The Way We Roll

By Dave Kelley

Recently, I was asked to recommend tires: Top choice for big mileage? Best for winter? Great value? Rather than just give my opinion, I decided to survey some of my riding buddies and get the benefit of several points of view, and maybe see if certain models and brands were clearly more popular than others for specific purposes. My 38 respondents are not necessarily representative of the club; however, they do comprise somewhat of a Portland Velo membership cross section: younger to older, male and female, solid recreational riders to racers or ex-racers, several relatively new cyclists and some with decades of high mileage riding.

I asked for two tires in each of six categories: Comfortable Ride; Handling, Cornering, Braking; Racing; Durability, Longevity, Wear; Flat Resistance; Wet or Winter Weather.  The two tires were to be “price is no object,” and the other to be “best value,” meaning to take price into consideration. Respondents were free to leave blanks, or to name the same tire in more than one question.

"My Favorite Ride"

By John Delius

Here in the Northwest there are many pretty rides. Last summer’s Cascade Grand Fondo comes to mind, and I have fond memories of RSVP—Ride from Seattle to Vanvouver BC and Party—which I did a couple of years ago. While technically not my favorite, there is a ride I have done a couple times and I am very proud to have completed: the 204-mile Seattle to Portland (STP) Classic in one day. http://shop.cascade.org/content/events/stp. I plan to do this ride again this summer.

STP this year will be held July 14-15. Sponsored by Cascade Bicycle Club, registration for this year’s ride already is open. The ride is limited to 10,000 riders—yes, I said 10,000—and it sells out earlier each year. As of February 18, the ride was 86% filled. It can be ridden as a one- or two-day double century, but I have only done the single-day option.

The registration fee is $105, but plan also to pay about $100 for a dorm room at University of Washington (blocks from the start), and $86 to Portland Wheelman to take you and your bike up to University of Washington, and keep your car parked at the Double Tree hotel in the Lloyd District that is near the finish.

Training for the Colorado High Country 1200 Km Brevet

The Oregon Coast 600km Brevet in early May drained my reserves to the bottom. The Rando Recovery Rule of Thumb is one week of rest for every 100 km. Those six weeks post-ride were difficult! Yet my weary legs were strong enough to finish the flat Snoozeville 100km, May 28, in 4:31. The pint of IPA at Cornelius Pass Road House went down real well afterwards. Another two weeks of recovery rides and I was ready to train again.

My preparation plan for the High Country included longer rides at medium altitudes in mid-June, then two weeks of rest before flying to Boulder. A nine-day loaded ramble around mountainous South Central Oregon, including Klamath Lake, Crater Lake, Davis Lake, and Summer Lake, while exploring new roads, sounded great. Life gets in the way, though. My new job axed the Paris-Brest-Paris tour, but allowed my Brevet to go forward. How could I keep my endurance, acclimate to altitude, and increase my strength?  The short answer for strength is intervals. Yuk. Since retiring from racing in 1998, I have avoided structured workouts, deferring to fun over fitness. Everyone knows I need to climb faster, although I did win a mountain bike hill climb at Ski Bowl back in the day. 

Do’s & Don’ts to Live By

This past summer and fall there were several incidents involving riders and motorists in the Portland area, specifically on NW Skyline Boulevard and surrounding areas. Some of these incidents involved members of our club who were harassed by drivers in the area. The problem gained some traction and was covered by Bikeportland, OBRA chat, and the evening news, and I made mention of it during our Saturday pre-ride announcements.

In order to foster dialogue between the residents of Skyline and cyclists, a forum was held November 9. In attendance were cyclist/ attorney Mark Ginsberg, several Multnomah County deputies, a Portland police officer, representatives from the Multnomah County DA's office along with reps from numerous Portland cycling groups including numerous OBRA teams, “B.O.B.s”, BTA, and Portland Velo, along with 150 interested and concerned Skyline area residents and Portland area cyclists. While the discussion focused on the Skyline area, the concerns really applied to everyone throughout the Portland cycling community. As part of the discussion and to help create concrete solutions, a few of us promised to jointly develop some "Do's and Don'ts" for drivers and cyclists.

The input for this list came from attorneys, police officers, racing organizations, and clubs, as well as members of the residential community in that area. This list is not the be-all end-all, but it's a start. Our plan is to distribute this list as widely as possible in the cycling community, as well as to the residents of the Skyline, Rock Creek, and Cornelius Pass areas.