Saturday, July 4, 2009

Sheppard, McGrath take BC Bike Race; Trebon, Gould top mixed category

Word leaking out from the final day of the seven-stage BC Bike Race in Canada says Bend resident Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz/Shimano/WTB/Fox) and his teammate Seamus McGrath (Jamis Factory Team) hung onto the overall lead that the Canadian pair took on the first day.

Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon, the race's 2008 overall winners, put up a good fight, winning consecutive stages on the fourth and fifth days and slowly whittling into the leaders tenuous gap. But Sheppard (pictured at the Cascade Chainbreaker) and McGrath blew the race open during Friday's Stage Six, capitalizing on a Wicks/Sneddon flat to put close to seven minutes into the Kona riders, who finished third on the day.

Meanwhile, Bend's Ryan Trebon (Kona) and teammate Georgia Gould (Luna) looked to have an insurmountable lead in the mixed category heading into today's final stage. Portland's Sue Butler, riding in the mixed category with Monavie-Cannondale teammate Bryan Alders, was in third, nearly 30 minutes down on the second-placed team. Tim Butler, riding on the veterans 80+ category with Matt Ohran, was in third overall.

RESULTS
(After Stage Six)

Duo men team classification
1. Seamus McGrath / Chris Sheppard (Jamis/Santa Cruz) 16:40:45
2. Barry Wicks / Kris Sneddon (Kona) +07:40
3. Brandon Stewart / Max Knox (DCM Chrome) +44:16
Open mixed team classification
1. Ryan Trebon / Georgia Gould (Kona/Luna) 19:24:36
2. Jeff Neilson / Mical Dyck +1:14:45
3. Sue Butler / Bryan Alders (Monavie-Cannondale) +1:44:21
Veteran duo 80+ classification

1. Normon Thibault / Peter Stevenson 20:09:37
2. Geoff Clark / Pat Doyle +34:41
3. Tim Butler / Matt Ohran +56:10

BBC's McElroy scores another Bronze at Junior Track Nationals

(A group of Oregon racers from Beaverton Bicycle Club is competing at the USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships on the large wooden indoor LA Velodrome in southern California. Jon Prettyman, father of racer Joe Prettyman, sent Cycling Action this report.)

By Jon Prettyman

Grant McElroy qualified for the Junior Men 10-12 1K scratch race in the morning, easily finishing his heat in second place. The final started a bit late in the evening session following a scratch by one of the riders. Grant worked hard to hold the wheel of the first place finisher in last night's time trial, but ultimately it became a race for second and third as the leader broke from the pack.

Grant broke early on the third lap and possibly confused by an early flip of the lap board, sprinted for the finish as he came around turn four. After throwing his bike to "finish" second, Grant pulled up track. As the BBC contingent yelled at Grant to keep racing, the field kept on moving. Grant figured out his mistake on the back straight and put the pedal down again and pulled away from the rapidly closing field to finish third. Grant is currently in second place in the omnium with one event left, an 2K scratch race tomorrow.

The other BBC rider racing today was Joe Prettyman. Joe raced hard in the 4K scratch race qualifier, pushing the pack hard at the front and racing very well, but ultimately falling a bit short and failing to finish in the top eight.

(Photo Courtesy of Jon Prettyman)

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Oregonians in the thick of it at Junior Track Nationals in California

(A group of Oregon racers is competing at the USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships on the large wooden indoor LA Velodrome. Jon Prettyman, father of racer Joe Prettyman, sent Cycling Action this report.)



By Jon Prettyman

The Oregon contingent at the first day of the USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships in Carson, California, started with three Alpenrose riders and one guest: Erin Popovich (Matrix RBM), who has been training at Alpenrose the past few weeks, joined Beaverton Bicycle Club's Dan Birman, Grant McElroy and Joe Prettyman.

Joe finished the sprint qualification in tenth place. Starting in the twelfth heat, he turned in a respectable 12.591 in the flying 200M, putting him at the third fastest time at that point. Only eight riders would qualify for the match sprint semi-finals though, and he found himself eventually bumped out of the top eight by the final two riders on the day.

Grant was in the first heat of the 500M TT, and after his opponent had a false start, he finished with a 43.19. As the rest of the field continued with a number of false starts, Grant's time held up as fastest until the final two racers, who were bronze and silver medalists at last year's finals. After the final times came in, Grant ended up in third, qualifying him for omnium points and a bronze medal.

Finishing up the morning session, Erin Popovich finished ninth in the 17-18 500K TT with a 41.515.

The evening session started with Dan Birman finishing second in his qualifying heat for the 16-18 Kieren.

Erin Popovich was back for an evening 30 lap scratch race. She raced aggressively, attacking frequently. Unfortunately, a shakey last lap left her finishing toward the back of the pack.

The final race of the night was the men's 16-18 Kieren. Dan took third wheel off the motor in a field of six. As the motor left, Dan held the middle of the field, falling into fourth. In the final sprint, Dan held his position, taking the fourth place spot.

All in all, a good first day for Oregon and BBC. Grant says it feels like we've been here forever, but it's just been one day of racing!

(Photos courtesy of Jon Prettyman)

Bend's Sheppard, teammate McGrath still in front at BC Bike Race

UPDATE, June 2, 11:30 p.m. Portland's Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale) reported by e-mail that she and teammate Bryan Alders had a flat off the gun on stage 2 and got stuck at the back of the race on tight singletrack.

"A rough day and very frustrating," she wrote.

Butler and Alders have placed second the past two days, moving up to third overall about thirty minutes behind. Bend's Ryan Trebon (Kona) and teammate Georgia Gould (Luna) are in first place overall in the mixed category.

"Ryan and Georgia are riding the pants off of us," Butler wrote. "We will keep working on it and see where we end up on Saturday. It has been a ton of fun. The trails are AMAZING! It's a great vacation."

Tim Butler, who rides locally for River City Bicycles, is sitting in 3rd in the open 80+ category with his partner, Matt Ohran, team manger of the Monavie-Cannondale pro operation.

Bend resident Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz/Shimano/WTB/Fox) and teammate Seamus McGrath (Jamis Factory Team) remain in the lead of Canada's BC Bike Race after four stages of the seven-leg journey from Vancouver to Whistler.

Sheppard and McGrath won the first and third stages, while former OBRA standout Barry Wicks and his KONA temmate Kris Sneddon, the defending champions, won stages two and four and sit less than a minute behind the leaders.

Oregonians Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale) are competing with teammates in the mixed category, but word and results from the forests of BC have been hard to come by.

VeloNews.com has been covering the race.

Oregon's Boswell leads Lance, hits the NY Times cover

Southern Oregon junior racer Ian Boswell (Hot Tubes), a member of the USA Cycling Junior National Team, hit the super big time recently when the New York Times website featured a photo of the young rider tagging along behind American grand tour riders Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer at the Nevada City Classic.

Armstrong won the race, but not before benefiting from a little last-lap lead out from the up-and-coming Oregon rider, who won the juniors race earlier in the day. The tempo Armstrong and Leipheimer set on the hilly circuit, which winds up into the hills before descending back into town, quickly shattered the field. Like many in the race, Boswell was soon lapped by the lead group of Armstrong, Leipheimer and Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell Pro Cycling Team). The young rider hung with the leaders for an incredible seven laps before dropping off again.

Near the end of the race, after Armstrong had dropped his break companions and was soloing in for the win, the seven-time Tour winner came up on Boswell again. This time the young rider decided to give the legendary Tour rider a boost.

"He caught me at the top of the climb, and again I jumped on his wheel," Boswell wrote on his blog. "As we crested the top the paced slowed so I decided to give him some help. I went to the front and gave it all I had, and leading through the start/finish I heard one lap to go. The crowds were going wild. I lead him into the sharp left hand turn and accelerated up the climb knowing I only had one lap left. It was an awesome feeling leading the greatest Tour de France riders in history up the finial lap of his first victory since his seventh Tour win."

You can read Boswell's complete post about the race and view photos at his blog: The Boz Blog.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Hammer's Rathe, Arguello grab top Tabor spots; Vanderkitten's Sanborn takes women's race



Vanderkitten's Melissa Sanborn christened her inaugural attempt at the Mt. Tabor Series with a win Wednesday night in the Senior Women's field. Sanborn finished ahead of Hammer Velo's Sam Yeo and Bridgetown Velo's Anne Davis Usher. Veloce/felt's Kelly McKean was fourth, followed by Gentle Lovers' Dawn Riddle in fifth.

Sanborn's gobbling up of the 100 points for first place should help tame the shake-up in the overall race. Coming into the race, Yeo's consistent efforts placed her just 52 points behind Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale), who won the opening week and again on week three but missed the latest race because she's competing on her mountain bike at the BC Bike Race in Canada. Also missing from the latest race was third-placed overall rider Alice Pennington (Veloforma). Her absence form the race should help Davis Usher, who won the week two race and sat sixth overall, 100 points behind Butler.

The Senior Men's race took on a familiar pattern when, just as in the Salem-Fairview Circuit Race a few days before, the full compliment of junior riders on the Hammer/CMG Racing Team showed up ready to step on the throttle. And just as in Salem the team took the top two spots, placing Jacob Rathe first and Austin Arguello second. Cyclepath Racing's John Browning, who once again won the masters race earlier in the night, battled with the two USA Cycling Junior National Team riders and ended up third.

The nearly 50 riders contesting the race got off to a fast start, with plenty of primes to add to the action. Shannon Skerritt, winner of two consecutive weeks at the Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series at PIR, made his presence known with several uphill bursts that earned him some prize-lap cash.

But just about anything else that tried to get off the front was followed closely by the red and black of Hammer/CMG or the blue and white of Cyclepath. In the end, the field approached the finish intact, setting up the battle between the veteran Browning and the fresh legs of Hammer/CMG.

But Browning had good reason to plead fatigue if he wanted after also winning the Masters Men's race earlier in the night. The Cyclepath strongman got away with ZteaM's David Zimbelman, Finnegans Toys/Discovery Chiropractic's Ivan Meadors and a Veloce/Felt's Michael Benno. Meadors was first to pop off the group, then Benno. Zimbelman held on but lost the finish to Browning. Benno finished third, ahead of Cyclepath's John Bravard and the rest of the field. Browning's effort also moves him into the series overall lead. He started just 10 points down on Bridgetown Velo's Chris Haverty, who did not compete Wednesday night.

Just two weeks remain in the 2009 Mt. Tabor Wednesday Night Series, but all the overall races are still up for grabs.

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

RESULTS
Mt. Tabor Wednesday Night Series
Portland, July 1

Cat 4 Women
1. Reeve, Lisa
2. Tyrrell, Leia (CAPA Cycling Team)
3. Vaughn, Anna (Hammer Velo)
Masters Women
1. Wenzel, Kendra (Wenzel Coaching)
2. Morin, Rhonda (Sorella Forte)
3. Kennedy, Ann (Team Guinness)
Senior Women
1. Sanborn, Melissa (Vanderkitten Racing)
2. Yeo, Sam (Hammer Velo)
3. Davis, Usher Anne (Bridgetown Velo)
4. McKean, Kelly (Veloce/Felt)
5. Riddle, Dawn (Gentle Lovers)
Cat 5 Men
1. Grant, Michael
2. Siemens, Jordan
3. Russell, Calon
Cat 4 Men
1. Bedford, Stephen (Word-RCB)
2. Rankin, Shane Portland Velo
3. Tuttle, Chris
Cat 3 Men
1. Liverman, Ryan (Veloce/Felt)
2. Brush, Walton
3. Hansen, (Jake Word-RCB)
Masters Men
1. Browning, John (Cyclepath Racing)
2. Zimbelman, David (ZteaM)
3. Benno, Mike (Veloce/Felt)
Senior Men
1. Rathe, Jacob (Hammer/CMG Racing Team)
2. Arguello, Austin (Hammer/CMG Racing Team)
3. Browning, John (Cyclepath Racing)
4. Green, Tyler (River City Bicycles)
5. Groblewski, Pete (Gentle Lovers)

Rapha Racing's Littlehales prevails at PIR Tuesday night race

Todd Littlehales (Rapha Racing) took the last Tuesday Night PIR race for June. With early June winners Steven Beardsley (Gentle Lovers) and Mike Northey (Land Rover-ORBEA) competing in Beaverton at the Alpenrose Six Day, Littlehales was left to battle Cyclepath Racing's Christian Tresser, who also won the Monday Masters series for June, for the Tuesday overall.

Littlehales finished ahead of Austin Arguello (Hammer/CMG Racing) and Tresser. Brad Pauly was fourth, and Land Rover-ORBEA's Bobby Sweeting was fifth.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
PIR Tuesday Night Series,
Portland, June 30

Cat. 4/5
1. Depenbrock, Al (Pacific Power Blue Sky) 15
2. Siemens, Jordan 12
3. Seward, Ryan (CAPA Cycling Team) 10
4. Ferron, Joseph (CAPA Cycling Team) 8
5. Ralston, James (Hammer Velo) 7
Cat. 3/4
1. Allen, Gary 18
2. Staples, Joe 17
3. Crawford, Mark (Ironclad Performance Wear) 11
4. Shirkey, Paul (Chain Agents) 10
5. Voldengen, Erik (Beaverton Bicycle Club) 9
Pro/1/2/3
1. Littlehales, Todd (Rapha Racing) 18
2. Arguello, Austin (Hammer/CMG Racing) 17
3. Tresser, Christian (Cyclepath Racing) 13
4. Pauly, Brad 12
5. Sweeting, Bobby (Land Rover-ORBEA Benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation) 12

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Skerritt, Williams win Week Two on PIR short track



PORTLAND -- Gary Fisher's Shannon Skerritt won his second race of the Portland Mountain Bike Short Track series Monday by riding away from the rest of the field early and never looking back.

Gentle Lovers' Kevin Hulick hung with Skerritt briefly in the eight-lap race, but the Gary Fisher rider soon opened a gap and poured on the pressure. Hulick was left to fight for his second-place spot and finished ahead of Portland Bicycle Studio's Doug Wilmes and bicycleatttorney.com's John McCaffrey. Team S&M's Jonathan Myers crossed the line fifth.

Skerritt, the three-time short track champ, adds to his week-one win and appears well on his way to taking the overall in the seven-race series.

With week one winner Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale) competing at the BC Bike Race in Canada, River City Bicycles' Wendy Williams had one less obstacle on her way to winning the Pro/1 Women's event.

Williams, the reigning National Cyclocross Champion for Women 40-44, showed up for her first series race Monday and finished comfortably ahead of Bike Gallery's Marila Alvares, who was also racing for the first time in the series, and Showers Pass rider Susan Grandjean. Christy Love finished fourth, and Ira Ryan Cycles' Rachel Bagely was fifth.

With one win each and five more races to go, Williams and Butler are now tied for the Pro/1 Women's series lead. The Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series runs Monday nights through Aug. 3.

RESULTS
Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series
June 29, PIR

Pro Men
1. Shannon Skerritt (Gary Fisher)
2. Kevin Hulick (Gentle Lovers)
3. Doug Wilmes (Portland Bicycle Studios)
4. John McCaffrey (bicycleattorney.com)
5. Jonathan Myers ((team S&M)
Pro/1 Women
1. Wendy Williams (River City Bicycles)
2. Marila Alvares (Bike Gallery)
3. Susan Grandjean (Showers Pass)
4. Christy Love
5. Rachel Bagely (Ira Ryan Bicycles)
Singlespeed
1. Pete Zlatnik (Signal Cycles)
2. Ryan Weaver (River City Bicycles)
3. James Tervo (Artisan Family Racing)
4. Jake Furniss (Revolver Cascadia)
5. John Weathers (Sunset Cycles)

Complete OBRA results are HERE.

Tyrrell, Tresser continue to top PIR Monday night fields



CAPA Cycling Team's Leia Tyrrell won her third Monday night PIR race in a row, adding to her commanding series lead for the June overall win. She joins Christian Tresser (Cyclepath Racing), who's not only won the last three June Monday nights, but hasn't been out of the podium all five weeks this month.

RESULTS
River City Bicycles Monday Night Series
June 29, PIR

Novice Women
1. D'Elia, Traci (Portland Velo) 15
2. Brueuing, Joy 12
3. Kennedy, Ann (Team Guiness) 10
Novice Men
1. Pool Eric 15
2. Pickel Sean 12
3. Usher Craigan 10
Masters Cat. 4/5
1. Cagampang, Juan (Hammer Velo) 19
2. Smith, Chad (Team Oakland) 18
3. Bernhardt, Eric 10
Masters Cat. 1/2/3
1. Tresser, Christian (Cyclepath Racing) 21
2. Mitchem, John (Guinness Cycling Team) 15
3. Hopper, David (NoMad Sports Club) 14
4. Holcomb, Joseph (Specialized River City Bicycles) 9
5. Johnston, Kent (Fred Meyer/Lakeside Cycling Team) 8
Women
1. Tyrrell, Leia (CAPA Cycling Team) 21
2. Miles, Karey (Therapeutic Associates Cycling/GENR8) 16
3. Tisdale, Sarah (Sorella Forte) 10
4. Rueter, Kim (Sorella Forte) 10
5. Krill, Deann (Ironclad Performance Wear) 7

Complete OBRA results are HERE.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Juniors put the hammer down on Men's field in Salem; Wilcoxson takes women's race



The young guns of Hammer/CMG Racing Team took the reins of the Salem Fairview Circuit Race Sunday and rode it to a one-two finish, placing three riders in the top five.

Corvallis rider Wes Stein (pictured above at Mt. Tabor) joined teammate Marshall Opel, fresh in from Whitefish, Mont., at the front of the race. Stein took first place, Opel finished second and Hutch's/OIC rider Paul Bourcier, who rode at the front of both Masters and Pro/1/2 races at the Swan Island Crit the day before, finished third. Eugene's Mark Hibbard finished fourth, and Hammer/CMG's Jacob Rathe, just back from another tour of Europe with the USA Cycling Junior National Team, rounded out the top five.

In the combined Pro/1/2/3 Women's race, Flywheel Bicycle Solutions rider Jade Wilcoxson won in front of Veloforma's Tina Brubaker and Team Group Health's Jen Akeroyd. Bend Bike N Sport's Michelle Bazemore finished fourth, with Heather Hill (Trek Store of St.Louis) in fifth.

In the combined Masters 40+/50+ race, Nike's Steve Wright capped off a weekend double by taking the Salem race after winning Saturday at Swan Island. ZteaM's Karsten Hagen finished second, ahead of Finnegans Toys/Discover Chiropractic's Steven Holland (winner of the 50+ group), Nike's Mark Steger and Hutch's Michael Rosenberg.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Salem Fairview Circuit Race
June 28, Salem, Oregon

Junior Women 11-13
1. Studer Loryn
2. Studer Jillian
Junior Women 14-18
1. Cartwright, Liz (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
2. Ford, Isabel (ZteaM)
Junior Men 11-13
1. McElroy, Grant (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
2. Prettyman, Walker (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
3. Webb, Emerson
Junior Men 14-18
1. Wait-Molyneux, Colby (North River Racing)
2. Prettyman, Joe (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
3. Platt, Robert (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
Cat. 4 Women*
1. Reeve, Lisa
2. Chang, Alice (Hammer Velo)
3. Phillips, Kalli (Poplollies)
4. Osborn, Marie (University of Oregon)
5. Massey, Pam (Wines of Washington)
(*Race #5 of the 2009 Veloforma Norman Babcock Cat. 4 Women's Series presented by Garmin)
Cat. 4/5 Men
1. Cagampang, Juan (Hammer Velo)
2. Sines, Ron (Pacific Power Blue Sky)
3. Emerson, Mike
Cat. 3 Men
1. Wilssens, Steven (Wines of Washington)
2. Wessel, Robin (Team Oregon)
3. Paskewich, Tj (Therapeutic Associates Cycling/GENR8)
Masters Overall
1. Wright, Steve (Nike)
2. Hagen, Karsten (ZteaM)
3. Holland, Steven (Finnegans Toys/Discover Chiropractic)Men Pro 1/2
Pro/1/2 Men
1. Stein, Wes (Hammer/CMG Racing Team)
2. Opel, Marshall (Hammer/CMG Racing Team)
3. Bourcier, Paul (Hutch's/OIC)
4. Hibbard, Mark
5. Rathe, Jacob (Hammer/CMG Racing Team)
Pro/1/2/3 Women Overall
1. Wilcoxson, Jade (Flywheel Bicycle Solutions)
2. Brubaker, Tina (Veloforma)
3. Akeroyd, Jen (Team Group Health)
4. Bazemore, Michelle )Bend Bike N Sport)
5. Hill, Heather (Trek Store of St.Louis)

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Oregon well represented at Canada's big BC Bike Race

UPDATE, June 29, 11 a.m.: VeloNews.com reports that Sheppard and McGrath won the first stage of the men's competition. Wicks and Sneddon are second. Trebon and Gould lead the mixed competition, with Butler and Alders fourth.

The list of favorites to win the seven-day BC Bike Race June 28-July 4 in Canada is packed full of Oregon riders.

Bend resident Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz/Shimano/WTB/Fox) will join fellow Canadian and Jamis Factory Team rider Seamus McGrath in the men's event. The pair plans to compete for the overall this year after a catastrophic mechanical five minutes into last year's race ended their overall dreams, although they were allowed to compete for stages and won three of them. Former OBRA standout Barry Wicks will take a break from World Cup competitons to join Kona teammate Kris Sneddon in the men's category.

Bend's Ryan Trebon (Kona) is joining forces with Luna's Georgia Gould to contest the mixed category, and some of the pair's toughest competition will come from Portland's Sue Butler and her MonaVie-Cannondale teammate Bryan Alders. Tim Butler, who rides locally for River City Bicycles, will also join MonaVie-Cannondale team manager Matt Ohran in the men's category.

VeloNews.com has complete coverage.