Dan the moto man at Mt. Tabor last Wednesday.
(Photo: Greg Schmitt)

(Please welcome new contributor Hannah Moraes! You might recall her post-race interviews from the Red R Crit last week.)

A motorcycle rider on Mt. Tabor? During the weekly bike race?

After a collision between a rider and skateboarder brought an abrupt end to the third week of the Mt. Tabor Race Series on June 16th, attendees and organizers were worried about future incidents in the final weeks of the series. With an open course, volunteers placed at intersections do their best to keep the myriad other summertime mountain-goers from interfering with the race.

However, one person saw an opportunity to step up and offer an additional measure of safety that hadn’t previously been used: a moto-pacer that would stay ahead of each race to make sure the road was clear of pedestrians and party-goers alike.

I caught up with Moto Man after last week’s race. He revealed himself to be Dan, who happens to be husband to another important player in Oregon bike racing, women’s cycling advocate and Oregon Bicycle Racing Association Board Member Christy Hawk. Dan graciously agreed to an interview right after he got off his bike after a long evening of work.[Read more…]

Racers and fans at a PIR Short Track event in 2011.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic the 2020 bike racing season was nearly wiped out completely. This season has gotten off to a very promising start with huge field sizes and lots of enthusiasm; but this morning we got some bad news. The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association has announced that the Portland Short Track Series will not happen.

2021 would have been the 17th season for the beloved, weekday, off-road races that are held at Portland International Raceway (PIR) just north of downtown Kenton. Short Track is a discipline where people use mountain bikes to compete on a course that offers a mix of grassy double-track, tight singletrack through roots and trees, and the big highlight: whoops, berms, and drops on a motocross course. One of the best things about Short Track is how close it is to Portland, which means many people are able to bike to the event after work.

Interestingly, Short Track organizer Tony Kic said the cancellation happened due to a mix of factors (not just Covid). “After a long month of planning and deliberation PIR management has decided not to allow STXC [short track cross country] this summer,” Kic shared in an email to OBRA members. “Various issues and conflicts with the venue and other users have compounded over the years, the pandemic and some changes in leadership prompted new restrictions and priorities that squeeze out our little bike party.”[Read more…]

Masked racers roll out at the Shasta Gravel Hugger race that kicked off the season on March 6th.
(Photo: OBRA)

It appears bike racing — even mass start events — can happen safely despite the lingering presence of Covid-19 and its variants.

The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association announced this week that after hosting four large bike races so far this year, they’ve had zero reported cases of the virus.

“It has been inspiring to see how much work our professional race promoters put into their events to make them safe while maintaining the raw excitement and energy we all feel at a bike race,” OBRA Executive Director Chuck Kenlan said in a statement Thursday.[Read more…]

Portlander Molly Cameron in Bicycling.

Anti-transgender legislation proposed in many states across the country has spurred local cycling leaders to step up, speak out, and fight back.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 31 states are currently considering bills that would limit health care to transgender youth and/or prevent transgender youth from playing sports.

Arkansas is one of the states leading the charge. It’s also slated to host the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships. In addition to this high-profile event that’s likely to draw many racers from the Portland region, Arkansas has become a cycling mecca in recent years. That’s because it’s home to Walmart, whose young heirs’ love of cycling has led to massive investments to attract bike companies and riders seeking fun trails.[Read more…]

Bridge City CX, which debuted in 2019 and was cancelled in 2020, hopes to make a triumphant return as a championship race this season.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

If all goes according to plan there will be robust cyclocross season this year.

That was just part of the good news shared by Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) Executive Director Chuck Kenlan in a letter to members on Monday.

It has been a roller-coaster of a year for OBRA, Oregon’s sanctioning body for bike racing. When the reality of the pandemic hit last March the organization laid off staff and cancelled dozens of scheduled events (their main source of revenue outside of membership fees). Now as Covid-19 vaccinations work their way through the state, the hibernation of competitive cycling might come to an end before the end of this year.[Read more…]

A cyclocross race at Alpenrose in 2019 and the cover of the Dairyville Gazette from August 1962.

The beloved racing event site at Alpenrose Dairy is now permanently closed. [Read more…]