Salty Turtle Cycling Club and their Haunted Hundred Bike Ride

Transcript

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Welcome to Topsail Insider, where you can hear all about the businesses and events in the beautiful coastal towns in the greater Topsail area of North Carolina.

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Coming up all right cycling enthusiasts who also enjoy excellent beer.

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Head on over to Salty Turtle Beer Company and meet your tribe.

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I am here today talking with Jill Schiffelbein, board member of the Salty Turtle Cycling Club and the chairperson for the annual Haunted 100 Bike Ride.

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This exciting event benefits the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital, so stay tuned to find out everything you need to know about joining this awesome club for brews, fun and fundraising.

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On today's episode of Topsail Insider, it's time to indulge and experience the finest coastal hospitality on Topsail Island.

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Hello everyone and welcome to Topsail Insider.

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My name is Krista and I am your host.

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Today.

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We are talking to Jill Schiffelbein.

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She sits on the board of directors of the Salty Turtle Cycling Club and is also the chairperson for the annual Haunted 100 Bike Ride.

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Welcome, jill, and thank you so much for joining me today.

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I am so thrilled to be here.

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Thanks for having me.

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Yeah, my pleasure.

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Before we dive into today's episode.

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I want to just take a moment and introduce anyone who's new to the area, or those planning a vacation to the Topsail area soon, to one of our local gyms.

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It's called Salty Turtle Beer Company.

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It's located on Triton Lane in Surf City, north Carolina.

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It's veteran owned and operated and a real community favorite.

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It offers a very laid back atmosphere, they offer creative brews, they host awesome food trucks and they are dedicated to supporting a lot of local causes like turtles, pets, vets and food pantries.

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It is also Pender County's first brewery, which opened in 2017.

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They also host two clubs, the Run Club and the Cycling Club, and we're going to talk today about the latter.

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So, jill, how did you learn of and join the Salty Turtle Cycling Club, and then just tell us what you enjoy most about being a member?

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I learned about it by drinking beer.

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Somehow I knew you were going to say that.

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Of course I mean.

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I cycle so I can drink beer.

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That's what most of us do, I mean not really, I love cycling.

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I earn my reward Right, but no, I learned about it just going to the brewery when I first moved here.

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I bought my place on the island in November of 2020 and in February of 2021 became a full-time resident and shortly after that I'd gone up to the brewery a couple of times and I saw on their walls they have signs for cycling club and I'm thinking I should really get back into cycling, because in a previous life I was really into triathlons, did Ironman and all that type of stuff 100 mile races, yada, yada, yada and thought you know, maybe it's about time to pick that back up.

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So went and got a bike in April of 2021, got involved.

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You have this amazing professional background, which we will touch on much later, but now you're this incredible athlete too, with triathlons.

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Come on.

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Oh, I was, that was previous life, previous life.

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You're not getting me running right now.

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My knees, four knee surgeries later, my knees do not do that.

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But cycling is great.

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I was talking to my husband about the cycling club.

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He loves brews and he loves cycling, but it's been a while If he loves turtles too.

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our slogan is ride bikes, drink beer save turtles.

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We have a trifecta going on here.

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I love it.

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Do you know the story behind the founding of the Salty Turtle Cycling Club?

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Who came up with the idea and did it just take off right away?

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I don't have the full story and I could say some salacious things that my fellow board members would laugh at.

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But the real story as I know it is, there are a few people who are also on the board.

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Hayden Frost is our president, dale Steele is our treasurer.

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Dan McDonald and Brad Pfeiffer are also in the area, also on the board with me, and Hayden and Dale met coincidentally when Hayden was looking for a house with his wife, chris, and him and Dale.

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Both are wearing the same exact biking shirt from an event in Iowa.

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Oh no, way.

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Rag ride, which is actually literally happening this week, right now, where you ride for seven days across the state of Iowa.

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And so it was their sign.

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They're like this is our neighborhood, this is our town.

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We were meant to live here.

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Yeah, that's incredible.

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They hung out, they would cycle and they'd be up having beers and eventually talked with one of the owners, Dan Callender, who also rides, and a club was formed and that was September 2020.

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So people are really just starting to get back out again and let's, you know, let's get something in.

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And I came into the picture in April of 2021.

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And there wasn't an official board or anything like that right away.

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The nonprofit 501c7, I believe it is.

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It's like a not-for-profit social entity, so we don't get taxed as long as we are not making profit, which is why we make sure, of course, that all of our proceeds from everything we do support any administrative logistics for the club Because, as you can imagine, cycling, like most sports, require insurance in some way, shape or form.

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But with cycling there's a lot of things to consider.

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I know we'll talk about safety a little bit today.

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Yeah for sure, there's some good and bad things about that.

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We decided it was probably good.

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We are growing to a few dozen people that were showing up regularly and we thought we should protect ourselves.

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And so we decided to do this and form the entity and have not only the business structure behind it but also being able to apply for insurance for the club and things like that.

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Gotcha, you sit on the board.

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You're also the secretary, so I'm the secretary of the board.

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And then Haunted 100, which is our now annual public bike ride.

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Again, 100% of proceeds benefiting the sea turtles.

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That is what I'm chairperson of.

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What are some of the benefits of joining the club?

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What kind of activities and events does the cycling club organize?

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We do a lot of different things.

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We have our standard Sunday ride and this is how I joined.

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It's 10 am every Sunday, although right now we are starting at 830 because the traffic I mean with all our beaches being named some of the best beaches we keep getting more and more tourist traffic and so, as a board we decided in the summers, we're now moving the ride to 830 instead of 10, just because it's a little safer for everyone involved.

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And safety is huge for us, so we do that.

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But most of the year it's 10am and you can find out exactly when that switches over on our Facebook group and, of course, at the brewery too, they have that information.

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But really, you come out, you can ride.

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We do a 20 mile route.

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We leave and return from Salty Turtle Do you have the same route each week.

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We do, you do.

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Okay, same exact route each week.

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It's 20 miles and we like to do it.

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We like to keep it consistent, One for locals who live in the area too.

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They'll see us every Sunday.

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Some people know if they know members of the club, they'll stand outside and wave, or sit on a balcony or stuff.

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It makes it fun, but it's also just.

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It makes it consistent and it also is good because sometimes we have members who are not here full time, as a lot of people are not.

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People come in and out and it's nice to have that consistency because if people get lost there's always a standard regroup points and we do communicate about a lot of things before every single ride, including safety procedures and group riding safety etc.

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We just like to keep that consistent.

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However, the club does have.

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Brad is our.

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We call him the chair of non official Sunday rides and so once or twice a week there will be these rides posted.

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Wednesdays we do a ride from Ironclad Shaka Taco yeah, and ride around this area and it's nice.

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And sometimes there are Saturday rides and sometimes we'll do gravel rides and we mix it up.

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And anyone on the Facebook group we have 400 plus people on the Facebook group.

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Oh, wow.

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You don't have to be a member to be on the Facebook group, but it is a private group because we don't want the spam to come in.

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But anyone can post a ride anytime.

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We just have a member who's training for Ironman right now and says hey, september 8th, I need to get a hundred mile ride in.

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Anyone interested in joining?

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Okay.

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Boom People sign up.

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I love that.

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It's very supportive.

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It is a supportive community and we formalized membership right and directly to the question you asked, because I get so excited talking about our community.

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I love it.

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We decided to have the membership because as a member we can provide different insurance benefits for the group rides and everything like that, which is good.

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It just keeps all of us a little safer.

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But we also then have just kind of more of a standing within the community right, we can contribute to it.

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So it's only $20 a year to be a member and you get discounts at area businesses, so reasonable.

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Yeah, 15% off of merch at Salty Turtle, oh my gosh, that's great.

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That alone may save people more than $20 in a year.

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Right, but like other area businesses, sundial gives us discounts on some coffee and tea.

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Salt Marsh, on Sundays, gives us discounts, so cool.

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It's just a really great way to involve the community, and now that Top Soul Surf and Cycle is also right across the Surf City Bridge, they're a sponsor and great people too.

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What about what you do?

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after a ride you act like riding isn't enough in and of itself.

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Of course, after the ride is the best part.

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You know you've earned the reward, so after the ride.

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Do you guys all sit down at the Salty Turtle and enjoy some beer and hang out and have fun?

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We do, I love it Every Sunday, every Sunday.

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And what's great is, if you, the community, is built up so well now, and when we say we welcome riders of all levels, right, people are like well, what does that really mean?

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I wanted to ask you about that.

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Yeah, yeah so let me go into that first before we get social right.

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Sure, logistics.

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It's a 20-mile ride, so if you're not comfortable riding 10 miles on your own on the road, it's probably not where you should start.

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However, join the Facebook group.

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Say I want to get into cycling.

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Here's where I'm at.

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Is anyone willing to help guide me?

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And you will have people jumping on board to help guide you.

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That's great.

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You will have people jumping on board to help guide you.

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You will have some people say don't go over the bridge, you're new, just ride on the flat island.

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I will meet you on the island and start the ride with you there instead.

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And you have to.

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Mandatory if you ride with us must wear a helmet.

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Zero tolerance policy for non-helmets.

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We will not let you out in the group with us, period, if you don't have a helmet.

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How many members do you have in the club and how do you become a member?

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Yeah, to become a member.

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We have a link to a site that runs through an organization called Racklet.

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It's a software program that helps us keep track of membership, ticket, events, that type of thing.

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But we have a site through there you become a member, you come to an event, you're going to get a scan of QR code and and get to figure it out.

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We make it as easy as possible.

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You don't have to become a member to ride with us.

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We prefer you do, of course right, but you don't have to become a member.

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We genuinely do welcome cyclists and make it a big community thing.

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But why wouldn't you?

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Because you get the benefit of being in the insurance.

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Yeah, I mean, which is a huge benefit.

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Right, there are some people we have some people who ride with us that are USA Cycling members which is like $150 a year or something and that covers their ride insurance.

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And I'm like, okay, you don't want to pay?

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an additional $20.

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That's fine and there's reasons why people would or wouldn't and we're not going to do that, but we try.

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If you come more than a few times, join us so we can get in.

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If there's announcements, we can make sure you're informed on the information.

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And to answer your question on members, we have I think the exact town is 123 paid members right now.

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What are the membership fees?

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You said it's $20 a year, yep, and it covers the insurance.

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Mm-hmm, you get the insurance Anything else.

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You get the insurance and then discounts at local places, Gotcha, so from different food merchandise services, discounts that type of thing, and you're helping us cover the administrative costs.

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So we can, of course, be this 501c7 and make the donations we do.

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Perfect what age groups are represented in your memberships and also, is there an age minimum to?

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join the club.

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That's a really, really great question.

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Legally, from insurance it's 18 and up.

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You have to be a legal adult to be a rider.

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We do have some families that will come with younger kids, teenage kids who are active in cycling communities.

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We have some like award-winning youth marathon triathletes.

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Oh yeah.

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It's great, but there's the separate process for all of that and it's something just to communicate and give us a heads up beforehand if that's going to happen, because we want to make sure we don't invalidate insurance or anything.

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Yeah, right.

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That makes sense, yeah.

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But believe me, the families for the after part, the socialization part, even the spouses who don't ride friends who don't ride my parents, when they come into town I bring them out with us.

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It's fun we have.

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We had our first like cycling club baby not too long ago.

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She just turned a year old Like it was great.

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That's so cool.

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What other activities are you doing?

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What other events are you organizing with the club?

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I know we'll talk about Haunted 100, because that's one of the big things here today.

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So I will table that one for now.

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But we do, you know, in addition to socializing after the rides, just such an active community.

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If somebody we had last year, somebody from our club was dancing in the stars for Onslow County and so we got a group of people from the club together, purchased a table and supported right, and so it's just again.

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It's genuinely a community and I've lived a lot of different places and a lot of people in this area have lived a lot of different places and most people, once they find this club, they just feel like they're home because there's something for everyone, there's an age group for everyone, and it's so nice.

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So we have gotten.

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This year we actually started doing an official quarterly potluck.

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It sounds so simple, but, oh my gosh, after the rides we're all hungry and thirsty anyway.

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And so once a quarter we have potluck and, like one of our members is I'm talking like top in the country bakery level sourdough guy.

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Shout out to you Michael Makes like the best sourdough bread and he joined us within this past year and he brought that bread once and we're all like you have to stay.

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And bring that bread every single potluck Every time.

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It's amazing.

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But there's people.

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We have a guy who used to own a barbecue company.

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You know the company shut down, but once a year he'll do different things.

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It's just fun, and you get to know people outside of the ride.

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The challenge is, though, we all look very different in our bike kits, with our helmets on and so sometimes you don't recognize people when you're out just living normal life.

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I wanted to know the age range within the club.

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Is it like 18 to 80?

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I think we probably, I know for sure we have 60s, we might have 70s, we might even have 80s.

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Really, yeah, and we have 18, you know, barely barely out of high school.

00:16:19.585 --> 00:16:27.809
And it's really cool also, I think, to see, especially now, people in all generations, maybe a part of three or four generations of people writing and socializing and being in community together.

00:16:27.809 --> 00:16:32.873
Yeah, we just had some members shout outs to you misty and rob I'm going to make sure you hear this episode.

00:16:32.873 --> 00:16:38.980
Rob got stationed in okinawa and they left and they were very, very involved in the club and volunteering and everything.

00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:46.494
Everything we do is 100 volunteer run and driven, so we don't have any administrative staff or anything like that.

00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:52.244
So, it's all labors of love for those of us in the community, but it's like when people move away we throw a big old goodbye.

00:16:52.244 --> 00:17:01.020
Away parties Going away not goodbye, going away, coming back, ride and after party and everything, and it's people come and they go, but most of them come back and it's really great.

00:17:01.341 --> 00:17:02.965
I don't even ride and I want to join your club.

00:17:02.965 --> 00:17:04.188
Come on over, right?

00:17:04.208 --> 00:17:05.590
You don't even have to ride to join.

00:17:05.590 --> 00:17:07.074
You can just come drink with us afterwards.

00:17:07.074 --> 00:17:07.740
We're happy with that.

00:17:08.402 --> 00:17:22.086
Just driving in our area period Highway 17 is it feels like a death trap some days right and then when you get closer to the island we've got all the tourist traffic during high season it just feels like it can get super dangerous.

00:17:22.086 --> 00:17:31.432
So I'm wondering what kind of safety concerns do you typically face when you're riding, both when you're alone riding your bike, but also as that larger group.

00:17:32.440 --> 00:17:36.920
You know we try to do as much as we can as a group that educates people that we're out there.

00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:44.845
So on our Sunday rides we have warning riders ahead signs before and after the entrance of Salty Turtle, so we're at least notifying people.

00:17:44.845 --> 00:17:57.000
And then we, instead of riding out in mass in one huge group that's going to take up a longer period of time, we ride out in smaller groups so that again we can let more traffic go through, et cetera.

00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:07.454
Because what happens is, even though again we can get on the road and be on the side of the road and people could still get by just fine, they don't and thank you for being cautious, but we don't want to.

00:18:07.454 --> 00:18:10.603
Our goal isn't to impede traffic, our goal is to be in the flow of the road.

00:18:10.603 --> 00:18:17.010
So we'll get there and we'll release in smaller groups intentionally so that there's not this mass blocking traffic.

00:18:17.010 --> 00:18:25.913
When we do have our big events like Haunted 100 that I know we'll talk about in a little bit, we pay Surf City Police overtime and do police efforts and escorts and blockage.

00:18:25.913 --> 00:18:31.259
We do all of the things to keep riders and drivers as safe as possible.

00:18:32.362 --> 00:18:41.951
Do you have any tips that you just want to give the drivers today that they could just hold on to when they see you and just try to remember to stay focused on your safety?

00:18:42.619 --> 00:18:46.448
You know I'm going to call something out because I think, again, we're all guilty of being in rushes.

00:18:46.448 --> 00:18:48.010
None of us are immune to that.

00:18:48.010 --> 00:18:57.470
It happens, life happens, and some are legit emergencies and some are just because, wow, I sat on my couch enjoying my coffee too long and I'm going to be late and it is 100% my fault and we just have to own that.

00:18:57.940 --> 00:19:02.666
Yeah, that's so true, it is, it is, and we all coexist.

00:19:02.666 --> 00:19:27.836
The reality is, though, 30 seconds can literally save a life, and when you have people who not calling out names, but who own businesses in this community posting on Facebook groups a picture of a cyclist riding on the far right side of the road when there is a gravel, mind you sidewalk saying why are these people trying to be hood ornaments?

00:19:27.836 --> 00:19:35.993
It's bad, and I think a lot of people we innately think that we're good and we don't do this, but we're all guilty of getting frustrated at times.

00:19:35.993 --> 00:19:39.609
Again, I have been frustrated when I've come across cyclists and I am a cyclist.

00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:42.102
Right, you have a legal right as a vehicle on the road.

00:19:42.102 --> 00:19:45.085
You have a legal right as a vehicle on the road If you're this person.

00:19:45.085 --> 00:19:53.012
The picture was hugging the line of the road and someone is posting publicly and calling them a desired hood ornament.

00:19:53.012 --> 00:19:54.213
That's not OK.

00:19:54.213 --> 00:19:55.355
No, it's not.

00:19:55.355 --> 00:19:56.155
That's not OK.

00:20:00.601 --> 00:20:02.773
We're not going to have those same type of behaviors in a lot of other areas.

00:20:02.773 --> 00:20:03.680
So really it's take a breath.

00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:08.143
It may be 30 seconds, but it's somebody's life and you don't know their reason for writing.

00:20:08.143 --> 00:20:12.605
We don't know your reason for doing the activities you do, but we all just get to do them.

00:20:12.605 --> 00:20:19.876
Like we're fortunate to live in a place and in a country that allows us to exercise a lot of freedoms, to do the activities we want to do.

00:20:20.278 --> 00:20:22.121
Let's all just let people do their hobbies and be safe.

00:20:22.121 --> 00:20:25.241
Can I ask what the response was to that post, do you?

00:20:25.261 --> 00:20:27.702
recall, Unfortunately mixed, Unfortunately mixed.

00:20:27.702 --> 00:20:37.868
There's a lot of people that will publicly come out and comment in this area about just hatred for cyclists Again being on a legal road.

00:20:37.868 --> 00:20:47.313
I am not saying all cyclists are perfect, because there are some that will just be in these massive groups and take up huge chunks of the road and even though they could do that, be considerate cyclists.

00:20:47.313 --> 00:20:49.493
This is my shout out to all of you too Be considerate.

00:20:49.493 --> 00:20:51.075
We're all coexisting here together.

00:20:51.075 --> 00:20:56.478
But drivers, if you see a cyclist actually signaling, it is the same as a car.

00:20:56.478 --> 00:20:58.740
No, yeah, that's legit Signaling.

00:20:58.740 --> 00:21:04.407
It doesn't mean swerve around them and then underswipe them so they fall under the belly of your car, like happened to one of our riders last year.

00:21:04.407 --> 00:21:06.270
It doesn't mean that it's.

00:21:06.270 --> 00:21:10.476
I am legally signaling and so people are doing that.

00:21:11.180 --> 00:21:18.365
So I have to ask what accidents have occurred during your club rides, the ones that I know about there have been a few people hit.

00:21:18.365 --> 00:21:30.255
The worst one was definitely when a person was signaling, moved over and a person swerved around her into the turn lane and sideswiped her and her bike went under the vehicle with her.

00:21:30.255 --> 00:21:31.905
That was by far the worst.

00:21:31.905 --> 00:21:34.165
It was absolutely terrifying.

00:21:34.165 --> 00:21:35.250
Was she injured?

00:21:35.250 --> 00:21:44.160
She was, and it took her almost a year and she is a very active member of this community and like a high volunteer and it took her almost a year to get back on.

00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:45.465
I was almost hit.

00:21:45.559 --> 00:22:01.627
I was run intentionally into the side of the bridge on Surf City Bridge in a five foot bike lane in February and I actually Intentionally run into the this person the wall, the wall that's on the bridge, yeah there's a like, it's like four or five foot bike lane which I'm going to use because I want to be safe.

00:22:01.627 --> 00:22:06.002
I want to be safe.

00:22:06.002 --> 00:22:06.525
Yeah, had pulled on there.

00:22:06.525 --> 00:22:07.489
I think the person did not see me at first.

00:22:07.489 --> 00:22:08.232
You heard the slam of the brake.

00:22:08.232 --> 00:22:09.096
Okay, they weren't paying attention.

00:22:09.096 --> 00:22:11.323
Whatever, we were all guilty of distracted driving at some point.

00:22:11.323 --> 00:22:12.265
Yeah, fine.

00:22:12.265 --> 00:22:19.028
But then got aggravated that I existed and gunned it and swerved into the bike lane to where I was holding.

00:22:19.028 --> 00:22:22.083
I got my arms scratched holding the wall of the bridge to not fall over.

00:22:22.083 --> 00:22:22.703
Oh my gosh.

00:22:23.346 --> 00:22:30.932
Now that you're mentioning it, about the bridge riding in particular, I have heard people say why aren't these bikers in the walking path?

00:22:31.641 --> 00:22:42.190
I don't think that's where you're supposed to be, no, and actually it's a hazard and there's trying to be educational campaigns, because you will have people on bikes and now on e-bikes too zooming down the sidewalks.

00:22:42.190 --> 00:22:44.366
The sidewalks are for pedestrians.

00:22:44.366 --> 00:22:52.105
You're walking your dog, you have your children with you Do you want an e-bike zooming down on you then, or any cyclist for that matter, no, no, it scares them.

00:22:52.185 --> 00:22:53.670
It scares the people who are walking.

00:22:53.789 --> 00:22:54.531
I've seen it happen.

00:22:54.531 --> 00:22:56.162
Yeah, no, there's a four.

00:22:56.162 --> 00:23:00.026
I think it's like four and a half foot wide bike lane on that bridge.

00:23:00.246 --> 00:23:00.967
Intentionally.

00:23:01.508 --> 00:23:02.228
Intentionally.

00:23:02.228 --> 00:23:03.990
But yeah, and even that I didn't fall.

00:23:03.990 --> 00:23:05.392
I grabbed the wall, I got scraped up.

00:23:05.392 --> 00:23:09.316
But even that scare right now in high traffic season, I won't get on my bike.

00:23:09.316 --> 00:23:17.873
I am not mentally stable enough to do that and ride in a group, because when you're riding in a group it's also the safety of the riders around you.

00:23:17.873 --> 00:23:25.953
And if I'm going to get scared and push my brakes when I probably shouldn't, because that's not normal, that's going to damage other riders I probably shouldn't because that's not normal.

00:23:25.953 --> 00:23:27.397
That's going to damage other riders.

00:23:27.397 --> 00:23:27.919
So I take my leave.

00:23:29.799 --> 00:23:32.405
We've all had experiences in multiple areas of our life on something that scared us or something that scarred us, and I still got back on the bike.

00:23:32.405 --> 00:23:41.900
But now, if I'm going to do it, I have people around me who know what happened to me, so they know that I'm going to have a high heart rate and have a little trauma in that experience.

00:23:41.900 --> 00:24:01.928
But that's the reality of anything and I think anyone who's pursued any type of active hobby or supply-based hobby whether it is running or triathlon, paddling, kayaking, boating, surfing, shooting all of these things you can have scary experiences that take you away from them for a while.

00:24:01.928 --> 00:24:07.125
It's really unfortunate when that experience is caused with intention by another human.

00:24:07.567 --> 00:24:09.093
When was that February of this year.

00:24:09.093 --> 00:24:11.662
Oh wow, no wonder you're still feeling it.

00:24:11.923 --> 00:24:12.443
A little shaky.

00:24:12.443 --> 00:24:14.167
A little shaky On a happier note.

00:24:14.388 --> 00:24:16.903
Yes, on a happier note Everybody we love cycling now.

00:24:17.242 --> 00:24:19.308
But may I just say one thing in summary.

00:24:19.308 --> 00:24:21.981
It's like cyclists don't hate drivers, drivers don't hate cyclists.

00:24:21.981 --> 00:24:24.565
We all, in reality, are all fine together.

00:24:24.565 --> 00:24:33.619
It's only when we think our time on either side on either side is more valuable than the other people's out there, and that's when misbehavior occurs.

00:24:33.619 --> 00:24:43.344
It occurs when cyclists decide to group up and ride outside of the bike lane and block some traffic, and it occurs when drivers aren't willing to take a breath and wait a few seconds to safely pass.

00:24:43.344 --> 00:24:52.073
So road cycling is different than other types of cycling and I think a lot of people don't realize that there's tons of different types of cycling tires.

00:24:52.073 --> 00:24:56.693
We see those wide fat tire bikes right that have about three-plus-inch tires.

00:24:56.733 --> 00:24:57.516
Yeah, I have seen those.

00:24:57.516 --> 00:24:57.895
What is that?

00:24:57.916 --> 00:24:59.098
for Riding in sand.

00:24:59.098 --> 00:25:00.689
Much easier to ride in sand with it.

00:25:00.990 --> 00:25:02.315
Oh, okay, that makes sense, yeah, yeah.

00:25:09.204 --> 00:25:12.859
But if you take my bike, a carbon racing road bike, and you put that on the sand, you're going to wipe out because there's no traction, because my tire is less than an inch.

00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:13.101
Really thin.

00:25:13.101 --> 00:25:19.185
Yeah, and that's what a lot of people don't understand when they're seeing cyclists on the road and they're like, why aren't you staying in the bike lanes?

00:25:19.185 --> 00:25:20.567
Well, the bike lane's not cleaned.

00:25:20.567 --> 00:25:28.421
There's glass there and if I ride over that in my one inch tire it's going to pop and I'm going to crash and it's not safe.

00:25:28.421 --> 00:25:34.806
So that's why, if you see cyclists on the road and we're signaling we're moving over, it's not because we don't want to be in the bike lane.

00:25:34.806 --> 00:25:39.645
We love the bike lanes, we love staying on the right side of the road even though legally we can take up more.

00:25:39.707 --> 00:25:40.647
We don't Granted.

00:25:40.647 --> 00:25:42.970
There are some cyclists that do, but they're not us, I promise.

00:25:42.970 --> 00:25:47.875
But we want to be safe and we talk to our members.

00:25:47.875 --> 00:25:50.617
We brief everyone every single ride.

00:25:50.617 --> 00:25:53.681
Before you sign up and start riding, there's waivers you sign.

00:25:55.265 --> 00:25:57.910
You learn how to ride in groups you learn how to signal All the different things.

00:25:57.910 --> 00:26:01.434
So we are very big on just trying to educate people.

00:26:01.434 --> 00:26:09.087
So when people are coming new into the community and they want to learn, a lot of them have just ridden by themselves around their neighborhood and it's their first group ride.

00:26:09.087 --> 00:26:15.933
So we take the time and we always have someone leading the ride and then we have someone that's called the sweeper that's at the end of the ride.

00:26:15.933 --> 00:26:22.097
So no matter what level you are at, there will always be a sweeper to help you along and figure it out.

00:26:22.644 --> 00:26:31.691
My gosh, I love how safety conscious you all are in making sure that everyone on your team or in your club is following the same rules and you helping, helping each other out that way.

00:26:31.691 --> 00:26:33.115
All right, everyone.

00:26:33.115 --> 00:26:40.286
So why don't you head on over to salty turtle beercom and you can click on the events drop down menu and you can go to the cycling club page.

00:26:40.286 --> 00:26:46.192
There you can click on become a member button and they also provide a button to to easily find their Facebook group there as well.

00:26:46.192 --> 00:26:56.444
Okay, now you have a wonderful fundraiser coming up near Halloween.

00:26:56.444 --> 00:27:01.414
Tell us about the Salty Turtle Cycling Club's Haunted 100.

00:27:01.414 --> 00:27:02.297
What is it?

00:27:02.297 --> 00:27:04.811
When is it and how did it all get started?

00:27:05.726 --> 00:27:06.248
The ride.

00:27:06.248 --> 00:27:25.498
This year is October 27th and it's always the Sunday immediately before, or in the case of the very first one, it was a Sunday, that was Halloween, and I am a nerd to the extreme and a fan of alliteration, and this all ties into the story of how it got started, which was September of 2021.

00:27:25.498 --> 00:27:38.112
There was a normal Sunday ride and we take a break at North Topsail Beach Park to regroup one of those safety checks that we talked about earlier and regroup, and there's water there and bathrooms and things like that too Nature.

00:27:38.112 --> 00:27:46.496
And we were there and I was having this crisis of conscience Not really, it really wasn't affecting me, but I hadn't.

00:27:46.496 --> 00:27:48.568
I had just gotten back into riding that April.

00:27:49.069 --> 00:27:52.277
It had been so much time away from riding triathlon, everything.

00:27:52.277 --> 00:27:57.576
It had been about a decade and I said you know what I really want?

00:27:57.576 --> 00:28:02.270
To ride a century ride, a hundred mile bike ride before my 40th birthday, which was November of that year.

00:28:02.270 --> 00:28:03.836
I said any of you want to do that?

00:28:03.836 --> 00:28:09.432
And slowly people were like, well, yeah, I do that, done that, I've never done that, I've never done that.

00:28:09.432 --> 00:28:13.746
Like oh, it's amazing, like essentially right, it feels like a really cool achievement.

00:28:13.746 --> 00:28:14.647
You're like great, we'll do it.

00:28:14.647 --> 00:28:16.291
And what happened is?

00:28:16.291 --> 00:28:31.308
We mobilized and within it was like a month and a half later, it was a couple dozen people got involved and people volunteered all just from the club and we did 100 miles so this, this was the first year it wasn't as highly organized as it is now, oh no.

00:28:31.349 --> 00:28:31.971
Did you come up with?

00:28:31.991 --> 00:28:32.513
the route.

00:28:32.513 --> 00:28:34.603
Yeah, we came up with the route.

00:28:34.603 --> 00:28:39.726
We were joking about it and we're like, oh, it'll do this and it'll be on Halloween, because my birthday is a week after and haunted hundred.

00:28:39.726 --> 00:28:41.768
Yay, alliteration, it's going to be so fun.

00:28:41.768 --> 00:28:42.768
Yay, spooky ride.

00:28:42.768 --> 00:28:58.579
And yeah, we came up with the route and there was some lapping, because there's not a ton of areas around here that have smooth enough roads without tons of potholes for road bikes to traverse easily.

00:28:58.579 --> 00:29:01.722
Yeah, and you know, we want people to be safe.

00:29:01.722 --> 00:29:08.172
So we made a route and then did a full loop and a half a loop of the island to add the last bit of the 100 miles.

00:29:08.172 --> 00:29:20.326
I will tell you that last part of the loop was so miserable because you're like I could just be at the brewery drinking a beer right now, and so we actually ended up because of that and the looping, which is just not really fun for anyone who.

00:29:20.606 --> 00:29:25.051
you know you're not going to go boating and just circle an island around and around and around right.

00:29:25.051 --> 00:29:27.374
You're going to you to want some different change of scenery.

00:29:28.075 --> 00:29:37.954
And so we found out that, okay, the next year, when we decided to make it a public event and had about 100 riders come in, oh, it went up to 100 really fast.

00:29:37.954 --> 00:29:38.743
Yeah, it was crazy.

00:29:38.743 --> 00:29:41.833
We'd made it 100K, which is like what?

00:29:41.833 --> 00:29:42.675
62 miles.

00:29:42.675 --> 00:29:46.592
So it's still a very good distance of a ride and we also have a 50K option.

00:29:46.592 --> 00:30:00.752
So what's great about that is we wanted to have a 50K option, which is about 30 miles, a little over 30 miles, so that people who'd been riding with us and they were just comfortable with the 20, they could feel like for one day, like they could challenge themselves and push a little harder.

00:30:00.893 --> 00:30:02.477
And it was really really cool.

00:30:02.477 --> 00:30:08.015
So we had family and friends supporting us, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and kind of tossing them out to us.

00:30:08.355 --> 00:30:10.419
Not really, we got off the bike and ate them.

00:30:11.247 --> 00:30:20.994
But it was casual and three of our active members, myself included, have November birthdays and another member came up and surprised us with a cake, like it was just again showing what this community really is.

00:30:20.994 --> 00:30:29.594
So a few months later we were all talking after a ride and I'm like why don't we open this up to more people?

00:30:29.594 --> 00:30:29.794
This?

00:30:29.834 --> 00:30:30.276
was great.

00:30:30.944 --> 00:30:36.711
But then it becomes a real event, then it becomes not just club, then it becomes outside riders.

00:30:36.944 --> 00:30:37.727
Then it becomes.

00:30:37.727 --> 00:30:42.057
Oh, if this is going to be official and something that we know, what else do we have to do?

00:30:42.057 --> 00:30:49.227
Well, that means, whatever route you pick, you have to talk to every single municipality, you have to get permissions, and you're going through three, four you pick.

00:30:49.227 --> 00:30:52.070
You have to talk to every single municipality, you have to get permissions, and you're going through three, four, I think.

00:30:52.070 --> 00:31:05.750
So we have Holly Ridge, well, surf City, holly Ridge, sneeds Ferry, which is just Onslow, which goes with North Topsail Beach and Topsail, so we coordinate with all of them.

00:31:05.770 --> 00:31:07.719
They all have separate insurance forms and event forms you fill out, which we do.

00:31:07.719 --> 00:31:12.836
We have our event insurance, which is additional on top of the club insurance that we have, but if you're already a member, it helps save us there.

00:31:12.836 --> 00:31:16.419
So that's why member pricing is going to be cheaper than non-member pricing for the event.

00:31:16.419 --> 00:31:21.355

Salty Turtle Cycling Club and their Haunted Hundred Bike Ride

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