1998 = 96
1999 = 100
2000 = 100
2001 = 97
2003 = 100
2005 = 68
2007 = 48
2009 = 45
2009 - Rode this one solo this year. We got prepped and loaded the night before, then Lisa began to not feel well. We decided she should skip it, but since I was ready to go, and she was looking forward to an extended nap, I went out. Met up with Sue Kloster and her friend Molly and we did the ride together.
This is always one of the top bike rides in the area. The route, support, and food are all top notch.
Just did the 45 mile loop as I didnt want to spend a lot of time out on the bike, as there was lots to do for the day. This route heads west out of Canby, crossing I-5 and out past Champoeg park, south down Riverside/River road, and in through St. Paul. From there its back east on French Praire and through Donald. Then taking Lower Boonesferry, and Arndt road back into Canby.
Where we pass this abandoned Lumber Carrier on the side of the road. It has sat seemingly undisturbed, here at the side of the road for many years. My Dad operated a machine just like this in a sawmill, back in the day when the lumber mills worked long and hard hours.
2007 - Another Pioneer (Spring) ride is in the books. For various reasons our mileage choice for this years was the 45 mile loop. Here's some thoughts on this years ride:
Nice that they kept the same starting spot of the Fairgrounds. Though the route change meant leaving via the opposite side, which required a guy to stand guard at the old exit to turn people around. One old guy was quite insistent he knew the way to go and it took a lot of persuasions to turn him around.
Love registering for this ride, they always seem to give ya stuff. I still use the thin wallet they gave us back in 2003. This years gift: Patch kits. Hey, they do come in handy, though while I do always carry a kit, I prefer to carry a couple of good tubes and use them first. Why sit in a ditch to patch a tube if you don't have to?
New this year was the figure 8 loop route. Because of that, also new this year was a lunch, served at the starting point, for the riders as they came in from one of the loops. They served a really great fajita lunch. A beer garden would have been popular, but Honey notes that it wouldn't be a good idea for either those driving home, or those heading off for another loop on the bike, so then Gatorade it is.
Great that the loop provided the opportunity to match the mileage & climbing exertion to your goal for the day.
Loops are good for thinning out the crowd. Theoretically, half the riders will take each loop, therefore reducing the congestion that can sometimes make rides a little more stressful.
Loops are not so good, since it thins out the crowd. Since you don't see the other half, the opportunities to see our friends can be limited to the start/finish area. And, empirically, I think that more than half riders left for the 55 mile loop. I am thinking that the 100 milers would choose the longer/hillier loop to do first.
Like most rides these days, they are no longer giving out the pin on numbers. Evidently the cost was too high. Thats too bad since I have been collecting them in one big stack on my wall. For this ride, they gave us rubber "Livestrong" type wristbands, which we would need for the great lunch. One other thing I like about the numbers is that you can easily identify those bikers that are on your ride, as opposed to the rogue bikers that are just out for a nice ride somewhere. Truthfully, I kind of liked them since they are much easier to deal with than pinning on the numbers, or using temporary paper wristbands, but still.......
The food at the rest stop was first class. Bagels, goldfish, pretzels, blueberries, bananas, grapes, melons, V8, Oreos, Costco cookies, crackers, and, one the coolest ride foods ever, little boiled baby red potatoes in a zip lock bag that you can put it on your pocket and just pop in your mouth a little farther down the road. Moist, cool, tasty, easy to digest, pure energy. Very nice.they provided very nice maps, with street turns, and elevations. The roads were marked with the usual Dan Henrys. It would have been much nicer if the maps would have had the mileages for the road turns as well. Honey really likes to know how far to the next stop, and I like to be able to coordinate mileage with turns, to ensure that we remain on course, since it is possible to miss a marking, especially with fewer bikes on the road.
They provided emergency contact phone numbers on the map as well! We have talked about that on several occasions as it seems nobody bothers to include this one very helpful piece of support. Well done PWTC!
Always good to go by Champoeg Park, we include that as an extra stop. The shade, cool water and clean restrooms are very welcome.
Perfect day for a ride, with temps in the low 80s and really no wind. The roads of the farmlands surrounding Champoeg and Donald are fairly low traffic, and the farmlands were lush with growth as is typical of Oregon at this time of the year.
Ended up being 48 miles of quiet, mostly peaceful bike ride with only a few short pitches to raise your heartrate.
2005 - Came home Thursday after spending 6 days in Kentucky and was able to take our bike fridays to get in 51 miles in two rides. Hadnt been able to ride may days immediately before, so, when Saturday rolled around, doing the century didnt seem so applealing. Getting up early enough to make the necessary early start for a century wasnt our first choice, so Lisa and I opt for the metric century. This allows us to get out there, register, and on the road about 830. Weather is cloudy and cool, but no rain, and little wind. The route is good, mostly all flat, skipping the most difficult climb, which is Bird Hill, but still kicking in some steep climbs 10 miles from the finish at Butteville. We take our tour bikes which sometimes feel really huge after riding the Fridays for a period. Our pace is steady and unforced, but still keep a 15.0 average for the route. The allergies kick in and wear me down towards the end, this is afterall the grass seed capital of the world. Route starts at Canby fairground, goes south to Silverton, west to Hazel Green school, north up to Champoeg park then back east to canby.
2003 - Having skipped the spring century in 2002 in favor of the Strawberry, it was back to the Spring for this year. Unfortunately both the Strawberry and the Spring are on the same day, so you must choose. It is tough to pass up the shortcake waiting for you at the Lebanon High School when you finish, but the two hour drive to the start is just not as convenient as the Canby Fairgrounds for the Spring. Lisa and I rode together, and since she favors the Spring as well, we made our choice, both of us having experienced wind and rain whenever the Strawberry was attempted. Weather predictions varied from some rain, to just cool morning with partly sunny afternoon. Since we didn't have to be done real soon this day, we opt for a slightly later start than usual for a century hoping to take advantage of the later part of the day being better weather. We were correct. Though it did not rain at all, the morning sky was gray and cool as far as you could see. It was apparent the clouds would not blow over but would need to burn off. We arrive at the start at 730 to wait in the long line of "day of ride" registrants, which takes about 1/2 hour to get through. We did not decide and commit early enough to send in a pre-registration as usual and we regret it now. There were over 50 people in line with nothing to do but wait and stare at the booth for the pre registrations, which had no one in line. The ride was very nice, only a slight headwind. Bird Mountain, while challenging and steep in parts was not unpleasant. The down hill side, which in other years had been very dangerous due to rough road and potholes, was freshly paved with asphalt and very smooth. It was a pleasure to fly down the hill, and enjoy the views of the woods and the valleys below without having to keep an eye out for danger. The route has been changed slightly, we somehow got in to Mollala without crossing those dangerous angling railroad tracks, that I crashed on in 1999. And rides no longer can stop at Nussom Farms which has been so pleasant, with their covered fruit stand, and green grass. But the stops were good with plenty of food and we were able to complete the entire ride without having to use the power bars we brought along for supplementation. Met many friends at some of the stops, but never stayed in them too long, so we were able to make pretty good time. While we didn't press hard, we arrived at the finish at 430 after leaving at 830. A very good ride, there were a few other steep stretches that we were able to climb with only minimal complaints. We both felt good, and were blessed with no flats or other problems. We stopped at Angelos fruit stand on the way home to buy a 1/2 flat of strawberries. Made our own shortcake it was great and we felt like we really deserved it.
1998 - The spring century was the first century I ever did. Started each ride as a solo rider, but managed to hook up with others throughout the rides. Starting at the Canby fairgrounds it heads out east through Silverton, then west over I-5, to the Wheatland ferry, up to Champoeg Park, then back to Canby. Not a lot of climbing on the route, but one significant climb up Bird hill. The first year I did the ride, as training for the first Cycle Oregon, I took my blue Schwinn super sport. I remember that I did not make it up that climb without stopping. It is satisfying to know that on the last 3 Spring Centuries, having done it 4 times to date, I have not had to stop on that hill since.