Pacific Northwest - Mid-Valley (specifically Corvallis) bike-nerds

Greetings Oregonians, PacNW residents, and bike lovers,

I live in Corvallis, Oregon, a great place to bicycle. In fact, a good cycling culture here is almost taken for granted!

I just got my first real roadbike and am looking to log some serious miles before the rain starts falling. After putting the 10,000th mile on my old MTB, it is time to leg up.

Anyone around Corvallis / Mid-Valley feel free to say hello. I'd also be curious to hear opinions of LBS in our area.

You should try out a few rides with the Mid-Valley Bike Club. They have fast and slow rides, and really nice people. Check out the ride schedule here http://www.mvbc.com/

I liked Peak Sports

I just got my first real roadbike and am looking to log some serious miles before the rain starts falling.
.

Too late!

BTW: here's some folks getting a ride together near you:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=576960

All of the shops in town are great - each has different strengths. If you don't ride the Albany Ride hosted by Hill Pumper, you might try the Mid-Valley Bicycle Club Ride early Saturday ride. It's also a good place to ask people about shop preferences. The ride meets at 8am at the Beanery on Circle Blvd next to Richey's Market. People meet early for coffee/tea, etc. and the ride leaves prompty at 8:15am. Saturday looks like either Brownville or Harrisburg via Bellfountain Rd... but NOAA is predicting rain so it could get cut short if everyone forgets their fendered "rain bikes". Warning, it can be somewhat of a take no prisoners pace sometimes... I've been dropped many, many times (but I know my way home). Check out http://www.mvbc.com/calendar.html Tailwinds, HalfBent

Greetings Oregonians, PacNW residents, and bike lovers,

I live in Corvallis, Oregon, a great place to bicycle. In fact, a good cycling culture here is almost taken for granted!

I just got my first real roadbike and am looking to log some serious miles before the rain starts falling. After putting the 10,000th mile on my old MTB, it is time to leg up.

Anyone around Corvallis / Mid-Valley feel free to say hello. I'd also be curious to hear opinions of LBS in our area.

I do solo and buddy rides around the valley, as well as with the two area bike clubs whenever my schedule permits - usually MVBC on mid-week morning rides and Santiam Spokes (www.santiamspokes.org) on Saturday mornings. By riding with both clubs, I get a good sampling of scenic routes both east and west of I-5. As a recreational/touring type 50+ rider with no racing or speed record aspirations, I don't bother with the 8am MVBC hammer rides as I would be riding solo in any case. There are also 9am and 10am MVBC group ride options depending on your preference for type of rides.

As for bike shops, four of them (Cyclotopia, Peak Sports, Corvallis Cyclery and BikeNHike) are within a few blocks of each other downtown. The first one is the smallest of the lot, but you can count on personalized service from the owner and another experienced mechanic. Everyone who works there is car-free, so they all understand and appreciate the need for reliable bikes. The others are bigger and have a wider selection of accessories, apparel etc.

Happy riding!

Also look around at Full Cycle Bike Shop on Monroe near campus. They are cool peeps and have some nice things. http://www.fullcycles.com/

Thanks for all the posts guys, we will likely run into one another. I will look into the group rides.

I am a Cyclotopia kind of guy I guess, they treat me good. I had a horrible experience with Full Cycles, and others I have talked with have too, but that's not a pot I want to really stir now.

Cheers!

I live in Corvallis! I'd love to get out and ride more often. I sometimes join my boss on his afternoon commutes to Monmouth. I haven't done any group rides (a bit intimidated, I'll admit) but I can keep up a decent pace. I just graduated from OSU in June and if I stick around for grad school I may join the OSU cycling club.

I generally go to the Corvallis Cyclery, but I had my first bad experience with them yesterday and hit up Cyclotopia instead (they're currently building up my boss's new bike). I sometimes go to Bike 'n' Hike because of their later hours and the fact they're open on Sunday.

If you see a scrawny guy on an older black steel frame wearing a Black Butte jersey or this (file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Mike/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpghttp://mrmordax.net/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=cycling&id=jersey) jersey, that's me. My usual commute is in regular clothes between southtown and campus.

Oregon Southpaw, I am always open to rides in this area. As mentioned, I have a ride going in the morning that you are welcome to go on. :thumb: