On Your Left….
It’s the Spring edition of Velocity! Welcome to warmer temps, drier rides, and allergy season!
The last couple weeks our Saturday rides have again blossomed into their springtime fullness with attendance growing to over 100 riders. Of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank all of you who hung in there with us throughout the winter months. There were many Saturdays I expected maybe 5-10 riders when I arrived the parking lot, and I was repeatedly surprised when there would be 25-30 riders ready to roll out, even though it was cold and usually wet. Congrats to the diehards for surviving another winter full of cold, wet Saturday rides, and doing it with a smile on your face, a great attitude, and a bit of road grit in your teeth!
Spring 2012 brings a newly refreshed Ride Leader Team with a lot of new faces. We had hoped for a team of 30 leaders, and we now have over 30 ride leaders for our Saturday rides! A big thanks to the new faces on the team, to the veteran ride leaders, and to the sponsors/supporters of the Ride Leader Team: Western BikeWorks, Impact Physical Therapy, Garmin, and Einstein Bros Bagels. To all members who participate in our Saturday rides now and throughout the year, please take a moment and thank your ride leader(s) for their efforts. It’s because of them we have safe, organized rides. Our ride leaders are the most critical “spoke” in our Saturday Signature Ride wheel.
A few days ago an immense group of PV members ventured to Salem for the annual pilgrimage known as “Monster Cookie”. While our goal was to have 100 members ride, I’m still trying to get a handle on how many actually attended. Due to perfect weather conditions, the overall turnout for the ride was the largest I’d ever seen and I’ve ridden it at least 10 times. Consequently, those members who either didn’t plan their arrival time properly or didn’t pre-register had to deal with huge lines at registration. This unfortunately caused them to miss the annual club photo shoot on the Statehouse steps. My usual thanks goes out to everyone who was a part of the Monster Cookie event. It’s really become a big event for our Club, and is the perfect way to begin the NW cycling season. It’s always great to hear the comments from other riders who see the PV crew and are astonished at how many of us there are, and how cool we look all rollin’ in the club colors. If you did ride Monster Cookie but missed the photo shoot, please LMK so I can add you into the final member count for the ride. I saw a lot of members both on the road and at Champoeg Park who didn’t make the photo.
The 2012 Monster Cookie crew:
Two other Spring events rides that typically draw good-sized PV crowds are:
May 5th- Ride Around Clark County RACC, Vancouver
May 19th- Reach the Beach, Portland/Newberg to Pacific City
If you plan to ride either of these rides or any rides throughout the summer months and want some company, your best bet is to jump on the PV Facebook page and let folks know you’ll be riding and would welcome some “domestiques”.
Loose gravel…
Portland Velo member directs new event ride:
Club member Nancy Marshall, Executive Director of the Harrington Family Foundation, has taken on the added role of event director for a late summer event called “Bridge to Breakers”. Some of you may have heard that Joey Harrington was involved in an accident last year when the bike he was riding was struck by a car. Fortunately Joey survived relatively unscathed; however, he and his Foundation immediately realized they could take what happened to him and channel it into something good for the community. The doctors who attended to Joey made immediate reference to the fact he was wearing a helmet and how instrumental it was in helping him escape with only minor injuries. Nancy and the Foundation seized upon this fact and decided to promote safer cycling for kids by creating an event with proceeds targeted at helmets for kids. This September 23, Nancy and her crew will present Portland with the first of what’s hoped to be an annual event called “Bridge to Breakers, Helmet for Kids” century ride. The ride follows a beautiful, rarely traveled, lightly trafficked route to the coast, beginning on Sauvies Island and finishing on the beach at Gearhart with a huge party sponsored and provided by McMenamins.
Mark your calendars and support our PV member Nancy Marshall and the Harrington Family Foundation in their efforts to make cycling safe for the younger riders in our community.
Shout outs:
To all the new ride leaders, especially the following: Sue, Craig, Tom, John L., Virginia, VQ, John W. and Patrick, for already stepping up and leading your first ride(s)
Dave Levy not only is a PV member, but also a custom frame builder, and owns “Ti Cycles Fabrication”. Dave took my twisted, crunched and crashed tandem and brought it back to life in an afternoon of bending, twisting, gauging, etc., which resulted in our tandem probably being straighter and better aligned then when it was brand new. Thanks a bunch, Dave. If you ever have a steel or titanium frame that needs repair, call Dave, he’s the man. Or, if you’d like a beautiful new custom built frame, give Dave a shout. Piggybacking on that shout-out, Dave also brought home two awards from the North American Handmade Bike Show in March!
Injured reserve list: Get well and quick recoveries to the following members, Judi Davis, Burk Webb.
That’s it, that’s all. |
