September 2020 Top Talk

The executive board continues to be cautious about restarting official club activities. Although Oregon is doing better than most of the country, that’s probably because our government has been particularly careful about its standards. As we announced earlier in the summer, until the Portland metro area progresses to Phase 2 there will be no official club rides or club meetings. Phase 2 requires a consistently low case rate of 10 cases/100,000 people/week or no more than 80 cases/week. Currently we’re about four to five times that! A low case rate will mean far fewer infected people for you to encounter as you travel and mingle with strangers. To stay informed regarding where Multnomah County is relative to this requirement, check out https://multco.us/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/reopening-multnomah-county-amid-covid-19.

So, we can’t meet together, but we can Zoom. By now you’ve certainly had a chance to try this method. We have decided to hold a brief club meeting via Zoom at 7:00 PM on Thursday, September 3, i.e., at the usual time for a club meeting. This will be your opportunity to hear how we are doing financially and how COVID-19 has impacted membership. Most of the meeting will be open forum so that you, our members, will have a chance to speak up, complain, not complain, praise, criticize, or share how you’ve been faring during this crisis. The link and meeting information is here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81620234630?pwd=dHp0RkRiaUg2eWwrbzdIZi9ybENhUT09
Meeting ID: 816 2023 4630
Passcode: 13100

This is also posted on the club’s ride calendar for September 3, 2020.

Finally, although we can’t ride together, we can work together to bring kudos to our PBC Reach the Beach team at http://action.lung.org/goto/PBC_Team_2020. Sadly, the in-person event needed to be canceled because of COVID-19, but now, more than ever, the American Lung Association needs money to fund their fight against lung disease, including COVID-19. As of this writing they are only 37% of the way toward their goal. This is bad – very bad, and unprecedented in the history of this 30-year-old event. Consider joining the team as a “My Ride” participant or donating to one of our team riders who still needs to meet their $130 goal. Help us reach the team’s fundraising goal and keep PBC in the top ten on the leaderboard! This is a critical year for the ALA as they mount a $25 million initiative in their fight against COVID-19. More information about the ‘My Ride’ option can be found on the Reach the Beach website, https://action.lung.org/site/TR?fr_id=18621&pg=entry.

In the meantime, since many of us are riding during this unusual situation, remember this advice: wear masks when distancing isn’t possible. Avoid crowded multi-use trails. Ride solo or in small groups of close friends – particularly if you or a person in your home has additional risk factors. Be mindful that it is estimated that at least 20% of the population has one or more risk factors for more virulent disease.

See you in September!

Pat McManus, President