VeloNews Race & Ride Guide features four Oregon races

Mar 21, 2010 by editor

The recently released race and ride guide from VeloNews should help cement Oregon’s reputation as one of the nation’s bicycle racing hot spots.

No less than three Oregon stage races made the select group of 13 multi-day events featured in the guide.

The Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic in The Dalles got a tip of the hat from the VN editors in just its second year on the schedule. The three-day, four-stage race in late April is also a qualifying event for the Nature Valley Pro Ride. From VeloNews:

“Beautiful as it may be, the Columbia River Gorge is infamous for its winds; just ask the windsurfers who flock to Hood River. To make the podium, you’ll need to stay sheltered, light up the time trial and hang on the climb with the lead group …”

In its ninth year, the three-day, four-stage Elkhorn Classic Stage Race in Baker City also made the race and ride guide this year. The June 18-20 event has become a must-do stage race for teams from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and beyond. From VeloNews:

“Riders would do well to save something for the final stage, the Dooley Mountain Road Race, which dishes up over 7,000 feet of elevation gain, including the eight-mile, six-percent average gradient to the summit finish.”

And, of course, everyone’s favorite race in Hood River is back in the guide. Having secured a new title sponsor for 2010, the Indie Hops Mt. Hood Cycling Classic will expand this year to six days and will start with a prologue time trial and circuit race in Portland.

Also new for this year is the Mt. Adams Road Race, an exciting treat that promoter Chad Sperry has been keeping in reserves. The stage race winds up with the traditional Scenic Gorge Time Trial, Wy’East Road Race and Downtown Hood River Criterium. The Pro/1 and Cat 2 Men’s races will start June 3. The Pro/1/2/3 Women and the rest of the categories will start Thursday, June 5, at the Mt. Adams stage. From VeloNews:

“Race Director Chad Sperry calls the Mt. Adams Road Race one for the sprinters. ‘There are two moderate big-ring climbs that allow the sprinters an opportunity before we beat them into a pulp on the time trial and climbing stages.’ “

Ashland’s Spring Thaw Mountain Bike Festival in mid-May gets mention in the “Mountain Races” section as well. The two-day event features a Saturday cross country race and a Sunday downhill. It’s also a Kenda Cup qualifying race. From veloNews:

“The Spring Thaw has something for everyone. Just ask the hundreds who showed up last year. And the year before, and the year before, all the way back to 1995.”

Oregon readers of the race and ride guide also get a few more treats on pages 10-11 and 49, which prominently feature riders from last year’s Land Rover-ORBEA squad based out of Portland in sweet photos from Brad Kaminski.