Just six weeks after deciding Bend will host the cyclocross national championships for the next two years, USA Cycling announced today that the central Oregon city will also host the 2009 and 2010 junior, under-23 and elite road championships.
"Bend is a top destination for both recreational and competitive cycling, and USA Cycling is excited to be bringing another national championship race to Oregon," said Steve Johnson, CEO for USA Cycling. "Bend's long tradition of community-wide support and passion for cycling convinced us to award them two national championships in the same year."
The 2009 USA Cycling Road Championships will run from July 28 through Aug. 2. The six-day event will bring about 1,000 racers to Bend, where they will compete for national titles in the individual time trial, road race and criterium.
Because of the timing of the event, which begins just two days after the conclusion of central Oregon's Cascade Cycling Classic, a USA Cycling National Calendar race, many competitors, media and spectators are expected to remain in town for both events.
Bend's tourism officials are excited about the opportunities to show off their city.
"The road national championships are a perfect fit with Visit Bend's efforts to attract large events that will help our destination weather uncertain economic times," said Doug LaPlaca, president and CEO of Visit Bend. "We are thankful to USA Cycling for the trust they have put in us by awarding not one, but two national championships to Bend."
This marks the first time in recent history that two USA Cycling National Championships will take place in the same city in the same year.
The 2009 cyclocross championships are slated for Dec. 10-13
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Sheppard, Sager Join Jamis MTB Team
2008 Oregon Bicycle Racing Association members Jason Sager and Chris Sheppard will ride for the Jamis Bicycles Factory Mountain Bike Racing Team for 2009, according to a team press release.
Sager (pictured) was the 2008 OBRA BAR points champion for cyclocross. He won the 2008 Cross Crusade overall title and a handful of one-day cyclocross events. Sager won the 2008 Falls City Firecracker MTB race. He also battled on the road, finishing 7th in the 2008 Oregon Cup on the strength of one second-place finish at the Banana Belt. He has been racing in Oregon since the end of 2007.
Sager will be a manager/athlete and will bring to the team several wins, including a stage from 2008’s BC Bike Race, and endurance and UCI wins in Puerto Rico, including Rincon’s Ultimate Dirt Challenge.
Sheppard, a former Canadian National Team member, won stages at both the 2008 BC Bike Race and the Trans Rockies, according to the team press release. For 2009, he will be targeting the U.S. national series and epic single-day events, such as the Downieville Classic and the Fruita Fat Tire Festival, in addition to partnering with two-time Canadian Olympian, Commonwealth Games medalist, and former NORBA STXC champion Seamus McGrath for the 2009 BC Bike Race and Intermontaine Race in British Columbia.
Sheppard (pictured) has been an OBRA member since 2006. He finished fourth overall in the 2008 OBRA Bar points, winning Cross Crusades 4 and 5 and the Silverton Road Race.
Sheppard, who previously rode professionally for the Haro mountain bike team, returns to the professional ranks following a two-year suspension for doping, according to VeloNews.com. After testing positive for EPO in 2005, he admitted to his wrongdoing and in 2006 spoke to junior and U23 riders about the perils of doping. Sager returns to the pros after he was suspended for one year for missing a post-race test in July of 2006, even though he had dropped out of the race before the finish and even though the USADA determined Sager was not significantly at fault for the violation.
Team Jamis' primary race weapon will be the full-suspension, high-modulus carbon fiber Dakar XCR, outfitted with Edge Composites XC UL Tubular wheels with Geax tubular Saguro tires, Chris King hubs and Fox suspension systems.
"This has been a true collaborative effort," team manager Sager said via the team press release. "Working with mountain bike product manager Craig Hoyt and Jamis President Carine Joannou has proven to be a hands-on and family effort in picking the riders, equipment and our schedule."
Sager (pictured) was the 2008 OBRA BAR points champion for cyclocross. He won the 2008 Cross Crusade overall title and a handful of one-day cyclocross events. Sager won the 2008 Falls City Firecracker MTB race. He also battled on the road, finishing 7th in the 2008 Oregon Cup on the strength of one second-place finish at the Banana Belt. He has been racing in Oregon since the end of 2007.Sager will be a manager/athlete and will bring to the team several wins, including a stage from 2008’s BC Bike Race, and endurance and UCI wins in Puerto Rico, including Rincon’s Ultimate Dirt Challenge.
Sheppard, a former Canadian National Team member, won stages at both the 2008 BC Bike Race and the Trans Rockies, according to the team press release. For 2009, he will be targeting the U.S. national series and epic single-day events, such as the Downieville Classic and the Fruita Fat Tire Festival, in addition to partnering with two-time Canadian Olympian, Commonwealth Games medalist, and former NORBA STXC champion Seamus McGrath for the 2009 BC Bike Race and Intermontaine Race in British Columbia.
Sheppard (pictured) has been an OBRA member since 2006. He finished fourth overall in the 2008 OBRA Bar points, winning Cross Crusades 4 and 5 and the Silverton Road Race. Sheppard, who previously rode professionally for the Haro mountain bike team, returns to the professional ranks following a two-year suspension for doping, according to VeloNews.com. After testing positive for EPO in 2005, he admitted to his wrongdoing and in 2006 spoke to junior and U23 riders about the perils of doping. Sager returns to the pros after he was suspended for one year for missing a post-race test in July of 2006, even though he had dropped out of the race before the finish and even though the USADA determined Sager was not significantly at fault for the violation.
Team Jamis' primary race weapon will be the full-suspension, high-modulus carbon fiber Dakar XCR, outfitted with Edge Composites XC UL Tubular wheels with Geax tubular Saguro tires, Chris King hubs and Fox suspension systems.
"This has been a true collaborative effort," team manager Sager said via the team press release. "Working with mountain bike product manager Craig Hoyt and Jamis President Carine Joannou has proven to be a hands-on and family effort in picking the riders, equipment and our schedule."
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sublimity Circuit Race Eliminates Gravel Section
Organizers have altered the course of the Sublime Sublimity Circuit Race, scheduled for Feb. 21.
The new course "has gained an improved finish, maintains all the great rollers and eliminates the gravel section," according to promoter David Kuhns.
A revised flyer will be posted soon on the OBRA schedule.
The new course "has gained an improved finish, maintains all the great rollers and eliminates the gravel section," according to promoter David Kuhns.
A revised flyer will be posted soon on the OBRA schedule.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Registration For SSWC '09 Closes Friday
Registration for the 2009 Single Speed World Championships closes this week.
The race will take place Sept. 19 in Durango, Colorado. The SSWC, not to be confused with the SSCXWC (single speed cyclocross world championships) held this year in Portland, began in 1995 in Big Bear, California. Past winners include Marla Streb, Travis Brown, Kelli Emmett and Adam Craig.
Registration information and forms are HERE.
The race will take place Sept. 19 in Durango, Colorado. The SSWC, not to be confused with the SSCXWC (single speed cyclocross world championships) held this year in Portland, began in 1995 in Big Bear, California. Past winners include Marla Streb, Travis Brown, Kelli Emmett and Adam Craig.
Registration information and forms are HERE.
Monday, January 19, 2009
OBRA Announces 2009 Oregon Cup Schedule
The last race of the Banana Belt series will kick off the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association's 2009 Oregon Cup.
After opening at Hagg Lake with Banana Belt #3 on March 15, the series will head south for the King's Valley Road Race and the Table Rock Road Race before visiting Portland for the Mt. Tabor Circuit Race May 16. The series continues the very next day with the Silverton Road Race. The May 30 Rehearsal Road Race and the July 12 High Desert Omnium Road Race complete the series. OBRA's Oregon Cup Committee released the schedule last week.
The Oregon Cup has two divisions: Senior 1/2 Men and Senior 1/2/3 Women. Points are awarded to the top 20 finishers in each race, with 100 points awarded for first and 10 points for 20th. There is no minimum number of races to qualify for the overall.
OBRA'S 2009 OREGON CUP SCHEDULE
Banana Belt Road Race III -- March 15,
King's Valley Road Race -- April 11
Table Rock Road Race -- April 19
Mt. Tabor Circuit Race -- May 16
Silverton Road Race -- May 17
Rehearsal Road Race -- May 30
High Desert Omnium Road Race -- July 12
After opening at Hagg Lake with Banana Belt #3 on March 15, the series will head south for the King's Valley Road Race and the Table Rock Road Race before visiting Portland for the Mt. Tabor Circuit Race May 16. The series continues the very next day with the Silverton Road Race. The May 30 Rehearsal Road Race and the July 12 High Desert Omnium Road Race complete the series. OBRA's Oregon Cup Committee released the schedule last week.
The Oregon Cup has two divisions: Senior 1/2 Men and Senior 1/2/3 Women. Points are awarded to the top 20 finishers in each race, with 100 points awarded for first and 10 points for 20th. There is no minimum number of races to qualify for the overall.
OBRA'S 2009 OREGON CUP SCHEDULE
Banana Belt Road Race III -- March 15,
King's Valley Road Race -- April 11
Table Rock Road Race -- April 19
Mt. Tabor Circuit Race -- May 16
Silverton Road Race -- May 17
Rehearsal Road Race -- May 30
High Desert Omnium Road Race -- July 12
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Saturday Morning Tunes: Mick'n'Peter
I'm pretty sure I heard this over the P.A. during the USGP Portland Cup at PIR this past December. Mick looks, uh, well prepped for this session with Peter Tosh. Great tune!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Ollerenshaw Agrees To Lead Southeastern Team
UPDATE: (Monday, Jan. 19, 11:50 a.m.): Bikeportland.org has more on this, including some comments from Ollerenshaw.
Former OBRA standout and retired pro Doug Ollerenshaw will lead Team Myogenesis.com, a southeastern regional squad, according to Cyclingnews.com.
Ollerenshaw, who won the 2003 National Collegiate Road Race Championship while riding for the Oregon State University club team, left professional cycling after the 2008 road season to attend graduate school in Atlanta. But he has agreed to mentor young riders while racing with Team Myogenesis this season, according to the team's website.
Ollerenshaw raced professionally with Rock Racing, Health Net and Jelly Belly.
Former OBRA standout and retired pro Doug Ollerenshaw will lead Team Myogenesis.com, a southeastern regional squad, according to Cyclingnews.com.Ollerenshaw, who won the 2003 National Collegiate Road Race Championship while riding for the Oregon State University club team, left professional cycling after the 2008 road season to attend graduate school in Atlanta. But he has agreed to mentor young riders while racing with Team Myogenesis this season, according to the team's website.
Ollerenshaw raced professionally with Rock Racing, Health Net and Jelly Belly.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Classic Video: They're Magically Delicious!
Marco Pantani's pains putting on his raincoat for the descent of the Col du Galibier during the 1998 Tour de France cause great consternation for commentator Stephen Roche. Judging from Roche's ranting, you'd think maybe Pantani had stolen the little Irishman's Lucky Charms. Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
February's Vanport Kermesse Canceled
The Vanport Kermesse, originally scheduled for Feb. 8, has been canceled, according to Oregon Bicycle Racing Association's 2009 race schedule.
The next OBRA race will be the Cherry Pie Road Race northwest of Albany on Feb. 15.
You can register online HERE.
The next OBRA race will be the Cherry Pie Road Race northwest of Albany on Feb. 15.
You can register online HERE.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
.jpg)
