Oregon Biking & Racing - CX, MTB, Road

Crusading through October

2009-11-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

This will be brief as pictures speak louder than words. The Astoria back to back races gave us 0ur first taste of mud for the season with a bit of the peanut butter between the barns. Check out the Halloween crazies on the OBRA photo sites (http://www.obra.org) - made for some fun, jumping over coffins, people and many the empty beer bottle in Sunday's race.

This weekend proved we really have entered cross season with temps in the 40's, driving rain, deep-deep rutted puddles and lots of trashed bike parts. OBRA State Champs moved down to the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem with a wide open course that split the field in the first 10 minutes. Much pain.

After an evening using the blow dryer on my shoes, Sunday's Cross Crusade proved to be more of the same plus the added benefit of elevation gain, off-camber used-to-be grass and raucous crowds. Fun...except for the flat and subsequent rim ride for a lap with 1 to go. Thank goodness for sweet DeSalvo salvation in the pits. Managed to only lose two spots but still dropped out of the top 5.

One more to go! Thanks Matt LaSala for the sweet pix and keeping all us Bendites healthy!

Hillsboro CX Report

2009-10-26T11:36:00.001-07:00

Dark skies and light drizzle added little to the already saturated course at the Washington County Fairgrounds at the most recent Cross Crusade. Another record field of over 1250 racers braved the first muddy race of the year featuring a dead flat course, plenty of super slick turns, some wheel-sucking muck and fast gravel drag strips. Getting a call up is key (as can be seen in the photo on Velonews.com - http://www.velonews.com/photo/99601) and Reny I now have the luxury of actually seeing the front for a while. Coming back from H1N1 doesn't make you fast, you don't feel "rested" and accelerations...well...don't happen. Still the racing was a blast and the slightly less competitive Mens A field let the Top 10 shake up a bit for the first time this year. Team DeSalvo was out in force with strong performances by all the guys and the Ti bikes looked great, rode even better and got plenty of envious looks on and off course.

Up next is the first double weekend of racing in Astoria with Halloween costumes mandatory. Get ready for more bumpy fairgrounds racing - good thing we're on the best Titanium and Steel cyclocross bikes around!

Here's a video of me successfully avoiding the human obstacles:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=600930588126&ref=nf

Cross Crusade #2 race report...Rainier High School

2009-10-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

The forecast showed the last nice weekend in the foreseeable future so the family packed (over-packed) up the Subaru with kid, dog, bikes and headed to the coast for a couple of days before the second stop of the 2009 Cross Crusade at Rainier High School. Following a few days of sun, surf and sand and an enormous ham dinner at the Cannon Beach Fireman's Ball benefit dinner (get the carrot cake) cyclocross racing sounded like a pretty darn good way to wrap up a nice weekend away from home.

Once again the crowds were overflowing at the Cross Crusade venue with cow bells, pomme frites and fans all in attendance. Bob's Red Mill provided the mandatory pre-race fuel and Chris King was brewing up the high-octane as always. How can it get any better? Fellow DeSalvo rider, Reny Townsend, and I rode a couple of laps before lining up for the A race. Luckily I scored the last call up spot making the sketchy gravel start and paved uphill a little more manageable.

It was nice finally feeling good after battling a sinus infection for the last two weeks with antibiotics finally putting the kibosh on it. The course provided a nice mix of open fast downhill, paved uphills, twisty woods riding and a couple of barriers to mix things up. I was able to keep it steady and ride in the top 5 for the whole race and had a great sprint finish with racer Adam McGrath.

Luckily I managed to squeeze a 4th out of it as the couple we stayed with on the coast came down with H1N1 on Monday and it has since reared its stubby snout in our household laying the 3 of us out with fevers, aches and coughing. Great.

PS - Thanks Matt Lasala (Clydesdale ringer) for the pic!

Cross Crusade #1 race report...DeSalvo Cusom Cycles

2009-10-07T08:14:00.001-07:00

Never thought I'd see the day when the weather in Portland was actually better than Bend's but when Don Leet skated the Audi through 5 inches of fresh down Newport Ave., we were all happy to be heading to the 65 deg forecast on the "west side".

It was great to see the team there this weekend joining the other 1396 people for a day of cross raising at the love-to-hate / hate-to-love Alpenrose Dairy venue. A field was stacked as usual with Wicks, Trebon, Tonkin and the gang leading out the field of 70+.

Team DeSalvo stood out nicely in the blue bikes / kits and definitely got some "nice bike" comments at the start line. These custom steel DeSalvo cyclocross bikes ride so nicely its hard to imagine ever putting up with the back-attack of my previous aluminum frame. Unfortunately the front-row call up was the last time I saw the front battling not only tons of fast guys but a nagging head cold and a carbon rim that cracked and died after 3 laps. Neutral pit wheels / support from Shimano is sweet but good thing the new, SWEET Chris King hubs just came in to build up.

Course was in perfect shape with a screaming descent, quick jaunt through the woods and a bumpy long uphill before winding back around the daily velodrome and work buildings. Did what I could to hang on to a top 20 finish.

Unfortunately this seems to be the cold that just won't take a hike but my fingers are CX'd for a better finish in Rainier. That course is really fun with some good climbing (Reny). Look forward to seeing the blue / gray out in force again!

High Cascades 100 MTB race report

2009-08-25T20:50:00.001-07:00

Hello Sue,

I'm sending along the race report from the inaugural High Cascade 100 mountain bike race in Bend, Oregon. I have cc'd Mike Ripley, the promoter,and attached photos, results, course profile and interview. Please let me or Mike know if you need anything else for the post.

Thanks!
Ben Thompson
541-420-7950
==========================================================

Endurance racers descended on Bend, Oregon August 23^rd for the inaugural High Cascade 100 mountain bike race. The rugged, high-desert course featured a mix of 70% singletrack, 10% atv trails and 20% double track that began in Wanoga Sno-Park 11 miles west of Bend and included a loop around Mt Bachelor. Bikes and bodies were tested through technical lava rock sections, lots of challenging singletrack and over 11,000 ft of climbing. Promoter Mike Ripley of Mudslinger Events kept people rolling through the well-stocked aide stations with tons of great Hammer Nutrition calories, top-notch mechanical support and plenty of cheering and bumpin' rock 'n' roll music.

The field included endurance specialists Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz WTB/ Shimano/ NoTubes), Evan Plews (Capitol Subaru Cycling) and Sloane Anderson (Pro Air/HFA) to renowned singlespeeder John"Fuzzy" Mylre (Niner/Ergon) and Angela Sucich (Voodoo/Recycled Cycles) .

After a chilly start with temps in the 30's, things quickly heated up as Sheppard put in an attack up the long dusty climb to the Mt. Bachelor ski area parking lot. Only Mylre and Plews were able to match the acceleration and the gaps quickly formed that would set the scene for the rest of the race. Sheppard continued to increase his lead around Mt. Bachelor, up and over the uber-technical Kwol Butte and past the race half way point. Flat tires, high race pace and the technical ascents / descents began to take their toll as numerous riders DNF'd after the second aide station.

The battle in the for 2nd-5th stayed tight as riders bombed the buff Swede Ridge singletrack, climbed the steep, wooded South Fork trail and headed back to Wanoga Snopark for the final 11 mile loop. Sheppard kept the pedal to the metal and smoked the course in 8:37 taking the win, Sloane Anderson hung on to 2nd at 9:26 and Paul Clark rounded out the Open Men podium with 3rd at 9:55. Singlespeeder "Fuzzy" Mylre was able to keep pace with the top geared riders and completed the course in a speedy 9:33. Angela Sucich put in a great effort to stay in front of the rest of the women's field to take the win in 11:55.

Post-race reviews were thumbs up with exhausted smiles all around. Deschutes Brewery Mirror Pond and Baldy's BBQ revived spirits and bodies for the awards ceremony as the sun set on the Cascade Mountains in the background.

Mudslinger Events donated $3500 to the local trail-building alliance, COTA, to help maintain the huge existing trail network, extend and connect new trails and preserve access to to the trails in great shKeep tabs on Mudslinger Events for 2010 course updates and registration dates. The early bird promotional pricing will open on Valentine's Day.

High Cascades 100 MTB Endurance Event, Bend, OR - 8/23

2009-08-07T06:25:00.001-07:00

Good morning all,
A local Bendite has ridden all of the sections of the High Cascades 100 and written up a course review. He will update this review if there are any noteworthy changes. Still time to sign up for this epic race:

Register Here: http://www.mudslingerevents.com/high-cascades-100/

In particular the Bachelor and Funner/Tiddlywinks loop may be shortened a bit, and the Swampy loop extended a bit. The purpose of any possible changes is to make this course as fun as possible and leave you grinning as you dive into the massive Baldy's BBQ finishers meal. Mmmmm....BBQ...

Course Review / Trail Photos: http://dirtsurfdavid.blogspot.com/

Also check back for weather updates as the event draws near.

Hope to see you out there!

Breaking Away in Bend - 2009 Cascade Cycling Classic

2009-07-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

First off - ouch. Add some more ouch. All three days treated riders to high-temps, busy neutral feed zones and full fields. Celebrating the 30th running of the Cascade Cycling Classic, cyclists from all over the country (and world for that matter) made the trip out West for a week of perfect weather, great road race courses, a new downtown criterium circuit and the Skyliner time trial.

The Cat 2 field was sold out with a max field of 120 or so I was told. Sure felt like that many squeezing into one lane zooming down the Sunriver cutoff. Friday's Mt Bachelor Road race featured 71 miles of undulating hills and a great uphill finish from Sparks Lake to Mt Bachelor Resort. Fresh legs abounded as attack after attack tried to create a break with the right mix of team racers. Hagen's must have had 12 guys in the field so they make sure to keep tabs on the equally large Davis team and both finally got guys up the road with about 20 miles to go. Spencer Paxson, a fellow mountain biker, did the mountain biker tactic and led the field for about 10 miles into the final climb launching the first snapshot of the GC contenders. I had a great view as they all swept by. =) Garmin file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9627175

Saturday featured the morning time trial 5 miles up Skyliner road from Summit High School and back and was just short enough you could really suffer and long enough, well, to suffer. Still rocking the road bike, mountain bike shoes/pedals and un-aero helmet I definitely stood out among the slough of low-slung, carbon rocketships around me. Ahhh...yeah. At least I didn't get caught by anybody till about 200 yards from the finish. Garmin file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9867650

The downtown Criterium finally lets the town and fans get involved in the racing, cheering on their favorite superstars like Oscar Sevilla, Ivan Domingez, Francisco Macebo, et al. as well as their local racers. The new course this year went to a standard four corner rectangle but had a 5 block straightaway on two sides making for super high average speeds. Luckily I jumped with a guy about 4 laps in and were quickly joined by 3 others to create a solid (and lasting) break. We hovered around 20-30 seconds ahead of the peloton averaging over 30 mph for the 40 min race. Unfortunately the 12-25 I was sporting on the rear cassette wasn't up to the job for the final sprint and I just missed 3rd by a bike length. (Or it could have been the record high HR acheived and 40 min above LT...nah.)
Garmin file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9867643

Sunday...hurt. Bad. Wooden peg legs punching at pedals going around in squares. It never really got easier but at least most of the peloton seemed to lose its impetus after the first lap of constant attacks. Local course knowledge proved very beneficial as I set up for a day of moving to the front on the flats and then sagging through the field on the climbs. I foolishly tried to get in one breakaway but we were quickly reeled in. As we neared the finish, we actually slowed down and packed into the narrow, twisting confines of Mt Washington road, curses abounding and nobody willing to trust their legs for a 1km suicide sprint. All hell broke look with 300 meters to go and we thrashed into the last roundabout right and dashed to the finish.
Garmin file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9867621

Always nice to race in your own backyard with family cheering, home to crawl back to and no drive after the finish. Great job to the organizers and large corps of volunteers who pulled it off in style and sent a lot of racers home happy!

Crook County Crush XC MTB Race - Ochoco Mountains

2009-07-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

The Breck Epic now a happy memory, I was on the fence whether to race the upcoming Crook Country Crush XC race outside of Prineville, OR on July 18th. The local Deschutes brews were tasting awfully good and hanging out in, out and around the river made up the "training" regimen other than Wed Night Crit racing.

Inspiration came in the form of a Bend Bulletin article detailing the very area the race was to be held with a photo of woodsy singletrack and summer wildflowers. Sold.

The course started with a nice 4% paved climb for about 5 miles letting the small PRO/Expert field warmup and get ready for the 30 mile course with 6000ft of climbing and over 20 miles of singletrack. Taking a right off the road onto the Round Mountain Trail (#805a), Chris Sheppard set the early tempo (gasping for the rest of us) and created a quick separation. I was second in line and followed suit up through the large Ponderosa trees and dry, needle-covered singletrack. Gaps quickly formed as we climbed, climbed, climbed up the Lookout Mountain Trail (#804) gaining spectacular views of the lush, rural agricultural lands surrounding the town of Prineville . In fact you could even catch glimpses of The Three Sisters, Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson and Mt Washington as topped out at 7100ft elevation.

Don't gape to long because the singletrack descents were narrow, fast, slightly off-camber and had a lot of little rock bands hidden around the next corner. The faster you went, the easier the descents became and the wider the grin spread. I ended up riding the entire race alone trying to feel like I was racing, but couldn't help stopping at the aid station for a banana and hello with promotor Kevin Thompson's family. Managed to stay focused and follow Shep in for 2nd on the day.

Round Mountain and Lookout Mountain trails are epic, that's all there is to it. Print out the directions from the Crook County Crush XC race flyer, fill up the Hydrapak and go ride these trails before the snow starts falling again. Oh yeah, and make sure to include this on your race schedule next year - its well worth it and you can even pick up a great burrito at Ranchero Mexican Restaurant in Prineville post race.

Check out the Garmin course map here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9152273

Photos Courtesy of Jeremy Dickman and the Bend Bulletin

Breck Epic Mountain Bike Race Report

2009-07-11T14:56:00.001-07:00

Cannondale Factory Racing (CFR) made their mark on the Top 10 overall Solo Men category with Ben Thompson taking 4th place and James Williams coming in 6th after 5 days of racing above 9500ft in Breckenridge, CO.

Situated at 9500ft, the scenic mountain town of Breckenridge, Colorado played host to the inaugural Breck Epic MTB Stage Race July 5-10. The surrounding mountains rise on all sides providing endless options of amazing singletrack, old mining doubletracks and incredible vistas. James Williams, Garth Prosser and I all started on Sunday with a 6 mile uphill time trial into the threatening afternoon storm clouds.

Stage 2 led the field up into the backcountry splitting the field on the steep, loose climbs up over 11,000ft. The amount and quality of singletrack, especially the Colorado Trail, quickly made you forget all the climbing and pasted a happy grin on the riders faces. One of the best rides I've done in a long time! Plus a podium finish never hurts.

Stages 3 and 4 proved promotor Mike McCormack wasn't kidding around when he named it "the EPIC". By taking racers up through wildflower studded high-alpine tundra and over rugged, windblown 12,000+ ft mountain passes, Mike was able to highlight the "best of the best" of Breckenridge's amazing trail network. Both courses provided a great mix of Jeep track, incredible singletrack, long, long descents and a couple "equalizers" of hike-a-bike to keep the contenders jockeying and racing hard throughout. After two 4+ hour days in the saddle the general classification had shaken up a bit and narrowed in the Top 5 considerably.

On Stage 5, despite the sea of tired legs and bodies at the start, as soon as the neutral police car pulled off, it felt like an XC race start with the leaders giving it their all on the last chance for GC shakeup. The course treated racers to steady, fast middle ring climbing punctuated by long, ripping singletrack descents. All in all a great way to end a fun week of racing on some of the best singletrack I've ever ridden.

Mike McCormack and his crew really went the extra mile in putting together a well organized, professionally run event. I know they worked hard with the Forest Service to ensure the best trail experience for all user groups, the courses were all well marked, and the food was really tasty. Nice work guys!

For the latest results, race video and information check out the Breck Epic website

View Ben Thompson's Garmin data from each stage at: http://benthompson.motionbased.com

Photos courtesy of Liam Dolan

Test of Endurance 50 MTB Race Report

2009-06-25T07:32:00.001-07:00

Test of Endurance 50 MTB Race Report

Once again Ripley turned out a "Believe It or Not" course with over 9000 feet of climbing in a great 50 mile mountain bike course. There was plenty of tight singletrack snaking through the dense ferns and mossy Oregon Coast Range forest to offset the gravel road climbing. Check out the Garmin file on MotionBased - ouch.

Team Cannondale (James and I) joined a few other Bendites for the trip east to race on Sunday morning only to find that nearly every other Pro mountain biker in Oregon had the same idea. The likes of Adam Craig, Barry Wicks, Ryan Trebon, Erik Tonkin and others all toed the start line looking to the T.O.E for some training for upcoming races like BC Bike Race, Breck Epic and US MTB Nationals.

The race pace quickly ramped up as Adam and Barry rode away from the 20+ Pro field chasers. Having settled in with the lead chase group I spent the next 4hrs pulling up/down my arm warmers to combat the 50deg rain squalls, popping 2x caffeine Espresso GU gels and wondering if my lower back could possibly tear through my skin. I moved around in the 3rd place to 6th place, getting passed in the last 30 minutes as my legs went wooden and pedalling circles turned to squares.

All in all a good day of racing with the "fast boys", great course with tons of extra bomber singletrack, and as always with Mudslinger Events races, cash and delicious food waiting at the finish line.

- Ben Thompson

Oregon State STX Championships Race Report

2009-06-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

OR State STX Champs

Last Saturday, I drove alone in the rain, over the mountains clear to the coastal hills of western Oregon in the hopes of scoring some points for the overall in the Oregon Short Track State Champs.

Without my trusty teammate, Ben, along to tag-team our biggest threat, I was a bit nervous about my chances, particularly when the main competition showed up with three teammates on the line.
Luckily, it was slick out-thanks to the never-ending OR rain and I was feeling spy. So spry I took a paved corner a bit fast in the early laps, went down, tore some lycra but mostly just slid along the wet pavement.

I rebounded got to the front and led the race for the remaining 35min (43min race-longish, but made the drive more worthwhile) grabbed a win, some points and some gas money. hooray.
Thanks to some first-place points, I now lead the OR series overall by 10 points heading into Sunday's Test of Endurance 50...

- James Williams

Oregon MTB Series Individual / Team Points updated

2009-06-12T09:25:00.001-07:00

Oregon MTB Series Individual / Team Points have been updated to included the Pickett's Charge results. Check out the individual categories - there were a few shake ups this week! Pistis continues to extend their lead in the Team competition.

http://www.breakawayconsulting.net

Next up is the Falls City STX race tomorrow - race will be scored as a "C" level race in the points.
Thanks!

Pickett's Charge MTB wrapup from Bend, Oregon

2009-06-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

By James Williams -

It's always a pleasant advantage racing in your hometown, as was the case this past Sunday. It's nice knowing just how much you can push, drift and slide in the Central Oregon dust and dirt--not to mention the ability to enjoy an all-together agreeable wake-up time and casual breakfast on your own front porch before rolling 3 miles to the start line. And when there's approximately 836 corners to negotiate per lap, it helps to have ridden the same trails innumerable times.

In Bend, one must be wary of the concept Ross Schnell experienced and thus coined here, known as the "eye-bonk." Lots of paying attention to the trail in front of you...After a fast, but manageable start, 4 locals (Ben and myself included) had a nice gap early in the singletrack and worked to distance ourselves over the familiar turns, twists and spotty (tight) rock sections (more on the rocks later), leaving chasers Evan Plews, Brett Nichols and others from out-of-town struggling with the unfamiliar.

With Shep driving the pace, we worked to keep him (somewhat) in sight, which worked for about 35min. We regained sight of Mr. Chris Sheppard with beer in hand, standing at the finish line, 1.5hrs later.
Realizing though I didn't feel exactly bad, I lacked the snap of previous weeks, and decided to "just hang on," letting Ben by to lead the chase of Brig's wheel.

Old Man Thompson made a well timed jump on brief fire-road section, gaining the lead into the next one-track, putting Brig and I in an uncomfortable state while opening a gap for himself. Well done.
Brig chased and I marked Brig's wheel hoping Thompson would repeat his winning move from two years back- when he did the same thing to the two of us.

We were all together at the bottom, grabbing bottles, shovelling GU Chomps down and starting a second lap when a sickening expensive alloy-meets-rock sound ground behind us--punctuated by some fearsome yelling from Ben... poor fella tore off his derailleur hanger weaving his way (quickly) through a narrow and twisty rock field. Doh.

Never one to be easily derailed, Ben made do...read the end of the article below (link included) to hear Ben's tale of finishing, despite.

Seeking to gain some fitness and seeking to avoid being faced with the prospect of sprinting Brig in the final 2k of fire road (which would not doubt end poorly for me), I weaseled away on some uphill singletrack and kept out of sight 'till the finish to take second by half a minute.

I was pumped on how fast I was descending on the Scalpel, much faster than my pre-ride on my hardtail earlier in the week. And with low-weight for uphill pedaling, there's no penalty for riding the full-banger. Neat.

All in all, a fine and proud day for Cannondale. And I made enough money for groceries for the next week and a half...

Next up, defending the state short-track title...

Newspaper article (Bend Bulletin- also known as my employers) describing the race shakedown and why Ben Thompson is (still) "the man": http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090608/SPORTS05/906080334/1041&nav_category=

Ride Report: Breck Epic, here we come...

2009-05-28T12:16:00.001-07:00

That's right - it's official - the Oregon contingent of Cannondale Factory Racing are on board for the inaugural Breck Epic. Following in the TransRockies' masochistic footsteps, we've both decided to keep it in the lower 48 this year and head to Breckenridge, CO July 5-10 for some sweet mountain bike stage racing. Inspired by visions of high-altitude singletrack, epic food and a condo we can call home, James and I hit the miles hard this weekend stacking up well over 12,000ft of climbing Cascade Lakes Highway on Saturday and Alpine/Tire Mountain trails in Oakridge on Sunday. You can check out some of the latest rides on MotionBased at: http://benthompson.motionbased.com.

Mountain bike racing picks back up here in Oregon June 7th with the start line about 1.5 miles from my front door. Come check out Pickett's Charge if you're in the neighborhood!! Enjoy the summer weather - so nice to get the farmer tan back...
Ben
--
www.breakawayconsulting.net

Rest in Peace Steve...

2009-05-21T05:35:00.000-07:00

Steve Larsen will be sorely missed here in Central Oregon. An integral part of the cycling community here, you could always count on him to lay down the tempo on group rides, show up at the local events and share his love of cycling.

There is a memorial gathering behind Les Schwab Amphitheater @ 1pm this Saturday.

High Cascades 100 MTB in Bend, OR - Race Fee Update

2009-05-16T06:22:00.001-07:00

This was just brought to my attention and I wanted to highlight it for those who are considering:

$50.00 from every entry fee goes to COTA to support their $10,000 fundraising goal for local trails. That means you're helping make the trails you're racing better for 2010 when you come back!!

In order to help ease the pain a little for Mudslinger Events regulars, I will be doing a 20% discount for TOE 50 entrants and 8 HR entrants for the HC 100. Please email me for details or see: http://www.mudslingerevents.com/high-cascades-100/

Why this race is worth those hard earned dollars:

One big single lap loop with tons of singletrack
Support for the trails you’re riding and racing.
Excellent catered post-race feast.
Fully stocked aid stations with drinks, food, gels, gear
A beautiful course and a great adventure
One heck of a good story to tell after it’s all said and done.

Mudslinger Events aims to provide the best experience possible with great courses, food and support for you - the racer. If you’ve ever attended a Mudslinger event I think you know what I mean.

Ben

www.breakawayconsulting.net

OR MTB SERIES - 2009 Chainbreaker results added!

2009-05-14T10:32:00.001-07:00

Great racer turnout last weekend on a sunny Bend day for the best Chainbreaker conditions in recent memory. Pistis added a little padding to their lead in the team competition and there were quite a few shake-ups in the individual categories.

Just a note - the team listings were very sparse, so please take a look at the Chainbreaker results I received; email me corrections if necessary.

Click here the most recent Oregon MTB XC Series Results!!

Spring Thaw is next up on the schedule so head down to beautiful Ashland, OR and get ready for a great course, fun post-race in Lithia Park and of course - The GT Golden Bike competition!

Thanks,
Ben Thompson
--
ben@breakawayconsulting.net
www.breakawayconsulting.net

Slinging Mud in Oregon

2009-05-04T08:41:00.001-07:00

"The Mudslinger" was aptly named in a battle of cold legs, peanut butter mud and long, long two-track climbs. All in all a really fun course, great change from the swoopy, dry trails around Bend, OR and oh yeah...the Oregon State XC Championships.

The drive over in the morning provided a little foreshadowing of conditions to come with heavy snow falling on Santiam Pass and black clouds of death hanging over Corvallis, OR. Arriving in the nick of time, James and I used the roll up to the line as our warm up and shouldered into the fairly good sized Pro field.

My race can be summed up with the first 3 mile climb as the tempo hit hammer pace and my legs pedaled squares instead of circles. I dangled off the lead group of 5 rooting on Fast Jimmy and enjoyed the super slick, clay mud singletrack downhills and the 4000ft of climbing (not so much) in the 24mile course finishing up 7th on the day.

All in all a fun, hard course perfect for crowning the new state champ. You can check out the race summary at: http://www.mudslingerevents.com/21st-peak-sports-mudslinger/

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Weekend Update...

2009-04-26T19:56:00.001-07:00

Well, the Weekend Update on SNL can be funny, but racing through snow drifts is not. It felt like we were two bit actors in a parody of an actual mountain bike race Saturday up at Bear Springs near Mt Hood, Oregon. While trying to act serious we felt ridiculous doing the one-pedal / one-foot-down shimmy scoot through the snow drifts...and this was just for the 30min short-track. I guess living in the snowy Bend, OR must have benefits because I managed to take the win before noticing my roached drivetrain and various icebound mechanical issues.

Decided to pass on the XC after pre-walking the "course" and opted for some Bend singletrack therapy on Sunday. 58 miles of singletrack, 6500ft of climbing and 5 hrs in the sun did just the trick. Managed to check out a portion of the 100 mile High Cascades MTB race we're putting on here on August 23rd. Always nice to finish the day with a smile (and a good bonk).

2009 Sea Otter Recap

2009-04-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

April marks the annual Sea Otter pilgrimage at the Thompson household, the re-introduction of pain threshold testing and once in a blue moon, sunny skies around Monterey, CA. The blue moon rose this year for the best weather in Sea Otter memory.

My wife and I packed our 1yr old, bikes and a mountain of gear into the trusty Subaru for the 10hr drive from Bend, OR leaving behind the frosty spring weather for 70's and 80's. Troy and the gang had the big green Cannondale truck set up, bike stands out, with demos, new products, and reps ready for the onslaught when we arrived on Friday for a pre-ride and sponsor meet & greets.

Apparently they haven't had much rain down here because the course was fossilized dirt with a nice layer of decomposed granite on top, providing super fast ridge-top riding broken up by endless, short, steep climbs through the trees. Super fun and a welcome break from riding in the snow back home. As always the course followed the long, exposed doubletrack road into a consistent headwind back to the venue at the end of each lap.

With over 150 guys lining up for the PRO XC start, things got a little hectic on the track as we all rolled out in the heat of the day on Sunday. Nobody wanted to be on the front in the wind, yet everyone wanted to be near the front as we funneled into the singletrack. This led to lots of bumping elbows, tire buzzing and road rash for some.

Having navigated the start mayham, I gave it 110% to stay near the front until my radiator blew in the 90+ degree heat after about 45 minutes. Yes, it boiled over and out as I was racing, but that seemed to help a little as nearly everyone entered survival-mode racing. Stopping at feed zones to pound a bottle, the lucky appearance of bottled water out on course, as well great feeding and support from the family in the start/finish area allowed me to maintain an even pace and finish 36th while almost 1/3 of the field dropped out.

GU and Hydrapak were put to the test with the conditions this weekend and came out shining. Thanks guys for making our job a little easier. The new BREW recovery drink actually has me considering going out for ride this morning. Troy - thanks for taking care of of us needy bike-racer types who couldn't turn a wrench if our life depended on it! Looking forward to the "official" start of the season now with Sea Otter in the books!

Ben Thompson
Cannondale Factory Racing

Oregon MTB Series results posted - Hornings a success!

2009-04-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Mountain Bike Series individual and team points have been updated after a great showing at Hornings earlier this month. Some new teams made a strong impression and have jumped up the overall picture. Nice job everyone and see you all at the next stop in the series: Bear Springs STX / XC on April 25 and 26th. Remember both races count in the series! Click here to register now - http://skibowl.com/index.php?page=schedule

RESULTS:
http://www.breakawayconsulting.net/oregon_mtb_series_results.html

Thanks,
Ben Thompson

High Cascades 100 in Bend, Oregon - Registration is NOW OPEN!

2009-04-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

Hot off the press- High Cascades 100 MTB Endurance Race in Bend, Oregon Registration is NOW OPEN!

Check out our page for full race details here...

or if you know what you want click here to REGISTER NOW.

Hornings Hustle MTB Recap

2009-04-06T11:21:00.001-07:00

All in all not a bad day out West for Team Cannondale (Bend). The sun was finally shining for the 200+ racers that made their way to Hornings Hustle outside of Portland, Oregon for the 2nd race in the 2009 Oregon MTB Series.

Chris Moor from Thule and I packed up the truck for the drive west at the lovely hour of 5am in order to make the start. The course still retained some of the week's worth of rain but made for fun, technical descents to follow the steep, short, climbs. Twisting singletrack through the trees rounded out a 4 lap, 20 mile race for the Pros. I decided to catch my only glimpse of the front for the day by grabbing the hole shot before relinquishing the heavy lifting to Speedy Jimmy (formerly know as Fat Jimmy).

The first real race of the year is always a rude awaking to the system but managed to hold on for 5th place when it was all said and done and couldn't have asked for a better ride on the new Scapel Team. Thanks Oregonvelo.com for taking some great race pix!

Oregon MTB Series results posted!

2009-02-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

Three cheers for the locals guys and shop who put on the inaugural Echo Red to Red mountain bike race. Scott Cycles takes the early lead in the Team Overall with 353 points. Pistis, making the long journey from Southern Oregon, rounded up enough points for second with the ever-strong Capitol Subaru taking 3rd.

A couple of categories qualified for "A" race status with bonus point levels given out - nice job Singlespeed, Cat 2 35-44 Men and Cat 3 35-44 Men bringing out the numbers!

You can check out the results at: http://www.breakawayconsulting.net/oregon_mtb_series_results.html

Cog Wild folk need your vote

2009-02-24T10:02:00.001-08:00

Greetings! Two of us Cog-ites are in the running for different cycling contests and need your vote to win. In both circumstances the contests end March 15th and result in winning free entry to a race or bike tour. Please help us win by voting and sharing this info with friends and family who would also be interested in voting. We thank you greatly!!

Melanie's contest: Bike Tour in Africa from Egypt to Ethiopia -
http://tourdafrique.com/scripts/contest/articles/19/1/A-day-in-Nepal-I-will-not-forget/Page1.html

My article is from a solo bike tour I did in Nepal and India. Please vote for my article, you can use multiple email addresses to vote and refresh a few times, as every ten visits to the page counts as a vote too. For a long time I was in second place, closing in on 1st place. All of a sudden, two other people pushed through, placing me in 4th - yikes! If I win, my husband and I will join Tour De'Afrique in Egypt to ride through Sudan into Ethiopia. I am needing every vote to catch up and then pass 1st place!

Ben Thompson's contest: The Breck Epic in Breckenridge, CO this July -
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fSyN8trcRItHWo9YXQBfjg_3d_3d
Ben needs your vote to win free entry to this 6-day ultra-endurance mountain bike stage race that would kill most of us. Ben plans to ride the solo division, so let's help him get there! There don't seem to be limits to the number of times people can vote for Ben, so you are welcome to vote for him daily or weekly. You will need to vote for two other rides as well, so rank Ben first and then choose two others to be the lucky winners. Currently there is no way to see who is in first place, so we just need to vote often!

Thank you for helping us local Bendites!