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The Huntington Bicycle Club, NY

Date: 5/15/2026
Subject: Folks On Spokes May 2026 Second Edition
From: Huntington Bicycle Club




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A Message From the President

 
      May has arrived, albeit with a never-ending cornucopia of weather. We are on the road. April featured Earth Day celebrations sponsored by Suffolk County and Huntington Town. We had a booth at the Suffolk Earth Day fair at West Hills County Park. It was well attended and diverse. Our club raffled off a bicycle at the fair. We made one child very happy. The town fair took place on a rainy day, so we opted not to set up our display. Susan's ride was able to pop in and tour that fair just under the day's rain. 
 
The end of April brought the culmination of Ken Abbott's cross-country ride to benefit the LiveOnNY foundation. He was able to raise over 35,000 dollars! Kenny told his story at the May club meeting. It was a beautiful presentation. Art Causin presented a plaque to Eleanor Abbott for her invaluable support of Kenny and his partner Peter Trankina. Both Peter and Eleanor attended the meeting.
 
The end of April also brought the unfortunate passing of Charles McPherson, a valued member of our club. In his honor, there will be a memorial ride on May 20th from Cedar Creek Park at 6:00 PM to Jones Beach.
 
HBC will be hosting a pre-ride bagel breakfast at the Harborfields Library on Saturday, May 30th between 8:00AM and 9:00 AM. All rides will be convening at the library that day. Please register on the website to attend. See you there! 
 
Remember that May is BIKE MONTH so get in as many miles as you can. This weekend is shaping up to be a great one for cycling. Get out there!
 
Sal Levy,
President
 


Earth Day At West Hills County Park


Our Raffle Winner


Susan's B Ride At The Fair


Kenny Abbott's Presentation
Eleanor's Plaque

Mitch Gilbert's Ride to Saint James with Kenny Abbott and Peter Trankina

Club Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, May 6th, 2026

 

7:30pm Sal Levy, President, called the meeting to order

 

President’s Report

Sal kicked off the meeting by presenting the minutes from our April meeting, which were approved by Scott Gross and seconded by Steve Labiner .

Treasurer’s Report

Anthony Oliveri discussed 2026 CLUB FINANCIALS.  Revenue from Gold Coast registration fees, Sponsorships and Membership fees is coming in and helped increase our balance this month.

2026 budget is still closely following 2025 budget

Gold Coast Chair

Steve Labiner announced registrations for the Gold Coast are slowly increasing.  However, we still need more riders, and Steve urged us all to find more sponsors – banks, gyms, businesses etc.  Steve left brochures on the front table and encouraged everyone to take some and distribute to potential sponsors.

AND - we still need to fill a few open volunteer spots.

Steve corrected the name of our ice cream vendor, which is Mr. Frosty (not Mr. Freezy as previously mentioned last meeting.)

Vice President’s Report

John Greene presented ride leader jerseys to Ken Abbott and Mitch Gilbert.

Throughout the season jerseys will be handed out as earned.

Membership Report

Alan Pearlman gave an update on membership … the club has 254 active paid members. Please renew your membership as it comes due.

Art Causin

Art presented a plaque to Eleanor Abbott in recognition of her outstanding support driving the RV that was used as the SAG WAGON/MOTEL during Ken Abbott’s cross country cycling trip building awareness of organ donation and support for the LiveonNY Foundation.  This trip would not have been possible without her support.

 

Guest Speaker Ken Abbott – Recap Presentation of X-country ride for Organ Donation

Ken presented a recap of his 40 day journey cross country through 8 states, 2,888 miles,197.5 cycling hours, and 65,578 ft in elevation.  Kenn averaged 72.2 miles and 1636 ft of elevation daily.  He Raised over $35,000 for LiveonNY.  Eleanor ran support.  She found the RV parks, provided SAG support, drove the RV, bought food, provided encouragement and navigated the roads. Ken presented a summary of the highlights and lessons of his journey:

#1 – Bring a strong riding partner – like Pete!

#2 – A SAG Wagon is a blessing

#3 – Gear needs to be top shape.  When Ken changed out tires to all season Conti 5000s – it made all the difference in the world and his flats stopped.

#4 - Texas is a REALY big state – seemed like they would never get out of Texas.

#5 - Take advantage of Tail Winds! What a difference they make.

#6 – Routines are a great way to structure your Day

#7 – Roadkill happens – you can tell where you are based on what you see on the road

#8 – Interstate highways can be great or terrifying - pickups exceeding the 75 MPH speed limit speeding by.

#9 – RV Parks are a different world.  Some parks feel depressing with people living for months at a time while other parks are filled with $1M+ luxury RVs and elegant living.

#10 – 99.9% of People are Great no matter which state you’re in.

#11 - Dollar General Stores & Walmart are everywhere & frequented often during the trip

Overall Ken summed up his daily routine as: Ride, Refuel, Rinse, Rest, Repeat

After the presentation Ken raffled a number of prizes related to his trip … and included multiple fresh home-made crumb cakes, which he baked himself!

50/50 Raffle

$128 dollars collected in total for selling tickets, Steven Siegel won $64 for the 50/50.

Wrap Up

8:52pm Sal adjourned the meeting.


           Save the Date!
The 2026 Gold Coast East Ride is happening Sunday, July 12th!

Last year was a huge success—beautiful weather, no injuries, and over $6,000 donated to these amazing charities:

💙 Kids Need More
🥫 Long Island Food Bank
🚴 New York Bicycling Coalition
💉 American Diabetes Association
🧠 Dementia Society of America

  • 214 lbs. of canned goods collected for the Long Island Food Bank pantry!

👏 Thank you to all our volunteers who made it possible.


We Need Volunteers—Starting Now!

Planning has already begun, and we need help with

• Sponsorship outreach
• Event promotion

Seeking Sponsors!

Know a bike shop, bakery, café, or any business that supports community events?
Send them our way—this is a great chance for them to get involved and give back.

Spread the Word

We also need help promoting the event now to ensure strong participation and another outstanding Gold Coast Ride.

 

Let’s make 2026 our best Gold Coast East Ride yet!
More details coming soon…
🚴✨


How many of these HBC legends can you name?
Happy Upcoming Birthdays to our members!

Christine P Sullivan

May 13

Jonathan Herman

May 13

Frank G Marcovitz

May 15

Mike Savas

May 17

Bruce Wessinger

May 18

Michael Weinstein

May 20

Edward W Daubel

May 21

Carl V Cascone

May 23

Richard W Meyer

May 24

anthony nussbacher

May 25

 

Salim Bousleiman

May 28

Gary Rauch

May 29

Jeffrey S Goldstein

May 29

Karen H Gellert

May 30

Susan C Barlocher

June 3

Jeffrey Kaplan

June 4

Jennifer Haluza

June 4

Jay Beatus

June 7

Warren Vandewater

June 11

Prasanth Nair

June 11


View this Newsletter on our website: