April 2026 Top Talk

Team Effort. The Portland Bicycling Club has 487 active members and there are 1,318 subscribed readers of the Quick Releases newsletter. That’s a lot of cyclists who enjoy the benefits of our club. However, if you attend the club’s annual awards banquets, you might have noticed that some of the same individuals tend to receive many of the awards. Those plaques are the only payment they receive for making PBC the great club that it is.

Riders in a paceline and migrating geese flying in formation realize that leadership is necessarily temporary. Leaders need to hand off their duties or face exhaustion which can lead to defeat of the whole team (or flock). That holds true for PBC.

Lynn Blanchard earned her status as last year’s volunteer of the year by continuing to fill multiple positions of responsibility that members might take for granted. Those roles include editing the monthly Quick Releases, coordinating the volunteers for the STP Finish Line, administering the club’s Facebook Groups (PBC Group and Pioneer Century® Group), promoting the Pioneer Century®, and providing creative artwork for posters, programs, and other communications. That is almost enough for a full-time career!  ✎

Lynn has notified the board that she will be stepping down from her position as the editor of the Quick Releases next month, and she would also like to turn over her role as the STP volunteer coordinator. She has provided a tremendous service to the PBC and her “retirement” is greatly deserved. However, those roles will need to be filled by other club members who are willing to do their share to keep PBC the premier club that it has become.

If you have the interest and skills required to edit our club newsletter or coordinate volunteers for STP positions, or if you are willing to expand your horizons and learn those skills, please step forward to take your turn at the lead. They are not lifetime commitments!

Doug Myers, President, [email protected]

To read the Quick Releases newsletter associated with the April 2026 Top Talk, go to Table of Contents.