Saturday, January 3, 2009

Cherry Pie Road Race Registration Open

The 2009 Cherry Pie Road Race online registration opened Feb. 2, and tandems are once again invited.

Oregon's first road race of the year will test riders' early season legs Sunday, Feb. 15, on rural roads outside of Albany. Organizers say the course has a generous helping of rolling hills to break up the fields, and it will feature an uphill finish "in an attempt to reduce visits to the local emergency rooms."

The Men and Women 1/2 fields will cover the course twice for a total of 52.2 miles. The men will leave at 12:30 p.m. The women will hit the course a half-hour later.

The tandems will be the first group of the day on the course. The A's and B's will start together at 10 a.m., covering 1 lap for 26.9 miles (including a neutral roll out from the staging area). Teams with juniors and slower adults will be scored separately and have their own podium.

Check out the Event Website for complete details and a few changes for the 2009 edition.

Saturday Morning Tunes: Get On Your Ba-Yad Motor Scooter And RI-I-I-IDE!

Maybe "Red Rocker" Sammy Hagar's influence on cycling has been underestimated. Check out the skinsuit and Cipollini-esque "Lion King" hair in this 1974 tune with guitarist Ronnie Montrose's band.



Hagar's particular style of bell-bottomed skinsuit never really caught on, but it was clearly a harbinger of the aerodynamic synthetic era to come, just like the flowing blond mane copied 15 years later by cycling's own big-haired rock star. Who Knew?
This video is missing Ronnie's faux motorcycle-engine intro, but you get the idea. I remember this one was good for interval training; heading south on MLK between Broadway and McGlouhglin, sprinting from car to car, pausing behind cars long enough to catch a quick draft before jumping to the next. And if you lucked out with all the traffic lights ... mmm..mmm ... good times!

Trebon Finishes 12th At Sint-Niklaas 'Cross, Cameron Comes In 26th

U.S. National Cyclocross Champion Ryan Trebon (Kona) finished 12th Friday in the GP de Ster at Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. Sporting a new red-white-and-blue skinsuit of the national champion, Trebon finished 1:52 behind winner Bart Wellens. Portland pro Molly Cameron finished 26th, crossing the line 3:52 behind former world champion Wellens.

AMERICAN FINISHERS
GP de Ster at Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, Jan. 2
12. Ryan Trebon (Kona)
13. Jonathan Baker (Vitamin Cottage CT)
21. Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale)
22. Danny Summerhill (Felt-VMG U23 Cycling Team)
24. James Driscoll (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale)
26. Molly Cameron (Organic Athlete)
32. Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe's)
35. Brian Matter (Team Geargrinders)
38. William Dugan (Richard Sachs)
39. Jeremy Ferguson (Giant Strawberries)
41. Andrew Llewellyn (Better Cycling Of Louisville)
42. David Hackworthy (Ridley)
46. David Quist (Team Clif Bar)

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Classic Video: Lemond Sits Up For Hinault

Stephen Roche, Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault climb the Luz Ardiden stage of the infamous 1985 Tour de France. Should Lemond go for the golden fleece and attack Roche, or will he sit up and wait for his teammate in the yellow jersey?

And yes, there is more fabulous John Tesh narration. This is as good as the coverage got in the States back in the day.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

WSBA Releases 2009 Race Schedule

The Washington State Bicycle Association has posted a preliminary 2009 race schedule.

Racing is scheduled to begin Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Frostbite time Trial. The Ice Breaker Time Trial will follow the next Sunday, March 1. Mass-start road racing begins the next weekend with the Mason Lake Road Race #1 on Saturday, March 7, and Tour de Dung Race #1 on Sunday, March 8.

See the WSBA preliminary 2009 race schedule HERE.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

USA Cycling Names Portland's Sue Butler To Women's World Championship Squad

Portland race fans got an early Christmas present when local pro Sue Butler made the list of USA Cycling's choices for the United States National Team at the 2009 Cyclocross World Championships.

Five riders were named to each of the elite women’s, U23 men’s and junior men’s squads based on competitive performances over the course of the last year. The elite men’s nominations will be announced Jan. 14 following the next round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Belgium.

Butler (pictured), who rides for Monavie-Cannondale.com, earned one of the three discretionary nominations to the five-member elite women’s team. She will be joined by Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Spike), Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./Luna), Rachel Lloyd (Fairfax, Calif./California Giant-Specialized) and Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./C3-Sollay).

The World Championships will take place in Hoogerheide, Netherlands, Jan. 31-Feb. 1.

U23 Men
Nick Weighall (Millcreek, Wash.)
Nicholas Keough (Sandwich, Mass.)
Daniel Summerhill (Englewood, Colo.)
Bjorn Selander (Hudson, Wis.)
Will Dugan (Burlington, Vt.)

Junior Men
Luke Keough (Sandwich, Mass.)
Zach McDonald (Bainbridge Island, Wash.)
Gavin Mannion (Dedham, Mass.)
Eric Emsky (Fall City, Wash.)
Chris Wallace (Shawnee, Kan.)

North American 'Crossers Climbing In Europe

Despite a few notable setbacks, our men and women from the states continue to steadily climb the 'cross ladder in Europe's big pond.

Despite being involved in a nasty crash that bloodied his knee during the start of the Noordzeecross at Middelkerke, Belgium, Dec. 29, Bend's Ryan Trebon (Kona) fought his way back to 15th in a race won by Belgian Champion Sven Nys. Vanilla Bicycles rider Molly Cameron of Portland (pictured) had the best result of his season's European crusade, crossing the line at Middelkerke in 25th. American Jonathan Page, whose season is unfortunately up in the air because of missed drug test, took fourth, and Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com rider Jeremy Powers came in seventh. Powers followed it up the next day with a 13th place finish at Loenhout, Belgium.

Trebon and Powers, housemates during their Belgian battles, will head to Alicante, Spain, before returning north for the world cup round in Roubaix, France, Jan. 18 and eventually the world championships Feb. 1 in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands.

AMERICAN FINISHERS

Noordzeecross at Middelkerke, Belgium, Dec. 29
ELITE MEN
4. Jonathan Page (Planet Bike)
7. Jeremy Powers (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com)
15. Ryan Trebon (Kona)
25. Molly Cameron (Vanilla Bicycles)
32. Jamie Driscoll (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com)
39. David Quist

Azencross Loenhout at Loenhout, Belgium, Dec. 30

ELITE WOMEN
2. Katie Compton
5. Rachel Lloyd (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized)
9. Georgia Gould (Luna)
15. Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale)
34. Christine Vardaros

ELITE MEN
13. Jeremy Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com)
39. Brian Matter
43. Troy Wells (Clif Bar)
52. Matt Shriver