HBC President’s Letter

March 2026

Dear HBC Members,

The HBC Board held a productive meeting on March 6th, and I would like to share several important updates with you.

Website Rejuvenation

You may have noticed that the HBC website looks different. It is currently under construction, and the version you see now is not yet finalized. While we always welcome your suggestions, it may be best to wait until the final version is officially announced before sending feedback.  We’ll let you know when the time comes.

Ride Calendar

Rides are already being scheduled on our Ride Calendar. Please take a look and join us to take advantage of the early spring weather.

Notable upcoming events include:

- Smart Cycling (March 20th): Physical therapist Kent Malcomson will present essential tips for the upcoming biking season.

- Ride Leader Refresher (May 3rd): Led by Doug Claycomb, this annual event is required for all current and prospective ride leaders.

- Spring Kickoff (Tentatively May 10th): Stay tuned for more details.

- 3rd Annual Ride Hiawatha (July 6th): Alan Wichman and his team are already preparing for this premier event. As always, volunteers are greatly appreciated.

Member Jersey Discount

In appreciation of your loyalty to the club, the board is pleased to offer a 20% member discount on HBC jerseys. This discount will apply to purchases made when the jersey store opens this spring. You will receive an email soon with the specific dates the store will be open.

Next Meeting

The next HBC Board meeting is scheduled for April 9th, 2026, at 7:00 PM.

Respectfully,

Lisa Soldat

HBC President’s Letter

January/February 2026

Despite the cold weather, there is plenty of news to share from the HBC Board meeting held on January 29th.

Smart Cycling Events

A Smart Cycling event took place on January 16th. While initially focused on e-bikes, the discussion expanded to include the global bicycle manufacturing industry. Thank you to Ann Bodensteiner for organizing such an engaging session.

The series will continue on February 20th, hosted by Alan Wichman and Rita Wilczek, and again on March 20th, hosted by Kent Malcomson. Both events will be held at Davanni’s in Edina. You will receive more details regarding their specific topics soon.

Website Update

The rejuvenation of the HBC website is well underway. Several members have met with our consultant and are pleased with the progress. Our goal is to make the site more navigable for current members and more appealing to potential new members.

Mountain Bike Rides

The Board discussed insurance coverage for mountain bike rides in 2026. Our carrier defines these as riding off-road over rough terrain, which does not include gravel trails. This topic will be discussed further at the upcoming Ride Leader Refresher (date TBD) to determine interest among leaders. If you are not a Ride Leader but would like to see these rides offered, please let the Board know.

Club Jerseys

We are also considering a new club jersey design. If you have an opinion on a design or would like to submit one of your own, please contact the Board.

The next Board meeting is scheduled for March 5th, 2026.

Best regards,

Lisa Soldat, HBC President

HBC President’s Letter

December 2025

The HBC Annual Meeting has come and gone; a new HBC Board of Directors was elected.  If you were at the Annual Meeting, you already know that the 2026 Board will have the same members as the 2025 Board.  I guess we all like working together and share a common desire to follow through with projects begun in 2025.

Your new board:

President: Lisa Soldat (that’s me)

Vice-President: Sharon Berlin

Secretary: Nanette Malcomson

Treasurer: Connie Dickson

Members-at-Large: Nancy Claycomb, Barry Cole and Mark Kleczewski

There is a lot going on in December for a bike club.  Here are some highlights:

The need for volunteers never ends in a club like ours.  Perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT group we need is for the 3^rd Annual Ride Hiawatha committee, including a new chair.  Nancy Ellis and her committee did a great job for the first 2 years, and they have created efficient guidelines to carry the torch forward.  Nancy says she will gladly mentor the next chair.

If no chair is identified before the end of March, there will be no 3rd Annual Ride Hiawatha.  No one wants to see that happen. 

Now that recreational walks are included under our liability insurance, they can be scheduled and treated like bike rides.  You will be getting a more detailed email from me in the near future with the Board’s guidelines for leading and attending walks.

Smart Cycling will be kicking off its season on January 14^th.  Hosted by Ann Bodensteiner, this will be a talk held by John Brown (Brown’s Cyclery) about e-bikes.  Save the date; details are forthcoming.

Have a Smart Cycling topic you’d like to host?  Let me know.  March is taken but February is available.

The BLS/CPR class held before the Annual Meeting was well-attended.  A second class can be scheduled if there is further interest (we hope so!).  Contact Barry Cole to sign up.

Website rejuvenation: a consultant has been selected; further details to come as things move forward.

The online 2026 Jersey Store will likely open at the Spring Kick-off event.  There is some thought being given to creating a new jersey design.  Thoughts?  Let us know…there are a lot of you creative types with ideas to share out there.

The next HBC Board Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 29^th at 7 pm.  Location: Olin Crossings Condos.  All members are welcome to attend.

Respectfully,

Lisa Soldat

HBC President’s Letter

November 2025

The HBC board met on October 29^th, 2025.  Preparation for the Annual Meeting is well underway.  We also reviewed progress being made on website rejuvenation.  We’ll update you as that project proceeds throughout the upcoming year.

When the biking season goes into hibernation during the cold weather months, remember that there are opportunities to continue our HBC fellowship throughout the winter. 

Smart Cycling is an educational event, held 2-3 times during the winter, in which members can learn more about bike-related activities.  Prior to Covid, there was an HBC member who volunteered to find speakers.  Since that member has now retired, the Board asks that any member with an idea for a speaker or topic to contact us.  It is easy to set up a location and time for the event, and we will advise you how to do that.  It is not difficult, and the programs have always been well-attended.  If you want to volunteer to be the contact person for members with ideas, that would be even better! 

Many (most?) of you also belong to Winter Walkers and receive notifications about upcoming events through the Winter Walker e-mail group.  We are now able to also post the walks on the HBC Ride Calendar.  Haggith Nadav has kindly offered to help members who are not Ride Leaders post their walks there in addition to posting on the email list.  Thanks once again for your help, Haggith!

Hope to see you all at the Annual Meeting November 16^th!

Respectfully

Lisa Soldat, HBC President

October 2025 HBC President’s Letter

The HBC Board met on September 24^th.  With the season winding down, the meeting focused on 2026 transition planning.

The date of the Annual Meeting is not yet set, but we expect to have it in mid-November before Thanksgiving.  We will send out an announcement as soon as the location is determined.

As always, we will be asking members to consider joining HBC leadership.  The Board will need four new members (two-year terms).  Ride Hiawatha will need new members to join the planning committee.

If you are already interested in joining HBC leadership, that’s great!  For a Board nomination, contact the Nominating Committee (Nancy Claycomb, Ron Jensen and Gregor Matthews).

If you are already interested in joining the Ride Hiawatha team, that’s great too!  Contact Nancy Ellis or any Board member.  After two years, Nancy is stepping down as chair but expects to remain on the committee and mentor the new team. 

This is a lot of “asks” in one letter.  We are a relatively small, but enthusiastic bike club. Many of you already have volunteered over the years so we know there is a lot of leadership experience amongst you.  Is this the time for you to take a leadership role, again or for the first time?  We hope so.

Respectfully,

Lisa Soldat
HBC Board President

Ride Hiawatha recap

176 registered riders 

50 volunteers (some wearing multiple hats)

13 new club members

Great rest stop food, music (thanks Percolators!) and Luce Line Brewing

HUGE thanks to Nancy Ellis and the Ride Hiawatha committee for making this such a success!  Nancy claims she had nothing to do with the perfect weather, but I’m not so sure since everything else went without a hitch.

If you participated, be sure to fill out the survey when it comes. 

Meetup recap

The HBC Board of Directors decided to renew our Meetup subscription for the next 6 months.  Ride Leaders have been encouraged to post more of their rides on Meetup, which has resulted in gaining some new members.  It is fun to meet new folks and introduce them to the reasons why we enjoy our club so much.

I would say that 2025 is turning out to be another great year for HBC.  Thanks to all who are making this happen.

Respectfully submitted

Lisa Soldat, HBC President

The HBC online Jersey store is up and running right now.  Have you been envious of riders who wear the club jersey?  Do you have one already but want another one (say, a long-sleeve to complement your short-sleeve one?).  Now is the time to visit the store and place your order.  Go the HBC home page, look for the “gear” tab and click.  Or, try this link:  https://www.hiawathabike.org/page-1701850.  The store will close shortly after Ride Hiawatha and won’t reopen again until next year.

The 2^nd Annual Ride Hiawatha is just a month away!  We are excited to report that along with Luce Line Brewing, both Free Bikes 4 Kidz and Rainbow Tree Care are sponsors this year.  There’s already been a robust number of registrations, and some have become club members as well.  Thanks in advance to all of you are volunteering to make this an outstanding event, especially the organizers led by Nancy Ellis. 

The HBC website is long overdue for a “refresh” to make it more attractive to potential members, and to make it more navigable for members.  The Board has identified some compatible website developers and has begun the selection process.  We welcome your feedback.

The next HBC board meeting is scheduled June 26^th.

The annual HBC Spring Kickoff was held on May 10^th.  There was a big turnout, along with about 6 guests from Meetup (some joined the club, too!).  Many members pitched in to make this a memorable time, starting with the folks who arrived at 8 am to clean the picnic tables and set up breakfast.  Four rides of varying speeds and distances were led, from relaxed to “lower” moderate, “upper end of” moderate and brisk.  As always, the potluck featured a nice variety of old and new favorites.   We cannot give enough thanks to the organizer, Mary Buss, and all the behind-the-scenes volunteers who made this a success!

The annual Ride Leader Refresher was held a few weeks ago.  For those of you who are not Ride Leaders, this meeting reviews the basics of leading rides, and included a group discussion about how to make the upcoming ride season a success.  There are several new Ride Leader candidates, so let’s all support them this year as they complete the rest of the requirements for becoming Ride Leaders. 

The Ride Leaders discussed the chronic concerns from some members about ride speeds.  Everyone has a different opinion, but I believe it boils down to this statement found in the Ride Leader Manual:

“Lead the ride you advertised and keep track of the people doing the same.”

Let’s once again consider the moderate ride category (10-12 mph).  Both are moderate but a group of riders will likely split into more than one group if some are averaging 10 mph versus others averaging 12 mph, leading to the perception of “slower” and “faster” groups.  At the Spring Kickoff, it was interesting to see that the two moderate rides were advertised as “upper end of moderate” and “lower moderate”.  While these designations are not currently club policy, it was quite helpful for the ride descriptions to be clear about the Ride Leaders’ intentions.  As the season continues, I look forward to getting feedback on whether members find this helpful or not.

Respectfully,

Lisa Soldat

HBC Club President

A Strategic Planning meeting was recently held that included the board and some long-term members.  The recent survey you received was one of the action items from that meeting.  Thanks to all of you who participated.  We collected some very useful information for improving member satisfaction.

Last year, 32 Ride Leaders led nearly 400 rides.  This sounds like a lot, but according to the survey, members feel that we need even more, and more varied, rides.  If you are considering becoming a Ride Leader, attending the annual Ride Leader Refresher course on April 19^th is your first step.  Please register for the event on the Ride Calendar. 

A frequent comment made on the survey was that rides consistently are faster than the advertised speed.  This topic of ride speeds has been discussed for years, and is on the agenda for the Ride Leader Refresher.  Please remember that the posted speed (e.g., 10-12 mph for a Moderate Ride) is the “average” speed.  There will be times when the speed falls outside of that range, particularly on hills.  If you are recording your ride on an app like Ride With GPS, this will be easier to see.  Regardless, if you feel the ride is NOT within the posted range, please tell the Ride Leader during or after the ride.  The feedback is important.

Lastly, the Board wants to discontinue renting a storage unit for some items used during group events.  We are looking for individuals who are willing to help store some of these items:

7 round insulated water coolers, 2 metal HBC lawn signs (roughly 2x3 feet), 2 cardboard sleeves with parking signs and holders (flat, roughly 3x4 feet), 6 trash bag holders (boxed, takes up roughly 2x2x4 feet), 1 large plastic bin with decorations, 1 large plastic bin with route marking supplies, and 1 box with rolled up HBC banners 

It is possible that there may be items being stored at members’ homes that we don’t know about.  Please contact Connie Dickson to let her know if you have any items, and to volunteer your storage space for existing items from the storage unit (dickson2c@aol.com). 

Respectfully,

Lisa Soldat, HBC President

lisasoldat@gmail.com