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Posted on July 3rd, 2009 by Paul
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Last night was the 4th race in the Mt Tabor series, my second, and it proved to be another whopper of a race; not because I was at the front battling it out for the win, but because the heat, wind and getting dropped at right about the half way point made for another inwardly painful series of laps that once again had me questioning my sanity.

In spite of all that I guess I really like the kind of punishment that this series dishes out, the crowds are always great, the races go off nearly on time and the action is always heated right from the start; all of that adds up to some seriously good times…….and this week I moved up a few more spots too.

Posted on July 2nd, 2009 by Paul
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Last Sunday brought the return of the Test of Endurance mountain bike race - 50 miles with 8000 feet of climbing over two laps.  Five Vista Ridge Velo teamates showed up to represent in five categories.

The morning started with some showers and the skies continued to threaten, but it was otherwise warm and dry by the pre-ride meeting.  Jackets on, jackets off, knee warmers on, knee warmers off - the usual futzing before a long day with unknown weather.  At 9am we’re rolling through the neutral start and stuck with what we’ve got.

After some fast doubletrack, the course headed up the first of six climbs on the first lap, spreading things out nicely and easing the tension that goes along with 150 mountain bikers starting at the same time.  We all fell into our own rythem as things sorted out, doing our best to pace ourselves and to start eating for the hours ahead, trying to suss out who’s in our category and where they are.  Luckily, like all of Mike Ripley’s races, the TOE was well supported - aid stations evenly spaced, gear drops, friendly volunteers, always enough of everything - making the logistics or preparing for such a long day so much easier.

Sometime around the lap point, the skies opened up and gave everyone a good soaking (of course, right after I stashed my rain jacket at the aide station).  The temperate air and fast pace warmed us up and dried us back out quickly, but not the course - what was tacky and fast for the first half turned peanut-butter sticky for the second half.  Got to keep things interesting I guess, we’re racing mountain bikes in Oregon.

After a ton of success last year, James stepped up to Cat 1 to mix it up with the fast guys.  Cramps stymied his efforts a bit, but he still rolled across the line with a solid time.

After taking the top spot at the TOE last year, Heather too cat’ed up and improved on her time.  It wasn’t quite good enough for the top step, but then again the top step went to a woman who would have podiummed in the Pro cat.  Just sayin’

After disastrous luck with the mechanicals last year with two flats and a shredded tire, Varner was back for revenge.  And revenge he got!  He finished strong and nabbed 3rd place in Cat 3 for his age group.  We’re both screwed though - the 35+ field in OBRA is deeper and faster than the 19-34s, yikes.

Davide too stepped up a category this year to compete in the 2s, and in the aforementioned “fast-35+” field.  A full hour faster than last year, placing him right in the middle of a very tough field.  Here he is, riding possessed:

I had a solid ride, taking time off of last years ride and barely squeaking into 3rd for the Cat 2 “young-slow” group.  Next year, sub 5.

Somehow, through cramping legs and shoulders, trance inducing low glycogen levels, and countless endless climbs, each of us made it through to the end without any major mishaps.  Burrito, post race massage, hoping for that Chris King headset in the raffle, long drive home, a beer or three.  It’s a bit of a blur, but VRV showed up and represented, that much I’m sure.

Thanks again to Mike , officials, and volunteers for a great event, to Shane from Oregon Velo for the action shots, and to team Vista Ridge Velo for their efforts!

Posted on June 24th, 2009 by Jeff
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Like a passage from “Crime and Punishment”, my crime:Cat-ing up to the 3’s and spending 5+ days in San Diego drinking very non-athletic adult beverages and sitting by a pool, my punishment: racing the Mt. Tabor series.  The end result was quite predictable, I was dropped at about the halfway point and got enjoy the suffering that only a rider can suffer when the field is riding away from them.

On a hugely positive note it looks like Varner who saddled up to race the 5’s did very well and managed to hang tough for what could be a top 25 finish.

Varner: 23rd (out of 51)

Paul: 44th (out of 45)

Posted on June 17th, 2009 by Paul
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World Naked Bike Ride

What can I say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here it is. The theme this year was “Where the Wild Things Are”.

See also BikePortland coverage here.

Posted on June 14th, 2009 by davide
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Ya gotta love central Oregon’s weather and terrain. Picketts was a repeat of Chainbreaker, great weather and FAST FAST single track. They changed the course this year slightly. The only non single track was the initial and final road run. Did I say it was FAST?

OK so I wasn’t in the top 10, but I have to blame it on a women. Well, actually 6 women. About halfway along, the fast cat 2 women caught me on a hill and I got passed by 3 of ‘em. They had the edge on the up and I had the edge on the down. It stayed that way for the rest of the race. It was a lot like a club ride. It was for me the most enjoyable mt bike race I have run. Maybe it was all the estrogen in the air. Ha ha.

Next up: Falls City Short Track

Posted on June 9th, 2009 by davide
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Why anyone would want to ride, let alone race, their bike for 24 hours may not be explainable, but I can give some substance to the rumors you might have been hearing:

Heather did enter as a solo woman this year. She kicked butt for 165 miles to place 6th out of 11 women in her 24 hour solo debut. What an energizer bunny. Also, many thanks to Heather’s sister Shannon and her husband Dave for being an awsome pit crew.

James and honorary VRV Brian entered as a 2 person team. They rocked until Brian side-stepped the clutch and took out the derailleur, cassette and rear wheel on his bike. James soldiered on thru the night as a solo, riding some of the laps with Heather. Brian helped out as pit crew until the morning when he scorched off another couple laps. Even with the equipment problems, they were still not last in probably the most competitive class, 2 person open. A heck of an effort.

Dave went to the race with a five person coed team, Filth and Fury from Nike, but got traded to another team who were one man short. He barely managed to not die as his team hammered to a 4th place finish in the 4 person open. He mostly drafted, but managed a hot lap or two. Along the way he got to share the pit crew of 2008 World Champion Solo 24 hour racers Greg Martin and Rebecca Rusch.

I also want to insert a shameless plug. Brian Engelen who is a cyclo-crosser, mtb’er, and all around nice guy, loaned me one of the lights his company makes. This is the best light I have ever used. When you are tearing thru the forest at 2am, you really WANT 900 lumens. And he also makes a hub mounted dynolight for commuters. Check out his web site. http://lightonlights.com Thanks Brian!

Posted on May 27th, 2009 by davide
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So it would seem that this Memorial Day weekend is the weekend of long rides; three of our team are up in Spokane riding in the 24 hour Round the Mountain race with Heather racing 24 solo, James racing with teammate honorary, Brian as a two man team and Davide hooking up with standard size team. Good luck to all!

The rest of us headed out on a leg breaker of a ride today that saw us climb well over 6,5k on beautiful, little travelled roads outside, in and around Estacada.

Good times for all!

Posted on May 23rd, 2009 by Paul
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What did you do for your mother/wife for Mothers Day? Flowers, brunch, have her stand on the side of a dusty trial and hand you bottles as you race past??  That was the gift I gave my wife and loving mother of our two kids yesterday at the Webcyclery Cascade Chainbreaker in Bend.  With fantastic weather, buffed singletrack and the wicked fast layout this race was going to be a good one.

 (Wearing the new kits)

As the fields lined up for the start I could see that some of the fastest guys from Bend decided to show up, namely Ryan Trebon and Carl Decker, with the 1.5 mile gravel road start I figured these two where going to shatter the field right from the start…..and they did; this left me to try and get into my rhythm as quick as possible before the singletrack started. 

 (waiting for the start of the men’s Cat 1 field)

VRV teammate, Dave English had a similar start to his race with and all out sprint up the road.  Dave said that he had been feeling good and got a fast start, which really helped him move through the tight singletrack until running into some trouble with a pinch flat that relegated him to the back of the field by the time he was able to get it swapped and going again.

 (Men’s Cat 2 field)

My field had to run a total of three laps, which ended up being a little over 38 miles, this is the longest race at that high of a pace for me so far as a Cat 1 and my lap times while consistent, where consistently slower; lap #1 13.9avg mph, lap #2 12.3, lap #3 11.9, but it was hard to be too upset after having gotten to ride some of the sweetest singletrack  around.  I managed to not embarrass myself by finishing last and pulled out a 12th, nearly a full half hour behind the winner.

All in all, Dave and I had a great race and as usual the guys at Webcyclery did a terrific job with the course; it was well marked and in amazing shape, to all who volunteered a huge “Thank you” for all your hard work, without you and your efforts mountain biking in Oregon would not be as great as it is today!

And to my wife, you are the best pit crew ever!

Posted on May 11th, 2009 by Paul
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Torrential rains, hurricane force winds (well, maybe not hurricane) hail, cats and dogs sleeping together……all hell breaking loose; that’s how the afternoon went on the day before the 21st edition of the Peak Sports Mudslinger.  With that, Jeff and I loaded up the Extreme Team Vista Ridge Velo Xtera and headed south to the little town of Blodget so we could take our fair share of punishment as only Mike Ripley can dish out at his races.  Sunday dawned cloudy and cool…..but no rain, in fact the rain would hold off all day and as usual Mike laid out a terrific course and I must say that there are very few promoters out there who manage to get the same type of community involvement that Mike does, not to mention the schwag and giveaways; super kudos to Mike and crew, his efforts do not go unnoticed.

The Cat 1’s lined up behind the Pro’s and left 2 minutes after the super big guns, the race started with a nice long gravel road climb before entering the first section of uber slickery singletrack, the climb was a great way to start the race because it really helped to string things out (me included), tempo, tempo, temp0 that’s all I could think as the likes of Tim Butler and wrecking crew shatter the field within the first 2 miles.  It was after this that the race dropped into a familiar rhythm of passing guys and being passed back by the same guys on other section of the course.  The singletrack was nasty slippery all over the place and the fire road/gravel climbs helped to clear out the mud………did I mention that the singletrack was nasty slippery.  As the course dried out on the second lap the slippery mud became a lot like peanut butter, sticking to everything. (I ended up 10th on the day)

Jeff lined up with the 2’s and proceeded to tear them apart; starting at the back of the field (cause he said he wanted to take it easy) he used the early climb to move his way up through the stragglers and firmly ensconce himself with the lead group.  Jeff  indicated that he had a little difficulty handling some of the slippery descents, but it wasn’t enough to slow him down much; in fact his power climbing looks like it brought him into the top 10 (Jeff finished 5th)

The Mudslinger totally lived up to its name, mud truly ruled the day, next up, the Cascade Chainbreaker; from snow to mud to dust…..mountain biking in Oregon ROCKS!

Posted on May 3rd, 2009 by Paul
Filed under: Race Reports | 3 Comments »