Lurkin on The Loop!

LOOP LURKIN
is an activity best left to the summer sun,
unless you are one of those rare breed,
RACER.


Riding at 1000 feet in the Winter months can lead to cold fingers,
and tingling toes.



Sunday saw scenarios similar certainly, but some saw old friends and new competition.



Sprinting
for the "Stop Sign Ahead" sign from under the bridge, Bergmann looked like he knew what he was doing and Peter seemed to be finding 0ut what he could really do.

Kent and Noah were always lurking.



Everyone was steaming by the time we came back to Fairmont and Talbot.









Master of hospitality of course once again had a winning idea with tacos from the taquiera on HWY 10.





Kent and Noah blazed the descent off the west slope. Bergmann and Petey hearded the youngins to the feed zone.

Sunny Saturday

Surprise!

Winter Cold Warmed Up for an Elite Junior opener in December.

Investment in the young ones is paying off now that they are not so young.
Strong and skilled they got down the road pretty good.

Climbing Cornell to Skyline and descending McNamee, Noah and Luca led us out while Pete Smith mentored. Tupac, The Badger and Daddy pushed with one hand , then switched.

Regulating tempo with easy gears, the team made good time out. And when they turned in on HWY 30, they caught everyone on the road.

Along the way we met friends who had preceded in The Lore. One was Kyle McTeague, a premiere climber who raced for PSU with Norrene Valente, Tim Bergmann, and myself.





He was tickled to meet the Junior boys and asked them questions about their cycling.




Our next rendevous was a pit stop to flip a stem, and at Westend we laughed with three guys who had raced with Cyclisme when it was "River City Montage," "GB Cyclisme" and recently with "RCB Cyclisme."


Mark Ontiverous, Justin Serna, and Chris Corno had all raced for Cyclisme at one time or another.
Just Serna even returned and coached on Cyclisme and helped discover Alex Lightman and Trevor Spahr.


Mark let our guys do abs in his store, then bought everyone hot coffees or cocoas.
Getting out of the envelope was the order of the day, and whether our guys were racing scary or socializing sweet, it all came full circle to Cyclisme.

BUUURRRRR ito!

Cold is not the word...
Electric Bite-Ya Cold is closer to the point.

Team rides keep it close to the start. Hot loops of climbing help regulate the system, but still there is little defense against the cold except big effort.

In situations like these, kids like their cocoa HOT.

Eastmoreland Market is our place of choice for meeting, snacking and libation. Their Meditereano exotic faire is still a thrill 5 rides into the winter.

Their store seems like a miracle after one loses all feeling in their face.

While some teams are challenging gigantic truck convoys and car traffic blowing like frozen leaves out into the hours of Long Slow Distance, Cyclisme is sweating and laughing through raucious games of bicycle tag on the Reed College Campus.

Tim Bergmann has been holding down the fort as Juniors are showing great promise for 2012.

Juniors are learning about all things wild and Italian and edible. Santo is making friends. Kent is eating lots and lots of bread.
Cycling and eating go hand in hand.

Cyclisme is a good concept...

Rolling Saturday from an avante guard grocery tucked in a south most corner of Portland, Cyclisme cyclists set out on a circuit to Reed that finishes with them sprinting an uphill sprint to the East Moreland Park sign.

Lollygagging loafers laugh while energetic erstwhile leaders yell "clear!"

Daddy and The Badger reigned supreme in every contest.

Maya Bergmann has risen to a place of prominence with her pedaling prowess, and found fast friendship sprinting back up with Haley Guettler, and myself off the back of the pack.

Leg Speed and Prizes!

Trail Blazers of a Cycling path,
the winter Boys and Girls Club kids ride b.i.k.e.
to College or the World Champs,
whichever comes first
in a Wednesday Afterschool "ROLLERS 101" programming piece presented by Bicycles and Ideas for Kid's Empowerment.

It's taught by High School age mentors,
who are led by a crack team of professional
Boys and Girls Clubs of America Staff,
who are led by their boss and ours...
Tiiiiim Siiicoocaannn!!!

(say "Tim Sicocan" in a deep amplified voice like an announcer at a Blazer's game)

Tim is the big guy in the top two photos wearing a checkered shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

B&G kids love to choose cycling class as one of their afterschool activities.
One big reason is the Club Manager gets his kids, and he gets b.i.k.e. and the value of cycling in their lives.

Some kids are very loyal to our cycling curriculum and have attended every class since the beginning almost a year ago. Everyone at the club is kind and welcoming!
Much of the club stops in one time or another.



Many understand what we are offering ( like Lauren, performing the splits in a matching backpack and puffy coat en same by Benjamin Bixby designs) Some kids take their cycling development program very seriously.

Many of them are great athletes already and make some of our yoga stretching or calisthetic strengthening drill seem like well... child's play.

Kids try hard, when in the rain they practice cyclocross on small bikes and slippery sidewalks, or when in the sun we practice full speed criteriums on home made off camber parking lot race tracks.

Indoors they are quizzed about products they see in magazines, places they see in videos, and people from stories they are told. With their hands they use tools to remove parts from old bikes, and with their feet they spin pedals fast as they can.

Kids ride on stationary trainers provided by UPPER ECHELON FITNESS to gain aerobic fitness or anaerobic power! Kids ride to make "The Five Minute Club" or to win their place in the fifteen second "Leg Speed Club."

Some how, some way, they are guaranteed to move, in cycling class.

The youngest kids are not necessarily those learning the most either. In fact, the b.i.k.e. Youth Mentors seem to be going through the greatest transition.

Dey Shaun is a natural at doing this sort of elder peer, teaching work, and Danni though shy, lights up the eyes and hearts of all the little girls the moment she walks into the room.
Danni and Dey Shaun (see photo top) made the announcement at assembly, enticing all the bicycle loving kids, to choose our class.


Keegan and Kent of course are models of focus and self discipline.

It is unanimous, Blazer's Boys and Girls Club is fun, and a good way to learn how to deliver "Benevolence, Good Form, Simplicity and Team."

What's up Cyclisme!

Not the Four Horsemmen...

but "G's!"
G's rollin!

Rolling with the big dogs,
I learned slang, and saw sights.
We came together in a natural way at PastaWorks, by accident as

Sandwich Shoppers found Bergmanns by the baguettes.

Keegan stood front and center with Noah in the middle of the sidewalk in their new Waste Management outfits, while Jake, Deyshaun and Marquel scooped hummus from a plastic cup. I said hello to babies in carriages who looked at me eye to eye with a wide wondering stare.

Hawthorne Boulevard is a show on sunny days.

After a long period of preparation, we rolled out carefully like a ship out of it's slip. We put teenage blockers at the front, Maya in the middle then me then Jake. Pedestrians, musicians, cars and potholes rushed up in such a cacophonous spirit, I didn't think we would make a draft.

Yet with two new Junior candidates on the ride, and a return effort from a lost member of The Lore, new captains showed their resiliency.

Maya rode plenty strong all day.

Keegan and Dey Shaun did the lions share of the work pulling me, while we used Noah up. He cracked only late on the way home.
Maya and Marquel just tend to their own momentum individually.

Pulling me made the pace low for Marquel's single speed and the 3 hours Jake already put in on Skyline.
Pulling me made the pace so slow, Maya could always sprint.
Pulling me made a race out of our passing of the 1997 Olympic Gold Medalist of Jogging.

Over the years, I have never understood why more adults don't attend these kids rides.
They are wonderful. They are silly. Even slow, with intermittent bouts of sheer intensity, they tire everyone out.

We stood in the sun amidst a crowd, ran slippery slopes in Laurelhurst, then bareled down stark.
After coffee at Crank, it was coffee at River City, then more sun on Grand in front of Nicholas's.

Over pizza and veggy mezzas youth writing for "yes, I can write" plied their new trade.
All sorts of journals were on display. Writing skills were also beginning to show more muscle as the paragraphs poured out.

Lined out pushing back up Pine, we were a site to see on the road.

You can see our team being something different next year.
Possibly a smaller team with even more alacrity.

Wouldn't that be a hoot?!

Loreful Moments

Hansen and Holt Lap the field in the Points Race National Championship 2011.

People who made it happen!

To get one to the Glory-Drome it took a village of caring, talent sharing, and check writing souls.



All of you did so much! And some of you really carried the weight of the task.




A special gift from the Cadonau family could not have been realized without the incredible work of Marilee Tilstrom at the fundraiser dinner. You all backing her up made the event sing.





Large gifts from Robert Burney and Stephen Gomez combined with the critical major loan and gifts of David Guettler did what really few others could do, but what was so essential.



All throughout the effort to communicate our need, Board Chair Tim Bergmann and his pal Pete Kirby made things happen. Then furthermore, while we were down there Bergmann watched over my house and deposited checks, while Pete literally followed us down there and made sure we were fed and funded.
Pete introduced us to his sister Holly who sat us down with the DEW foundation.

Once down in Carson blessings abounded as David Pulliam, Raja Black and the Major Motion crew kept us on a magic carpet of knowledge and logistical support.












No complement for a cycling program more elates than one from an elite athlete who "get's it" and despite a raging head cold, and still winning medals, Lana Atchley donated to the girls of b.i.k.e. a veritable cornicopia of expensive race clothing. I mean a duffle back of top end women's cycle wear.


Only one of the many smaller bags is pictured here.


This kind of support made Jake go. This kind of support pulled us together and encouraged success in our future.

Let's get to work on 2012, eh!


With big love, THANK YOU!