VeloNews Race & Ride Guide Features Oregon Events

Oregon continues to grow its reputation as a bicycle racing mecca, with the folks at VeloNews recently adding to the legend. No less than three Oregon events earned mention in the 2009 VeloNews Race & Ride Guide, a compilation of the nation's best races that hit subscribers' mailboxes last week.

The section covering the nation's best amateur stage races features both the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic and the freshly minted Cascade Stage Race. And, not surprisingly, the Southern Oregon Time Trial Series gets a nod among the nation's best hillcimbs and time trials.

The reviews are glowing. Here's a little taste of what they had to say about the stage races:

Mt. Hood Cycling Classic:
Considered among the toughest road stage races in the U.S., this climbers' delight has gained a cult following in the amateur cycling world. ... Don't get too upset if you get dropped. The consolation prize for slower riders is a leisurely spin in one of the country's most beautiful places.

Cascade Stage Race:
After years of being joined with the Cascade Cycling Classic, this long-running amateur event will separate from the national Racing Calendar race in 2009. But don't fret, you'll still be riding the same roads as the pros. On the menu is a three-day, four-stage race (TT, crit, and two road races) covering 175 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing.

Lack of Sponsor Derails 2009 Oregon Pro Cycling Classic

The Oregon Pro Cycling Classic is the latest sporting victim of the flailing economy.

Following on the heals of the 2009 Tour de Georgia, which promoters recently canceled, organizers of the inaugural Oregon Pro Cycling Classic today postponed plans for the pumped up invitation-only, eight-stage offspring of the successful Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, saying they were going to focus on 2010.

"We tried very hard these past six months to find the necessary funding to make the event happen," promoter Chad Sperry wrote in an e-mail to the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association. "But with the City of Portland pulling its support, and (race promoters) not being able to come up with a title sponsor, we are forced to postpone the event until 2010."

Sperry and Breakaway Promotions had planned the OPCC, initially scheduled for May 11-17, to be two stages longer than the 2008 Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, which started in Portland.

The 2009 pro race was also supposed to start and finish in Portland. The plan called for stages also finishing around Mt. Hood and Hood River, with two additional stages that traveled to the Willamette Valley as far south as Corvallis. Organizers had hoped that in the future a statewide OPCC could grow to reach areas such as Crater Lake and the Wallowa Mountains.

Sperry still has big plans for 2010.

"(W)e live in the most amazing state when it comes to spectacular roads, beautiful scenery and the most incredible cycling community. It is our goal to be able to showcase this in a statewide tour," he wrote. "And we will continue on with this dream for an event in May 2010 with one of the biggest pro men's and the biggest pro women's races in the country."

Race spokesman Tre Hendricks told Oregonian reporter Boaz Herzog in July of last year that funding would be the chief obstacle for the race organizers' intention to host a bigger, better pro-only race in 2009. Expanding the race by two stages would have probably tripled its budget, he said.

"It's most definitely a challenge," Hendricks told the Oregonian.

If it was a challenge in good times, the current economic bad news may have doomed organizers' attempts to expand the race.

Good news is that the traditional Mt. Hood Cycling Classic will be back June 3-7, although it won't enjoy the National Race Calendar and UCI status that attracted so many pros last year.

Oregon's granddaddy of stage races, the Cascade Classic, will also be on tap July 22-25.

What Do The Nation's Top Pros Think About Cyclocross Portland Style? FUNTASTIC!

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Reminiscent of the international and domestic pros' glowing reviews of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic last May, America's top 'crossers seem to relish racing in Portland.

Luna pro and Beijing Olympic mountain biker Georgia Gould, who took second both days of the Portland Cup Dec. 6-7, said the fan support in Portland is a “huge” boost for riders like herself and teammate Katerina Nash.

“Especially at this point in the season,” she said. “For people like me and Katerina, who have been racing since March, the more people who are out there, it can inject some enthusiasm and give you that extra little bit you need to dig deep when it really hurts. So I think every extra person and cowbell, or even some little kid banging on a pot or whatever, it all helps. Absolutely!”

Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale pro Jeremy Powers, who races for Jittery Joe's on the road, said the most “Belgianesque” crowds in the States are found in Portland, where the rowdy-yet-knowledgeable fans are known to tip back one or two at the beer garden.

“I love when people come out to the races,” Powers said. “Especially in Portland. Last time there was a drum band and people were dressed up. It sets the bar pretty high.”

Reigning national champion and 2008 USGP winner Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale), who said he first raced in Portland in 1997, always enjoys the enthusiastic – and creative – Pacific Northwest crowds.

“The bigger the better,” he said before recalling a USGP race he won in 2006 at the Hillsboro Stadium.

“The course was just sick,” he said. “It was just nasty. There was one especially tough climb, and at the top of it there were people in a hot tub watching – just hanging out. That was great.

“They’re out there racing all day in their categories and then they hang around to support us,” Johnson said. “It makes you want to perform.”

Bend's own Ryan Trebon, the 2006 national champion who will head to Europe for the World Cup races after traveling to Kansas City for this year's nationals, said he enjoys racing so close to home, but it's about more than just the obvious convenience.

"I much prefer racing out here," Trebon said. "When we're out east, there's always a bias for the East Coast riders. I like coming to race in Oregon, where there's a bias toward Oregon riders. I know most of these people, and I think it's the best scene in the country for racing and the best place to live."

As if to emphasize the point, Mother Nature put on a little show of Her own Saturday evening as the day's events wrapped up and PIR's holiday lights flickered to life. Cyclocross is great fun, but the greatest show on Earth puts it all into perspective ...

Spanish cops stop Horner for no helmet

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Professional cyclist Chris Horner had a brief encounter Tuesday with Spanish police over his choice of headwear, or lack thereof, while training on the Canary Islands.

The Associated Press reported that Horner, a Bend, Ore., resident who rides in Europe for Lance Armstrong's Astana team, was training with the seven-time Tour de France winner and the rest of the squad when a police cruiser pulled over the pack of riders.

After a routine identification check on Horner, the team pedaled away. Horner kept riding without a helmet because professional cyclists are not required to wear one in Spain.

The weeklong team training camp opened Sunday.

Mt. Hood Cycling Classic makes big leap in 2009

The good news is that Oregon's successful six-year-old Mt. Hood Cycling Classic will retain its prominent place on the National Race Calendar.

The better news is that the continually growing race will be undergoing some big changes in 2009.

The freshly re-minted event will be named the Oregon Pro Cycling Classic, and it will morph to eight days, covering 600 miles and 50,000 feet of climbing, according to the Oregonian.

"It will hands down be the most difficult stage race in the U.S.," spokesman Tre Hendricks told reporter Boaz Herzog of The Oregonian. "We want to build the reputation of the race so that the best riders in the world want to come here."

The 2009 edition will start and finish in Portland, Hendricks told Herzog, and it will feature two additional stages that travel to the Willamette Valley as far south as Eugene.

Other prominent promoters believe the race is well on its way to achieving those goals. From Herzog's report:

"The Mt. Hood Classic has without question gained a fantastic reputation, so I'm not surprised by any means it's taken that next leap," Chris Aronhalt, managing partner of Medalist Sports, which produces and organizes the nation's two most prestigious stage races, the tours of Georgia and California, as well as the Tour of Missouri and LiveStrong Challenge fundraiser in Beaverton.

The chief obstacle for Oregon Pro Cycling Classic organizers' intention to host a bigger, better race: funding. Expanding the race by two stages will probably triple its budget, said Hendricks, adding that the race has covered its expenses to this point.

"It's most definitely a challenge," he said. "The way we're planning to do it is expand our media coverage substantially. That'll draw in a host of different sponsors than we've had in the past."

The Oregon Pro Cycling Classic will be an invitational-only format for the 2009 men's race, and promoters hope to recruit America's best teams and some Europeans. The extension to eight days means the race will match the Tour of California in length and exceed the length of the (now-canceled) Tour de Georgia by one day.

In the future the race may grow to reach areas as far away as Crater Lake and the Wallowa Mountains.

The six-stage 2008 edition took place from May 13 to 18. Rory Sutherland (Health Net/Maxis) won the men's race, and Julie Beveridge (Aaron's Professional Cycling Team) grabbed the women's top prize.


The boys from Bissell control the pace for their man in yellow during the Mt. Tabor Criterium stage of the 2008 Mt. Hood Cycling Classic.