Important Announcements!

This week the club has a couple of important “happenings” to keep in mind.  Please take a moment and read through what’s up so you won’t miss any fun this week

SUMMER CLUB KIT ORDER!

First off, it’s new “kit” order time!!!  I know a lot of you have been patiently awaiting this opportunity so mark your calendars for this coming Friday evening, June 10th, 6-8:30pm at the Castelli offices, 1040 NE 44th Ave #1, PDX 97213.

This is your opportunity to try on the pieces, find the correct size and make decisions about purchasing club gear if you are interested.  Castelli makes great clothing and our club pricing is excellent.  The following items will be available:Short Sleeve Jersey (M + W)

• • • • • • • Bib/Shorts (M + W)
            • Wind Jacket (Unisex)
            • Wind Vest (Unisex)
            • Lycra Arm Warmers
            • Lycra Knee Warmers
            • Cycling Caps
            • Socks
            • Helmets- This is a full on custom Portland Velo helmet designed to work with our new kit design and colors.

You will not be purchasing/paying for the items at this fit session. The club will open an online “store”, you’ll be notified when the “store” opens at which time you can log on, check out the items again, make your purchase decisions, pay online and in a few weeks our orders will be ready.

Later in the summer or perhaps early fall we’ll do another fit session for winter/cold weather gear.

This will be the only fit session we’ll have for correct sizing prior to ordering so please make every effort to attend.

SATURDAY 6/11 RIDE START LOCATION CHANGE

The next item relates to our Saturday June 11th club ride.  Due to the Helvetia Half Marathon starting and finishing at Hillsboro Stadium we are unable to use our usual start location this week so…We’re gonna go off-site so to speak.  Way off-site to the beautiful Gorge Scenic Hwy.  We’ll be rolling from Mcmenamins Edgefield at our usual start time of 9am and we’ll ride from Edgefield out to Multnomah Falls and back.  This is a very scenic route, approx 40miles give or take a bit with a touch of climbing.

When you arrive Edgefield please park in the designated area for our group (west parking lot, West of the Powerstation Pub).  Just look for myself, JRod or the large group of folks with bikes and you’ll be in the right spot!  Look forward to seeing everyone this week.

-KRhea

Ride Start Time Change!

Spring officially has arrived, at last, which means longer and warmer days, and a new start time for all
Portland Velo rides. As of Saturday, May 7, Club rides will begin at 9 a.m. Remember, we have new
start locations, too:

• Saturdays from the north side of LaCie, 22985 NW Evergreen Parkway in Hillsboro. Look for signs identifying permissible parking areas.
• Tuesdays and Thursdays from the north side of Wilshire Park, at NE 33rd Avenue and Skidmore.

See you soon!

New Ride Start Location!

 Great news if you haven’t already heard…Portland Velo has a new home for our Saturday Signature Ride and it’s all of ¼ mile from our old starting point.

One of our wonderful members, Chris Johnston, was kind enough to approach his employer, LaCie, and propose allowing PV to use their facility for parking/starting our rides. He received a resounding Yes! Thanks so much, Chris.

The address of LaCie is: 22985 NW Evergreen Parkway, Hillsboro 97214

This kind offer is one we need to appreciate and respect. It’s up to each member to make sure we treat this location in the proper manner. LaCie has asked that we adhere to the following requests:

1. No parking directly in front of the LaCie building on the north side.
   
   
2. No parking in neighboring tenants’ spaces. There are 80+ LaCie parking spaces for us to use, and PV currently is working on signage to designate where we can and cannot park. Our hope is to have it ready to go this weekend. If not, please ask either JRod, Chris, or me when you arrive, and we’ll direct you to the right spot(s).  Please also view the attached photo for an overhead shot of where we can park
   
   
3. No complaints from surrounding tenants!!!! They were very point blank about this one. If they receive any complaints from other tenants regarding any disrespectful or disruptive behavior, we’ll be asked to go elsewhere. This includes littering, peeing in bushes, speeding through the parking lot, etc. There are no onsite restrooms. Please keep this in mind and plan accordingly.

If these simple requests are too much for you to follow, we’ll ask that you not attend our Saturday rides, as your actions have the potential to ruin things for the entire Club.

Thanks again, Chris, and to LaCie as well. See everyone Saturday for our first ride from our new “home”.

KRhea

4/28 Update:

Ready for this…high for the day is forecast to be 68 degrees!

OK folks, here it is, the weather we’ve all been waiting on the weekend that officially “opens” the Oregon cycling season at the ride we know and love, The Monster Cookie.

Get registered, get on the road Sunday morning, get to the state house steps by 8:15am for the club group photo and then enjoy yourself all the way to Champoeg Park and back to Salem.

This is a great event and wonderful “off-site” club ride that we partake in every year and every year our group gets bigger and better.  This year it would be great to have 100 members on the roads between Champoeg and Salem at the same time.

The route is flat and very speedy if that’s what you’re looking for and very scenic and well marked if you want roll a bit slower and “smell the roses”.

One thing to keep in kind, with the forecast for a perfect cycling day those who need to register on-site should arrive very early as the registration lines are sure to be long and you don’t want to miss the group pic.

Today is the last day to register online for next Sunday's Monster Cookie ride in Salem.

You can still register the day of the ride, but get there early as you'll have to stand in line!

Here's KRhea's reminder:

The Monster Cookie Metric Century has become almost like “opening day” of the professional baseball season. It’s the first major organized ride and really “opens the season” for cycling in our area. The Salem Bicycle Club does an excellent job with organization, the route is flat and ridiculously fast, they offer a great lunch mid-way and the giant cookie “payoff” at the finish is well worth the 62 miles of effort.

For the past 3 years, Portland Velo has been the most visible club participating in the event. So many of us do the ride that it’s not unusual to hear random riders comment about how many PV jerseys they see during the ride. We meet pre-ride and take a club photo on the statehouse steps, so be sure to get there early.  Immedaitely following the photo, various groups form and we roll out headed to Champoeg Park.

Our goal this year is to have 75 to 100 members ride Monster Cookie. Last year we had between 60 and 70 if I remember correctly. This is one of the few rides where we gather as a club, wear our “colors” and participate en masse.  See you there!