Big weekend of dirt & road racing on tap for Oregon

Apr 30, 2010 by editor

Oregon will meet the transition from April to May this weekend with a variety of road and mountain bike races stretching from Eugene to Blodgett to the foothills of Mt. Hood.

ROAD
The Oregon Cup Series makes its fourth stop Saturday at the Eugene-Roubaix, where riders will cover it’s 1.5 mile stretch of gravel multiple times. Jelly Belly’s Jacob Rathe leads the Oregon Cup men’s series, but he’s currently racing in Europe with the U23 National Team and could likely lose his lead to second-placed Paul Bourcier of Hutch’s-Eugene. Veloforma’s Teri Sheasby is tied with Jade Wilcoxson (Bicycle Flywheel Solutions) int he women’s series, but Sheasby is currently at the wind-walloped NRC Tour of the Gila in New Mexico. It’s not known if Wilcoxson will be in Eugene Saturday.

The road racing continues with the final installment of the Beautiful Estacada Time Trial Sunday on Hwy 224 along the Clackamas River on the approach to Mt. Hood.

MTB
The 22nd Peak Sports Mudslinger will keep mountain bikers busy this weekend with the Super Downhill Saturday and the traditional Cross Country race on Sunday. The fourth stop in the Oregon XC Series, the Mudslinger is an Oregon staple.

The Downhill

“17 categories including Cat 3 to introduce riders to the awesome sport of Super D. This course will favor the person who can keep the legs turning over and with some slick trails to test your nerve as the next tree around the corner could have your name on it! This course is fast with 20-25 minute runs to bring you home and to finish a 110 ft climb in the last 1/4 mile to trash your legs. Plenty of room to pass in the middle and end of the run on logging roads as you will stage at 30 second intervals deep in the coast range of Oregon.Just when you think its over…its not! You get 2 runs total for a combined time for the day to see who has the bike handling and the guns to bring home the fastest time.”

The Cross Country

“…this course is unlike those Corvallis Clay mudslingers, instead we searches out mud that sprays and slings rolling downhill all the way to the finish with logging roads to get around your muddy friend. The race is later in the year so expect 55-60 degree temps and a 50% chance of rain. It will; be raining one week to the next so get a fender and a good mud tire and clean off the glasses to get ready to some classic mtb racing……fun is the word most used, well some other nice words as well, if you are not accustomed to 1700, 3200 or 3800 ft of climbing, but you need to start sometime….get your flow on at the Slinger!”