July 27, 2018

My Ride to Defeat ALS

(Also published on Bike Portland, 7/27/18)

I'm not sure whether to feel terrible for Lou Gehrig because he died young from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), or because his name has become almost synonymous with this debilitating and often fatal disease instead of for his illustrious career as a talented professional baseball player.  He seemed to have a good attitude though and is quoted on Wikipedia as having said:
"I intend to hold on as long as possible and then if the inevitable comes, I will accept it philosophically and hope for the best. That's all we can do."
I didn't know much about ALS before joining the Ride to Defeat ALS last Saturday.  75 miles gave me a lot of time to think about the privilege of good health, and the struggle of the folks diagnosed with ALS, and their families.  ALS is a motor neurone disease, weakening the victim's muscles until eventually they're unable to breathe.  A diagnosis usually means the patient will die within five years.

That five year mark is especially meaningful to me.  I'll never forget the day my best friend called to tell me he had tested positive for AIDS and just wished to live five years.  That was the early 1990s, before the HIV-fighting drug cocktail was invented.  He died almost exactly five years after his diagnosis, at age 30.  This may seem like a tangent from ALS, but 22 years later, I still live with the grief of losing a loved one. 

Vision Zero also comes to mind.  Our aspiration to prevent tragic traffic deaths is highly fueled by the fact that these deaths are preventable, and unnecessary.  We all deserve our full chance at hanging around this strange sapphire-colored sphere for as long as we'd like.
This year's local Ride to Defeat ALS raised over $167,000, exceeding their $150,000 goal.  These funds go to supporting programs and care services so they may be provided for free to ALS sufferers and their families.  Pretty inspirational stuff.

I've participated in many charity rides over the years, and of course, they're all worthwhile.  However, the Ride to Defeat ALS really set itself apart in my mind.  First, there was the army of ALS Association volunteers setting up at 5am on event day, so that riders could enjoy breakfast, get a bib number and slather on some sunscreen before heading out into the heat of the day.

The course was planned and marked by our amazing local event organization, Axiom Productions.  These are the fine folks behind our beloved Petal Pedal, Portland Century, Worst Day of the Year Ride, Tour de Lab and many more.  The route was absolutely stunning, featuring those stiff rolling hills and country roads we all love.

On course, one could see several motivational notes.  Each team had a roadside sign cheering them on.  Each huge hill had a series of white signs.  The first said something like "Fighting ALS", then "Is like climbing a hill", finally near the top "Don't ever give up!".  It reminded the riders why they'd worked hard to raise funds, and why they were pedaling all day.
As designated sweeper, my job was to hang out near the tail of the ride and offer medical, mechanical or moral support to any riders who needed it.  The trick here is not to reveal that you are the sweep, as no one wants to know they're in last place in a ride that's not a race.  I had the privilege of assisting one gentleman, who was riding his first event ride ever.  He'd purchased new shoes to try clipless pedals and couldn't clip out on either side.  I was able to catch him, get his cleats tightened and his pedals loosened.  Just a few small turns of an allen key, but he was grateful.

I spied the same farm stand I had stopped at for strawberries during the Petal Pedal, this time there were one pound bags of blueberries on display.  I ate as many as I could without getting sick, and tucked the rest away for later.  Roadside farm stands are a favorite roadie delight.
Hop fields make me thirsty for beer
The finish line offered quite a bit of fanfare.  First you pass through the great red arch, and there's a team of folks ringing bells and whistling and cheering.  You can't help but smile.  Then a nice lady runs up and hands you a cold wet washcloth.  As you enjoy that, another lady approaches and hands you a school-lunch-sized box of chocolate milk.  Finally, they put a small medal around your neck.  
  
The finish line feast, which was served within the Mt. Angel Community Festhalle, included more dishes than I can recall.  There were at least five types of sausage, and many pickled things.  I ate more bags of kettle chips than I'll admit in writing.  And, of course, there was beer, and souvenir pint glasses, for everyone.

July 5, 2018

Pedalpalooza 2018

June is a magical time of year in Portland, Oregon, where cyclists own the streets, and can be found roaming them in packs.  June is Pedalpalooza.  Bike fun abounds.  Anyone can organize any sort of ride and put it on the calendar.  Rides range from unicorn-themed to rolling foosball to casual centuries to protest rides - you name it!
I had the honor of leading the KickOff ride this year, which attracted a crowd of 1200 people.  It was scheduled for the day after the Northback ended, so I had to get all of my ducks in a neat little row before leaving for that trip.  It was a good chance to practice my social media pre-publishing skills, creating hype and setting expectations for the ride.

Right off, there were concerns about my route being 15 miles long.  I made it clear to all that there were three rides, and three distances, and three park stops, and three chances to create your own adventure.  The first, "child friendly" would take us seven miles to Normandale Park.  The second, "teenager ride" took us three additional miles to Wilshire Park.  Finally, the "grown up portion" took us to Overlook Park.

I added a tall bike detour, in part because I wanted to give the complainers something obvious to complain about (which worked well), and in part because I wanted to take riders over the cool curly-cue pedestrian overpass that the French Toast ride used to frequent.
It was a special treat to have this huge community trust me to follow me through the streets of Portland.  One of my favorite parts was the heart-shaped loop we took through Ladd's Addition, which led to the head waiting for the tail to cross.  What a delight!

Another highlight was seeing five (!) of the nine Northback riders, one of whom I hadn't seen since the fateful day two.  Yet another highlight was how smoothly the evening went, the lack of crashes requiring ambulance intervention, and how so many riders came to me to say thank you.  My very favorite part was being accompanied by new friend Sole, leader of the Corvidae bike club, and having her in radio contact with the rear guard to ensure all went well.

There's no photo evidence, but I joined the Rocky Butte Sunset Dance Party ride, and that was pretty fun.  One of the best parts is the "race to the top" and I enjoyed going fast up the little hill that is Rocky Butte.  The dance party was fun, too, although I'll admit I really missed the disco ball.

The next Pedalpalooza ride I attended was the Wonder Women ride, which was led by a lady from my bikey networking group: the Portland Society.  Riders dressed as Wonder Women, and there were lots of different versions and interpretations of what that meant.  I wore bike shorts and a red jersey, silver shoes and golden arm gauntlets.  I started out with a black tutu as well, but had to ditch it due to leg chafe.  We rode to several parks, and splashed about in fountains.  At our last park stop, we enjoyed a water balloon tussle.
My eighth annual Swim Across Portland went swimmingly.  Nine riders came, which was a huge relief.  I had worried we'd have a giant number, more giant than the pool lines can accommodate quickly.  A rider from previous years sent me a laundry list of complaints about the ride including that it was too fast and that climbing the biggest hill in Portland wasn't fun.  Considering I'd be climbing up to Silver Falls during a century ride the day before, my sympathy ran shallow.  

It's always a surprise when people invited to a bike ride complain that there's an actual bike ride involved.  Realizing I'd better be very clear in setting expectations, I sent a long list of warnings to potential pedalpalooza riders with items like "sorry we go so fast (10 mph), sorry it's a drop ride (maps provided), sorry there's a 500' hill".  I then invited my personal friends with a completely different warning list "sorry we'll ride so slow (remember it's a social ride), sorry it's such a short ride, sorry it's almost completely flat".  Different strokes for different folks!
Popina Swimwear generously hosted an after party for us, with free beer and a discount on fancy swim suits.  One of the riders asked if I was miffed that there was another swim ride on the Pedalpalooza calendar.  I was the opposite of miffed and excited to hear of it, and we took off to join the Dock O'Clock ride, which took us to three Willamette River swim spots and a beach bonfire party.  All in all, I rode 45 miles that day and went swimming 6 times!  I'm kind of starting to feel ready for my triathlon. 

And, so, that was my Pedalpalooza for 2018.  I didn't attend many rides, because I was off in the valley riding fred centuries a few of the weekends.  And, now, to Afterpalooza!