1. Where are you from originally?
I grew up in Connecticut, and have lived around New England and in upstate New York.
2. When did you start cycling, and what got you into it?
My parents bought me my first bike when I was 5 years old, which I rode all over the neighborhood and around town. They got me a "10-speed" [2x5] when I turned 13, and I did my first 50 mile ride that year.
3. When did you join CRW, and what brought you to the club?
I became a CRW member in 1990 (36 years ago!). I had recently moved to the Boston area and was looking for organized rides and other cyclists to ride with. I found out about the club when I saw a small article about it in The Boston Globe's Sunday magazine. Back then, the internet as we know it today didn't exist, so the club didn't have a website. To find out the week's rides, you had to dial the club's landline telephone number and listen to a recorded message.
4. Do you volunteer for CRW, and if so, in what way(s)?
I have been a CRW ride leader since 1999. Currently leading the West Podunk and Gravel Tuesday rides.
5. What type of cycling do you enjoy the most?
All kinds (road, gravel, and mountain), but I especially enjoy finding a new-to-me backroad that's scenic and devoid of cars. The picture of me is on a gravel bike riding along the Colchester Causeway on Lake Champlain in Vermont.
6. What’s your favorite ride or route?
I like most of the routes in and around the western suburbs. The Apple Pi ride has long been one of my favorites.
7. What has been your favorite moment or experience with CRW?
I've had so many great experiences over my decades in CRW. But if I had to pick, it's one of the first rides I did with the club way back in 1990, a tour of Martha's Vineyard, led by Jamie King. The group of us took the ferry over from Woods Hole, rode 50 miles around the island (on which I had never been before), and on the drive back home we stopped in Bourne at the Scallop Festival (which is sadly now defunct).
8. What advice would you give a new CRW member?
Just get out there and ride. Don't worry about how fast you go. Eventually you'll find others who ride like you do.
9. What’s a fun fact about you (cycling or non-cycling)?
I wrote a novel, entitled Coffee Crash, a bio-tech mystery/thriller set in the coffee industry.
10. What do you enjoy most about being part of CRW?
Many of my friends today are people that I first met on CRW rides.
11. Anything else you'd like the club to know?
A great thing about cycling, unlike many other sports, is that you can do it alone or in groups, and you can do it fast or slow, making it an ideal life-long activity. You can have a rewarding experience no matter how you do it.
