Non-Club Event Rides Earning Club Mileage
I know you slammed on those disc brakes when you saw CLUB MILEAGE in the title. You want mileage, you’re scheming on mileage, you can’t get enough mileage!!
Well, your bike club looks out for you. We are your enabler. When you go to therapy or join a self-help group to deal with your mileage fixation, we will stand by your side to take the blame.
Meanwhile, how can you earn more mileage? Rather than rely on the beloved club rides offered by your long-suffering ride leaders, how about branching out to new terrains, a ride offered by someone else? And we will, wait for it… give you club mileage even though it’s NOT a PBC RIDE! WHAT??? ✎
That’s right, PBC long since determined to encourage club members to venture out and try something new. Support another bike club or charity. Mingle with other cyclists not sporting a PBC jersey. I know! Moving out of your comfort zone, right? But… MILEAGE. You’ve got this.
Some of these events might be longer – maybe a metric century. Even a full century. See how that mileage can accrue? And your ever considerate club will honor our usual ride-to-the-ride mileage policy. So, as an example, if you ride to Salem for Monster Cookie and then ride back home you might be looking at around 140 miles or so in one fantastic, mileage-and-cookie-filled day. Can you see how this will build those mileage stats for you with just a little effort?
Now the details. How does this work? First of all, what are these “events” we speak of? An event ride is something like our own Pioneer Century® (for which you also earn club miles because it IS a club ride!). You usually have to pay a registration fee to ride. If it’s a charity ride, you may need to raise additional money for the specific charity. The organization provides rest stops and usually SAG (Support and Gear), and they hopefully draw in several hundred cyclists. We’ll get to some examples in a moment.
At the February 21 board meeting, your reps will review prospective event rides and approve them (or not, if they don’t qualify) for club mileage. You, as a member, must submit your event rides that you want on the ride calendar to the board prior to that meeting. The event ride will need a PBC “ride leader” who must ensure the ride gets on the ride calendar. You know the rule: If it’s not on the calendar, no stinkin’ mileage!
Now, as ride leader, you aren’t going to ride herd on all the other PBC riders at this event. Impossible! But you can set a start time at which some of you gather and head out together. As ride leader, you will collect the mileage of all the other PBC riders and turn it in to the statistician. Riders can sign in online or text/e-mail/call you with their PBC member number, name and mileage; in other words, the information the statistician needs.
Previous event rides that were approved for club mileage have been:
- 04/28 Monster Cookie (which I see is going to be different this year)
- 05/18 Reach the Beach
- 06/15 Gorge Ride
- 07/5-7 Northwest Tandem Rally
- 07/27 Ride Around Clark County (RACC)
- 08/11 Providence Bridge Pedal
- 08/24-25 RSVP
- 09/15 Harvest Century
New rides come on the scene all the time. Some rides have proven to be very challenging or very expensive and not popular with many members.
The policy is here to help you figure out if your favorite mileage-generating event can be on the approved list: (see Mileage Credit Policy).
The event ride CANNOT conflict with PBC events: Pioneer Century®, June 8; STP weekend, July 13-14; club picnic, August 4. Only one event ride per day. The club usually honors our relationship with the Friends of the Historic Columbia River Highway and their Gorge Ride on June 15. We either volunteer or ride. So, no other event rides can be on June 15. Otherwise, first come, first served.
Ann Morrow, President