Ride to Mike Kalan's funeral Friday

I didn’t know Mike, but I ride out where he was killed and it could have been me.

 

Join me and others to show your support for our right to use the road (unharmed), and to show your support for Mike’s family. Please dress as if you are attending a funeral, not a ride. If you can’t ride directly to the service in your work clothes, take the MAX and meet at the Beaverton Transit Center and we’ll ride from there. It’s about 2-3 miles.

 

Below is a schedule that will get you to the Beaverton Transit Center around 1:30.

Plan to depart as soon as the westbound train has unloaded.

 

From Hillsboro

TriMet: MAX Blue Line -- Weekdays to City Center/Gresham or PDX Airport

Hatfield Government Center    12:58P

Fair Complex /Hillsboro Airpor1:06P 

Willow Creek /SW 185th Ave TC 1:15P

Elmonica /SW 170th Ave        1:20P

Merlo Road/SW 158th Ave       1:21P

Beaverton TC                  1:29P

 

From downtown / eastside

TriMet: MAX Blue Line -- Weekdays to City Center/Hillsboro

Cleveland Ave                 12:25P

Ruby Junction / E 197th Ave   12:31P

Rockwood TC/E 188th Ave       12:33P

E 122nd Ave                   12:43P

Gateway TC/NE 99th Ave        12:48P

Hollywood TC /NE 42nd Ave     12:55P

Rose Quarter Transit Center    1:02P

Old Town /Chinatown            1:05P

Pioneer Square North           1:12P

Goose Hollow/SW Jefferson      1:19P

Washington Park                1:23P 

Sunset TC                      1:28P

Beaverton TC                   1:33P

 

If you take your bike on a bus, you’ll just have to figure it out for yourself.

 

July 4 - Knebal Springs Trail

6 riders out for some fun. Plenty of climbing, but it was not without its rewards. The ride was capped by a 45-minute descent back into the campground, a good reminder to me about why I like to mountain bike so much. Those guys down at Mt Tam were on to something, and it wasn’t about transportation, it wasn’t about making a statement, it was about having fun, pure and simple. Not every ride has to be a test. Unless of course you are out to prove that you can finish a 20-miler after a maple bar and a crème-filled donut. Looking forward to hitting the McKenzie River Trail later this month or next.

Oh, and if you are in town this weekend and feel like watching some cool track racing, check out the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge, Friday-Sunday at Alpenrose Dairy. For more information, including a spectator guide (Track Racing 101), go to: http://www.alpenrosechallenge.com/

-Smack

Elkhorn Classic Race Report

I had all this great stuff to write about the Elkhorn Classic, but I didn’t. So let me just sum up:

3 days, 4 stages in and around beautiful Baker City, Oregon: 85 mile road race Friday, Time Trial Saturday morning, Criterium Saturday afternoon, and a 101-mile road race on Sunday featuring three longs climbs and then finishing off with an 8-mile climb up Dooley Mountain, all at about 100 degrees. On Sunday alone I consumed 9 bottles of water, 4 gel packs, a banana, a bagel, some pretzels and some Clif shot blocks. I finished in the top 50 out of 93 starters (50^th place for those who are actually counting). 23 people didn’t even finish the first stage. I went out there to finish it, and that’s just what I did. Now, five days later, I am still tired.

But hey, what’s really important is that Puck is getting married tomorrow! Enough of this bike racing nonsense. Congratulations to Puck and best wishes for a long and happy life together with Carrie.

-Smack

Ashland 12-Mile Super D Race Report

First of all, a little bit about my strange Saturday on the way to Ashland. It starts in Grants Pass, where I’m at a local gas station and some guy yells out of his truck, “Hey OBRA!” It was Randy MacNeil (whose name I’ve probably misspelled), one-time framebuilder of N A C frames. We chatted for a while at the pumps. I had never met him before, nice guy.

So I get to Ashland, and with plenty of time to kill I decided to walk around. Ashland is a nice place, but it’s a little surreal. The first oddity I saw was the arts fair. Not entirely odd, just out of place. In a town that is quite expensive to live in (relative to salaries at least), the art fair was a sort of hippy-fest that I would expect to see in Eugene. Oddity number two: walking downtown behind an older couple, probably in their mid-fifties. The woman was wearing a rather light full-length white dress, that provided minimal coverage of her little black thong underwear. Oddity number three, the winner of the strangest thing I have seen in a long time contest: the guy sitting at the table next to me at the restaurant I went to for dinner along the little river that runs through downtown. Cowboy hat – check. Wrangler jeans – check. Leather cowboy boots – check. Face shaved to perfection – check. It’s an urban cowboy! Nope, sorry. Holy freakshow, Batman, this dude has dreadlocks a good foot below his shoulders! On top of all that, this guy definitely had the whole Brokeback thing goin’ on to boot. OK, now don’t get me wrong, if this guy was gay it’s his business and it’s fine by me. But the whole gay cowboy with dreads thing was just a little too many lifestyles to try to fit into one dude.

OK, so about the race. 12 miles, 4,500 feet down, with about 600 feet of climbing thrown in for good measure. I believe there were around 80 racers in attendance, not quite as many as I thought would show.

The race started right there at the Mt Ashland Ski area lodge, and went downhill from there (there isn’t much up left at that point). There was still some snow up there, and the first section near the top was giving everybody problems. Then is was pretty much double-track descending for the first mile or so. Then we hit the climb. Now let me start by saying that 600 feet of climbing, even all at once, doesn’t sound like that much. I mean, after the Race at Reehers, what’s a little bit of climbing? Oh wait, THIS climb STARTS at well over 4,500 feet elevation already. For those of us who live at about 200 feet elevation, this one was a real lung-buster. I felt like I was about to hack up my lungs, my spleen, and any other organs that are nearby. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! The good news is I passed two other riders going up the climb. Did you hear that, I passed two people going uphill! Maybe three, it’s all a little foggy.

Ah, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh…the hill is over…huh, good. More singletrack descending, and lots of it. It was not the best singletrack descending I’ve ever ridden, but it was pretty darn good. OK, it was great fun. Nice mix of terrain, as you literally pass through a couple climate zones on your way from the top of the mountain to downtown Ashland. Toward the bottom of the hill, there were a bunch of switchbacks with wood barriers built into the corners, for erosion control I presume. Nice 180-degree turn after 180-degree turn. The best way to really move through them for me was to pull my inside foot out of my pedal and lift it over the barrier, then clip back in on the other side. Down close to the bottom the trail got pretty steep, enough that it was difficult to even know where you (and the trail) were going. When the whole thing was over, and I came charging though the little flagged finish area, I was kind of bummed. I wanted to keep going!

I did the whole thing in just over 45 minutes, enough to get me second place in the 30-39 Sport Class. I also beat all the 19-29 Sports, and half the Experts! Yeah, so it was a little nuts to drive five hours (twice!) for a 45-minute race, but I was pretty sure I would do well on this one and my hunch proved correct. Next weekend, T&E Cycle Challenge XC race at Mount Hood. After that, the big Kahuna: Elkhorn Stage Race in Baker City. 85 mile road race on Friday (plus a ten mile ride home), TT and Criterium on Saturday, and then a 100 mile road race on Sunday, complete with a 2,000 foot climb to finish at the top of Dooley Mountain. What fun!

Oh, and thanks to Puck for riding his motorcycle for the first Mt Tabor race last Wednesday. Puck got to have fun doing loops of Mt Tabor car-free; I got to enjoy 8 laps of pure suffering pain. I think all cyclists should be Buddhists.

-Smack

Cascade Chainbreaker Race Report

One word describes this race:

BROWN

For us westsiders, it was a big change to go over to Bend and race in the dry heat of the high desert.

They started the race with everyone lining up in their respective categories, one behind the other (Pro, Expert, Single Speed, Sport, Beginner). This was pretty cool because it kept things organized, and also made it look like a really big race. I think there were around 275 people entered.

My start was pretty normal: slow. I wasn’t off the back up the short climb on the gravel road, but I sure wasn’t at the front. I was gasping for air the first half hour, breathing in as much dust as oxygen. You could hardly see the trail on the first singletrack section it was so dusty. The course was pretty heavy on singletrack. No long sustained climbs a la Mudslinger, and no real descents either, just a lot of short ups and downs. The amount of singletrack minimized passing opportunities, requiring requests to pass rather than announcements more often than not. I didn’t have to worry about that much the first lap, but my strength came on the second lap and I passed a bunch of other riders. Once the pack thinned out and I could actually move on the singletrack, I really started to go. Most of my passes were “polite,” but I took a few opportunistic passes that were pretty tight. Coming around through the start/finish area was pretty cool. The course was set up like a big figure eight, and riders would swing in and out of the start/finish area several times. It was one of the more spectator-friendly mountain bike races I have seen. Being around all those spectators also gives you a little extra adrenaline to really keep the tempo up. I came into the finish area strong, but got stuck behind two juniors. Their technical skills were less than mine but they were stronger than I was and I couldn’t keep their pace. I got passed by one guy right before the finish; he was just going faster than I could manage. He had passed me once and then I passed him during the second lap on the more technical stuff. I had no idea where I was in the standings coming in to the finish. When they took my tag and placed it up on the board I was fourth! Third place finisher beat me by about 30 seconds. Dang, if I had only known.

I refueled with an ice-cold coke after the race, and some pretzels and a banana, and then later a beer from the keg. Excellent post-race immediate care.

I hear this may be the last year for this race at this location. That would be a bummer, it’s a pretty fun (albeit dusty) course. Thanks to Webcyclery all the other volunteers who helped put on a great race.

Race at Reehers is this Sunday in Timber. See you there?

-Smack

Attention Riverview Cemetery Riders

Hey, if you ever ride in Riverview Cemetery, please take it easy on the descents. Remember that this is private property, and we do not have a right to use this great connection between the Sellwood Bridge and the top of the hill. Courteous riding will help to ensure that we can continue to ride here at all; screaming down the hill and having near-misses with cars and people surely will not.

-Smack

Ride of Silence

Date: May 17, 2006
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: At over 120 U.S. locations and eight other countries

Join cyclists worldwide in a silent slow-paced ride (max. 12 mph/19.3 kph) in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways.

Why does this site exist?

To HONOR those who have been injured or killed

To RAISE AWARENESS that we are here

To ask that we all SHARE THE ROAD

THE RIDE OF SILENCE WILL NOT BE QUIET
On May 17 at 7:00 PM, the Ride of Silence will begin in North America and roll across the globe. Cyclists will take to the roads in a silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. Although cyclists have a legal right to share the road with motorists, the motoring public often isn't aware of these rights, and sometimes not aware of the cyclists themselves.

In 2003, Chris Phelan organized the first Ride Of Silence in Dallas after endurance cyclist Larry Schwartz was hit by the mirror of a passing bus and was killed.

The Ride Of Silence is a free ride that asks its cyclists to ride no faster than 12 mph and remain silent during the ride. There is no brochure, no sponsors, no registration fees and no t-shirt. The ride, which is being held during Bike Safety month, aims to raise the awareness of motorists, police and city officials that cyclists have a legal right to the public roadways. The ride is also a chance to show respect for those who have been killed or injured.

Please check the resources on this site. If there is a Ride of Silence in your area, we encourage you to join them. If there is not a ride planned in your area, please consider adding your city to the ever-growing list of sites. To get information on how to organize and host a Ride of Silence, please click HERE.

http://www.rideofsilence.org/main.php

I DID NOT SEE A RIDE SCHEDULED IN PORTLAND.

IF THERE IS NOT A RIDE SCHEDULED MAY I PROPOSE THAT WE DO ONE?

7PM, MAY 17, IN FRONT OF THE ART MUSEUM ON THE SOUTH PARK BLOCKS…unless someone has a better suggestion or another location has already been proposed.