The crew enjoying sunshine on a very warm and dry PV new year day ride.

Happy New Year's, Portland Velo Members!

Here's hoping your holiday season has been a good one so far, and that the coming New Year will bring great things for you and your family.

This is a reminder there will be no Saturday Signature ride this week, as we ring in the New Year with our annual "Portland Velo / Madison's First Ride" on New Year's Day.

Details of the ride:

• Location: Madison's Grill parking lot, 1109 SE Madison Street, Portland
• Start time: 10 a.m. Please arrive a bit early, as we'll have some important announcements pre-ride, and will take our annual group photo on Madison's front steps before we ride.
• Ride style/route: Please leave your Powertaps, Garmins, aero skinsuits, fast wheels/fast bikes, and your burning "need for speed" at home for this ride. Today we ride as a group, celebrating a great end to 2011 and a fun beginning to 2012. There will no designated speed groups, as we do on Saturdays. We simply ask that the fast riders slow down a bit and the slower riders speed up a bit, and we all ride together. We'll meander around Portland and through various neighborhoods for a couple hours. The route usually is decided en route, so arrive with an open mind to something a bit different and fun. There might be a slight hill or two; if need be, we'll do a re-group at the top and then roll on.
• Post ride festivities: Madison's owner and PV sponsor/member Steve Brown and his crew will provide a post-ride brunch for all members!!!! Steve and I would like to ask all members for a donation of either $5 or two canned goods. We'll donate all proceeds to a local charity.
• Weather forecast: DRY!!!!!!!

As we depart 2011 and begin our journey into 2012, I thank everyone for being a part of another safe and successful Portland Velo year. The PV Operations team and I appreciate your continued support and enthusiasm for the club, and we hope to see you at even more rides in 2012.

Happy New Year,

KRhea
President/Director, Portland Velo Cycling Club

Linda, Paula, and Burk at PIR Winter Wonderland. Wishing everyone Happy Holidays from Portland Velo.

"On Your Left"

December is upon us and bringing with it some surprisingly low temps. This past week Portland has been “fog central”.  Be careful if you're out and about in the saddle early mornings as that fog has caused numerous iced over spots in and around the Portland metro area, and especially in the west hills.

The change in weather also brings our usual reminder to check the Portland Velo website for last-minute weather-related adjustments to our Saturday ride schedule. We've decided this year to keep our rides at 9 a.m. as long as the weather allows us. After taking a close look at the seasonal temperature charts, it turns out the difference in temperature from 9 to 10 a.m. is nil to one or two degrees.  Ninety-nine percent of the time the difference was not enough to even notice, if riders are dressed properly.  Keeping the 9 a.m. start allows members to get their ride in and get back home earlier in the day. With darkness descending around 4:30 p.m. this time of year, getting an extra hour or two of daylight on a Saturday is pretty valuable to most folks.

I'm not sure how many weather-related “late starts” we had last year, and I recall just one ride cancellation, but it's imperative that all members check the website before heading to the Saturday ride, if the weather conditions are questionable. We will always try and post information late Friday evening; however, there have been occasions when we do it early Saturday morning. Our goal is to have any late start or cancellation information on the web site no later than 7:30 Saturday morning.  Keep in mind, weather conditions can be quite different all over the Portland metro area at the same exact time, so don't assume anything, just check the web site front page and make sure. Since we're riding in western Washington county, that's the area/weather that we take into consideration when making our decision.