It Never Hurts to Ask

[Velocivixen]

I was at a LBS in Portland today and saw a Gore Alp X Thermo Lady Jersey on sale (personally I thought it was a jacket). Normally $140 and was marked $95. I tried it on, looked it over, thought about how I might use it, looked it over some more. It was the only one left and in a lovely shade of "golden green/black". I noted what looked like light black pen marks on the sleeve and some sort of dime sized stain on the front (hardly noticeable) so I pointed it out to the cashier and asked if "they could do something about that". He said, "I'll sell it for $80". So now it's mine, it's been washed and it's perfect!
Well...I tried to upload the link and didn't work, so I'll just post it if you want to look. It's the green one.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gore-bike-we...paign=products

So it never hurts to ask.

[DarcyInOregon]

Nice purchase. You will like owning it. With "thermal" or a variation of the word in the title of the garment, it generally means you can layer it over a base layer or another jersey to function as a jacket, or wear it alone as a jersey on a cooler day. For example, as you are a cyclist in Oregon, you are going to do a 30-mile ride, and the forecast says that when you start the ride it will be 40 degrees, but half way into your ride it will be 65 degrees. So, wear the garment over a jersey, when you get too warm take it off, fold it up, and stuff it into your jersey pocket, or tie it around your waist or seat post. If it is going to rain, wear a rain jacket over all layers, the kind of jacket that zips into its own pocket, and if you take it off you can stash it in a jersey pocket, tie it around your middle, tie it to your bike, etc.

[Velocivixen]

Oh thanks Darcy! That's sort of how I imagined using it. I'm going on a short (6 mile) ride today and will use it as a "jacket" over a different shirt.

You plan on doing any rides/events in Oregon? It would be fun to meet up with other women who cycle and who are "in the area".

[DarcyInOregon]

Oh thanks Darcy! That's sort of how I imagined using it. I'm going on a short (6 mile) ride today and will use it as a "jacket" over a different shirt.

You plan on doing any rides/events in Oregon? It would be fun to meet up with other women who cycle and who are "in the area".

Yes, I am pretty mapped out for the summer. I already did the Monster Cookie Metric out of Salem, and the RACC in Clark County. Upcoming is Reach the Beach for the American Lung Association, from Newberg to Pacific City on May 21. Next is the Pioneer Century on June 4. Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Association is in July. August I will probably go over to Idaho and do some cycling out of Ketchum. In September I might do the Tour de Whidbey to benefit the Whidbey General Hospital.

My recommendation is to get involved with training groups, because that is how you find cycling buddies who bike at your same level, or just do the training groups then do rides on your own. I am part of an all-female group that bikes on Tuesday mornings out of Champoeg Park. My primary training group is the Tour de Cure for Saturday or Sunday rides; they accommodate cyclists of all levels and bike types, have a SAG stop and are real nice people, plus being a supporter of the American Diabetes Association is a common bond from the get-go. There is a Meet-Up bike group in Newberg that ride in fair weather and they have an easy ride this Saturday that might interest you, cycling on the bike path in Champoeg Park. http://www.meetup.com/Whinos/events/17843731/ I belong to this group but have not ridden with any of them yet as their rides are too recreational for me and conflict with my weekend training group rides or event rides. A recreational group is different than a training group.

There are other Meet-Up bike groups closer to you (recreational), and this is the biggest one: http://www.meetup.com/Rubber2theroad/ You can search for other groups.

[Velocivixen]

Thanks Darcy! I've bookmarked the Ruber2theroad link. I've never done the "meet up" thing, so not sure if I can just show up or if I have to register to be a part of their "group". I'll see how it goes. River City Bicycles has Sunday morning "beginner" rides which goes from 8-20 miles and about 12-14 mph pace, which I can easily keep up with. I was going to go on Mother's day but it called for heavy rain in the morning.

Wow, you're a rock star with all your biking! It's very inspiring to me. Keep up the good work.

[DarcyInOregon]

Thanks Darcy! I've bookmarked the Ruber2theroad link. I've never done the "meet up" thing, so not sure if I can just show up or if I have to register to be a part of their "group". I'll see how it goes. River City Bicycles has Sunday morning "beginner" rides which goes from 8-20 miles and about 12-14 mph pace, which I can easily keep up with. I was going to go on Mother's day but it called for heavy rain in the morning.

Wow, you're a rock star with all your biking! It's very inspiring to me. Keep up the good work.

Be sure to invest in some cycling rain clothing in the near future because a lot of it is on sale now. If you are clothed properly, rain is ok to ride in. I rode in the rain on Saturday just fine. REI is one of the best stores for sales on cycling clothing.

The Portland Meet-Up group you bookmarked, you sign up for the group, then you register when a group leader posts a Meet-Up ride. You look at the criteria of the ride, and if you have questions, you can email the group ride leader. If you register for a ride and decide not to go, then you unRSVP. I don't belong to their group because I live south of Portland and they are an urban group for the Portland/Vancouver area; I have great roads to bike on where I live, across the Willamette Valley, so it wouldn't be a good ride for me to engage in group rides on urban streets with lots of stop lights just to ride my bike with a lot of strangers. As I mentioned, I belong to one Meet-Up group out of Newberg, but have yet to participate in a ride with them because their rides are too social, or fall on my group training ride days; i.e. the ride criteria doesn't match my ride criteria. I RSVPed to one of the group's Meet-Ups, for a group to ride together on the charity ride on May 21st, and the group leader decided he can't do the distance, then some of the others who signed up decided they didn't train enough either, and so everyone else is doing a shorter route or not participating, meaning I will not be riding with any of them for the charity ride; that is my only interaction so far.