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Date: 8/2/2020
Subject: August 2020 e-Newsletter
From: Lambton Outdoor Club



Lambton Outdoor Club
August 2020 e-Newsletter

Jersey Joy

Questions of the Day:  What’s the big deal about a cycling jersey?  What is it that makes them worth a significant splash of cash?

Fortunately, I am here to fill you in.  Maybe when you know what I know you will snap up one of the Lambton Outdoor Club cycling jerseys that are currently available.
In truth, I’m a late adopter of the cycling jersey.  For most of my riding life they were far beyond my budget, and I did just fine with a t-shirt.  But once I bought my first, I was hooked.  It’s like the difference between a rotary phone and a touch tone phone; the difference between a remote control and getting up to change the tv channels; the difference between winding the windows in your car up and down or pressing a button; the list goes on.  You get the picture, but what you really want to know is the why.  Of course, there are many, reasons, and I’ll enlighten you fully, but for those of you who have had enough reading already, please just read the number one reason:

The cling and creep factor.  That is the number one reason riders love their cycling jerseys.  All other apparel will cling to your sweaty skin, then when you move it will creep to a new location, which will pull annoyingly on your skin.  That’s it, seemingly no big deal.  But it never ends.  It’s a feature of your ride which, when eliminated, it is stunningly freeing.

Now I will list the other reasons I love my Lambton Outdoor Club jersey:
Club spirit.  I love being part of a group, whether I’m riding with it or not.  I love seeing a club jersey go by and know that person is part of my tribe.
Appearance.  The design and colours are beautiful, created by our own members.
Safety.  Bright colours make it highly visible to others.
Fit.  It is the best fit of any jersey I have.  Plenty of panels, and length in the right places with no pinching anywhere, and it nicely rounds my somewhat saggy skin and surplus rolls.
Wicking.  It cools me when I’m sweaty.
Quick dry.  It dries quickly after I’m done my ride.
Hygienic.  I hang the sweaty jersey outdoors on my clothesline after a ride.  The sun dries it and kills the bacteria so amazingly that it’s fresh enough to wear again.  This can work for several rides.
Washability.  It washes like a rag, keeps looking good.
Pockets.  It has great gear pockets in the back, including a secure zip pocket still going strong after two years.
Full zip front.  That’s a preference of mine.

Consider purchasing a Lambton Outdoor Club and enjoy. 
Join the tribe.  Look goodFeel the freedom

Submitted by Sharon Crowe

Cycling Jersey orders being taken until Aug 3rd 3:00pm!
We have had requests from members to place an order for the colourful LOC cycling jersey!

The jerseys are highly visible, very well constructed and breathe well.  They have a full-length hidden zipper, 3 rear cargo pockets, an additional zippered pocket for valuables, elastic waistband and reflective piping.
They are available in Men’s and Women’s relaxed fit with sizes starting from XXS to 5XL

We have orders for 7 jerseys now, so we get the lower base pricing for the jersey of $84 Canadian plus HST, GST and shipping.  That will all come out to $95.

(To order only one jersey the base cost is $129, ordering 2 to 5 jerseys the base cost is $103 plus taxes and shipping.)

If you are interesting in purchasing a jersey you need to act quickly so we can get the order in now for delivery in mid-August.  We don’t put orders in every year unless there is enough demand to do so.

Contact Joan Elliott joaneelliott@hotmail.com to place an order, before August 3rd at 3:00 pm, so we can place the order now for delivery in a couple weeks.


Notes from Council

LOC Council is meeting bimonthly, with members participating from home by Zoom, with the meeting facilitated by Phil Vallance who has developed slick expertise with the medium. These are highlights, and not intended as record of discussion or minutes. Financially the club is maintaining its position, revenues are down bit, so is expenditure, and our bank balance is healthy according to Treasurer Rod. Membership renewals are stable, but new memberships are down, as might be expected during this period of inactivity, reported by Rod. The vexing subject of Liability Insurance for leaders is being investigated per a member’s request, at present we only carry Third Party Insurance and Directors and Officers liability. Our public Facebook page has 625 followers, and the newly created “members only” page 38. The club will try to use its Facebook presence as a more effective tool to promote membership.  

Activities have been severely restricted during the Pandemic, but the Paddling and Slow Spokes groups have both held successful events where Social Distancing and other precautions were respected. There have been several requests for LOC to circulate petitions about outdoor related issues, both from members and non-members. Usually these have been at short notice, and the club is reluctant to circulate without prior Council discussion. Henceforth 45 days advance notice will be required before acting on any request of this nature. Because of the logistic difficulty, LOC first Aid kits will not carry Covid-19 PPE; individuals are responsible for their own protection. The AGM will be held on Tuesday October 20th by Zoom unless Provincial recommendations are relaxed to allow a physical meeting.

Last minute registrations for events are difficult for leaders to manage; henceforth the cut-off will be midnight preceding the event.  


Submitted by Mike Tanner


Successful Video Conferencing Events
During the dark, cold days of March and April when LOC activities had to be curtailed as the pandemic took hold of the world, most of us were housebound, bored and tired of the same old routines or more accurately a lack of normal routines. When Zoom took the world by storm we decided that we'd better jump on the bandwagon if we wanted some way to stay in touch with our members and offer them something to look forward to each week.

Thus the Travelogue series was born, a chance for members who have been on very diverse trips to share their photos and experiences with others and a chance for members to "see" and chat with each other. It worked out very well. Attendance for the travel series was excellent and members thoroughly enjoyed the offerings. A huge shout out and thank you to all the presenters who took the time to prep their stuff and present to us.
 
Then because so many of us were not getting out and being quite as active as we normally are, we decided to try another video conference offering of a morning chair stretch/yoga practice. Bonnie Clark gave us her time weekly for several months to help us work on core strength, balance and flexibility, and provided participants a printed copy of the moves so they could practice on their own. Thank you Bonnie (and Doug her technical support).
 
Thanks also to Brian St. Pierre who helped us with Zoom at the outset and for Phil Vallance who became our weekly moderator/host. With the creation of LOC Covid-19 protocols in July and the slow resumption of some activities and the current good weather, we're putting these online video conferences on hold for now. Assuming that life as we know it now continues into the fall and winter I am quite sure that these online events will resume.
 
Submitted by Chris Richmond

Paddling On!

It was a gorgeous Monday morning on July 6  when 5 LOC members met at Mitchell’s Bay for the first pandemic-era LOC paddle event.  It turned out to be quite easy to maintain social distancing throughout the event.   Everyone managed their own boat unloading & loading without any difficulty. We started off by reviewing the paddle float self-rescue method with an on-land demonstration of the setup,  practiced our own paddle float set-up on land, and then took to the warm, sandy swimming beach to practice the method on the water.  Participants did this first with “empty” boats, and then tried it from a “boat capsized” position.  Afterwards, we enjoyed a roughly 1 hour paddle along the coast to the north as far as Bass Haven and back.

On July 16,  we had a second, similar event.  The venue was changed  late the day before to Mike Weir park, as the wind direction made this a better place to do the on water practice. The water was surprisingly almost as warm as Mitchell’s Bay!   This time, after working on our self rescue skills, we paddled up the Cull Drain to just past Hwy 402.  It’s a very wide, clear channel all they way.
It is great to be able to start running some group paddling events, and  it turns out to be very easy to maintain excellent social distancing throughout!

Submitted by Phil Vallance


Park to Park Downriver Ride

The easy ride along the St Clair River trail is a good workout for the body and soul. The immense blueness of the river quietly going about its business, the proudly coiffed homes, and the trail are reminders that we are privileged. So it was that five members of the Lambton Outdoor Club cycling section gathered for a tentative group ride in this era of pandemic caution. After signing the waiver, performing the Ontario self-assessment tool (everything is fine until you tick the Over 70 box), we gathered at Guthrie park just North of Corunna.

For once we forsook a stop at Tim’s, and continued through the village that became a town, past imposing riverfront homes on acre lots, until the road curves back to the river at Mooretown.  The trail literally hugs the riverbank, occasionally victim to erosion from epic rising water levels. Pausing in the splendid Centennial Park for a break, the view over to St Clair, Michigan to the riverside restaurants and homes reveals a different world. Courtright is another sleepy village with a tired appearance, the shuttered gas station, vacant lots and faded store fronts hark wistfully to a vibrant past. Looming ahead, the towering edifice of the defunct Lambton Generating station stands like an abandoned suitor. Condemned by the Province as a relic of the coal era, its lower cladding has been torn away, leaving the massive structure nakedly exposed. Sadly, the demolition project is in limbo as the contractor has filed bankruptcy. I detect a note of sadness from John, who worked the turbine halls in its glory days. Ironically the coal yard, conveyors and infrastructure have gone, replaced by a striking yellow meadow as nature reclaims its own.  We have left the hissing steam and smoky stacks of the Valley far behind, but the country cousin, Terra’s fertilizer plant looms ahead.   An opaque greenhouse growing a crop of peppers suckles on its waste energy, one wonders why this  synergy has not been replicated.

Sombra has seen better times, twenty years ago it had pretensions as a tourist attraction strategically located between Detroit and London. The final nail in that coffin occurred when ice took out the causeway to the ferry. An ignominious end to that beloved river crossing, with the casueway underwater and the venerable ferry boat sold to service BobLo Island near Windsor.

 Enough of melancholy, the ride today is at a good pace on a quiet trail, past fields and campgrounds and the quirky other island in the St Clair. Fawn Island was a desolate sandbar until a developer in the fifties dredged canals to build up the land, and now it is a tranquil private summer destination for US and Canadian cottagers. Port Lambton was a significant port a century ago, and infamous for “Rum Running” during prohibition, but is now a sleepy village that retains an excellent grocery store supported by a liquor franchise. We pause and pose in beautiful Dedecker park, a tribute to a beloved warden. The final Km takes us to Brander park, which incredibly boasts an amazing splash pad, well populated with young children. It looks so tempting! On the return we are passed by the first serious cyclists we have seen, and I am startled by the greeting “have you ridden Ragbrai”. What!! It seems that the pair ride with the Oshawa club, and I had previously ridden across Iowa with Dave Phair, also a member of that club. The connection?   Richard noticed our distinctive LOC jerseys and tried his luck. The five of us wore LOC Yellow and looked the part; it is a small cycling world.

Finally, a welcome beer and lunch on the patio of the “Bad Dog” in Corunna. Our Covid friendly ride was pleasant, it is fun to ride 60Km with friends, even socially distanced.

Submitted by Mike Tanner

Safe riding on St Clair River Trail
A beautiful spot to celebrate

The Great June Participation Challenge
At a time when LOC leader-led events were on hold, council tried to come up with some ways to motivate members, keep them active and keep them engaged. The June Challenge was a good way to achieve this: each member set their own goals for the month, did the activities solo or with family members and kept track of their own progress.

We met up the evening of the last day of the month. Those who participated in the Zoom session each shared their plan and what they had accomplished. It was very, very interesting and motivating to see and hear what had kept people busy for the month. 

Some like me did not set lofty goals; my simple goal was to get out and do something every day. Sometimes it was just a short local walk, sometimes a long walk with pushcart walking 18 holes of golf, sometimes a short ride on the bike trail at the Pinery with the trail bike, and other times a longer ride in the county on the road bike, but I got out every day.

Other set goals that came about because of changes caused by pandemic-related cancellations. Sharon and Dave Crowe decided since they were not able to complete their annual RAGBRAI 100 km/day for a week across Iowa ride, that they would still do the same training schedule as if preparing for the ride. In the end Dave rode 725 km and Sharon 710 km after losing a day to a bad shingles injection reaction.

Both Wally Henne and Pat Polley logged over 1000 kms on their bicycles; just amazing.

Others did a combination of activities, doing some cycling, walking and paddling and mixing it up throughout the month. The one common theme though that came across; it really does take about 30 days for a habit to form, and many intend to continue this pattern of regular activity. They were glad they had done the challenge to set the tone for the rest of the year.

The names of all participants were put into a draw for a one year membership renewal and the lucky draw winner was Gail Nawrock, one of our U.S. members. 

As it turns out, she also was one of the more dedicated challenge participants: she biked 926 km (most rides 30 km or 1.5 hours), paddle boarded or kayaked 17 hours (~76 km) and  walked/hiked 63 km. And she had to convert it all from miles to kilometres for us!

We were blessed with amazing weather for the whole month of June (only one partly rainy day) which made the challenge a joy. June 9th must have been stellar weather because Gail cycled, paddle boarded, kayaked and walked. Being retired has it advantages. She says she’ll no longer be keeping track of all that info, and now will just be enjoying the moments.
 
Submitted by Chris Richmond

Remembering LOC Members Who Have Passed
This year LOC has lost a few members who have passed away: 

Co-organizer of the Slow Spokes cycling group Lynn Bouchard passed away at a young age. Lynn was full of life, loved to laugh and had a great attitude. Her enthusiasm and hard work ethic will be missed by the club.

More recently we lost Jim Moergli, husband of member Di Moergli. Jim and Di joined the club a few years ago, hiked with us and were on the verge of being hike leaders when Jim became ill. Also a young man in the prime of his life and another big loss to our club.

Also less known, was Don Thompson who was involved with LOC in the very early days as a cross country skier.


A favourite photo of Lynn Bouchard

AGM
 
The AGM will be held on Tuesday October 20 at 7pm, by Zoom, unless Pandemic restrictions are eased to the point that a physical meeting is viable. More details to follow




Hike, Paddle, Ride... Smile!

Lambton Outdoor Club | P.O. Box 653 | Sarnia, Ontario, N7T 7J7