Saturday Signature Ride June 8th Notice!

It was a first of gorgeous Saturdays. KRhea suggested we ride in a slower group than our summer usual. I rode most of the winter, thought I’d be fine with the 16 -18s. Part of me wanted to ride shorter with Linda Rennie— great to see her and Doug out again— but I wanted to test the legs.

Several large 16-18 groups rolled out. Beyond the highway overpass, riders I didn’t know were shuffling. One joked his new bike’s derailleur skipped. He and two buddies leap-frogged off the front; I was glad to see Apply them go. The group spread out up Helvetia. I was keeping up enough, glad to be there. Nearing the first roller, more shuffling. A rider suddenly pulled out to the left.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked. No answer as he headed to the other side of the road.

This has been a warm and productive May so far for Portland Velo Race Team.

First and foremost, a huge congratulations to PVRT Director Sasha Lacey! He finished the Rose Garden Series as the overall winner of the Master 4/5 40+.

Coming out of the Rose Garden Series, we knew we wanted to set Sasha up for another potential win. With that goal in mind, we decided to focus our energies on the Banana Belt Series. Overall, the Banana Belt series has been a tremendous success for us from both team building and results perspectives. Banana Belt #1 saw 10 PVRT racers out in force. A large crash put many competitors out of commission, including a number of PVRT riders. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, and our resident family physician, Luis Liu, abandoned his own race to help tend to the minor injuries. Despite this setback, three PVRTers made it through the crash to help place Sasha in third place in the Masters 4/5 standings. Banana Belt #2 had a PVRT lighter turnout, but we took two podium positions, with Sasha in second and Joseph Kim in third.

Editor’s Note: Without doubt, one of the most-discussed articles to appear in VeloCity was Dave Kelley’s research and findings on bike tires and inflation pressures. I am not kidding. Here, then, is his follow-on piece to illumine the continuing conversation…

After my article on tire inflation appeared in the May 2012 issue of VeloCity, I received this question from Portland Velo member Patrick Gibson:

I am curious, in your research did they find a tire pressure difference of say between 100 and 120 was much different for deflecting glass and debris from embedding in your tire as you are rolling along? I can imagine that at a very low pressure that you would risk more flats, but that 100 psi might be about the same as 120 psi for the same benefit.

In July, repairs will begin on the Springwater Corridor Trail just south of Ross Island Sand and Gravel, where the river bank and the trail have eroded. Right now the part of the trail nearest the river is closed for 150 feet, as cyclists, walkers, runners, etc. work their way around plastic bollards. The trail has been partially closed for over a year because of heavy rains and bank erosion.  The problem area is actually 1000 feet long, requiring many different permits. The bank must be reinforced and new vegetation planted, as well as laying down new asphalt. It still hasn’t been decided whether there will be a detour or a trail closure, and the exact dates are still to be determined, but stay tuned.

Oregon ranks third among bike-friendly states, according to the League of American Bicyclists, up from 5th place last year and 8th in 2011. Top states were Washington (1), Colorado (2), Minnesota (4), and Delaware (5). Oregon scored low in the “infrastructure and funding” category.  Portland State University was rated the fourth most bike-friendly university in the U. S., also by the League of American Bicyclists. Twelve percent of employees and students arrive by bike, an increase from 6% in 2005. Others in this Gold category were UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. Stanford was the only university to be awarded Platinum status. Oregon State University and University of Oregon received Silver designations.