During the entire month of July, Laurelwood Brewing Company will be donating a set amount per customer to the Lance Armstrong Foundation - Answering Lance’s call-to-action! Come watch the Tour De France, cheer on your favorite rider and help put a stop to cancer, the more you frequent, the more Laurelwood donates!

Laurelwood Public House & Brewery on NE 51st &
Sandy, Laurelwood Pizza Co on NE 40th & Sandy and
Laurelwood NW Public House on NW 23rd & Kearney.

Sorella Forte and Title Nine Portland have teamed up to offer a fantastic new Summer Cycling Series for women who are new to the “sport” of cycling and are aspiring to go long and ride strong.

This 6-part series spanning three weeks in July will teach her the basics to ride longer distances, cruise safely with large groups and have FUN while getting in the best shape of her life.

Please click here for the full scoop.

Only I 5 north bound is closed between Market Street interchange and Highway 22 interchange in Salem. South Bound lanes are now open.
—-

I-5 shut down at MP 254 as of 8:21 AM this morning. Check conditions if you plan on coming down (it may be cleared). If you are coming from the north-

Emily Martini has posted alternate directions on OBRA chat. Here are mine.

1.
Head southwest on Exit 260A toward OR-99e Bus/Salem Pkwy
About 1 min
go 0.5 mi
total 0.5 mi

2.
Merge onto OR-99e Bus/Salem Pkwy
About 5 mins
go 2.8 mi
total 3.3 mi

3.
Slight left to stay on OR-99e Bus/Salem Pkwy
Continue to follow OR-99e Bus
About 6 mins
go 1.4 mi
total 4.7 mi

4.
Slight right at Front St NE/OR-99e Bus (after light at Market St.)
Continue to follow OR-99e Bus
About 5 mins
go 1.5 mi
total 6.2 mi

(Do not go right onto Commercial)

5.
Turn right at 12th St SE/OR-22/OR-99e Bus
Continue to follow 12th St SE/OR-99e Bus
About 2 mins
go 0.2 mi
total 6.4 mi

6.
Turn left at Mission St SE/OR-99e Bus
About 2 mins
go 1.1 mi
total 7.6 mi

7.
Turn right at 25th St SE
About 2 mins
go 0.8 mi
total 8.4 mi

8.
Turn right at Madrona Ave SE
About 1 min
go 0.5 mi
total 8.9 mi

9.
Turn left at Fairview Industrial Dr SE
About 2 mins
go 0.8 mi
total 9.7 mi

Fairview Industrial Dr SE, Salem, OR‎

Congrats to Robert Sweeting- Land Rover/ORBEA who won the Best Young Rider Classification at Nature Valley! In addition, Mike Northey also of Landrover took 3rd in the classification!

Stage 6 results
Men
13 Mike Creed (USA) Team Type 1
17 Robert Sweeting (USA) Land Rover-Orbea
37 Nicholas Clayville (HagensBermanCycling)
42 Jim Camut (USA) Land Rover-Orbea
57 Lang Reynolds (HagensBermanCycling)
60 Josh Bartlett (USA) Land Rover-Orbea
87 James Stangeland (Nature Valley Cycling Team)
92 Sam Johnson (HagensBermanCycling)
98 Kennett Peterson (Wheel & Sprocket)
111 Carson Miller (USA) Land Rover-Orbea

Women
22 Ally Stacher (USA) Team Kenda
33 Patricia Bailey (USA) Nature Valley Cycling Team
41 Melissa Sanborn (USA) Vanderkitten Racing
79 Lisa Turnbull (USA) Velo Classic Tours/Radical Media p/b Schick/Playtex
81 Jadine Riley (USA) Riverstone CDA
94 Kelly Benjamin (USA) Colavita Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light

Two laps before, a rider in front of me slows suddenly on the descent, causing me to have to skid. (Kept the bike upright) Unbeknownst to me, the tire had shredded to through the casing. I hit the very sharp turn with 3 laps to go, slotted in 6th place. Shredded area hits at the wrong time on the curve and the rear suddenly washes out.
(3 crash pics taken by Tre Hendricks)

Fortunately, both T-Bone and I made it out without any major injuries. Bikes are damaged, including a crack in his frame. Ugh. Pony is out of commission for a bit too.

The aftermath:

Bent derailleur hanger

Shaved pedal

Scraped bars

Cosmetic damage to shifter

Out of true wheel and…

One scraped leg and buttock.

First and foremost- a big hug and heal up quick to Kristin McCarthy who was involved in a serious crash last night at PIR. Dave A. is providing updates on the Ironclad blog.

Good luck to the Land Rover/ORBEA squad who is heading back east for Philly Week.

In other news- congrats to Mandy who just finished her MBA program!

I am also sooo glad that I’m not racing the P/1/2 race at Hood, instead opting for the Master’s race. Pat Malach pointed out that Chris Baldwin (formerly of Rock Racing), now with OUCH-Maxxis will be at Hood. And of course “O-Dog” Omer Kem will also be there with a good contingent of Bissell guys.

The registration deadline for the USA Cycling NW Athlete Development Camp at Pacific University in Forest Grove is approaching soon!

Racing

Sue Butler has been off racing in Birmingham, AL. Here are the locals in the results of the Bump ‘n’ Grind.

Gals
8 Susan Butler (USA)

Guys
7 Adam Craig (USA) Giant
13 Carl Decker (USA) Giant
17 Eric Tonkin (USA)
19 Ryan Trebon (USA)

Also looks like some Hagens guys have been duking it out in, of all places… Tulsa, OK at the Tulsa Tough.
St. 1
37 Nick Clayville (Hagens Berman Llp)
45 Adrian Hegyvary (Hagens-berman)
71 Cooper Lange (Hagens Berman)

St 2
19 Nick Clayville (Hagens Berman Llp)

St 3
28 Nick Clayville (Hagens Berman Llp)
42 Adrian Hegyvary (Hagens-berman)

A little on the late side but congrats to Ian Boswell for snagging 4th in the last stage of the Runfahrt de Rad in Germany a few weeks ago.

Race Reports

Oregon Cycling Action:

OBRA RR
OBRA TTT

Here’s Martha’s race report from the OBRA Champs!

Kennett’s OBRA RR and TTT report.

Matt D’Elia’s TTT report.

Lindsay K’s Rehearsal RR report.

Blogs

New Blog- Joe Boquiren

Our Sam Johnson writes on “thangs” that he likes. He also has a post on a fun site for dorky humor.

Galen M. posts his top three reasons he shaves his legs.

Uma shows off a bloody knee.

Check out this Super Relax skateboard.

Looks like Ironclad’s Heavy Cans food drive was a success! I was over at the Livestrong event when John Howe and crew rode by. Fortunate for me since I got to load up John with a flat of Chef Boyardee ravioli!

Heidi’s latest article in the Oregonian is about buying bikes.

Molly writes a post on cyclocross tubulars.

The Gentle Lovers put up a post on their upcoming Alpenrose Heartbreaker race.

Carl Decker has a write up (on Adam’s site) on the rally car race in Hood River a couple of weeks ago.

Kiffy has agreed to conduct part of the interview with a promise to behave herself.

M: WHAT UR NAME DOOD?

PM: Isn’t it there on the license, officer?

M: NOT ANSUR. MOVEING ON.

M: WHAR U FROM? MEE FROM NORTH POLE. SEE, I WHIET SO I BLENDS IN WITHS SNOW.

PM: My family moved from Park Falls, Wisconsin, to Missoula, Montana, when I was barely two so that my dad could take a job at the paper mill in nearby Frenchtown. I was apparently so despondent at having to leave Green Bay Packer territory that I immediately threw myself face down into the irrigation ditch behind our new home, only to be found and resuscitated by a visiting uncle.

M: WHAT UR FAVORIT FUDS. I BETS U LIKES CHEEZ. I LUV HAY.

PM: Is that a dinner invitation?

M: YEZ. IF U LIKEZ HAY.

K: Okay Kiffy, enough. Go back into your cage and keep Miffy company.

K: Alright Pat, what sort of tunage do you like to listen to? Jazz? Rock? Country?

PM: What I’m listening to right now.

K: OK. I’ll write you down for… rap and Celtic Riverdance.

K: I can imagine that conducting interviews can at times be pretty tough. What’s been your most embarrassing moment?

PM: Listening to recordings of myself trying to formulate an intelligent post-race question during interviews.

K: I hear you. I listen to myself occasionally and it’s embarrassing. So everyone in the industry has nicknames… how about you?

PM: Malachi Crunch; first coined as the demolition-derby tactic perfected by the Malachi Brothers, nemesis of Fonzi in the old Happy Days episode featuring Pinky Tuscadero and her cousin Leather, played by Susie Quatro, who took “Stumblin’ In” to the top of the charts. This was long after Fonzi had jumped the shark.

K: Besides writing and following cycling, what are some of your hobbies?

PM: Well, me and my brother, who just got out of Joliet, are getting our band back together so we can put on a benefit show in hopes of raising enough to pay the back taxes on the Catholic boys home where we grew up. Hold on, two Illinois state troopers just pulled us over.

K: Have any pets? We have the two pet rats.

PM: One nearly 15-year-old dog. She used to be the World’s Maddest Dog, a real weapon of mass destruction. Nowadays she’s the World’s Nappingest Dog. I also have many pet peeves, including but not limited to: American Idol (obviously), not knowing who to believe anymore in European cycling, and the fact that Obama’s been in office nearly six months and there’s still no law banning Dick Cheney from opening his mouth in the vicinity of any kind of microphone – even the karaoke machine in the den of his remote Wyoming hunting lodge.

K: OK- we like to find out which color our interviewees like. Just so we can sneak in and paint their house if it’s a really funny one. See e.g. Ma and Pa Humboldt’s house.

PM: First of all, I don’t accept the premise of your question. I believe all colors have their own merits and bring their own uniquely valuable contributions to the table. We need to build bridges by remembering the values that we share; the values that made this country what it is today. If elected, I intend to work with all the colors on the palette to do what’s best for the people of Oregon and the citizens of this great country.

K: I guess you don’t like pink. Bummer! So which came first: the photography or the writing?

PM: Oh, no you don’t. You’re not going to trap me in some crazy philosophical question. This can get ugly if you want. I’ll end this interview now. Somebody get my manager on the phone.

K: Ok, ok Paris. Tell us, how did you get into photography?

PM: I’ve worked with photographers. I have friends who are photographers. I, sir, am no photographer. I have a very smart camera, and I click the shutter many times. I subscribe to the photographic school of thought that says even a blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut. So when you’re looking at my photos, you’re basically looking at my nuts … uhhhmmmm … I may need to rephrase that. You won’t print that will you?

K: Too late! How did you get into cycling?

PM: When I was a teen I had a ten speed with a touring bag in front of the handlebars that I was very proud of. I was riding home from school one day and saw that one of the hooks for a stabilizing strap that ran from the bag to an eyelet on the frame near the dropout had come unlatched. I reached down to hook it back up when my hand wedged in between the fork blade and the front wheel. I went over the bars, of course, and had to pop the front wheel off the bike to free my hand. It ripped up the flesh pretty good, and I probably had a slight concussion, but I rode the rest of the way home. After that I was hooked. Then came the 1984 Olympics in L.A., where the U.S. team brought home a record number of medals (in no small part because of the Eastern Block boycott). Connie Carpenter. Davis Phinney. Alexi Grewal. Steve Bauer. Andy Hampsten. Greg LeMond, America’s all-time greatest cyclist (c’mon, the guy finished a race with diarrhea streaming down his legs), finished second in the Tour de France in ’85 and won in ’86. I still have the home-recorded VHS tapes of the lousy-but-precious network coverage that was 85% fluff and 15 percent racing.

This is actually Pat.

K: How did you start writing about cycling?

PM: I decided what I wanted the first word to be, then, I figured out what the first letter of that word was. Next, I looked for the corresponding key for that letter on my computer keyboard. Hold on, back up a second. It was a sunny spring day in Eugene, Oregon, in 1993 and I was writing for the Oregon Daily Emerald on campus. Davis Phinney, Ron Kiefel, Roy Knickman, Alex Stieda, Scott Moninger, Mike Engelman and the rest of the Coors Light domestic juggernaut had their collective hands around the throat of a Tour of Willamette field that included the fledgling Saturn squad.

K: What do you find most interesting about bike racing?

PM: The Buddha says death is our brother, and suffering, our sister. These relationships are forced upon us, not by our choosing, but as our part in life. We endure this because the teachings are of the greater blessings that await us at the termination of this period. An endurance sport like bike racing is beautiful on so many levels, with a compelling personal story of pain, suffering and redemption for as many riders as there are in the race. But mostly I just like bright colors and expensive, shiny things.

K: What’s the worst part about writing about racing?

PM: Lots of driving and the proliferation of white cycling shorts.

K: I can empathize, I get to see those white shorts up close. Note to riders- please buy new shorts when yours start to wear thin. Well, with that horrible image in my mind, what’s the coolest part? What are most of the riders you interview like?

PM: Meeting new people and slowly learning all the names and faces has been the best part. Everyone’s been very nice, very patient (they’d have to be to make it through one of my interviews).

K: What do you think about the racing scene in Oregon?

PM: Wow!

K: How did you come up with the idea of the Oregoncyclingaction?

PM: I didn’t come up with that idea. Blogs have been around for awhile.

K: It’s really great having local coverage of races. How has the reaction been to the stories you write?

PM: “I love your blog, but … .”

I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but people have been very patient and supportive of the site by sending corrections, which I truly appreciate so I can get it right and try not to make the same mistake again. The general reception has been very positive. There are so many great racing/racer blogs in Oregon by very talented writers, but I think the site fills a niche by sticking to the plain old facts. Erik Voldengen described it as Oregon’s own little VeloNews. That’s great, because that was the idea.

Erik V. seen here on the right

K: Where do you foresee taking the OregonCyclingAction site?

PM: We’ll see. Right now the plan is to continue to learn the layout of the season, all the new races, and the names and faces of the racers, officials, promoters, coaches and all the others who have made Oregon such a great place for bike racing. I’d like to get more contributions like the ones from Jacob Rathe in Europe and Josh Liberles recently at the Gila. Those were very popular posts. Maybe recruit some help for the more far-flung races I can’t reach. Oregon’s got enough going on to keep several people busy, and cloning is still illegal. Then, there are some technical issues to address and maybe launching OregonCyclingAction.com v. 2.0 in time for next season.

K: One final question- the rats are dying to ask you… Would you be willing to interview Miffy and Kiffy?

PM: I like rodents on a spit over an open fire. Raccoon is good, but I’ll settle for possum in a pinch — whatever didn’t make it across the road recently, really. So yes, I’d love to “interview” Miffy and Kiffy the next time I can see the bottom of my freezer.

K: I’m hearing banjos there Pat. Heheh. Well, thanks for your excellent coverage and adding to the OBRA community! See you out there and keep up the great work!! For those wanting a little more- here’s some news clips of Pat.

1970-2009

I am saddened to relay that Steve Larsen of Bend, passed away last night from a heart attack suffered during a running workout. We have lost a wonderful and selfless member of our cycling community. The two-time national NORBA champion in mountain biking, a dominant triathlete, a road cycling teammate of Lance Armstrong in the Motorola days and an Xterra winner was not only a gifted athlete but a father and an all around good guy. You will be sorely missed.

Update 5/20 8:36 PM

Mike Larsen said the autopsy ruled out a heart attack and a blood clot. The cause of death may have been viral or related to allergies, he said.

From Velonews

Not related to cycling but hey… it’s funny.

Courtesy of Galen Mittermann.