Starla Teddergreen won the Open Women's race at the final Monday Night PIR of the season.

PORTLAND — Monday Night PIR closed out the season with two new winners in the Open Women and Masters Cat 1/2/3 races. River City Bicycles’ Eirik Schulz warmed up for the coming cyclocross season with a winning evening on the race track’s wide tarmac. Schulz notched 16 points, two better than runners-up Dan Quirk (Veloce Racing) and James Karmer (Arizona Masters Racing). The Open Women’s race saw series leader Lisa Reeve back at the front, but newcomer Starla Teddergreen (Vanderkitten) squeaked out the win with 18 points, just one better than Reeve in second. Veloforma’s Tina Brubaker was third with 12 points.

Hammer Velo’s Keith Levesque won the Masters 3/4 race ahead of Team Oregon’s Aaron Aikin and Ironclad’s Shaun Conley. Catherine Cooper (Word-RCB) won the Novice Women’s race, and Rob Fleskes (Harder Cycling) won the Novice Men’s race.

GETTING THE GARMINS
Lisa Reeve (Veloforma) and Christian Tresser (Cyclepath) took home the Garmin Edge 305 units courtesy of Strava.com as winners of the Women’s and Masters 1/2/3 monthly series for August. Monthly winners in all the categories also won green PIR Series Leader jerseys and gift certificates to Laurelwood Brewing.

Sprinting for hot spot points in close quarters.

Check out the PHOTO GALLERY for this race.

RESULTS
Monday Night PIR
August 30

Senior Women
1. Teddergreen, Starla (Vanderkitten) 18.0
2. Reeve, Lisa (Veloforma) 17.0
3. Brubaker, Tina (Veloforma) 12.0
4. Levo, Jenn (Bridgetown Velo) 9.0
5. Kaplan, Jessica (Therapeutic Associates Cycling/GENR8) 7.0
Masters 1/2/3
1. Schulz, Eirik (Specialized River City Bicycles) 15.0
2. Quirk, Daniel (Veloce Racing) 13.0
3. Kramer, James (Arizona Masters Racing) 13.0
4. Heaberlin, Cliff (Guinness Cycling Team) 12.0
5. French, Eddie (Guinness Cycling Team) 10.0
Masters 4/5
1. Levesque, Keith (Hammer Velo) 16.0
2. Aikin, Aaron (Team Oregon/Laurelwood Brewing) 14.0
3. Conley, Shaun (Ironclad Performance Wear) 12.0
4. Seelig, Peter (Dr Will Bar) 10.0
5. Niquet, Stephan (Team Oregon/Laurelwood Brewing) 7.0
Novice Women
1. Cooper, Catherine (Word-RCB) 15.0
2. Burton, Alexandra 12.0
3. Atkinson, Maria (Team Bike Tires Direct) 10.0
4. Clark, Sandra 8.0
5. Wortman, Inge (Verge) 7.0
Novice Men
1. Fleskes, Rob (Harder Cycling) 15.0
2. Ferguson, Brian 12.0
3. Black, Loren 10.0
4. Armstrong, Mark 8.0
5. Boston, Rick 7.0
Complete OBRA results are HERE.

MORE PHOTOS HERE: http://cyclingaction.exposuremanager.com/g/august_30_2010

Davy Yeater leads the men's race early as the field kicks up a dust cloud at Kruger's Farm Sunday. Photo credit: Pat Malach

SAUVIE ISLAND — The Kruger’s Kermesse Farm Criterium bid a dusty welcome to Oregon’s cyclocross season Sunday at this U-pick farm on Sauvie Island northwest of Portland. Molly Cameron took the win in the Men’s A event after soloing the last half of the race in front of last year’s Cross Crusade winner Sean Babcock (Team S&M) and River City Bicycles’ Ian Brown. Speedvagen’s Tina Brubaker took the Women’s A win alone ahead of River City Bicycles’ Amy Campbell and Brigette Brown.

Molly Cameron soloed in for the win in the Men's A race. Photo credit: Pat Malach

The nearly 2 km dirt course had no barriers or run-ups but featured plenty of finely ground dust, especially on the backside near the cornfields and farmhouses. Traversing hard-packed farm roads and some lesser-traveled paths, most riders chose ‘cross bikes for the day.

River City Bicycles’ Davey Yeater animated the men’s race early with a burst from the line that strung out the pack and started making an immediate selection. Aaron Olson, who got his road racing start in Oregon before riding in Europe with T-Mobile and Saunier-Duvall and then coming back to the states with Bissell and Colavita/Sutter Home, made the move to bring back Yeater. Cameron was the only rider able to eventually get on his wheel.

With Yeater dispatched and spit out the back of the chasing groups as well, Olson and Cameron powered on until Olson met with some untimely luck and apparently flatted, leaving Cameron alone at the front to press home the advantage the pair had worked for.

“Aaron brought Davy back, and then that was the race after that,” Cameron said. “Aaron had a gap and I got up to it. I saw Ian and Sean back there behind me and I was just totally cross-eyed. I mean I was just lucky that Aaron flatted or he would have put the screws to me today, for sure. It was a fast road race there, you know.”

With Brown and Babcock trading off powering the chase, Cameron kept the pace high and maintained a fairly consistent 15- to 20-second gap by riding the hard section hard and trying to recover whenever possible.

“There’s like 50 feet of elevation, and I was making a point of hitting it as hard as I could on that part,” Cameron said. “Then there’s a downhill section where you can kind of recover. I was going as hard as I could, I mean all out, then I’d get to the top and catch my breath for a couple seconds.”

It was a strategy that paid off for Cameron, who crossed the line alone ahead of Babcock in second and then Brown trailing in for third.

BRUBAKER CONQUERS CLOUDS FOR WOMEN’S WIN

Tina Brubaker added another criterium to her palmares, this time on the farm. Photo credit: Pat Malach

In the Women’s A race, Speedvagen’s Tina Brubaker joined River City Bicycles’ Amy Campbell and Brigette Brown on the front as the trio circled the hard-packed roads around the pumpkin and melon fields that dotted the first three-fourths of the course. The riders hung tight together for the first half of the race until Brown got hung up in traffic from fields that had started minutes before the women.

“There was a guy that Brigette couldn’t get around in the last corner and we kind of gapped her off a little bit,” Brubaker said.

From that point on, it was a battle of two accomplished road criterium riders; Brubaker most recently wining the Ironclad Hillsboro Criterium and Campbell finishing second at the Vancouver and Franz Bakery criteriums.

“We had a good one-two going,” Brubaker said. “It was a tough battle. It’s a really hard and fast course.”

But the battle was cut short in the closing laps by mechanicals. First Brubaker broke her front derailleur, then Campbell suffered a more catastrophic dropped chain when a piece of metal lodged in her drivetrain. Campbell removed the debris and replaced the chain, but the delay gave Brubaker enough of an advantage to solo the last three laps for the win.

“I looked up and saw that she had just dropped her chain,” Brubaker said, “but then I saw her get off her bike and I was like, “Alright, I just gotta keep riding.’”

Campbell was back in the race quickly enough to hold onto her second-place spot, with Brown crossing the line next for third.

OBRA’s cyclocross season takes off in full two weeks from now with the Cross Over Stage Race in Eugene and the Pain & Suffr’n CX race on Bald Peak outside of Portland.

Check out the PHOTO GALLERY for this race.

RESULTS
Kruger’s Kermesse Farm Crit
Sunday, Aug. 29

Men A
1. Molly Cameron (Portland Bicycle Studio)
2. Sean Babcock (Team S&M)
3. Ian Brown (River City Bicycles)
Women A
1. Tina Brubaker (Speedvagen)
2. Amy Campbell (River City Bicycles)
3. Brigette Brown (River City Bicycles)

MORE PHOTOS HERE: http://cyclingaction.exposuremanager.com/g/2010_cyclo-cross_photos

Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island will host the Kruger's Kermesse Farm Crit Sunday. File Photo / Pat Malach

Road racing takes a well-deserved break this weekend, but the first race on the OBRA 2010 cyclocross calendar picks up the slack. Sunday’s Kruger’s Kermesse Farm Crit presented by Bike N Hike bills itself as a perfect transition between the road and ‘cross seasons, and Oregon’s MTB season continues with the Stagecoach XC in Jacksonville. For those not yet ready to head off the pavement, the OBRA Masters Track Championships run Saturday and Sunday at Alpenrose Dairy Velodrome in southwest Portland.

SATURDAY, Aug. 28

OBRA Masters Track Championships; Alpenrose Velodrome
Masters men and women will battle over two days for the 2010 OBRA championships in six age-graded categories. Saturday’s racing will include time trials, sprints and keirins. Racing starts at 10 a.m.

Stagecaoch XC; Jacksonville
This is what an MTB cross country race is all about. Epic climbs to the tune of almost 2,000 vertical ft of elevation gain, sweet single-track trail and demanding descents will make this one of the most technical courses of the year. While the overall distance seems short, this course will require every bit of your resolve! Registration is from 7-9 a.m. Racing starts at 10 a.m.

SUNDAY, Aug. 29

OBRA Masters Track Championships; Alpenrose Velodrome
Masters men and women will battle over two days for the 2010 OBRA championships in six age-graded categories. Sunday’s racing will include points races, madisons and pursuits.

Kruger’s Kermesse Farm Crit; Sauvie Island
Although it’s called a crit, this event will probably feel more like a fast and non-technical ‘cross race over hard-packed farm roads. The course at Kruger’s Farm on Sauvie Island will feature some potholes and ruts, a sprinkle of gravel, a bit of sand, and, depending on the weather, possibly some mud. However, everything will be 100 percent rideable with no barriers or dismounts. The spectator-friendly venue, which also hosts the Kruger’s Crossing cyclocross race in late November, will feature live music, a beer garden, catered food and, of course, a kiddie race. Registration opens at 9 a.m. Racing starts at 11 a.m.

Oakridge Super D; Westfir
The second race of the Oregon Super D Series hits southern Oregon Sunday at this Oakridge event. A Super D/Enduro mountain bike race is best described as a downhill cross-country race. It encompasses roughly 80 percent descending and 20 percent climbing built into the course. Super D racing is for the all-around rider with DH, XC and Freeride skills. Racing starts at 10 a.m.

A calm start to the Gentleman's Ride

By Emiliano Jordan
The 2010 Rapha Gentlemen’s Ride Northwest turned into an epic day of battling heat, dust, sharp rocks and, according to my GPS, 8,755 feet of vertical. It what was one of the hardest courses I’ve ever done.

My day started out innocently enough with a quick “hi” to Rapha’s Slate Olson, who I haven’t seen in too long, followed by a trip into the winery and some careful loading of calories into my jersey pockets. Then with some time to spare the Team Oregon’s group sat on a few pallets to avoid the already intense sun.  Some jokes were passed around and playing the alphabet game is mentioned, “Yeah, but will we pass a Dairy Queen, or will we be stuck on Q for the whole ride?”  This, as with most starting-line plans, quickly fell apart when confronted with the reality of how hard this day would be.

I Love Tarmac

Like most team, after going out in a tailwind we were excited by our average speed. Our rotation was working well and we were reminding each other to eat and drink in the heat. While we didn’t know it at the time, passing the Portland Bicycle Studio’s riders when they pulled over to fix a flat was an eerie omen of events to come. Undaunted, we passed through turns and along the gorgeous country side between Forest grove and south west Columbia County.

Flat tires were plenty on Pittsburgh Rd.

Photo Credit: Jose Sandoval

Gravel Section 1; Pittsburgh Road

For most teams, as with ours, this was the start of the end.  We rode up the climb quickly.  We joked around, I took some video with my phone, it was a good time.  Then we stopped climbing; cleared tire tracks at 10 mph turned into paths of sharp rocks at 18 mph.  Only two bikes on our team suffered flats, but it meant seven flats, eight tubes, another patched, and one severely cut tire. Part of the problem was that in our rush we weren’t getting our tubes back up to 120 psi causing more pinch flats. We were hurrying because we were obviously locked in a battle to the death with Portland Bicycle Studios (and two other teams) over who would leave the gravel and misery first.  In the end though, we all lost. Our only prize, memories of playing flat tire hop scotch.

The mens Iron Clad team worked hard for a very fast time.

Photo Credit: Jose Sandoval

Did I Mention I love Tarmac?

Trying as best I can to save my front rim from the flat I suffered 100 feet before the end of the gravel section, I resist an urge to kiss some good ol’ asphalt once we get there. I have to fix the flat, and Rob needs to better repair an overlooked cut in his sidewall, before we can get on with this. Three of our teammates have been waiting for 20 minute oblivious to the ordeal Chris, Robert and I have endured.  Ignorance is bliss. One more tube and a dollar boot down we get on with the ride. The next section includes some great rollers and descents.  This is how I imagined the Gentlemen’s Ride. Our next planned stop, around mile 60, lifts my spirits a bit. We do not look nearly as cracked as some of the other riders nor as bewildered as the lady behind the counter, who’s not at all shocked she’s completely out of water. The scene reminds me of the water hole part out of Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth documentary. If only the lions had been hunting melted Snicker’s bars and ice cold Coca-Cola as I was.

The next stretch would prove difficult for the team. Riding through Scappoose it becomes very apparent one of our riders is suffering. This is not unimaginable as the heat has made everything a lot worse on legs and body alike. All riders have been in this situation, when you know friends of yours are counting on you, yet there’s a hollow feeling in your legs and stomach alike, your neck is sore and your eyes just lose focus. This is why when you’re there, even though you feel alone, everyone knows the feeling. Even though all five of us are willing to help, come push, pull and shove, we loose our sixth rider at the base of Otto Miller.

Rapha’s Women’s Team
Photo Credit: Jose Sandoval

Gravel Section 2; Otto Miller

Otto Miller, is what I had envisioned when I heard of gravel on the Gentlemen’s Ride, more sand and pebbles, less rocks that look like they were used for hunting by our ancestors. In fact, if it weren’t for the heat, this would have been a completely enjoyable climb. Instead we’re crossing the road from side to side trying to stay in the shade as long as possible. We’re picking up teams in ones and twos and I’m happy that more or less we’re ridding together. In a particularly strong lit spot an idea pops into my head.

Tomorrow we need a party bus… A double decker party bus, and on this bus there will be ice cold beer and food and all the riders currently suffering agonizing deaths in the name of watts. And in front of this bus will be Slate, riding his bike, over the whole gentlemen’s course, while we cheer and jeer and laugh merrily.

I take a picture to document the one lucid stream of thoughts I’ve had in an hour. It’s meant to be of my team, but I’m holding the camera backwards and snap one of myself… I may be cracking. The vision is over, but it puts a smile on my face and I get up the climb chuckling about a merry little party with cold beer and the suffering of the grand designer of this “Saturday in Hell.” (Sorry Slate)

Somewhere between the top of Otto Miller and the bottom of Dixie Mountain a few things happened to our team.  The first was we saw some Peacocks, as in The Peacocks. The second is we blew past our turn and added a 4-6 mi loop to our trip.  This doesn’t sounds as horrible in retrospect as it seemed at the time.  For some reason 100+ degree weather and the promise of cokes stashed in a field (Thanks Cow!) ahead of us on the route caused me to really really want to proceed.  That was until we preceded… because then Dixie Mountain started.

Ryan Trebon
Photo Credit: Jose Sandoval

Gravel Section 3; Dixie Mountain

My dad always told me he did his best thinking on the… Well, okay, kids.  I seem to do my best thinking on the bike.  It was at the start of Dixie Mountain that I came up with a new term, Tempo Gerke.  Let me explain a little bit as this all starts back in my Cat. 3 days in Tucson.  We were starting to take training seriously and quickly realized that everyone had a different definition as to what “tempo” really meant.  Most of us took it to mean a pace you could keep up for a ride no less than three hours long.  But for some group rides are a way to show strength, even if it’s only for the first half hour of the ride, hence Tempo Muerte.  But right now, I’m realizing I’m going to be on a gravel climb until my odometer hits 102, ironically the same temperature I will be climbing in, and so far it’s only clocked 96 and change.  I’m also realizing that my team mate has a tempo on climbs that is way beyond me.  It also dawns on me that I made a grave mistake and stopped eating around Scappooe, I’m pretty sure it was because it felt like the “race” had fallen apart, and it was the goal of “the race” that had kept me eating.  So as Pat rides away from me I dub the pace he’s setting Tempo Gerke.  There’s a few rules about Tempo Gerke that need to be adhered to.

• Tempo Gerke is a true tempo, it is not to be confused with false tempo paces such as Tempo Muerte. If this awful climb continued for at least three hours Gerke would, I’m positive, be able to sustain Tempo Gerke the entire way.
• Tempo Gerke is only to be used on climbs.
• Tempo Gerke is done in good nature.  Gerke does not set Tempo Gerke out of a show of strength. It’s as if we’re all climbing on 27t cogs and he’s on a 23t and needs to keep his legs turning.
• Tempo Gerke must absolutely destroy the moral and soul of at least one of the riders on the ride, in this case, me.

Setting the rules to Tempo Gerke is surprisingly less helpful in getting me up the hill than the previous thought. For me this falls into one of my most basic theories on exercise psychology. That is to be positive, the more negative the thoughts the worse your performance. You should force all but giggly, funny, positive thoughts out of your head, and yes I said it, giggly. There’s stories of Taumarans running up hills clicking, giggling and singing at a pace unsustainable by most.  Part of this is mentality… I though, am fresh out of giggly, funny and positive.

Tarmac, not what you used to be…

This is it, the final stretch.  A few climbs, Sky Line, Highway 30 and then, beer.  Sweet, sweet, beer.  As we’re leaving the final checkpoint and water station there’s resolve just to get home… 11am may have been a little late to leave, the course was longer and harder to complete than originally planned.  With this in mind we’re told to skip German Town.  We’ll not be completing the true course but this really has been hard enough as it is.  One of our riders really wants to do German Town, I’m pretty indifferent but mainly express that I’m okay on skipping another thrashing at Tempo Gerke. A few miles in Chris tells me he’s cramping pretty bad. No wait, not cramping yet, but soon.  I chuckle knowing that feeling and then… wait… It’s as if the thought planted a seed in my right quad. Yup, I’m going to cramp too.  See what I mean, if he’d told me something “giggly” I would have been set.  As it is I’m pretty much afraid to pedal but afraid not to.  We cross Cornelius Pass and head up what on some rides seems like a hill, but right now, it’s puny and insignificant.  As if realizing my thoughts on it’s mediocrity the hill forces me into cramps.  This results in a jerky, standing, climbing ritual.  It only becomes funny when Alex, our young gun, starts going backwards with the same motion.  It forces me into song… Alex giggles, we get over the top.

The end of the 2010 Gentlemen’s Ride
Photo Credit: Jose Sandoval

Chris King, The Finish

Finally we arrive.  As if redeeming all of our suffering, Chris King is way more glorious than I could have ever imagined.  The horrid cracks in the road are diamond encrusted, the 6 inch gaps in the train tracks are like riding a massaging chair, the rails them selves made of licorice, the beer is the coldest I’ve ever tasted. Okay, but seriously, it was awesome.  I pull up and quickly “acquire” a chair. Lana, in a move of pure genius, has brought a frozen washcloth in a zip-lock bag along with a fresh beer.  I quickly get rubbed down and all the dirt is gone, with it a lot of tension in my shoulders and back.  I’m done.  Thanks Rapha…

One more week remains in this season's PIR Tuesday Nighter race series.

PORTLAND — Rubicon-Orbea’s prolific winner Roman van Uden notched one last victory in Oregon Tuesday night at PIR before heading home to New Zealand next week. The Portland Twilight Criterium winner racked up 21 points over the evening in a tight battle with Rapha Racing’s John Leonard, who finished just one point behind. Guinness Cycling’s Cliff Heaberlin and Jason Riffle (HPC/Scott’s Cycles) tied with 15.

Hammer Velo’s Lincoln Wettenhall won the Cat 3/4 race in front of Mark Crawford (Ironclad Performance Wear) and Brad Whetstone (Colorado State). Jesse Trigg won the Cat 4/5 race ahead of Matthew Rider (Team Bike Tires Direct) and Michael Scalzo.

John Leonard (Rapha Racing) battled Rubicon-Orbea's Roman van Uden all evening and finished one point short of the New Zealand rider..

Check out the PHOTO GALLERY.

RESULTS
PIR Tuesday Nighter
August 24

Pro/1/2/3
1. Van Uden, Roman (Rubicon-ORBEA) 21
2. Leonard, John (Rapha Racing) 20
3. Heaberlin, Cliff (Guinness Cycling Team) 15
4. Riffle, Jason (HPC/Scott’s Cycles) 15
5. Harwood, Jeff (Ironclad Performance Wear) 13
Cat 3/4
1. Wettenhall, Lincoln (Hammer Velo) 18
2. Crawford, Mark (Ironclad Performance Wear) 13
3. Whetstone, Brad (Colorado state) 12
4. Penner, Daniel (Ironclad Performance Wear) 11
5. Weinstein, Jason
Cat 4/5
1. Trigg, Jesse 15
2. Rider, Matthew (Team Bike Tires Direct) 12
3. Scalzo, Michael 10
4. Webb, Emerson (Beaverton Bicycle Club) 10
5. Russell, Cameron 9


MORE PHOTOS HERE: http://cyclingaction.exposuremanager.com/g/pir_tuesday_8-24-10

The OBRA Criterium Championships Sunday in Albany awarded medals to the top three in multiple age- and skill-graded categories.

ALBANY — Cycling invaded these downtown streets for the 3rd Annual Historic Albany Criterium, the second year this wide-open, super-fast, six-corner course has hosted the championships. Moderate summer weather and the popular venue combined for a beautiful day of racing.

Check out the PHOTO GALLERY.

MORE PHOTOS HERE: http://cyclingaction.exposuremanager.com/g/2010_obra_criterium_championships

Gentle Lovers' Steven Beardsley takes the win at the OBRA Criterium Championships Sunday in Albany.

ALBANY — Steven Beardsley kept the OBRA criterium champion’s jersey in the Gentle Lovers family for the third straight year Sunday by taking a bunch sprint for the win in front of Stephen Bedford (Word-RCB) and his teammate Pete Groblewski.

In the women’s race, Flywheel Bicycle Solutiuons rider Jade Wilcoxson repeated her 2009 performance and took the win in front of Leia Tyrrell (CAPA Cycling) and Karey Swan (Therapeutic Associates/GENR8) in a bunch sprint.

Southern Oregon's Jade Wilcoxson (Flywheel Bicycle Solutions) won her second consecutive OBRA criterium title Sunday.

Cycling invaded these downtown streets for the 3^rd Annual Historic Albany Criterium, the second year this wide-open, super-fast, six-corner course has hosted the championships. Moderate summer weather and the popular venue combined for a beautiful day of racing.

Aggressive tactics drove full-throttle paces throughout the entire senior men’s and women’s events, with plenty of attacks coming but nothing managing to stick enough of a gap to get dangerous. In the end, both fields charged to the line for gutter-to-gutter sprints.

Wilcoxson, the women’s defending champion, had a fairly short list of who to watch out for in the closing laps. CAPA Cycling’s Leia Tyrrell, fourth at last year’s championships as a Cat 3, has been on a tear this year. The young rider finished second at the collegiate criterium nationals and since July has won the Gresham Criterium, the Vancouver Courthouse Criterium, the OBRA Road Race Championship and the Longview Criterium.

“She was the main one that I was worried about,” Wilcoxson said. “I was sitting third wheel coming through the back stretch before the last corner and saw out of the corner of my eye that she jumped. So I thought I guess I better go now. “

Wilcoxson was first through the last corner and drilled it for the line. It was a winning move that she was able to practice earlier in the race.

“For the first prime that was kind of the same scenario,” Wilcoxson said. “I jumped way early and was able to hold her off.  So that was kind of my practice and it worked for the last lap, too.”

Wilcoxson held off Tyrrell, who took second in front of Karey Swan, Jen Akeroyd and Megan Chinburg (who won the separately scored Cat 3 race).

Defending her criterium champion’s jersey caps a successful season for Wilcoxson, who won the Kings Valley Road Race and the Umpqua Criterium before placing second at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic stage 5 criterium, winning the High Desert Omnium criterium and the finishing 18^th overall at the NRC Cascade Cycling Classic.

BEARDSLEY KEEPS IT IN THE FAMILY

The men’s race followed a similar pattern to the women’s, with constant attacking, chasing and counter-attacking keeping the field strung out and the racing safe. Word-RCB’s Stephen Bedford and Jake Hansen animated the race early on with repeated attacks. Aaron Olson, a former OBRA rider and pro back racing in Oregon again, also drove the pace with repeated attacks.

When Bedford, Team Oregon’s Chris Swan and Beardsley got a small gap about a third of the way into the race, the field immediately pounced to bring them back. And so it went for the rest of the day. The fast course and good-sized field combined to defeat any attempts to gain an advantage over the field, producing a mad rush from beginning to end.

When the field rolled into the final laps together, Portland’s Gentle Lovers swarmed the front with James Adamson pushing the pace, Pete Groblewski and last year’s winner Sam Nicoletti patrolling the front, and 2008 winner Steven Beardsley waiting patiently behind.

With one lap to go tack specialist Zac Kovalcik (BRIHOP) attacked over the start/finish, taking Beardsley and the rest of the field with him. Kovalcik pulled through the backside of the course until only three of the six corners remained.

“Bedford came in front of me on Zac’s wheel going down that back straightaway,” Beardsley said. “So I attacked on the inside and got into that corner right before Zac did. I had a clear shot coming out of the corner, so I just put my head down and shifted into a big gear.”

Beardsley had plenty of time for his signature heart salute crossing the line, while Bedford, able to grab Beardsley’s wheel but unable to come around it, nailed second. Groblewski crossed the line third, also saluting his team’s winning effort.

Check out the PHOTO GALLERY for this race.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
OBRA Criterium Championships
Sunday, Aug. 22

Senior Men
1. Steven Beardsley (Gentle Lovers)
2. Stephen Bedford (Word-RCB)
3. Pete Groblewski (Gentle Lovers)
4. Josh Liberles (Ten Speed Drive)
5. Zac Kovalcik (Brihop)
Senior Women
1. Jade Wilcoxson (Flywheel Bicycle Solutions)
2. Leia Tyrrell (CAPA Cycling)
3. Karey Swan (Therapeutic Associates/GENR8)
4. Jen Akeroyd (Sorella Forte)
5. Tina Brubaker (Veloforma)

Cat 3 Men
1. Alex Lightman (Guinness Cycling Team)
2. Brian Ratliff (Portland Velo)
3. Brent Poole
Cat 4 Men
1. Ryan Dunigan
2. Todd Berger
3. Ian Bagshaw
Cat 5 Men
1. Aaron Davis
2. Tom Cordier
3. Thomas McCann
Cat 4 Women
1.Liz Cartwright
2. Erin Goodall
3. Mielle Blomberg
Junior Men 17-18
1. Andrew Bennett
2. Zach Bowden
3. Jack Mahler
Jr. Men 15-16
1. Adam Artner
2. Jack Rising
3. Stephen Gann
Jr. Men 13-14
1. Sam Rosenberg
2. Killian Bailey
3. Emerson Webb
Jr. Men 10-12
1. Grant McElroy
2. Eric Hammerquist
3. Grayson Bailey
Jr. Women 17-18
1. Liz Cartwright
Jr. Women 13-14
1. Hannah Mcbride
Jr. Women 10-12
1. Haley Wilson
Women Masters 30+
1. Heather Hill
2. Jen Akeroyd
3. Amanda Atwill
Women Masters 40+
1. Kerry Martin
2. Mary Ramos
3. Sarah Tisdale
Women Masters 50+
1. Flo Leibowitz
2. Melissa Boyd
3. Cindy Minick Harder
Men Masters 30+
1. Nick Skenzick
2. Kenji Sugahara
3. Cliff Heaberlin
Masters Men 40+
1. Greg Van Scholten
2. Todd Fawcett
3. Paul Bourcier
Masters Men 50+
1. Jeff Tedder
2. Donald Vizzini
3. Ivan Meadors
Masters Men 60+
1. Ron Magnus
2. John Forbes
3. Phillip Lichtfield

Carl Decker took the win Saturday on the challenging Franz Bakery Criterium course.

PORTLAND — Pro mountain biker Carl Decker (Giant) followed up a win in his first-ever track race at the Alpenrose Velodrome Friday night by taking the men’s Pro/1/2/3 win at the Franz Bakery Criterium Saturday in Portland. Decker went solo early and then joined Rubicon-Orbea’s Ben Chaddock in a two-man breakaway that snagged up enough laps to win the points-race-format event in Portland’s central eastside. Ironclad Performance Wear’s Anna Christiansen left behind the rest of the women’s field, escaping the bunch on the fourth lap and gobbling up the race’s remaining points.

Alex Lightman (Guinness Cycling Team) soloed away to a win in the Cat 3 race. Veloce Racing’s Eric Sheagley won the Masters 35+ race. Troy Sexton was the Cat 4/5 winner.

Ironclad's Anna Christiansen rode the last 90 percent of the race off the front by herself.

Check out the PHOTO GALLERY.

RESULTS
Franz Bakery Criterium
Saturday, Aug. 21

Pro/1/2 Men
1. Decker, Carl (Giant)
2. Chaddock, Ben (Rubicon-ORBEA)
3. Olson, Aaron (Foundation Roots)
4. Groblewski, Pete (Gentle Lovers)
5. Liberles, Joshua (Ten Speed Drive Racing)
Senior Women
1. Christiansen, Anna (Ironclad Performance Wear)
2. Campbell, Amy (River City Bicycles)
3. Walle, Brianna (Ironclad Performance Wear)
4. Teddergreen, Starla (Super Relax Concept)
5. Tisdale, Sarah (Sorella Forte)

Cat 3 Men
1. Lightman, Alex (Guinness Cycling Team)
2. Barnes, Cameron
3. Emoff, Brent (BRIHOP)
4. Sherman, David (Bridgetown Velo)
5. Penner, Daniel (Ironclad Performance Wear)
Cat 4/5 Men
1. Sexton, Troy
2. Weeks, Scot (Bikesale.com)
3. Siroky, Evan
4. Selinger, Mike
5. Green, Goffrey (Capitol Velo/Lifesource)
Masters Men 35+
1. Sheagley, Eric (Veloce Racing)
2. Magaret, Nate (Rapha Racing)
3. Collura, Sal (SLOCUM Rebound Racing)
4. Ghilarducci, Thomas (bicycleattorney.com)
5. Ginsberg, Mark (HPC/Scott Cycle)

MORE PHOTOS HERE: http://cyclingaction.exposuremanager.com/g/2010_franz_bakery_crit

With two stages remaining — Saturday’s criterium and Sunday’s Queen stage — the 19-year-old rider from Bend holds a 48-second lead in the young rider competition over Trek-Livestrong’s Tim Roe and 1:12 over Lachlan Morton (Holowesko Partners/Garmin).

Ian Boswell finished the stage 3 time trial Friday at the Tour of Utah in 44th place and held onto the best young rider's blue jersey. Photo courtesy of Christopher See.

STAGE 3 RESULTS
1. Taylor Phinney (Trek-LIVESTRONG) 16:46
2. Levi Leipheimer (Mellow Johnny’s) 16:48
3. Jeremy Vennel (Bissell Pro Cycling) 16:57
4. Alex Dowsett (Trek-LIVESTRONG) 17:02
5. Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing) 17:05
44. Ian Boswell (Bissell Pro Cycling) 18:01

OVERALL STANDINGS
1. Levi LEIPHEIMER (Radioshack) 6.57:24
2. Francisco MANCEBO (Canyon Bicycles) +1:37
3. Darren LILL (V Australia) +1:49
4. Philip ZAJICEK (V Australia) +2:07
5. Ian BOSWELL (BISSELL Pro Cycling Team) +2:29

Tour of Utah photos courtesy of Christopher See.

Gentle Lovers rider Sam Nicloetti's OBRA criterium champion's jersey will be up for grabs this Sunday in Albany. File Photo / Pat Malach

SATURDAY, August 21

OBRA Junior and Senior Team Track Championships: Alpenrose Velodrome
Junior Races start at 9 a.m., with registration at 8. Senior events start at noon. Entry fee is $5 for juniors, $10 per event for seniors. Junior races will include two- and four-lap time trails, scratch races, points races, chariot races and pursuiuts. Junior events will be omnium scored with one set of medals given out for the final omnium. Senior races include team pursuit, men’s and women’s team sprint, a married couples’ sprint, madisons and a tandem pursuit. Racing should end about 2 p.m.

Franz Bakery Criterium: Portland
The inaugural Franz Bakery Criterium is an eight-corner race in Portland’s central eastside. The 1.13 km course near the namesake bakery features wide streets with good road surface, and, despite having eight turns, isn’t overly technical. Twenty feet of climbing per lap will sting the legs, but it also means 20 feet of descending to recover. At this race, every lap counts because the first rider across the line each lap earns two points. Points will be awarded 15 deep for the final lap, and the rider with the most points overall wins the race. It’s also rumored each rider will get some Franz products to take home. Racing starts at 3:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, August 22

OBRA Criterium Championships: Albany
The Third Annual Historic Albany Criterium will once again host the OBRA Criterium Championships on a classic L-shaped, six-corner 1 km downtown course with a 300-meter finishing straight. The roads are wide, fast, and safe with plenty of excellent spectator spots. This course was well received by riders at last year’s event. Medals are awarded to the top three OBRA members in each category.

OBRA CRITERIUM CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE