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Carl Gurney - Guest Speaker
Newsletter of the
Santiam Spokes, Inc.
P.O. Box 739
Lebanon, OR 97355
Club Meeting April 2nd - 7:00 PM
http://santiamspokes.org
Volume 23 - No. 7
April 2015
2015 Officers
President — Ken Bronson
Vice Pres. — Steve Snyder
Co-Secretaries — Mary Ellen
Lind & Barbi Thomson
Treasurer — Shirley Schoberg
-Hebda
Membership - Wade Bloecher
Newsletter — Greg Stephens
Ride Captain — Art Olin
Webmaster — Vince Nowell
Publicity — Trevor Spangle
Historian — Bill Pintard
Strawberry Coordinator —
Ron Kropf
Also in this Issue
Carl decided to bike across the United States in memory of his grandmother. He made plans and in early May last year, he started from the
beach house that his grandmother and grandfather built in Long Beach
Washington. He finished his journey in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware. The
entire trip took him 10 weeks. He saw a lot of out of the ordinary places
and met many fascinating people. Join us April 2nd for his presentation.
Bring a friend to hear and see his memorable story!
Page 1 - April 2015
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March Minutes
2015 Strawberry
Out & About
Arturo’s Adventures
Spokes Summer Tour
Welcome New Member
Great “Falls” of Maui
Slo-Poke Sez
Newport Ride
Valley of Fire State Park
April Calendar
Albany Fitwalkers
March 5th, 2015 Minutes
The Santiam Spokes was held March 5, 2015 at the hospital.
President Ken Bronson called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Club members reviewed their recent rides.
Program Speakers: Spokes members Doug Robin and Donna Short presented a delightful program on their
September 2012 “Cutting off the Thumb” tour in Michigan. Their trip lasted basically from September 4 to October 4 (on the road from September 7 to October 1), covering a total of 908 miles. Doug and Donna are seasoned veteran bike tourists and their programs are always enjoyable.
The program was followed by a break for snacks provided by John Hebda and Shirley Schoberg-Hebda.
Minutes: The minutes from the February 5, 2015 meeting were approved unanimously as “perfect.” (Good job
Mary Ellen!)
Treasurer’s Report: Shirley reported an available club balance as of March 5, after all deposits and payments,
of $2,676, with an available Strawberry balance of $6,335. (Numbers are rounded off.) She will be making a
$702 payment to Raceway Storage in March. She is going to ask Raceway if a key to our storage unit can be left
there to use (for people whose names are on a list with the office), rather than having to wait until someone with
a key arrives to open it up. This should make things much easier for people who need to access the unit, especially as we get closer to the Strawberry.
Membership: Wade Bloecher reported current memberships of 62 individuals, 44 family memberships, with
a total of 106 riders. He suggested to the club that we make Chuck Young an honorary lifetime member, even
though he’s not riding anymore it would be a nice gesture to recognize him for past contributions to the club.
The vote passed unanimously to do so.
Ride Report: Art Olin (Ride Captain Art!) reviewed April rides and asked for suggestions and volunteers for
May rides. Ken will be leading the annual Daffodil Ride and will be taking riders past his family’s farm. Shirley
suggested having a shorter ride for those people not doing the entire weekend coast ride at the end of April, perhaps going to Blodgett or Summit and back on Saturday. Please note: Beginning in April, rides will start at
9:00 a.m. instead of 10:00 a.m.
Old Business/Strawberry Century: Trevor Spangle handed out the postcards he had made up in lieu of
brochures for the Strawberry. Unfortunately, these do not totally meet USPS standards. He will be mailing several in envelopes to bike shops on the mailing list that Barbi gave him, and will be requesting No Dinx in Albany
to print more that will pass postal inspection. He reported the medical school has become a $500 Gold Sponsor;
Nuun Hydration will be supplying electrolyte drinks at each water and food stop; and Western Bikeworks in Portland will be supplying a “wrench tent” and raffle items for the ride, along with a 15% discount for riders to use in
their stores. He is still waiting to hear from a couple of other vendors. Trevor also encouraged everyone to go
to the Strawberry Facebook page and send invitations to their friends to help spread the word.
Shirley has agreed to take on the food coordinator position again but is asking for help in the form of a
“purchasing agent” as well as someone to run the coffee stand at the high school. Trevor said he is working on
getting Dutch Bros. to provide coffee this year.
New Business: Shirley described what Google Groups email is and has created some mail groups, one for
Strawberry board members and one for all Spokes members. This will allow easier contact between individuals
in those groups. The all-member list should be particularly helpful if there is something that needs to go out to
everyone in-between newsletters.
Ken said that he had attended the recent Sweet Home Livability Share Fair and made some good contacts for
the club.
Barbi passed along a request from Al Rimer regarding club hats. After some discussion it was decided to go
ahead and find out more information as to cost, type, etc. She will report back at a future meeting.
Rod Sell asked if it would be all right for Build Lebanon Trails (BLT) to use the Strawberry’s white barricades for
their annual Cheadle Lake run. We agreed to let them borrow the barricades, and Trevor will give Rod about 200
postcards to hand out to runners advertising the Strawberry.
With no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m. The next meeting will be 7:00 p.m., March 2,
2015 at the hospital.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbi Thomson, Co-Secretary
Page 2 - April 2015
2015 Strawberry Update
The 2015 Strawberry is looking to be the best one yet.
Trevor reports the Sponsor list keeps growing. How exciting is that? He also has us linked to Facebook and
Instagram. We invite you to share and like our pages.
Registration is now open either online or by downloading
and mailing in the registration/waiver papers.
Shirley took on the job of food/nutrition coordinator
again this year……...Thank you Shirley. Mary Ellen will
be working with Shirley on the bulk of it. Shirley would
like to thank two other people who have volunteered
to take on some of the duties under her umbrella. Kari
Kropf is going to review the contents of the first aid kits
and update the supplies where needed. Carol Olin will
be “purchasing agent” and will be acquiring food and
supplies that are not part of the Megafoods, Grandpa’s
(strawberries), Umpqua, or Rosie’s Café orders. All the
miscellaneous things that need to be bought here and
there she will buy wherever the best deal can be found.
Art has ridden all segments of the Strawberry route
with the express purpose of seeing where he needs signs
and/or pointer volunteers.
The Strawberry Century is just around the corner. The Santiam Spokes is happy to
announce the following businesses as our Gold Level sponsors. With their help
we're able to bring you the sweetest miles you've ever ridden.
2015 Strawberry
Download the Mail-in
Registration Form
Here
Page 3 - April 2015
Register Online
Here
Register with
Your Smart
Phone
Out and About
Kari and Ron Kropf rode the McKenzie Highway February 15th. Hard to believe the almost complete lack of snow and the
beautiful day they encountered this early in the year.
Photos by Kari Kropf
Al Rimer, Rod and Raylene Sell, Barbi Thomson, and Kari Kropf took the day off Tuesday Feb. 17th and went for a ride up
Mountain Home and back. Beautiful weather and a great day for playing hooky from non-work!
Photos by Kari Kropf
Maurice, Art, Al, Jason, Trevor, Mike, Dick, and Greg rode to Yellowbottom
on Sunday, March 8th. The weather was perfect and a good time was had by
all. We could certainly use more water in the river though. It was really low
and slow and thereby clear for this time of year!
Page 4 - April 2015
Arturo’s Adventures
The Daffodil Ride on March 21st looked like it was going to be washed out early in the morning. But then the rain stopped,
and some sun appeared and it turned out to be a good day. Ride Leader Ken Bronson took his minions to the Bronson
Family Farm for show and tell. The Cinnamon Rolls - now that is what I am talking about - were enjoyed by all. The car
show had some beauties………all in all, just a great day to be on a ride!
Page 5 - April 2015
2015 Santiam Spokes Summer Bike Tour
The Santiam Spokes Summer Tour this year will be in Northwest Oregon.
It will be August 23rd thru August 29th. We invite all club members to
join our week-long summer tour! The route begins in Carlton, a small
town a short way north of McMinnville. It will go north and include the
Banks – Vernonia Trail and on to Astoria. Then the route goes south on
HWY 101 and turns inland a short way south of Tillamook on a low-traffic
road, over the coastal mountains, along the Nestucca River, and back to
Carlton. For accommodations, there will be camping at state and forestservice campgrounds and an overnight on the grounds of the vacation
home of Ken Orwick’s MIL. Group meals will be prepared most of the
evenings. The average mileage per day will be 40 – 50 miles with total
mileage of approximately 280.
The dates and route were determined by a group of club members who
have interest in riding a summer week-long tour. They hope you will join them! The Northwest Oregon route was developed
and tour was ridden in 2008; truly an adventuresome, enjoyable experience that is worthy of repeating! A SAG vehicle will be
provided to carry essential camping and personal baggage.
The week-long summer tour is open to all members of the Santiam Spokes
bike club. Registrants are expected to participate in the June 13 Strawberry
Century production which provides funding for the sag driver expenses. The
campsites and food costs are shared by all riders. A registration form will
be published in the April issue of the Outspoken or online at santiamspokes.com. Early registrations are encouraged to assure there is a space
for you; the limit is 20 bikers. A person, or a couple, who would like to
serve as SAG Driver(s) for the Tour is/are still needed. You do not
have to be a club member , but must enjoy having fun with bikers.
Must have or have access to a large pickup, preferable with a canopy, to carry the tour luggage. You will be reimbursed for gas and
expenses. If you have questions, about the tour or being a SAG driver,
please contact Mary Ellen Lind, [email protected] or 541-231-6973.
2015 Santiam Spokes Summer Tour Registration Form
2015 Summer Tour Registration
Date submitting this form:______________
Name:_______________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________
Email address:_________________________________________
Phone: __________________Cell phone: ___________________
Emergency contact (name and phone of person not on the ride.)
_____________________________________________________
Deposit Fee: $25.00/person. (Refundable through Aug. 10th).
Do you want to participate in the purchase and preparation of group meals and drinks ________yes _________no
Do you want to write an article on one day or event of the tour for the club newsletter ________yes _________no
Registration is requested ASAP or by Aug. 1st. Download a Tour Registration form from our website Here or print and
send this form with deposit to:
Santiam Spokes Inc., c/o SLCH, P.O. Box 739, Lebanon, OR 97355
2015 Spokes Membership Dues
If you haven’t paid your 2015 Member Dues, please
remit them to Wade Bloecher - P.O. Box 739 - Lebanon, OR 97355. Wade would like to get the Spokes
Membership Book up to date. Thanks!
Page 6 - April 2015
Welcome New
Member
John Goucher
Do you have an article or picture for
the Newsletter? Please email submissions to: Outspoken
[email protected]
The Great “Falls” of Maui -
By Dennis Murphy
On the morning of March 11th, Mary Ellen and I decided
to do an approximate six mile hike of the Makawau Forest Reserve in upcountry Maui. We had scouted the trail
the day before with my daughter Sarah, and decided
that although a bit muddy, it would be an excellent
hike.
I think that we set off on this adventure around 8am in
the morning. There was a light rain, but once we got
off of the half mile path from the parking lot to the loop
trail, it became a wonderful paradise of trees, ferns and
a variety of plants. Mary Ellen, sets a pace that I cannot keep up with, so I told her to go ahead, as we usually do, and wait for me at a nice spot.
At about the two mile mark, she called and asked
where I was, and within minutes we met up and talked
for a while. She asked If I wanted to turn around, and
I was in no mood for giving up on the challenge. It was
a vigorous, mostly uphill hike, and it was still raining
lightly. At this point the two of us stayed close toMary Ellen and Dennis with Grandchildren, Xander (7) &
gether. There were times when the trail was a bit con- Avayla (10 months.)
fusing, so that was a very good thing. As we hiked
along, I gradually noticed a discernible limp in Mary Ellen’s gate. We were on the downhill side of the hike, and were delighted when we passed a couple of hikers telling us the parking lot was not that far away. I suggested that Mary Ellen use
my hiking pole because she was walking slower and slower and appeared to be in some pain. She gladly took my pole and
mentioned that we may be done with hiking on this trip.
We shortly reached the beginning of the loop trail, and knew we were just a half mile from the parking lot and our car. Suddenly I found myself realizing my head was bouncing on the ground. Then I found myself holding my left knee and screaming in agony. I made a couple of feeble attempts to stand up, then just laid in the mud groaning in pain. A couple came
along and did their best to help us. Ultimately 911 was called, and we could soon hear the sirens of the rescue vehicles
coming up the mountain from Makawao. There was no way for a rescue vehicle to get to me, so ultimately, six men carried
me out of the forest on a single wheeled gurney. Shortly afterwards I was loaded into the ambulance and taken to the Maui
Memorial Hospital ER. CT scans and X rays revealed a badly damaged knee with torn quadriceps. They decided to operate
on me the next day, and admitted me into the hospital.
Once in the hospital room, Mary Ellen, who was sitting in a chair next to my bed, mentioned that she had taken a fall at the
two mile mark of our hike. She said that when she fell she heard a popping sound. She then said she heard the same sound
when she stood up from the fall. She said her leg was hurting a bit and perhaps they could take an X Ray. Shortly the
nurse came in with a wheel chair, and Mary Ellen and my daughter Sarah headed back to the emergency room. Sometime
later they came back to room with Mary Ellen’s leg in a splint and the news that she had a broken fibula in her leg. Since it
is not a weight bearing bone, a splint will suffice. Mary Ellen had walked over four miles out of the forest with a broken leg,
stayed by my side the entire process of getting me safely to a hospital and good medical care. My friends, Mary Ellen, is a
most truly amazing woman. I am so very lucky to have her as a part of my life.
Newport Ride Coming Up April 25th & 26th
For many years several Santiam Spokes bikers have enjoyed the early Spring long-ride challenge of biking from Corvallis to Newport on Saturday and returning on Sunday. It is
about 70 miles each way of all categories of terrain and
mostly category II. We are on Hwy 20 to Blodgett, north of
Philomath, then we turn off to Summit and take low traffic
roads the rest of the way. We arrive about lunch time at Logsden country store where we have sandwiches that they prepare. Then we ride into Newport, cross the bridge and many
of us choose to circle under the bridge to visit the Rogue Brewery for a big hurrah! We did it! A club member has a
neighbor who rents his beach house to us that is located in
South Beach for a very nominal fee (about $15 each) where we can choose to overnight. I, Mary Ellen, prepare and
serve a pasta dinner on Saturday night. At about 8 a.m. the next morning we head back to Corvallis, arriving around 3
p.m. Mary Ellen Lind and Dennis Murphy will be ride leaders from their SAG vehicle (See article above) and Debi
Bloecher will also be a SAG driver to carry the overnight baggage.
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BIKING THIS ROUTE? We’d like a straw-count to know how much interest there is this
year. Please, if you most likely will ride this route, let either of us know immediately...Mary Ellen - [email protected]
or Dennis Murphy - [email protected]. We need to know how many to prepare for. Thank You!!
Page 7 - April 2015
Valley of Fire State Park—Nevada
I was gone to California, Nevada, and Utah for most of February. I missed most of your good riding weather and so didn’t get the
ride pictures I would have liked. I thought you might be interested in some of the photos I took while on vacation.
The Editor
Page 8 - April 2015
Valley of Fire State Park—Nevada
St. George, UT
Last but not least, just what the Sno-birds signed up
for when they came to St. George….. 4 inches of
snow one morning. The natives were happy though
as they need all the moisture they can get.
Page 9 - April 2015
April 2015
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
1 Wednesday
Wanderers - Jo
Johnson 503.428.0654
2
Fri
Sat
3
4 N. Albany to Dallas Start N. Albany Shopping
Ctr - 09:00 Cat ll-lll 57 Mi.
Ride Leader - TBA
Club Meeting
7:00 PM
5
6
7
8 Wednesday
Wanderers - Jo
Johnson 503.428.0654
9
10
11 Albany Fit Walk/Ride
Event - Short Ride - 13 Mi
Cat 1 - Long Ride - 35 Mi
Cat ll Both Start Broadalbin
St.NW 08:30 A.M. - Ride
Leader - Trevor Spangle
541.619.5872
12
13
14
15 Wednesday
Wanderers - Jo
Johnson 503.428.0654
16
17
18 Scale the Gap - Start
SLCH - No. Portion of the
Strawberry - 09:00 Cat ll 42 Mi. - Ride Leader Trevor Spangle
20
21
22 Wednesday
Wanderers - Jo
Johnson 503.428.0654
23
24
25 Ride to Newport - Start
Harrison St. Bridge Corvallis
08:00 A.M. - Cat lll - 70 Mi.
- Ride Leaders Dennis Murphy & Mary Ellen Lind 541.829.2597
27
28
29 Wednesday
Wanderers - Jo
Johnson 503.428.0654
30
TBA by Email
19
TBA by Email
26
Newport back
to Corvallis
Slo-Poke Sez
Get Cracking
Time to get the
bike dusted off,
washed, lubed,
and the tires
pumped up .
Summer is just
around the corner
and you will want
to be in shape.
Slo-Poke Sez….
The more you
ride, the better
you feel and the
more fun it is!
Page 10 - April 2015
The Albany Fitwalkers club is holding the “Lolly Gibbs Memorial A
to Z Walk” on Saturday, April 11. Held in honor of Gibbs, who was a
past officer of the Albany Fit Walkers, the event gives participants the
option of a 5k or 10k stroll along some of downtown Albany’s scenic
walkways and countryside, boasting views of the Willamette River. The
mayor of Albany is recognizing the week prior as a “Pedestrian and
Cylist Safety & Fitness Week”, so the Santiam Spokes have stepped
up to support their club and their cause by offering two guided ride
options.
The beginner ride is 13 miles (142 ft elevation gain), and the intermediate ride is 35 miles (1,000 ft elevation gain). These rides will be the
official club rides for the weekend, and all are encouraged to attend
and help lead a group of riders. Maps will be provided to participants
upon signing a release waiver, and the longer ride will have a “fee” of
$1 to get you across the Buena Vista Ferry. Event registration and
staging area is located at the Albany Fraternal Order of the Eagles,
127 Broadalbin St NW, Albany, Oregon 97321, and all riders
should arrive by 8:30am.
Santiam Spokes also has the opportunity to set up a table at this
event to promote our own club, and the Strawberry Century. If anyone is interested in manning our table, or helping lead one of the
rides, please contact [email protected] or call 541-619-5872.
More information can be found at www.albanyfitwalkers.org.