Memorial Service for Ron Wrolstad, MVBC member, cyclist

A memorial service will be held Saturday, November 15 at 2 p.m at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis, for Ron Wrolstad. He was a member of MVBC and a long-time member of Unitarian Univeralist Fellowship of Corvallis. He and his wife Kathy raised their two daughters here. Ron was known for his steady attendance. He played the piano, was a longtime member of a book club here, and contributed in many other ways. Ron passed away here in Corvallis on Saturday, October 11, 2025, from complications related to Alzheimers disease. Members of the Fellowship have described him as leading an exceedingly meaningful life as a husband, father, grandfather, scientist, teacher, colleague, student mentor, bicyclist, story-teller and good friend.

Photo of Ron with his granddaughter in 2015

Helmet program continues giving to the community

by Eileen Tokuda, MVBC membership

MVBC Helmet Program was well represented at the Corvallis and Philomath fire department open houses this October. Children and adults alike were greeted by enthusiastic helmet program volunteers and fitted for their chosen colors and style of helmets. Lots of smiles all the way around! Hats off to Nancy Meitle  for her continued coordination of this program

from the road ...

Coast Range Gravel Adventure sees sunny days

by Camille McGregor & Tracy Hug, volunteer CRGA coordinators

The Coast Range Gravel Adventure (CRGA) for 2025 was a delight! This year, we opted to take the route up Old Peak Road to avoid the highway and the riders seemed to enjoy this scenic change of route, even if it meant more climbing! 

There were about 30 riders including members from Eugene, Coastal and Central Oregon, and even from California! MVBC IT guru (and one of the founders of the CRGA ride), Paul Lieberman did some riding and also volunteered to be the SAG driver with Rann Millar. Betty Tucker was the official ride leader and many others lent a hand. 

Each year, the CRGA has a slightly different "flavor" and level of support. This year, Maureen Puettmann generously offered her camp trailer to help haul bags between campsites.  She also recruited her dear friend Helen (from Washington) to drive. Kudos to Maureen and Ellen, for their help, good humor and kindness! 

We also had the pleasure of having Steve Rumrill from Waldport on the ride. He gave some of us a great tour of the Green Bike Coop (so many cool bikes for sale!) and saved the day for a few of us by giving us extra layers for warmth from their donations bin. And if that wasn’t enough, he brought a full cooler worth of craft beers to Beachside campground so we could enjoy happy hour before watching the sunset on this sandy beach. Thanks, Steve!

Another highlight of the trip included songs around a "campfire" and an impromptu dance party on the final evening at Salmonberry campground. It was the best kind of silliness, let’s do it again next year! 

Rides like this do not happen without the time and energy of volunteers: a big thanks to Camille McGregor who stepped in to make reservations, Paul Lieberman and Rann Millar who drove SAG. Nelson Binggeli, MVBC route librarian stepped in towards the end of the planning to help with routes and all the final trip details.  Tracy Hug gathered the club gear and was involved behind the scenes. The CRGA includes the C2C trail and club members continue to volunteer to help maintain sections of the trail.  If you would like to help plan a tour or event, please visit the volunteer section on our website. 

See the CRGA photo album for more photos. You can find out more about upcoming club events here: Member Events.

Winter Escape: Traveling south offers sunnier days in the saddle

Stories and photos by Jeff Hale (originally published in The Spin, February 2023)

Editor's note: Apparently though it may be rainy, the Willamette Valley has more to offer than Tucson as Steve Braun is now a permanent Oregonian! In truth, it probably has more to do with his grandchildren!

It's February in Corvallis. Cold, wet, and windy with occasional sun breaks. It is a risky calculation to ride resulting in a few cold and wet rides home. I also get a little bored with our short routes over Decker, out to Thompson Mill or Helmick Park. Great rides but after many trips one does look for a change of pace. And, perhaps a chance at more than an hour or two of riding. So, for the last few years I have looked for a get-away—some fun in the sun. So, where to go? Options are limited. All you need to do is look at a February national weather map to see that Texas, Arizona, and Southern California are your best bets for a good bicycle trip at that time of year.

However, weather is not the only factor. Riding conditions are also of paramount importance. My first sojourn was suggested by our snowbird Steve Braun (aka: Steve 4) since he is a resident of Tucson. Tucson turns out to be an amazing place to cycle. There are literally a couple hundred miles of riding in the Tucson area completely devoid of cars! For example, the main river loop that connects the Santa Cruz River Park with the Harrison Greenway and the Julian Wash is a 54 mile circle. How perfect! 75 degrees, dedicated bike lanes in both directions as wide as a street car lane. Care-free riding.

I have also had the benefit of Steve’s hospitality in the city. Steve was able to provide me with a variety of routes used by local clubs. I was also introduced to the local bike shops after my riding partner broke a derailleur hanger (new fact to me: they are built to break!). Steve gave us a grand tour of Tucson’s prolific downtown murals. Murals are a dominant part of the cityscape in Tucson and I was very thankful for the personal tour. However, the best part (as it often is) was lunch. Steve treated us to some fabulous local cuisine. Now, I’m from southern California so I’m, admittedly, a Mexican food snob. Steve delivered on his promise for some of the best food I’ve ever had, regardless of origin! The trip was so enjoyable, I repeated it the following year.

This year I decided to participate in the Tour de Palm Springs, an organized cycling event. And, what an event! The city closes an entire downtown street providing 6-7 blocks of street space for cycling vendors. I have never seen so many vendors all in one place. There were jerseys and helmets, and sunglasses, and gloves, and outerwear, and everything you could think of to hang on your bike. This ride was exceptionally well organized (except for the long lines to register). Entire streets were blocked off by the police to keep the riders safe. There were plenty of volunteers to provide the requisite food and lunch stops and to direct riders to accomplish various standard ride lengths (e.g., 25, 50, 101 miles). Electric bikes were welcomed. I was feeling particularly lazy and out of shape after January so this year I opted to take my electric. This meant driving instead of flying. I actually loved the drive through California—it has been a long time and it was nice to have a car in Palm Springs.

On Sunday, after the Tour, I struck out on my own to ride around the town. Well, I had mixed results. While Sunday morning is a quiet time to ride around the city, the area can also be somewhat confounding to cyclists. I think Palm Springs prides itself on being a very bike friendly town. There are signs everywhere asking motorists to “share the road.” And they really mean that you have to share! There are few bike lanes—the car lane is the bike lane. When I did find a bike lane it often would end abruptly or turn into a right turn lane. There are bike routes designated around the city but, again, no bike lanes. In fact, there were times when there was no shoulder at all—just sand. I met numerous people on the ride, mostly from Los Angeles. They sang the praises for this cycling city (remember, they ride in LA!). One other note, the riding surfaces are poor in desert areas due to the constant expansion and contraction of the asphalt. By the end of the trip I longed for the home roads we know so well.

I would also like to give a little shout out to Santa Barbara as a destination for a cycling trip. The dedicated bike path from Santa Barbara to Ventura is wide, unused, and follows the coast providing some spectacular views. There is a well-paved bike trail from Ventura to Ojai. The trip is 33 miles round trip and Ojai is a beautiful little town worthy of the trip. Most of the riding along the coast is flat. If you want hills, there are plenty of them and they provide panoramic views of the ocean and coastal range.

Street vendors in Palm Springs.

Tis' the season ... for bike fenders

Research discovered & shared by Eric House, MVBC member

A buddy of mine who spends a lot of time riding in Seattle, and who approaches all things bicycle-related the way you'd expect of an engineering PhD, recently concluded that a Scotch Brite scouring pad makes an ideal mudflap. If that sounds worth considering, there's a lot to read about it here: http://pardo.net/bike/pic/design-discussion/fender-mudflap/000.fender-mudflap.html#mudflaps-of-porous-materials

Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionizing transport

Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war

Article review by Dan Barrett

In the most recent edition of the Economist magazine, (October 2025) there is an interesting article on how cycling is changing transportation options (mostly in large cities) and the related pushback from the auto interests.  I think it is perhaps a bit optimistic on the rate of future progress of bicycle transportation but still pretty encouraging.

The article is behind a paywall but they offer a free trial subscription.