Pennington, Gebhard get Banana Belt #1 wins Sunday

Feb 28, 2010 by editor

UPDATE (3/4/10): After reviewing rider Steven Beardsley’s protest, the OBRA Board of Directors adjusted his sanction for dangerous riding to a warning and reinstated his win in the Pro/1/2 men’s race.

HENRY HAGG LAKE –Alice Pennington’s repeated attacks in the Women’s Cat 1/2/3 race at Banana Belt #1 paid off with a win after the Veloforma rider eventually broke away and rode solo for a lap and a half. Relegation upset the top spot in the Men’s Pro/1/2 race.

Steven Beardsley (Gentle Lovers) won a bunch sprint in the Pro/1/2 men’s race but was relegated for dangerous riding when he took his hands off the bars for a victory salute in tight quarters. Officials awarded the win to Bike Gallery’s Brad Gebhard, who finished ahead of Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly) and David Oliphant (Therapeutic Associates/GENR8).

The men’s field finished intact after repeated failed attacks from small groups of riders over the five-lap, 55-mile race. In a furious sprint for the line, Beardsley was neck and neck with Rathe on his left. Gebhard was sitting on his wheel and came up fast on his right. Beardlsey fought past the Jelly Belly U23 rider with a late surge in the final meters, but the he immediately let loose the bars for a traditional two-handed salute. Judges determined the move endangered other riders and relegated Beardsley, giving the win to Gebhard, who had just nipped Rathe to the line in a photo finish.

Pennington Powers Away From Women’s Field
In the Cat 1/2/3 women’s race, Veloforma showed up with a full squad of nine riders and had plenty of ammunition to wear down the competition over the race’s 44 miles. But it was Pennington, the team’s most experienced rider, who eventually snapped the elastic with a solo move and quickly started piling up time on the field.

“I just kept attacking on the hills,” Pennington said of her escape route. “They would chase, and finally when nobody was chasing I just kept going.”

The mountain bike specialist from Hood River time trialed nearly 20 miles to the finish, gaining more than three minutes over the field on her way to the line.

“It’s easy to stay out of sight on this course,” she said. “So you really have to be motivated and organized even to catch someone off by themselves.”

Cherry Pie winner Leia Tyrrell, a Cat 3 who rides for Oregon State U., said the large Veloforma team put its numbers to use early and often on the rolling lakeside roads, and once Pennington broke free there was no bringing her back.

“There was attack after attack after attack. I was like, ‘uh, oh,’ ” Tyrrell said. “I’m not sure where I was when (Pennington) got away, but she was off the front, and then she was a mile away.”

With Pennington riding out of sight even on the longest straightaways, the field was left to scrap for second place and a long list of valuable Oregon Cup points. Tyrrell jumped off the front of the field just before the finish to take the field sprint for second. Bend Bike ‘N Sport’s Brenna Lopez-Otero held off Sorella Forte’s Jen Akeroyd for third in the combined Cat 1/2/3 race.

RACE NOTES
The Women’s Cat 1/2/3 race Sunday was the only chance the Cat 1 and 2 women have to race as a group at this year’s series. Races #2 and #3 will have a separate races for Cat 3 women. The Pro/1/2 women have the option of riding with the Cat 3 men or Pro/1/2 men during those weeks.

Banana Belt #1 is also the first race of OBRA’s Oregon Cup, a seven-race series for Senior Cat 1/2 men and Senior Cat 1/2/3 women. The next race in the Oregon Cup is the Kings Valley Road Race April 10. The series culminates July 11 at the High Desert Omnium.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Banana Belt #1
Henry Hagg Lake
Sunday, Feb. 28

Men Pro/1/2
1. Brad Gebhard (Bike Gallery)
2. Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly)
3. David Oliphant (Therapeutic Associates/GENR8)

Women Cat 1/2/3 (combined)
1. Alice Pennington (Veloforma)
2. Leia Tyrrell (Oregon State U.)
3. Brenna Lopez-Otero (Bend Bike ‘N Sport)

CHECK BACK LATER FOR THE BANANA BELT #1 PHOTO GALLERY