Wednesday, February 25, 2009

A Little Ride Down Memory Lane: 1986 Sandpoint Cycling Classic

Northwest cycling fans may get a kick out of this bit of memorabilia recently dug up by the Cycling Action research department, which is hard at work on the fifth floor of one of the more nondescript buildings at our vast world headquarters campus.

This dusty old article details the 1986 Sandpoint Cycling Classic, featuring international cycling star Phil Anderson along with a cast of legendary Oregon riders.

Maybe you've heard of Michael Sylvester? How about David Auker? Or maybe you remember little Kirk Willett, terror of the Junior 14-15 class? They're all here and more.

This bit of history will take you back to the days when Greg Lemond was preparing to win his first Tour de France, the newly required hardshell helmets resembled scaled down Styrofoam coolers, shifters were on frames and brake cables still proudly burst skyward from their levers like a downtown fountain trying to cool off kids in a heatwave.

Read on ...(click images for larger versions):



If you look closely at that picture, you'll see a fresh-faced neophyte racer from Missoula, Mont., by the name of Patrick Malach. If you look really, really, really closely, you can almost see some muscle tone in those legs ... almost!

Pennington Ranked Third On Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar

Hood River's Alice Pennignton is currently tied for third on the 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar.

After two of eight events, Pennington (Team S&M/Desalvo Cycles) follows leader Rita Borelli of Tallahasee, Fla., and Rebeccea Rusch (Specialized/Red Bull) of Ketchum, Iadaho.

Pennington finished second to Rusch at the calendar-opening Mas O Menos Feb. 15 in Terlingua, Texas, covering the 100k event in 5:7:26.00. Pennington did not compete at the series' second event, the 12 Hours of Santos Feb. 21 in Ocala, Fla.

The next event on the calendar will be the marathon race at the Spa City Extreme in Hot Springs, Arkansas March 7-8.

Women's Standings
1. Rita Borelli (Tallahassee, Fla.) 60 points
1. Rebecca Rusch (Ketchum, Idaho/Specialized-Red Bull) 60
2. Alice Pennington (Hood River, Ore./S&M-Desalvo) 40
2. Sandra Tomlinson (Jacksonville, Fla.) 40
3. Claire McKenna (Austin, Texas/Team Hammerhead) 30
3. Tracey Wallace (Lakeland, Fla./Team Florida) 30


Men's Standings
1. Bryan Fawley (Austin, Texas/Park Place Lexus) 60 points
1. Harlan Price (Philadelphia, Pa.) 60
2. Robert Lichtenwalner (Nazareth, Pa.) 40
2. J.T. Cody (San Antonio, Texas/Solar Eclipse) 40
3. Ernesto Marenchin (Stowe, Ohio) 30
3. Sean Sindt (Austin, Texas/Austin Flyers-Bicycle Sport Shop) 30

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

APB All My Stuff: A Plea From Dave Zabriske

Venturing outside the normal Cycling Action haunts in and around NW Oregon, this has just come in via Garmin-Slipstream pro David Zabriskie's Twitter updates:
# My house was broken into while at TOC. They took everything, a lot of bikes,cars, and you name it they got it. ...about 4 hours ago from web

# If anyone out there sees anything you think might be mine, let me know. Thanks...DZ ...about 4 hours ago from web
It's true. VeloNews.com reported that Zabriskie's Utah home was burglarized while the Olympian was at the Amgen Tour of California. Here's a partial list of stolen items:
• Giro D Italia Race Medal (approx. 6" circumference)
• Olympic Seiko watch
• Beijing Olympic ring (silver) with initials "DZ" engraved ($4,000)
• Olympic Time Trial Bike, plus 12 other bikes (combined value of $100,000)
• Cervelo (black/red) bike frame - team issued ($5000)
They took his Giro medal and Olympic ring? Bummer! On the other hand, it must be nice to have more than $100,000 worth of bikes in your garage. Let's hope he was insured.

Find a more complete list of DZ's stolen stuff at VeloNews.com and maybe you can help take a bite out of crime.

Craig Named to Pan American Cross Country Team

Bend's Adam Craig will be one of 20 riders representing the United States at the 2009 Pan American Mountain Bike Championships, March 20-23 in Santiago, Chile.

Craig will be joined in the Elite Men's Cross Country category by Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo.), Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass.) and Sam Schultz (Missoula, Mont.), according to USA Cycling.

Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.), ranked 14th in the world and second among Americans, earned an automatic nomination but declined his invitation.

Elite Men’s Cross Country

Adam Craig (Bend, Ore.)
Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo.)
Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass.)
Sam Schultz (Missoula, Mont.)

Elite Women’s Cross Country
Georgia Gould (Boulder, Colo.)
Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif.)
Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo.)
Willow Koerber (Asheville, N.C.)

U23 Men’s Cross Country
Tad Elliott (Durango, Colo.)
Mitchell Peterson (Sandy, Utah)
Macky Franklin (Taos, N.M.)

U23 Women’s Cross Country
Chloe Forsman (Tucson, Ariz.)

Monday, February 23, 2009

Inaugural Red To Red Kicks Off Oregon MTB Series; Plews Caps Weekend Double

Salem's Evan Plews continued to display his early season form, pulling off a weekend double by taking the Inaugural Red To Red MTB cross country race Sunday in Echo one day after he bested the Pro/1/2 field at the Sublime Sublimity Circuit Race.

Sunday's win completes a February hat trick for the 32-year-old Capitol Subaru Cycling rider, who earlier this month lapped Tinker Juarez on his way to winning the KONA 24 Hours In the Old Pueblo near Tucson.

Oregon Mountain Bike Series Director Mike Ripley said 175 people showed up for the first cross country race of the OBRA season in Echo, a small Northeast Oregon community tucked in the rolling hills between Hermiston and Pendleton.

"The rain hit early and then stopped for the neutral mass start as riders positioned themselves on this bump fest up and down the treeless landscape," Ripley said via e-mail.

The difficult, long course tested riders with 3,500 ft. of climbing. Flirting with freezing temps early, conditions improved as the precipitation stopped and the temperatures moderated slightly. The late-winter chill only added to the already challenging course.

"The course was very difficult," Plews said. "Never up or down for long and especially never straight or smooth. It was so demanding that many of us were struggling just to stay on the singletrack and keep the locals in sight."

While Plews may have struggled early, Matt Russell (Capitol Subaru Cycling), Cody Peterson (Dedicated Athlete) and James Williams (Cannondale) built a sizable gap at the front of the race. But Plews eventually caught the three leaders just as they exited the last loop of singletrack onto the short gravel/paved road back to the finish line in town.

"We each took a pull," Plews said, "but I was able to drop Cody and James with about 1k to go and managed a close but decisive victory."

MTB series director Ripley said Capitol Subaru Cycling from Salem and Pistis from Southern Oregon appeared to take the early series lead in the team chase, and Sunnyside Sports will be up there as well.

Capitol Subaru Cycling placed four riders in the top 10 in the pro category. David Hill placed second in the 45+ Cat 1 and Kurt Haas held on for 3rd place in the singlespeed race to round up three podiums for the team, which finished second in last year's series.

Official series points and results will be posted at www.oregonxcseries.org sometime later this week or early next week, according to Ripley. The next race of the Oregon MTB Cross Country Series will be the Hornings Hustle April 5 outside of North Plains.

PRO MEN
1. Evan Plews (Capitol Subaru Cycling)
2. Cody Peterson (Dedicated Athlete)
3. James Williams (Cannondale)
4. Matt Russell (Capitol Subaru Cycling)

PRO/1 WOMEN
1. Zephanie Blasi (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes)
2. Jacqueline Cohen (Sagebrush Cycles)
3. Kari Studley (Velo Bella)
4. Erin Ford (Disco Velo)

Complete OBRA results HERE.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Moon, Hosmer Win Frigid Jack Frost Time Trial

UPDATED BELOW
Veloforma's Miranda Moon (pictured) and HPChiro Racing's Seth Hosmer endured an increasingly bitter February breeze Sunday to best the women's and men's fields of the Jack Frost Time Trial.

Contested in Washington on the spit of land between Vancouver Lake and The Columbia River, the early season form-tester avoided rain but not the chill, especially as the afternoon wore on.

In the women's field, the top-four riders overall also won their individual categories. Moon (Cat 1/2 winner) topped the field with a time of 30:09.84 over the 12.4-mile out-and back course. Mary Ross (Masters 50-59 winner), riding for Nomad Sports Club, covered the course in a blistering 31:15.16 as the second woman overall. Karey Miles (Cat. 3 winner), a rider for Therapeutic Associates Inc., was third overall with 31:21.79. The aptly named Brenda Spinney (Cat 4 winner) was the fourth fastest woman of the day with a time of 31:26.06.
UPDATE: Monday, 4:22 p.m.
An alert reader notes: "May I point out that the Woman Master 40-49 winner was Sandy Earl, the current record holder for the Davis 12 hour Time Trial and the Davis 24 Hour Time Trial (among other records)? Seems she can ride fast for 1/2 hour also!
MEN
In the men's field, Hosmer was the first Men's Cat 1/2 rider of the day, starting around 9:50 a.m., and set the standard that held for the rest of the day with a winning time of 25:46.45. Z Team's David Zimbelman (Masters 50-59 winner) came across the line second overall at 26:23.75. His teammate Karsten Hagen (Masters 40-49 winner) finished third overall with a time of 25:30.41.

Complete OBRA results HERE.

SLIDESHOW:
2009 Jack Frost Time Trial