MY FAVORITE ROUTE - TIA SHERRY

The My Favorite Route ride series continues on our blog. We’re excited to share a look at the inaugural Joyride in Dayton, Oregon as told by Tia Sherry, the Development Director & Co-Executive Director of The Street Trust. Unsure of attending a large event, the appeal of our first Joyride in 2016 encouraged Tia to challenge herself and sign up. Along the route she discovered the beauty of Oregon roads, food & wine, and the camaraderie of newfound bicycle friends.

“I can't tell you which rolling hill or sweeping turn was my favorite part of Joyride because one is swallowed up by the beauty of the area and the friendships formed. Those friendships are there every June when I return to Joyride.”

Read the full feature here.

RIDE LIKE A LOCAL, ANYWHERE IN OREGON
Portland-based Ride With GPS released one of its most anticipated features last week, heatmaps, and we are excited to put it to use. But before we explain what heatmaps do we're excited to share that the heatmap overlay is available to anyone in their mobile app, whether they are a free or paid member. Anyone can install the app, push record, and then view the heatmap in real time as they ride, anywhere in the world. We suggest Oregon.

Ride with GPS is an app and website that allows anyone, (heck, all you need is a smartphone), to plan a route, navigate, and track rides. The new heatmap feature uses aggregated data from millions of rides worldwide to overlay onto any of the new routes you build or when you're out just riding around to reveal the most used options. Colored lines increase in density, or "heat", for the most popular routes so you'll know the best roads to ride or maybe even discover one unknown to you.

We'll say it again, you don't even need an account to view the heatmap; that's some real Oregon hospitality right there. But we recommend signing up with these hometown heroes, they've been a tremendous supporter of our mission and a great resource for riders everywhere. 

View the global heatmap here.

COVERED BRIDGES SCENIC BIKEWAY

The Row River Trail in Cottage Grove, Oregon is also known as the Covered Bridges Scenic Bikeway and is an enjoyable route for viewing fall foliage. Unfortunately, we planned our ride report a little too early for this month's newsletter to find fall color. We did enjoy the ride, it's a mostly car-free route with lake and valley views, covered bridges, picturesque old barns, strange signs, and all sorts of twists and turns to deliver a fantastic 35-mile bike ride.

Cycle Oregon, Oregon State Parks, Travel Oregon, ODOT and others joined forces in 2009 to create the Oregon Scenic Bikeways program. Cycle Oregon provided a signature grant of $50,000 to launch the program, awarding additional grants and support in the time since. Scenic Bikeway routes are the best bike rides in Oregon and showcase beautiful scenery, state history, and local communities.

Read more on the Cycle Oregon blog here.

We turned up the wattage in our Volunteer Spotlight last month with features on several of the amazing people who make Cycle Oregon events the very best. In this ongoing series on our blog, we discover what motivates people to sign up and why they come back year after year. We couldn't do what we do without our volunteers so please click through and learn a little more about them:

Cheryl Zander - Vancouver, WA
Chuck Quarterman - Portland, OR
Tom Dorzweiler - Oregon City, OR
Karen, Bob, & Krista Leonard - Beaverton, OR
Mark Deacon - Portland, OR

Learn more about volunteering here.

RIDING DURING COLD & FLU SEASON

Crisp mornings and first signs of fall color tell us that autumn has arrived and with that comes the onset of cold and flu season. Don't despair, just keep riding! Fitness gives your body a boost in fighting off infections and illness and in a report by the New York Times, two studies suggest that endurance exercising such as cycling may amplify your response to an influenza vaccination. Not that we need another excuse to ride but we're happy to add this one to the list.

Are you already feeling a little bit of something? We like this advice from Bicycling magazine on whether to ride or not when you think you might already be sick:

• Feeling symptoms above the neck? - Ride
• Feeling symptoms below the neck?  - Rest
• Symptoms all over? - Get in bed and stay there.

#3 IS DEFINITELY #1 IN OREGON
The crew at Global Cycling Network sure like to have fun on the bike and we appreciate this feel good look at the ten best things about riding bikes. What's your favorite or got an 11th to add? Share it on Facebook or Instagram and tag #ridecycleoregon. The weather is great so get out there and ride!