A member of Sorella Forte racing at PIR.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

A new initiative launched in Portland aims to get more women racing bikes on the road. Let's Race Bikes! is a coalition led by local teams that want to see larger women's fields at races throughout Oregon.

"Basically, a group of women have joined together because we saw a need to "market" Road racing in Oregon," says Let's Race Bikes! Board Member Karey Miles. "Over the past few years we have seen drops and inconsistencies in numbers of women racing their bikes, especially on the road." (more...)

Whether you love to ride dirt or pavement, PIR has you covered on Monday nights.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

To understand how vibrant and healthy Portland's bike racing scene is, you needn't look any further than Portland International Raceway (PIR) on a Monday night. Nestled in former wetlands just north of Kenton and west of I-5, PIR hosts two major weekly race series' — one for dirt lovers and one for the roadies. (more...)

[Publisher's note: As part of our ongoing racing coverage (made even better by our embedded racer and journalist Josh Liberles) we'll be featuring profiles of local teams. From the super fast to the super silly, Portland is full of them! Last week we featured the Ironclad Performance Wear cycling team; now we turn our attention to the paisley platoon: Jens Voigt's Army. — JM]

Jens Voigt (@thejensie on Twitter) is a perennial fan favorite in the European peloton known for his aggressive racing, affability and longevity – he's 40 years old and as tough and fast as ever. Portland's Jens Voigt's Army cycling team has added to the legend, both via its hero-worshiping name and through a compilation of Jens Voigt's fabulous quotes assembled into an online "soundboard" that has gone viral. (more...)

[Publisher's note: As part of our ongoing racing coverage (made even better by our embedded racer and journalist Josh Liberles) we'll be featuring profiles of local teams. From the super fast to the super silly, Portland is full of them! And, as the subject of our first profile proves, those attributes are not always mutually exclusive. — JM]

The Ironclad Performance Wear Cycling Team is a road-racing-centric team based in Portland that focuses on helping novice riders to develop. It's a diverse bunch, ranging from an architect to a former army ranger to a semi-pro hippie, but somehow it all works, and amazingly well.

Team Ironclad (photographed by Catherine Leigh Cooper in August 2011).

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Then and now on Mt. Tabor.
(Photo L: James Mason/Photo R © J. Maus/BikePortland)

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Castelli will donate $60 dollars to OBRA for every
one of these jerseys they sell (price is $100).

The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) is just about $5,000 short of meeting their goal for the first phase of a fundraising effort to replace the pock-marked and cracking concrete surfaces on the venerable Alpenrose Velodrome in Portland's southwest hills.

The renovation of the straightaways began back in March and has now been completed. "The new portions are amazingly smooth," says Velodrome manager Mike Murray. The total cost was just over $51,000.

Phase two of the project — the paved infield portion of the track (a.k.a. the apron) — will be equally as expensive. Once all the work is done, Murray says the project will, "Make almost a new velodrome and will keep Alpenrose running for the next 20-30 plus years." (more...)

The action starts this week and it's now open to men and women of all ages and abilities.
(Words and photos by Pat Malach/Oregon Cycling Action)

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The Upper Echelon Team post-race.
(Photo: Emily Haddad/Rapha Cycle Club)

After 114 miles and over seven hours in the saddle, a Portland-based team was victorious in the Rapha Ladies Prestige Race held Saturday in San Francisco.

Fashioned after their Gentleman's Race, the Rapha Ladies Prestige is an unsanctioned, unsupported race that features teams of six riders. Unlike traditional road races, this was more of a time trial and each team was required to finish the grueling course with all their riders together in order to be counted. This format means team unity and cohesion can often lead to more success than pure strength.

Out of 13 teams that entered, the winning team was fielded by Upper Echelon Fitness, a sports medicine and training center in northwest Portland. The team included Tina Brubaker (whom you might recall from her UPS bike delivery stint), Susan Peithman (a BTA staffer who is also training for the Reve Tour), Megan Chinburg, Elise Huggins, Alexandra Burton, and Amy Campbell. Other teams from Portland included Sorella Forte and Rapha's own women's team. (more...)

The Rose Garden Circuit Race was held for the first time last night. The course took riders through the scenic hills of Washington Park. More photos below.

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After years of patching and repainting, the time has
come to lay new concrete at Alpenrose.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) has launched a fund-raising effort to rebuild a major portion of Alpenrose Velodrome. The 1/6 mile track located on land owned by Alpenrose Dairy in Portland's southwest hills has become a crucial part of the regional racing scene and has served as a beloved venue since 1962.

However, despite years of patchwork and paint, the track's concrete surface has reached an advanced state of disrepair that can no longer be fixed with band-aids.

"Along the straightaways is just terrible," OBRA's Mike Murray shared with me today. "Riding around that thing is bumpier than riding on a regular road... If you put a speedometer on your track bike you can't even read the thing."

Murray, who has managed OBRA's track program for as long as anyone can remember, has led teams of volunteers twice a year to repair, repaint, and patch the track surface. After an off-season power-washing job, it became clear that another round of band-aid wouldn't be enough. After the power-wash blasted away years of paint and concrete patch material, "It was obvious that substantial work needed to be done to keep the velodrome running," wrote Murray in a recent email to OBRA members. (more...)