MY FAVORITE ROUTE - AYLEEN CROTTY

Ayleen Crotty, Founder and Festival Director of Filmed by Bike has been a smiling, familiar face in Cycle Oregon camp and on the road since first volunteering with the smoothie crew back in 2013. For our My Favorite Route series she takes us back to Day 5 of the 2016 Classic, "Go for the Gold", and the infamous Bear Camp Road climb. She says, “That very well may have been the day I decided I love to climb.”

“Truth be told, I had been wanting to conquer my aversion to hills for quite a while. A pretty obnoxious voice in my head endlessly shouted “Ugh, this sucks!” the entire way up challenging hills, and I had grown rather tired of that voice. I knew there had to be a better way. I started periodic rides on hills near my home and learned to transform “Ugh, this sucks!” into “You got this.” 

 Read the full feature on our blog here.

PDW FENDER & LIGHT SPECIAL OFFER

Portland Design Works has a great offer to help Cycle Oregonians stay dry and bright through the winter ahead. They believe that All Days Are Nice Days and with sturdy, well-fitting fenders and a set of bright and reliable lights, the dark damp days are, indeed, nice days (or nights) for riding a bike.

Use the code CYCLEOREGON when shopping their online store for 10% off fender and light purchases through the end of November.

Be prepared for the dark with a set of bright, rechargeable lights. The PDW Pathfinder and Power Rover headlights have external power gauges so you'll always know just how much juice you've got left. Fenders, though, require a little more expertise so check out their handy Full Fender Fit Guide for reference or visit your favorite local bike shop (hint, it's Bike Gallery) for the best fit for your bike. Thank you, PDW!

HOW TO CHOOSE WINTER CYCLING GLOVES
Russ and Laura from The Path Less Pedaled may call another state their home these days but they'll always be Oregon heroes to us. Raise your hand if you were frantically looking through your winter gear trying to find warmer gloves in the past week or two. Yikes, it got cold out there. Not to worry, The Path Less Pedaled has great advice for the cold days ahead. And Showers Pass has the gloves you'll need, check 'em out.