April 30, 2024
The Salem Bike Club does a spring ride each year around the central Willamette Valley called the Monster Cookie Metric Century. I’ve never ridden it before but I am pretty familiar with the roads in this area and it is a good place to ride. This year I thought that I would give it a try.
December 17, 2023
They say that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Well, each of the five times I rode this event I was hoping for the same result, but it was still pretty crazy! A blast from the past about an epic MTB ride from the 1980’s.
August 15, 2022
The Covered Bridges Bicycle Tour is a cycling event held by the Mid Valley Bicycle Club outside of Albany Oregon in the Willamette Valley. This will be the clubs 43rd year of holding of this event in rural Linn County.
(more…)May 28, 2022
It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to get out and ride an organized cycling event but with this one so close to home I thought that maybe it could mark the beginning of a return to riding events. This ride starts at the fabulous Oregon Garden, just outside Silverton Oregon. The forecast was for a 100% chance of rain, but being an optimist I just assumed that the weatherman would be wrong again!
September 30, 2018
This morning was the annual California Triple Crown awards breakfast. The CTC recognizes the accomplishments of riders participating in a series of double century events held in California over the years. The CTC began tracking riders results in 1990 and has kept a tally of those results. Those riders who complete 50 of these events are eligible to be inducted into the CTC Hall of Fame. Initially there were only 4 double century rides in California which counted towards the Triple Crown. Now in 2018 there are 27 qualifying double centuries in the series!
August 23, 2018
I try to ride the Portland Century each year if I can because it is generally a well supported and nicely designed route. It usually follows a different course each year and takes in new scenery around the Portland area. This years event held little similarity to previous years however!
June 25, 2018
Left to right, Joe, Lonnie, Roland, ?, ?, Bob, ?
Our good group of riders for much of the day at this years Grand Tour, on June 23, 2018.
May 27, 2018
Feeling pretty good at mile 150 along Cache Creek.
I’m back in Davis California after a couple of years away. This is the 49th annual Davis Double Century and coincidentally will be my 49th double century as well! After riding all of those doubles you would think that I would start to get good at it at some point! My only goal this year was to finish before dark but I wasn’t sure that it was in the cards. (more…)
March 17, 2018
20 plus riders rolled out at 9:00 am from the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse in Hillsboro on a loop to the west. It was 42 degrees at the start with a 90% chance of rain later in the day. Just how much later was the question! (more…)
February 24, 2018
This event, the first Double Century of the year is a ride that I have done 6 times previously. It has perhaps the most unpredictable weather of all the double centuries on the calendar due to it’s early in the year position on the schedule. What will it be like this year?
January 29, 2018
This ride was originally planned to be an out and back ride to Santa Barbara, but the route had to be changed due to flooding in the Montecito area. Many roads on the original route were still closed for clean up and some search and recovery efforts were still underway. Our hearts go out to those whose lost friends and loved ones during that tragedy. It seems unfair that while we are enjoying a lovely day on our bikes, others lives have been turned upside down.
September 20, 2017
This is a double century ride that I have ridden only twice before, first in 2002 and the again in 2014. I decided to head back and give it another go this year.
Loop 1, a 105 mile lap around the inland empire.
August 31, 2017
This ride was scheduled for Sunday of the weekend just before the 2017 solar eclipse. Portland Oregon itself was not going to be in the path of totality but at 99.1% was pretty close. The weather forecast for that day was for nice but warm conditions. All in all it looked like a good weekend for riding! It was not to be however. Just over a week before the event it was cancelled. The reasons given were twofold, smoky conditions due to wildfires in the state and a fear that eclipse mania would impact the ride negatively with traffic congestion etc. I was already in Portland so I would have to look for an alternative ride to do.
The day before the scheduled day for the PC I jumped on my mountain bike. There is virtually no mountain biking near Portland but there is a dirt road in Forest Park that is open to MTB’s. It is a 29 mile out and back from our place and makes a nice fast cruise on the bike. There were as many people (on foot) as I have ever seen in the park but once you got away from the trail head it was better. It was a good two hour jaunt!
Two days after the eclipse I rode another one of my favorite local rides, the Forest Grove – Vernonia 110 km perm, offered by RBA Susan France. It was another beautiful day for a ride and a great day to be on the bike. I finished the ride in just over 5 hours with virtually no traffic or issues.
The bottom line is that it was a beautiful weekend for a ride and it is a shame that the organizers decided to cancel the PC based on fears of smoke and traffic, neither one of which were present on ride day.
May 5, 2017
This is a great route which is frequently offered by Oregon Randonneurs, but is also available anytime as a permanent. I took advantage of a beautiful day in Oregon to ride this wonderful route one more time!
August 8, 2016
Overlooking the Columbia River at Rest Stop #2
This year I had a couple of my riding buddies from Utah come out to join me on this event, Lasse and Craig from Cedar City. This years ride followed Marine Drive along the Columbia River before turning onto the Columbia River Historic Highway. We chose the 80 mile route this year and avoided some of the major climbing but we still had a pretty stiff hill to conquer on Louden Road (at 12% plus). Descending on Larch Mountain Road brought us to our spectacular rest stop and viewpoint shown above, after which we descended back to the Sandy River. A little more route finding brought us to the Springwater Corridor we followed back through town. The weather started a little cool but warmed to the mid-70’s by noon. Winds were pretty light but always seemed in our face whichever way we turned.
July 15, 2016
This is my seventh participation in the Grand Tour double century and it’s various distances. I have done the 125 mile distance once, the 300 mile distance twice and the 200 mile distance four times now. It is an enjoyable route in-spite of the many traffic lights and heavy traffic in some sections.
Clear sailing on the wonderful Hwy 1 bike path near Mussel Shoals
May 24, 2016
This year is my 13th participation in this event which apparently makes it my favorite double century! I first did this ride in the late 1980’s before it was part of the California Triple Crown series. This year was one of my better Davis rides, in spite of the weather.
The second rest stop at Capell Valley Fire Station (mile 57)
May 8, 2016
Another great Oregon Randonneurs event, this time with the added benefit of wonderful weather! OR puts together some of the best routes anywhere and this one was no exception!
March 23, 2016
This is one of the prettiest double centuries on the schedule each year. It traverses the beautiful hill country of the central coast and if you have a sunny Spring day, you are in for a real treat!
February 15, 2016
6:00 am February 13, 2016, Solana Beach CA
This would be my first event of any real distance this year. I signed up for it in part because I really like the route, but also because it fit in well with my availability. Still, doing nearly 200 miles in one day with no mileage base was going to be a challenge.
November 10, 2015
This years Verboort Sausage Festival ride started well enough, cool and cloudy but not raining. Well, that fantasy lasted for about the first mile before the rain came in and settled on our ride!
September 8, 2015
This reason that we were here as a group to enjoy this ride is still a sad one. We lost our good Friend Matthew last year and have gathered for this ride (one of his favorite routes) to honor and remember him. We will do our best to celebrate Matt and his contributions to our cycling community by enjoying a great day, riding out bicycles on some of his favorite roads.
photo by Greg Jones
August 1, 2015
I don’t do a lot of centuries anymore but one that I try and do when I can is the Portland Century. There are two great things about this ride; first is that they find a wonderful route that is different each year. Next is the free beer at the end of the ride by Hopworks! I love beer sponsors.
Heading out of PDX on Terwilliger Blvd.
May 10, 2015
March 15, 2015
This is an event that I have been trying to attend for a couple of years now but there was always something that conflicted and denied me the opportunity. This year however seems to be a different story and I decided that good weather or bad, I am there! The resulting post is long winded and photo heavy, because well, I really liked this ride! 
The route is a 60 mile jaunt around the upper Columbia River Gorge, about a third or more is on dirt roads. It is an annual event but one which has no entry fee and is totally unsupported. I generally like these kinds of “rogue” events and am always willing to take care of myself on a ride. I wish there were more events out there that just said “screw the regulations, let’s go ride!”
February 27, 2015
This ride is a repeat from last year which is something that I don’t do very often, or for many events. I would like to get a few more double centuries in this year and this will be one of the few that I can attend early in the season so, I AM BACK! It is not a bad route and it is on roads that I am pretty familiar with. That helps with knowing what to expect but it keeps the ranking a little lower on the interest meter.
February 8, 2015
So many people like riding the same events over and over again. Personally, I like riding in new areas and doing events that I have not done before. Sure, we all end up repeating some events on occasion but for me a repeat is usually due to scheduling issues or it is an event that I have not ridden for several years. The Five Rivers 300 km is on roads that are mostly new to me!
6:00 am at the start in Corona
January 27, 2015
I, along with riding partners Joe and Craig went out for this early season event in Southern California. 50 plus local riders joined us on this lovely route which traverses many quiet and hilly roads in North San Diego County, then heads to the coast alongside the San Luis Rey River Trail before finishing with a run back down the coast to the start in La Jolla. I have ridden the event twice before and enjoyed the ride well enough to come back and do it again. There aren’t many rides that I will do twice let alone three times!
December 8, 2014
This event was held to honor our friend and fellow cyclist Matthew, whose life was ended far too early in October of this year while on a ride. A gathering of friends and acquaintances turned out to ride one of Matt’s favorite local rides, in his honor. Local news article on the tragedy here.
Over 20 riders showed for this Sunday event along with several of Matt’s family members. With the spectacular weather forecast it is surprising that there weren’t more. Perhaps a competing local event can be blamed for stealing a few riders.
November 23, 2014
This article was written for publication in the American Randonneur magazine, Winter 2014 edition.
Luciano Berutti, the face of vintage cycling
There is a new subcategory in cycling events these days, one that has much in common with randonneuring including: love for the traditions of cycling; the camaraderie of overcoming a challenging course with your fellow riders; and the personal rewards gained through a courageous effort. There is no popular name for this genre of cycling yet, but Classic or Vintage Cycling events seem to describe it the best. These events are somewhat of a cross between a celebration and a sporting event with a good measure of “party” thrown in. The category may be a little hard to define, but like many unique events you will know it when you see it.
The Utah Randonneur 
