Wednesday, August 21, 2013

PORTLAND CENTURY 2013 - THAT WAS A HOOT!


Thank You Everyone in Portland!


Wow!

I was at first trepidatious to drive down to Portland and try out a new ride.  But, knowing the area, previous awesome experience with event organizers (who put on the Seattle Century), and great communication and support from my local LIVESTRONG contact, I was quickly put at ease ... and what a great ride it turned out to be!
The day started out in downtown Portland - Portland State University, to be specific - under the shade of the plaza trees.  Riders were busily downing a breakfast (The Portland Century, put on by Good Sport Promotion, is known for their spread of food) of cereal, yogurt, eggs and berries.  Our group quickly found each other ... and we were off at 7:00am!


Part of our LIVESTRONG contingent at the start - note the smiles and energy!
 
Our first rest stop was one that I was much anticipating - the LIVESTRONG Rest Stop!  The ride organizers continued their support of LIVESTRONG from previous years: while they provided us with a group registration discount code and a place to meet up at the finish, we drove riders to the event and also provided the volunteers for the rest stop.

It was great to roll in and be greeted by the sea of yellow - t-shirts, banners and wristbands - as well as a terrific group of volunteers (who our local LIVESTRONG volunteer Stefan managed to organize, and Scott who ran the show) with an awesome level of energy and excitement!

Rest Stop #1: the LIVESTRONG stop! Busy preparing food, handing out wristbands and ... yes ... hugs.
 After some catching up, peanut-butter sandwich refueling, and a group photo, we were back on the road!


LIVESTRONG Rest Stop Volunteers and Riders! A great bunch. 

And what a road it was!  The course went west out of Portland, through the beautiful countryside (many miles of which followed the same course as the LIVESTRONG Challenge Portland routes from years past!), and on many quiet and less-traveled roads.

The weather was perfect - cool morning, blue skies, high in the low 80's - and our group had a good time on the road, regrouping at the rest stops.


Beautiful ride through the Portland countryside. We had many roads to ourselves!

Ahhhh, the rest stops!  Similar to the Seattle Century rides of years past, the stops were well situated and well placed.  Berry farms! Pasta! Sandwiches!  All appreciated and quickly consumed.

At this time, I would like to mention my one regret: I did not take a photo of the rest stop where an Elvis impersonator served me a peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich.  Life did not get much better than that moment ... if only I could have captured it on film.

Two rest stops to the end: build-your-own sandwiches. Ahhh ...
 I would also be remiss to not talk about my main Portland contact, and LIVESTRONG volunteer extraordinaire: Stefan.  He was truly the glue of the riding and rest stop groups, offering up much of his time to be sure that everything was organized locally, and that everyone was accounted for and taken care of.  Stefan is a rare breed of person who is selfless, energetic and hard-working - without a single request in return.  Thank you so much for all of your hard work!

Of note is also Stefan's son, Paul, who rode his first century ride with us!  A quiet, determined rider, Paul (pictured behind me in the first photo of this post) impressed us all with his cool cycling prowess.


Our fearless Portland-area LIVESTRONG supporter, Stefan.  What a great guy - I don't know what we would have done without him!

All good things must come to an end ... and after a long climb into Portland, and brake-heavy descent through the zoo area (yes, staying on roads), we arrived at the finish line to enjoy our dinner feast, Hopworks beer, and reflect on the day's ride adventures.

The Finish! (You think this was about cycling?) Always a good spread put on by the ride organizers.

It was truly a great day on many levels - connecting with more LIVESTRONG supporters, both on the bike and off, continuing the supportive relationship with the ride organizers (thank you Chad!), and enjoying a beautiful, well-supported, food-rich ride with new friends.
THank you everyone for your support - direct and indirect - to make this such a success!  We hope to build on this support and energy into the next year, and continue to build awareness and support for the LIVESTRONG Foundation in the process.
Next stop: Austin LIVESTRONG Challenge in October ... join us ...!?
LIVESTRONG,
Patrick
Team Captain, Ride for LIVESTRONG Seattle
Senior LIVESTRONG Leader

2 comments:

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  2. Thank you for highlighting Stefan's efforts!
    His enthusiasm is contagious and makes everyone want to be around him!

    Margot

    ReplyDelete