Rob Roy has passed away.  Rob was a long-time GEARs member and leader of the Blackberry Bramble.  He passed on July 11, at home with his family.

Rob Joined GEARs in May of 2002.  He was the Blackberry Bramble organizer 5 times, from 2004 thru 2008 and was voted the GEARs Volunteer of the Year twice. Rob is the godfather of the GEARs Local Rides Description inventory, having mapped most of the routes in the original list.

After ceding the reins of Bramble management, Rob went on to helm the Crow rest stop for years.  Using his skills as an engineer, Rob developed a famous three-ring binder addressing all of the tasks and timeline on laminated pages within.  It was a work of art.

Below is Rob’s Member Profile from June of 2013.

Your Name Rob Roy

Your Occupation I’m retired now, after working 25 years for EWEB’s Energy Management Services (EMS) Department and five years earlier as the coordinator for an organic gardening education project and three community gardens in Santa Barbara, California.

Favorite Food I enjoy many different types of food (basically anything I can put hot sauce on). My wife, Jackie, and I enjoy cooking together and we often eat meals that feature Asian, Italian, or Mexican influences. We especially enjoy cooking Deborah Madison’s recipes and my current favorite cookbook author is Mark Bittman, a writer for the NY Times.

Favorite TV Show, Radio Show, Podcast, YouTube Video or Movie I don’t watch much TV or listen to much radio now. I’m currently learning about ultra light backpacking equipment and techniques by watching Andrew Skurka, Mike Clelland and others on YouTube videos, so I can apply these techniques to cycle touring.
Favorite Music (what’s on your iPod) – I love to listen to any live Grateful Dead recordings from the early 70’s, and Los Lobos, R.E.M., Talking Heads, U2 and others. (All good painting, woodworking and yard work music!)
Best place to go
(See “Favorite Gears rides”)

What people would be surprised to know about me.  I once rode my bike from Santa Rosa to Santa Barbara, California while on vacation during the late ‘70s. I worked as a part-time beekeeper for a few years and helped to start the Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market in California in the early 1980’s. One year, I grew 1,000 tomato plants with two friends, and sold that crop, along with pole beans, basil and flowers, at the Farmer’s Market and to local Food Co-ops. I developed an MS Access database in the late 1990’s that EWEB’s EMS department used for over 10 years to administer and report its residential energy conservation activity to the community, EWEB, and the Bonneville Power Administration. I’ve built and given away over 100 Adirondack chairs in the past 10 years. Jackie and I renovated our first house together, including interior and exterior painting, rewiring, window replacements, insulation, a bathroom remodel and landscaping and are continuing to work on our second home together. Recently, I’ve taught myself how to build ultra-light alcohol-fired cook stoves from aluminum beer bottles and cat food cans so I can easily cook on future bike tours.

Number of years riding?  I’ve ridden bicycles since I was in Elementary School, and estimate I’ve ridden over 15,000 miles since 2000.

What type of riding do you do?  I cycle around Eugene-Springfield streets as often as possible and tour our beautiful Lane County roads with friends. I’ve also cycle toured on several vacations throughout the West.

Bike you are most likely to see me on?  My green Co-Motion Americano touring bike.

How long have you been a GEARs member?  I joined the GEARs club over 10 years ago. During that time, I worked on the Blackberry bRamble event and produced the original online GEARs cue sheets and map links, using ride descriptions provided to me by Gary Cook, Paula Erickson and other club members. Mike Cantrell and I are now working together to remap and reformat those cues sheets and maps on the GEARs Ride List.

Favorite GEARs ride?  I enjoy rides that take me out of the city (i.e., Lorane Highway and McKenzie View). There are too many great rides near Eugene to mention all of them; some that I’m fondest of include: Aufderheide Scenic Highway, Camp Creek Road, Harrisburg/Junction City, Pleasant Hill, Saragosa, and Wolf Creek, to name a few. Riding up Highway 242 to the Dee Wright Observatory is always exciting.
Over the past several years, I’ve ridden with friends on annual weeklong rides in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington and saw the areas in and around Tuscon, Arizona; Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Sonoma Counties; the San Juan Islands, and eastern and southern Oregon. I’ve also ridden the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway from Champoeg to Armitage parks. Each trip was unforgettable.

The ultimate bike experience would be?  To bike across the USA, and ride several of Oregon’s Scenic Bikeways and Adventure Cycling’s routes.

Anything else you would like area cyclists to know?  Biking with GEARS is a wonderful experience. I’ve made many warm friends over the past decade and I meet new cyclists each time I ride with the club, as the local cycling community continues to grow. The GEARs club enabled me to travel to places I can only imagine, both in my “back yard” and around the western US. I plan to continue riding for many years and I invite you to join me.

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