Pioneer Century®: WHEN?
Pop Quiz. Have you been paying attention? Pioneer Century® has been a moving target of late, so when is it?
- June 1, 2024
- June 22, 2024
- December 25, 2024
- June 8, 2024
- All of the above
Yes, folks, sponsoring a big bicycle event ride is not easy. Just getting a date that works can be difficult. Fortunately, your bicycle club has a determined and talented Pioneer Century® Committee that, when many of us would have thrown up our hands and said, “Forget it,” kept trying and found a date that that should go well for us. ✎
Here’s what happened: PBC was going to have Pioneer on June 1. Traditionally, before we cancelled the ride for a while and there was a pandemic, Pioneer was on the first Saturday of June. Always. Early on this year, June 1 looked good. Then, Doug Myers found out the local fire department will be doing training up along Sawtell Road – Sawtell Road being a key component of our ride. June 1 was not going to work after all. What about May 25? Memorial Day weekend. And it’s more likely to rain in May. June 22? Petal Pedal. Or is it Pedal Petal? Anyway, another ride that some members may want to do and, not only that, our route and their route would overlap. Problematic. June 15? No, that’s the date of the Gorge Ride which many club members either like to ride or volunteer. Not to mention, Ménage à trois, Bud’s central Oregon weekend, had been long since on the calendar for that weekend.
So…. June 8? Not a perfect fit. The rest stop in Gervais at the elementary school would not be an option. The school has planned their graduation that day. Also, there is a parade scheduled in Gervais that day. Where to have a rest stop nearby? St Louis. Okay, St Louis doesn’t sound close to Gervais, does it? We’re talking Oregon, not Missouri! The St. Louis Catholic Church, about three miles from Gervais, is available. A little tweaking of the map, a little re-routing through Gervais to avoid the parade and easy-peasy, lemon squeezy! Easy for us, anyway. We didn’t do diddly-squat.
PIONEER CENTURY®, JUNE 8, 2024
Pioneer Century® is really an awesome annual event. It’s hard for members to commit to volunteering when it means missing the beautiful, well-marked, rural (bucolic) route and the challenge of Sawtell. But it is also an opportunity to help your club and have a wonderful time hanging out with other club members while supporting other cyclists. Sometimes you’re the rider; sometimes you’re the volunteer helping others.
Volunteer early and get your choice of the job you want. Your Pioneer Century® volunteer coordinator is Rob Schroeder. You can contact him at [email protected].
How did you do on the quiz? If you chose “5. All of the above,” What is wrong with you??!!
Finally, a huge THANK YOU to the dedicated members who worked through the above snafu: Scott Diamond, Richard Higgins, Rob Schroeder, Dave McQuery, Doug Myers, Lynn Blanchard, Corey Eng, Benn Schonman, Ron Ing, and me (Ann Morrow) by virtue of being the president, who is on EVERY committee. I did nothing.
PIONEER CENTURY®, JUNE 8, 2024
Ann Morrow, President