Oregon Mountain Biking & Racing

Test of Endurance 50 MTB Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:32:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:33:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:25:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:09:00 +0000

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...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:16:00 +0000

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...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:35:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:22:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:32:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:41:00 +0000

"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...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:56:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:20:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:07:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:04:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:21:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:42:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:02:00 +0000

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!

Echo Red to Red MTB Race a success...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:20:00 +0000

Echo Red to Red MTB Race is in the books with 175 racers making it out for the kickoff to the Oregon MTB Series.

After a truely death-defying drive on Sunday morning, passing cars in ditches, semi trucks chaining up in the ice, and freezing fog, storied F1 driver and mountain bike racer extrordinaire, Don Leet, delivered us safely to the small town of Echo for the inaugural Red to Red MTB Race. The weather gods turned the frown upside down and kept the rain off during the race but there was still a bit of February mud to make it interesting. Nothing a set Crankbrothers Eggbeaters and fender couldn't handle and keep the smile on my face during the 20 miles of singletrack.

Props go out to Brian Cimmiyotti, Scott Bicycles and all the people that pulled off a fun and challenging course along with a great burrito at the finish line. Results are on their way so check Oregon MTB Series Results page this week!

Riding into the southern sun...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:33:00 +0000

Quick update from the southern sunny skies. Made the annual pilgramage south from the snowy Northlands and had a nice week of training in mid-70 degree weather on the hilly terrain of the Monterey County. Having grown up there, I've got my training ride loops dialed with routes including a scenic pedal down coastal Hwy 1 from Carmel to Cambria, Carmel Valley Loop, 11 mile climb up Fremont Peak and shore-side bike path trips around "the Bay". Was able to log about 400 miles on the trusty Cannondale TJX cross bike with fenders and slicks before returning home to Bend and the snow.

Hopefully this will help dust out the cobwebs from Cross season and help prepare for the first race of the Oregon Mountain Bike MTB Series coming up on February 22nd for the Echo Red to Red

2009 Oregon MTB Series Races updated!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:52:00 +0000

We're in for a real treat this spring and summer with 13 mountain bike races scheduled to be included in the series so far - make sure to mark your calendars for the full series of mountain bike races here in Oregon and don't forget to check the Oregon MTB Race Series Homepage presented by RiverCity Bicycles for schedule, results, overall and rules:

* 2/22 - Echo Red to Red
* 4/5 - Hornings Hustle
* 4/25 - Bear Springs ST
* 4/26 - Bear Springs XC
* 5/3 - Peak Sports Mudslinger (OR State Champs)
* 5/10 - Web Cyclery Cascade Chainbreaker
* 5/16 - Spring Thaw
* 5/16 - Falls City Festival XC
* 6/7 - Picketts Charge
* 6/21 - Test of Endurance 50
* 6/27 - Return on the Jedi ST
* 6/28 - Return on the Jedi XC
* 7/4 - 8 hrs of Independence

He told me to...who was I to argue...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:10:00 +0000

He told me to...

Inspiration comes in many guises but a day of subliminal influence from Baby T's sweatshirt was enough to dust off the Scalpel for a little early season riding.

The beauty of Bend in the winter is the ability to both ski and ride in the same day. After an AM zip up to Mt. Bachelor for some skate skiing I swapped the skis for two wheels, downed a sandwich and headed "out East".

Known as the Oregon Badlands, the area sprouts doubletrack for miles in all directions across the wide open volcanic plains surrounding Horse Ridge. Home to deer, rabbit, grouse, mountain lion, coyotes, etc. it was easy to not feel alone climbing up into the hills.

Once on Horse Ridge, I hooked onto the nice network of rocky singletrack to drop back down to the car. All said and done, a nice way to kick off the year! Thanks Ronan for getting me out of the house!

Off to California for some warmer miles next week!

First Oregon MTB race coming 2/22

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:35:00 +0000

Here's the latest from Brian on the race - www.echoredtored.com:

Thanks for your interest in our race. We plan to make it a fun and exciting addition to Oregon mountain bike racing. The snow road winery/echo west vineyard MTB trail system is located on a section of land called alkali canyon. It shows up with that name on some older maps. It is a little east of road 1348. The Blue Mountain Singletrack club has GPS co-ordinates to the start of the trail system on there site www.bluemountainstc.org.

To give you an idea of elevation the difference between the highest and the
lowest point on the track is about 700 feet but the total accumulated elevation gain is about 3000. I have been describing the course to people as having a lot of short/punchy up and downs that give the course a surprising amount of total elevation. We have the race up on (MapMyRide.com) under races/events but it is not currently mapped but it will be soon and we will have a link from our site to (Map My Ride) here is an article in the East Oregonian about the training rides we have had out on the course

http://www.eastoregonian.com/Main.asp?SectionID=15&ArticleID=85063

also the city of Echo has a website

http://echo-oregon.com

and it has a link to the official brochure that I am sending out to the bike stores.

Thanks
Brian Cimmiyotti

2009 Oregon MTB Series notes and updates

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Greetings and happy new year to all off road cyclists. This series will take place from February through July and include a variety of XC (cross country) and ST (Short Track races) or Marathon throughout the State of Oregon. Each race that participates will have points to earn that will accumulate based on number of riders and type of race that you are in (XC /Marathon or ST).

We will once again have the points chase for each of 20 categories and also the very
competitive team chase for the top 3 teams in the state of Oregon. Your top 5 team placings
from each event will accumulate for a total at the end of the season. In 2007 Capitol Subaru
was crowned as best team and last season Team S & M took the title from Capitol Subaru
and followed closely by Pistis of Southern Oregon.

Sunnyside Sports launches new website

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:43:00 +0000

Sunnyside Sports launches new website - that's right, its official: Sunnyside Sports is brand-spanking new.

Check out the only place to find Ryan Trebon working on the comb over, Central Oregon's first-hand xc ski reports (assuming we eventually get snow) and what's hot (Mike's Twitter account, Funner trail) and what's not (where's the freaking snow already?).

Check it out: Sunnyside Sports

End of the season riding

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:28:00 +0000

End of the season riding is here in Bend, Oregon...and I must say its been stellar. Trails on Swede Ridge and lower are mostly open with everything south-facing in perfect, tacky condition. Thanks to the Whoops rehab team for buffing out the bumps, whoop-dis, tabletops and berms. Nice.

If you haven't had a chance to ride the new trail - "Funner" - from Wanoga down to Storm King - GO NOW.

Final race of the season this weekend in Portland at the USGP's. Must say Thanksgiving, Jubele Ale and lots of muffin cooking has put the training plan on hold till next season...

Oregon State CX Championships / Series Finals

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:36:00 +0000

Oregon State CX Championships / Series Finals
Mud should never give your nose that suspicious and curious twinge, especially when you’re scheduled to spend the next hour in it. Racing at Washington County Fairgrounds last weekend for the Oregon State CX Championships and Cross Crusade Series Finals more than provided us with a “taste” of animal-flavored mud where the local rodeo takes precedence over two-wheeled fun. Still, somehow, over 1100 racers plus their hardy fans made the slog to churn and burn up the soupy, flat course that wound its way through fields, barns, the rodeo arena and wood chip piles. The A field had the usual suspects out there gunning for the title including myself, now with a second row call up. High hopes dipped with a slow started but I had a couple of good early laps to pull 6th place within spitting distance (lots and lots of spitting with all the cowsh*t there). Alas, it wasn’t to be and the gap stayed at 15 seconds to finish 7th on the day. Good times and dang, this cross scene is fun with all the racers, spectators, beer and waffles! Try it out if you haven’t already.

Congrats to fellow SoBe rider Emily VanMeter on making the podium with a 3rd place!

Photo courtesy of pdxcross.com (check out their site - amazing photos)