Saturday Ride, Buena Vista, 7:00 a.m.

Saturday Morning Group Ride: Hey Everyone! Wow, what a great group we had last Saturday morning for our Country Club/Iron Horse, Springs/Blue Ridge/Lumberjack trail ride. Thirteen riders were in attendance and even though the terrain was challenging in spots we had a really good time seeing something a little different and harder than we normally ride.

Last week's group pictured at the site of one of the Blue Ridge Trail's largerst alligator juniper trees!

This week our group ride is going to be back in the Buena Vista. Meet at the Buena Vista trailhead a couple of miles south of Show Low on highway 60 at 7:00 a.m. Although monsoonal moisture is supposed to show up Saturday according to the forecast, I wouldn't hold my breath given how things have gone for the last year. Even if it does . . . it probably won't be until the afternoon.

As usual, this is a twelve to fifteen mile ride most likely, and we do have a "no-drop" policy, meaning that you need not fear getting left behind. We like our riders coming back! Intermediate MTB skills are recommended for doing Buena Vista. So see ya Saturday morning!

Questions Regarding 2nd Generation Walter Jersey Pricing: Hey Everyone! I've had a couple of questions come up about the 2nd Generation Jersey Pricing Model and also inquiries that have already come up as to when we can have another batch of jerseys printed.

Pricing Model: The first question that has come up is that some have noticed that there is a pricing difference between the jerseys that were pre-ordered and the price of jerseys at Cycle Mania. And they are curious as to why that is the case. In the interest of transparency, let us explain.

If you ordered a long-sleeved jersey (LS) online directly through Jakroo, you were extended a price of $103.00, while the short-sleeved jerseys were priced at $64.00 online. With the dynamic pricing model, those prices were 20% below the retail prices of $158.00 for the LS and $107.00 for the SS. Inside Cycle Mania, we are charging $75.00 for the long-sleeved version and $65.00 for the short-sleeved version.

Because STBVF paid substantially less as the dealer for the jerseys purchases to stock Cycle Mania than people ordering online, and because the funds to purchase that group of jerseys was donated, we had quite a bit of flexibility in the pricing model for in-store jersey pricing.

The main reason this pricing anomaly arose with regard to the long-sleeved jersey was a desire to 'flatten" the difference in cost between the LS and SS versions of the jersey. To the author's way of thinking, it is hard to justify a 40% premium for long-sleeved jerseys when the only difference involved is a slight bit more fabric for the LS. That kind of a price difference may be standard in the industry, but it doesn't make much sense. So . . . the price of the LS jerseys are substantially discounted at Cycle Mania. It doesn't matter to STBVF so much, because each jersey sold at Cycle Mania is pure profit that benefits the 501(c)(3).

We are aware that it doesn't seem equitable that folks that pre-ordered are paying a higher price for the jersey than it would cost inside Cycle Mania. As such, if you pre-ordered a 2nd Gen Walter Jersey and paid $103.00 for it instead of $75.00, STBVF will refund you the difference if you so desire. Our records indicated that there were 7 pre-ordered LS jerseys, with the difference in price being $28.00 per jersey. If you would like a refund, please notify Jason Moore at jason_moore_21@yahoo.com and it will be arranged. If you don't care and would rather consider the $28.00 a donation to STBVF . . . don't worry about it!

We sincerely thank everyone that has purchases a jersey and supported our pet trail system! We are in line to have a determination letter in hand before the end of 2025! Then we start building trails!