALL

TIMES. WEAR A HELMET, KEEP YOUR MACHINE IN GOOD

CONDITION, AND CARRY NECESSARY SUPPLIES FOR

CHANGES IN WEATHER OR OTHER CONDITIONS. A WELL

EXECUTED TRIP IS A SATISFACTION TO YOU.

7/27/2019 Oct-Nov 1994

4/4

988- 0930

}{0: t to 0AB R i E L s20~ o ff

for B U J A 1 > .Mtm~~rr

THIS IS LIFE!!

RIGHT'!'!!

I B 3 l I J O O l F C C C O > M M II l r lr IE IE WE ARE CURRENTLY FORMING COM-

MITTEES. WE HOPE WE CAN DEPEND

ON YOU TO JOIN ONE. BELOW IS A LIST

OF THE DIFFERENT COMMITTEES:1.NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE

2. FUND AAISING

3. RIDES & TRIPS

4. LAND ACCESS

5. TRAIL BLAZING

6. SPECIAL EVENTS

7. RACING

8. MEMBERSHIP

9.TRAIL MAINTENANCE

10. PUBLIC RELATIONS