According to the City of Folsom newsletter, folks traveling to Folsom on bike, light rail or other options will have a secure facility to park their bicycles in downtown Folsom.

Folsom continues to make moves to accommodate bicycle infrastructure.  These actions are in line with Folsom’s ranking of a Silver level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.

Then new facility will be in the parking garage already in place in Folsom’s Historic Downtown district.  This is conveniently located by the Folsom terminus of the regional RT Light Rail system, as well as the very popular American River Bike Trail.

According to the newsletter:

Secure, long-term bike parking is coming to Folsom’s Historic District this summer, according to Senior Trails Planner Jim Konopka.

The new Folsom Bike Station will be located in the lower level of the Historic District Parking Garage on  the corner of Reading and Leidesdorff streets, directly across from the Light Rail Station.

“Sutter Street visitors and Light Rail riders will soon have asafe place to park their bicycles,” says  Konopka, who notes that the station’s two-tier bike racks will accommodate up to 60 bikes. “Cyclists will have around-the-clock access through a Bikelink activated electronic card system.”

The project was funded through a $158,000 grant from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments  Bike and Pedestrian Grant Program. Contact Konopka at [email protected] or (916) 351-3516 for more information.

Yet another great ride with the Cycle Folsom Peloton group today.  80 miles didn’t discourage me, but cleaning the bike from all the damned road grime and debris is discouraging.  Nothing like getting home, still cold and wet, only to look at your frame and know you need to turn on the hose.  By the end of the ride what I thought was a well-oiled chain sounded more like a cheese grater on a chalkboard.  Still, I never walk away from a Peloton ride with anything but positive thoughts.

You can read the full details of the ride at the Cycle Folsom Ride Leaders blog.

Part of the lure of the group ride is the friendly (or sometimes not so friendly) competition.  Many groups have taken on the racing convention of having marked places along the route for sprint or KOM (King of the Mountain) points.

KOMs are, by definition, at the top of significant climbs.  Generally points are awarded for the “category” of the climb, which is determined not only by the steepness and length of the climb, but also where in the route the climb falls.  For example, if two climbs follow one right after the other, but are otherwise identical, it may be that the second climb is of a higher category, and thus worth more points.

Sprint points are a little easier to deal with.  There’s a line, and the first person to cross it takes the point.  Sprint points can also be a little more dynamic and exciting – at least in my opinion.  As the group approaches a sprint point, folks will begin to jockey for position within the group, trying to place themselves best.  The idea here is to hold of on starting the sprint until just the right time – optimizing the potential to get out in front before your fellow competitors can answer your challenge.

Cycle Folsom – and specifically Brian Acord – have again helped out the community and started putting together a map of key sprint and KOM points throughout the greater Folsom, CA area.

View Cycling Points; SAC, ELD, PLA in a larger map

Brian has a couple of caveats regarding this map, however:

Google’s StreetView is what I’ve used to locate most of the signs; some have been ground-truthed, but other have not. Also, in many cases its signed in both directions (county lines), but not always (city limits). So, you may be changing jurisdictions, but the sprint only counts if it’s signed. Also, the only non-jurisdiction sprint that is on the map is the Coffee Republic race training ride sprint on Auburn-Folsom. This sprint is marked on the pavement with a final line and hash marks every 100 meters from 400 meters out.

Also, as alluded to above, the number of points for a particular KOM is very subjective.  It also depends greatly on where in the particular day’s route that climb might fall.

A huge thanks to Brian for putting this together.  This is another great example of the benefits that a good club can provide.  While getting together to ride with others is obviously key to a cycling club, it is what the club gives to the community that counts most.  Cycle Folsom continues to provide services that help the entire cycling community – club members and non-members alike.

Yesterday I kicked off the year with Cycle Folsom and the “Chickens and a Bridge” ride.  As advertised, there were in fact chickens.  Many chickens in and around Fair Oaks.  And after the chickens?  Yup – a bridge.

It was great to get out with the club and thumb our collective noses at the weather.  Low 40’s and raining didn’t thwart the group here.  The group did get broken up due to a couple of flats though.  First one was me, at just a mile or two in, where a piece of green grass managed to work its way into my Continental Gatorskins.

The previous flooding of the trail has subsided, but the rain kept each low spot in the trail diligently stocked with standing water.  All that water made the hot coffee and good conversation at the end of the ride all the more enjoyable.

Cycle Folsom operates out of Folsom, CA, offering organized rides for road cyclists of practically any skill level.  You can find them online at http://cyclefolsom.com

Folsom, California.  Home to Folsom Dam and Folsom Prison.  And for three days in September, it is also host to an event covering almost all facets of modern cycling – the Folsom Cyclebration.

This year Cyclebration will be held September 10, 11 and 12.  In addition to sanctioned races for road, mountain or cyclocross riders, there will also be a vendor expo and festival on Saturday the 11th.  JustAnotherCyclist will be there on Saturday covering the events, so watch for me and say “Hi” if you are out there.  You’ll be able to recognize me by my CycleFolsom tee shirt and VeloReviews baseball cap.

Also on Saturday I plan to take in some of the crit action.  The course this year is described on the Folsom Cyclebration website:

The Folsom Challenge Criterium takes place on a flat course in the beautiful tree lined Lake Forest Business Park. Racers ride  counter clockwise, flying through two 90-degree corners entering and exiting Lake Forest Road, connected by a horseshoe shaped Blue Ravine Road. Spectators can enjoy local restaurants with-in walking distance and shaded action packed viewing of
the race…there is also access to the American River Bike Trail for a family ride during the event.

Hope to see you there, follow me on twitter for updates from the event, and watch here for event details afterwords.

HTFU