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!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
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.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
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!
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!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
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?
Sunday, January 8, 2012
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.
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.
Monday, January 2, 2012
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!
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.
All in all a good weekend and start to the new year for The Club.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
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
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
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