The Buy Local Cycling team is happy to report that we've added Nuun Hydration (out of Seattle, WA) and Northwest Multisports (Corvallis, OR) as sponsors for the team.
Nuun is known for their line of electrolyte tablets (no powder) without sugar, calories, or carbohydrates. In a world of overly sugary, bad tasting drink mixes, Nuun is a refreshing alternative.
From the time the idea was born for the team -- to use local builders and as many local parts as possible, it's been a long journey putting a team together, making connections with builders and manufacturers, and finally, doing loads of research to try and meet the goals of the team to ride on bikes and products made locally.
This particular bike is mine, and I'm 6'4" so it's a very large frame (seat tube is about 64cm). It's a custom geometry (after a fit from Seth Hosmer) titanium frame built by Mike DeSalvo in Ashland, Oregon. From there, we assembled parts with the following priority:
Companies making parts locally in Oregon (DeSalvo frame, Chris King hubs & bottom bracket, Kool-Stop brake pads, Ruckus bashguard)
American companies making parts internationally (SRAM Force shifters & derailleurs, Salsa components, FSA crankset)
People told us going into this project that it's wasn't possible to ride a truly local bike from the top of the seat to the bottom of the tires, and though it's true you can't build an entire bike from parts produced in Oregon, we did our best here to show you can go pretty far and find some really top quality components and frames produced quite closely to where our team members live.
I want to give a big thanks Mike DeSalvo for believing in our team when it was barely more than an idea. I want to thank Spectrum Powder Works for the amazing detailed all powdercoat paint job and Woundup for making a custom carbon cross fork with fender eyelets for winter training after cross season is over. I want to thank Gordie at Northwest Multisports for wrangling up our parts and Shawn at Ruckus for getting me parts on short notice. I also want to give a big thanks to Mike at my local bike shop Tommy's for dialing it all in just in time for racing. Lastly I want to thank local bike photography legend Jared Souney for taking the time to shoot this and make it look amazing.
Sorry for the delay. We had several ties to break. OBRA Omnium rules apply:
"In case of a tie on total points, the tie will be broken in favor of the rider who has:
(a) The most first place finishes or, if still tied, the most second place finishes, etc., or if still tied; (b) The highest placing in the last race, or the race nearest the last
race of the omnium in which at least one of the tied riders placed."
Senior Men and Women As please contact Jeff to receive your prize $$. All others please contact Chad.
The course was epic, going from pavement to loose dirt to mud to gravel to water to sand and back again over its 2.5 mile length. High winds were an added factor in the morning races and the afternoon's rain added to the mud and puddles to make a messy course. Thankfully, the four covered buildings racers wove in and out of provided temporary relief as they presented racers with tough new surfaces to contend with including tough flat turns in dirt that seemed more like loose sawdust (while a kickass band played), a bumpy motocross course, and finally the long run through some very deep sand.
We showed a few photos of the course last night at Hop Works last night and I'd like to share them here as well: photos of the course areas of Saturday's OBRA Cyclocross Championships in Salem.
Below, you'll see the asphalt straightaway that follows the start and ends after the red brick building with a hard left turn. Watch out for a few stray metal grates on the ground.
Next, here is the horse show arena from the ground level, from the audience standpoint in the bleachers above, and the exit point we'll be racing through. The horse show arena will house the band, have food and drink as well as large stadium-style restrooms (yay, flushing toilets instead of porta-potties!):
The finish line will be under cover, at the tail end of a motocross track. Here's a shot standing on the finish, looking back towards the rest of the course. Riders will be coming from the right towards where I'm standing.
Since there are no large elevation changes at the Oregon State Fairgrounds, we'll be doing a long run through deep sand to simulate a run-up. Here's a shot from the sand volleyball court area which is big enough to hold several full courts.
The pits will be housed under cover, in the horse warm-up building just outside of the horse show arena. There will be pits located here, the race course will weave into and out of it, and there will still be enough room for teams to warm up under cover from the rain.
Finally, the remainder of the course will be over paved areas, muddy areas, grassy areas, and may even include a water hazard. Here's a general shot looking out on the grounds away from the buildings
Click through any of the photos to see them larger (click the "All Sizes" option just above the photo at Flickr to see larger versions)
