We have a veritable ass load of pictures for you right here.

Our Brianna Walle continued her excellent list of 2012 palmares by snagging the OBRA RR Championship jersey (while simultaneously wearing the Oregon Cup leader’s jersey) iin a tight sprint against some fast ladies with help from Levo, Momany, Whitley, Christiansen, Mihaescu and Croy. Nice work Brie! Steph Croy did her thing earlier for the squad, and still managed to roll in 3rd in the separately scored lady 3′s. Nice!

Brianna and Ace now head down to San Jose to compete in the Nature Valley Pro Chase. Had you told me six years ago we’d be competing at this level, I’d have told you to go have your head examined. Good luck ladies! Do OBRA proud!

Joel Crouch had a scintillating ride in the Men’s 3′s to come second in a big way after bridging to the break in the closing kilometers and sneaking past most of said break to nab second. That Joel, he sure has some legs to him, and he nabbed us our 3rd podium of the day.

We had Willis and Spahr in the brutal Men’s 1/2 race, with Willis succumbing to the heat, and Trevor hanging in for a fine pack finish on a rough day. The high heat had really set in by race time and took its toll on many a rider.

We had Alana on the undercard in the lady 4′s, but her gears decided to play hooky, scuttling her race early, unfortunately.

All day, there was one true and only champion though, and his name was Walter. Behold, in all his splendor:

like a boss

Also, members of Team Cthulu, Ironclad, and Jens Voights Army have formed a band. It is named Ultra Goat, (some call it “OBRA Goat”) and they’ve been making weird noises. Sample a bit of this sinister shit right here.

See you at the volcano this weekend!

The inaugural Montinore Road Race is behind us, and is clearly the frontrunner for pick of the litter status for new OBRA races. Held in and around the lush Montinore Vineyards, the race was the right mix of up, down and flat. We had Crawfy in the Mst 1/2/3, Barker in the Mst 4/5, Ramey in the 4, Davis, Joel, Trevis, and WDP in the 1/2/3, and Ace, Anona, Brie, and Steph in the W1/2/3. Everyone suffered and took their lumps like champs, turning in great rides and resulting in some good round-the-bbq stories later. The day was capped off by Brianna’s 10th win of this young season after the team spent each time up the hill tenderizing the peloton until springing Brie with two to go. To boot, Anona overtook the bunch in the gallop to the line to make it a 1st and 2nd in the 1/2 race! We have the day mostly captured right HERE.

“…little shakin’, little tenderizin’, ….down you go.”

Also of note was Dave Davis‘ first race as a 3 in a good 1/2/3 field, where the wiry lad scored a fine 12th place. He said after that his first experience in the higher ranks was “much smoother”. Then, he set about making a huge pot of refried beans back at HQ. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Trevis, WDP, and A.T. Davis

The day before, the jesus freaks went to the rapture….wait, that’s not right, ….there’s no such thing. But there’s this ride, see, and it’s long and gravelly and has a lot of climbing in it, which means I avoid it like the plague. But some of us aren’t too bright, and went and hit it. There’s a ton of pictures of that insanity for your perusal neatly arranged right HERE.

Prior to that we rounded out the Rose Garden affair with Davis and Brie winning the final installments of this great new series.

There was some dabbling done at PIR as well. Monday and Tuesday saw the squad in action in most fields.

There was another MtB excursion deep into the forest, where everyone pretty much made huge asses of themselves.

Shaun Conley was our sole offering at the Eric Krautzky Track Race, and he scored us a nice 6th place.

Sharon went to the Bear Springs XC MTB trap something-er-other, and brought us home some BAR points too.

And now a new week upon us….the hunt for the new hot yellow PIR leader’s jersey starts tonight at PIR…..Castelli comes through again with the coolness. And tomorrow’s Tuesday Shootout along with tonight look to be large affairs with the welcome warm weather.

See you guys around the two wheeled contraptions!

1. Brianna Walle took another win at the Rose Garden, in a super light women’s field.

2. Dave Davis won the Rose Garden race in his fairly large field.

3. Trevor got 3rd in the 1/2 in his race also at the Garden.

4. Crawford scored a top ten in the 1/2/3 PIR Tuesday

5. Anona, McCoy, and Chelsea went over to Walla Walla, and all raced well, with Anona slotting into the top 15 GC in the 1/2, and McCoy finishing strong in the men’s 1/2 as well. Chelsea continued to race into shape in the women’s 3′s, finishing well after all was said and done. A little bit of hometown Portland pride in UEF taking 1 and 2 in the 3′s up in Washington, too. Nice work!

6. The Ronde happened. The Anti-Ronde happened, both were excellent.

7. THIS JUST IN: Stephanie Croy raced and won the women’s open at PIR tonight! Well done Stephanie! And Dizzy 11th in the charge to the line in the 1/2/3!

More tomorrow after the Tuesday shootout!

Monday we fielded Ditto and Conley; and Tuesday we sent Smith and Conley in the 3/4′s along with Crawfy and McCoy in the 1/2/3, with everyone turning in good shows. Upright and intact means everyone was a winner, but of note was Ditto’s 3rd on Monday, and Crawfy and Conley’s top tens on Tuesday, as well as the return of Ryan Smith after a year off. Also, McCoy slaying himself in almost every move on Tuesday is noteworthy.

Let’s hope spring springs sometime fairly soon….for real now….there’s hope for the weekend!

Conley and Ditto prepare for battle

This coming weekend we have Momany, Whitley, and McCoy heading up to the Tour of Walla Walla, and here city-side, we’ll send some idiots to the Ronde.

Otherwise, we’ll avoid arrest and take in some sun! Thank the imaginary sky friend of your choice – SUN IS COMING!

soon to have a shitter named after him

Crawfy, me, and Joel all represented the rear ends of our respective fields and made sure everyone was supplied with hot dogs and other assorted red hots and cured meats. It’s a thankless but important job, no doubt. Seems more 3′s care for relish, while the Masters tend to stay away from mustard for it causes gastrointestinal problems. Just an observation.

Willis was in the 1/2′s with Crawfy and bobbed along in the group, slotting in a nice to 20 when the bunch came to the hilltop for the last time. I have to thank him, and Beardsley, and the others in the 1/2 field, who all gently touched my ass when they were lapping me. And a second round of thanks to the Lovers in general for sharing their hard fought and won beers with me, even if it was Michelob Ultra. (I keed, I keed)

In the large ladies field (which was awesome to see) we took care of business by getting Brianna a fine 2nd place finish, to consolidate her lead in the Oregon Cup points race. Despite a somewhat questionable attack when Brie flatted, the classy machinations of Tina B. and the UEF squad kept a return to the group possible. You can spot class when you see it, and that was a classy move by the pink and black squad. That allowed Brie to rejoin, along with selfless riding by Steph Croy, and a wheel donation by Anona Whitley, signaling the end to both their days. More needless angst in the sprint was easily deflected and 2nd place was locked up. Of note was Cristina Mihaescu’s all-or-nothing move in the closing k’s, which kept Brie in a good spot to go for a good result. Team riding, team results. A great field of teams in the race, showing that the year to come will be full of good action.

discussing the parameters with Walter

In the ladies 4 race, Sharon Sandoval continued her upward streak with a fine 6th place in a large field. If anyone is on track for Most Improved rider in 2012, it’s our dear Sharon. Our poor rookie Ditto was snakebitten and dropped all her food early, forcing the abandon. But she’ll be swinging soon enough out at PIR, honing her skills.

Afterward, we celebrated Cristina’s 19th birthday with a fine Mexican feast replete with pitchers of tasty Margaritas, and delicious food at the nondescript Ixtapa restaurant in Dallas, OR.

silly hats for the birthday girl

We have a smattering of sub par photos right here for you to look at.

A great day with great weather and great results. Can’t file a complaint about that.

On Friday, it was Filmed By Bike day, and our Brody Boeger added his .02 cents with this fine offering, which was a hit with the crowd.

Pat Malach of course has all the pertinent info RIGHT HERE

I guess we’re ….well,….we’re…..

Hats off to the Presto Velo/Bicycle Attorney squad for hosting another fine edition of the Piece of Cake road race, down in lovely, scenic, and heavily armed Amity, Oregon. The nasty spring chill finally split and we were bathed in sunshine and gravel for our races.

We had Crawfy in the masters flatting and calling it a day. Joel, Bakker and Dave in the 3′s, with Joel finishing a squad-best 12th. Alana, Sharon, and Alex took on the lady 4′s, and Alana slotted herself nicely in 3rd place in a good sized field. Willis the Immaculate Dick Party went solo in the 1/2 and held on for a solid 10th place. “AT” Davis and the Colonel took to the fray in the 4′s, and after detonating the field the first time up the climb, played their cards for the finale, where Sanders ended up 9th, Davis 11th. In the lady 1/2/3 race we had Steph, Brianna, Levo, Clark-i-tack, Mihaescu, and Whitley, all throwing punches. The race fragmented after our communist friend took a digger in the gravel, isolating Brianna in the lead group. But, Brianna took care of business in the gallop for the line, showing a clean pair of wheels for her 4th victory in the 1/2′s of the season. Nice work to everyone, and extra special gratitude to the promoters.

Like idiots, we forgot our cameras, but there are a few phone photos soon to be uploaded to our Flickr site. Of course, Pat Malach has the goods for you here, as well.

photo by Andy Meeks

On Sunday, just me and Travis/Trayvon/Bickle/Trevorcakes/Spahrticakes went over to ye oulde PIR, where we punched ourselves in the balls going around in circles at the Western Bike Works Time Trial. As usual, Trevor did well (winning his second Merckx race in as many tries) and I was magnificently mediocre finishing 11th. Catherine Cooper has some excellent photos from the day right here for you to look at.

That’ll about do it for this weekend’s round up, see you Thursday at the Rose Test Garden, and Saturday in the Valley of Kings.

So, the Rose Garden Circuit Race has been born, and we sent Anona “l’il bit” Whitley into the fray in her new Castelli gear. She looked good and she rode well too, snaring 4th on a slippery and twisty course. Several crashes on the descent were seen by our crack spectating crew, and we were happy to see everyone get up and walk away. Cool race though, and will be waaaaaaay better when it’s dry.

Tomorrow we’re off to Piece of Cake, and Sunday the Western Bike Works TT at PIR. Somewhere in between that we plan on finding some time to watch Paris Roubaix. Good luck to any and all bike racers this weekend. We’ve managed to win Piece of Cake a few times in the past, we hope to maybe snag one of our squads a win to keep the streak alive, but surely the competition will be thick! Speaking of thick, our trusty transport Walter got hisself a nice bath today to show off at the race tomorrow. We apologize in advance if he flashes you his man tits. He’s a bit impulsive like that.

And hey! The weather actually looks to be in our favor! Puts smiles on faces, don’t it? Even if you have to endure spiteful idiotic rantings from sad, unstable people from time to time. The sun shines, just smile, feel slightly sorry for the person, and strike the pose….

The weather held out for us as we pedaled a bit each day, including a 110 mile ride on Saturday. Of note was everyone’s ability to ride long distances with sustained hangovers. Thanks, Greg, for the 100% agave margaritas. And of course, Pendleton whiskey in it’s chocolately goodness was in full swing. Hamley’s steakhouse presented some nice steak bites and miniature waitresses. We considered bringing one back to the brothel, but thought better of it. Besides, dudes were well outnumbered by chicks on this trip.

On Saturday, we went and spent a little time at ye oulde Cock Hat Dinosaur state park…also known as Hat Rock.

Also on that day, we ran into – and subsequently harvested the organs of – farmer Cliff ….. his dogs sure were kind. His organs were a bit worn, but we took him into the fold just the same. He even said had we let him know we were coming (had we known him, his farm, or our route) he would have made us some baked potatoes. Nothing finer on a ride than baked potatoes…well, except boobs and liquor.

Other than that, we pretty much spent our time on the bikes, or at the bar. We know, surprising. Shocking, actually. Anyhow, if you are so inclined we have a shitload of photos RIGHT HERE for you to look at. But for the most part, things looked like this (note the return of a healthy and immediately on-form Anna Christiansen):

If we wake up in time, and survive the Chainbreaker MTB race, we may or may not make it to Piece of Cake. After all, it is Paris-Roubaix weekend!

Tot ziens!

This scribe was way out east in MA and RI and has nothing, so you’ll have to rely on the estimable Mr. Pat Malach and his Oregon Cycling Action site for the pics and the blow-by-blow action reporting. Good on ya, Pat! Here’s one of Pat’s shot of the ladies peloton, being towed up the hill by eventual winner Brianna Walle.

We’re off next weekend to our annual training camp. Pictures and reports soon to follow some time next week!

photo by Pat Malach, Oregon Cycling Action