Thursday, November 12, 2009

We've moved, please change your RSS feed

Oregon Cycling Action has moved to a new address @ http://oregon.cyclingaction.com.

That's oregon(dot)cyclingaction(dot)com.

The new site will feature continuing coverage of Oregon's racing scene with new features such as the Fitness Forum, which will field reader questions with answers from the coaching crew at Upper Echelon Fitness. We're also adding the latest product reviews and tech columns, plus more on-site photo galleries and a few more surprises.

Thanks for all your support and encouragement for the site this past season. It's been a great year, and we hope to see you soon at http://oregon.cyclingaction.com

Make sure and change your bookmarks. And for those of you with blogrolls or email updates, please adjust your RSS feed to http://oregon.cyclingaction.com/feed/

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Kruger's promises dog day afternoon of 'cross


PHOTO: The farm on Sauvie's island provides and ideal setting.

The once-doomed Kruger's Crossing Cyclocross Classic is back on for Sunday, Nov. 22, but this time it's gone to the dogs. As if hosting the SSCXWC09 last Sunday wasn't prestigious enough, Portland will lay out the welcome mat for yet another world-class event: the inaugural Doggie Dog Cyclocross World Championships.

Ok, before any UCI lawyers start firing off single-spaced letters, it's really just a free, fun race for dogs and dog owners of all breeds, ages and sizes, presented by Cycle Dog and Meat and hosted at the Kruger's Crossing on Sauvie's Island.

The human racing will foll.ow the same catergories and schedule as thee Cross Crusade races, and should send riders along rutted farm roads, through berry fields, pastures, a barn, a bonfire and a beer garden.

Doggie Dog Cyclocross World Championships

12:30-1:00 p.m.

Race Specifics:
- Dog course will be about 1/2 mile long and feature barriers, mud, puddles, and a bunch of other things dogs might appreciate.
- No bikes in this race. Just dogs running with their owners (on-leash or off-leash).
- We'll have 4 race categories: Open Co-Ed, Clydesdale 60 lbs+, Masters 10yrs+, Carry-On & Lap Dogs (owners need to carry their dog throughout the whole course)
- The races are free, but owners need to sign a waiver and pick up a special dog bib number at registration.

Prizes/Awards:
- Cool awards for top finishers in each category
- Grand prize for the most original dog attire (lycra dog team kits strongly recommended!)
- Yummy dog treats for all participants!

Dog Corral/Lounge:
We will have a fenced-off corral where canine racers of the friendly kind can socialize before and after their race. Dog owners are responsible for the good behavior and well-being of their dogs.

Where?
Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island
Google Map: http://tinyurl.com/ycjtkt6

More info at www.portlandracing.com/cx

Monday, November 9, 2009

Portland goes over the top for SSCXWC send off


PHOTO: The Thunderdome at PIR set a new standard.

PORTLAND – What kind of recipe calls for a grass field covered with niche bicycles, a Black Sabbath cover band, a heart-pounding drum corps, a geodesic Thunderdome, a pair of fire dancers, a bus full of strippers, a brewery’s worth of beer and a lone bagpiper?

I don’t know either, but those elements and more blended beautifully Sunday at PIR when the world’s craziest bicycle race bid farewell to the city where it was born.

The SSCXWC unleashed itself on Portland’s cyclocross scene for one last time following a full day of Cross Crusade racing. Canada's Drew MacKenzie won the men's race for the second year in a row, while Seattle's Kari Studley rode away with the women's top prize at an event described by the keenly insightful eyes of PDXCROSS as the "Singlespeed Crazy Cross World Slapstickships."

Seattle won the battle to host next year's party, beating out San Francisco after two days of debates, riding and mud wrestling.

But the big winner, as usual, was Portland’s cycling scene as the event drew a sizable crowd of race fans and onlookers just curious to find out if the buzz about the race is true. It is!

With daylight running short, the 250 participants launched themselves for better or worse into a le Mans style start with a 50 meter run to the bikes, then a 180 turnaround to ride back through the slow, grass course, all the while dodging confused spectators who didn’t realize the racers were going to return in that direction. Mixed in with the costumed racers, Barry Wicks dressed in proper prep school attire while Bend’s Ryan Trebon flew his Kona-FSA stars and stripes jersey of the national cyclocross champion next to a rider dressed like a member of the '80s band Devo.

Then things got confusing and weird.

Riders made their way along a course well-trodden from a full day of Cross Crusade contests before they eventually faced the Thunderdome and its raucous crowds. With fans hanging from and on the scaffold-like structure, riders weaved into and then around and through the people hanging from hammocks suspended inside. Marshmallows flew while cheers, jeers, thumping heavy metal music and general mayhem added to the surrealistic feel.

Racers had been warned to bring dollar bills along for the ride, and they met an unexpected choice at the far end of the course where they could take a significant short cut through a stripper-filled bus if they tipped the dancers. Trebon commented on his Twitter page that the highlight of his race included “putting my muddy glove and $5 down the stipper’s pants at the webcyclery short cut.”

That doesn’t necessarily explain why he came through the Thunderdome on lap two without his bicycle but with his leashed dog enthusiastically leading the way. At the end of the day, MacKenzie outlasted Portland’s Joshua Berry to repeat as the men’s champion.

“It was pretty chaotic at the start, and I just kind of slowly worked my way up,” MacKenzie said. “I realized there were about five or so of us. At the end it was back and forth between me and Josh near the stripper zone and the shot short cut.”

Berry was leading as they approached the far corner of the course with the bus, but he missed out on the winners’ mandatory tattoo and rainbow striped Speedo by lingering too long with the entertainment as MacKenzie went past.

“I was told he was a lapper,” Berry said. “So I didn’t think anything of it when he went past.”

And so it ended with MacKenzie (pictured at left) scheduling an appointment for his second champion's tattoo and Berry holding on for second. In the women’s race, Studley sealed the deal for Seattle’s right to host the race next year by taking the top prize.


This golfer has no idea of the debauchery that is about to occur next door.


People have been known to lose their heads over this event.


But is it a singlespeed?


Ryan Trebon reminds a member of the '80s band Devo to hold his line.


Some seats were better than others.


Obstacles and distractions came from all directions.


Ballerinas and mud don't usually go together.


This guy has multiple monkeys on his back.


Confusion ensued once the race started.


Josh Berry lost the lead after lingering at the "short cut."

RESULTS
SSCXWC09
Sunday, Nov. 8
Portland

Women
1. Studley, Kari (Bothell, Wa) Velo Bella
2. Faris, Megan (Portland) River City Bicycles
3. Gilbert, Sunny (Corvallis)Pacific Power Blue Sky
4. Hartlaub, liza (Berkeley, Ca.) Shelia Moon
5. Guynup, Joele (Victoria, B.C.) Island Racing Club

Men
1. MacKenzie, Drew (Victoria, B.C.) Island Racing Club
2. Berry, Joshua (Portland) Team BODE
3. Brown, Ian (Portland) Tonic/River City Bicycles
4. Scholz, Henry (San Francisco)Team Roaring Mouse
5. Breeden, Byron (Portland)Team Cthulhu

Complete results are HERE.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Trebon, Van Meter take muddy Cross Crusade #7


PHOTO: The mud was plentiful Sunday for Cross Crusade #7.

PORTLAND – The same storm that soaked the OBRA Cyclocross Championships Saturday in Salem hung around to turn Cross Crusade #7 at Portland International Raceway into another slip-and-slide battle against gravity. But the penultimate event of the eight-race series was just a warm-up for the real show: the SSCXWC09 Thunderdome spectacle to follow.

Morning rains eased as the day wore on but dumped enough to saturate the grass for the early categories tearing through the course. And just when the mud started getting tacky, the skies opened again to freshly tune the fast, slippery course with some really technically difficult muddy sections.

National champion Ryan Trebon (Kona/FSA) made it back to the Crusades to claim his second win of the series ahead of teammate and last weekend’s double winner Barry Wicks. In the women’s race, Hudz-Subaru’s Emily Van Meter took her second series win ahead of teammate and series leader Wendy Williams.

As he did for the series opener at Alpenrose Dairy, Trebon warmed up for the men’s A race by cruising away to a solo win in the Crusade singlespeed event. But by the time the A race started about an hour later, Trebon had more company at the front.

Wicks, who won the OBRA championships in torrential rain and gusting winds the day before in Salem, joined Trebon in the lead with Portland’s Molly Cameron in tow. The trio started building an advantage when Cameron decided to press the issue.

“I had the brilliant idea to up the pace on a flat section, and when they counter attacked it put me into real trouble,” Cameron said. “Then I was just sucking wind the rest of the race. Felt pretty run down, wish I had a little more fight in me.”

Cameron, who’s in a tight race for the overall with Team S&M’s Sean Babcock, slowly drifted back to fifth as Shannon Skerritt (Vanilla Workshop) eventually picked up the chase in third after some shuffling.

Meanwhile, Wicks and Trebon drilled it at the front of the race and built a sizeable lead before Trebon left his teammate and rolled easily across the line for the win. Wicks held on for second, finishing ahead of Skerritt and Babcock. Cameron held on for fifth.

WOMEN

The women’s race started out with a trio of riders gaining a little traction on the rest of the field midway through the second lap. River City Bicycles’ Megan Faris and Brigette Brown jumped off the front with Van Meter, while Cross Crusade #6 winner Alice Pennington, (Veloforma), Alalia Berry (Gentle Lovers) and Seattle’s Kari Studley (Velo Bella) chased not far behind. Series leader Wendy Williams (Hudz-Subaru) lagged in ninth.

Van Meter, who won Cross crusade #4 in Hillsboro, shed her two lead companions on the lap and focused settled in to hold her advantage all the way to the line

Her teammate Williams, meanwhile, was riding back through the field and was soon chasing in second, building an advantage she held to the finish. Faris fought off all challengers except Williams and held onto third overall, while Pennington rode a smooth and steady race for fourth.

RACE NOTES
The 2009 Cross Crusade winds up next weekend with the final race in Barton Park near Estacada. Scoring for the series is based on the top six finishes over the eight-race series. Portland’s cyclocross scene stays alive with more local racing before the USGP comes to town Dec. 5 and 6 for the Stanley Portland Cup, the final weekend of that series. It’s all building toward the USA Cycling National Championships a week later in Bend Dec. 10-13.

Check VeloNews.com HERE for more photos.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Cross Crusade #7
Portland International Raceway
Sunday, Nov. 8

Senior Men A
1. Ryan Trebon (Kona/FSA)
2. Barry Wicks (Kona/FSA)
3. Shannon Skerritt (Vanilla Workshop)
4. Sean Babcock (Team S&M)
5. Molly Cameron (Portland Bicycle Studio)

Senior Women A

1. Emily Van Meter (Hudz-Subaru)
2. Wendy Williams (Hudz-Subaru)
3. Megan Faris (River City Bicycles)
4. Alice Pennington (Veloforma)
5. Rhonda Mazza (Team S&M)