Another Reach the Beach is in the books and it will probably go down as the absolute best “weathered” RTB in many, many years. Bright sunshine, moderately warm temps, good roads and 3,000 of my closest friends and I rolled to Pacific City in a parade of lycra.
As with Monster Cookie a few weeks back Portland Velo members were out in full force including the tandem triumvirate of Deano/Barb, Reginald/Kate and KRhea/Debra along with LJ, Vicki Quick, John Delius, John Poston aka “JP”, Scott Springer, Tim Collier, Patrick Gibson, Martin Obando, John Ohnstad, Ed Lewis, Bill Strahm, Chris Johnston and at least 5 other members whose names escape me, sorry. Some rode the complete century from Portland while others did the 80mile route starting in Salem and we all rendezvoused in Amity for the last push to the beach.
The power of our tandem “train” was in full effect when Deano went to the front and proceeded to pull the 20 or so bike train towards the beach at well in excess of 20mph. Riders on single bikes had the best “pull” of their lives with three tandems taking turns cutting “clean air” to ride through! Dean rides his tandem like a giant steam locomotive. He works a bit to get up to power but once there his immense power just pulls away and then he and Barb are in the “zone” and at full steam. It’s a beautiful thing…to ride behind.
If you’ve ever ridden RACC you’re familiar with the “bump” known as Felida Hill near the end of the ride, well Reach the Beach has its own Felida Hill, so to speak. It comes at about the 67 mile mark on the course and while not nearly as long or steep as Felida it still causes terror in the hearts, minds and especially the legs of many, many riders. I’ve come to call it “Carnage Hill” as it is usually strewn with bodies and bikes in all manner of disarray. There are folks walking the hill, riders doing the “paper-boy” weave up the hill while others are literally stopped and bent over their top tubes gasping for breath. It’s quite a sight. Fortunately for the PV crew we all climbed unscathed…except for Reginald and Kate on their tandem. Debra and I began the climb beside them and had just moved a half wheel ahead about ¼ way up when all manner of noise, grinding and ugliness ensued from the rear of their tandem. It sounded as though their rear derailleur/cassette and hub had been tossed into a blender for a “rear gear smoothie”. Unfortunately during that shift attempt, they stripped 2 cogs on their cassette. Not to be thwarted they immediately dismounted and ran cyclo-cross style the remainder of the climb, hopped back on and finished the ride in grand style!
It’s always great to do a big ride like this and see PV folks taking part as well. The immediate feeling of “team” or “club” is very cool and hanging out telling cycling “lies” at rest stops and at the finish line is great fun.
Kudos to the PV Reach the Beach rookies and congrats to the RTB veterans in the group. For Debra and I it was our 3rd year on the tandem and my 10th or 11th 
RTB.
Info:
1. Interested to see the bike/components the pros actually ride? If so check out this site: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/pro-bike-ivan-bassos-cannondale-slice-hi-mod-giro-ditalia-21664
2. Who’s at fault? http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/cyclist-victims-lack-of-helmet-affects-guilty-drivers-sentence-21674
3. Giro race tech, I love this stuff! It’s a bike geek’s nirvana: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/giro-race-tech-personalised-peloton-parts-21571
4. Want the “inside the Giro” scoop? Then check out Bend resident, Chris Horner’s blog at: http://blog.oregonlive.com/horner/ (note: Chris has crashed and had to abandon the Giro so there will be no more posts as he is headed home to Bend to heal and rest up for the Tour de France.)
5. Here’s a great site for all you cycling masochists who especially love the suffering of a good climb:http://www.planetultra.com/index.html
6. Please read Sharon Fekety’s “Community Spin” article. Also pay close attention to the information about the important BTA announcement concerning bicycles and the 2-year closure of the Oregon City Bridge. Thanks to Sharon F. for bringing this to our attention. More details on the bridge rehabilitation project can be found here.
Saturday Signature Ride tidbits:
· Beginning in June we’ll be featuring at least one brand new route every month until early fall. Get ready for some great summer rides created by the club’s “Road’s Scholar” Jim Mazzocco.
· In the last two weeks we’ve had incidents of very poor communication during our club rides. In the first instance the affected rider was able to maintain control of their bike and avoid a serious problem. In the second instance one of our members were injured. All the Portland Velo operations team asks is that each rider take as good of care of their fellow riders as they expect them to take care of you. That means there’s no such thing as to much communication when riding in a group, both verbal and with hand signals.
· As has happened already this spring, there will times when the number of riders in the 19s and 17s far outnumber the 21mph ride group. Our goal is to have a ride leader with each and every group, however, at times this is not possible due to the number of riders and the number of ride leaders available. At these times the 15s, 17s and 19s will take priority over the 21s in terms of ride leaders. When this occurs I’d ask the 21s to please remember who you represent on Saturday mornings, Portland Velo, and to ride with a “safety first” attitude as well as offering your fellow rider(s) in the group assistance if need be. Thanks fellas.
Other tidbits:
· Keep an eye out for the Portland Velo Racing Team sporting their new kits…
· If you’re looking for something new to do why not check out the PV riders rippin’ up the Alpenrose Velodrome during the week in the evenings. It’s great fun to watch and the track even offers beginners a taste of riding the “bowl” for nominal fee. Click here for the schedule.
· Anyone and everyone riding the Cycle Oregon 2009 please contact me asap for a great opportunity you won’t want to miss...email me at krhea@portlandvelo.net.
Announcements:
· The operations team is currently planning a summer club picnic/ride. This event is tentatively planned for either July 25th or 26th with the other options being the following weekend August 1st or 2nd. We plan to have a venue locked down in the next week or so at which time we’ll make the final announcement of the date. This event will be for your entire family so bring your better halves, the kids and significant others. The plan is for club members to do a shortish ride, say 25 to 35miles and then meet back at the venue for food, drinks and laughs with our families.
This will be a great chance for members and families to meet and get to know each other a bit better. Keep watching the website for updates and plans.
· On June the 6th Portland Velo will honor Tim O’Donnell with our annual “Tim O’Donnell Memorial Ride”. This ride will use the same 51-mile route Tim and the club was riding when Tim was struck by a careless driver and killed. It was a sad day for the club but an even sadder day for Mary, Tim’s amazing wife and her family. In Tim’s as well as Mary’s honor, Portland Velo holds the first Saturday in June as a very special day in the club’s short history. The PV operations team would like to request that if you can, please attend this very special Saturday Signature Ride to honor Tim, Mary and to show how strong our club “family” has become in the face of such a tragic event.
Until next month - ride safe.
KRhea
