# What was up with the Portland Century support?



## Tweezak (Dec 6, 2008)

Anyone else here do the Portland Century this weekend? Man...talk about inadequate planning and support! This is a real shame because the ride itself goes through some beautiful country and over some great roads. Challenging climbs and white knuckle downhills abound. 

Things seemed great at the start. There was a lot of volunteer help giving out a wide variety of food for breakfast. Fresh coffee, eggs, Clif bars, PBJ, bagels...all kinds of good stuff.

People then set off for the first 15 mile leg. As you would expect, many people drank a lot of coffee at the 6-7am start and needed to relieve themselves. To my amazement there were a whopping 3 porta-potties. One of these was separate from the other two and apparently was left over from some other event as it was completely full...to the brim. Note that I was one of the earlier riders so things were only going to get worse.

Later in the ride, the rest stop after the last big climb was on a downhill stretch and was poorly marked. A large percentage of people missed that stop and ended up riding almost 30 miles between rests. This wasn't a problem for me or other relatively seasoned riders. 

Then, the next stop after that...74 miles into the ride...had very little in the way of recovery food. PBJ, bananas, pudding and cookies. This was being staffed by a single volunteer while another attended to water. There was also a van serving pizza but that wasn't really what people needed at that stage of the ride. I was really glad I'd brought a lot of Gu.

This was only my third century - all three in the last 4 weeks. I suppose I got spoiled by the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure and the Mid-Valley Bike Club's Covered Bridge Bicycle Tour. Both of these had outstanding support. There was way more than enough food and you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a SAG wagon. I didn't see a single marked SAG during the entire Portland Century.

Anyway, if anyone who has the ear of the organizers of this event is reading this, maybe they can pass along these observations. For such a "premier" event that charges what I would consider a premium price ($60 for pre-registering, $80 day of event), the support of the century riders really took a back seat to the big catered dinner that probably sucked up the majority of the fees.


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## sturgl (Aug 18, 2009)

I did, and was disappointed in the support as well. They ran out of coffee pretty early (we didn't get on the road 'til 7:45 - they were out shortly after I arrived at 6:45), and ran out of electrolyte stuff at at least one location. The line for the the porta-potties at the first stop was vast, thanks to the mere 3 you mentioned. I thought there was supposed to be a bunch of great food and stuff on the ride, but I sure didn't notice any at the first stop - just PBJs and unripe bananas.

I thought the same about the pizza at mile 74. Fun, but not great for a re-charge - felt this may have been better at the lunch stop - which was just sandwiches, pickles, and cookies. I thought this thing was supposed to be all gourmet and such? It certainly didn't live up to the hype the organizers were pushing in their emails (though there was one stop with some nice pasta dishes).

I also didn't see any SAGs - though I did see an ambulance maybe four times. Lots of crashes, it seemed to me - certainly not the fault of PC, just spooky. I saw bike repair at I think only 3 of the stops - thought there was supposed to be one at each? Not that I needed it, but still...

I did the Reach the Beach century ride this year, and found its support and management to be superior. The rest stops were in fact so good that we wound up burning a bunch time just hanging out. Not so with the PC - pretty much wanted to get in and out.

That said, I thought the organizers' communication during the lead-up to the PC was excellent. Reality didn't quite live up to their copy, however. I also thought the post-ride party was pretty fun. I appreciated the band, the decent food, and especially the two beers! The rider pamphlet was a nice touch too - with the emergency SAG number posted prominently. For me, it was just the rest stops that were a bit weak. Still, a fun, very challenging ride.


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## Tweezak (Dec 6, 2008)

Someone said in a blog that they were helping one crashed rider when they watched another slide out on the same corner and fly off the embankment. His bike ended up in a tree and he was about 30 feet below the road, unconscious. I think that's the guy that got hauled out via Life Flight. I suppose I was lucky that I didn't know the roads and subsequently slowed way down for the corners. Thank goodness for my brand new Kool Stops installed the day before.


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## maximum7 (Apr 24, 2008)

My friend came upon that accident shortly after it happened. After calling 911, he called the "Emergency #" on the course handout and got sent straight to voice mail. A lady from my club was there and both she and her boyfriend had just gone down on that same corner. The guy who went over the cliff did so trying to avoid them. She is a nurse and she went down the hill and tried to help the poor sap. Finally my friend got a call from the lady from the Portland Century and she said she was sending support. 
Road support showed up in the form of a 350+ pound guy on a Harley with a tie-dyed shirt and a ZZ-top beard. After parking his bike which he almost tipped over after getting off, waddles over to my friend to ask what was up. 
My friend said. "You need to put some cones or marking on this corner as it is very dangerous." Biker dude said, "I've got it handled", and just stood there. My friend said, "No, you don't. "People are getting hurt and you need to do something about it". The guy just looked at him and got on his bike when the ambulance showed up.

The nurse lady said the guy landed in a big fern and that it probably saved his life. 

The Century is way over priced. The measly salmon dinner at the end is a waste of time and money. There should be an option to opt out of the meal to pay less. 

It's too bad that the City voted best for bicycling can't put together a decent event.


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