Clark County Museum Strategy

Families discovered gold in the Archer Gallery

A bike repair shop that doles out top brand women's clothes, across the street from a cafe, a New Seasons Market, and the Clark County Historical Museum was made better only by grand bike lanes, easy slopes, limited traffic, 

and more museums.

Such was the discovery of Cyclisme racers when they arrived on Main Street in Vancouver Washington Saturday morning. 

Parking anywhere, in what seemed almost ghost town conditions, only everything had just opened up, and was ready for business.

Our Cycling Coach was easily found in an Argent Sprinter across the street from the shop called Bike Clark County - a subsidized non-profit. 

Everyone seemed happy to find the familiar van, as ham and cheese sandwiches and juice drinks disappeared quickly.

Everyone had urgent individual concerns.

Caffeine lust and more complicated broken loose screws in cleats and seat binders found easy repair in the sleepy businesses found idle, yet operating nearby

Racers were thankful everything was remembered in advance as they were just learning how to remember where their helmets were on race day. If one child made an earnest noise expressing great pain over not being able to find their helmet, Bicycles and Ideas for Kids' Empowerment offered them a brand new one.

Once their needs were so luxuriously met, the anxious child went calmly back to their mother's car, and found their old helmet.

Soon mom would serve home made cheese cake, and the event would culminate with chocolate flax brownies. An event punctuated with cycling mentors clang orating vociferous messages of "stay in the bike lane," and "hold yer line!"

Developing the essential skills of beginning

racers requires making them comfortable and safe while introducing them to the torment of elite cycling.  Introduction of the fashion, the fiscal expense, and the agony of aerobic body systems gone anaerobic, causes anxiety.

Even to pursue the fullness of racing instead of alighting on the softer, more common plateau of recreational touring, is a questionable, and often questioned pursuit.

"Do we really need to do this?"  new racers often ask.

Climbing a long soft slope, inevitably makes one ask, "where are we going?" and "I need to pull over, can we?"

On the right kind of slopes, form follows function.

Folks learn how to shift down to easier gears, and find a sustainable pace, if they want to travel with the pack. Traveling in a pack is how racers protect themselves before they attack.

Clark County features Hudson HS 

We turned into HJS just as the cycling team was warming up. Climbing past Clark College, the Squadra Cyclisme turned downhill into the High School parking lot to have a practice criterium. 

Going fast. Getting on a wheel.

Arriving about five minutes into the day's ride, the early
unexpected turn down hill gave all suffering laments of affliction and woe, sudden relief. It was a welcomed chance to coast and pull over.

Here racers got to race. Given this opportunity to throw down a real "on your mark, get set, go." Others elected to pull over, throw their bikes down, and sit down on the grass, unsure whether to cry, or vomit.

A few began to sprint, as teammates got on their wheel, and held on.

In fifteen minutes, the fast were tired, the slow had recovered, and all attention was focused on traveling again on the open road to the Pearson Air Museum.

Just a mile away down hill on beautiful streets recently paved with top dollar asphalt, the team's lack of experience keeping themselves alive on a bicycle went unpunished by the desolate roads, and alert, experienced, late-model-automobile driving citizenry of SW Washington.

Soon racers arrived at the Pearson Air Museum, a once popular but recently DOGE-gutted federal museum heralding the old WW l air base located next to an even older Fort Vancouver. So much American History in one spot gave pageantry to the air conditioning, water fountains, and clean public bathrooms racers most urgently desired.

WW l fighter plane engine.

Folks taking full measure of the Pearson Air Museum missed a double hill climbing effort of two columns of cyclists who plowed back up the slope toward Clark College and in to town by New Seasons, only to be back at Pearson Airfield in fifteen minutes or so.

Reunited again, the whole Crew snacked on Lara Bars, and juices. They ate cheese and said "cheese" for a team photo, then climbed back on their bikes to ride up to the Archer Gallery on the Clark Campus, where b.i.k.e. Development Director, Rispa Vranka Wafula was waiting to take us in.

All of this play time of overload and recovery simulated the long rides coming up when skilled cyclists will train to win in the OBRA or USAC. 

Today team metabolism was sped up preparing to ride in the Summer's Family Cycling Events at MPC.  

Saturday the Museum Strategy helped racers taste the blood in their mouth racing, and feel the brilliance in their brain observing. They considered reality colored by history. Racers patronized museums that had been waiting for them free of charge, since before they were born.

Playing bikes with their recognized team, racers were kept out of trouble for hours, fed, hydrated, and exhausted, All while parents worked out big time right along side other families.  

 The adult "Mother's Team" led the whole day's race training program, by example.

Two Columns, shoulder to shoulder, knees in, heels down, bent elbows in, head up, chest out.

Breathing in through the nose and out through your mouth. Learning to look behind without swerving.

Practicing Higher Legspeed like 90-110 RPM

WANT TO HELP THIS GOOD PROGRAM DO WHAT IT DOES? 

Time, Treasure, and Talent keeps it thriving.

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