Team Oregon's Peterson, Jazz Apple's Duvnjak snag Swan Island Criterium wins

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



New Zealander Marina Duvnjak, who recently joined the Jazz Apple Cycling Team for a swing through the national championship road race in Philly and the NRC Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota, stopped by Portland long enough to take the Pro/1/2/3 Women's event in front of a charging field Saturday at the Swan Island Criterium.

The pace of the 45-minute women's race ebbed and flowed as attacks that dangled off the front strung things out before it bunched back together when the escapees were brought back.

With no breaks able to stay away, the group settled in during the final laps for the inevitable bunch sprint. That's when Duvnjak nailed it from the final corner into the long finishing straight and held off Hammer Velo's Sam Yeo in second and Flywheel Bicycle Solutions' Jade Wilcoxson in third.

In the Pro/1/2 Men's race, Team Oregon's Kennett Peterson, who also competed in Minnesota's Nature Valley race, opened a small gap from a five-rider breakaway on the final lap and just managed to hold off a chasing Evan Elken (Land River-ORBEA) for the win.

The larger field contesting the men's race made team dynamics more of a factor, and when a five-man break containing members of the strongest teams got away about halfway through the race and started to make it stick, it was clear the teams that had missed the move lacked the horsepower to pull it back.

Joining Peterson and Elken off the front were Cyclepath Racing's sprinter Christian Tresser, Hutch's Paul Bourcier (who finished third earlier in the Masters race), and HPChiropractic's Patrick Marzullo.

The speedsters worked fluidly, and they quickly built a lead that hovered between 15-20 seconds; eventually out of sight of the pack on the long finishing straight. Then, with the lead secured, the cat-and-mouse games started on the last lap as each escapee hoped to turn his hard work into a win.

"With about a half a lap to go I decided to take it up a level," Peterson said. "Paul Bourcier actually gave me a tiny gap, and I pulled off to the side with about 3/4 of a lap to go and I was just coasting. Paul yelled at me. I think he yelled, 'That was a gift. Go!'"

Peterson, who had been applying pressure on and off the front since the opening whistle, took the gift and drilled it all the way to the line, but not before having to fight off Elken, the Land Rover team leader who recently finished 15th in the field sprint at the 156-mile national championship road race in Philly.

"Evan caught me with like 50 meters to go," Peterson said. "I guess he used up most of his sprint to catch me. Then I just barely held him off. I thought he had it, actually."

But the photo finish went to Peterson by inches. Elken was second, just ahead of Tresser, Bourcier and Marzullo, respectively. HPChiropractic's Aaron Coker won the field sprint for sixth.

Team tactics played an important role in the Masters Men 40/50+ event when a small breakaway, with many of the race's most powerful teams represented, got just enough of gap to dangle dangerously off the front late in the race.

With strongman John Browning representing Cycelepath, Bourcier for Hutch's, and Nike's Steve Wright's presence shutting down riders in the pack like teammate Mark Steger, the field could only come close to closing the gap.

Wright took the sprint in front of Browning and Bourcier with the rest nipping at their heels. NoMad Sports Club's David Hopper was fourth. Veloce/Felt's Dan Quirk was fifth.

The team game was also important in the Cat. 3 Men's race, but it played out in much different fashion. With the pack closing in on the finish together, teammates were forced to chase down last-minute break attempts or set a high tempo on the front to discourage them. But nobody helped anybody win this race by holding back.

In a race filled with attacks early and often, the seven-man Ironclad Performace Wear team made it's presence known early. The black-and-yellow squad kept the pace high with constant attacking and doomed the chances of anyone else who tried by stacking the front and chasing.

The team's plan began coming together in earnest as the field started the closing lap and riders who had been sitting in the field came to the front to form a three-rider lead out with sprinter Ryan Smith sitting fourth wheel when they got the bell.

Unable to foil Ironclad's unfolding plan, the rest of the field watched Smith cross the line first with the final leadout man pumping his fist behind. Gentle Lovers Jonathan Vinson finished second, while Capa Cycling Team's Joe Dengle was third.

The Capa Cycling Team had a good day at Sawn Island, with Dengle's third place combined with recent phenom Leia Tyrrell's victory in the Cat. 4 Women's race, which was the fourth stop in the 2009 Veloforma Norman Babcock Cat 4 Women's Series presented by Garmin. Tyrrell ads to her wins at Mt. Tabor and PIR. She finished ahead of Nissy Cobb (Sum Bike Team) and Kalli Phillips of Poplollies.

In the Cat. 4/5 Men's race, Word-RCB pulled off the double with Alex Lightman and Stephen Bedford crossing the line one-two, respectively. Portland Velo's Jeff Ballantine finished third.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Swan Island Criterium
Portland, June 27

Juniors 10-13
1. Sam Rosenberg (Hutch's)
2. Grant McElroy (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
3. Walker Prettyman (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
4. Hannah McDade (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
5. Aaron King
Juniors 14-18
1. Joe Prettyman (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
2. Colby Wait-Molyneaux (North River Racing)
3. Robert Platt
4. Steven anderson (Fred Meyer/Lakeside Cycling Team)
5. Lance Pugh (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
Cat. 4 Women
1. Leia Tyrrell (Capa Cycling Team)
2. Nissy Cobb (Sum Bike Team)
3. Kalli Phillips (Poplollies)
4. Deann Krill (Ironclad Performance Wear)
5. Jenn levo (Bridgetown Velo)
(*Race #4 of the 2009 Veloforma Norman Babcock Cat. 4 Women's Series presented by Garmin)
Cat. 4/5 Men
1. Alex Lightman (Word-RCB)
2. Stephen bedford (Word-RCB)
3. Jeff Ballantine (Portland Velo)
4. Juan Cagampang (Hammer Velo)
5. Curtis Bergquist
Cat. 3 Men
1. Ryan Smith (Ironclad Performance Wear)
2. Jonathan Vinson (Gentle Lovers)
3. Joe Dengle (Capa Cyclig team)
4. Robin Wessell= (Team Oregon)
5. Steve Wilssens (Wines of Washington)
Masters Men 40/50+
1. Steve Wright (Nike)
2. John Browning (Cyclepath Racing)
3. Paul Bourcier (Htuch's/OIC)
4. David Hopper (NoMad Sports Club)
5. Dan Quirk (Veloce/Felt)
Pro/1/2/3 Women
1. Marina Duvnjak (D Jazz Apple)
2. Sam Yeo (Hammer Velo)
3. Jade Wilcoxson (Flywheel Bicycle Solutions)
4. Heather Hill (Trek Store of St. Louis)
5. Amy Campbell ((River City Bicycles)
Pro/1/2 Men
1. Kennett Peterson (Team Oregon)
2. Evan Elken (Land Rover/ORBEA Benefiting The Lance Armstrong Foundation)
3. Christian Tresser (Cyclepath Racing)
4. Paul Bourcier (Hutch's/OIC)
5. Patrick Marzullo (HPChiropractic)

Alpenrose Thursday Night Series track results

RESULTS
Alpenrose Thursday Night Series
Alpenrose Velodrome, June 25

OMNIUM

Women
1. Cobb, Nissy (Sum Bike Team) 14
2. Dilles, Anita (Gentle Lovers) 12
3. Graham, Fiona (Specialized/RCB) 8
4. Larson, Elena (Brihop) 7
5. Unrau, Sonja (River City Bicycles) 6
Senior Men
1. Klipper, David (Guinness Cycling) 19
2. Kic, Tony (Gentle Lovers) 10
3. Prettyman, Joe (Beaverton Bicycle Club) 10
4. Swan, Chris (Team Oregon) 7
5. Anderson, Rob (Team Oregon) 3
Cat 3
1. Word, Randy (Word-RCB) 12
2. Vinson, Jon (Gentle Lovers) 10
3. Ryan, Kelly (Portland Bicycle Studio) 9
4. Culpepper, Clint (Team Beer) 7
5. Carder, George (Team Beer) 7
Cat 4
1. Hansen, Jake (Word-RCB) 16
2. Bedford, Stephen (Word-RCB) 15
3. Garbellano, Jeremy (Life Cycle) 13
4. Trask, Andrew (Cthuhlv) 6
5. Thiele, Jim (Team Rose City) 2

MADISON
1 Kic, Tony (Gentle Lovers)
* Bjesse, Pere (BRIhop)
2 Emoff, Brent (BRIhop)
* Hoefer, Carl (BRIhop)
3 Bergquist, Curtis (Meg's Maniacs)
* Jacks, Patrick (Meg's Maniacs)

Weekend brings doubleheader for Cat. 4 Women's Series

The 2009 Veloforma Norman Babcock Cat 4 Women's Series presented by Garmin heats up for summer this weekend with two big races.

Saturday's Swan Island Criterium will be the fourth race in the 10-race series, which is sponosred by Veloforma, Garmin, Bob’s Red Mill, Luna, Upper Echelon Fitness and Ironclad.

Sunday’s Salem Fairview Circuit Race will feature a post-race clinic and race analysis/Q&A by Tina Brubaker and Susan Peithman from the Veloforma team. Listen for their announcement at the start line about the time and location of the clinic; it will be about 10-15 mintues after the finish of the cat 4 women’s race. Get tips from the pros on what worked and what you can do better next time—as an individual rider and as a team. This is a great chance to learn more about tactics and to get feedback on your racing.

There will be more fireworks in the women’s series next weekend. The Firecracker Time Trial (Peoria), on the Fourth of July, is the next race in the series. And on Sunday, July 5, at the Firecracker Criterium (Eugene), Jan Moss of Team Group Health will bring her race savvy to another post-race clinic. Tactics will be different on this smaller, flatter course than at the circuit race, and Jan will share her insights on how the race plays out.

(Via Press Release).

Butler and Leonard win Mt. Tabor Wednesday Night Series' third week

Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale.com) won her second Tabor Series race at week three Wednesday, while Rapha Racing's John Leonard took his first win of the seven-race series.

Alice Pennington and her Veloforma teammates spent a good time on the front of the Senior Women's race, driving the pace with Butler. The tempo quickly whittled the front to a select group of riders, and any break attempts on the fast-but-difficult course were short-lived as the pace discouraged the efforts.

Butler gained an advantage in the finish of the final lap and held off Hammer Velo's Sam Yeo in second and Pennington, who crossed third.

The senior men's race was animated early with repeated break attempts. HPChiropractic and gentle Lovers tried first, then Cyclepath Racing, Portland Bicycle Studio, CMG/Hammer and Veloce/Felt gave it shot. Team Oregon and River City tried their luck, but nothing seemed to stick.

Cyclepath's John Browning, who earlier won the Masters race in front of Chris Haverty (Bridgetown Velo) and Veloce-Felt's Dan Quirk, was active in the many break attempts along with teammate Aaron Sander, but Leonard's late-race move in the closing laps was the only one to find ultimate success.

Leonard took the win with plenty of room to spare and left the race for second place to a showdown between junior Austin Arguello (CMG/Hammer) and Browning, the experienced Cyclepath racer. Arguello won the battle to the line, taking Browning by inches.

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

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Mt. Tabor Wednesday Night Series
June 24, Portland

Senior Women
1. Butler, Sue (Monavie-Cannondale.com)
2. Yeo, Sam (Hammer Velo)
3. Pennington, Alice (Veloforma)
Masters Women
1. Foulston, Eileen (Portland Velo)
2. Leitheiser, Ann (Cyclepath Racing)
3. Kennedy, Ann (Team Guinness Cycling)
Women Cat. 4
1. Reeve, lisa
2. Vaughn, Anna (Hammer Velo)
3. Simmons, Mindy (Hammer Velo)
Senior Men
1. Leonard, John (Rapha Racing)
2. Arguello, Austin (Hammer/CMG Racing Team)
3. Browning, John (Cyclepath Racing)
Masters Men
1. Browning, John (Cyclepath Racing)
2. Haverty, Chris (Bridgetown Velo)
3. Quirk, Dan (Veloce/Felt)
Men Cat. 3
1. Hansen, Jake (Word-RCB)
2. Liverman, Ryan (Veloce/Felt)
3. Dunn Jeremy
Men Cat. 4
1. Zack, George (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
2. Weber, Johannes (Ironclad Performance Wear)
3. Bedford, Stephen (Word-RCB)
Men Cat. 5
1. Seward, Ryan (Capa Cycling Team)
2. Case, Steven
3. Wolf, Jeff Team (Vegan/Organic Athlete)
Fixed Gear
1. Fabriziu, Erik
2. Guernsey, Ben
3. Murphy, kyle

Complete OBRA results HERE.

Hood winner Pitel takes second to Longo at French National Time Trial champs

The 2009 Mt. Hood Cycling Classic winner Edwige Pitel returned to France and placed second Thursday in the French National Time Trial Championships. Pitel finished 33 seconds behind cycling legend Jeannie Longo, who won her 56th French National Champion jersey.

Both Pitel and Longo were forced to adjust their bikes or ride different ones after UCI officials ruled their bike set-ups illegal, according to VeloNews.com. Longo, who faced a similar problem at the 2008 Mt. Hood Classic that forced her to miss her start time, adjusted her bike and made her start. Pitel rode a spare bike.

At the 2009 Mt. Hood race, Pitel won the Prologue and two stages on her way to taking the overall women's crown of the four-stage race June 3-7 in Hood River.

VeloNews.com has the complete story.

Tuesday Night Track Results

Results
Masters/Juniors Tuesday Night Track Series
Alpenrose Velodrome, June 23
Omnium

Junior Men
1. Naigwan Pelman (Word-RCB)
2. Dey Shaun Lee (Word-RCB)
Masters Women
1. Sharon Anderson (Teem Beer)
2. Meg Mautner (Bike Central)
Masters Men 30+
1. Robert Bergwood (Porltand Velo)
2. Mark Duff (Veloforma)
3. Randy Word (Word-RCB)
Masters Men 50+
1. Darrell Provencher (Team Rose City)
2. Paul Mautner (Team Rose City)
3. Chip Ross (Word-RCB)

Complete OBRA results HERE.

Land Rover-ORBEA'S Northey tops Tuesday PIR field

Land Rover-ORBEA's Mike Northey, fresh off his third-place finish in a tough road stage at the NRC Nature Vallery Gran Prix in Minnesota, rode to a top finish Tuesday night at PIR. Northey finished ahead of Rapha racing's Todd Littlehales and Aaron Sander of Cyclerpath Racing.

In the Cat. 3/4 race, Brian Gumpert finsihed ahead of Ironclad Performance Wear's Jeff Harwood and Life Cycles' Jeremy Garbellano.

Capa Cycling Team's Ryan Seward too the Cat. 4/5 race, Alan Stewart (Oregon State) second, and Jordan Siemens thrid.

RESULTS
PIR Tuesday Night Series
June 23

Cat 4/5
1. Seward, Ryan (Capa Cycling Team) 15
2. Allen, Stuart (Oregon State) 14
3. Siemens, Jordan 13
4. Anderson, Eric (Pacific Power Blue Sky) 8
5. Pugh, Lance (Beaverton Bicycle Club) 7
Cat 3/4
1 Gumpert, Brian 18
2. Harwood, Jeff (Ironclad Performance Wear) 13
3. Garbellano, Jeremy (Life Cycles) 12
4. Staples, Joe 12
5. Allen, Gary (Liberty Cycle) 9
Cat 1/2/3
1. Northey, Mike (Land Rover-ORBEA) 19
2. Littlehales, Todd (Rapha Racing) 14
3. Sander, Aaron (Cyclepath Racing) 11
4. Marcy, Steve (Rapha Racing) 10
5. Romney, Eric 8

Complete OBRA results are HERE.

Rathe Report: Driedaagse van Axel is crazy, scary, ridiculous and ... ...

Oregon junior racer Jacob Rathe has been in Europe with the USA Cycling Junior National Team competing in the 28th edition of the Internationale Junioren Driedaagse van Axel, a four-stage race contested May 22-24. Rathe sent Cycling Action this report.

By Jacob Rathe

The Course de la Paix may be the hardest junior stage race in the world, but Axel is the craziest. It's the Paris-Roubaix of junior stage racing. I didn’t do it last year, but U.S. riders reported it as: crazy, scary, ridiculous and made them pee themselves.

The race features small roads, cobblestones, wind and 180 riders. Even in the U.S. it would be crazy.

Stage 1
5:00 PM start time. We were on the start line, in the 5th row at 4:15. The race started with 8 kilometers of a nice, two-lane road. A quick left turn, through some farm fields, and we were on our first cobblestone section. If you're at the back now, the front of the race will be 1,000 meters ahead of you by the end (seriously). The first 8km was a miss-n-out. Everybody wanted to be at the front but nobody wanted to do any work, very nervous tempo.

I did ok and entered the cobbles around 30th place, in no danger of missing the split. The 180 rider field instantly went single-file, and even in 30th the front seemed very far away. We turned 90 degrees onto a paved road, I looked back and could see the shattered long line of riders still on the cobbles, a long ways back.

The next 40 km’s were somewhat chill as we weaved through the Dutch countryside on small farm roads. The wind was strong, and the front 10 riders were in an echelon, everybody else was in the gutter.

Nothing really happened until we got to the finishing circuits. Each of the three laps had a rough 500 meter cobble section, 2km from the finish. The rest of the course was pretty normal, with small roads, lots of turns and wind. I could see the pollen floating in the air during the race, and my eyes, nose, and throat burned with itch. Occasionally forcing a dry, wheezy, asthmatic cough. Am I sick?

Only Ryan and I finished in the lead group. About what I expected, Benny and Danny are track riders, and Russell is a mountain biker.

I got myself to the finish line. A group of 11 snuck away at the end, 20 seconds ahead. If I’m sick, I’ll know in the morning.

Stage 2
Stage two was a 7.9 km TT. Flat, fast and somewhat technical with wind. I felt better than expected. I never coughed during the TT, although I did before and after. I rolled a 10:10 for 15th place.

The winner rode it 32 seconds faster, and only four riders under 10 minutes. So I’m still within easy grasp of a top-5 GC. We did alright as a team, Ryan Eastman came in 26th, eight seconds behind me. Benny and Danny both under 10:31.

Stage 3
It was hot during the morning time trial, but as we readied for the road race in the evening when the race started at 5:30, it smelled like rain.

The Cobbles started 17km in. The start wasn’t so fierce, but we lined up in the back 1/2 hour early. I found my way to the front. My throat burned as my breathing escalated. “This is going to be a long day,” I thought, so I kept drinking, and half my bottle was gone in 10 minutes.

I hit the cobbles in good position when I felt something hit my leg. I looked down and my bottle is cock-eyed, barely in the cage. By the time I reach down it's gone.

Then the sky got dark and it started to sprinkle. Yes. Already I feel better. By the time we get to the finishing circuits it's pouring and my breathing is normal. I forgot about my earlier problems.

Before we started the circuits, 10 riders escaped up the road and got 30 seconds. Not again! It was a big, straight road. The peloton slowed up, I attacked up the right side, got low on the bike and didn’t look back. It took me 2.5km to reach them. Kazakhstan had two guys in it and were driving it.

We were working ok, not very smooth, but the pace stayed high and there were 50km to go. I didn’t really notice it, but riders kept coming up in twos and threes. With 14 riders, we were 35 seconds up on the peloton. It was looking good. The rain continued, and going into a corner the rider in front of me, and behind me, slid out. The cobbles were treacherous. The center ridge was the highest point of the road, and the sides were slightly off-camber.

The group grew to more than 20 riders with a gap of 35 seconds with two laps still to go. I got third in the intermediate sprint across the line and got a two-second time bonus. Then, literally three minutes after the moto tells us we have 35 seconds, we get caught.

Still feeling pretty good, I re-integrate with the main field. It didn’t get too crazy until the last 10km. It was still pouring rain, and the last time over the cobbles was treacherous. Tires were sliding out from underneath riders going straight. The only way through was in the middle or in the muddy grass. There was a huge pile up right behind me, but amidst all the noise I couldn’t hear it.

I had an ok sprint for 12th place on the stage, and I moved up to 13th on GC. Two U.S. riders went down at the end, Benny Swedberg and Ryan Eastman. But due to the 3km rule, they have the same time.

Stage 4
This was the last day of the race, and physically the hardest. The course went up and down the whole time and featured three king of the mountains sprints on each of the four laps, but there were many more hills than that.

The course weaved through the town, on big (relatively) roads, then off into the country on small twisty farm roads, weaving up and over the hills. There were lots of corners and lots of short punchy climbs. The KOM climbs were the hardest, all of them steep and between 500 meters and 1.2k, and with open rolling sections on top with wind.

The first lap was very nervous, but it seemed like the moment we crossed the finish line for the first time after 26.5km, it instantly calmed down.

The race leader was winning by about 30 seconds, time that could be lost very easily on this course. Riders would go up the road, and his team was there to set the tempo, keeping it manageable. As the lap board counted down, his teammates disappeared, and on the last lap he had one left.

There was a break of four up the road about a minute. It wasn’t coming back, and the yellow jersey was on the front.

My opportunity came when 4th place rider on GC (and the leader until the last day at the Peace race) Nikolas Arndt attacked at the beginning of the lap. The yellow jersey instantly responded, pulling the shattering peloton, but was unable to close down the five-second gap and sat up. Right when the slow up came, I was right in the front, and had the urge to jump, and I should have. I thought about it for one second and by then it was too late. I was pretty gassed, but so was everybody else.

I was hoping to take advantage of a GC battle to get myself the stage win. But, my chance rode away from me. I hovered near the front waiting for somebody else to make a move. It wasn’t until 8 kms when somebody jumped on a steep climb, and I followed. We got away, and the moto rolled up to tell us there was a 90-second time gap to the break. It's a big gap, but big time can be gained on steep climbs.

I was feeling really good and doing most of the work. The race was almost over, and I wanted time on the field. We caught up to a German riding by himself, he sat on.

Two kms later we got another time gap. This time it was 50 seconds. We could possibly catch them. If they started doodling around, 50 seconds would be nothing. They were in sight on the open sections, and I took a few extra risks down a narrow twisty decent with 3kms to go. The caravan behind the lead group had to pull over to let us by, we were getting close.

At 1k to go, they still weren’t close enough. My motivation faded, now I just wanted the best possible stage result. Nobody else wanted to pull, so I just set a decent tempo of the last 500 meters up to the finish. I ended up getting 7th on the stage, the German jumped around me at the end.

The peloton rolled in a good while later, possibly a minute. If the gap was over 51 seconds, I would have moved ahead on GC of everybody in the peloton, and I would be in no worse than 6th place on GC, I guessed. But, the time gap ended up only being 40 seconds, which slotted me in 9th on GC.

In hindsight, I should have ridden a lot harder in the last km to make sure I got 51 seconds and not worried about my stage result.

It was an awesome race, I actually enjoyed it. Never a dull moment.

Tresser, Tyrrell repeat PIR Monday night wins

In a repeat of last week's showing, Cyclepath Racing's Christian Tresser rode away with the win in the Masters 1/2/3 race, and Capa Racing Team's Leia Tyrrell won the Women's race.

Tresser finished ahead of Tony Kic (Gentle Lovers) and Guiness Cycling Team's John Mitchem. Tyrrell secured her second consecutive PIR win in front of Hammer Velo's Sam Yeo and Bridgetown Velo's Jenn Levo.

RESULTS
PIR Monday Night Series
June 22

Novice Men
1. Usher, Craigan
2. Munson, John
3. Spillman, Erik
4. Bauch, Todd
5. Echerer, Brian (Butts on Bikes)
Novice Women
1. Gibbs, Zan (Sorella Forte) 15
2. Lewis, Leigh
3. D'Elia, Traci (Portland Velo) 10
4. Brueuing Joy
5. Marcoe Suzanne (Cross Fit Portland)
Masters 4/5
1. Smith, Chad (Team Oakland)
2. Desmond, Richard (Team Oregon)
3. Clemow, Chris (Hutch's-OIC)
4. Burger, Steven (Sunset Cycles)
5. Van Dusen, Ryan (Unattached)
Women
1. Tyrrell, Leia (CAPA Cycling Team)
2. Yeo, Sam (Hammer Velo)
3. Levo, Jenn (Bridgetown Velo)
4. VanValkenburg, Heather (Land Rover-ORBEA)
5. Larson, Elena (Therapeutic Associates/GENR8 Cycling)
Masters 1/2/3
1. Tresser, Christian (Cyclepath Racing)
2. Kic, Tony (Gentle Lovers)
3. Mitchem John (Guinness Cycling Team)
4. Walton, Hugh
5. Romney, Eric (Cynergy)

Complete OBRA results are HERE.

Skerritt, Butler start Portland Short Track Series with wins

Three-time short track champ Shannon Skerritt started the 2009 Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series in familiar form Monday night at PIR. The Vanilla Bicycles rider took the Pro Men's event ahead of Doug Wilems (Portland Bicycle Studio) and Jonathan Myers (Team S&M)

MonaVie-Cannondale's Sue Butler won the first Pro Women's event of the series ahead of mountain-biking rival Alice Pennington (Veloforma) and Velo Vella's Sara Johnson.

RESULTS
Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series
June 22, PIR

Pro Women
1. Sue Butler (MonaVie-Cannondale)
2. Alice Pennington (Veloforma)
3. Sara Johnson (Velo Bella)
Pro Men
1. Shannon Skerritt (Vanilla Bicycles)
2. Doug Wilmes (Portland Bicycle studio)
3. Jonathan Myers (Team S&M)
Singlespeed
1. John Weathers (Sunset Cycles)
2. Tim Butler (River City Bicycles)
3. Pete Zlatnik (Bike Gallery)
Cat. 1 Men 19-34
1. Davy Yeater (River City Bicycles)
2. Michael Lilenthall (Team S&M)
3. Nick Gibson
Cat. 1 Men 35+
1. Gene Fae's (Hellriders)
2. John Weathers (Sunset Cycles)
3. Chris Snyder
Cat 2 Men U35
1. Will McDonald
2. Dave Condon (Yakima Bike Vigilantes)
3. Portland Velo (Jeff Ballantine)
Cat. 2 Men 35-44
1. Michael Mann (Word-RCB)
2. Jesse Luckett (Cyclepath)
3. Don MacNaughton (Guinness Cycling)
Cat. 2 Men 45+
1. Ron Strasser (Team S&M)
2. Michael Kender (Portland Velo)
3. Terry Knight
Cat 2 Women 45+
1. Karen Goritski (Tireless Velo)
2. Pam Reid (Team Rose City)
3. Georgeann Shinn (North River Racing)
Cat 2 Women 35-44
1. Elaine Bothe (Sorella Forte)
2. Patty Garland
3. Eileen Kelly-Foulston
Cat. 2 Women U35
1. Lindsay Kandra (Hammer Velo)
2. Rebecca Richards (Tireless Velo)
3. Dawn Riddle (Gentle Lovers)
Cat. 3 Women 19+
1. Addy Sage (Filth & Fury)
2. Kelly Northcutt
3. Lanavilla MacNaughton
Cat. 3 Men 19+
1. Michael Gambee
2. Chris Johnston
3. Spencer Callahan
Cat. 3 Men 10-14
1. Erik Hahn (Team Rose City)
2. Trevor Shauer (Specialized/River City Bicycles)
3. Pearson Kunz
Cat. 3 Women 10-14
1. Sasha Jenkins
2. Erika Cook
3. Maddie Ford
Cat. 3 Men 15-18
1. Kolben Preble
2. Kameron Vaughan
Cat. 3 Women 15-18
1. Corrina Hahn (Team Rose City)
2. Fiona Graham (Specialized/River City Bicycles)
3. Sierra Reid

Complete results are HERE.

Hegyvary, Sheasby take home Elkhorn Classic's overall prizes

BAKER CITY -- The dramatic June weather of Northeast Oregon's high desert landscape was the prime antagonist in the 2009 edition of the Elkhorn Classic Stage Race June 19-21.

Adrian Hegyvary (Hagens-Berman) capitalized on time gained in his second-place time trial ride to take the men's overall. Bend Bike 'n' Sports' Teri Sheasby won the first and last stages, and took the overall crown as well.

STAGE 1 Oregon Trail Road Race

Partly sunny skies, moderate temperatures and a police escort out of town greeted the start of the 8th annual event, with weather ranging from pelting torrential downpours and hail testing riders' endurance as they climbed up into, and then descended out of the Wollowa-Whitman National Forest on their way to the finish.

Bobby Sweeting, the Land Rover-ORBEA racer who is coming off his recent best-young-rider performance at the NRC Nature Valley Gran Prix in Minnesota, won the men's race by outsprinting a four-rider break that a got a small gap in the rolling foothills approaching the finish of the 72-mile event.

"Coming back from the climb, I knew there were at least one or two little gradual uphills running in to the finish," Sweeting said. "I attacked on the first one because I figured it would be pretty much flat after that. One guy came with me (Metromint Cycling's Evan Tuckett) and there were five rollers that I didn't expect. It was super hard and just shattered the field."

On the second-to-last roller, Hegyvary and Ian Tuttle (Above Cateregory Racing) joined the pair up the road, and the quartet immediately began working to keep it away. Sweeting said he gambled on the break group's gap and stopped rotating with about 600 meters to go.

"With 200 to go, I jumped first," he said. "I saw that (Hegyvary) got on my wheel and started to come around me. Fortunately I got him by like a wheel. It was close."

Sweeting finished ahead of Hegyvary, Pickett and Tuttle, who were all given the same time. Bob's Biycle.com rider Chris Stuart led the strung-out field across the line six seconds later.

In the women's race, Sheasby finished ahead of breakaway companions Alisha Welsh (PCIM) and Melissa McWhirter (Veloforma) after the group had built a lead of as much as three minutes near the end. Sheasby and Welsh crossed the line with the same time. McWhirter finished three seconds back. Touchstone Climbing's Heather Pryor led the chasers across the line one minute, three seconds later.

STAGE 2 Pleasant Valley Time Trial

The rains ceased and skies cleared for the Saturday morning Pleasant Valley Time Trial, but a consistent wind made riders work for their downtown finish.

Metromint Cycling's Phillip Mooney won the men's race on a 11-mile out-and-back course that also started in downtown Baker City. Mooney clocked a 21:07, but it was Hegyvary's second placed ride just one second slower that lifted him above Sweeting into the top GC spot by 30 seconds after the two leaders finished with the same time the day before. Hegyvary's time trial advantage proved to be the deciding factor in the race for the overall with just the criterium and the 19-mile finale to follow.

In the women's race, Riverstone Racing took the top two spots in what would become a familiar theme for the day. Allison Beall set the pace with a 25:54.61 time. Her teammate Heather Albert finished next, two seconds down. But it was McWhirter who came away with the GC lead, covering the course just 13 seconds off the pace of Beall, who started the day 16th overall after losing more than six minutes in Stage One. Sheasby held onto second in GC with Albert placed third overall.

STAGE 3 Gold Rush Criterium

The 1km, six-corner, L-shaped criterium course centered in downtown Baker City made for fast and fun racing, but did little to affect the overall of either men's or women's races.

Sweeting added another stage win to his results in the men's race, biding his time in the group during the prime-filled 60-minute race in anticipation of the upcoming GC battle on Dooley Mountain the following day. But as the race neared the finish still intact, Sweeting decided to go for the win.

"I just cruised and figured, with a few laps to go, that one sprint won't hurt me for tomorrow," he said. "The Bob's Bicycle guys had a good leadout going, so I pushed my way into the top five."

Sweeting came through the final corner fourth wheel before opening enough of a gap to hold off the bunch all the way down the long finishing straight.

The Riverstone Women's Racing Team put a headlock on the women's field in the last couple of laps and launched sprinter Jenni Gaertner for the win followed closely by Albert in second.

The team played out its pe-race plan to perfection.

"The crits are really important to me," said Gaertner, who started the stage 10th overall after losing several minutes to the leaders on Friday. "So we decided that I've got nothing to lose, and If I blew up then I blew up. If not, then we get a stage win."

Gaertner launced multiple attacks and gathered handful of primes before the race neared its conclusion. That's when she and her teammates put plan B into action.

"Heather (Albert) came up beside me with about 10 laps to go," she said. "I said, 'If you guys get me there, I can win.' That was the plan; with two laps to go they would get on the front and drive the train. Then hopefully I would deliver."

Sure enough, Beall and Albert siezed the front of the race with several laps to go. Beall put in one long, last pull that discouraged attacks and eventually launched both teammates across the line ahead of Pryor, McWhirter and the rest of the field.

"For once it went according to plan," Gaertner said.


STAGE 4 Dooley Mountain Road Race

Reports of snow and 35 degrees at Dooley Mountain's summit, where the 102-mile Queen Stage was scheduled to finish, forced a last-minute decision by the chief referee to shorten the race. Instead of doing the 109-mile death march, riders proceeded 12 miles out of town, then seven miles up Dooley.

Bob's Bicycle.com's Kevin Rowe, who started the stage fourth overall, turned the tables on GC leader Hegyvary and runner-up Sweeting by riding off the front early, finishing 33 seconds ahead of the chase group containing his nearest GC rivals.

Hegyvary, who started the day 54 seconds ahead of Rowe, managed to hold onto his overall lead, but double stage winner Sweeting slipped from second to third overall after failing to recognize the danger of the move by the Bob's rider, who started the day just 23 seconds behind him.

With fresh legs and the GC battle still very much up for grabs among a handful of riders seperated by less than a minute, the field flew up the finishing climb as Rowe's early attack caught the two leaders off guard. He played his advantage to nearly maximum result, falling short of the top prize by just 22 seconds.

Sweeting admitted his mistake in letting the Bob's Bicycles.com rider go, saying he was caught up in the rush up the hill and with the rider in front of him on GC, and he didn't realize a threat to his own GC spot had ridden up the road.

"We went up the climb pretty fast. It wasn't a slow climb," Sweeting said the next day. "We were crusing the 39-16, going like 17 or 18 miles an hour."

As Rowe rolled off the front early on the climb and his teammates set tempo on the fornt, Sweeting and Hegyvary, seperated by just 30 seconds overall at the start of the day, played cat-and-mouse up the climb.

"I stared attacking (Hegyvary) with about 4k to go," Sweeting said. "He would cover me and just sit on. Everytime he'd sit on me, I didn't want to pull him around. And every time I attacked and sat up, the guy up the road got a bigger gap."

And so it played out down the road as Rowe charged the line to take the stage and second overall.

"I think after 100 miles it would have been a totally different stage," Sweeting said of the shortened course. "At first I was unhappy that the race got shortened, but I was numb after an hour. So I figured 100 miles would have sucked pretty bad."

In the women's race, Sheasby used her climbing prowess to storm away from the field with Alisha Welsh (PCIM) and take the stage win and the overall lead. Sheasby and Welsh finished 1:24 ahead of Veloforma's McWhirter, who started the day just 49 seconds ahead of Sheasby and Riverstone Racing's Albert. Welsh moved up to second overall, five seconds back. McWhirter fell to third, 35 seconds behind the leader. Tourchstone Climbing's Pryor finsihed with McWhirter and moved to fourth overall on GC.

RESULTS
Elkhorn Classic Stage Race,
June 19-21

Men Pro/1/2 Stage 4 Dooley Mountain Road Race
1. Kevin Rowe (Bob's Bicycles.com) 54:07
2. Erik Slack (Bob's Bicycles.com) +:33
3. Ian Tuttle (Above Category Racing) same time
4. Phil Elasser (Fanatik Bike Co.) same time
5. Dan Bryant (Safeway) same time

Men Pro/1/2 Overall
1. Adrian Hegyvary (Hagens-Berman)
2. Kevin Rowe (Bob's Biycles) +:21
3. Bobby Sweeting (Land Rover-ORBEA) +:31
4. Evan Pickett (Metromint Cycling) +:48
5. Dan Bryant (Safeway) +:57

Women Pro/1/2 Stage 4 Dooley Mountain Road Race
1. Teri Sheasby (Bend Bike 'n' Sport)
2. Alisha Welsh (OCIM) same time
3. Heather Pryor (Touchstone Climbing) +1:24
4. Melissa McWhirter (Veloforma) +1:24
5. Alice Pennington (Veloforma) +1:30

Women Pro/1/2 Overall
1. Teri Sheasby (Bend Bike 'n' Sport)
2. Alisha Welsh (PCIM) +:05
3. Melissa McWhirter (Veloforma) +:35
4. Heather Pryor (Touchstone Climbing) +1:57
5. Heather Albert (Riverstone Racing) +2:24

You can find complete OBRA results HERE.

Portland Short Track Series rolls out tonight at PIR

Dust off those knobby tires and pull the 'cross bike down off the rack, because the Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series gets underway tonight on the infield of Portland International Raceway.

The seven-week series runs Monday nights June 22-August 3. In short-track tradition, racers will do multiple laps (3-5) on a course that includes a bumpy dirt track on the motocross course, fast grassy flats and a twisty section of fun singletrack under the trees. The compact course makes for a very spectator-friendly race.

There will be free races for the young ones over 10, starting every Monday night at 5:45 under the trees. There will also be a skills area, featuring skinnies, teeter-totters, even some miniature north-shore style ladders, all built and hosted by Northwest Trail Alliance.

Aslo new for the 2009 season, the series will host FREE clinics for novice and intermediate racers. The Women's clinics will be taught by local pro riders Sue Butler, Alice Pennington, Tina Brubaker and Emily Van Meter. The Men's clinics will feature longtime singlespeed short track racers Ethan and Jake Furniss. There will also be guest clinics by the three-time Short Track champ Shannon Skerritt and possibly some more. The clinics will be held from 5 to 5:45 on the race course. Meet-up is in front of the registration tent. Advance resgistration for clinincs is not required, but you need to fill out and sign a series waiver.

Start Times & Race Duration:
4:00 - Course open for pre-riding
5:00 - Registration opens
5:45 - Kiddie race - racing for 5 minutes (this race is FREE, but registration is required)
6:00 - Cat 3 Men, Cat 3 Women, Junior Men & Junior Women: racing for 20'
6:30 - Cat 2 Women (19-34 & Master 35-44 & 45+), Cat 2 Men Master 45+ & Singlespeed: racing for 30'
7:00 - Cat 2 Men 19-34 & Cat 2 Men Master 35-44 - racing for 30'
7:30 - Pro Men, Cat 1 Men (19-34 & Master 35+) & Pro/Cat 1 Women: racing for 30-40'