Event Rides
Portland Bicycling Club has a tradition that goes way back in our club history. The club is proud of its daily rides. Many members clamor for club mileage. How to encourage members to venture out and join with other organizations, socialize, ride, mingle with others and still GET CLUB MILEAGE? It was determined by a past board, years ago, that members should be able to earn club mileage for non-club event rides. Simple. And so it began.
Organizations are loading up the 2022 calendar with event rides – by that I mean bicycle rides which have a registration fee. You pay to participate, and they have organized rest stops with snacks and bathroom facilities. They may have SAG (support and gear) vehicles to help you if you break down. They have a marked course for you to follow and presumably have permission from the authorities for a few hundred cyclists to use the roadway. They may have a fundraising requirement if it is a charity ride. So, you pay, but you get something in return. (Note that preliminary investigations are showing some significant price increases.) ✎
Additionally, profits from these events go to the bike club, charity, non-profit or whomever decided to organize the event. A nice, feel-good factor.
Portland Bicycling Club has put on their own events in the past and is working to resume that tradition in 2022. As a non-profit ourselves, we have some rules that organizations must conform to for the executive board of our club to approve their event for PBC club mileage. Some of those rules include:
- Organized by a bike club or other non-profit promoting cycling
- A PBC member must agree to function as a ride leader for the event
- PBC members participating must register and pay for the event
- PBC members are encouraged to wear CLUB cycling gear to promote our club
For the complete policy, please go to the PBC website, log in as a member and, using the pulldown menu, go to policies and the Non-PBC Rides/Cycling Events Mileage Credit Policy.
The board usually selects a maximum of ten rides each February. It is beneficial to populate our calendar sooner rather than later with these rides so members can plan, and ride leaders can offer their own rides knowing that many members may be participating in a popular event ride on a given date.
Previously our list has included events such as Reach the Beach, Columbia Century Challenge, Ride Around Clark County, the Gorge Ride, Monster Cookie, and Harvest Century.
This board member has observed that some event rides are now offered by corporations, a business that sponsors bicycle rides to earn money. They indicate that they will share their profits with some deserving entity. While perhaps not explicitly prohibited by our policy, I’m not sure they all meet with our intent. I am just sharing this thought as the event ride environment seems to be changing.
If you want event rides to be included, please contact the board. As noted, certain criteria must be met. Our February board meeting will be via Zoom Wednesday, February 16, at 7:00 PM. Please submit your information prior to that date.
Throughout the summer event rides meeting the criteria may be added by approaching the board.
Have a fun summer exploring and extending some support to the sponsoring organizations.
Ann Morrow, Vice President