Dear Parents.
Congratulations to all who made it up the hill. (And you all made it up the hill.)
A. Friendly Reminder
Some of our 5th graders still fall over when they stop.
Because they sit on their saddle when they stop.
Which is something they should not do.
When they fall over, they usually fall toward traffic.
That freaks out at least one volunteer.
And should freak you out, too, dear parent.
You MUST practice ‘safety stop’ with your child.
The roads on the RAC are not the 56 bike path.
B. Speaking of Roads
The good news. The Escondido Hill route is being repaved
The bad news. They haven’t restriped some of the bike lanes yet.
Near the turn around, on top of the hill, there are no stripes to be found.
Not for cars. Not for us.
Make sure your child stays to the far right as we approach the top and as we leave the hill..
Without a dedicated bike lane, kids often veer to the middle of the road.
C. RAC meetings
Thursday, Feb 26. The T-shirt design contest. Camping. General information. Bring the kids.
Tuesday, March 24. MANDATORY.
Please make sure that at least one member of your family attends.
Bring the kids.
Tuesday, May 26. RAC reunion. Potluck and pictures. Bring the family
D. Calling all 5th Graders. The RAC 26 T-shirt Design Contest
Included in the RAC fee is your official 2026 RAC t-shirt.
Every rider, chase, chase child, and volunteer receives on
Please encourage your 5th grader to submit a design.
We wear these shirts for our group pictures. See below.
Your child will love to see his/her design on 150 t-shirts.
These T-shirts become treasured souvenirs of a fabulous week
And will only increase in value in years to come.
Please come to the Feb 26 meeting to see our 5th graders model previous winning designs.
RAC T-Shirt Design Contest Rules
Please email your child’s design to Christiane by March 4th.
Include “RAC” or “Ride Across California” and “2026 ”
Put your child’s name on the back of the drawing.
Once we select a winner, we will add your child’s name to the design
The t-shirt color background will be black.
The RAC route is already printed on the back of the t-shirt.
Please consider this when your kids create their design.
Volunteers will select the winner in an anonymous vote.
Traditionally, volunteers have voted for
designs that looked like they came from a 5th grader (and not a parent)
hand-drawn designs (vs computer generated)
bold and large designs (vs small and intricate)
8. The winner will be announced at the March meeting.
E. Our Next Rides
Saturday, February 14 and Sunday, February 15
The Escondido Hill Ride (26 RAC)
362 W El Norte Pkwy, Escondido, CA 92026
Please park in the south end (green) of the LA Fitness parking lot.
Please arrive by 7:45 am. We start promptly at 8 am.
You need to complete 2 with us. We offer 5 more.
Saturday. 14 Feb
Sunday. 15 Feb (new)
Saturday 28 Feb
Saturday, 14 Mar
Sunday, 22 Mar
Please plan on attending at least three: February and March rides are often rained out.
Some Escondido Hill Ride tips:
Try to ride two back to back.
It’s almost like two consecutive days on the RAC. 😀
Try to make it up the hills without stopping. Help your child pace him/herself.
Slowing down is much more effective than stopping and starting
Don’t focus on the top of the hill
Count til 8. Then do it again.
Do not carry your child’s water.
If you must stop on the hills
stop where it’s flat-ish.
make sure to move to the right
stop before a curve, not in or behind a curve
stop in the shade if it’s hot
make sure your child is off the saddle when he/she stops.
Stay to the right when bike lane markings as missing
Parents in front on the downhill.
The EHRides include two snack stops.
We thank our chase parent, RAC alumni and volunteer Lei who helped last weekend.
Thank you for reading. Have a great week.