Wilmes, Chinburg win at Portland Short Track

After winning five consecutive weeks of the Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series, Vanilla Bicycles' Shannon Skerritt's misfortune opened the door for a new face atop the Pro Men's podium.

Portland Bicycle's Doug Wilmes (Portland Bicycles Studio) seized the lead after Skerritt was forced to abandon after four laps. Wilmes went on to complete seven laps for the win in front of John McCaffrey (bicycleattorney.com) and James Crowe (Revolver Cascadia).

Wilmes, consistently a top finisher behind Skerritt, now trails the Vanilla rider by just one point in the overall standings for the seven-race series. Best six out of seven races count toward overall results for the series, which concludes next week.

Megan Chinburg took the Pro/Cat 1 Women's race Monday night. The Portland-based rider finished six laps ahead of Susan Grandjean of Showers Pass and Team S&M's Audrey Brown of Hood River.


RESULTS
Portland Mountain Biking Short Track Series #6
PIR, July 27

Singlespeed
1. Zlatnik, Pete (Signal Cycles) 5
2. Curtes, Jeff (Fuel)
3. Porter, Daniel 37 (Cyclepath Racing) 5
4. Brown, Edwin 27 (Artisan Family Racing) 5
5. Weaver, Ryan 32 (River City Bicycles)

Pro/Cat 1 Women
1. Chinburg, Megan 6
2. Grandjean, Susan (Showers Pass) 6
3. Brown Audrey, (Team S&M) 6
4. Love Christy, 6
5. Garland Patty, 5

Pro Men
1. Wilmes, Doug (Portland Bicycle Studio) 7
2. McCaffrey, John (bicycleattorney.com) 7
3. Crowe, James (Revolver Cascadia) 7
4. Butler, Tim (River City Bicycles) 7
5. Armstrong, Joel (River City Bicycles) 7

Complete OBRA results are HERE.

Skerritt keeps short track streak going; Butler returns to triumph

Shannon Skerritt continued his unbeaten streak Monday in the Pro Men's race of the 2009 Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series. As in the earlier series races, the Vanilla Bicycles racer rode away from the field on the first lap and only looked back occasionally to check his steadily growing gap.

Doug Wilmes (Portland Bicycle Studio) and Davy Yeater (River City Bicycles) battled for the last two podium spots, with Wilmes grabbing second ahead of Yeater and Joel Armstrong (River City Bicycles).

In the Pro/1 Women's race, Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale), who won the June 22 series opener, returned from mountain bike races in Alabama and Canada to reclaim the top spot, winning the fourth race of the seven-race series by a comfortable margin. Alice Pennington (Veloforma/ZYM), who won last week's race, crossed the line for second. Christy love was third, and Megan Chinburg finished fourth.

Singlespeeds saw Signal Cycles' Pete Zlatnik take the win in front of John McCaffrey (Bicycleattorney.com) and Jake Furniss (Revolver Cascadia).

RESULTS
Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series
July 13, Portland International Raceway

Singlespeed
1. Zlatnik, Pete (Signal Cycles) 7
2. McCaffrey, John (Bicycleattorney.com) 7
3. Furniss, Jacob (Revolver Cascadia) 7
4. Bravard, John (Cyclepath Racing 7
5. Weaver, Ryan (River City Bicycles) 7

Pro/Cat 1 Women
1. Butler, Sue (Monavie/Cannondale) 7
2. Pennington, Alice (Veloforma/Zym) 7
3. Love, Christy
4. Chinburg, Megan
5. Grandjean, Susan (Showers Pass) 7

Pro Men
1. Skerritt, Shannon (Vanilla Bicycles) 8
2. Wilmes, Doug (Portland Bicycle Studio) 8
3. Yeater,Davy (River City Bicycles) 8
4. Armstrong, Joel (River City Bicycles) 8
5. McCaffrey, John (bicycleattorney.com) 8

Complete OBRA results are HERE.

Skerritt unbeaten at PIR short track; Pennington takes women's race

Three weeks into the Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series at Portland International Raceway, and Shannon Skerritt (Vanilla Bicycles) has yet to lose a race. The three-time short track champion has been putting on a clinic for the competition, making the Pro Men's series look like a battle for second at this point.

Skerrit won Monday night's race in front of River City Bicycles' Davy Yeater, Portland Bicycle Studio's Doug Wilmes, bicycleattorney.com's John McCaffrey and Revolver Cascadia's James Crowe

Unlike the men's race, where Skerritt has dominated, the Pro/1 Women's race has featured a different winner each week. This week's race went to Alice Pennington (Veloforma), who finished ahead of Sara Johnson (Velo Bella), Megan Weaver (River City Bicycles), Christy Love and Audrey Brown (Team S&M).

RESULTS
Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series
July 6, PIR

Singlespeed
1. Zlatnik, Pete (Portland Signal Cycles) 5
2. Gilmore, Leland (River City Bicycles) 5
3. Barker, Scott 5
4. Weaver, Ryan (River City Bicycles) 5
5. Bushnell, Spencer (Therapeutic Associates/GENR8) 5
Pro/Cat 1 Women
1. Pennington, Alice (Veloforma) 5
2. Johnson, Sara (Velo Bella) 5
3. Weaver, Megan (River City Bicycles) 5
4. Love, Christy 5
5. Brown, Audrey (Team S&M) 5
Pro Men
1. Skerritt, Shannon (Vanilla Bicycles) 6
2. Yeater, Davy (River City Bicycles) 6
3. Wilmes, Doug (Portland Bicycle Studio) 6
4. McCaffrey, John (bicycleattorney.com) 6
5. Crowe, James (Revolver Cascadia)6

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.

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.

PIR short track series trial run tonight, racing begins next week

Mountain bikers looking for a bit of urban racing can get their fix at the Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series beginning June 22 on the Portland International Raceway infield.

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.

Anybody itching to get out on the course before next week's series opener will get the chance tonight. The free short track trial night will run from 5-7 p.m. and will give riders a chance to check out the course. Riders will also be able to register for the first race (or the full series), pick up the series race plate and get tips from expert riders.

Online pre-registration is HERE. Online series waiver form is HERE.

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'