Vol 17 No 1: March 2008
Vol 17 No 1: March 2008
Click here for this month’s articles
Welcome to the first issue of the Oregon Cycling season! With the March issue, we start up monthly publication again, so you can expect to find us in your favorite bike shop, coffeehouse or library a little more often.
This issue, we look into the world of BMX racing in Oregon, with an overview of the sport from organizer Lance McGuire and an insider’s perspective from CAT student Beau Poling. Beau recently discovered the joy and excitement of racing and hasn’t been able to think of anything else since. Flipping through these pages, you’ll also find the latest on the infamous “Red Pick-Up Guy” incidents in Salem, tips on avoiding potentially dangerous situations, and a meditation on the Outside Man (which sounds like the title of an Orson Welles movie, but only refers to the rider farthest to the left when riding in a pack) from columnist Mark Lansing, our cover star from last month.
And until the weather here in Oregon warms up sufficiently, no issue of this magazine would be complete without Oregon Cycling traveling correspondent Ellee Thalheimer firing off a dispatch from some tropical paradise. This month, she’s in Trinidad. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
It seems like everyone made it to the North American Hand-Built Bike Show in Portland a couple of weeks ago. I went up with a group of young framebuilders, all students at CAT. We wandered around in a daze. It was a good thing we had previously agreed on a place and time to meet outside the show, because once we were inside the doors, the crush of people and the numerous distractions pulled our attention in all directions and there was no way we were going to be able to stay together. we were there on Saturday, at the beginning of the day, so although the floor was thick with humanity, we were not even aware of the fire marshal’s declaration that the place was officially overcrowded until much later. Go figure. Anyone who showed up at the Oregon Hand-Built show last Fall should have known that this National event was going to be off the hook. I hope you took advantage of the opportunity to see the show here in Portland. Next year, you’ll have to travel to Indiana.
Remember, if you want to be part of Oregon Cycling, you can send in articles, letters, artwork, poems, stories, photos and almost anything else to: Oregon Cycling Magazine, 455 W 1st Ave, Eugene, OR 97401. I’ll be waiting by the mailbox.
re: “Red Pickup Guy” I have had similar experinces with motorists and the experiences have left me, too, shaken and disturbed. I’ve been inclined to believe that these kinds of actions are “hate crimes” as cyclists are an “identifiable social group” See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_crime While using hate crime laws would be an effective tool to make riding safer, I strongly advise resisting following that path, particularly because motorists are an indentifiable group, too. (see “Arguments in opposition to hate crime laws” in the same link) The best approach would be education. Sections can be put in driver education classes, “driver school” and even on the driver tests. This all may be moot, though; soon the price of gasoline will get everyone out of their cars and onto bicycles!