Mudslinger 2010, by Greg

The boys got off to a hot start, with Naiqwan jumping out with the holeshot and DeyShaun grabbing his wheel. Naiqwan soon dropped his chain and got passed by his entire field. He fixed the chain, caught back on, attacked again and won by almost 10 minutes.

One of the early sections called for a dismount for most racers.



There was a super slippery downhill section at the end of the Panama trail. You can see from DeyShaun's expression that this MTB stuff is pretty fun!







Here's how the day ended, not too shabby! The young man Naiqwan is on a tear, and ready to take on the Cat 2's. Photos courtesy of Mudslinger Events and Shane Young/oregonvelo.com

Horning's Hustle

A First for Hana!
by
Greg O'Brien




Jake, Jeff, Naiqwan and I headed out Sunday morning to Horning's Hideout for the 2010 edition of the Hustle MTB race. Jake's victory on Saturday at the Kings Valley road race had us all pumped up. We met Catherine "Hana" Cooper at the race for her Cyclisme debut mountain bike race.

There was much getting ready and squeezing of tires to get the pressure dialed in for the somewhat muddy descents.

The start was staged out by category and age. Jake, being the young, fast cat 1 dude started in one of the first groups. Jeff started in the group ahead of me, and Naiqwan and Catherine were both in groups after mine.





After a fast downhill gravel road section, the course turns uphill on a gravel road, with grades close to 20%. We then turned left onto a more primitive dirt path before topping out and a brief gravel descent before hitting the first somewhat slick downhill. Jake ran into some trouble here and went down hard at speed. He said that he straightened out the bars and kept going, but fell once more before calling it a day after the first of 4 laps. He ended up with a gnarly cut-up knee.




Jeff was having a great race, but when I saw him walking down as I was climbing on the 3rd lap I knew it was bad news. His rear derailleur got mangled and broke off the hanger, ending his race. I managed to stay upright and finished the 3 lap cat 2 45-54 field in 8th place (same placing as Echo!). I was regretting forgetting my Camelback as I was starting to cramp up about 20 minutes from the end. 1 water bottle wasn't enough for me...

Naiqwan rode a good, smart race. He crashed but didn't let it rattle his concentration. He finished in 3rd place, and looked great on the bike. The course had some steep slippery downhills with water bars, and a couple of really steep slippery climbs as well.




The story of the day was Hana, who took first in the cat 3 women 35-44 age group race! She also won a killer pair of Oakleys in the raffle. Jeff thought he won a Chris king headset, but only got some coffee and beer instead...

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Photos by Hana and Oregon Velo (courtesy of Oregon Bike Shop in Portland).

Greg

Yoga in the Woods

Yep, you got it. Here's DeyShaun working the kinks out while on a little break from the trail.

University Falls, in the Tillamook Burn area.

Hana, Naiqwan, Jeff, DeyShaun and I rode the "Historic Hiking Trail" loop in the Tillamook State Forest last weekend. It's a fun, challenging loop, especially when it's a bit wet.


Greg

Sunday January 11th Training Ride (Rocky Rabbit)

Here's the skinny:

Route: typically Rocky Rabbit lollipop from PSU/Skyline/Rock Creek
Distance: 40-50 miles round trip from PSU
Time: 3-4 hours round trip

1) 9:00-9:15 am: meet at Starbucks, on SW 6th and Jackson in Portland (PSU).
2) 9:00-9:25 am: Caffeinate, hydrate, dehydrate, stretch, chat about layering - glove technology - weather - work -Campy vs SRAM-music - envy my Little Hotties toe warmers...
3) 9:25-9:29 am Last minute pee break, kick in a buck or two to John for gas, brief chat on where we're headed, etc.
4) 9:30 am roll-out. Best case, we're on time, head up Terwilliger and have a nice and steady base mile training ride.

We'll run a rotating paceline for good parts of the ride. It's easy to pick up. We're a very safe and steady group to ride with. Nobody will get dropped. We will likely have a little separation a couple of times, but will re-group at the top/bottom of the section.

Please have at least a rear fender with splash guard on your bike if it's forecasted to rain. Nobody wants to be the guy/gal in the paceline behind the bike with no rear fender and spray guard.

Benevolence.
Simplicity.
Good Form.
Teamwork.

Greg

Icy Rabbit

Served 

up 

Hot


Cold air 

and 

icy roads 

could 

do 

little 

to cool 

the heat 

of Cyclisme's 

desire to train 

on 

Rocky Rabbit

Sunday.

The training route from PSU to Skyline, and down through the Rock Creek River Valley has few stops and a big training value when it unfolds in full swing in the Spring.

Now though, it is no small challenge just getting there. 

Hyped up to the hilt with cabin fever after a week of bike stopping snow, the whole team wanted to get up Terwilliger and Capitol to Dosch and "The Gas Station" in the worst way.

Prior to the event, "The Ice Box Blues" were performed for coaching fees. 

First, upon receipt of cellular communications, Dave Wingard managed a quick fix on a flat in Ladd's Addition before arriving, only to be approached by two expeditionary columns of similarly clad cyclists.

Scooped up into the warm embrace of the peloton, Dave was part of a 9 man group spinning easily across the steaming downtown Core.

While moving up Terwilliger it was immediately evident how strong everyone was. Much stronger than last year it seems to me. No one was cheating or hammering per se, everyone was just spinning. Spinning fast. Without exception everyone had leg speed, and form.

Everyone seemed ready to train with the rest of the team in January on the grueling fifty mile course. No one seemed unready or in doubt how this course served their training needs.

Moving up Dosch, I noticed Mike Mann was holding his form and moving through the paceline like I had never seen before. I even invited him to catch the front of a strung out line of happy go lucky summiteers and he promptly popped the gap with a powerful decisive move foreboding grand alpine prowess in the upcoming months.

Riding out on Humphery Hewett and Skyline, "Sketchy" would be an understatement. Ice was everywhere, and especially in the middle of the road. Paceliners had to be careful when to pull off the front as there was a large "ice divider" in the middle of the two columns.

Thanks to a crack coaching staff, and the modern technologies involved in cellular phones, Chip Ross crested Thompson Road just as Jeff Gerwing and Greg Obrien led the team by.  Calling for a paceline at the pivotal (last high point before a series of flat land and pacelin-able rollers on Skyline heading north) peak, I was proud to see how smoothly the River City Montage vet slipped into, and through the Line.

By the time the carefully advancing party arrived at the top of Newberry Road, talk was of turning back. Bodies were fighting not to go fast, but to simply stay warm. So despite the long day on the bike, we didn't make it all the way out to the Rabbit this time.

After a couple of flats and a careful pace, the arrival of the noon hour forced early season speedsters, Randy Word and Stephen Bedford to ride off the front for home. And man, they were gone baby, gone.

Not content

with yesterday's adventure in Forest Park, today Jeff and I teamed up with former brother in the lore and mountain biking fiend Chris Sautter to hit the park again, but this time on mountain bikes. We met up at Fat Tire Farm and huffed and puffed up Holman Lane. Holman is not only steep, but fairly waterlogged in parts, which when paired with lousy mud tires (like mine) makes it quite an effort just to keep moving forward.

The asphalt of NW 53rd was a welcome change, which we rode until turning right to drop down Firelane 1.
Here are Chris and Jeff all nice and clean before riding down FL 1.

The descent was fast, fun and swoopy. The slog on Leif Erikson to Saltzman was cold, slow, muddy and slushy. Not much of the snow accumulation on Saltzman had melted since yesterday, so there was a bit of hike-a-biking going on. After reaching the top, we decided that we'd all had enough of frozen slushy mud, so we rode Skyline back towards town with the intent of heading down some legal, urban singletrack. However... a cable was down on the Radio Tower at the Barnes/Skyline intersection and Skyline and Barnes were both closed to all traffic. We tried to navigate through via the cemetery but that didn't work either, so we bombed down Burnside and turned into Washington Park to search for a trail down into town. Chris knew of one, but we couldn't find it, and after a short bushwack we gave up and took the pavement down to town.

Chris peeled off by PSU to head back up Terwilliger to home, while Jeff and I high-tailed it to home in SE, tired, cold and hungry. 29 miles, 2 hours and 45 minutes, and a whole lot of fun.

Greg

12-30-08 Ride Report

Jeff and I decided to head up to Skyline today as a scouting trip for the start of the Rocky Rabbit Sunday rides. We cruised out of town via NW Vaughn and out to Dirty 30. As we started up Saltzman we chatted with a guy headed down the hill on a cyclocross bike (with cross tires). This was at the paved part, even before the first snow covered hairpin turn. He said that he tried going up, but turned around, as just past the gate there was too much snow and it was unrideable. As he rode down towards Highway 30, Jeff and I decided that a climb up a snow filled Saltzman was just what we needed today!

The section from the gate up to Leif Erikson was about 90% rideable on our skinny road tire fitted bikes. We had to hike-a-bike a couple short portions. Towards the top of the section between Leif Erikson and Skyline though, the going got pretty tough. Traction was hard to find, and was often best while plowing through the powder instead of the narrow packed path where people had walked. There were two sets of tire tracks that went all the way to the top, so we continued on to Skyline. I'd guess we rode 75% of the upper section.

Skyline was a breeze after Saltzman. We rode out a ways past Germantown before turning around and heading home. 30 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes (you can really see the hiking part in those numbers). There is a lot of gravel near the shoulder of Skyline, but the snow/gravel really only pinched the road lane down in a couple of spots that we saw (one near Forest Heights, and another a little farther out past the cemetary. It looks good for a nice easy Sunday Rocky Rabbit adventure. I hope to see a good turn out for the ride.

Greg

The weather went South when we went West, by Randy

It all started out so innocently. Mild temperatures, lots of smiles and a fun pace out Halsey. Wet roads, but only little sprinkles of rain, and a quick clip up the scenic highway with a rotating paceline of 4 (Alex, Justin, Steve & Randy). With the quick pace up the long climb the miles flew bye and before we knew it we were already at the Women's Forum. Then the high speed descent as we smoothly flew through the corners with perfect lines and complete control in the wet conditions, spinning the big ring over the rollers near the bottom of the hill as we approached the Falls, only an hour and twenty minutes had passed (23 miles).

After a short break to fill water bottles and answer questions from a bystander admiring Alex's bike, we headed back West. That's when the weather turned...into a furious beast. The rain quickly flooded the grooves in the pavement and standing water was generously flowing off our tires and directly onto our legs & feet. The wind made sure to blow steadily into our faces and force water into every opening in our raincoats and thoroughly soak every square inch. The cold temperatures, the rain soaked clothes, and the wind chill made the ride back feel, oh...about the same as standing naked under Multnomah Falls in December (not that I would know what that feels like). Riding up the hill to Crown Point we rode a varied pace and practiced brutally ferocious (but short) attacks followed by a slower pace and a quick regrouping of the forces. Only a couple of cars passed us on the way up - one rolled it's window down and said "Good Job", while another didn't dare brave the weather and just gave us a thumbs up from behind the window with the heater running full blast. The rest of the ride in was cold, and then colder, and then a whole lot colder, but we left the regular course and sought out a couple more hills to keep us warm...wouldn't want anything less then epic eh!

Through it all we stuck together because we know that misery loves company, but we figured it was good preparation for a our team training camp with the Navy SEALS. So there you have it, just another average training day in Oregon for the Fast & Furious of Cyclisme. :-)

Here's the stats:
Distance: 74.75 kilometers (46.45 miles)
Time: 2hrs 49min (In Europe that would be 2hrs 49min no matter if you rode kilometers or miles ;-))
Max Speed: 66.4 kph (41.3 mph) hmmm...it felt faster then that in the rain but I guess the computer doesn't lie
Avg. Speed: 26.4 kph (16.4 mph) more impressive then it sounds considering the conditions & terrain
Power Output: Off the chart, probably in the billions of watts. They just don't make a power meter that can handle the power of Cyclisme
Heart Rate: Somewhere between barely alive and almost dead (we're into exact numbers here)
Fuel: Can't speak for the others, but here's my grocery list - Half a banana, half a Powerbar, half a Clif Bar (finished the other halves after the ride), two bottles of water, and one bottle of Gatorade.
Flat Tires: Zero :-)
Crashes: Zero :-)
Smiles: Many :-)
Frowns: A few of those too, on the way back!
Dry Clothes: Zero
Fun: Yes

Sincerely,
Randy Word
WORD Sports
E-mail: randy@wordsports.com
Web Site: www.wordsports.com
Phone: (503) 869-4970

Two Columns on Terwiliger

Good Form

How we reach out to the community is part of the way we race.

Disability Advocacy and Cultural Association is just one way Cyclisme is involved in a community that many other teams overlook.

Please take a look at the flyer attached and perhaps take the time to get involved. Especially note the "Perceptions and Reality" on November 13th because it has free food!

Thanks!

Run, Run, RUN!

Cyclocrossers got to run fast.

There is no away around the running. Some people run more than others, but running is part of the game no matter what. 

Everyone needs to practice running 40 yard sprints during the week if they want to be competitive.

Sunday Evening Ride gets a BONK!

The

Pace

was

hot

until we met up with

retired b.i.k.e

Board Member

Nick Wade.

Then it got hotter!

A Stalwart 3 of the venerable Rose City Wheelman, I warned everyone to watch out.

But Nick spiced it up and everyone

played along.

Nick attacked and countered until Alex revealed his speed. Classy Nick had to get home to his beautiful wife and turned around at Cornelius Pass. Bidding him "au revoir" Cyclisme descended into the dark wet Rock Creek valley.

Upon the climb out, the wheels fell off. Despite literally STOPPING to eat, people began to experience carbo depletion. All the attacking had taken it's toll. By the time we descended Logie Trail road, people wanted into the car.

"Wow, I get the whole warm up thing," said Alex.

"I guess this is how we REALLY learn," said Glen.

Danny elected to stay on his bike and whistle wee, wee, wee all the way home.

Cyclocross and Accomplishment

Growth.

People had to unthank any bad habits

and learn new tricks

as Cyclisme took to

the pitch.

Everyone 

had to learn 

to bring

their

leg though 

and put it 

down hard.

Lift the bike high.

Run, run run.

Jump

ACROSS the saddle.

Practice just for our own. Danny Felts, Ariel, Alex, Jeff, Mike Mann, Sandra King, and Dave Wingard did just great as vets taught newbies the discipline of cyclocross.

Rocky Rabbit returns!

He's back!


There is a price for championship. Some formulas work so well you use them again and again.

Marching out late in the afternoon Sunday  left everyone with an sense of excitement and a bit of urgency.

Good omen abounded though and one was a happy little buddhist monk who appeared as we formed our first big paceline because he just so happened  to be out walking on the top of Skyline Blvd at dusk.

Danny and Paris had big rides and Glen though suffering an uncomfortable position attacked almost constantly.

Alex Lightman now on his new bike, looks faster and more comfortable than ever.

The Rock Creek valley offered all it's usual charm. Skyline is as brutal as ever, and coming back on Highway 30 in the dark was just insane.

Two big wrong turns made for 57 miles quick.

So lives the tradition of the Lore.