Battle at Barlow Cyclocross

Gresham, OR - Hot weather made for a day of hard suffering at the old classic course at Sam Barlow high school. Last year, it was terribly muddy and nasty. This year, if you didn't sneak a bottle in your pocket, you'd be dying of thirst.

Chris started out fairly conservative after rolling a tubular off the rim during his pre-race inspection. It's hard to be confident in the corners when you're afraid your tires are going to peel off. Since all the tires were glued at the same time and with the same method, it wouldn't be a surprise if it happened again.

This "battle" course has some significant running as one set of barriers are negotiated on a downhill section, followed by more downhill running over some sketchy roots, over a footbridge, then up the legendary railroad tie runup. This is the one place where long legs and a running background gives you a clear advantage. Unfortuntately, there is also some significant pedalling involved and you need more than running skills to be competitive. There was a strong group of about 6-7 guys riding within 10 seconds of each other. Eventually Chris got over the tubular tire fear and the competitive urges kicked in enough to work back up to a decent 8th place finish.

The next race is at Alpenrose, the first of the highly competitive Cross Crusade series. Will this be a year of good legs and good fortune??? It certainly looks like the mud will arive, just in time.

Eugene Cyclocross Series - Race #2

Camp Harlow - The season, it is a changing. With that transition to fall brings disappearing daylight and the last of our evening riding w/o headlights. Tonight's race emphasized that point as the final race concluded in near darkness out in the more wooded sections of the course. Navigating the challenging roots, rounded river rock stones, or loose corners was not done by sight, but by feel and memory of what was seen in previous laps!

Andrew Bennett won the Junior race, then made his foray into the men's B category race, placing a respectable 3rd! Great job.

Luke Demoe showed up with some serious motivations, wearing TEAM COLLINS shorts and putting the power to the pedals for a WIN in the singlespeed category. Will we see him take charge of the "one gear" racing scene?

Chris Brandt thought he was in for an easy evening, with only four category A racers present at the start, none who had proven themselves in past races. With some tired legs from the previous weekend, the goal was to start easy. This was not the case as new-to-cyclocross rider Quinn Keogh (fast roadie) kept him on his toes with the throttle wide open until the very end, with a tight sprint finish. Chris had to pull out all the tricks and various techniques, and that fortunately paid off. He won the battle for the evening, as well as captured the overall series prize.

Hood River Double Cross

Hood River, OR - Two days in a row of racing cyclocross is a good way to tire a person out. Fortunately this year, the weather was a bit more mild, with lower temperatures and a slight misting in the air to help with the dust.

The classic race course of years past was modified this year on day one to go in reverse direction. A bumpy/fast descent followed by a heavy braking 180 turn, some super running sections up/down ravines, and some dusty loose corners made it quite challenging and new. There was a set of 3 barriers right at the finish line that could be taken w/ a lot of speed, affording spectators plenty of exciting views of the action.

Day two had to use the same school venue due to a conflict at the fairgrounds, so they re-routed things in the opposite direction and added some nice improvements to the old classic route. Still two run-ups, but there were no flat barrier sections. Many fresh faces showed up to race on Sunday making the work a little harder for those who chose to race both days. With a 180 degree turn on grass only 8 seconds away from the start line, it made a difference who entered the corner first. Chris led out the race for the first 400 meters or so, but then the fresh power riders took over to set the pace. With some fatigue in the legs, and knowledge that there would be a cumulative effect of all the running per lap, it was a good choice to let off the throttle a bit and see what happened. Turned out to be a wise choice.

Chris Brandt Results:

Day 1 - 4th Cat A men

Day 2 - 6th Cat A men

Eugene Cyclocross Series - Race #1

Eugene, OR - The pre-season buildup has finally been released - cyclocross season is here!

The first local cyclocross race took place at Camp Harlow Tuesday evening. With smoke in the air, dust whirling from narrow knobby tires, and the fall season looming, daylight was of short supply.

Andrew Bennett started the evening out with a win in the Junior race. With competition lacking, we will surely see him make a step up and race in the more competitive B category next week.

In the final race of the evening, Chris Brandt led out the "A" Men's field and kept the pace high from the gun. A softening rear tire late in the race made things slightly complicated, but a spare bike in the pit enabled him to make a last lap exchange, preserving the lead.

Justin Thayer, coming back from a mid-summer shoulder injury, picked up right where he left off last fall, winning the single speed category. Luke DeMoe made his presence felt too, finishing in 3rd, also riding his single speed and wearing some camo baggy shorts. Rumor has it, next week he's coming for battle, complete with team jersey and a desire to drive the freight train.

Full results here.

Mt. Ashland Hillclimb Championships

Ashland, OR - Two mountain bikers and one "roadie" from the Collins team made the trip south to do the strenuous climbing race up to the ski area starting in Lithia Park. Andrew Bennett took the paved route, riding his road bike while Chris Brandt and Miriam Gillow-Wiles each chose their mountain bikes, and the off-road route.

Traditionally, this event is a chance for the roadies and dirt folks to prove just who is the fastest, ascending up approximately 4,500' in perfect weather. This year, the dirt turned out to be where its at.

Results:

Andrew ended up winning the Junior race. Miriam won the Sport Women category, gaining the "Oregon Hill Climb State Champion" medal. Chris climbed better than he ever has, placing Third in the Pro category, finishing behind the winner Evan Plews and only 13 seconds behind second place Jon Meyers.

It was a fun event, great atmosphere, and a nice, casual ride back down to Ashland for a well deserved lunch.

Sponsor Profile - ELETE

By Mike Adams:
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eLETE Electrolyte Add-in

One of the benefits of being on the Collins cycling team is sometimes getting some new products to try. We got some of this electrolyte product called elete this year. I gave it a try early on and at this point use it during pretty much every ride and race. There is a liquid form you can add to water or drinks and there is a tablet form (Tablytes). I sometimes take a tablet after a race if I get that sort of headachy, dehydrated feeling but mostly I don’t get that feeling anymore because I’ve been adding the liquid form of elete to my water. I usually like to drink a combination of water and energy drinks in pretty much any ride or race. Often, about half my fluids come from water. I like being able to add elete to the water. I’m a very heavy sweater and I need a lot of fluids. Adding elete has noticeably helped with the way I feel late in a race and after a race. Others say that it helps with cramps. I can’t really vouch for that because I’ve never had much of a problem with cramps. The other thing that I have noticed is that it seems to help to add some elete to drinks the day before a race if I’m really trying to hydrate. Not sure about the science here but it has often seemed to me that simply pounding water all day results in a lot of peeing but poor hydration the next morning (judging by urine color). Adding elete to a couple of those drinks the day before has fixed that problem for me and is now a standard part of my routine.

So, two thumbs up for elete from me. Hope we get some more next year!

Cyclocross is Approaching

We are very close to the season opener races here in Eugene. There is one more cyclocross technique workshop/clinic scheduled to take place. Last chance to get a refresher, or to learn some new fundamentals of the skills needed to dismount/run/remount over a barrier.

What is cyclocross?

Local Elite racer Chris Brandt will be on-hand and available for demonstrations. In the event that you are unable to attend, he will also be available to offer tips at any of the local Eugene races. Feel free to stop by and introduce yourself.

Location: Crest Elementary School, Eugene, OR
Date: Tuesday, September 9th.
Time: 6:00 pm

Race info: Here

City of Portland Triathlon 2008

Megan writes in w/ some Triathlon updates:

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T-Bone is the man! He won his age group at the Portland Olympic tri last Sunday. He also looked very good in his Collins gear on Evan Pilchik photography cover shot. Hope that makes up for an early mistake in the results that cost T-Bone his bottle of wine.

And how about that Scott M. To make it more fair for the Sprint tri competition on the bike leg, he split his tire to give them a 10 minute head start. Despite that handicap, Scott finished on the podium in 3rd. And if he hadn't gotten a flat, was an age group win in the cards?

Dave Matthews scored the most swag, winning the sprint overall (we think). He passed me on the bike and was so focused, didn't even notice.

I (Megan) did okay too--crushed the competition in the more mature ladies division and maybe qualified for the "Best in the U.S." competition in Arizona. It would be a roll down slot and who's ever heard of "Best in the U.S.?" I was hoping for "Very Mediocre but Has Fun Doing It."

Gina was second in her age group by one second!

We all survived swimming in the Willamette and the new bike course was hilly but enjoyable. The run across the bridges and along the waterfront was great. The race organizers are very cool. I highly recommend the race!

Eugene Celebration Road Stage Race

Congratulations are due for Collins team racers who rode strongly during the Labor Day weekend stage race, gaining several top 10 results, and placing well in the final general classification. Keep an eye out for these guys as they will be upgrading to Cat. 2 in no time!

Team Results:

Luke Demoe: 5th Overall - Cat. 3 men
5th - Maxon Road Race
8th - Kent Peterson Time Trial
25th - Celebration Criterium
6th - Wolf Creek Road Race

Andrew Bennett: 9th Overall - Cat. 3 men
5th - Maxon Road Race
18th - Kent Peterson Time Trial
4th - Celebration Criterium
9th - Wolf Creek Road Race

Guy Polson: 37th Overall - Cat. 4/5 men
38th - Maxon Road Race
37th - Kent Peterson Time Trial
32nd - Celebration Criterium
35th - Wolf Creek Road Race