Race Across Oregon Blog


Picture Updates

Thursday July 24, 2008 by Terri Gooch
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Hey Everyone! I’ve continued to update the pictures on Flickr – and will continue to do so as people send me more images – thank you all for doing so!
Please keep checking in as I add more!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Brian Ecker who spent Sunday night in the ICU at the Gresham Hospital – appears that he was suffering from pulmonary edema.

I’d love to have links to blogs, updates, photos – all of it – please send it all my way!

Thank you all again for making RAO such a wonderful special event for George, Amelia and I.

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Banquet Tonight

Monday July 21, 2008 by Terri Gooch
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Please join George, myself and all of the amazing RAO staff at the Airport Holiday Inn at 6PM tonight for fun and festivities.

Tickets are $20.00 and are still available – if you have a large party, please come early so that you may find seating together!

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Friday morning - Day before the start

Friday July 18, 2008 by Terri Gooch
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This is annually one of the biggest weekends of my year. Like a kid before Christmas, it’s hard for me to go to sleep and I wake up early. My adrenaline is as high as if I was racing. I look forward to meeting all the new faces this year as well as seeing old friends. I enjoy the vehicle inspections, the pre-race meetings, the late night fueling up the officials vehicles and even later at night set up of the starting line. Saturday morning it’s always fun to burn off some of the butterflies by joining the the riders for the neutral starts (and even more fun to be able to hop in the van prior to the first climb). The nerves all comes back as I follow along hoping everyone gets safely out of Portland and Sandy…watching rule after rule get broken leaving me to wonder if anyone actually listened during the rider meetings. It’s always fun to leapfrog the field shooting pictures up the easy slope to Government Camp and then watching the individual races begin to unfold as the field spreads apart. I always camp out on one of the Monument climb hairpins and watch the lead solo riders climb through the waning daylight then drive to Long Creek to phone in Time Station splits for a few hours. Then its a quick nap on hwy 26 prior to watching some solos climb Ochoco as the sun comes up. It’s always a little sad to come back to civilization as the course passes through Prineville and Madras but maybe that just intensifies the desolate beauty of Warm Springs where we begin to overtake the lead teams. It’s hard to leave the teams because the racing is usually intense through the Reservation but we have to hustle up to Timberline to set up the finish. We settle in for the sleepless night ahead and get food from Timberline’s Ram’s Head Bar. Once the last rider crosses the finish line we break it down, catch another quick nap and then head to the Dollar Store in Hood River to do some of the most fun shopping of the year. I have no idea why squirt guns, bottles of dish soap, oven mitts, action figures or bobble head clown dolls remind us of moments on the race course – maybe it’s the sleep deprivation – but it sure is fun to browse the store for a couple of hours reminiscing about the race as we select everyone’s ‘special’ prizes. Then it’s back to Portland for the post-race party and the weekend wrap up where we say goodbye and start planning for next year.

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Meet the Four Person Teams!

Thursday July 17, 2008 by Terri Gooch
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Well this is going to be easier than I thought. We’re basically looking at some great competition in the 4 man division. We’ll start with our first ever team of Junior racers. Lead by Lito Nicolai, the Aardvarks are made up of four sixteen year olds from Oregon Episcopal School. This is going to be a heck of a summer adventure weekend for these young men. I’ve seen Lito (son of the ageless Bill) race this year at the Deschutes Time Trial Festival where he won the junior division. I think the Aardvarks are going to have to dig deep to overcome some obstacles but I’m confident they are going to finish.

The Four Person Open Division pits Three Rivers Racing against the RAOd Warriors. The only racer I’m familiar with is Richard Haight who teamed with John Spurgeon last year on team Handicapped Mountain Goats. I spent some time on Google and found that these are two evenly matched teams. I checked OBRA results and it looks like these guys race each other in all sorts of OBRA events including cyclocross, TTs, crits and road races (3, 4, 5 and Masters). I’m happy to see so many OBRA riders testing themselves at RAO this year!

Four Person Men’s 50+ is also going to be a good race. The Master Blasters set the time to beat last year when they raced to a new 50+ record of 32:58. The team has been spending a lot of time preparing for RAO this year and return with an excellent crew. Their talent and experience will make them difficult to defeat. However, the Old Goats are certainly going to try. Fellow Providence employee John Murray Nicholas heads up a strong team including Cary Mallon, Kevin Van Dyke and J Michael Manning who’ve put quite a few race miles under their tires this year.

410 Three Rivers Racing

Nick Blacklock – Happy Valley, OR
Chris Blacklock – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Keith Willis – Vancouver, WA
Richard Haight – Longview, WA

411 RAOd Warriors

David Longdon, Seattle, WA (Blog)
Mike Stafford, Eugene, OR
Mark Mirante, Bellevue, WA
Vic Steuber, Eugene, OR

416 Aardvarks (Junior Men)

Lito Nicolai, Vancouver WA
Jonathan Von Offenheim, Portland OR
Owen Bley-Male, Portland OR
TBD

Relay Team, 4 Person, Men’s 50+
451 The Master Blasters

Dennis Funk, Vancouver, WA
Harry Gardner, Vancouver, WA
Lap Lai, Vancouver, WA
Tom Dollemore, Vancouver, WA

452 Old Goats 4 CycleOne

John Murray Nicholas, Portland, OR
Kevin Van Dyke, Forest Grove, OR
Cary Mallon, Sandy OR
J. Michael Manning, Portland, OR

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Meet the 2 Person Recumbents!

Thursday July 17, 2008 by Terri Gooch
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This is another tough call for me. I’m using the same format as I did for the Recuprights but for totally different reasons. I was very familiar with Plath and Kern’s results and had watched Clark and Atehortu race in ’06 and ’07. I don’t know anything about the riding backgrounds of either the Raven Lunatics or Team Flat Tired. However I am VERY familiar with the crew that these teams have assembled. Raven Lunatic David Bradley has been the equivalent of a young Lee Mitchell for recumbent racers over the past few years. Bradley has crewed multiple RAOs (including Kern’s solo record), 508s and RAAMs. The Lunatics crew chief Adrienne Ruggles has almost as much experience as David. Bradley is probably sick of the RAO course by now as he designed the 2008 Route Books. Flat Tired has the services of now legendary crew chief Captain Robert Johnson. The Captain organized the amazing RAO Speedwagon teams and then kicked back for a relaxing race last year crewing for the Handicapped Mountain Goats (John Spurgeon on his single speed and Richard Haight who’s racing for 4 Man Team Three Rivers Racing this year). Johnson is used to crewing for winners and is incredibly organized. This division’s a toss up.

202 Team Raven Lunatics

David Bradley, Arcata, CA
William Spaeth, Arcata, CA

204 Team Flat Tired

Dana Lieberman, Valley Village, CA
John Lauer, Elk Grove, CA

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Meet the Two Person Recuprights!

Thursday July 17, 2008 by Terri Gooch
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This has the potential to be the most ferocious head to head competition in the race. We have two of the most accomplished ultra distance recumbent racers in the world (that is not an exaggeration) between Kern and Plath. Jim has the RAO Solo Recumbent record (set when placed 3rd overall solo in 2005), has surpassed 500 miles a couple of times at the Sebring 24 hr and was on pace to become the first solo recumbent finisher at RAAM until he was sidelined with respiratory problems. Fortunately for us bystanders he is going up against Phil Plath. This will be Phil’s third RAO racing in the Recupright Division which he invented. In 2006 Plath raced as Team Dik-Dik with teammate Tim Clark. 2006 was the year of the heat wave and Dik-Dik placed 2nd overall in the Two Person Open division with a time of 32:22. After setting the 2 Person Recumbent record in Race Across America with John Schlitter in ’07, he returned to RAO as part of Team Dik-Less (I don’t think this was in reference to residual numbness suffered during RAAM…). Teamed with Karta Purkh Atehortu, Dik-Less broke the Recupright record with a time of 31:47. Clark and Atehortu showed us what excellent climbers they are in ’06 and ’07. I’m sure I’m offending one or both of the recuprights here but that’s what I’m good at – I don’t have a clue which team has the edge. All the racers are familiar with the route. Clark and Atehortu have both done the brunt of the climbs and were still willing to come back. This is going to be a great race.

210 Team Orthros
James Kern, Sunnyvale, CA (Recumbent)
Karta Purkh Atehortu, Palo Alto, CA (Upright)

208 Team The Second Coming
Phil Plath, Half Moon Bay, CA (Recumbent)
Tim Clark (Upright)

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Meet the Two Person Teams!

Thursday July 17, 2008 by Terri Gooch
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203 Team Bag Balm – Richard Seton, Portland, OR & Scott Salsbury, Seaside, OR – Bag Balm returns for its third RAO. Seton and Salsbury teamed up on both Bag Balm 4 person teams (setting the 4 Person Mixed record in 2006) but decided they wanted to get a little more riding in this time. Seton is on fine form and Salsbury is as fast as ever so, combined with their experience, this will be a competitive team. One thing is for sure – Bag Balm will be saddle sore free and have surprisingly soft udders at the finish line.

205 Team Haul’n Oats: The Man Eaters – Adam Garmon, Portland, OR &
DJ DeAustria, Tualitin, OR – Adam Garmon had a strong solo finish last year. Wanting to participate with a little less pain this year he teamed up with DJ DeAustria to race Two Person. Unfortunately Adam will be racing in plenty of pain as he took a hard spill during a training ride last week. DeAustria is plenty fit as he was planning on racing solo if Adam was unable to race. Garmon recently placed first at Glenn Johnson’s Lewis and Clark 12 hour. If his injuries don’t slow him down too much this will be a tough team to beat.

207 Team Too Dumb to Quit – Doug Peterson, Hillsboro, OR &
TBA – It’s all up to TBA. Peterson is one fast & determined rider. He had one of the most inspiring solo finishes in RAO history overcoming a motherlode of obstacles to nab his official finish. He returned the following 2 years as the title star of the 4 Person Team ‘Doug and the Descenders’ (winning the 4 person open division in ’07). I’m not too sure about TBA’s resume but with Doug’s talent whether TBA is male, female, upright, recumbent or other thiswill be a competitive team.

209 Team Abrupt Edge – Craig Rowley, Portland, OR & Glenn Johnson, Vancouver, WA – This will be Glenn’s third RAO. He raced 2 Person in ’06 and showed what a great teammate he is by soloing in from Prineville when his partner became too ill to ride. Johnson decided to go solo last year finishing second and taking Rookie of the Year honors. We met Craig Rowley at the Lewis and Clark 12/24 where he put in a strong performance. This is a wide open division and we look for some amazing racing among the 2 Person Open competitors.

Relay Team, Two Person, Masters 50+

201 Team Varmint – Mark Newsome, Corvallis, OR &
John Henry Maurice, Keizer, OR – Mark Newsome has been participating in RAO almost since its inception. Mark has raced 4 person for Team HP, Gazette-Times & Half-Gassed Fellows. He’s participated in 3 and 4 Day Training Camps. He knows this course as well as anyone. John Henry Maurice has completed two RAO Training Camps. Both Maurice and Newsome crewed last year for Team She-Cat Flash (Sandy Earl & Patti Jo Struve). Sandy is now crewing for the Varmints. Sandy knows these racers well – She was crew chief for John Henry during his successful 508 solo finish in 2006 and again for Mark for his 2007 508 official finish. The Varmints are in the unique position of being competitive in the open group while chasing the 50+ record of Headhunter Cannibal Kings Bill Nicolai and Michael Frommlet (Nicolai is racing solo this year with Frommlet crewing for him). Bill and Michael set a fast time but John Henry and Mark have a good shot at breaking it.

Relay Team, Two Person, Mixed 60+

260 Team Old Spokes – Fred Boethling, Boulder, CO &
Bobbi Fisher, Burbank, CA – I’m not familiar with Bobbi’s results so I apologize to you and will focus on Fred. While new to RAO Boethling is no stranger to the 2 Man event. Fred teamed with Dan Crain to set 60+ 2 Man records across Utah and at Race Across America. In 2006 Fred broke Peter Lekisch’s 60+ solo RAAM record and had so much fun he decided to become CEO of RAAM, LLC. Boethling is highly competitive and I’m certain he is out to set a record that will be tough to beat.

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Meet the Racers (continued)

Wednesday July 16, 2008 by Terri Gooch
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Women’s Solo
130 Deanna Adams – Prescott, AZ – Deanna has one of the best cycling blogs on the web – go to the roster to check it out. The Prescott racer competed in the 2007 508 and is just coming off a heart wrenching Race Across The West in which she completed 814 miles. We were cheering her on from Hood River during the RAAM webcast and we’ll be cheering her on as officials on the route. Really want to see Deanna finish RAO!

132 Jodi-Annette Ashley – Bremerton, WA – Talk about heart, Jodi-Annette has spent the last two years in preparation of this race. Jodi joined us for our Four Day Camp and rode admirably. She then spent a few more days on course to get in more route specific hill training. Jodi is out to avenge her 2006 DNF. Jodi – you rode Timberline like a champ in May – we’re expecting to see you at the finish line this weekend!

131 Patti Jo Struve – Arnold, CA – The SnowKitty is a two time women’s solo champion at RAO. As no woman soloist finished last year Patti Jo will be defending her 2006 title. She’s also the RAO women’s two person team record holder. With her experience on the RAO route and Lee Mitchell as her crew chief Patti Jo has a very good chance to pull the unprecedented threepeat.

133 Jill Damman – Jackson, WY – Google Jill Damman and you’ll find a bike racer with a LOT of top five finishes including a VERY impressive 10:35 at the 203 mile LOTOJA (Logan to Jackson) Classic. I get the feeling Damman may have the most speed in our women’s field. Like Brian Ecker, she’ll need to control that speed. If she does, also like Brian Ecker, there is a high probability that she could win.

Men’s Solo Recumbent
117 Robert DeCou – Port Angleles, WA – We’re glad to have another recumbent racer attempting a solo finish. I know very little about Robert other than to say an official finish would place him in a very exclusive club along with Jim Kern and Michael Wolfe.

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Meet the Racers - Solo Field (continued)

Tuesday July 15, 2008 by Terri Gooch
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110 John Pearch – Olympia, WA – When I first started ultra racing in the early 90s there was a wide variety of athletes in the sport. I often thought the ultra runners, if they had a mind to, would be highly competitive in long distance cycling. On the whole I found myself surprised that the ultra marathon runners were not all that competitive. Until 2003 when a man named Mike Trevino burst on the scene with a dominating win at the UMCA 24 Hour Championships in Iowa. Mike went on to a second place sub 9 day RAAM crossing in ’04 becoming one of the handful of solo racers that have actually passed Jure Robic after Day One. All of which brings us to RAO racer #110John Pearch. Pearch has an impressive ultra running resume. He’s fast, has great endurance and is hgihly competitive. RAO will be his first bicycle race. Judging from the amount of preparation John has done and time he’s spent training on the RAO route I believe he’s going to turn in a performance more akin to Trevino. Pearch’s stated goals are an official finish – I’m expecting him to be much more competitive once the race gets underway.

114 Daniel Olsen – Seattle, WA – Daniel has a great website which I urge you to visit. Olsen is competitive and is coming to win. I know very little about this racer other than he’d make me nervous if I was racing against him.

115 Scott Youngren – Mount Vernon, WA – I remember just a few short years ago when Scott Youngren was racing his rookie RAO. He’d put in an amazing few days at RAO Training Camp – riding well enough to have Richie Kondzielaski tip him as the favorite to win in ’05. Logistics took their toll on Scott and forced him to eventually drop from the race. Youngren came back in ’07 to avenge his DNF. He did with a strong finish. It was a tough race for Scott as he had to overcome some serious difficulties to get to Timberline. Scott had a great Training Camp this year. He knows what’s coming, is prepared for it and should have a good race this year.

161 Bill Nicolai – Vancouver, WA – Racing with Team Headhunter, Bill has finished RAO on 4 and 2 person relay teams. He’s the current 50+ two person record holder. Now at age 60 Bill wants to become the second 60 year old to finish RAO solo. Nicolai is one of the best in his age group in triathlons and we look for him to duplicate that in ultra racing. He’s dedicated himself to a solo finish this year planning his entire training schedule around this race. He has the mind and experience to achieve his goal. He also has the crew to make it happen with ultra legend Steve Born as his crew chief. Does he have the speed to make an official finish? I am confident he does. Bill looked great as he passed me on our last lap of the Lewis and Clark Ultra last May. I was really impressed with the way he was riding and think he can bring that to RAO.

116 Tom Letsinger – Eugene, OR – Check out GVH Bikes online to see the beautiful works of art Tom assembles for riders around the world. Letsinger’s background is in mountain bike racing. We initially met him at Ring of Fire and were impressed with his ability to stay on the bike. He ran into some physical problems during RAO last year and dropped from the race just past Prineville. He came back to Ring of Fire and rode a brilliant race moving into second place (upright) during the night loops. He did what a person needs to do to be competitive in an ultra race – Tom maintained a steady pace and limited his time off the bike. He had a great Training Camp and absolutely flew up Timberline Road on Day Four. Watch out for this guy if you’re planning on RAAM qualification. He’s going to have a top finish.

118 Dru Dixon – West Plains, MO – I know very little about Dru other than the fact that he lives in a state which I think has some of the most difficult cycling terrain I’ve ever ridden. Missouri has some brutally steep climbs which, though they are nowhere near as long as our Oregon climbs, should serve as fine preparation for RAO.

162 James Barhitte – Vancouver, WA – We were hoping to meet James at the Lewis and Clark Ultra. Unfortunately he was not there. I don’t know James’ race background.

120 Georg Payer – Wolfsberg, Austria – I am so happy we finally have an Austrian in our field!! Georg arrived today and is taking some time to recover from jet lag and get in a few extra miles prior to the start. I had the pleasure of speaking with Payer today. The terrain where he lives sounds quite comparable to the Cascades. I was beaten plenty of times by Wolfgang Fasching – maybe I’ll be able to stay ahead of this Austrian by driving my car.

122 Jess Clifton – Sacramento, CA – Another racer with whom I am not familiar. Jess, if you read this and want to send me a resume please do!

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New Route Book!

Tuesday July 15, 2008 by Terri Gooch
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Yeah ~ it’s finally here – our new route book has been posted – and we have a new Delorme Street Atlas posted for 2008 route with it’s various changes. Most important change is the start – which is totally different from all years past. I’d like to post the racer’s version here right now so that you guys can get a feel for what is in store for you. The Airport Holiday Inn has a totally new access road which will make leaving SOOOOO much easier. But that is why, if you have done the race before, this start looks a bit more complicated – trust me – it’s not!

0.0 RIGHT Right Turn out of Holiday Inn Parking lot onto NE Columbia Blvd

0.0 LEFT Left turn at Traffic Light on to NE Columbia Parkway

0.1 LEFT Left Turn at Traffic Light on to Killingswoh

0.2 STRAIGHT At Traffic Light continue straight across I-205 overpass

0.5 LEFT Left Turn onto Bike Path (far left) Follow bikepath to NE Marine Dr.

7.4 STRAIGHT Merge with NE Marine Dr at NE 223 rd Ave /NE Blue Lake Rd

8.3 CROSS Railroad Tracks

9.5 STRAIGHT Continue Straight under I-84

9.6 LEFT Left Turn at traffic light onto Frontage Rd

9.8 RIGHT Right turn onto NW Graham Rd / NW 257th Ave

10.1 LEFT Left Turn at Traffic Light onto W. Columbia River Hwy

10.2 STRAIGHT Road becomes E. Columbia River Hwy (after Buxton Ave)

11.0 RIGHT Right Turn onto Historic Columbia Hwy

Parade Ends here: Racing starts after Bridge
One support vehicle may meet racers here. Large turn out on right after bridge

12.6 Tippy Canoe Restaurant on Right

13.4 RIGHT Sharp Right Turn over Bridge onto Stark St. Road is unmarked. Only sign says Oxbow Regional Park

14.0 LEFT Left Turn onto Kerslake Rd

14.9 Kerslake Rd becomes 302nd Ave

15.8 CROSS Stop Sign – Division St -Warning Cross traffic does not stop. Continue Straight up ridiculously steep climb

16.6 STRAIGHT Four Way stop sign at SE Pipeline Rd

16.6 STRAIGHT Four Way Stop Sign at SE Lusted Rd – Barlow School on Right

17.7 RIGHT Right Turn at 4-Way Stop Sign onto SE Dodge Park Blvd

18.5 LEFT Left Turn at Stop Sign onto SE Orient Dr. Turn before traffic light

24.6 LEFT Left Turn at Traffic Light onto US 26 East toward Sandy/Mt Hood

Second support vehicles will be here, on route US 26. Teams may begin exchanges here as well.

See you all on Friday!!

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