Titus Demo Days!

Titus Demo Days

Sunday April 29th was Titus Demo Days - presented by Cyclepath - out in Scappoose. There was a road ride on Saturday that I had to miss, so I'm not going to write about that.

Anyway, the Titus rep was out with tons of bikes - MotoLite, RacerX, RacerX 29er, El Guappo... I really wanted to ride the El Guappo or the 29er, but my primary reason for going out there was to get Megan out on a sweet ride. Once she was setup to go on a small Moto, we were off (I actually just rode my own bike)

I have written about Scappoose in the past, so I'm not going to delve into that, except to note that the trails were in awesome shape, there is new signage (Thanks John Joy!), and some new trails.

A group of us went out - Megan, John, Jonathan, Bill and I - and instantly hit the trails starting with Dead Dog. I was excited to see Meg nail the teeter totter on her first attempt! After that, we hit North Shore where Bill, Jonathan and I tried out the gap ju mp. This was personal first for me, and something I have been wanting to try for quite some time. After Bill did it, I had to try it. It was so fun I did it 3 more times. Props to Jonathan for doing it multiple times - even though he was super nervous.

checking out the jump

Bill hiking up the hill to do the jump (again)

landing the gap

Anyway, it was all in all a great day riding with good people. I wish the pictures did it justice.

Props to the shop

Falls City Fire Cracker

Also, most likely my first race of the 2007 season...

Megan's submission to Trek's "Women That Ride"

I thought that this was a great little essay that Megan wrote.

Hi Trek,

My name is Megan and I am a registered dietitian, freelance writer, mother of two children--3yo boy and 5yo girl, cheerleader to my husband’s amateur bike racing career--as well as a former top 5 placing Sport class mountain bike racer and general bike lover. I live in Portland, OR that is known for being “Bike city USA”. A very bike friendly town with some great road rides and trails to ride within the city limits.

I would love this opportunity, because while my husband is off having his daily affair with one of his many bikes, I would love to have the excuse; 'Sorry dear, I need to take all day Saturday to go for a test ride!' Just the thought brings a wonderful sense of payback that has been long overdue. But that’s not entirely true. I also would love to share some of my wisdom, and try out new products. But, mostly have a voice in making bikes more approachable and less intimidating for women. I’ve owned and or ridden a variety of bikes over the years – Hand me downs from my husband, as well as my own collection of Mtn, road, hybrid, cruiser, clunker, etc, so I have a unique perspective on different riding styles and the appropriateness of different bikes for different terrain.

I believe this has been a topic of discussion when riding trails with other women I have met. A place where real women can learn from every ones experiences, and a place to know you’re being understood from a gals point of view. Whether I’m chosen or not, it will make our sport more welcoming.

Riding most of the time with ‘the guys’; I quickly learned all of the bike terminology, and how to correctly dissect one. This is really handy when guys overlook me when talking about a new component they’d recently bought, and I always love how I amaze them when I can add to the conversation.

My background started in mt. biking. My husband bought me my first bike as an undergrad graduation present so that I could ride with him. That led me to a love of cycling and now I’m pulling kids in tow either in bike seats, the Burley, or the Trail-A-Bike. Though, I do get out to ride without the kids. By the way, I rode through both pregnancies, w/o the blessings of my OBGYN. And I believe I lost all of my pregnancy weight [30, 32lbs] w/in 2 months because cycling prior to pregnancy had increased my fitness level.

Since children, I have to admit, I am not loading up the truck with bikes and gear to hit Moab as I had in the pre-kids era of my life. And I'm up for a ride on my favorite Rim trail if filming just happens to be in the Moab area. Looking back, my first trip to Moab was done on my Bridgestone MB4 with a brand new second generation Rock Shox. I remember the exhilaration I felt trying out the first trail and my first experience with using a front shock. And in hindsight, I could have saved myself a lot of grief if I only had realized what a difference it makes to your bike handling skills when you actually have a bike that fits your body. [Although afterwards, I had to search high and low to find a bike w/o a top tube that had me spread out like I was rowing a kayak].

Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of this exciting forum!

Healthy Regards,

Megan XXXXX, RD, LD

Git in your lane

'Nuff Said...