PBA Club History

In the Beginning...

The Plano Bicycle Association (PBA) was founded in 1982 by the city of Plano's Parks and Recreation Department to provide the opportunity for citizens to participate in group rides. The idea was developed by Don Wendell and Jeff Lingo and in the words of Sue Padden: "It was an obvious community interest due to the popularity of the Plano hike n bike trails. We had staff who enjoyed the longer rides and felt the club would fill a niche in our city." The idea was to run the club until such time as it could stand on its own as an independent organization.

The PBA was spun off in 1986 with a membership off between 75 and 100, with one or two rides each week, occasional special rides in other parts of Texas, and a president with a board of directors.

All members, past and present, are indebted to Don Wendell, Jeff Lingo, Sue Padden and others for their instrumental work to conceive of and develop the PBA in its early years.

Back then club information and ride schedules were published in a monthly PBA Newsletter. View the August, 1983 edition. An entry from this particular issue:

"EVERYONE IS WELCOME! Frankly, the turn out for club rides has been poor; between 3 to 7 riders at best. There are over 75 club members who must enjoy cycling or who want to start. Most members are beginners with some experienced cyclists. But ALL OF US enjoy the fresh air and companionship in these sociable bike rides. It's a different route each week, maps are provided and someone usually carries tools. COME AND JOIN US AND BRING A FRIEND."

Historians have uncovered evidence that the newsletter editor at this period was Susie Mumby. Other evidence (Susie's memoirs) indicate that Susie was in fact the PBA Ride Coordinator during this period of PBA history. But who was the Newsletter editor?

1980's: Riding the Rallies

There were regular rides that were always well received by members and guests alike. Mountain bike trail rides, road bike rides, overnight trips, you name it. A nice variety of rides were offered for all types of bike interests. One of the popular early events was the Stride and Ride Biathalon. Memories include the first cycling event t-shirt, the participation of then 15-year-old Lance Armstrong with his mom and step dad cheering him on, and Sue Padden as emcee calling all of the participants "Bi-athletes" in quite the southern drawl and getting lots of ribbing for that! It is interesting to note that it was Marc Mumby who said of Lance, "we need to watch out for this guy". How prophetic.

Salado, TX ride in the 1980's (anyone you recognize?)

1990's: OAS and Eight O'Clock Ride

Membership stayed fairly constant at around 100 riders. Rides became longer and faster with venturing out of Plano the norm. Rides went year-round weather permitting. On cold winter days, the rule was to ride no further than the temperature. A 16-mile ride comes to mind! Group size was usually 10-20 riders.

Two club rides dominated the 1990’s:

• The 8 o’clock ride, so named because it started at 8 o’clock am, led by Rusty Nail, and
• the OAS ride, which became the official name of a ride started by two runners (Mike Boyle, Mike Castellano - and later Rusty Nail) who rode at sunrise, calling themselves the “dawn patrol.” George Markus also led when Allen was unavailable.

They rode as fast as they could for as long as they could, thus freeing up the weekend for other activities (such as power naps). One of their wives called the pair “old and stupid,” and the name was immediately adopted.

Few women ventured to join the PBA and ride with the men. Those that did were exceptional bike handlers and brought an increased level of calmness and safety to the rides. 

A summertime weekend of PBA cycling could easily involve 125 miles of pedaling with rolling averages of around 20 mph.

Summertime mid-week rides in the evening were introduced. These were like the week-end rides, just shorter, so they were usually faster.

A Short History of OAS

OAS is a ride started sometime in the early 1990's. It was the club's signature ride (and only ride until the Eight O'clock ride came along). But what does OAS really mean, anyway? And how did it get started? There are a lot of unanswered questions around this ride. However, one fact is known: It has had a grand total of two ride leaders in its 20+ year history: Mike Boyle and Alan Hasty.

Mike Boyle and Alan Hasty share OAS stories

2000's: PBA Blossoms

A newly elected PBA president, Chris Mathews, with the help of Allan Warner wanted the club to grow, in terms of the number of rides, the number of members, and the number of women riders. 

A novice ride was added to the two fast rides. Once word got out, the response from Plano was resounding. A lot of citizens wanted to ride their bike with other like-minded cycling enthusiasts. The novice ride opened the floodgates over the next few years to the creation of rides from beginners all the way up to OAS, and everything in between. 20 new weekly rides were created over a period of a few years. Membership grew from 100 to 600.

The club had to get organized to handle the influx of members. Bike handling safety classes, ride rules and protocols, ride leader training, learn to ride classes, social events, cycling advocacy, and community involvement all took their place as part of the PBA. The nature of the PBA rides was encapsulated in the phrase “The PBAway.” It consists of Fun, Challenge, and Safety. The phrase has dissolved into the club folklore, and with a thriving and inclusive community of biking enthusiasts, one could say that "PByAy" embodies the spirit of our club. 

The new president’s goals were exceeded beyond his dreams.

2010's to the Present: Growth

Since the early history of PBA, we now have approximately 1,500 members, 30 different weekly rides occurring on every day of the week except Monday (rest day) and Friday (clean your bike day).

Club Jersey History

The PBA has enjoyed a rich tradition of club jerseys. It has always been important to the club to have a distinguishing jersey as a means to identify club members and promote the PBA.Pre-dating the jerseys, club members rode wearing a PBA t-shirt. Short-sleeved, red, with the word "Plano" on the front. The "o" was enlarged and filled in with spokes to represent a bike wheel. Made the word read "plan zero."

And Through it All We Have Fun

Left-to-right: Brandy, Elain, ??, Mark Satchnik, Mike Gwon, ??, Daniel Schaaf

Both and Elain and Mike are seen wearing a specially designed Livestrong PBA jersey in support of Steve Riedl who was battling melanoma.

anecdotes FROM years past

Start Location

Back in the day, PBA did not have a formal location. The OAS ride would meet at the Legacy/Independence parking lot. It was not unheard of for close to 100 cars of PBA'ers flooding the area. Einstein's was a popular after-ride meeting spot and undoubtedly, they did well because of us.

Not all other shops appreciated our flood of locusts though, and eventually when our club grew in the 2000's, we finally made formal arrangements for the now meeting spots of Spring Creek and Coit as well as Gulledge.

It Was All about HHH

Back in the day, riders came out of hibernation to train for the Hotter'n Hell Hundred. OAS and the 8am rides were their training grounds. Rides would crescendo to 50- to 60 in a peleton due to popular demand. However, literally after HHH, many a rider would not be seen again until the next HHH season.

Most Flats in a Ride

Can you guess the most flats recorded in a ride? 5, 10? Nope, 22!

On an OAS ride, while crossing a railway track, every single person got at least one flat! Alan Hasty still vividly remembers the puffs of talc as each tire exploded over the hazard.

Needless to say, everyone ran out of tubes in that instant. Plano Bike and Fitness went out of their way to meet the peloton along the way to resupply them with tubes. PBA was so grateful to this incredible level of service that they treated the shop to pizza.

Before GPS, RWGPS, ...

Alan Hasty led the OAS ride for over 25 years. He enjoyed finding new roads and he especially liked it when riders had no idea where they were. Mike Boyle showed him the ropes of how to create a route, and thereafter, he went off on his own. He would design a brand new route every week, based on wind conditions and he would have to memorize every road and turn. All of Alan's rides can be found in Map My Ride with the OAS keyword.

George Markus led DB2 after Rusty Nail moved from Plano. George is larger than life and also has the uncanny ability to come up with routes and impromptu route changes on the fly. It was always important to stay within the group because if you sprinted off the front, you might find yourself alone.

Rockets on Independence

Alan would tell the OAS crew that there were 2 ways to make the lights on Independence. Either go at a comfortable 18, or shoot up at 35 mph. Invariably, many would opt for the latter including 5 or 6 strong tandem bikers. Can you imagine going that speed after a long ride?

PBA Presidents - past and present

(term start date)

Parks and Recreation (1982 - 1983)

The club was initially managed within the Parks and Recreation department headed by Jeff Lingo, Sue Padden and Don Wendell.

our newsletters: past and present