I was happy to spot a new time trial race series happening right in my backyard of McMinnvile, Oregon on the OBRA schedule. For three Saturdays in March, starting with March 6th, there will be a 12 mile (6 mile out and back) time trial on the quiet farm roads just southwest of town. The course is fairly hilly, starting with about 300' of climbing with rollers and high speed turns throughout. Probably not enough to be considered "technical" but it's certainly not a pancake flat TT where you just stare at your computer's power output.
The course is on Map My Ride if you want to try it yourself before the actual events. I would guess the fastest people will be doing it in the low 30-something minute ranges despite the climbs and cornering. The races also happen to take place the day before two of the Hagg Lake Banana Belt races, so it might make for a perfect double weekend for road riders shaping up for 2010.
About half of our team ventured out to Bend, Oregon this week for the US National Championships of Cyclocross. Team riders scored the following finishes:
Sean Kelsey 30th place, Men's Masters 40-44
Maren Nelson 20th place, Women's Masters 35-39
Eric Vickers was doing well in his race until a barrier mishap ended his race with a badly cut ear(!!!).
In the elite races, Katie Compton showed why she's the number one ranked women's rider in the world by stomping the competition, adding 10-15 seconds to her lead each lap. Tim Johnson held off defending champ Ryan Trebon to become the new national champ for his third time. A slideshow of my photos from the weekend is here (static photos here).
Buy Local team rider Sean Kelsey rode this weekend's USGP event in Portland, scoring a 7th on Saturday and I would guess about a 12th Sunday (still awaiting results) in the 35+ Masters class. Sean's also racing next week at the Cyclocross National Championships in Bend, Oregon.
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)
We are having a pre-reg party at HopWorks Urban Brew PubWednesday, November 4th from 6 to 8 pm. At the HUB you can pre-register
for $20, score a FREE OBRA CX Championship t-Shirt with pre-reg
courtesy of bicycleattorney.com,
and use the extra change to
pick up a pint of your favorite award winning barley pop nectar. HUB
had so much fun hosting the pre-reg for cx nationals last year they
wanted to do it all over again for the OBRA CX Championships! There
will be a preview of the course and the grounds! Don't miss one of the
best cyclocross events of the year where you can enjoy live local
bands, sip (or gulp) some of the best HUB beer on the planet, stroll
through the expo, chow on Belgian waffles and fries, cheer racers
through the sand pits and chase the race inside the buildings and out
in the elements.
We are having a pre-reg party at HopWorks Urban Brew Pub Wednesday, November 4th from 6 to 8 pm. At the HUB you can pre-register for $20, score a FREE OBRA CX Championship t-Shirt with pre-reg courtesy of bicycleattorney.com, and use the extra change to
pick up a pint of your favorite award winning barley pop nectar. HUB had so much fun hosting the pre-reg for cx nationals last year they wanted to do it all over again for the OBRA CX Championships! There will be a preview of the course and the grounds! Don't miss one of the best cyclocross events of the year where you can enjoy live local
bands, sip (or gulp) some of the best HUB beer on the planet, stroll
through the expo, chow on Belgian waffles and fries, cheer racers through the sand pits and chase the race inside the buildings and out
in the elements.
Thanks again to everyone that came out to race, spectate, and enjoy our Heiser Farm race, the first in our cyclocross series. OBRA has the full results from Saturday's race. Thanks to sponsors bicycleattorney.com, Bike N Hike, and Northwest Multisports for their continued support.
