Kevin Van Dyke
No offense intended, but I rode the Portland Century last summer. Many of the same promises were made.... support, well marked course, as well as Salmon dinner, microbrew, a lb of gourmet coffee, etc.
What a fiasco. Exactly 5 porta potties for the entire 100 mile route, all at PSU. No water or potties at Rosyln Lake rest stop. (can you imagine hundreds of cyclists using bushes as bathrooms?????) The organizers did not have enough of the promised amenities for even a quarter of the riders, even though they knew the had over 400 participants at the one week out point. They ultimately had over 600 riders.
Registration was at $40 was a bit steep I thought, but since it was a fund raiser for "Hands over Portland" I figured it was a good cause. After Ms Crotty responded to my concerns with statements such as "we think riders were taking more than one Clif bar, so next year we may limit them" I called Hands Over Portland and asked about the donation.
I was told they were pleased and thankful to have received $1500 from the Portland Century organizers. 600 riders at $40= $24,000.... and they donated $1500? What did they do with the rest? Certainly not buy more Salmon so they could live up to their advertisement. Certainly not more bottled water for the paying riders who rode one hundred miles with over 5000 of climbing. Certainly not a few cases of coffee so they could hand out a pound to riders (I don't drink the stuff, but that's beside the point)
I had registered more than a month ahead of the event and payed for the event t-shirt and yet the day of the ride I was told they had a few t-shirts but had sold out to the shorter distance riders. By the time century riders arrived those were gone. So it would appear the took the shirt I had payed for and sold it to someone else.... oops, sorry.
And to top it off, the route was so poorly marked that I estimate at least 1/3 of those on the century route got off the course at some point, mostly in the Pennisula area.
Just no culpability, or even "sorry, we screwed up"
So here go again. Another $40 bike ride, higher than most others if not all. A fund raiser for a worthy cause but how much will that cause actually get? All kinds of support and fun advertised along the way, but will it actually be there? Promises of "Don't worry about getting lost or hungry along the way, bored or lonely, we're taking care of all of that for you" does not instill a lot of confidence in this cyclist.
Your mileage may vary.
Kevin
-----Original Message-----
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Ayleen Crotty
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 12:45 PM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] The Night Ride : Support the BTA
THE NIGHT RIDE
Saturday, July 7
9:00 pm
Portland Train Station
Come join us on a nighttime tour of Portland! The Night Ride is a
benefit for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.
Don't worry about getting lost or hungry along the way, bored or lonely,
we're taking care of all of that for you.
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Special rare screening of Filmed by Bike movies at a huge outdoor
theater
* Disco party rest stop tucked away in North Portland
* All-you-can-eat finish line doughnut feast
* Free Tireflys wheel lights for everyone
* Glow necklaces for all riders
* Last Regiment drum corps at the start, Fire dancers and live music
along the course
* Costume contest with cool prizes like Amtrak tickets, ride passes,
Filmed by Bike DVDs
* Popcorn, candy and other nighttime indulgences as well as water and
support on course.
Hope to see you out there!
--
Ayleen Crotty
Good Sport Promotion
503.459.4508
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