Kalamazoo Bike Club Bike Camp - INDIVIDUAL

Bike Camp is an award-winning educational and training program for beginning cyclists as well as those who wish to get back into the sport. Designed for adults and minors, 12 and up, Bike Camp provides many opportunities for families and adults to learn safe and efficient road cycling. Begun as a one-day event in 2005, Bike Camp has developed into a multi-day program that was honored in 2014 when it received the Ralph Finneren Encouragement Award from the League of Michigan Bicyclists.

The format is a series of six (in-class and on-the-bike) sessions led by members of the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club, including League Certified Instructors (LCI) trained in safe road and group riding by the League of American Bicyclists..

During this first session we will provide an overview of Bike Camp 2022 and brief presentations on bicycle selection, bike components & fit, what to wear and what to eat and drink while cycling, and some basic road safety tips and laws. We will also ask you to fill out a survey that will help us identify your current fitness level and bicycling goals. This is an informational session only; please do not bring your bike.

Saturday mornings: May 7 & May 14 , 8:30 AM – approximately 12:00 PM (End time varies based on distance and pace of group training rides.)

Each of the Saturday morning sessions will be a presentation about a specific aspect of bicycling or fitness followed by group training rides of various paces and distances that are led by experienced cyclists. Bike Campers at similar fitness levels and with similar distance goals will ride together. Helmets are required (as are bicycles in good working order, of course) for these Saturday morning sessions.

May 7 and May 14: Portage Senior Center. These group training rides will help Bike Campers develop better bike handling skills for riding in groups while building riding endurance.

Monday evenings: May 9 & May 16, Start at 5:45 PM, ride starts at 6:15 PM (End time varies based on distance and pace of group training rides.)

May 9 and May 16: Texas Township Park. These group training rides will help Bike Campers become familiar with some of the routes followed on KBC’s Monday Evening Rides while continuing to develop better bike handling skills in groups and enhancing endurance. Ride with GPS maps of planned routes are as follows: 10 miles; 15 miles; 20 miles.

Saturday, May 21: Wind + James, 555 E Eliza St, Schoolcraft, MI 49087 (click link to see map). You are invited to join fellow KBC members for our 50th Anniversary Celebration. There will be several group rides from short and easy to a 50-miler – a mile for each year of KBC! Afterward, we will have a celebration party to refuel and rehydrate after our rides, tell stories of the last 50 years, hand out our annual member awards, and congratulate our Bike Camp graduates (and new KBC members!). 50th Anniversary Party starts at 5:00 p.m.

Free entry to KalTour: As a participant in Bike Camp, you receive a free entry fee to KalTour – KBC’s annual bike tour offering routes of various distances around Kalamazoo County. You may decide on the day of the tour (the 2022 KalTour will be on Sunday, June 26th) which of the routes to ride. This is a $45 value for individuals and a $80 value for families.

One-year membership in the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club: Bike Camp participants are also enrolled as KBC members for one year. Club membership includes receiving the club’s monthly electronic Pedal Press newsletter about Club happenings as well as access to the Club’s Ride with GPS Club Account and route library. This is a $25 value for individuals and a $35 value for families. Existing KBC memberships will be extended for one year.

• $70.00 for individuals before May 1st, $85.00 after

• $85.00 for families (of up to two adults and two minors) before May 1st, $100.00 after