Monday, September 08, 2014

OBRA Championship Jerseys

The Holy Grail
Every year Oregon Bicycle Racing Association features key racing events where the winner gets double points in the BAR, and also the right to don a special "OBRA Champion" jersey.
A racer can win a jersey in the discipline of their choice and in the division they qualify for.

This year, three Word-RCB racers won a total of six OBRA Jerseys.

Gillian Bergmann

Seventeen year old Gillian Bergmann set out to win the Oregon Cup Individual Time Trial Seriess in her Junior Womens' age division, and did.
Months before, she stepped up her riding miles, and worked hard in the weight room to prepare.

A bi-product of her diligence and hard work is she also attended and won the OBRA Junior Track Champs at Alpenrose, the TT Champs in Peoria, and the classic OBRA Hillclimb Championship held at Government Camp.

More than just championship on the bike, Gillian brought great honor to our organization by becoming an iconic mentor in the elementary school cycling culture at Blazer Boys and Girls Club.

Jaden demonstrating cleen and jerk.
One of her more casual yet major accomplishments for Cyclisme Racing Programs happened when she introduced a younger Wilson HS classmate to the team. His name is Jaden Salama, and in the space of a year, his athleticisim transformed.

Working in very much the same weight room, plyometrics and road miles regime as Gillian, Jaden got faster.
Pursuing the Oregon Cup Individual Time Trial Series in the same division as Alex White, Jaden found a friend and a fast champion to pursue. Finishing in second place behind Alex most of the series, and in in the Oregon Cup Individual Time Trial Final GC, Jaden was always gracious and supportive of Alex and The Team.

Joshua is a good student.
Jaden was also a key mentor supporting the kids at Blazer Boys and Girls Club, especially in the weight lifting instruction of young Joshua Morris. Practicing a variety of lifts centered around the cleen and jerk, Jaden bacame stronger.
It paid off too. His improvement was especially evident when Jaden made a huge crowd pleasing attack at the Oregon Junior Track Champs. Taking only one of the older 17 year olds with him, he was just nipped at the line, still winning the 15yr old championship.
Developed as a well rounded cyclist, Jaden also climbed from Government Camp to Timberline in 40.37 to win the 15 year old division OBRA Hillclimb Championship.

Dan "Double D" Dhounau is a 50 year old Harley Davidson motorcycle mechanic who came to the team when we discovered him doing laps at Alpenrose in 2010. Double D is a quiet mild mannered individual who has a great sense of humor, and always stands ready to be of service to the team.
It was his discovery and repair of an overly tight hub cone that allowed Jake Hansen to explode into the 2011 Nationals Points Race (lapping the field)  after a confusing lack luster performance in the Omnium. Jake had been racing with brakes on until "Double D" rescued him..
Double D and Hilde on rollers.
This kind of integrity and discipline have made Double D a beloved team leader.

Dan has worked on something new every year and his prowess has progressed. He won his first OBRA Bronze Medal on the Track in the Master's 500 last year.
This year, in the early season, he lifted weights to build strength, and rode rollers to improve legspeed. With improved legspeed and power, as well as an improved aero position, Dan won OBRA Track Gold in the Cat 4, 4k Pursuit.

1 comment:

Gianna Blake said...

Nice post! I feel jerseys are very important to differentiate between two teams. I purchased some for my team and we all are so happy now. We even like wearing tank tops at times but we make sure the whole team wears a same color.