Beardsley, Butler take Tabor Series opener

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

Gentle Lovers' Steven Beardsley followed up his Tuesday night win at PIR with a victory Wednesday night in the Senior Men's race of the inaugural 2009 Mt. Tabor series. Sue Butler (MonaVie-Cannondale) notched another win in the Senior Women's race, fresh off her win of the Queen Stage of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, the 92-mile lung busting Wy'East Road Race that started and finished at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort.

Butler made her winning move early in the 8-lap race and held her advantage to the line. Veloforma's Alice Pennington came across the line second, ahead of Sam Yeo (Hammer Velo) and Katy Petross (Portland Velo).

Beardsley seemed determined to make something happen in the men's race, which was shortened because of the quickly fading daylight. The Gentle Lovers' rider initiated an early move with HPChiro's Seth Hosemr and GMC Racing's Austin Arguello. The trio opened a gap of nearly 45 seconds before the chasing field slowly reeled the move back in.

The field stayed mostly intact until about four laps to go when Kyle Valenta (HPChiro/hammer Nutrition), Spencer Moersfelder (River City Bicycles) and Matt Braun joined Beardsley in a late-race move that built a small gap on the field, setting up Beardsley's blistering last-lap attack that earned him the win with plenty of room to spare. Valenta crossed the line for second. Moersfelder was third. HPChiro/Hammer Nutrition's Aaron Coker finished fourth.

RESULTS
Mt. Tabor Series, Week 1, June 10

Fixed Gear
1. Brush, Walton
2. Sheppard, Mike
3. Tardif, adam
Women Cat. 4
1. Schweitzer, Jennifer (Veloforma)
2. Reeve, lisa
3. Tyrrell, Leia
Masters Women
1. Wenzel, Kendra (Wenzel Coaching)
2. Bothe, Elaine (Sorella Forte)
3. Leitheiser, Ann (Cyclepath Racing)
Senior Women
1. Butler, Sue (MonaVie-Cannondale)
2. Pennington, Alice (Veloforma)
3. Yeo, Sam (Hammer Velo)
4. Petross, Kaytee (Portland Velo)
5. Chase, Stephanie (Veloforma)
Men Cat. 5
1. edick, Andy
2. Rankin, Shane (Portland Velo)
3. Siemens, Jordan
Men Cat. 4
1. Curtes, Jeff (TWIN 6)
2. Bibler, Neal (Team S&M)
3. Tardif, Adam
Men Cat. 3
1. Liverman, Ryan (Veloce/Felt)
2. Green, Tyler (River City Bicycles)
3. Hansen, Jake (Word-RCB)
Masters Men
1. Haverty, Chris (Bridgetown Velo)
2. Mitchem, John (Guinness Cycling Team)
3. Meadors, Ivan (Finnegans Toys/Discover Chiropractic)
Senior Men
1. Beardsley, Steven (Gentle Lovers)
2. Valenta, Kyle (HPChiro/Hammmer Nutrition)
3. Moersfelder, Spencer (River City Bicycles)
4. Coker, Aaron (HPChiro/Hammer Nutrition)
5. Fawcett, Todd

Mt. Tabor Series back on for June; delayed one week

The six-race Mt. Tabor Series originally scheduled for June 3 though July 8 will take place after all, but the construction project that threatened to cancel the race will delay it's start by one week.

The Wednesday night series is now scheduled to start June 10 and run through July 15, according to an update on the OBRA Twitter page.

Construction near the upper reservoir forced the cancellation of the Sunday, May 16, circuit race on Portland's urban dormant volcano.

Tabor construction means Wednesday night series may be moved back

The same construction project that canceled the Mt. Tabor Circuit Race that was scheduled for May 16 is causing problems for the six-race June-July Velo on the Volcano Wednesday night series as well.

Although the original schedule is definitely out, promoters have tentatively rescheduled the event as a four-race series for July 29, Aug. 12, 19 and 26. Stay tuned!