Shuttleguy & ShuttleguyTours Newsletter  
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In This Issue
What's New?
Featured Tour
Article of the Month
Featured Rider
2010 Shuttleguy's
Own Tours

Tri-State Ride

WISPRIDE (Wisconsin Parks Ride)

Theater & Art Ride

WIND

BREW (Bike Ride Exploring Wisconsin)

Mississippi River Trail Ride



2010 Tours
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September, 2010
Greetings!

It's been a busy summer but the touring season is not over yet. Staff are on the road again heading to Michigan for DALMAC. If you're looking for a beautiful fall ride, checkout the Mississippi River Trail Ride highlighted below in this month's Featured Ride.

Hope you can join us!


What's New?

Shuttleguy 2011 Tour Announce- ment BASH
The Shuttleguy, Tym Allison, survived a MAJOR life event, turning 40 years old, earlier in
     (not a current photo)
tympro
September. Come help him celebrate the big event on October 2, 2010.

Activities will include a 40 mile ride (one mile for each year, 20 mile loop available for those who want to be 20 forever),  food and an announce- ment of the 2011 Shuttleguy Tour schedule.

All activities will be held at or near Shuttleguy Worldwide headquarters located near Ridgeway, Wisconsin.

Please RSVP by
September 22, emailing your response to:


Hope you can join us!


New online poll. Share your view.
We have been told that we should change the name of our business to something that more accurately describes what we do, but others have reacted that they love the name and that we should not even consider changing the name. We are torn about what to do, so we are turning to you. What do you think? Should we change our name? Go to www.shuttleguy.com by September 26 and share your opinion with our new poll at the bottom of the page.



Shuttleguy announces WISPRIDE photo contest winner
This year's WISPRIDE featured a photo contest for those riders interested in participating. Riders used their own cameras or one of the three supplied by Shuttleguy to capture images of scenery, fellow riders and points of interest along the way. Over 300 photos were submitted and riders voted for their favorite shot.

This years winner is John Wuertz from Waverly, Iowa. As the contest winner, John will receive two entries to the Potosi Great River Road Bike Tour being held on September 25.

Here's a little about John's riding adventures:

"johnMy love for biking started out as a kid with a 9 mile paper route, 97 customers and a one speed bike. I was a distance runner at Wartburg College, my alma matter, where I am Director of Physical Plant.
I have helped host two RAGBRAI
overnights here in Waverly and at Wartburg and got to thinking I wanted to experience the ride from the other side of the fence, so I asked a friend of
mine if he wanted to do RAGBRAI 2007 with me and  I  have ridden in 4 of them now with other people from Wartburg College. Liz, my wife, has joined me on the last two.
I have taken other day trips of 75 miles and two day trips of 180 miles. WISPRIDE 2010 was Liz's and my first group ride with a charter group and it was a GREAT experience riding through scenic  Wisconsin and staying at state parks. The brochure said it was challenging, but isn't that what life is about? We met  great people with  Shuttleguy and great  people on the ride. Thanks for the experience!"

And here is the winning shot. A beautiful photo of the Wisconsin countryside taken from a forest fire lookout tower the riders had a change to climb up the second day of the ride!

Type caption text here.
tower

Relive this trip, as seen through the eyes of our roving riding photographers, by visiting our WISPRIDE photo page.



Shuttleguy and Lance at Madison's Ride the Drive
On August 29th, the City of Madison celebrated its second RIDE THE DRIVE celebration of Madison's commitment to healthy, active lifestyles.

cap

Over 50,000 local individuals rode, walked, skated, or strolled along 6 miles of the city's most beautiful, but normally busiest, avenues as the roads were shut down to all vehicle traffic from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Picture postcard weather and the appearance of Lance Armstrong made the event a huge hit!

Tym, THE Shuttleguyre.
tym

Featured Tour: ShuttleguyTours MRT
Mississippi River Trail Ride
October 16-17, 2010

This tour is a shorter version of our popular Tri-State Ride. Our goal is to provide a fabulous, fully supported tour as well as bring attention to the Mississippi River Trail, a 3,000 mile bicycle route starting at the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Itasca, Minn. and ending at the great Mississippi delta at the Gulf of Mexico.
This weekend of cycling will take you along parts of the Iowa and Wisconsin legs of the Mississippi River Trail. Many cyclists will see this ride as a great training opportunity for week-long summer tours.

Experience breathtaking landscapes mrt5sculpted by the Mississippi River and its many tributaries. Immerse yourself in this wonderful, natural area, home to many varieties of plant and wildlife. You can take in bald eagles soaring above, duck and geese at the river's edge and deer in the woods. Enjoy the small-town charm of our friendly host communities. All of the details are taken care of so you can enjoy carefree cycling.

This two day loop tour begins and ends in McGregor, Iowa. McGregor will be our friendly host town for registration and pre-ride festivities. We will be camping in Turner Park. After registration and setting up camp you can enjoy the many sight seeing, shopping, and dining experiences McGregor and its twin city Marquette have to offer.

Day 1:
It is southward bound as you follow the Mississippi River Trail. Today you will enjoy some beautiful views of the river, take in beautiful farmland vistas and enjoy the Iowa mrt2towns of Clayton, Guttenberg, Luxemburg and North Buena Vista. Immediately south of McGregor take a left into Pikes Peak State Park and enjoy some stunning panoramic views. In Guttenberg you can view the activities at Lock #10. In "Buenie" as the locals call it, take time to stop and marvel at the amazing grotto that was built into the bluff in the heart of this little hamlet during the great depression. You will end the day's journey with a ride across the Mississippi River on the Cassville ferry.

Day 2:

Today you will pedal uphill on the Wisconsin side to Prairie du Chien. Just kidding. Tbluff1here are a few downhill sections along the way. You will also ride through the charming towns of  Bagley, Wyalusing and Prairie du Chien. Then you will cross the great Mississippi River back into Iowa.

This ride is a great way to see some beautiful scenery, at a great time of year and begin to close down your riding season.





Article of the month:
It's getting to that time of year when many retailers are beginning to discount their riding gear, including cycling shorts. Here is a good article on what to look for in if you're thinking of picking up a few "deals"!


How to Choose Cycling Shorts 

By Fred Matheny and Ed Pavelka
 of www.RoadBikeRider.com

You should choose road-cycling shorts based on the quality of materials and construction. But also crucial is how well they conform to your unique anatomy. Sometimes a relatively inexpensive pair may work better for you than a high-zoot model.

Shorts, like saddles, are tough to recommend because of differences in butts, crotches, seats and riding positions. Every rider has to try on shorts, buy the model/size that fits snugly but comfortably, then hope for the best on the bike. It's hit or miss, and some luck is involved. Just as with saddles, there is no universal answer.

That said, here are guidelines that will point you toward better choices.

    * Price. Generally, the more expensive the shorts, the higher the quality. Avoid cheap shorts because the material and construction may be substandard. They may be sewn from only 4 or 6 pieces ("panels"), which won't give you the best anatomical fit. The padded liner ("chamois") may not be large enough, soft enough or sewn without irritating seams. Cheap shorts aren't as durable, either, so in the long run they really aren't a bargain. When touring and washing shorts by hand, wringing can break threads and blow out seams if the manufacturer cut corners on quality.

  

more on bike shorts


 
Featured Riders: Darlene and Denny Lynn

"Our names are Denny and Darlene Lynn and we'd like to tell you a little about us and how we ended up on the Shuttleguy "Tri-State  Ride" in July 2010. This was our first tour, our first year riding road bicycles and only our 2nd year of riding cycles!




We have lived most of our lives in west Michigan, but about 5 years ago my work required us to relocate to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Together we have 6 children, 9 grandchildren with twin grand babies due in late November  or early December 2010.

It all started in April of 2009 when Darlene was looking at sales ads and said "Hey the local big box store has bikes on sale. Do you want to look at them"?  Both of us had been dieting and working out since the first of the year so we figured this would be a great way to add our exercise routine. We love to walk and do short hikes and both of us have been using the treadmill a lot over the winter to help with the diet. In five months I had lost over 65 pounds and Darlene had lost about 20, but we still had more weight to lose. Kenosha has some great paved trails along the lake and a very good network of crushed stone trails that go for miles.

We drove to the store and purchased two mountain bikes, about $80 each, and we were ready to ride. We are both in our 50's (I turned 58 in 2010) and had not been on a bike since we were kids. The store was only about one mile away so we went home to drop off the car and walked back to the store. We wanted to ride our new bikes home and didn't think about the fact that they might need a few adjustments. Well we got the bikes and took off down the sidewalk (we were scared to ride on the street) and I didn't make it a � mile before I messed up shifting and the chain come off. I somehow managed to get the chain back on and we made it home. Wow, one mile on the books. I got off my new bike and said "That seat has to go, my rear end already hurts". Thinking back on it I'm sure the blue jeans that I was wearing didn't help either (bike shorts, what the heck are they?). 

We never could have dreamed that one year later I would complete my first century ride and Darlene would be doing 40 to 60 mile rides.

Darlene counting up the miles.
dalenemiles

We progressed and learned over the first few months. At first it was 5 miles, then 10, then 20 and after I did a 40 mile ride on my mountain bike, I knew I wanted more. Later that year we purchased a pair of hybrid bikes so we could pick up the pace and get in some longer rides. We continued to ride on and off during the fall and I started thinking about trying to do a 100 mile ride in 2010 (was it even possible, 99 miles more than my first ride??). I knew I would need to upgrade some equipment, so fast forward to the spring of 2010.
 
In April of this year we went looking for (and found) a good cycle shop. After test riding different cycles we ended up with our new Trek road bikes. We still do some trail riding but I
Type Denny and Darlene half way through his first 100 miler.
denny100
have really got-
ten into riding on the roads. We joined the KR bike club (Kenosha-Racine) and are doing a few rides with the group.  We rode in the KR annual ride in May, I did my first century (got 104 miles) and Darlene rode the first 40 miles with me.


In June this year we rode in the Tour de Cure to raise money for the America Diabetes Association and we did the full 100k ride. We plan on doing this ride each year. As I am finding out there are great rides going on someplace almost every weekend. So many rides and not enough time to do them all.
 
Then in July we did our first bike tour. What a blast! It started out in the pouring rain, but the next four days the weather was great. Going up the first big hill, I was riding ahead of Darlene and she had a problem with her chain. I stopped and was waiting for her; when some other riders came by I asked if they saw my wife down the hill, and they said someone was broke down. I went back down the hill and as I came around a curve I could see one of the Shuttleguy vans stopped by my wife. She had a problem with her shifter/chain and they were working on it. They fixed it and we were back riding with no problem. The Shuttleguy team did a great job and I would encourage anyone thinking about doing a tour to go do it!  I am 58 years old and this is my first year of riding a road cycle, and we did this ride. So can you!
 
The other part of our story is the weight we have lost, which we could not have accomp- lished without cycling. In 2009, I lost a total of 80 pounds in six months and I have kept it off for over one year. I have reduced or eliminated some of the medications I was taking and greatly improved my health.

dennyba

In 2009, I lost a total of 80 pounds in six months and I have kept it off for over one year. I have reduced or eliminated some of the medications I was taking and greatly improved my health.

darleneba

Darlene has lost a little over 30 pounds and she is still working on losing more. We changed our diet and watch what and how much we eat. We would like to share some before and after photos and we hope this might inspire someone else to make changes to a healthier lifestyle.

I know that anybody can do it if they just put their minds to it and work at it a little at a time. And I know cycling is a great way to lose weight and stay healthy."



Shuttleguy specializes in superior bicycle touring services for bicyclists with discriminating taste. Let us make life easy for you this summer on one of the many tours we support.
 
Sincerely,
Tym Allison
Shuttleguy and ShuttleguyTour Bicycle Tours