Hills, sprints, crit, endurance & dirt highlight big weekend

Jul 21, 2010 by editor

Another big weekend of racing means more than just the pros and amateur stage racers at the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend. OBRA has a full schedule on tap this weekend that should fill the needs of just about anybody who’s ever “turned a pedal in anger.” The Race Across Oregon, a RAAM qualifying event, will give riders a chance to test their stamina against a 530-mile course that start in Hood River. Ironclad’s Saturday night Twilight Street Sprints promise to a fun and exciting evening of drag racing for bicycles. The fixed-gear category and the downtown Pearl District location should draw fans that may not normally attend bike races. The black-and-yellow crew is following up the street sprint show Sunday with a standard four-corner criterium on a brand new course in downtown Hillsboro. And OUCH, the larch Mountain Hillclimb Time Trial will be back again this year to inflict pain and suffering on the challengers.

SATURDAY, July 24
Race Across Oregon: The 530-mile OBRA-sanctioned Race Across Oregon takes off Saturday from Hood River and sends riders over hill and dale before they return to finish in Hood River. Competitors will climb more than 40,000 feet in their campaign to reach the finish line approximately 30 hours later. Divisions included in the race are: Male/Female Soloist; Tandem; 2 or 4 Person teams; and Corporate (8 person) teams.

Ironclad Twilight Street Sprints: The Twilight Street Sprints on NW 13th will be a 3.5 block straight up “Cutting heads” sprint with an assisted start and a lottery draw. Anyone can race anyone, the only separation will be girls will race girls, and boys will race boys. There will be a separate fixed-gear class men/women. No drafting. Top two go on, bottom two are done. Racing for cash, pride and fun, since we can’t classify this as a crit, tt, or track event.

SUNDAY, July 25
Ironclad Downtown Hillsboro Criterium: Downtown Hillsboro Criterium is all locked up and a GO! NEW AWESOME RACE! A 4 corner barn burner right down main street, so there’s plenty of eats and drinks on this very spectator friendly course. Just a block from the last MAX stop, so super easy for PDX racers to get to the event or home from it! Ride out for a warm up then MAX it home, or vice versa. The course is wide open on awesome pavement. Local businesses are psyched up to have a big event right in the heart of downtown. Tons of cash and prizes, so bring your best legs because the primes will be plentiful.

Larch Mountain Hillclimb Time Trial: Starting with two smooth, wide shouldered miles along the Scenic George Hwy, the route then turns onto Larch Mt. road for three miles of rollers before a steady slow burn climb over the remaing 14.1 miles through old growth forest. The course climbs 3,000’ over the 16.53-mile total. The summit finish park features an amazing and breathtaking view and is yours for a 300m walk up a paved and gravel path from finish. Note: The final 50m to the summit includes stairs but is worth the time and definitely the view.

Jacksonville Short Track Series: The Southern Oregon short track series continues.