USGP of Cyclocross!!!!

Yeah! Here we go! With the Cross Crusade finished it's time for the annual visit from the USGP of Cyclocross. This is one of the most entertaining races on the Oregon cycling calendar, with top pros from across the country descending on Portland for two days of racing before heading over to Bend for the National Championships.

Both days of the USGP are filled with racing in all categories and several of us Portobellos raced on the sweet course out at PIR!  The course was incredibly muddy in a few spots, including shin deep mud that was completely unrideable during the morning races. However, most of the course was wide open and fast, which made for really fun riding.

Once our races were over, we took a well deserved break and watched the Elite Men and Women battle it out.  All of the favorites for Nationals were in the hunt for the podium at least one of the days, and many Portland locals put in great showings.

Sue Butler is always a crowd favorite and she did not disappoint on Saturday! She rode an outstanding race and crossed the line in third place behind Luna teammates Katerina Nash and Georgia Gould.

Speaking of crowd favorites, Jeremy Powers really stole the show. Not only did he win both days in the Mens Elite races, but he bunny-hopped the barriers pretty much every time he came to them.

But the rider who got the biggest cheers, despite his performance, had to be Chris Horner. He was decked out in his Radio Shack kit and attacking the course.  Although he didn't crack the top ten on Saturday, and he didn't race on Sunday, it was great to see him out there.

Barton Park Crusade Finale

Grey skies and cold rain, a prefect way to end the 2010 Cross Crusade.  And what better place to end it in than the gravel pit of Barton Park!  Through the years Barton has provided some memorable races for the Crusade. The combination of typically cold, wet weather, and the unforgiving terrain take their toll on rider and bicycle.

We had a pretty big crew out racing for the finale, with Eric, Todd, Tony, Mark, and Dan in the early races, and Matt H., Justin, Tym, Matt C. and the "Prodigal Son" Pablo rockin the afternoon contests.

Mud, Sweat, and Gears - PIR

Finally, the rains have come and cross season has fully actualized! It was feeling a little weird for a while, racing in the sun at Nincrossi and the dust bowl at Sherwood. I was thinking that buying the new Clement Crusade PDX mud tires was a mistake. But PIR never fails to bring the mud, and even though the race there was three weeks earlier than the last two years, we still managed to get some great, wet conditions.

We had a nice big crew out for the races on Sunday so it's a good thing we brought both tents! Big thanks to Jeff who volunteered to come out early and help set things up and take pictures all day, despite not racing. Another big thanks goes out to Team Oregon presented by Laurelwood Brewing. We were set up right next to them and their FOUR kegs, and they treated us to great beer all day long.

Nincrossi

Well, this Saturday was the inaugural Nincrossi cyclocross race, held up in the hills of southwest Washington at the Washougal Motocross track.  Tony, Ben, Matt and Marc we're treated to a fantastic day of weather and racing, and of course, beer.  The race was sponsored by Ninkasi Brewery and they came armed with three kegs of their finest, and every racer got a free beer with registration! Yeah! This was great for us, seeing as how the first two Cross Crusade races have been dry events.

Well, this picture makes the course look pretty flat but it was really anything but! No section of the course could be described as flat, and each lap included two hard climbs that really separated the fields.  Each lap also included a trip through the signature "N", which was a twisty course feature that was set on a steep hillside and shaped like the Ninkasi logo.

Despite the tough course we all had a great day and some pretty good results were had. And after it was all said and done, it was nice to kick back and relax with a cold one!

Heiser Farms

While the Cross Crusade races have continued to grow and field sizes regularly run in the 200's, the growth of the popularity of cyclocross has also led to the addition of many other smaller races. On Saturday, Dan, Matt and Ben went to race at Heiser Farms, outside of Dayton, with field sizes topping out at 25.

Saturday started with a downpour and the rain stayed through the afternoon races making for a great, but very challenging race.  While the very challenging greasy mud conditions left many struggling.....

.... Matt was able show off his handling skills and finish an impressive 2nd.  Dan had a great race as well coming in 9th.

 ...and Ben managed to stay alive and get plenty of running in as well.

More pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/Portobello.Racing/HeiserFarms#

Hammer and the Nail

Well, as Lance Armstrong once said, "Some days you're the hammer and somedays you're the nail." Today, we we're the nail! The muddy course at Rainier High School took it's toll on us resulting in 3 DNF's, bloodshed, and a long week ahead for our tool kits.  The tough guy of the day award goes to Mark Adamski for running his bike across the finish line (see above) to avoid the DNF, and he still placed 61st out of 95!

Here's a shot of Dan powering up the final hill enroute to a solid finish.

 Would you trust these guys with your daughter? Uhh no, I wouldn't either!

Zak moved up to the B's this week and rocked a great race.

Congratulations to Matt Hutchinson for getting the best result of the day for the team, 19th in the B race!

Cross Crusade Carnage

Cross Crusade - Alpenrose

Wow!  Cross Crusade broke their own record for the biggest participation for a cross race and Portobello did its part with 13 riders lining up in their respected fields. Lauren decided last minute to try her first cross race and raced back home to get her shoes...luckily Aaron had her practicing dismounts the night before after Portobello closed up at midnight.  Aaron brought Field Roast sausages and fixins', Tym brought coffee, Mark brought Shannon's raw energy treats(yum!), Jeff brought the grill and Marc organized having the tents up and ready the day before. 

We had lots of people hanging out at the tents all day watching the action and cheering on our teammates.  Just about eveyone crashed at least once on the fast and technical course that had everything but mud- sand pits, rutted grassy pasture, gravel, off camber sections, and barriers and hairpin turns in the velodrome.  A shout out to Dan Werle who stopped during his race to take care of Tony after he was knocked down and run into.  We'll be bringing ice to the pain cave at the next Cross Crusade!

Hood River Double Cross

Some of the team went to Starcrossed in Seattle while others headed east for two days of racing at the Hood River Double Cross that was the plan anyway.  The rain held off until late in the day, but the course was still wet in the grass and muddy in places, particularly at the dreaded wooden bridge where I saw my feet, trees and the sky all at the same time on 3 consecutive laps before  deciding that walking would be a better option.  

This course brought tears to many and Tony managed not to throw up after the race.  Justin raced single speed in a pair of basketball shoes?  Matt Cline had mechanical issues while Matt Hutchinson smiled for the whole race (no tears).   Plans were made to camp next to the river, but when we arrived it was dumping rain and the campground looked like a Harley convention, so we cut our losses and headed back home for a soak at Kennedy School.  Matt Cline, Justin and Todd raced on Sunday on what turned out to be a beautiful day.

Kruegers Kermesse

One word: dusty.  This was a transition race between the end of road season and beginning of cross.  Looping around Kruger's Farm in a dust cloud then a downhill stretch through the trees and back into the brown snow globe.  I used 8 q-tips after the race... per ear!   On the bright side, Tracey and I left with a heaping box of veggies and the largest head of garlic ever got turned into delicious butter on the grill.

Horning's Hustle

Well Ben, Matt and I tore it up at Horning's Hustle this weekend! Horning's Hideout is a great venue for a mountain bike race and the course was pretty awesome. This was also the first race for us in our brand new kits (thanks again Brent!) and we did our best to get them muddy and bloody! I think all three of us are looking forward to hitting the trail again at Bear Springs in two weeks.

Kit design is complete

To feel like a team it helps to look like a team, and this week we got one step closer to realizing that goal. Brent created a really cool looking kit for us and he has been working with the folks at Champ Sys to turn his sweet design into reality. Well the design has been finalized and Champ Sys is ready to start making everything. It will probably be a few weeks before we see our order but it is really exciting to know that they will be here soon!!