Babcock and Pennington win their battles at Barlow

GRESHAM -- Sean Babcock and Alice Pennington made the most of the sunny weather and summer temps Sunday by storming to wins at the 2009 Battle at Barlow.

The temperate weather and early season anticipation brought out more than 650 riders to Sam Barlow High School southeast of Gresham. Numbers throughout the day in most categories showed a consistent 15-20 percent increase over last year. The large number of riders wore in the course nicely for the elite racers who followed.

In the Men's A race, Babcock (Team S&M) hung with one of his club's sponsors as he and Erik Tonkin (Kona), owner of Sellwoood Cycle repair, opened up a nice gap on the rest of the field by the end of the first lap. The pair continued to hang together over the relatively lengthy course, which featured exposed off-camber grass sections (made all the more difficult by a blustery eastern wind), long stretches of pavement, a barrier-interrupted descent into a ravine and its plank bridge, and then the brutal, infamous run-up over railroad ties before more careening through the woods.

The Kona-S&M duo worked fluidly over the difficult course, steadily building a lead together before Babcock got a gap on his Kona companion in the last lap, cruising in for a comfortable win. Tonkin crossed the line a handful of seconds later for second. Tonic's Ian Brown finished third ahead of Joshua Berry (BODE) and Taylor Kneuven (Johan Bruyneel Cycling).

Pennington's road to victory proved a little easier than Babcock's. The Veloforma rider quickly distanced herself from the rest of the competition in the Women's A race and soon began lapping riders in the 60 minute event that was on the course at the same time as the Men A and Masters Men A races. Brigett Brown (River City Bicycles) won the battle for second ahead of Abby Jenkins (Super Relax 8) in third and Sunny Gilbert (Pacific Power/Blue Sky) in fourth. Team Group Health's Jen Akeroyd finished fifth.

RESULTS
Battle at Barlow
Gresham
Sunday, Sept. 27

Women A
1. Pennington, Alice (Veloforma) 8
2. Brown, Brigett (River City Bicycles) 8
3. Jenkins, Abby (Super Relax 8)
4. Gilbert, Sunny (Pacific Power/Blue Sky) 8
5. Akeroyd, Jen (Team Group Health) 6
Men A
1. Babcock, Sean (Team S&M) 8
2. Tonkin, Erik (Kona) 8
3. Brown, Ian (Tonic Fab) 8
4. Berry, Joshua (BODE) 8
5. Kneuven, Taylor (Johan Brunnel Cycling) 8
Masters Women A
1. Swearingen, Julie (Mountain View Cycles) 5
2. Jennings, Julie (Sunnyside Sports) 5
3. Hardiman, Jill (Dirty Finger) 5
Masters Men A
1. Bravard, John (Cyclepath) 8
2. Diviney, David (Cyclepath) 8
3. Brown, Mike (Therapeutic Associates/GENR8) 8
Women B
1. Kandra, Lindsay (Hammer Velo) 5
2. Jones, Lindsay 5
3. Sung, Esther 5
Men B
1. Monnig, David (Ironclad Performance Wear) 6
2. Braun, Mathew (Team S&M) 6
3. Spahr, Trevor (Ironclad Performance Wear) 6
Singlespeed
1. Rollert, John (Webcyclery.com)
2. Gilmore, Leland (River City Bicycles)
3. Luelling, Brent (Capitol Subaru Cycling)

The complete Cycling Action photo gallery for this race is now posted online HERE.