Please Come! Cruzbike Ride Retreat 2018

July 17, 2018/ Maria Parker

Registration is now open for the 2018 Cruzbike Ride Retreat!


Most of the group from 2017

Last October the Cruzbike crew including Jim, Lucia, Robert and I joined with 23 other Cruzbike riders at beautiful White Lake NC for three glorious days. Though the use of exaggeration is not uncommon for me, I don’t think the use of the word glorious is an overstatement to describe those three days.

We gathered at the FFA camp on the southeastern edge of White Lake in eastern North Carolina on Thursday evening, October 12th and spent that evening and the next 2 and ½ days talking, laughing, eating, playing, riding, and sleeping a little. Some of us swam, canoed, raced, wrenched and lectured. If there is a Cruzbike heaven, and I think there probably is (God is smart and logical right?), this was a little taste of it.

I want everyone who came last year to come again, it won’t be as fun without you!

If you couldn’t come last year, please come this year. I want you to experience the pure pleasure of being an insider for the 3 days.

Finally, I’m inviting anyone and everyone who has ever thought about buying a Cruzbike but hasn’t. Come and experience Cruzbike in a friendly, easy, no pressure way. You can try any Cruzbike model you would like and spend the weekend getting familiar with it or you can just come and be part of the fun any way you would like.

I have fond memories of White Lake. Over the last 20 years as we have often visited and I have done occasional triathlons there. Most lakes in this part of North Carolina are brown colored because of the tannins in the rivers and creeks that feed them. White Lake is spring fed and has a white sandy bottom, hence its name. The lake is usually pristinely clear. Lately, they are having more trouble with algae as the lakeshore is now completely developed and runoff from lawns with fertilizer can overfeed the lake. Still, it is clean and beautiful and with cypress trees growing in and near the water’s edge. Cypress knees pop up all around the trees and the Spanish moss hangs down giving the lake edge a beautiful, relaxed, feel with lots of shade.

FFA formerly stood for Future Farmers of America. Like the BSA it no longer stands for those words, but the camp was created to “promote vocational agriculture in schools.” Young men and women have been coming to White Lake since 1928 to recreate and ostensibly to think about farming. I think they still do.



The FFA camp has a couple of options for sleeping. Last year, we used the bunkhouses in order to keep the experience affordable. There are also hotel-like rooms available. This year we will be offering both options. If you want to pay a little more and stay in a real bed and are not comforted by the sound of 10 people’s deep breathing (read snoring), that might be a choice for you, though the bunks weren’t bad and I slept well.

The food all weekend was terrific. It was brought to us by Denise’s Culinary Creations in Lumberton. It was both delectable and relatively healthy (or so she told us). If she is available, we’ll use her services again. I don’t know about you, but if the food is good, no matter what else happens, I’m a happy camper. A long ride followed by a good meal, is there anything better?

We did lots of riding. We’ll repeat that this year. We’ll choose some different, quieter routes. If anyone is up for it, we’ll head back to the iconic Melvin’s for the best burgers in North Carolina and possibly the world.



We’ll also share ideas and what we’ve learned in the evenings. We’ve promised the competitors among us an award for the most Strava KOM’s and QOMs. If you have a “smart” trainer (like a Kickr) bring it. We might have some fun on those.

If you’re not a competitor, and your idea of fun is just polishing your Cruzbike and taking it around the block a few times, well come on! There is room for all.



Once again, if you don’t own a Cruzbike, but feel you are a kindred spirit to Cruzbikers or just want to see what the fuss is about, we welcome you. You’ll be surrounded by good people.

The costs this year will be $350 for dorms, $550 for hotels based on double occupancy. This includes meals, lodging, a new Cruzbike jersey and lots of fun. This year, we have a big perk. If you purchase a Cruzbike in the month after the Ride Retreat, we will apply $250 of your ride retreat registration to the cost of a new Cruzbike.

One of my favorite Cruzbike quotes from last year’s retreat comes from Robb Myer, who when asked to describe his Cruzbike lifestyle said, “Roll-Steer-Pedal-Relax-Repeat.” That’s my personal theme for 2018. Thank you Robb!

I’m looking forward to seeing new friends and old in October. Here’s the sign up link one more time.