January 2020 Top Talk -Portland Bicycling Club

January 2020 Top Talk

Welcome to 2020 and Happy New Year to everyone! I just finished leading one of our easiest rides, Slow Motion Thursdays. We did an easy loop around southeast Portland and took our break at a small coffee house at 60th and Division. We chatted and chuckled over each other’s Christmas stories and talked about club happenings. It was a completely enjoyable, leisurely city ride. Easy urban loops with a social component are just one type of ride to be found on our busy ride calendar, but they are probably the rides that first attract new members – at least that was true for me. An urban loop will also be the model for the club’s 2020 bicycling event. I am excited to introduce to you some of the vision for this event. Alan Coppola and the planning committee are well into preparations for our inaugural Portland Pedals & Pints Festival, which will be our club’s version of Cascade Bicycle Club’s Seattle Bike-n-Brews. Our ride is planned for Saturday, September 26, and will start and finish at Hair of the Dog Brewing Company in inner SE Portland. The route will include neighborhoods east and south of the brew pub. A lively rest stop will be in the Lents neighborhood; and there will be an even livelier finish with refreshments, live music, and vendors on a closed-off street near the brew pub. The main beneficiary will be Community Cycling Center. Some of their mechanics will be on hand to help with wrenching at the rest stop. There is more to come, and you can expect to see updates from Alan over the next few months.

We are only one year away from 2021 and that means we are only one year away from the club’s 50th anniversary. Please start thinking up ways to celebrate this great milestone. It doesn’t matter that the club’s initials have changed from PWTC to PBC; this is still the same organization with the same goals. For an organization to reach 50 years is something to shout about. For this reason, I am now asking someone to come forward as our 50th anniversary publicist. This person would lead us into the 50th anniversary year, recruit others to help, solicit ideas for activities that can be promoted throughout the year, gather ideas for anniversary swag, and reach out to local internet blogs and news organizations for publicity. Are you that person? Think about it.

Aside from being a social bicycling club, our mission, the one that allows qualification as a 501c3, is to support safe cycling and programs for youth. For 2020 and beyond I propose a new position in the club, director of community outreach (DCO). The DCO would communicate with local nonprofit, bike-related organizations (e.g., the Street Trust, Community Cycling Center) as the club’s liaison and would keep the rest of the club informed regarding where we can help as volunteers. Are you that person? Think about it.

And with that I wish you all a very happy, healthy, and safe new year.

Pat McManus, President