Saturday was the 2007 edition of “Reach the Beach“.
Sunday was my day of recovery, and shopping with Honey.
Monday is time to think back on the ride and make notes.

• I chose the century route which started at Scholls Heights in Beaverton, and finished at Pacific City. The change to this new starting spot was ostensibly to reduce the route from 104 to 100, and to cut out a big climb at the start of the ride.
• Parking at the school was non-existent. I needed to park in the residential neighborhood 7 blocks away. The area residents must have loved having their streets clogged by cars with bike racks all day long.
• The changed route at the start substituted some busy highway with quiet forested roads, which was good. It also added much more climbing than in years past and more most everyone expected and seemed to slow peoples times.
• The course didn’t feel as full of riders as in years past. Perhaps the threat of rains held out the late comers?
• There are always a few bad riders on these rides. We came upon three slower riders riding abreast, taking the entire lane of a busy two lane road, which forced another line of riders lead by a tandem to veer into the oncoming lane to pass, just as a SUV approached and overtook them from behind, actually driving onto the opposite shoulder to pass what was now 4 riders abreast. That is wrong on so many levels.
• The food was really pretty good, and better than years past. Except for their over reliance on apples as the fruit of choice and the fact that all the lunch lines were out of chili when it was our time to go through, the fuel support was ok.
• At various times there were little Cliff Bars, bananas which are always popular, boiled eggs, which Honey hates but I think are useful, I saw one tub of licorice, which is like instant carbs, and always cookies. Any ride is a good ride if they have cookies.
• “Panera Bread” did a great job in volunteering to provide the breads and carbs for the riders. They had bread available at nearly all stops, and the sandwiches at Grand Ronde were perfect. Many thanks to “Panera Bread” and hope they can return again.
• Why do they state that the course closes at 5:00 on rides of a 100 miles or more? There were still riders coming in when we left town at 7:00.
• Moving up the spot of the last rest stop was good. That stop is most useful for those riders who are struggling and need one more rest, but the previous location, which is off the road during a downhill section, is too often passed by unseen by riders. This one was much more visible. Think riders enjoyed the guy with the bullhorn dispensing information and encouragement, although because of the cooler temps, he wasn’t getting any takers for his super soaker water gun.
• There was a spot on the ride that required riders to stop and cross over a very fast and busy Highway 99 between Dayton and Amity, and it shocked me that the organizers provided no support or warnings at this point at all. Many thanks to the driver who stopped on the highway which allowed a large group of bikers to cross. We all gave the driver encouraging waves of thanks in the spirit of mutual livability.
• The route is fairly well marked, and with a large number of riders usually not hard to follow, but in spots the signage was not always obvious, and easy to miss if you were not careful.
• The finishing stage is nice and all, but charging a rider who has just ridden 100 miles $4.00 for a cup of bear just seems criminal.
• Finished with 103 miles, a few sore spots and…..a plastic lei.

In a previous post, I started a list of reasons a person would want to commute by bike.
Today, I add another.  I have said before that one of my commuting strategies is to bring in a bag containing a clean set of clothes.  I like to plan to have an extra set here just to cover any unexpected issues and thus reducing the possibility I spend the day at the office in bike clothes.

Today, I did not ride.  But I did manage to spill coffee on my pants in a potentially embarrassing manner that I did not want to have to explain. Since I would be standing in a room of 14 people during a status meeting in about 10 minutes, I wanted a way out.  My extra set of jeans in the locker room was a perfect solution!

There are just so many good things about biking……

Doesn’t matter if we are sufficiently trained for this ride yet, we are going after it!

The event is posted on our calender for Saturday, May 19th.

We got to ride in to work today after a 2 week layoff. I was just getting over my cold when Honey got hers. It was a clear and chilly ride, and we had enough time to take it easy due to the layoff and the fact Honey is still coughing and tired. We agreed on a small route change along North Shore in Lake Oswego, that essentially replaces one long steep climb with several shorter steep climbs. Little easier to manage, and with good speed, you can really shorten the difficult grinding parts. I already have my bag of stuff that includes a change of clothes in the locker room, but since it has been 2 weeks since I checked on it, I took a new full set of clothes in my pannier. Getting to work, and not having clothes to wear once I get there is not going to be a good thing, hence the backup set. I have noticed that since I am still so warm after riding and having a hot shower, that the cold clothes coming out of my pannier feel really nice.

The 2007 Giro d’Italia Lineup
Yaroslav Popovych
Volodomyr Bileka
Steve Cummings
Pavel Padrnos
Jose Luis “Chechu” Rubiera
Tomas Vaitkus
Brian Vandborg
Jurgen Van Goolen
Matthew White

The Giro is the first three-week stage race of the year and the major event preceding the Tour de France. After the Ivan Basso resignation from the team, followed by his seemingly partial confessions to his involvement in blood doping, it would appear that this year , the squad will focus their efforts on placing team leader, Yaroslav Popovych, as high up as possible in the overall standings.

According to Sean Yates, Discovery Channel lead Sports Director for the Giro…..
“[Ivan] Basso leaving our squad was certainly a loss but is not a disaster,” said Yates. “Popo was always preparing to do a good Giro and I think he is on form. If all goes right for him I think he can be on the podium like he has been in the past.” “Aside from working for Popo we will try to win at least one stage and wear the leaders jersey too, but that can be complicated and waste energy. We have a strong group of guys with a lot of experience in grand tours and Popo will need all of their help and wisdom to get him onto the podium.”

Typically, their Tour de France lineup includes some, but not all the riders of the Giro. And they do not select the same leader for both. Though they possibly would have with Ivan. So, what does this mean for the Tour?
Coming up next, is my prediction of the selections for the 2007 Tour de France. Continue reading →

The Ride Around Clark County, hosted by Vancouver Bicycle Club, is a great ride.  And not just because they consistently put out the best ride T-shirts. (………….. except Cycle Oregon, or………. maybe Reach the Beach.)
For more on The Ride Around Clark County

Monster Cookie Ride ~ hosted by Salem Bicycle Club
Sunday April 29th. State Capitol to Champoeg Park, and back.

Up to this point in the year, karma has worked against us in getting involved in an organized ride. So this years Monster Cookie was our first organized ride for 2007. It has been the first for other years past as well, but we have tried to work in other early season rides into our schedule lately. So, having not preregistered for this years ride, and seeing that the weather has been improving, we got an early start in the morning, so that we could get down to the capitol and get registered. On years of nice weather, the day of ride registration lines are usually long. We got there about 745, and unlike their previous promises to not start til 800 they were open and the registration went fairly fast. I did hear later that day the the lines got pretty long later, so we were lucky. that was really nice of all those volunteers. Armed with our maps and lunch wristband we were off to Champoeg and the cookies that awaited us at the stops. Getting out of Salem is a lot of hurry up and wait, as bikers are anxious to get going and to warm up, but are hampered by the many traffic lights. After getting past Keizer station where the new shops, and the baseball field is, the roads open up to country farms, and we can then settle into the pace that suits us. It remained cloudy all the way to the lunch stop, but there was never any hint of rain, just a coolness that required our coats. At lunch we saw many of the friends we have ridden last year and it was good to chat and get reacquinted during a quickish lunch, before heading off for the second leg back to the capitol. We had none of the adverse weather from years past, and the last twenty mile section that I often find so brutal was lessened considerably by the lack of a breeze. If anything we seemed to have had a tailwind coming back in. Saw a Calfee bamboo bike, that was pretty cool.Kind of a slower Monster cookie for us as we haven’t gotten a lot of miles and I was hampered by a cold, so we got in about 2:30.

The bike rack at Honeys office is in the lower level of the parking structure. It is a bit secluded but still a good place. Undercover, and close to the elevators that will take her directly to her floor. But it was the signs posted directly above the bike rack that intrigued me.   
So, lets see, I am not allowed to ride my bike in this area, yet, this is the area I am supposed to park my bike? Do I just carry it down into the parking structure? I’m confused.

Here’s my initial list of reasons. I am sure to come up with some more reasons why we like to ride to work. When other people provide me with good reasons, I will add them to the list.

Commuting by bike…

• saves money, gas and auto wear & tear.
• avoids time “wasted” sitting in traffic.Commuting by bike…
• controls weight without dieting.
• is one of our ways to contribute to the bicycle culture and our planets environment.
• energizes the morning.
• relaxes the evening.
• makes cycling a part of my day.
• can free parts of our weekend.
• is easier on the environment than car commutes.
• improves our self-esteem.
• helps us train for our other events.
• is a lot fun.