Blueberry Rides
Y2K in retrospect

For year 2000 idea man, Louie Martin of The Blueberry Tandem Team, decided that we should lead multi-club rides in an effort to increase rider participation and club comradeship. Bec agreed that it was a great idea and together we scheduled a year's worth of rides. We wanted to make sure that riders of all abilities could participate so we planned our rides with short route options on the longer rides. All total we led 12 rides and two classes for beginner cyclists.

We started the year with the Blueberry Tea ride led out of Share-It Square in Sellwood. We were very surprised by the turnout because of the sketchy weather. As it turned out it did not rain until the ride was over. Everyone had a great time. Jack Lisker helped us modify the route to avoid traffic at the start of the ride and kept us from getting lost in Oregon City. We met Vic and Kendra who showed us their digital camera, which convinced us to get one for ride photos for the web site.

February we led our first multi-club ride. It started in Vancouver and was sponsored by Vancouver Cyclery. The response was overwhelming. Cyclists from PWTC and the Vancouver Club just kept coming and coming until there were more than 50 cyclists present. We had to scramble to get more maps made and make sure that everyone got signed in. We instructed cyclists to follow the ride leaders, Terry and Liz, but it was a fast group and several people missed the turn for the long route causing them to do the short route instead. We learned that painting Dan Henrys for longer rides is the best way to prevent riders from getting lost.

In March we led a ride billed as "The Whirligig Ride". Not all the bike clubs would list this ride as some felt we had gone "too far" because the ride started in Clatskanie, Oregon. It was snowing as we drove up for the ride but a hearty bunch of tandemists showed up ready to ride. One rider injured himself closing his finger in the car door just before the start of the ride. He had to take his throbbing finger home to put it on ice. Our group was drenched by a passing shower early in the ride around Puget Island. We regrouped at the restaurant and opted for the short route option back to Clatskanie. From this ride we discovered that tandemists were a hearty group that would ride no matter what the weather and will travel long distances for a good ride.

April was to be the best time to lead our second annual Blueberry Pancake Ride in Champoeg Park. The ride was well received by Salem Bike Club, TNT, and PWTC members. With over 100 cyclists in attendance, we were thankful for the help of fellow TNT members serving pancakes to all those hungry bikers. This was our most successful event of the year. Moderate terrain, low mileage, and blueberry pancakes proved to be a winning combination so we plan on leading this ride again next year.

We joined Tom and Cheryl Edwards in April and May for a couple of rides called the Mountain Home Meanders. Tom and Cheryl were great hosts, providing treats and drinks, and a challenging route. We got our top speed ever on the tandem of 58 MPH.

In May we joined Dale and Gwen in Grants Pass for the Best Bike Ride in Southern Oregon. Kudos to the Prohaskas for providing a wonderful route that coincided with Boatnik Days. We especially enjoyed the Hellgate Jetboat excursion. Once again, TNT members went the distance to take part in a ride outside the boundaries of normal club rides.

The Raspberry Rendezvous in June was met with unseasonable cold wet weather. A combined group of Wheelmen and TNT members started the 60-mile journey up the Gorge to Cascade Locks. After a few showers and flat tires all that remained after Multnomah Falls were TNT members. Tough as nails, the TNT group overcame more mechanical difficulties and inclement weather to enjoy a hot meal at The Charburger in Cascade Locks. Like letter carriers nothing stops TNT tandem teams from their appointed rounds.

The Garage Sale ride in July was our first experimental ride. There were many difficult rides in July so we wanted to do something different. Tim and Anita Canell and Louie's sister and her husband were all that joined us on this one. Despite the low turnout we had a great time and everyone found some good stuff. We decided that going to garage sales on bikes is and activity best enjoyed with close friends not bike clubs.

Also in July we volunteered to lead a tandem ride for blind kids at Oral Hull foundation in Sandy. We had a total of four tandems and were joined by Bill, Anne, and Dan. TNT members set an Oral Hull land speed record of 27mph with kid powered vehicles. Both kids and adults had a great time. We enjoyed doing it so much that we returned one more time in August to take adults for a ride.

July was busy month. We did our first Urban Bicycle Survival class for Hewlet Packard employees at their plant in Vancouver . Our next class was at Mt Hood Community College. The class was well received by those attending. However, Bec's van was vandalized and burglarized in the parking lot while giving the class at Mt Hood Community College. Through much effort tracking phone calls made on Bec's stolen cell phone and credit card purchases, Bec was able to give the authorities enough information to make sure that the thieves will not be breaking into anyone else's car for a while.

In August we led the Four County ride that started in Banks. Once again we were joined by a group of TNT and Wheelmen. For TNT members, Bill and Anne, the ride turned into their first century. Gayle and Rich also set an impressive pace up over the coast range. One Wheelmen member rode the short option of the Linear Parkway from Banks to Vernonia. This was our most aggressive ride of the year. Once again TNT members were up for the challenge.

We joined Bill and Anne for their Ride around Mt Adams in September. We really liked the course and the support was exceptional. We can't wait for their next ride. Our scheduled ride for the month, The Grandparents Day Ride, was intended to be a ride for families with children. We missed the mark on this one. We are not quite sure why nobody showed up. We had ice cream in a cooler for the kids. We ended up giving it away to a family in the Park. We are going to keep trying new things, even though not all of our ideas are winners.

The October Covered Bridge Ride gave birth to the Blueberryrides map-book and treat-bag that were a big hit. The interesting part of this ride was the fact that Scio was in the center of a system of roads so that everyone could do exactly the amount of miles they wanted and make it back to Scio from just about any point on the ride. Everyone did exactly that. We had people do everything from 20 miles to the whole 90 miles. We did about 45 and then got in the Van and drove the course to make sure everyone was having a good time. Because of its flexibility we think this is one of the better rides in our ride selection. Check out the map on our maps page and go for this ride. You won’t be disappointed. If the ride becomes too much you can always turn back to Scio!

On our November Verboort Sausage ride we saw so many riders out all over the area. There were wheelmen, solo riders, other small groups, and our gaggle of tandems. It was cool with just enough little bits of moisture coming at us enough to remind us that this is Oregon. The smell of sausage hung in our imaginations as we wheeled ever closer to Verboort. "I am going to eat sausage until I pop!" Louie would remark when the going got tough. We are not sure how we did it but we would find the map roads and then end up on some other road, find the map roads, and then wonder off again. We would come across the other riders only long enough to get them lost and then pedal off in some other direction ourselves. At least most everyone was smiling! True to his word, Louie ate most of our dinner and half of Liz’s. Filled with sausage, tandemists, wheelmen, solo riders, all waddled off to their bikes to do a slow satisfying ride back home.

We ended the year with Christmas in Dairyland, a ride from Laurlhurst Park up to Alpenrose Dairy. Both the Raspberry and the BOB were decorated with tinsel, lights and ornaments. Others showed up with wreaths, tinsel, bows, and red antlers. We served hot chocolate, coffee, cookies, and Blueberry Tea at the start and then carried it all up the hill to Alpenrose Dairy. The highlight of the ride for us was when we got to save Santa from getting run over by a train. Check out our ride report for all the details. Everyone had such a good time that they hung together waiting for those of us who were a little slower.

All along the ten-mile stretch of inner city bike paths we received a steady stream of waves, honks, and shouts of Merry Christmas as our group rode by. It was a great finish for a wonderful year!

We would like to issue a special thanks to all those who helped to make Blueberry Rides a success for the Year 2000 especially Tom and Cheryl Edwards, Terry Sherbeck and Liz Koperski, Keith and Gladys Ironside, Ken and Carry Southerland, Tim and Georgia Winestofer, Al Levit and Pat Rehberg, Steve and Eileen Durspek, Jack and Robin Vesey, Bill and Anne McElhoes, and Tim and Anita Cannell .