Portland Velo Club News

On your left…

First and foremost a huge thanks to all members who attended and enjoyed themselves at our recent Portland Velo Winter Party! It was a great evening of good food, laughs and club camaraderie. It was a chance to strip off the lycra, don some “real” clothes and mix it up indoors for a change. The only problem for many of us was recognizing each other without helmets, shades, breathing hard, sweating etc. It’s amazing, we actually have some attractive people in our club who clean up quite nice!

The weirdest moment of the night for me was walking towards the food line when a person a couple folks in front of me slows down a step and says in a rather loud voice, “stopping”.

For those of you who missed event here are the highlights:

• Doug Rennie presented Bruce Giunta’s family with a framed Portland Velo ride leader jersey and made the following announcement: The former Saturday route known as the “Mason/Moreland Monster” will henceforth and forever more be called “Bruce’s Ride” in memory of our beloved member Bruce Giunta. The first time we rode this route Bruce exclaimed, with a bright red face after climbing to the corner of Skyline and Germantown, “this is the best damn route we’ve ever ridden KRhea!”
• Great raffle prizes were awarded:
  1. 2- Showers Pass Elite 2.0 jackets, provided by club sponsor Lakeside Bicycles
  2. 2- Lakeside Bicycle jerseys/arm warmers
  3. 2- gift certificates for dinner at Justa Pasta restaurant
  4. 4- $25 gift certificates to Team Sales Cycling
  5. Grand Prize: A Garmin 500 GPS, provided by Lakeside Bicycles

· A new award, “The Black Jersey”, was created to recognize members who have made extraordinary efforts on behalf of the club. Each of the following members will receive a custom designed jersey emblazoned with our club logo and the Italian word for extraordinary, “straodinario”:

1. Linda “LJ” Jellison

2. Doug Rennie

3. Patrick Gibson

4. Victor Duong

5. Marc Altman

6. Michael Gearing

7. Dana Deardorff

The next time you see one of these members please take a moment to thank them for their tireless and selfless efforts on behalf of our club.

Thanks to party co-coordinator Cindy McCasker and a cast of many including her husband David, LJ, Steve Brown/Madison’s Grill, Reginald, JRod, John Lucas, Burk Webb, Marc Altman, Doug and Linda Rennie and my wife Debra.

CPR training: Portland Velo will host an all day CPR/First Aid Certification Training class Sunday March 7^th @ Madison’s Grill. Further info and to register:

2010 Portland Velo club kit delivery status: Our new club kits are scheduled to arrive Team Sales Cycling office on March 24^th!! As we get nearer to this date, I’ll furnish exact details as to pick-up and distribution. Mark your calendars for Sunday April 25^th and wear your new club kit proudly while riding the 2010 Monster Cookie ride in Salem! 

2010 Portland Velo Club Century: We’ve picked a date, July 24^th, Dean Lee is spearheading the Century committee and we’ll be seeking volunteers for critical positions over the next month. If you’d like to “give something back” to the club here’s an excellent opportunity. We have a couple of new ideas for this years event that are sure to make it another Portland Velo first class event.

Traffic/safety issues: Over the past few months the incidents of unfriendly cyclist/motorist interactions on the roads of western Washington County have skyrocketed. Our club and club members have not been immune to these run-ins. At least two of these interactions resulted in injuries to cyclists including a club member. I’d like to ask everyone to make an effort to be a bit more cautious while on the roads, both while riding solo and especially while on club rides. It only takes a couple stupid moves by cyclists to create the image that all riders are bad, unsafe and or irresponsible. I’ve personally been involved with two incidents recently where I/we were doing everything right and were still confronted by angry drivers.

The NorthWest Bicycle Safety Council has received a number of letters from residents of western Washington County complaining about dangerous behavior by cyclists on weekend rides including cyclists cresting hills 3 abreast over the yellow center line. These folks are concerned drivers, not angry drivers who hate cyclists. They understand the number of cyclists has increased and most likely will continue to do so and they want to co-exist with us on the roads, however, they want cyclists to show the same responsibility and safe practices that we as cyclists expect drivers to show us.

“Rep Night”, March 5^th at Lakeside Bicycles: If you’ve never had the opportunity to attend a retailer “rep night” don’t miss this one. From 4 to 9pm Friday evening Lakeside Bicycles will be teeming with reps from the following “who’s who” of cycling/component companies:  SRAM, Colnago, ASSOS, Shimano, Pinarello, Merckx, Cannondale, Bianchi, Castelli, Zipp, Pegoretti and many more. Ask questions, give feedback, listen and learn and “fondle” to your hearts content. A major rep night bonus is the fact that reps are encouraged to sell their ‘samples” to attendees and that can mean some amazing deals of stuff you never thought you’d ever be able to afford!

Lakeside Bicycles is located at: 428 North State Street, Lake Oswego.

Race Team “shout outs”: Congrats to the following PV race team members for recent top 15 placings at the following races-

Jack Frost Time Trial: Ron Babcock, Todd Rosier, Malcolm Johnson, Einar Traa, Traci D’Elia, Ann Davidson, Mitch Lee and Jeffrey Pollock

Banana Belt #1: Jeff Otto, Jamie Cobb, Russ Speirn, Kaytee Petross, David Doughty and John Porter

The next race is March 7^th, Banana Belt #2, held at Hagg Lake. If you have the chance, get out and cheer our race team as they proudly fly the Portland Velo colors while rollin’ at hyperspeed in the peleton. If you’ve ever ridden the Hagg Lake loop you’ll have a instant appreciation for what the team does when you see the speed and intensity with which they circle the lake.

Ride safe,

KRhea…on your left