News

Please join us for 2 days of family and community-oriented bike fun! Both days will have live music, food trucks, kids' events (provided by Sedona MTB Academy/WheelFun), local farmer and artist market, wine and beer garden provided by Pillsbury Wine and Smelter Town Brewery. For more info and registration go to https://www.verdevalleyrally.com/

Volunteers are in need for both days! If you are interested, please reach to Greg Miranda and he will connect you with one of two Volunteer Coordinators (depending on day and your interest)!

Safe Place to Park - VVCC letter - 020424.pdf

The VVCC has purchased a club membership to Ride With GPS for you! All active VVCC members now have access to premium navigation features on all club routes and events, including: 

• Download and navigate VVCC's routes in the Ride With GPS mobile app for free, or sync to your bike computer
• Turn-by-turn Voice Navigation 
• Advanced Turn Notifications with TCX files
• Offline Maps in the mobile Ride With GPS app
• PDF Maps + Cue sheets of VVCC routes
• Estimated time to complete a route 

Click this link (https://ridewithgps.com/auto_approve/Club/12583/AxqOxaYQxfwwYIKtLBLkhltCBLZp8AcB) to start a free Ride With GPS account and join the VVCC club membership, this will give you access to paid features along with members-only content. 

If you want to create routes and add them to our VVCC club library, there is also a Route Manager membership available. Route Managers have additional features, including: Advanced route planning & editing tools, route changelog with edit history, and added ability to add routes to events with filtering and sorting options. Contact Tim Miller itsmillertime08@gmail.com with questions or to request a Route Manager membership. 

Additional information about benefits of a Ride With GPS membership can be found here (https://ridewithgps.com/help/club-benefits/).

RRTAP_December2023-VVCC-signed.pdf

About a year ago we focused our efforts on membership growth for a couple reasons: 1) to build a stronger & bigger local cycling community thus 2) creating more capacity to support all the great work the club does.

So, how have we done?

With this increased capacity, we’ve accomplished quite a bit:

• Bike Patrol: Funded/kicked off “Chime in Bell” program distributing 20k bells in the Verde Valley
• MTB Committee
• • Worked with Red Rock Trail Crew to outline the volunteer Trail work plans
  • Drawing out large numbers of volunteers to Trail work days
  • Rolling out Caltopo to assist in identifying trail maintenance needs
  • New trails in progress: Circle Trail, Red Rock Trails Access Plan and some new things at Mingus all active
• Road Committee:
• • Got Yavapai Co. to add a paved shoulder and rumble strips along parts of Cornville road
  • Got Hwy 89A between Cottonwood and Sedona swept
  • Partnered with the BAC Committee to add bike lanes & wider shoulders along 89A in parts of Cottonwood and Clarkdale

ROAD RIDING ROUTES ONLINE.

IF going for a ride and want to use one of the road routes from the website you can open the link on your phone and it will bring up the route. However, in order to “navigate” from the opened route you will have to have a subscription with RidewGPS. By “navigate”  I mean voice turn by turn guidance and written turn by turn instructions. If you do not have a subscription (at least at the “Basic” leve) you can still navigate using the map but you will have to zoom into it to get the road names at the various intersections where you will be turning to stay on route. This can obviously complicate your ability to stay on route.

RidewGPS has a “club membership” that would allow recognized members to be able to use all the “navigation” benefits of these RidewGPS created maps. The Road Riding Committee is exploring if this might be something the VVCC might want to look into if the road riding membership thinks it would be of use. 

ROAD RIDING  SAFETY & ETIQUETTE GUIDELINES.

The Road Committee has created a laminated card to hand out to participants at our various rides. 

The biking guidelines are as follows: 

• Go with the traffic flow and stay as far to the right as safety allows
• Ride single file when cars are behind or can ride two abreast when no traffic
• Obey all traffic laws-a bicycle is vehicle and you are a driver
• Yield to traffic when appropriate. No earbuds or aerobats
• Be predictable - Call out your intentions and use hand signals. Pass on the left-not on the right
• Call out objects/obstructions and when passing, slowing or stopping
• Call out cars ahead, behind. 
• Watch those car doors 
• Wear a helmet and use front and rear lights 
• Expect other riders to call you out IF you don’t follow these safety guidelines

Wide debris free shoulders and tailwinds- Jim Graham, Road Riding Committee

The Gravel Committee is looking for volunteers to help develop new opportunities for gravel riding in the Verde Valley. Gravel riding is the fastest growing segment of cycling in the country, and the multiple forest roads in the Valley offer exciting new ways to develop riding. We’re looking for volunteers who want to get involved with growing Gravel. Time commitment is a few hours each month; if you want to do more, that is up to you.

Help is needed with any/all of the following: Be a ride leader or sweep at group social rides; host gravel social rides on MeetUp; scout out new gravel roads for future group rides; and/or assist at the bigger gravel social rides associated with the Spring and Fall VVCC picnics.

VVCC continues to advocate for gravel cycling safety and riding opportunities. If you want to get involved in these efforts, we need you! No experience needed. If interested, contact Tim Miller at itsmillertime08@gmail.com.

The VVCC has an active road riding contingent. The MEETUP LINKS on the VVCC website have rides posted. Please join your fellow riders!

The Road Riding Committee is also an advocate for road cyclists through interaction with local/state cycling organizations and local/state governments. It promotes local road riding related initiatives that support safe and accessible riding on paved roads. One significant initiative is working with Yavapai Country on the road construction currently being undertaken along Cornville Rd between Cornville and the Beaverhead Flat Rd. junction. It will have 5 foot shoulders and 12 inch rumble strips increasing cycling safety along this busy corridor. In another action, Rich Leever, a Committee Member, was successful in getting ADOT to sweep the shoulders of Hwy 89A between Cottonwood and Sedona. This responsibility had been left undone for some time. ADOT has committed to sweeping it twice a year and to evaluate the frequency of the sweep.

The Committee needs passionate road riding members to be active participants to be effective.

Tailwinds and wide shoulders for now.

Submitted by Jim Graham, VVCC Road Riding Committee member.

Greg Miranda here!

I would like to invite the Verde Valley Cyclist Coalition to one the mountain bike events (Yavapai Hustle) I host here in the Verde Valley on December 2nd. It starts and finishes at the Southwest Wine Center Tasting Room (SWWC) on the Yavapai Community College Campus.

We have distances for everyone....2-mile kids race (free) 6, 12 and 18-mile courses (Blue) and a 20 and 32-mile more challenging course that has some black sections. 6,12 and 18-mile courses are kid friendly!

Part of the course travels through a vineyard before entering the single track. 

We will have live music and awards at the SWWC tasting room starting at 12:00!

I am offering a promo discount to the VVCC members of $10.00 off per entry...$55.00 TOTAL

Promo code is: VVCCMember! On BikeReg.com

All entries will receive an event t-shirt and all finishers will receive either a custom pint glass, coffee mug or event poster.

There is a team award (18, 20 and 32-mile) also, see the attached link. (1st= $500, 2nd= $300, 3rd= $200)

Even if you don't want to participate or volunteer, please come out and enjoy the day with like minded people!

Hope to see you there!

Website: www.verdevalleyrally.com