June 22, 2022


Gord's message: 
The virus strikes back!

With the relaxing of many COVID measures, we may start to think the pandemic is over but we were recently reminded it is not. A member of a recent overnight trip tested positive for the virus after the trip. This seemed a good time to highlight some of our COVID policies.

From our COVID guidelines:

Do not participate in any group activities if you or any of the other group participants:

  • have been in contact with someone who is a confirmed or presumptive case of COVID-19 within the last 10 days.
  • exhibit any COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, cough, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, chills, sore throat or difficulty swallowing, lost sense of taste or smell, muscle aches, extreme tiredness. Any other symptoms as identified by health experts and the Ontario Government.

Similar guidance from the province relates to dealing with exposure.

If you’ve been exposed to someone from another household with symptoms of COVID-19 or a positive test result you are required to:

  • self-monitor for symptoms for 10 days after your last exposure
  • wear a mask, avoid activities where mask removal is necessary (such as dining out, high contact sports) and follow all other public health measures if leaving home
  • not visit any highest-risk settings (such as long-term care or retirement homes) or people who may be at higher risk of illness (such as seniors) for 10 days after your last exposure

Note that the current provincial standard of wearing a mask is less strict than the current TBN policy of staying away from events. There are a couple of reasons. One, the province has a history of rapidly changing directives and keeping up with them can be difficult for a volunteer organization. (The board reviews the provincial guidelines regularly and updates our policy as needed.) And secondly, we don't want our Ride Leaders to be put in the place of enforcing masking mandates for individual riders on group rides. 

Please refer to the full TBN COVID policy. Safe riding out there.

Gord Irish, President


No-drop Country Rides getting hot

After a year’s pilot, TBN’s No Drop Country Rides became an official category of the club. On June 11, our first ride to Holland Marsh, nine riders signed up. On June 18, our second ride from Mount Joy Go Station to Musselman’s Lake, 28 signed up. And numbers have been steady ever since. As of June 19, a total 82 people signed up for our No Drop Ride Alert email list, including 28 non-members. So the message is clear: TBN’s No-Drop Country Rides are in high demand.

I would like to thank the following individuals who contributed substantially to our huge success: Steve Clayman, Bill Phu (who often takes on the role of sweep), TBN Touring Director Dennis Szilvasy (who has been very supportive in setting up this ride category), as well as TBN Technical Director Martin Lansche, and Sonia Oh, Elena Balland and Thomas Leung for being there as sweeps and ambassadors.

Moving forward, I would like to get more route ideas and develop more ride leaders, sweeps and ambassadors. If you have a route you love, please email no-drop@tbn.ca.

Cheers!

Alice Chan, Member Experience Director

Ride leaders and program coordinators meeting

TBN Touring director Dennis Szilvasy invites all ride leaders, ride assistants, ride ambassadors and program coordinators to an open, online forum meeting, June 27, 7-8:30 pm, via Zoom, to discuss the cycling season so far this year. If this applies to you, click here to register. You must register to take part.

The club needs feedback on any issues, with rides and programs. Are there any improvements we can make to give our members the best ride experiences? Are there still registration issues in some programs? Do we need to add more rides into a certain geographic area?

Attention all Cycloners

If you have registered for Cyclon 2022, please ensure your proof of vaccination is up-to-date. Western University staff will be checking all registered Cyclon participants for valid proof of vaccination (two dosages or equivalents) as part of the registration process. If you cannot show valid vaccination status you will be denied access to the facility, and your participation at Cyclon forfeited with no option for reimbursement.

If you have already registered for Cyclon, you can book additional nights accommodation at the university (pre- or post event). 

Exciting news: Riverside Natural Foods is generously supplying our event with a donation of GOOD TO GO® snack bars. These are produced locally and are Keto, vegan, gluten-free, peanut-free, kosher and non-gmo certified, allowing us to accommodate the widely varying dietary needs of Cyclon participants. Riverside Natural Foods is also B-corp certified and a proud member of 1% for the planet which helps to ensure that the snack foods we consume are good for people and for the planet. Participants will be receiving these bars in their welcome packages. 

Volunteers needed: We are still looking for volunteers to help at this year's Cyclon. We need help on Friday: porters to help move luggage and bikes, and at the registration desk. Many hands make light work and build better friendships.

The Saturday event and dinner reservation page will go live within the next few weeks. Be sure to the check your email (Spam folders too) and the Cyclon website for updates and don’t forget to sign-up!

Looking forward to seeing you in London!

TBN Cyclon Committee         

Be aware: Tar snakes

As the weather warms up, a reminder to be aware of tar snakes.

If you’ve never heard about tar snakes, they are thin lines of black tar that are used to fill holes in the road surface or gaps between lanes. When tar snakes are exposed to direct sun they warm up quickly and can become soft. As you are cycling, if your tire goes on top of a tar snake that is parallel to your direction of travel, there is a risk that your tire will suddenly slow down, which can be dangerous to both you and other road users. They feel like slime grabbing your tire.

It’s usually fine to cross tar snakes in the perpendicular direction, but when you are cycling parallel to tar snakes make sure that your tires do not run on top of them.

Andrew Paterson, Education Director

TBN jerseys cancelled for this year

We regret that jerseys will not be produced this year, as our supplier, Garneau, has not been responsive to our requests to set up the online store. Our apologies to any members who were hoping to order jerseys but this is beyond our control. Watch for news on our plans for 2023.

Need to cancel a registration for an event?

We have tried to clear up the process for cancelling your event registrations. We have updated the How to Cancel my Event Registration page on the website. The links in each event now show


for registered users. See the web page for more details.

Martin Lansche, Technical Director

Reminders

Event Registration: Please remember to Login to the TBN website prior to registering for our Events. If you are not logged in, the system does not know who you are, and will only offer you the Guest Rider registration choice. Also, when you are logged into the TBN website, a lot of members-only content appears.


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