Almond Freikers Arrive In Savannah, GA !

Happy Mother's Day to all - I hope it was a fun one. My family hates me - we went on a bike ride together and I got lost :) I know every inch of roadway in the bay area, but put me on a bike path and I have no clue where I am or where I'm going!


It was another tremendous week for the Almond Freikers even though the entire 6th grade class was off goofing around at Walden West the entire week. The rest of the students stepped in to pick up the slack and they did their best to keep Almond on the top of the heap. Way to go kids!

Almond Freiker Stats For the Week !

* Almond remains the #1 Freiker school in the nation !
* 3,208 round trips complete
* 4,800 mile traveled on foot or by bike
* 240,000 cals of human energy expended
* 1.6 tons of CO2 prevented from entering the atmosphere

Almond Freikers Arrive in Savannah, GA !

After traveling all the way from the Almond School parking lot to the eastern most city in the United States, the Almond Freikers are on their way down the eastern seaboard to Key West, Florida. They spent the weekend in Savannah, GA - love those grits!

Savannah Skyline

Savannah is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Chatham County, Georgia, USA. Savannah was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia. Each year Savannah attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy the city's architecture and historic buildings: the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America), the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (one of the South's first public museums), the First African Baptist Church (one of the oldest African American Baptist congregations in the United States), Temple Mickve Israel (the third-oldest synagogue in America), and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex (the oldest standing antebellum rail facility in America). Today, Savannah's downtown area, the Savannah Historic District, is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States (designated by the U.S. government in 1966).

In the 2000 census of Savannah, there were 131,510 people, 51,375 households, and 31,390 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,759.5 people per square mile (679.4/km²). There were 57,437 housing units at an average density of 768.5/sq mi (296.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 57.08% African American, 38.86% White, 1.52% Asian, 0.23% Native American, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.93% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.23% of the population.

Savannah, GA is the primary port on the Savannah River and is located along the U.S. Intracoastal Waterway. Savannah is prone to flooding. Four canals and pumping stations have been built to help reduce the effects: Fell Street Canal, Kayton Canal, Springfield Canal and the Casey Canal, with the first three draining north into the Savannah River.

My Saturday Ride !

As most of you know, I ride for the Monta Vista Velo Racing Club. MVV donated $1,000 to Almond School to get Freiker off the ground. The team does a training ride every Saturday morning that leaves the Bicycle Outfitter at 8:30am and the rides are typically 60 to 90 miles long (sometimes longer). We do all of the classic bay area cycling routes that have a high degree of difficulty and some of them are pretty spectacular. The weather was beautiful on Saturday and so were the views of the bay area from Skyline.

This Saturday we did the Kings Mountain Rd -> Hwy 92 -> Polhemus Loop: Here is the route starting at TBO: foothill, page mill, old page mill, arastradero, alpine, portola, 84, tripp, kings mountain, skyline, 92, skyline, polhemus, bike bridge over 280, canada, jefferson, alameda de las pulgas, 84, mountain home, portola, alpine, arastradero, page mill, arastradero, purissima, robeleta, chapin, burke, main st., home!

Ride Stats:

* Ride Time: 3:55 (hrs:min)
* Distance: 65 miles
* Elevation Gain: 4,871 ft
* Ave Speed: 16.5 mph
* Max Speed: 44.7 mph
* Ave HR: 142 bpm
* Max HR: 187 bpm
* Calories: 4,886 cals metabolized
* MotionBased Map: Kings Mtn, 92, Polheumus Loop.

Bike To Work Week:

This week is 'Bike To Work Week'... Remember, if you want me to buy you an ice cream cone, you need to ride all 5 day! If you can't ride all 5 days, at least give it a try on May 14th (the official Bike To Work Day). I'd love to hear people's feedback on how your commutes went - I know that at least some of you will try or else I'm going to tell your kids what slacker you are while they are off busily traversing the continental United States of America :) Come on now, make me proud!

Remember my helpful hints:

* Make sure that your work has showers. If they don't, you have to do the 'no sweat' ride to work. It just means you wear lighter cycling gear and take it nice and easy.
* If you haven't figured out how to carry clothes without getting them all wrinkly, take them in the day before. You can drop off a whole week's worth of clothes this weekend! If you have to carry stuff, panniers are the way to go.
* Make sure you know the route that you are going to take before hand. The route you drive is usually not the route you would cycle. Pick something scenic if you can - know where the energizer stations are - they will have food, water and free swag :)
* Make sure your bike is ready - tires inflated, brakes are in proper working order and not too worn and your chain is lubed and tensioned. Make sure to check your quick-release hubs if you have them.

Upcoming 'Freiker Rolls' Events !

So far we have done a couple of 'Freiker Rolls' group rides. The first one was to Jamba Juice in downtown Los Altos - great turn out everyone! The second one was an 11 mile segment of the Challenge Bike Ride sponsored by the El Camino YMCA - congrats to Shawn Avidan and Dalezilla Simms for making it the whole way despite the rain! I'm going to plan a couple more of these in the next month to get people rolling for summer. Below are the planned routes for the next 5 weeks:

* May 17th - I'm going camping ! Knock yourselves out - ride where every you want - send me postcards when you get there :)
* May 24th @ 1:00pm - Freiker Rolls to Egan: If you have a 6th grader who will be attending Egan next year, this is the perfect opportunity. We'll leave from Almond School, learn some clever ways to get to Egan on a bike. We'll figure out where the bike racks are and we'll even swing by Baskin-Robbins in downtown Los Altos on the way home. Brind your free coupons! Every one is welcome to join - students and parents alike. Approx 6 miles.
* May 31st @ 10:30am - Freiker Rolls to Redwood Grove: Bring a picnic lunch with you (a backpack works fine) and we'll take a nature walk around Redwood Grove. We'll also hang out in the shade of Shoop Park while the kids burn off some extra energy. Approx 5 miles.
* June 7th @ 1:00pm - Freiker Rolls to Foothill College: Foothill College is a nearby junior college nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. But how many of you have actually been on the campus? We'll take a lap around the campus and head back through downtown Los Altos for some refreshments. Approx 8 miles.
* June 14th @ 1:00pm - Freiker Rolls to Hidden Villa: Tucked back in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Hidden Villa is a great place for a kid to spend some time interacting with nature, taking a walk and learning about environmental conservation. Fun for the whole family! I'll need a couple of adult volunteers on this one to help escort the group along Moody Rd. Approx 12 miles.

That's all for this week...

Every Ride Counts!
Jon