Saturday, October 3, 2009

Bjesse-Puffin medals at collegiate nationals

Local rider Amelia Bjesse-Puffin earned two podium spots last week at USA Cycling's Collegiate Track Nationals in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania.

After a grueling match with some of the nation's best, Bjesse-Puffin (Portland State University) walked away with a Bronze medal in the Womens 500m event and a Silver in the Womens Sprint.

"I didn't go to collegiates last year because I wasn't fast enough," said the PSU senior. "I wasn't going to go and waste everyone's time and money when I knew I'd be little more than pack fodder. This year I did, however, beat both of last year's returning medalists in the 500 meter, resoundingly."

Bjesse-Puffin, who can often be found sporting the BRIHOP jersey on the banks of Alpenrose Velodrome in southwest Portland, said the results are the best of any national-level competition she's done.

"I'd like to think I made PSU rec club proud," she said. "I work so hard all year, it's nice to see it pay off. We are in the gym or doing bike workouts six days a week."

"I would have liked to win a national jersey," she added. "But the girl who did is an excellent racer and I just wasn't as fast as her this year. But I'm always getting faster, which I owe in no small way to my coach, Brian Abers."

RESULTS
USA Cycling Collegiate Track National Championships
September 24-26, 2009
Trexlertown, Pa.


Women’s Sprint
1. Colleen Hayduk (Kutztown University)
2. Amelia Bjesse-Puffin (Portland State University)
3. Stephanie Torres (Bard College)
4. Lauren Shirock (Penn State)
5. Elena Dorr (Illinois Institute of Technology)

Women's 500m
1. Colleen Hayduk (Kutztown University)
2. Mary Costelloe (Kutztown University)
3. Amelia Bjesse-Puffin (Portland State University)
4. Sierra Siebenlist (Marian College)
5. Elena Dorr (Illinois Institute of Technology)

(Submitted by PSU Cycling Team / courtesy photo)

Friday, October 2, 2009

Cycling Tweet of the Week

"Someone asked why I wasn't going to Gloucester. Two words 'Cross Crusade.' Gloucester is a great race but come on, Alpenrose is a classic!"


Ryan Trebon (@ryantrebon)
Friday, Oct. 2, 1:50 p.m.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Cameron scores on first Blind Date attempt; Veloforma's Pennington cruises to second win



Molly Cameron notched a win Wednesday night in the Men's A race of the Blind Date at the Dairy cyclocross race at Alpenrose Velodrome. Portland's Alice Pennington cruised to her second straight victory in the Women's A race. The win marks the Veloforma rider's third cyclocross win in as many starts.

Cameron (Portland Bicycle Studio) opened a gap early in the race with week-one winner Joshua Berry (BODE) and Veloshop's Steven Hunter. The trio flew over the course together for the majority of the race, setting consistent lap times before Cameron and Berry started to ride away from their lead-trio companion.

When Hunter continued to lag behind with about 20 minutes of racing reamaining, it looked like the finale would boil down to a battle between Cameron and Berry. But Cameron held the lucky hand Wednesday night when Berry flatted in the closing laps. The BODE rider maneuvered his bicycle to the pit and grabbed a spare bike, but Cameron was long gone. Berry was able to hold onto his second place spot. Hunter held off a late race charge to take third.

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

RESULTS
Blind Date at the Dairy
Portland, Sept. 30


Men A
1. Cameron, Molly (Portland Bicycle Studio) 13
2. Berry, Joshua (BODE) 13
3. Hunter, Steven (Veloshop) 13
4. Yeater, Davy (River City Bicycles) 13
5. Schulz, Erik (Specialized/River City) 13
Women A
1. Pennington, Alice (Veloforma) 12
2. Bagely, Rachel (Motordome/Ira Ryan Cycles) 11
3. Schweitzer, Jennifer 11
4. Love, Christy (Team S&M) 11
5. Brown, Audrey (Team S&M) 11
Singlespeed
1. Gilmore, Leland (River City Bicycles) 9
2. Criss, Alexander (River City Bicycles) 9
3. Patla, Seth (River City Bicycles) 9
4. Ehmke, Larry (Grundelbruisers) 9
5. Weaver, Ryan (River City Bicycles) 9

Complete OBRA results are HERE.







A quartet of Cross Vegas videos

Dreaming about tonight's Blind Date at the Dairy at Alpenrose? Maybe this video from Cross Vegas will help get the blood flowing.

OBRA member Emiliano Jordan was in Las Vegas last week for Interbike and brought back some great video from Cross Vegas. Enjoy.

The start ...


A late chase in the men's race ...


The first half of a split women's field ...


Katie Compton way off the front ...

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

NACT heads for Massachusetts this weekend


PHOTO: Helen Wyman (Kona), Sue Butler (MonaVie/Cannondale) and Wendy Williams (Hudz-Subaru) wait for the start at Star Crossed Sept. 19 in Redmond, Wash. Wyman's return to Europe should help shake up the NACT standings.

The North American Cyclocross Trophy cowbell train makes its first East Coast stop at the Great Brewers Gran Prix in Gloucester, Mass., this Saturday and Sunday.

British national champ Helen Wyman and Swiss national champ Christian Heule walked away with the series-leader jerseys after the first weekend of racing in Washington at Star Crossed and the Rad Racing GP Sept. 19 and 20, and then the big show at Cross Vegas Sept. 23.

But with Wyman and Heule headed back to Europe, leading U.S. riders Jamey Driscoll (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com), Andy Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) and Jeremy Powers (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) will be looking to take advantage of the empty top spot and move up.

Likewise Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com), Maureen Bruno Roy (MM Racing/Seven Cycles) and Lyne Bessette (October Factory Racing) will try to leave their first impression on the series and earn some points. Both Johnson and Bessette have won at Gloucester in the past. Look for the married couple to try and make it a family affair atop the podium once again.

There are some dark horses, however, after Chris Jones’ (Champion System) strong showing in Washington State last weekend followed by second place at Cross Vegas, the road rider turned ‘cross racer shouldn’t be a surprise to his competitors. Bruno Roy took fifth and seventh at the Gran Prix in 2008 and will be looking to improve on her past results in front of the partisan New England crowd.

(Submitted by the North American Cyclocross Trophy series).

Monday, September 28, 2009

Collision with auto ends New Zealand plans for Land Rover/ORBEA's Roman Van Uden


PHOTO: Roman Van Uden won OBRA's Rehearsal Road Race last May in Rainier.

Land Rover/ORBEA pro Roman Van Uden's racing season has been cut short by a traffic accident. While his American cohorts were recovering form a long domestic road season or gearing up for cyclcocross in the states, Van Uden returned to his home country of New Zealand and was preparing for the upcoming race season there, including the UCI Tour of the Southland.

But a collision with a car Friday, Sept. 25, sidelined the tall, powerful sprinter who won the Tour of the Gila criterium in front of Lance Armsstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Chris Horner and a talented field of America's best domestic racers.

Van Uden told his story to New Zealand's online cycling magazine, roadcycling.co.nz:
"On Friday the 25th of September, while going for a little late afternoon cruise in Auckland (some would call this period 'Rush Hour') my ride came to an abrupt end when a driver turned across my lane to enter a driveway.

"This accident was unavoidable as I was hidden behind a queue of traffic and a gap was left by another motorist for the car to enter the driveway. Traveling quite quickly, I had very little time to react and could not miss the car.

"I was launched off my bike and landed on a curb, slightly winded. I only suffered very minor grazing to my right elbow and knee but what at the time felt like a sprained wrist later turned out to be my second broken scaphoid of the year."
Read the complete story HERE.

Cycling Tweet of the Week ...


"do NOT and i mean NEVER tell george hincapie how to ride a bike."

--Bob Roll (@bobkeroll), noon, Monday, Sept. 28. Responding to critics of the veteran Euro pro and current national champ after he posted a pic of himself with his wife and son at a coffee shop. Hincapie was astride his city bike with no helmet. His infant was behind in a seat wearing a pretty slick looking mini Giro.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

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.

Wisconsin's Planet Bike Cup Sunday races wrap up USGP opening weekend

The first two races of the U.S. Grand Prix of Cyclcocross are in the books. Three-time world champion Erwen Vervecken of Belgium leads the men's race. Katie Compton of Colorado leads the women.

The next set of weekend races will be the Derby City Cup Oct. 24 and 25 in Louisville, Kentucky. The Knapp's Cyclery Mercer Cup follows Nov. 14 and 15 in Mercer County, New Jersey. And the series culminates in Portland with the Stanley Portland Cup Dec. 5 and 6 at Portland International Raceway.

RESULTS
U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross
Madison, Wisc.
Sunday, Sept. 27


ELITE WOMEN

1. COMPTON, Katherine (Planet Bike)
2. NASH, Katerina (Luna)
3. GOULD, Georgia (Luna)
4. BUTLER, Susan (Monavie/Cannondale.com)
5. SYDOR, Alison (Maxxis/Rocky Mountain)
6. DUNLAP, Alison (Luna)
7. DOMBROSKI, Amy (Richard Sachs-RGM)
8. WINFIELD, Deidre (C3/Athletes Serving Athletes)
9. WENTWORTH, Kristin (Planet Bike)
10. HASKELL, Devon (Velo Belo)
18. PLAYMAN, Erin (Gentle Lovers)

ELITE MEN

1. VERVECKEN, Erwin (Revor/Baboco)
2. TREBON, Ryan (KONA)
3. PAGE, Jonathan (Planet Bike)
4. KABUSH, Geoff (Maxxis/Rocky Mountain)
5. HEULE, Christian (Rendementhypo)
6. POWERS, Jeremy (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld)
7. DRISCOLL,, Jamey (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld)
8. SCHOUTEN Tristan (Planet Bike)
9. WICKS, Barry (Kona)
10. JONES, Christopher (Champion System)
25. SKERRITT, Shannon (Vanilla Bicycles)
27. HULICK, Kevin (Vanilla Bicycles)
32. BLACKWELDER, Mark (Gentle Lovers)

Battle at Barlow video

Erik Tonkin (Kona) and Sean Babcock (Team S&M) quickly distanced themselves from the Men's A field at Sunday's Battle at Barlow. Here they tackle the infamous railroad tie run-up.