Cycle Oregon Weekend Ride 2012

The family spent the weekend at the Cycle Oregon Weekend ride. We're getting ready to experience the Cycle Oregon week long ride later this summer and we hadn't done this since 2007 when it was in its second year. The Weekend Ride is a window into the fantastically well organized riding that goes on during the week long ride. 


Corvallis was the place for this year, which was a homecoming of sorts for Susan and I from the college days. It was nice to be back on campus, this time sleeping under the stars. 


Our friends got down a little early and organized a nice spot on Peavy Field which was a great grassy spot with a few trees for shade. The weather was fantastic throughout the weekend! The Community Cycling Center had organized a Bike Camp for the kids, so we had both Abby and Amelia in Camp so Susan and I could ride the long route (68 miles, 4,200 feet of climbing). Abby had enjoyed the program of the week long experience before but this was our 6-year old's first organized bike activity. The confidence they build in the camp is well worth the price of admission. It also turned out that I knew some of the instructors, our transportation world is so very small, so we knew that they were in good hands and the girls had an absolute blast. Abby's group did just over 15 miles and Amelia did 7, travelling from park to park in the City of Corvallis and enjoying the playgrounds and camaraderie of being with kids their own age.


The Cycle Oregon weekend sold out this year (2,200 strong)! The food at the dorms was sufficient to get us going. I agree with the Path Less Pedaled that it would have been a lot better with just a touch better coffee (we are Portland coffee snobs). Where was Nossa Familia or Trailhead when you need them? 


The food at the lunch stops was fantastic and this was cheerfully offered by Cycle Oregon's fantastic volunteers. Definitely something I will enjoy doing when the kids are out of the house. 

The Sunday ride was special for the family. After having it for six years (we bought it from a friend), we finally pulled the tandem from the back of the garage after mounting the stoker kit for Amelia. Susan had completed a test ride last week, so Amelia was ready to enjoy the ride and was pushing for the middle route (36 miles). Abby was a bit reluctant at first to commit to the 36 miles (it would best her previous long from last summer), but after seeing deer on the side of the highway and turkey vultures a few minutes later, she exclaimed "this is the experience of a lifetime!"

A few more photos from along the route.

Jay Graves of the Bike Gallery offered to let me borrow his dream
machine. This bike looked fast just leaning on the support van.
Bike Gallery's support of Cycle Oregon is a big reason I have bought
Trek bikes and ride them with pride. 

Susan and the kids at the Thompson Flour Mill, an Oregon State Park.

Abby gets a little help on the home stretch.

During the last mile, we kept promising ice cream to the kids.
Cycle Oregon didn't disappoint!

Friends of Sellwood, put this on your calendars for next year and prepare for the Cycle Oregon announcement (normally the first week in February)! I am willing to bet the Weekend Ride starts ending up like the Weeklong Ride where you have 30 minutes before it sells out!

Cycle Oregon Weekend Ride Sunday Mid Length Route

Cycle Oregon Weekend Ride Sunday Mid Length Route by pkoonce99 at Garmin Connect - Details

Cycle Oregon Weekend Saturday Long Route

Cycle Oregon Weekend Saturday Long Route by pkoonce99 at Garmin Connect - Details

Ronde PDX covered by the Oregonian

I thought this was a pirate ride that doesn't get much coverage, but the Oregonian highlighted it in the O today, here's the link.

Ronde PDX - 2011 Route

Welcome Spring & The Value of Group Riding

I had been slacking off of the group rides for a time to get my fitness back up before joining in and because my schedule has been a tad erratic. Today, I got out with the Sellwood shop ride and they had a nice group of 11. The group ride was a spirited affair as always. One of the great things they do is a sprint finish to the City limits signs as you pass from one town to the next. Today, we headed out on the Springwater Trail, so fairly familiar territory for everyone which made some of the strategy even more intriguing.

Our destination was Oxbow Park, located in the scenic Sandy River Gorge and southwest of Troutdale. We stopped for coffee at Celebrate Me Home which has a nice coffee shop in the store. We didn't linger long there because the weather beckoned us back out with some really nice sunshine. I'd wished I brought my sunglasses. With all the snow and wet weather we've been having it was a welcome surprise.

So, the ride was good, it was 50 miles all summed up. This is longer than I have gone this year, which is reason #1 that group rides are good. The second was that I clearly pushed harder than I had on my own. I recognized this at three separate periods in the ride. The first instance was when I dropped a glove (out of a jacket pocket) and then had to chase to get back into the pack. The second was when we tackled the hill out of Oxbow Park. The 22% grade was a good effort to push my comfort level. The last was when I dropped my chain and then again had to fight back into the pack after readjusting the chain.

I also picked up a trick from my buddy Joe about how to feather the chain back into service in a situation like that. There are a wide variety of nuggets of cycling genius that you can glean from a group ride.

Finally, the inspiration of future rides is always a good discussion topic. I think I convinced Joe to ride in the Ronde PDX. Joe was the guy who made us look silly last year passing us on his mountain bike during the ride. He was thinking about skipping it this year, but I hope to try to hang with him this year.

The Importance of Street Names in Route Planning

I should have known that the route was going to be a good one when the organizer said we'll start out going up Summit and then hit Alpine. These streets are named this for a reason. What do you expect from a guy that is nicknamed the mountain goat of the group!

We had a nice group of 7 today and four of us wore the Club jerseys. It is fun to see them on the ride. The other two regulars on the ride, bought the jerseys but just haven't picked up theirs. We have a great core group and it was a day to celebrate one of our members turning 40!  The new guy was nice and outclassed us with his ride.

It is not the best boost to the ego to learn that there's an ex-pro on the ride that is at the fitness level where one could contemplate climbing a 19,000 foot high mountain in Peru. Then to find out that effort was done without Oxygen. Of course to add insult to injury, I didn't know this until after the ride.

The ride was great until my freewheel seized up 15 miles into the ride. We were on SW Fairmount Loop at the time and we thought it could be fixed but alas it was too far gone to coast on. The timing was okay, we were only 5 miles from the house and the Sag Wagon was ready to roll with the kids at the neighbors house. I ended up taking the bike in for service and am hopeful for warranty support.

The post ride stop at the Muddy Rudder was a great way to share a recap of rides gone past and a do a little planning about this seasons offerings. The unsupported century to the Bridge of the Gods has to be on the list and some shorter rides to get more neighbors out with the Club. I am going to need someone to hang with me in the back of the pack if I don't get my fitness up.

Ronde PDX on Oregon Field Guide

A nice 6 minute video for those that haven't heard of the Ronde. A couple of my favorite quotes: We're all a little touched in the head.

College Street at Mile 27 was my deathnail last year, not this year!

Snow Rides

It's snowing! Alert the news channels, it's time for an overreaction of media proportions. A friend of mine posted about a snow ride today on Facebook and it made me think about organizing a ride (when the snow melts tomorrow). I doubt there would be interest in a snow covered ride, sorta like cyclocross?, but is there? Comment if you care to or go to the FB page.

Bertha's Ride Led by Issac

It was one of those days where the rain bikes hit the streets and the winter gear got a true test of its effectiveness. Mat displayed his brand new gloves and I was pleased with the arm warmers I had added late in my preparation for the ride. It was also one of those days I would have bet the house that Chris' Cervelo and its amazing paint job was not going to make an appearance. This ride gave us a chance to see what we were made of and while that sounds like we were tough, the conditions weren't all that bad. 43 degrees and raining isn't bad when you're burning 1,000 calories an hour.

Bertha's Ride with SCC Jan 14, 2012 - Details

The first part of the ride got us heading uphill through Happy Valley and an elevation climb of 550 feet in 1.5 miles. That's an average grade of 7% for a pretty good stretch and a gradual climb. The rain seemed to let up after we made that ascent and that's when Issac started putting the hammer down on the group. For safety, I slowed down a bit to lag behind, with the bright light in the back like a wide load warning car. This doesn't mean I was the wide load. It was a no drop ride, so we eased up a bit near the end when the pack was lagging a bit behind the leaders. All in all, a spirited ride with a great group that endured some rainy conditions, but had a good time. You know the conditions aren't too bad when I had to break up a conversation about hair products.

Rule #9 was the keeper of the day, although we didn't really get a full dose of icicles in the water bottle. Rule 23 wasn't far behind and when I got home one of my big toes was nearly ready to fall off. I am not complaining, it's just a fact. Cheers!

Rides the week of Martin Luther King Jr holiday

I am thinking we should honor Martin Luther King Jr with a nice long bike ride. The question is where to go. It would be ideal to ride the Boulevard named after him, but that's probably not in the cards. Who's game for organizing the ride?

Following Lions - Getting Ready for De Ronde

Ronde PDX is an epic ride that should be on the calendar for everyone in the Club.

It's a true test of fitness and this ride was clearly part of the inspiration for the jerseys and the Club in general. We knew we had something when seven of us showed up for what was to be a crazy journey through the hills of SW Portland. I know I wasn't clear that it was going to be such a tough ride and remember telling the wife that we'll have just a few hours to complete the 60 some miles. Yet, 60 miles takes a bit longer when you're going along at 4 miles per hour like I did today. Chasing a Few Lions 01-08-12

It was a fantastic day for a ride with the fog letting go to sunny skies and a crisp day to be on the bike. I will post the full length of the DeRonde per my GPS when I find it and figure out what day the ride will be for 2012. Officially in 2011, there was no ride as the website says.

What we're about...

Sellwood Cycling Club represents a group of neighborhood folks that wanted to share in the fun of getting out together and riding when their busy schedules allow. We share a love of the neighborhood and of cycling. A lot of us started out as commuters and now enjoy longer rides and some of us are riding ‘cross. The club is equal parts social and cycling and is open to anyone in the neighborhood that wants to join.

Have comments, let me know!

New Years Day +1 Morning Ride

A few of the guys got out on a short ride today, and heading for the Cemetery across the Sellwood Bridge from the 'hood. It turned out to be great weather for them and it was 3 different guys from yesterday. I didn't join them because the wife wanted to get out during a play date that was scheduled for the kids. We got almost 30 miles in 2.5 Hours. We took Springwater to the 205 path out to Marine Drive and on the river almost got hit by a heron swooping in to the Columbia. The weather was good until we headed south for home. As we made the final left in our big loop, and we ended up getting a bit of a headwind on the way home coming down Ne 15th from Dekum through Lloyd and down 11th Ave.

All in all a good weekend and start to the new year for The Club.

New Years Day Ride

We started out at the Blue Kangaroo at 2 PM under windy conditions and beautiful skies and a fantastically dry day. We lost a few folks to the mountain (for skiing with their families) but ended up with 4 of us going on the ride. It was a nice time of day that let us recover after the night's festivities but also get some miles in to start the year off right.

Eric Roth brought out his new Scott CR1 Pro (beautiful matte black bike) that he got at Sellwood Cycle Repair last month, and so I knew I was in for a long day. It was good to see the new bike getting some use and it was helpful for me to use that as an excuse when he left me in the dust, or as I like to call it "sweep" position... You know because I had the tail lights on the back of my bike so that made sense for me to be the safe one of the group. It wasn't that I gained a few pounds after the christmas holiday or anything.

The good news was that I looked good because I had the new jersey on complete with the arm warmers thanks to Therapeutic Associates! This is the first ride were all of us had jerseys and it was great to see what we had thought through for the last 6 months become reality on the road I'm kicking myself now because I didn't get a picture of us all. It's unlikely that we're gonna get a day like that where we could go without rain jackets or anything on top of the jerseys.

We used the Rubber to the road Twin Peaks ride which covered Rocky Butte and Mount Tabor peaks.

The route we took was to take the Springwater to the Esplanade and then Tillamook to Rocky Butte. We covered 26 miles in just over 2 hours in the afternoon ride with good hill climbing. I was sucking wind on both the big hill climbs, so if you're thinking about coming out to ride with us you really should cuz it would make me feel better about myself