Looking Back at the TNR 2013

By almost any measure, 2013 has been a good year for the Tuesday Night Ride.  Due to the longer duration of daylight savings time and relatively mild weather, the TNR season has been a little longer than it ever was in the past. We started this year on the 26^th of March, and depending on conditions may wrap up tomorrow.  So far, we have only had to cancel one time due to weather.  In total, there have been 30 TNR’s so far this year.   Here is one weird thing, and it may be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.  I have not missed a single Tuesday Ride all year.  The numbers and support have stayed pretty strong throughout the year.  Several new people have come on the rides and the general tone of the rides has been positive and supportive.

    A number of factors went into the route selection each week including the amount of daylight available, but the biggest factor was often the velocity and direction of the prevailing wind.  Here is a brief description of the route for each of this year’s TNR’s:  March 26^th Burton, Archer, Poleline Rd; April 2^nd Monkey Rock to St. Anthony; April 9^th Sugar City, St. Anthony, Egin; April 16^th Steve’s Loop (very cold and windy); April 23^rd Super Butte; April 30^th Golf Course, Egin, St. Anthony; May 7^th Twin Bridges loop (reverse); May 14^th Twin Bridges loop to Poleline Rd.; May 21^st Fun Farm, Chester;  May 28^th Beesley to end of pavement; June 4^th St. Anthony, Egin Lakes, Warm Slough; June 11^th Twin Bridges (reverse); June 18^th Warm Slough, Egin, Parker, St. Anthony, Wilford; June 25^th Super Butte (reverse); July 2^nd Monkey Rock, St. Anthony, Egin; July 9^th (split) Moody Canyon road and dirt/end of pavement; July 16^th Golf Course to Monkey Rock; July 23^rd Regular Butte; July 30^th Twin Bridges loop to Poleline; August 6^th Monkey Rock to St. Anthony; August 13^th Golf Course, Egin, Beesley (dust storm, rain); August 20^th Super Butte; August 27^th Fun Farm, Chester; September 3^rd Burton, Warm Slough (rain); September 10^th Beesley to end of pavement; September 17^th (rained out); September 24^th Burton, Archer; October 1^st Twin Bridges Loop; October 8^th Burton, Archer; October 15^th Golf Course, Egin, Sugar City; October 22^nd Beesley to Webster; October 29^th ???

     Thanks to everyone who has attended the Tuesday Night Rides this year and supported our efforts to grow the sport of cycling in Rexburg and the Upper Valley.  I am grateful to the numerous readers of this blog.  Its success has exceeded our expectations.  A big thanks to all the people who have contributed advice, content, and comments to the blog, including Jeff, Tate, Lana,Tony,Heather, Scott, Steve, Weston, and to Brandon for the outstanding Cube photos.  To the rest of you, I hope that all of the cyclists in the Upper Valley feel some degree of ownership of this blog.  Your photographs, news stories, comments, and content of any kind are always very welcome.