2009

Friday, 29 August

Those folks in Oregon get so caught up in the cyclocross season that they have to organize their 2009 road calendar before they get distracted by mud for a few months. The "very, very, very preliminary calendar" is posted at:

http://www.veloreview.com/obra3/2008/08/2009_preliminary_calendar.html/

It already poses some heart-wrenching (for me) stage race conflicts: Willamette vs. DRVTT, and Elkhorn vs. Hood. Plus there's a new SR in The Dalles the weekend before Willamette/DRVTT. Steve Rapp is not going to be happy! (But what an awesome training camp that would be: SR, training rides in Hood River, then DRVTT--wow!) Plus there's a new amateur version of Hood. And notice that Cascade is at the end of July--in case you thought it couldn't be even hotter in Bend! Looks like they moved the TTT to the Peoria course, though, where there won't be 16 corners to navigate per lap, in a paceline: good call, IMHO.

Here's an early shout-out for what will probably be the best new road race of the season: the Twickenham Road Race on 2 May. If you like empty roads and long climbs, this is the race for you. It's time for a new generation of racers to make post-race memories at the Shamrock in Fossil. :)

I'm off this weekend for the final SR of 2008, Eugene Celebration. The anticipated excitement at this race is in the cat 4 women's field. It's the final race in their cat 4 women's series, and a Veloforma road frame goes to the series winner. Added to the mix is the rumor that some WA women are headed south in the hunt for upgrade points to finish off their season. With two road races plus crit and TT, there should be a lot of good racing. And I might get to race the crit twice, if I can just find a tandem partner with a bike....