Another great New Years Day get-together. Thanks Dave! Tons of good food including chili, chicken, gumbo, sandwiches, chips, crackers, dip, brownies, cupcakes and of course black-eyed peas. If I counted correctly there were 24 that attended not including the kids. About 16 of us rode. The ride was a cold one being only 28 degrees with a windchill that had to be way below that. From now on I think this ride will be known as the "Polar Pedal" as Stephanie called it.

Photos here.

Video...

Count my sniffs and that should give you and idea of how much my nose was running and therefore how cold it was.

New Years Day pot-luck dinner and ride 1:00pm at the Park Villa shelter in Riverside Park (Map).
Please bring a food dish and your bike for a New Year's Day ride.
What better way to start off the New Year than with food, friends and a bike ride!

The plan was to ride in the Delano Christmas parade at noon and then the Bikes For Tots parade at 2:00pm. We got word that the BFT parade was postponed until 4:00pm so that gave us time to hang out in Delano after their parade which we did. I think there were 15 or so Coasters who braved the cold to participate with some really nicely decorated bikes.
Later we all met again for the BFT parade only to find out that it was canceled due to problems with the parade permit. So we all just drove to Club DebRicks instead of riding where we celebrated the accomplishments of the Bikes For Tots campaign with beverages and great food like the burgers from the Rolling Smoke bicycle BBQ trailer and all kinds of chili from Club DebRicks. Due to the donations and efforts of all involved over 170 new bikes will be given to area kids this Christmas. The Coasters donating 3 of those bikes after raising a total of $268.
What a great way to spend a Saturday!
Thank yous...
Historic Delano for inviting us to participate in their parade.
Everyone who participated in and/or donated to Bikes For Tots.
Dan for purchasing and delivering our BFT bikes.
Grillmaster Mitch for the burgers.
Club DebRicks for putting on the BFT and the party.
Whomever made al the great chili.

PHOTOS...
Delano Christmas Parade photos.

Bikes For Tots Parade photos.

Robert at River City Cyclist has photos and video here.

Delano parade video...

Saturday, December 5th at 12:00pm.
The Coasters have been entered in the Delano District's Christmas Parade. It's the same day and just 2 hours before the Bikes For Tots parade but I think we can make both. Get double duty out of your holiday costume and/or decorated bike.
Note: For the Delano parade you and/or your bike must be decorated in a Christmas theme. No Santa's though. There will be only one Santa and he'll be leading the parade.

Meet at Lawrence Dumont Stadium/Metropolitan Baptist Church parking lot no later than 11:30am just as we do for the St Patrick's parade. You may want to park your vehicle at the end of the parade route (Douglas & Seneca area) for a quick get-away to the BFT parade..

More info on the parade here.

To celebrate the accomplishments of this year's Bikes For Tots campaign there is a bicycle parade and party on Saturday, December 5th. The parade starts at the Bourbon Street Bar & Grill (formerly Cy’s Place) on Seneca at 2:00 pm. Line up begins at 1:00pm. There will be chili and all the fixings after the parade at the end point of Club DebRicks. Decorate yourself and/or your bike with a Christmas theme.

Don't let the cold weather keep you at home this is a fun event! How often do you get to ride with Santa as your escort while the Wichita PD block traffic?

This is the same routine and route as last year. Here's a map of the route. When it's time to ride back to your vehicle at Bourbon Street I suggest this route where there is continuous sidewalk.

First a big thank you to Christine for donating her time, money and effort to feed us. The chili was great! Thanks to everyone else who brought food to accompany the great chili.

Also thanks to those who donated to the Bikes For Tots campaign. Between what we received tonight and the online donations we raised $218. this money will go towards the purchase of new bikes that the Salvation Army and local police departments will give to kids at Christmas. Stay tuned to the Coasters site for details on the Bikes For Tots parade and party.