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Saddle Post Intelligencer Newsletter
May 2026
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President's Report by Barry Antler
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Spring is in the air, and the 34thAnnual Skagit Spring Classic is just days away -Saturday, May 9th. I know many of you are as excited as I am to participate in the event by either riding one of the four routes or volunteering on one of the 16 teams. I see many of your names on the volunteer worksheet—thank you for your commitment. We tend to see the same people volunteering for the event year after year, so it would be nice to see some fresh faces out there this year. It’s not too late. Contact the volunteer coordinator atpresident@skagitbicycleclub.org. It takes a village’s bicycle club. You’re likely to see me hovering around the school this year helping with a new team we’re instituting, “Greeters,” headed up by Kathy Yeager.We willbe the smiling faces that greet the riders and help them navigate their way through the registration process, point out where the restrooms are, let them know about the spaghetti feed afterwards, etc. We could use one or two more volunteers for that as well as needing a few more for various spots here and there.
Cookies, Cookies, Cookies! We still need more cookies. Go to theEvent Calendarfor May 8, 2026, to pledge how many cookies you will bake. At last count we’re just under two-thirds of the way there.
If you have yet to sign up for the Spring Classic,don’t forget, club members receive a $15 discount with the codeSBC2026(please don’t share it—this is for members only). Visit the Spring Classic tab on the website for details and to register for the event.
Second Bicycle Maintenance Class – Burlington Skagit Cycle Center
Skagit Cycle Center (SCC) has graciously agreed to sponsor a second bicycle maintenance class to be held at the Burlington store at the end of this month. This session will cover basic bicycle maintenance such as how to do a pre-ride safety check, cleaning and lubricating your chain, cleaning your bicycle, and possibly various other topics as time allows. The folks over at SCC also wanted me to remind you that Skagit Bicycle Club members get a 10% discount on every item in the store (except on bicycles). Go to the Event Calendar for details and to register for the class.
Introducing “Welcome Rides” – Second Saturdays of the Month
Beginning on the second Saturday of June, I will be leading rides emphasizing safety and group dynamics. There will be frequent regrouping to ensure that no rider gets dropped. The groups will be limited in size, andwewill be maintaining the average pace stated in the write-up. Please refer to Roxan Kraft and Phil McLoud’s article “The Art and Science of Riding in a Group” and Phil’s article, “Ebike Riding and Etiquette” below for lots of informative tips, many of which we will be incorporating on our Welcome Rides. I will also be giving a pre-ride briefing covering the safety information on the club’s soon to be released “Ride S.M.A.R.T.” cards. At the conclusion of the rides there will be the optionto meet up for afterwards for lunch.The first ride will be on June 13th in celebration of “SBC President’s Day” to honor current and past presidents’ birthdays. I’m hoping to see a lot of you come out and participate in theserides. If the rides are well attended, there is talk about adding a second ride each month.
Bridge Sweep
John Loudermilk & Jack Eisaman will be heading up the SBC Spring Bridge Sweep this year on Saturday, May 30th, starting at 9:00 am. They’ll have water and goodies at the start to get you going. See all the details and be sure to sign up on the event calendar. Feel free to ask John and/or Jack any questions you may have.“We look to have some fun and provide a great service to our biking friends in keeping the bridge clean.”
WASDOT E-Bike Rebate
In 2025 WSDOT initiated the WE-Bike Program and recently relaunched the program again for 2026. In the pilot program in 2025 it helped nearly 3,000 Washingtonians purchase e-bikes and related safety accessories.
WE-Bike’s rebate application and selection process
People living in Washington ages 16 and up can apply for rebates between March 30, 2026, and March 29, 2027. The program is randomly selecting applicants monthly starting April 13.Applicants only need to submit one application to be considered for the monthly selections.
Rebates alone will likely not fully cover e-bike purchases, but recipients can reduce the overall cost of e-bike purchases at participating bike shops by $300 or $1,200, depending on income eligibility. They can put rebates toward qualifying models of all three classes of e-bike. The bikes must be purchased at participating bicycle shops (I have it on good authority that Skagit Cycle Center is one of the participating bike shops).
Program funding
This grant program is entirely funded throughClimate Commitment Actrevenues. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs and improving public health.
Head to the website for all the details and for information on how to apply to the program.
https://wsdot.wa.gov/travel/bicycling-walking/bicycling-washington/e-bike-rebate-program
Fun Safety Tip of the Month
This just in from the AAA Exchange on bicycle safety: “Never ride barefoot or with flip-flops.”
As a reminder, the club member that comes up with the “funnest” bicycle safety tip will be entered into the drawing for a $50 gift certificate for Skagit Cycle Center.
New Members
A hearty welcome to our newest members:
Franklin Bruelheide
Donald Campbell
Jolene Moe
Brenda Walker
We hope to meet you guys and ride with you on some of the upcoming rides.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR TRANSPORTATION RESILIENCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Notice is hereby given that the Skagit Council of Governments (SCOG) has made the draft Transportation Resilience Improvement Plan available for public comment. The Transportation Resilience Improvement Plan (TRIP) is a strategic plan to identify vulnerabilities in the transportation network and prioritize investments to ensure the reliability and safety of the region’s transportation infrastructure.
Comments on the draft Transportation Resilience Improvement Plan may be mailed to: Skagit Council of Governments, c/o Sarah Ruether, 315 South Third Street, Suite #100, Mount Vernon, WA 98273; emailed tosaruether@scog.net, or submitted to the Plan’svirtual comment form. All comments must be in writing and received by SCOG no later than May 1, 2026. All timely comments on the draft Skagit Transportation Resilience Improvement Plan will be distributed to SCOG’s Transportation Policy Board for consideration prior to action on the draft Transportation Resilience Improvement Plan, which is anticipated at their meeting on June 17, 2026.
An electronic copy of the draft Transportation Resilience Improvement Plan can be downloaded from the “Recent News” section of SCOG’s website homepage atwww.scog.net. The Plan and virtual comment form can also be accessed from theMove Skagit project website. Paper copies are available at no charge from the address above, upon request. To request a paper copy, contact Sarah Ruether at (360) 416-6605 orsaruether@scog.net.
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HELP! Skagit Bicycle Club Website Committee NEEDS YOUR HELP!
The club has formed a committee to review and update our online presence. The committee members are:
- Dave Lucas, Chair
- Anita Elder
- Susanne Wilhelm
- Steven Moe
- Mark Proulx
- John Loudermilk
The committee is actively soliciting comments of all types on our current website and mobile app platform, ClubExpress. We would like to know what pages on the website do you regularly visit, how you use it, how easy it is to use, what works well, what doesn’t work well and how can we make it more useful to you.
Some potential ideas that have already surfaced are:
- Explore using the software to support our weekly rides with check-in and check-out functionally to not leave riders behind.
- Develop an alternative to “Quick Alerts” that is less cumbersome to use. Consider re-naming “Quick Alerts” to something else.
- Make it easier for ride leaders to set up rides.
- Enable ACH Direct Debit from a checking account and Apple/Google Pay for purchases.
- Have more photos and less text on the website.
- Make it easier for members to upload photos from rides.
- Have a Photos of the Week section.
- Revise the waiver process to make it less cumbersome.
- Make use of Club Express mobile application features such asChannelsto facilitate day-of-ride text communications andMeetsto allow riders to voluntarily show their location in the app during the ride.
- Separate the Club’s website from the membership and ride functions if it improves the membership notification and ride signup process.
Please send your comments to:SkagitBikeClub@gmail.comNOTE: this is a special email address to collect comments and isnotthe official club email address.
We have installed Google Analytics into the website to collect data on our website. Here are some highlights from March 19-April 15, 2026.
Most visitors are accessing the site by a mobile device (57%), followed by a desktop (42%) and then the couple of you that use a tablet (1%).
Understandably, the 2026 Skagit Classic page has the most hits followed by a variety of pages that lead to club rides.
Another interesting dataset is where people access our website from. Curiously, Singapore is number 2.
The committee looks forward to your comments, as they will help guide us in this update.
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Looking for a New Club Secretary for 2027
by Phil McLoud
After 11 years in various positions on the Bike Club Board of Directors from Vice President, President, Past President, Board Member and most recently Secretary I think it is time for me to step aside and give someone else the privilege being a leader for the Club. I have served as Secretary for 2 years. We need someone to step up and take the reins.
I’m starting the campaign for my replacement early. I won’t vacate the job until January of 2027 when the new Secretary will take over. The job is simple. The job description below details what the Secretary is responsible for. If you’re interested in taking on the job, contact Barry Antler, Club President. If you have questions about the job, feel free to contact me. I will also be available for OJT for anyone that takes over.
Skagit Bicycle Club Secretary Duties
- Check the mail at the Club’s Post Office box at the Burlington Post Office at least twice a month. During the 2 months leading up to the Spring Classic check on a weekly basis for people that register by mail. The box number is 363.
- Distribute the mail appropriately. The items that are generally in the mail are dues payments from the few members that continue to renew their memberships by mail and people that register for the Spring Classic by mail.
- Checks need to be delivered to the Treasurer for the deposit.
- For membership renewals, the Secretary needs to update their membership in Club Express.
- Club Express registrations need to be delivered to the Spring Classic coordinator.
- Take minutes during the monthly Board meetings.
- This involves taking notes during the meeting, preparing the minutes, distributing them to Board members for any corrections, making any necessary corrections and saving the minutes on Club Express.
- There is a MS Word template available for recording the minutes.
- The Secretary’s name will be listed on the Club website along with an email address that issceretary@skagitbicycleclub.org. This address is linked anonymously to the Secretary’s personal email. The Secretary’s personal email is not visible to anyone other than the Club Express administrators. Members of the public sometimes seek information about the Club using these anonymous email addresses. The Secretary will need to respond to these inquiries as appropriate.
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Summer Ride Series
by Steve Moe
Spring has arrived in Skagit Valley and the weather has been wonderful. Attendance for our weekly rides is up, and it has been great fun spending time riding and socializing all around the valley.
As has been discussed in our past newsletter the ride leaders met to talk about club engagement and how we can grow participation in the rides and hopefully membership. To that end we are going to be offering a wide range of ride opportunities (in addition to our typical Tuesday/Thursday offerings) throughout the summer and early fall. They are:
- Summer Concert Series (July/August)– these evening rides will take advantage of the free outdoor music offered in the communities of Anacortes, Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley
- Three Island Series– San Juan, Lopez and Orcas (July/August/September).This will be a great opportunity to enjoy the natural beauty in our own back door
- Phil’s Birthday Ride (July/August)– Bringing back a past favorite and an opportunity for an after-ride picnic/potluck
Additionally, we have a couple of gravel rides and a Baker Lake Road Fall Colors ride planned. Dates and details for all these ride opportunities will be posted to the Event Calendar and Rider Alerts.
Just to entice you further, the Club will be providing a $150 restaurant gift card to the member who has participated in the most club-sponsored rides during the period of May 1 – September 30. Award will be made during the annual meeting in October. Participation in the Spring Classic is excluded, and Ride Leaders are not eligible to participate.
Bringing a friend along (nonmembers can ride once) is excellent opportunity to introduce cycling enthusiasts to our club.
Have a favorite ride you want to share? Email the ride details tosteven.moe@me.comand we will work to get it into our weekly offerings.
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Tire Valve Technology
by Warren Tessler
We see new tech in the cycling world emerging almost every day. E-bikes, of course, wireless shifting, bike radar, aero design, new materials for tires and tubes, and much, much more.
One of the latest areas to see new tech is the humble air valve. We’re all familiar with Schrader vs. Presta, the different pump heads for each, adapters, etc. I expect that the vast majority of us are utilizing Presta on our bikes, whether for tubes or tubeless tires. Remarkably, both Presta and Schrader have been around for 135 years or so and they’ve held up well. However, they are not perfect by any means. The Presta in particular is prone to having the core easily bent when unscrewed for injecting or releasing air, and getting a good seal when inflating can sometimes be a challenge. For those who have gone tubeless, Presta valves can also be problematic in terms of clogging with sealant.
Along come a couple of new valve ideas that are getting some notice. One is Clik from Clik Valve (www.clikvalve.com) and the other is CoreCap from BBB Cycling (BBBCycling.com). Both can either be adapted to existing Presta valves (those with removable cores) or be used directly on tubeless setups. They both eliminate the risk of bending the valve core and promise greater air volume throughput. Also, both claim a design that allows an improved connection with the pump head that eliminates air leakage.
The CoreCap will work with any Schrader pump head with no adapter needed. The Clik valve prefers its own pump head. It will work with most Presta pump heads, but the pressure reading will not be accurate. If the Clik really catches on and becomes a new standard, it makes me wonder if we’ll start to see triple-headed pumps on the market.
Both have their pros and cons, as we see with most everything (even chocolate!). You can read more about CoreCap at:https://cycletechreview.com/2026/accessories/corecap/
Orhttps://www.bikeradar.com/features/bbb-corecap-first-look
More about Click at:https://road.cc/content/review/schwalbe-clik-valve-conversion-set-315545
Orhttps://escapecollective.com/review-clik-valve-deserves-to-win-the-market/(might be behind a paywall)
I’ll admit that I’ve not tried either one yet, but probably will at some not too distant point in the future. The concept is certainly interesting and bears further investigation.
See you on the road….
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The Art and Science of Riding in a Group
Submitted byRoxan Kraft and Phil McLoud
Part of the joy of being in a bike club is group riding and the camaraderie that comes of riding together. For some it is the chance to chat and catch up with friends. For others it can be to learn a new route or riding in a different neighborhood. For others it is a chance to push themselves just a bit harder and test fitness. I am sure there are as many reasons as riders, but in the end the goal is to have fun, be safe and sweat a bit!
There is an art and science to riding in groups. We see the science best when we watch the team time trials in professional bike races (such as the Tour de France starting in July). Drafting behind another rider can reduce your effort by as much as 30%. By rotating who is in front, the entire pace line can go faster. However, if there is not great communication and riding etiquette followed it can all end in disaster, such as a touch of wheels or a missed piece of “road furniture” i.e. pothole, gravel, etcetera hit.
Now for the ART – Communication is Key. Our Job in a group of riders is to keep ourselves and our friends safe. That’s the number one objective. Here are some widely accepted actions we can all take, which amount to good bike etiquette.
- Communicate!
- Be steady and predictable on your bike – Ride a straight line and hold a steady speed.Don’t go fast and then coast. If you need to fill a gap, do it gradually.
- If you are slowing or stopping signal with your left hand, palm open pointing to the ground.Call out – “Slowing or Stopping”
- Call out cars passing from behind – “Car Back” and Cars approaching from the front – “Car Up”
- If you are crossing a road and there are no cars coming you can call to the other riders – “clear” indicating, it is safe to cross.
- Always pass on the left. Let the person you are passing know you are there, say “Passing on your left”.Do not Pass on the Right.
- Call out hazards – point with your hand at the hazard and call out - “pothole”, “Curb”, “Gravel”, etc.
- Signal if there is something in the road to go around such as a garbage can, parked car. Do this by signaling to move over by pointing the direction behind your back. Use your voice to communicate the hazard – “parked car”.
- If you are in the front of the group and want to move to the back, the pros flick their left elbow. With a more casual group, you can point left and check to see if it is clear and that no cars are coming. Then it is safe to move left and slow. This allows the next person in line to pull through.
- If you are following someone (Drafting) you are typically within 3 feet of their rear wheel. This is where holding your line and being predictable in your movements is particularly important. You need to be on high alert for any sudden changes in speed and direction. NEVER CROSS YOUR FRONT WHEEL BEYOND THE REAR WHEEL OF THE RIDER IN FRONT. Even a gentle touch of wheels and the rider behind goes down and may take anyone behind them down.
- If you are the last rider in the group, let the person coming to the back of the line know this. Say, “I’m last”. This helps keep the group together and not drop someone.
So, as you can see there is an ART to riding in a group and just a bit of bicycling etiquette can go a long way to keeping everyone safe.
If you want more info on riding in pace lines just go online and search for - How to ride in a pace line. There is lots of information out there!
Enjoy the Ride!
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Ebike Riding Etiquette
Phil McLoud
As an early and enthusiastic ebike adopter, I have learned a few things about what I consider ebike etiquette that I’d like to share with other ebike riders and non-ebikers. I purchased an ebike because of health issues that made it difficult, if not impossible, for me to ride and train in the way that I had become accustomed to. The ebike freed me to ride the way I wanted to. I soon became accustomed to that feeling of always having a tailwind. With experience, I have found I can tailor the amount of exercise I get by adjusting the amount of assist the motor supplies. I can ride very fast or at a slower pace depending on who I’m riding with.
However, I quickly learned that just because Icanride fast, doesn’t necessarily mean that Ishouldride fast. When on my ebike, I have adopted the policy of assessing the capabilities of my riding companions and adjusting my speed accordingly, even if it means turning off my ebike. This is especially important if you’re riding with non-ebikers. Itry notto push the pace beyond what the non-ebikers in the group can maintain. I’ll admit that sometimes I violate this rule on climbs, but I’m prepared to slow down or wait at the top of the hill.
On the other hand, when conditions are difficult such as riding into a head wind or a long stretch of flat or gradual grade, I spend more time on the front to make the riding a little easier for my riding companions. I pay close attention to my rearview mirror to ensure I’m not pushing the pace too hard and making people fall out of the peloton. My goal on a group ride isn’t to leave anyone behind or embarrass anyone it’s to ride at the pace of the group and assist where I can.
To summarize my rules of ebike etiquette:
- Adopt a pace that is comfortable for the group you’re riding with. Adjust the assist on your ebike so you can ride comfortably at the pace of the group and get the exercise you want.
- Don’t try to embarrass other riders by leaving everyone behind.
- When riding conditions are difficult, such as a headwind, spend more time on the front to make the riding a little easier for the non-ebikers.
Ebikes have become very popular. More and more people are riding them. This has opened bicycling to a wider audience. For many of us, ebikes have let us continue to ride when other circumstances might have caused us to stop riding or limiting the amount of riding we do. We still have a large contingent of non-ebike riders in the Club. We need to be considerate of each other and adjust our riding styles to accommodate everyone.
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Heidi Across America
Join Walk & Roll Bellingham and author Heidi Beierle for a special Bike Month conversation at Village Books, Tuesday, May 12th from 6-7pm.Heidi Across Americacelebrates the bicycle as a tool for healing and a means of getting unstuck from a dark place in life. This memoir features the kindness of strangers and stands as a love letter to America and the tender heart within. The conversation will touch on riding & writing, equity & accessibility, climate & travel options, and community connections. Please register to reserve your seat and support this partnership with Village Books.
“My memoir,Heidi Across America - One Woman's Journey on a Bicycle Through the Heartland, is set during the summer I pedaled solo from Eugene, OR, to Washington, DC. Published by HCI Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, this bookis a story about the kindness of strangers and stands as a love letter to America and the tender heart within each of us.”
HeidiAcrossAmerica.comorVillageBooks.com- these hyperlinks go directly to the event page on each website.
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Upcoming Events in WA
Registration is open unless otherwise noted.
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Hey Members!
We need you to volunteer ideas to make this newsletter happen. No volunteers, no ideas, no newsletter.
But if you contribute ideas occasionally, our content will be interesting and keep members connected. It's simple. Just email us a photo, description of a ride, poem, link to an article on training, equipment. . . anything bike-related.
President@skagitbicycleclub.org
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