Oregon State MTB Championships

Return on the Jedi - 2008
(Near Grants Pass, OR)

Miriam Gillow-Wiles raced well in another brutal, long loop, classic mountain bike race down in Southern Oregon. She toughed it out in the heat, surviving a crash, and got another medal on the PODIUM! Second Place Sport Woman. Her post-race drink of choice? Cold Coca-cola.

Chris Brandt was able to put together a decent ride as well, finishing 5th in the Pro category, and within one second of 4th place. It was a close one with a full speed sprint to the last corner. Another race ridden on the Specialized 29er hardtail, this time with a super low rolling resistance "Crow" tire and ultra low pressure (22psi). A little sketchy in the most technical, loose descents, but ever-so-fast rolling in the smooth sections.

Pro course map here.
Elevation profile here. (just a wee bit of climbing at 5,800' in 30 miles)

Pickett's Charge MTB Race

Bend, OR. - Collins was represented well again with some impressive race performances at the classic Pickett's Charge mountain bike race. Andrew Bennett and Miriam Gillow-Wiles both made appearances on the podium - a reward for their hard efforts.

Not only did the 15 year old Andrew finish in 1st place at Pickett's, he won the Series Overall (!) in his category (Jr. under 18). Wow, that is quite the accomplishment and surely only one of many successes to come. (If you haven't met Andrew, he is a great kid with a good head on his shoulders. It has been fun to see his development in the short time that he has been bike racing. Andrew has the attitude to keep it fun, while still making his competitor's legs hurt!)

Miriam finished 2nd Overall Sport Woman in the series and her trophy serves as an exclamation point to a fantastic rise through the ranks in her first year racing off road. She finished in 5th place at Pickett's too, timing her efforts and coming around Anna Saltonstall just before the finish line. Great job and smart tactics!

Chris Brandt raced faster than ever on the course most suited to his strengths. Unfortunately, as has been the case for the past SIX YEARS (!), his performance was hampered by bad mechanical luck. He got a great start in the Pro race and was sitting in 4th place heading into the first singletrack section. A strong group emerged shortly thereafter and got a good gap off the front, chasing the ever-so-strong Carl Decker. Unfortunately, Chris suffered his first of THREE (!) flat tires and had to fall back for a quick repair. When his second flat front tire forced him to collide with a pine tree, a more lengthy repair was necessary. After making a serious comeback effort catching back up to nearly all that had passed, he was struck the final frustrating blow with a cut rear tire. A spare tube bummed from a spectator got him back to the finish line in one piece and 10th overall. (6th pro - of course, there were only 6 pros!)

Jeff Bennett achieved a 7th place in the beginner category. Carl Gurney pulled off a decent ride in the Expert field riding his singlespeed bike to an impressive 9th place. Mike Adams toughed out a rough race with a blown rear shock, but with plenty of air in his tires. He finished in a respectable 14th place on a hot, dusty day for racing.

Triathlon Updates!

Megan Banks won the Test of Endurance 10k Trail run!

Getting ready for the Ironman Coeur D'Alene, Kirsten Hansen got 2nd in her age group and 5th overall Woman at the Blue Lake Sprint Tri! Annie Loe reports that she also did well at the event with a 6th place in her age group. Katie Kohls placed 7th in her age group.

"Our family did Blue Lake too. My husband bettered his time by over 10 minutes on the course. Our daughters placed 1st (8 and under) and 4th (9-12) in their age groups. What a fun family event!!!" - Nikki Swanson

Test of Endurance 50 Mile MTB Race

Blodgett, OR - In its 4th year, the Test of Endurance is gaining a foothold as one of the greatest endurance mountain bike race courses in the Northwest. Not only is the event dual billed as the "Northwest Singlespeed Championships", but it is a unique format that focuses on the TEAM element for the overall prize money.

If you are not familiar with the race format, there are two long 25 mile laps that all racers must complete over a variety of terrain. The challenge is not purely due to the sheer length, but by over 8,000' of climbing and some fabulously challenging technical descending. The TEAM format is such that you add up the finishing time of the four fastest racers on your team with a goal of having the lowest overall combined time. A lot can go wrong in 50 miles and it can be helpful to have team mates to encourage you, or lend a hand when/if things go wrong.

This year, optimistic racers lined up to see if it was in any way possible to dethrone team S&M from the top step of the podium. After 4 years in a row, it appears that that may be impossible, considering the raw talent that their team is made of. Anyone ever tried to ride Erik Tonkin's wheel?

The Collins team did well, finishing 4th overall! Composed of Chris Brandt, Mike Adams, Carl Gurney, Justin Thayer, and the infamous Luke DeMoe. Luke borrowed Guy Polson's Specialized 29'er mtb and raced in the dirt for the first time in 5 years. Not only did he finish, but he managed to down a Pabst beer at the last aid station. Tough guy.

Individual Results:
Chris Brandt: 9th - Pro men (4:19:08)
Mike Adams: 8th - Expert men 40+ (4:56:20)
Carl Gurney: 7th - Singlespeed (4:58:17)
Luke DeMoe: 12th - Expert (5:00:10)
Justin Thayer: 13th - Singlespeed (5:31:55)

More pics here.

Falls City Firecracker MTB Race

June 1st, 2008 - Few photos have been posted out there, but the Collins team made a good showing at the Falls City Firecracker race held at the Black Rock riding area, Falls City, OR. The race was held on a challenging multi-lap course with a lot of steep climbing and some challenging descending.

Results:
Andrew Bennett: 2nd - Junior Men
Miriam Gillow-Wiles: 2nd - Sport Women
Carl Gurney: 6th - Singlespeed
Chris Brandt: 7th - Pro Men
Mike Adams: 8th - Expert Men 40+
Mike Ripley: 12th - Expert Men 40+

12 Hours of Weaverville MTB Race

May 24, 2008 - Weaverville, CA.

Three members of the Collins team headed down to Northern California for what has been touted as one of the most "fun" endurance MTB events in the region. For this event, racers are tested on an approximately 12 mile loop doing multiple laps for 12 hours, each lap climbing 3 miles and 2,200'. Racers have the option to pair up in groups, spreading the load, or race solo. We all chose SOLO. Sound like fun?

The course: Map

Chris Brandt, Mike Adams, and Mike Ripley were looking forward to some warm weather for once and a nice opportunity to try their hand at some longer distance bike racing. Historically, the weather has been pretty hot this time of year. As luck may have it (Ripley curse?), the weather took a turn for the worse three days before race day. Guess what??? RAIN (and MUD) again! The question became not necessarily "how long will the body hold up", but how long will the "BIKE" hold up?

We all like to tell our long winded "battle stories", and not everyone wants to (or has the time to?) read them. But the short story is, it WAS indeed a lot of FUN and Collins was represented well, getting some podium time and some great sponsor exposure at our team tent.

Final results:
Chris Brandt - 4th place Pro (6 laps in 7:58:33)
Mike Adams - 2nd place Expert 40+ (6 laps in 9:31:51)
Mike Ripley - 7th place Expert 40+ (5 laps in 7:45:21)

Official results here.

Mike Adams full report here.
Chris Brandt full report here.

Elevation profile (click it):

Bear Springs Trap MTB Race - Maupin, OR

Amazing course, and amazing weather. Great day for mountain bike racing!

This year, the race was postponed one month due to excessive snowpack from our productive winter. Two weeks prior to the race, the promotors had to use a snow mobile to get around the course. Fortunately, due to warmer weather and much hand labor, the snow melted from the course just in time, and those areas that it hadn't quite disappeared were shallow enough to navigate. With that snow melt came an accompanying new race challenge... high water! Portions of the course that were formerly rideable were submerged and required some soggy foot hike-a-bike. The promotors had placed some "stepping stone" wood rounds for people to walk on, but they floated away. (Walking on them was like stepping on a turtle's back.) A great way to cool off the feet on this hot race day!

Chris Brandt was looking forward to having a good race for once and was called up to the front row at the start. This enabled him to get a great start position heading into the first narrow off-road section and help with staying ahead when the pack got strung out. Things were looking good after the first half hour until he broke a pedal on a big rock and was forced to (yet again) drop out. This course is way too rough to survive 2 more hours pedalling with one foot clipped in, not to mention the risk of damaging a knee. So, instead, he went back to the car, grabbed the camera, and worked his way backwards on the course to take pictures.

Bear Springs is notorious for poor course markings. Though things were improved this year, Miriam managed to take a wrong turn and wandered around about 15 minutes before finding the course again. Rather than dropping out, she made the best of it and got a good training ride in, completing the race in 8th place. Balancing a full course load at the University of Oregon, as well as working 25-30 hours a week leaves little time to ride her bike during the week. Finishing an epic mountain bike race in 2:45 is quite an accomplishment, considering that she is rarely able to get 2-3 hours of training time in during the week, if that. Seeing as she graduates after this term, look out for her. She's really gonna be FAST once she actually has time to ride!

Carl Gurney showed us once again how tough of a man he is, riding his rigid forked singlespeed bike through the rough bumps to finish highest within the team and 6th on the day. What is his secret? The beard?

Mike Adams and Mike Ripley battled it out on their Specialized Epics in the Expert category. Mike A. seemed to be having the upper hand until he burped the air out of his tire and was forced to make a repair. Ripley didn't let a few weeks off the bike keep him from putting the hammer down and used his long legs to advantage during the high water hike-a-bike sections. Unfortunately that loss of fitness crept up on him and Adams got the upper hand in the end.

Justin Heide broke his racing legs in for the season and managed to break a smile late in the suffering. Must not have been too bad!

Results:

Carl Gurney: 6th - Singlespeed
Miriam Gillow-Wiles: 8th - Sport Women

Mike Adams: 8th - Expert Men 40+

Mike Ripley: 10th - Expert Men 40+

Justin Heide: 25th - Sport Men

Chris Brandt: dnf - Pro

Coming up next... 12 hours of Weaverville. Chris, Mike, and Mike are each racing solo... for 12 hours!?! Should be fun! Who will have the wildest story??? The most cramps??? Flat tires??? Stay tuned...