penny for a thought | Patrick on every & anything » Portland

Re-loading

Patrick — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:00:19 +0000

As I write, from sunny Southern California, I can’t help but to be grateful for the incredible opportunities 2009 has brought me. I know, I know, it’s barely the second of twelve months, so I can only hope the excitement continues. Here’s a rundown of meaningful happenings:

- 2008 ended with a wonderful, yet eye opening, family vacation under the Florida sun.

- 2009 opened back where I began my adult life, Montana, and continued as I stood aside one of my best friends at his wedding.

- Weeks later I accepted a position I spent months keeping my fingers crossed for… More on that soon!

- I started riding for a new cycling team in Portland. It’s a motivating group of guys with similar abilities and a dynamic which rivals that of the Russian Circus.

- I’ve made time to spend time with great friends, old & new, in Chicago last week and Los Angeles this week.

- Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough, like the rest of you, I witnessed history as Barack Obama took office as President of our great country… Epic to say the least.

- The madness continues this weekend when I head up to Northern California to catch the first few stages of the Amgen Tour of California where Lance Armstrong amongst a number of the sport’s other biggest names will battle. More on that to come.

In short, I feel pretty dang. That said, to quote one genius of a man: “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” -J.P. Morgan

Portland Veloswap

Patrick — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:26:28 +0000

One of a handful of reasons for my blogging hiatus is the Portland Veloswap. What’s a Portland Veloswap? You ask. Put simply it’s an idea I had to bring individuals and businesses together to buy, sell, and trade new and used cycling equipment & apparel. It might not sound like a big feat, but given Portland, OR is literally “Bike City U.S.A,” it’s a pretty big deal! So, after months of planning, the idea finally came to fruition (thanks in most to my event promotion partner, Jim) and took place in epic fashion last weekend. It was successful in several ways – first, all the event space sold out and more than 1,500 people paid $3 to browse the showroom. Second, the event completely owns the first few pages of Google for the words “Portland Veloswap.” Don’t believe me, well let me Google it for you.

Okay, I understand “Portland Veloswap” isn’t exactly an overly competitive term to own on Google. However, the shear quality of each search result is what excites me. Without effort (aside from what went into the event planning) a plethora of highly credible local and national blogs and newspaper & radio station websites covered the Velopswap’s success, thus making it that much more successful. In the end, I could not have asked for the event to go any smoother and am looking forward to making the next one even bigger and better. Another plus is the amount of money the event raised for local, bicycle related organizations.

The getting was tough, but the going’s been easy

Patrick — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:19:54 +0000

For a moment, I didn’t think I’d ever get to my planned holiday destination, Naples, FL, as a hell-storm of winter weather dominated the Pacific Northwest. If you’re not from the PNW you likely saw it on the news – a full week of sub freezing temperatures coupled with a plethora of snow. As if that weren’t enough, mix an evening of freezing rain with 8 inches of snow, then drop another few inches of snow and POW, you’ve paralyzed a city that’s used to no more than an inch-or-so of snow each year.

After being delayed one whole day, my flight was set to depart Mon, Dec 22. I checked, checked, and checked again… The flight was still on, as was the snow and balmy weather. I packed and left my house at 2:00am in search of a cab ride to PDX. At 4:00am I finally found a cabby brave enough to navigate the winter wonderland. I soon found out this particular driver was powered by [probably] an illegal substance. Once at the Delta departure gate, I kissed the ground (not literally, but in my mind), said thanks to a higher being, stumbled into the airport, and was on the tarmac by 6:20am. Nine hours later I was having dinner with my family on a 70 degree Florida evening.

The aforementioned was one week ago today. Since then I’ve procured a sun tan, bicycled more than 23 hours, consumed more food than …., planned two interactive projects, bonded with family, and filled all of my pockets with sand. One more day of fun in the sun, then off to 20 degree Whitefish, MT for the Shaun & Cassidy wedding fiasco!!

I’m going back, back, back to Naples, Naples…

Patrick — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:05:21 +0000

As gnarly weather continues to wreak havoc on the Pacific Northwest and I struggle to survive without water do to frozen pipes in my house, I can only dream ahead to where I’ll be next week. Come Sunday I will be soaking up sun, surf, and family in Naples, FL. Mom, dad, two brother and I all packed into a two bedroom rental condo… It should prove to be an interesting, but fun, trip to say the least. I am, however, sad to miss the opening week of skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows, though I will have a road bicycle with me, so I’ll survive.

From Florida I spend 5 days skiing and catching up with friends in Whitefish, Montana… Oh yeah, I’ll also be standing beside my boy, Shaun Radley, as he takes the plundge at the alter… Go Shaun!

The Majestic Mt. Hood

Patrick — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:07:59 +0000