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

American Mountain Classic - MTB Stage Race

Brian Head, Utah - Cycling is a lot of fun. Getting out and riding off road on fabulous trails is even more fun. Add in a little sunshine, amazing scenery, challenging terrain, and fresh air. Before you know it, you've reached a place where it seemingly just cannot get any better.

The only thing that makes it slightly "less" fun, is when you live at about 450' elevation and you travel to race at 9,000 - 11,000 feet. There's not a lot of oxygen up there. Add in some big climbs, extra challenging terrain, and some longer race course lengths over 4 days (in a row) and it's almost enough to make you throw in the towel... except, for that "fun" part. It's the part that makes the grins poke out of the dusty grit and make you forget the pain.

Mike Ripley, Mike Adams, and Chris Brandt traveled the long road trip (18 hours each way!) to Southwestern Utah to race their mountain bikes in Brian Head at the American Mountain Classic, and to have some fun along the way. And after racing over 170 miles, they certainly had much opportunity for it! Brian Head has some really great trails and there's nothing quite like the challenge of surviving two laps through the gnarly "Dark Hollow" descent.

Stage 1 - 6 mile prologue
Stage 2 - The Rim. 55 miles. 5,000+ Feet of Elevation Gain
Stage 3 - The Peak. 55 miles. 4,000+ Feet of Elevation Gain
Stage 4 - Dark Hollow. 54 Miles. 5,600+ Feet of Elevation Gain

Results:

Chris Brandt - 20th Place Elite Men
Stage 2 - 4:29:16.1 / Stage 3 - 4:25:35.1 / Stage 4 - 5:24:27.0 / Overall Time - 14:19:18.2

Mike Adams - 4th Place Masters Men 40-44
Stage 2 - 5:23:12.0 / Stage 3 - 5:02:30.5 / Stage 4 - 5:57:50.1 / Overall Time - 16:23:32.6

Mike Ripley - 7th Place Masters Men 40-44
Stage 2 - 6:08:03.0 / Stage 3 - 5:56:09.6 / Stage 4 - DNF / Overall Time - 12:04:12.6

Full Results here.
A slightly boring video montage from the web here.
More photos in gallery here.

Cascade Cream Puff 100

Oakridge, OR. - On the same day two Collins racers were at the Oregon State (XC MTB) Championships down at Jedi, there was another mountain bike race going on. The one for the truly TOUGH people!

100 miles of mountain bike racing. Over 18,000' of climbing. In one day. That is not easy.

Starting at 5:30 am, Mike Adams and Carl Gurney gritted out a tough day in the saddle finishing the race over a new course for 2008 (excessive snowpack at higher elevations eliminated some parts of the old route). 100 miles of trail riding, stormy then hot weather, dehydration, and cramps weren't the only challenges they had to overcome. Mid-race, Mike was faced with the setback of a broken shoe buckle. His mechanical solution? -- Zip Ties! Brilliant. Leave it to a mountain biker to use some ingenuity, rather than drop out.

Collins Team Results:

Mike Adams, 63rd, 13:33

Carl Gurney, 75th, 14:04 (on a singlespeed!)