We’ve moved

all blog post are now on the journal page at www.veloforma.com

Tuckerman… Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

Photo Credit Mark Blackwelder

It seems like it was just yesterday that cross clinics were starting… now there is only one race left in the Cross Crusade Series with five more weekends before the season is over… WOW! Time flies when you’re having fun. And, if you’re Aaron Tuckerman, you’ve been having a lot of fun. Aaron Rides for Corsa Concepts/Veloforma and he’s been having a break out cross season. So far Aaron has won 5 Cross Crusades and he’s been in the top 3 in every race except for one. He also wrapped up the overall for the Cross Crusade series with the win at Barton Park! For me, being his bike sponsor is pretty RAD. Who could ask for more… I couldn’t! I understand he’s been racing sick since October 9th, but has managed to muster up the energy to race every weekend. Last week hit him hard. He just rested and didn’t get out on the bike much, and come race day he let it RIP! That says a lot about Aaron and his competitive spirit. The guy is tough as nails. The season’s not over yet, but I have to say Thank You, Aaron! Well played, mate!

For all the great coverage of Oregon Cross you can check out Pat Malach’s Oregon Cycling Action –

http://oregon.cyclingaction.com/2011/krasniak-tuckerman-win-cross-crusade

For more information on the remaining series:

http://gpmc.cx/

http://www.crosscrusade.com/

http://www.portlandracing.com/cx/

If you’re way down south - http://www.obra.org/flyers/2011/so_oregon_outlaw_cx.html

Images of Cross!

This weekend is Cross Crusade #2 at Rainer High School! To get the juices flowing here are some great shots of Aaron Tuckerman - Corsa Concepts/Veloforma.

First two photos by Mark Blackwelder
You can check out his great shots here - https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.2350739681776.188264.1048621958&type=1




The weather has been wet and they are calling for showers on Sunday, so it's gonna be typical cross weather. Bring your rain boots and be ready to get wet. Don't forget to stop by the Corsa Concepts tent for treats and say HI to Greg and gang.

Alpenrose CrossCrusade

Cross season is now in full effect for Oregon. This past weekend was Cross Crusade #1 at Alpenrose Dairy. I didn’t race but was in attendance to watch our rider Aaron Tuckerman who hails from Blenheim, New Zealand, but resides here in Stumptown. Aaron Rides for the Corsa Concepts/Veloforma cross team. We are excited to have him on board, and I like Aaron’s style and he didn’t disappoint yesterday at all, it’s great to see Tuckerman or Tuckie as I call him back at it!



You can get full coverage here by Pat Malach and Cyclocross magazine on line.
http://www.cxmagazine.com/cross-crusade-1-alpenrose-dairy-report

You can get full results of all the cross crusade events on the OBRA page
http://obra.org/events/19722/results

Next up for those that want to race during the week – Blind Date at the Dairy http://www.crossseries.com/

This is a funny video give it time and watch the whole thing…
http://www.crossseries.com/videos.html

Wow! It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 60 days since our last post. Time flies when you’re having fun, right. Or at least busy beyond belief… so what’s been happening you say? I’ll try and recap but I know I’ll miss something since so much has been going on.

We’ve been hard at work cranking out our new road bike, the STRADA SLR – we can’t seem to get them out the door fast enough, which is a good thing. But the bad thing is I don’t even have one underneath me cause I can justify building one in my size when I have to fill that same size order. Below is our new steed, we are super proud of it…



On the full custom front we have been working hard getting everything in place. We’ve ordered a new frame jig so we will have two, with the goal of having 3 in all. Each will be used for a specific purpose in our tube to tube process. I know I don’t have to do this but it’s something that I have thought about a lot of the last 2 years. I think it will simplify our build process, especially in the ISP front among other things. We have finished our plans for our new Studio work shop on our property in Banks. Which has been a long time coming, when we have to move from our current warehouse to the new facility it’s not going to be too much fun but it will be well worth it.



In racing news our athletes have been doing amazing, which always makes us proud. Please forgive me if I forget something (I know if I would just stay on top of post) I’m just going to cover the women in this post and later this week cover what the men have been doing. So here goes…

Eugene Roubaix – Brianna Walle 3rd Ironclad Performance

State Road Race – Anne Usher 1st Upper Echelon Fitness, 4th Brianna Walle Ironclad Performance, 6th Anona Whitley Ironclad Performance

Bend Don’t Break – Tina Brubaker 3rd Upper Echelon

Special note Bend Don’t Brake was the first stop in the Veloforma Norman Babcock Cat 4 Women’s series. Top 3 riders in the first race – Sandra Clark 1st, Suzanne Girard Eberele 2nd, Kelly Sandow, you can follow the series here - http://obra.org/cat4_womens_race_series although the standings are not correct as the state tt has not be compiled.

Mt Hood Classic stage race. This is an Oregon must do stage race, not only are the courses killer, but the scenery is just out of this world. In the Elite women’s race Anna Christiansen Finshed 15th overall, which impressed me a lot. Especially because she finished ahead of two riders who used to race for me and I know what they are capable of and how strong they are… so my hat is off to you Anna you are riding amazing and developing in to an excellent racer.



You can check out all the results and see what world class riders showed up to do this fantastic stage race - http://obra.org/events/18429/results.

Sublime Sublimity – Anona Whitley Ironclad Performance 1st

Elkhorn Classic - http://obra.org/events/18400/results this is what I would call Oregon’s epic stage race, it is without a doubt a tough one. To do well is one thing to win it, takes some luck and your best A game.

Ironclad Performance once again has proven to me that they are a team on the way up. They know how to race as a team and they proved this at Elkhorn. It was really cool to get race reports from this race, the final stage was one I wish I was able to see from a moto, especially the women’s Elite race. More info and race coverage can be found at Oregon Cycling Action. http://oregon.cyclingaction.com/2011/reynolds-koch-win-elkhorn-overall/

Nature Valley GP - We want to wish Hilary Billington as well as all the others who went down in the stage 5 crash at the NVGP a quick recovery -
http://oregon.cyclingaction.com/2011/billington-recovering-from-nvgp-crash

NRC racing – Whitney Schultz is our only pro athlete this year, she has been traveling all over and it’s been tough to keep up with all that she has been doing, she just finished NVGP and is now in Augusta GA for the - USA Cycling Road Nationals.

You can follow Whit on twitter and on her blog.



Whit’s blog - http://whitneyschultz.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

Whit on twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/WhitSchultz

We want to wish Whit all the best for Nationals! Kill it Whit!

Ok that’s it for now, more in a few days. It’s gonna be a busy week with work, the Six day and covering what the men have been doing the past 60 days.

Cheers

This Sunday is Liege Bastogne Liege also known as the La Doyenne – translation means the oldest; this race is run in the beautiful region of the Ardennes in Belgium. It goes from Liege to Bastogne and back… hence the name. This is the southern French speaking half of Belgium and the race began back in 1892. It was won by Leon Houa an amateur, because at the time it was an amateur race run from Spa to Bastogne and back. It wasn’t until 1894 that it was for professionals, but again Houa won. Actually Leon Houa was a three time winner. The Great Eddy Merckx has the most victories with five, Moreno Argentin was close with four. Since its inception Belgians have dominated this race with 57 victories. If you look at the list of winners they are part of cycling burly boys, those who are aggressive and willing to take chances, but yet calculating at the same time. This race is probably the toughest classic IMHO: the climbs are long, most of them are pretty steep, and they come up with depressing frequency in the final kilometers, so you’ve got to have the legs in the end. I think Moreno Argentin said it best: Liège is a race of trial by elimination, where it's very unlikely that a breakaway can go clear and decide the race before the final 100km. You need to be strong and at the same time clever and calculating - in this sense it's a complete test of a cyclist's ability. Who will the winner be this year? Any guesses? My money is on Philippe Gilbert especially after his performance at Amstel Gold. But who know? That’s the great thing about competition you never know until the race is over.

Castelli

The images above and below are copy right material of Castelli USA and its partners.

This photo is property of Castelli. All Rights Reserved



A few weeks ago Veloforma, & Corsa Concepts and a few of our rider ambassadors took part in the 2012 Winter/Spring Castelli photo shoot in Antelope, Oregon. It was a whirlwind weekend of riding in new High tech garments from one of the coolest, most technically advanced cycling clothing companies in the world.

You can check out the weekends action on flicker here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/castelli-cycling/sets/72157626456052724/

You can also follow them on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Castelli-USA/111414615538672



“Motor Moon” aka Miranda Moon-Duff in action on an amazing descent outside of Antelope, Oregon.

U23 Tour of Flanders – Saturday April 9th

U23 Tour of Flanders – Saturday April 9th Our favorite U23 racer Carson Miller (now on Jelly Belly Pro cycling), is back in Europe and gearing up of the U23 Tour of Flanders. Carson is in Europe racing for the National team. He flew in last weekend (skipping Redlands) and has already gotten in his first good training block since landing, recon is tomorrow; so hopefully some shots of what the cobble sections are looking like. As always I expect the racing to be full stick, it’s a 169।9 Kilometers with 14K of cobbles. I know I will be cheering on Carson as he tackles the cobbles and bergs of this year’s U23 Tour of Flanders. Enjoy Carson, I know you will…

I am planning on doing this in honor of U23 Flanders on Sunday if anyone is game - http://rondepdx.com/ can’t wait for the official unofficial version coming to a berg in the west hills soon।

You can check out Carson at his blog or follow him on twitter.

http://twitter.com/Miller_Carson

http://www.carsongrantmiller.com/

STAGE RACING

Stage racing has begun and two really cool stage races happened this past weekend. The Cherry Blossom classic stage race in the Dalles, Oregon, and the Redlands Bicycle Classic in Redlands, California.

It was the first race of the NRC calendar in Redlands, CA - aka the Redlands Classic. For the first time in 4 seasons I was not Directing a Veloforma squad, which I had mix feelings about. It felt weird to not be fielding a team which will be the case all year. But after the prologue was finished, I found myself check prologue times and looking at last year’s times to see how things were panning out for Alice Pennington and Christina Gokey Smith. Then the wheels started turn about race tactics for stage 1 and so on... but wait I’m in Oregon… turn the brain off Mark. I am proud to say that both Alice and Christina raced for our elite program so I take pride and seeing them do well.




For 2011 Christina is Riding for Texas based Rouse Bicycles Elite team and Alice was guest riding for the same squad. How did it turn out, well they kick some major BUTT, helping Christina win the overall Sprinters Green jersey. Which is establishing herself as one of the top sprinters on the women’s pro circuit. It’s definitely going to be a big season for her and her new team, and hopefully Alice will get more guest rides at stage races while not racing her Mtn bike for Eric Tonkin and Kona/SM program. It’s going to be a fun filled year for these two as they travel and race with the best. I for one will be following them both along with Whitney Schultz as the tackle yet another year of NRC racing. You can find out more about Redlands and team Rouse at the links on the bottom of the page. Even follow Team Rouse on facebook!



Here in Oregon we had the first stage race on the ORBA schedule – Cherry Blossom Classic it’s a must do if you have not raced this early season stage race. It has filled the shoes of Oregon’s other long and maybe forgotten epic early season stage race known as the Tour of Willamette. CB had a new night time Criterium, which looked to be a crowd pleaser and think it adds something special to the venue. So next year if you have the early season form and put in the winter miles this is a must do. I’m not going to go into detail about the racing, but I do want to congratulate Megan Chinberg of Upper Echelon Fitness for getting the win in the Women 1/2’s. You can check out all the action on Oregon Cycling Action.

We are also thinking positive thoughts for OBRA’s Criterium champion Leia Tyrrell of Sorella forte, wishing her a quick recovery and all the best as she recovers from injuries sustained this past weekend while racing at Cherry Blossom, please be careful out there folks. Heal up young lady, I know you’ll be back at it soon enough.




Want to also congratulate Captain Dave and the Ironclad squad for a job well done this weekend.

You can check out all the racing action at the links below…

Cherry Blossom results - http://obra.org/events/18552/results

Cherry Blossom website - http://www.cherryblossomclassic.com/

Oregon’s best race coverage website - http://oregon.cyclingaction.com/

Team Ironclad and victory - http://www.ironcladcycling.com/2011/04/03/cherry-blossom-cycling-classic-that-spells-victory/

Christina’s new team - http://www.facebook.com/RouseRacing like them on facebook.

Podium Insight for great Redlands coverage! http://www.podiuminsight.com/

Weekend Happenings

First off Congratulations to all who got out and raced this weekend!

But before we get to racing did you guys see that moon? Amazing!

It was a low key weekend at Veloforma, Miranda and I enjoyed the first day of spring hanging out with the dogs, drinking coffee and a late afternoon ride. The weather was perfect, although I actually over dressed. The sun and breeze felt so good, it’s hard to believe that in a few more weeks and I’ll be racing, which I look forward too. It’s been a while since I really raced and trained, it’s been on the back burner for a few years, but this year’s gonna be a little different. Lack of racing has mostly been due to running a team, on top of work and family obligations. I don’t know how some of you family folks do it, but I admire you from afar.



This weekend’s racing was down in Salem - The Willamette Capital Cup Criterium, course looked good, it also looked like it was a mix of wet and dry conditions। You can catch the results here - http://obra.org/events/18595/results.

Plus coverage was also done by Oregon’s Pat Malach of Oregon Cycling Action - http://oregon.cyclingaction.com/road/ great photos by a bunch of Oregon racers and photographers are on his site from this past weekend’s action.

Looks like Karsten Hagen of West End Bikes was down in sunny Tucson, racing in the Tucson Bicycle Classic. Lucky dog! You can check out his stage reports on Pat’s site too. Speaking of West End Bikes I need to stop by and check it out. I am embarrassed to I have not been by yet, it’s on my to do list.

Special Shout out to Team Ironclad, there was a lot of black and yellow out this weekend. With some impressive racing. Drew Willis had a strong race in the 1/2. Monster team work in the 3’s race with Crawford getting second with help from Harwood, Thompson, Crouch and Penner.

The Ironclad ladies put a capital T in Team work, helping Brianna Walle get the W in the ladies CAT 3 and Anna Clark in the 4’s race. A little bird told me that Anona Whitley, Lana ” Lanaimal” Pressey, Stephanie Croy and Anna Christiansen work very well together. You gotta love it when you race like a team.

You can find the Ironclad race report - http://www.ironcladcycling.com/

This weekend also had an impromptu King Kong #3 as I saw Ira Ryan and a few role by the office on Sunday. I have done this ride solo, but it would be super fun to actually ride one of these true King Kong rides with the bunch some day.

On a closing note we wish Sam Nicoletti of Gentle Lovers a speedy recovery from a training accident that happen on Sunday. We know you will be back at it straight away. Wishing you all the best Sam.
Cheers
~MD~

Carson Miller

Last year we were lucky to sponsor our favorite U23 rider Carson Miller. Carson had an amazing season riding on both US and European soil. So much so he signed with Jelly Belly Professional Cycling team for 2011. Watch Carson and his season progress as he tackles some of the toughest races on the NRC circuit and heads back over to Europe. You can follow Carson blog http://www.carsongrantmiller.com/. Follow Carson on Twitter http://twitter.com/miller_carson, as he loves to post about his rides and what culinary delight he is having for dinner. Carson eats like a herd of horses, but what pro rider doesn’t like copious amounts of food in the pantry.


Here is to a great season Carson! Rock it my man!

Monday Update.

Monday Racing Update.

First off I know we've been gone for a while, but we are now back and will use this blog until we get the journal page up on the new website.

Congratulations to all Veloforma Sponsored riders that raced this weekend’s venues, Drew Willis, Alice Pennington, Joel Crouch, Mark Crawford, Elise ”Super Mom” Huggins, Megan “Cinzano” Chinberg and Stephanie “meatball” Chase. I know there was probably more out at the races so I am sorry if I did see your results… I won't be out racing for a few more weeks.

It was typical pacific northwestern Belgian style weather. Notables of the weekend, Alice Pennington decided to race with the Pro 1,2 men and finish a respectable 17th in the bunch, thus scoring Oregon cup points with the men, nice job AP. If she raced the women’s race I would have picked Alice for the solo win. But I know she needs the mileage and intensity for Redlands.

In the masters 40 plus race Mark Crawford of Ironclad Performance Wear - won the fields sprint for 2nd, nice job Crawford! Veloforma is a proud sponsor of this team for 4 years and counting. Gonna be cool to see the Ironclad ladies line up later in the year on all the same bikes as Ironclad has stepped up big time, more on that later…

Upper Echelon Fitness Women’s Cycling team fielded a small but strong squad of 3 for the first of the Oregon cup series. Elise Huggins aka super mom finished the highest for the team in 4th. Huggins, Chase and Chinberg aka cinzano put in a valiant effort in some really nasty weather. Speaking of valiant efforts Cinzano did some major hard racing and lots of seat time in the car this past weekend. On Saturday she raced Echo Red to Red in Echo, Oregon where she finished 4th then high tailed it to BB #2 for Oregon Cup #1.

The Oregon race season is here and you can check out all the racing and race coverage at Pat Malach site -

http://oregon.cyclingaction.com/

this past weekend events here

http://oregon.cyclingaction.com/2011/hansen-akeroyd-beat-conditions-for-wins-at-bb2/

http://oregon.cyclingaction.com/2011/butler-bests-rusch-at-echo-red-to-red-birtch-tops-men/

Team Roster For Redlands

VELOFORMA / Upper Echelon Fitness presented by Corsa Concepts
at the
Redlands Bicycle Classic
March 26-29, 2009
Redlands, CA



The Veloforma/Upper Echelon Fitness Elite Women’s Cycling Team presented by Corsa Concepts is excited to be a part of the Redlands Bicycle Classic in 2010. With a strong squad of many Oregon riders, Veloforma continues its move into national-level road racing.

Team riders have dominated local racing in their Regions and Pacific Northwest so far this year in continuation on their 2009 form. They look forward to the challenge of racing with the country’s top riders for the second time in two years at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.
MARK DUFF, TEAM OWNER VF/UEF
503.789.6735


TERI SHEASBY (BEND, OREGON)
Teri is a stage race specialist who excels when the races are hard, fast, and uphill. The 2009 season was a break out year for Teri. She won the Elkhorn Classic stage race and the High Desert Omnium. She was one of the most aggressive Oregon racers at Mt. Hood Cycling classic and Cascade Cycling Classic. Teri placed high in the overall general classification in both events. Teri’s main focus will be racing on the NRC circuit in 2010. When not racing she spends quality time at home with her family, enjoying the Oregon high desert lifestyle.

REBECKA HARTKOP (SALEM, OREGON)
Becka won the coveted Oregon Cup in 2008. She has a long list of palmarès, including first place in the final stage at the Elkhorn Classic stage race, first place overall at the Willamette stage race, and a gold-medal performance at the Oregon road race championship. Illness caused her to miss most of the 2009 season; she looks forward to returning to the NRC circuit for 2010, and top form.

WHITNEY SCHULTTZ (AUSTIN, TEXAS)
Whitney Schultz is ready to begin her fourth year of competitive cycling. A senior and marketing major at the University of Texas - Austin, Whitney was introduced to cycling her freshman year and has competed collegiately since then. In 2009, she competed for Texas-based Metro Volkswagen in top races across the United States. For ten weeks last summer, she raced for Swiss-team Team Bike-Import.ch. She is an all-arounder on the bike, particularly strong in time trials and stage races. This will be her second time doing Redlands.

LISA TURNBULL (EUGENE, OREGON)
Lisa is known as a powerful criterium specialist and sprinter. Lisa was the dominant racer in Oregon during 2009 and was awarded the highly contested Oregon Cup. She proved she could race on any course, not just criteriums and “sprinter friendly” courses. Her ability to always bring her best, made it easy to give her the nickname “A - GAME”. Lisa took it to another level in 2009 by not only winning the Oregon Cup, but she also spent a lot of time traveling to NRC races. She is excited to be doing Redlands for the third time in her career. The team is very excited to have her with us.

ALICE PENNINGTON (HOOD RIVER, OREGON)
Alice is a fixture in Oregon bike racing, both on and off road. Alice is definitely an all around rider. In 2009 she added to her already long and impressive list of palmarès, including finishing 6th on GC at the Mt. Hood cycling classic, while riding for a teammate who finished 3rd on GC. She maintained the same form through Elkhorn Stage Race, then on to Cascade Cycling Classic and into USA Cycling Elite Road National Championships, where she finished 9th. She won Oregon’s best all-around rider competition in 2001, 2002, and 2003. This will be Alice’s second time at Redlands.

LISA REEVE (PORTLAND, OREGON)
A native of Scotland, Portland resident, Lisa, is our secret weapon. Every team has to have one, right? She also gives us an international flavor, with her awesome accent! Lisa started bike racing in May of 2009 after getting “hooked” from doing a few OBRA races. She soon found out she was fast and loves to climb. If you’re ever out in the west hills of Portland, you’re bound to see her. If it goes up, then she is full stick. It didn’t take long and she found herself in the elite ranks with her eye set on racing NRC’s and the ultimate goal of the European Championships later this year.

LINDSAY FOX (BEAVERTON, OREGON)
Lindsay vaulted to the top echelon of bike racing in 2009, her first season as a competitive cyclist. It took Lindsay only a few months to become an elite rider. Lindsay was a tri-athlete, before she decided to devote herself full-time to bike racing. Lindsay is a strong all around rider, who is excited about her first year on the NRC circuit.

Christina Smith (Denton, Texas)
Christina is a powerful criterium and road specialist. If the race is hard, fast and active she is in the mix. She loves technical criterium courses, power climbs, sprinting and any race that requires overall endurance. If there is a break Christina is in it. She was very active in NRC Criteriums in 2009, always getting in the final breakaway. Christina’s 2009 palmarès include 10th Joe Martin Stage Race Criterium, 9th Tulsa Tough Criterium, 7th Nature Valley Grand Prix Criterium, 5th Ironhill Twilight Criterium, 5th Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium, 4th Hanes Park Classic, 2nd USA Crit Finals – Vegas, 4th Day 1/9th Day 2 USA Cycling Elite Criterium National Championships, 6th Chris Thater Memorial Criterium. Christina's motto is “ride with 110% commitment.”

This team is founded on a core set of beliefs: passion, knowledge, and experience based on hard work, determination, and teamwork. These same values are found in the companies of VELOFORMA, Upper Echelon Fitness, Corsa Concepts and our supporting sponsors. Elite team members are chosen not solely based on results but on how well they work in a team environment and represent their sponsors in and out of competition. We showcase a diverse team of strong professionals who are true ambassadors to sport and life. WE are proud to be associated with these vibrant women who are capable of incredible things both on and off the bike, and who come from all walks of life.

Taipei Cycle show day 1

At today’s opening ceremony of the 2010 Taipei International Cycle show (almost tomorrow as it’s 11:26pm Taipei time), TBEA Chairman Ying-Ming Yang proudly noted that the event is on course to overtake Interbike. Interbike is known as the world's number two international bicycle show after Germany's Eurobike.

After an intriguing opening art performance that combined live sand painting showing how the bicycle can contribute to preserving the environment, TAITRA Chairman Dr. Chih-Kang Wang welcomed VIP guests including Giant Chairman King Liu, Japan Bicycle Association Chairman Yoshizo Shimano and Ernesto Colnago, founder of the famed Italian bikemaker.

He said this year's record-breaking show would host 894 exhibitors using 3,018 booths - he noted that since the official capacity of the Nangang Exhibition Center is 2,000 booths, corridors and additional rooms were being used. As many as 50,000 visitors are expected to walk through the doors at Nangang this year.

Wang said that the strength of Taiwan's bike industry was reflected by its relatively small decline in exports during a difficult 2009. Not sure how he came up with the fact that 2009 had a small decline, with overall exports dropped 20%. He stated that complete bike shipments fell just 9.9% and parts exports declined by just 6%. He attributed the strength of the industry to steady investment in R&D and branding. One thing for sure, those who invest and advertise in a down turn, will prosper in the end. I know it sounds strange but it’s true.

TBEA Chairman Yang - proudly noted that Taipei was set to take over the number two spot in international show rankings, surpassing Interbike this year due to the poor health of the US economy. He also noted that the industry was not afraid of competition from China (probably cause most Taiwan based manufactures are now open manufacturing facilities in China). The TBEA has asked the government to include the bicycle sector in free trade negotiations with China. "We feel we're able to compete, thanks to our R&D and branding efforts," he said. The Exporters' Association is also expanding its membership, "So I feel our industry is strong," he added.

Yang's sentiments were echoed by Kuo-Hsin Liang, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs, who pointed out that the average export price for bicycles of US$291 (take note people) was higher than that for notebook computers. Referring to the free trade negotiations with China, Liang said "The Taiwan bicycle industry is not afraid of competition." "We hope the whole world will reduce duties on bicycles to zero," he added.

At the close of the ceremony, the winners of the annual Innovative Products contest took the stage. The Best Innovation Award went to Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd. For its Trinity Advanced SL, the Best Latest Fashion Award was presented to JD Components for its Eagle e-bike, while SRAM Taiwan scooped the prize for Best Practicality with its XX MTB drivetrain.

Accell, Europe's biggest bike supplier heads to Taipei Show


A full contingent of Accell executives is preparing to head to Taipei, as the Dutch-based bicycle and fitness company steps up its investments in Asian markets.
"The Taipei show is unlike any other because it involves purchasing as well as sales," said René Takens, chief executive of the Accell group. "Taipei is where we will hold final discussions with our suppliers about the upcoming range, but it's also an opportunity to strengthen our presence in Asian markets".

The Accell group, behind brands from Sparta to Winora, Batavus, Ghost, Lapierre, Koga-Miyata, will send about 25 people to welcome visitors at its booth in Taipei this year। Along with purchasing and product development staff from many parts of the Accell group, the contingent will include international sales executives from Lapierre and Ghost Bikes, the two brands picked by the Dutch group to spearhead its investments in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to Florian Robin, international sales manager at French brand Lapierre, "The Taipei show will be most important for us, as it should enable us to finalise agreements in several Asian markets," said. "We will move cautiously, building Asian relationships for the long term".

Taiwan's bike exports

Taiwan's bike exports down 20% from 2008 high

Preliminary full year figures for 2009 show that Taiwan's bike exports fell about 20% last year to a total of 4।3 million units (2008 = 5.4m units). The drop should be seen in the light of the extraordinary growth in 2008: exports in 2009 were still higher than 2006's figure of about 4 million. On the value side of the equation, the 2009 statistics show that total export value sales dropped only 9.9 percent to 1.25 billion US$. This is a clear result of increased high-end production within the industry: the average sales price for a Taiwan-made bicycle increased from US$256.92 to US$289.38, a gain of 12.6 percent.

While Taiwan bicycle exports to NAFTA countries were down 13.58 percent to 721,689 units (6.97 percent down in value to US$323 million), bike sales to the EU market dropped 22.49 percent to 2.8 million units and 13.61 percent to US$625 million in value. The EU and NAFTA markets are Taiwan's largest customers followed by EFTA (down 21.19 percent to 109,381 units and 13.51 percent down to US$44.6 million in value). The final statistics will be announced by the Taiwan Bicycle Exporters Association at the Taipei Show, although only minor adjustments are expected.

VF Cross.

It’s that time of year again. Fall = Cyclocross, which for Portland means Cross Crusade. As usual they are heavily attended events. 1400 + racers at the CC#1, not sure on CC#2, but a little bird told me 1300+ showed up in Sherwood for CC #3. This is racers not spectators.

Cross is getting BIGGER in the states. In Oregon it’s Huge!! With popularity comes more press. Heidi Swift (who VF is lucky enough to have racing for them) is doing Cyclocross-Diaries for Wend Magazine. You should check it out the episodes here:

http://www.wendmag.com/blog/2009/10/07/the-cyclocross-diaries-webisode-1-throwdown-at-the-dairy/
http://www.wendmag.com/blog/2009/10/15/the-cyclocross-diaries-episode-two-raising-a-rainier-ruckus/

Or check out Heidi’s blog http://everydayathleteblog.com/

The VF ladies are doing awesome. Chase, Huggins, Swift, and Peithman are killing it in the VF colors in the B’s and seem to be having fun heckling each other while racing. Schwitzer and Wills has been given it in the A’s.

But the word of the day is…Pennington!!! Alice has been having an awesome cross season thus far, and she hasn’t even found her legs. As Alice puts it - “It’s just a matter of getting more fitness so that I can actually attack and drop her,” Pennington said. This stated in an interview with Pat Malach about beating Wendy Williams. Who is by the way racing awesome. With 3 wins in the CC thus far. But with 8 starts since Sept 23th. Alice has had five wins, two seconds, and one third. Alice is knocking on the door of a CC win soon. We will be cheering for you ALICE!

Another note- Alice has also be getting Veloforma a lot of press in Velonews. http://www.velonews.com/photo/99403
Which has us very HAPPY!!! Thank you Alice.

Here is a closing shot of Alice at Sherwood race #3. I pulled this from Pat Malach blog.You can check out great race and photo coverage here -

http://www.oregoncyclingaction.com/2009/10/cameron-wins-first-ever-crusade-cx.html

http://www.oregoncyclingaction.com

Thanks for reading.

Crit Natz, Chris Thater and Norm Babcock

Travel has been in Christina Smiths vocabulary this month. She has been all over the country.
August 15th Crit Natz - Race #1, which is a warm up for the big show on the 16th. Sunday is the big day it crowns the US Professional Criterium Champion for Women. Christina proves she's worth of a title shot with a 4th place finish, Nice, Very Nice. Results and cyclingnews coverage can be found here :
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/usa-cycling-national-criterium-championships-cn/stages/stage-1/results

Below and above are shots of Christina in action on Sunday.

Thing are looking good for Sunday August 16th, if all goes as planned. But one thing Christina doesn't have that other do. A team to back her for the finish. So she is going to have to have some luck and play her cards right... in the end she finished 9th. I am proud of her for sure! Christina is proving that she is a talented and consistent finisher on the NRC circuit. When I text her to ask how things went she said "good but not great, I finished 9th". I know it's not the win and that's what she wanted, but in my eye's you killed it Barn Diva!!!
Move forward to August 29th - The Chris Thater Memorial Criterium in New York. Again Christina shows her ability to place high in an NRC, finishing 6th with it being really close between 4,5 and 6th. Considering her crazy travel delays before this event and some minor bike issues. She strapped on the boots and got the job done. Christina is always up for a challenge and getting to the race, just so she could race was a major feat at this event. She is knocking on the door for a NRC victory. Pretty soon it's gonna open. Let's she what is in store at the final two rounds of the US Crit Series. Next up Sept 17, 2009 Victory Park in Dallas Texas - TX Tough - http://usacrits.com/site/events/texas-tough/
The final event of the series USA Criterium Finals in Vegas on September 24th in front of Mandalay Bay 7:20 pm - http://usacrits.com/site/events/usa-crits-finals/
This one you will be able to watch live on the web, we'll be cheering for you Christina!!!
On a local note... the road season is officially over in Oregon. Last race was this past Tuesday at PIR and the final leg of the Veloforma Cat4 women's series finished up with Eugene Cycle Celebration. I got official word this morning for Kenji. It was a long hard Battle and Anna Vaughn from Hammer Velo took the series Overall Victory!! Congratz Anna!!! She is the proud new owner for an Veloforma F1R frame set for winning the series. K-man also sent me a very interesting photo. Congratz to all the ladies for fine performances this season. We are very proud to be a title sponsor of this series and look forward to being so for many years to come.
Congratz goes out to Veloforma rider Tina Brubaker aka EQ for a podium finish a the State Criterium. EQ ended up finishing 3rd on the day.

Big Holler goes out to New Veloforma ride Lisa Reeve for getting her CAT2 upgrade after Eugene Cycle Celebration. Way to go Lisa!! You are one motivate young lady!



It gonna be nice to see everyone this weekend. Looking forward to the BBQ. Good food and friends = a lot of fun and laughs. Think we my have some awards to hand out. Not sure. But I think so...

Finding our Form.

Cascade ended up being a race for finding our form. Which was good and bad, and I’ll take it. With out a lot of detail, Cascade was tough for us. We lost our GC rider on the first day to a broken wrist (get well soon Melissa). This race was perfect for her abilities. Plus a great tune up for Nationals, (it actually was a great tune up for the whole team). Crashing is part of racing but sometimes can be so hard to deal with. A lot of hard racing and Cascade over the team was looking to Nationals. Which started four days from the end of Cascade. Nationals also happened to be in Bend, Oregon. The combo of hard racing and some rest was PERFECT for Alice as she road to a 9th in the Road race. When you look at who was racing, Alice finished higher than any other PRO rider in the Northwest. On top of that!!! She works a full time job and was on her feet all day the day before the road race. Congrats on an awesome RIDE PENNINGTON!!!!
Here are the top 10 from Elite Road Nationals for the Pro Women.

Time License Bib Team
1 90 Meredith Miller 02:52:15.30 143575 48 Team Tibco
2 85 Christina Ruiter 02:52:22.00 194905 64 Value Act Capital
3 80 Kristen LaSasso 02:52:22.40 151408 86 Mellow Mushroom
4 75 Kori Seehafer 02:52:35.10 77841 68 Team Type 1
5 70 Katharine Carroll 02:52:49.50 212327 16 TIBCO
6 65 Evelyn Stevens 02:52:49.80 272861 72 CRCA-Radical Media
7 60 Mara Abbott 02:52:52.50 198735 2 Team Columbia-htc
8 55 Alison Powers 02:53:06.40 98704 57 Team Type 1
9 50 Alice Pennington 02:53:06.60 150685 84 Veloforma
10 45 Kristin Sanders 02:53:08.90 193955 66 Value Act Capital

Now that’s a tuff crowd to hang with.

For Christina Smith, she also used Cascade and Nationals to fine tune her crit form. Shortly after Nationals she travel to North Carolina to race in the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium. Christina raced her typical aggressive racing style, being active in all breaks but none stuck. It came down to a Field sprint where she finished 5th and her first NRC podium for this year. The next day she upped it by one and finished 4th at the Hanes Park Classic making it two NRC Podiums in two days!!

Women - Pro
Place Points Name Time License Bib Team
1 90 Brooke Miller 0:54:47.8 196453 6 Team Tibco
2 85 Tina Pic 0:54:48.1 41951 14 Colavita Sutter Home P/b Cookin
3 80 Theresa Cliff-Ryan 0:54:48.2 231296 64 Verducci/breakaway Racing
4 75 Laura Van Gilder 0:54:48.3 36345 26 Mellow Mushroom
5 70 Christina Smith 0:54:48.5 217750 72 Veloforma
6 0 Joanne KIESANOWSKI 0:54:48.5 2 Team Tibco
7 60 Erica Allar 0:54:49.1 174914 48 Bmw-bianchi
8 55 Jennifer McRae 0:54:49.2 55232 11 Team Type 1
9 0 Joelle NUMAINVILLE 0:54:49.4 41 Team Kenda
10 0 Cath CHEATLEY 0:54:49.8 19 Colavita Sutter Home P/b Cookin

Women - Pro
Place Points Name Time License Bib Team
1 90 Brooke Miller 47:12.0 196453 323 Team TIBCO
2 85 Theresa Cliff-Ryan 47:12.1 231296 418 Verducci/Breakaway Racing
3 80 Laura Van Gilder 47:12.5 36345 362 C3 Sollay
4 75 Christina Smith 47:12.6 217750 123 Veloforma
5 70 Tina Pic 47:13.1 41951 376 Colavita Sutterhome p/b Cooking

Things are looking good for Christina, as this weekend is Criterium Nationals in Downers Grove. She has really good form so the sky is the limit!! Stay tuned for more results. We are all rooting for you Barn Diva!!!

For me travel time is over for a while, time to hang out on the deck. If you want to know where I am going to spend the next few weekends it gonna be hanging out and re-charging before Vegas, Interbike, Cross Vegas and US Criterium Finals. Wow that's a mouth full.

Thanks for reading.

6 Days of Fun

So Paul Mautner and I did the Alpenrose 6 Day. Having a solid partner is always amazing. It makes racing that much more fun. For us it was about getting out on the track, finding our legs, and making good exchanges. With the added benefit of having a ton of fun. Which we did. The week went by really fast, a lot faster than expected. Another crazy thing for me. I felt the best on days five and six, so I guess the old legs do like more intensity and miles than I thought.

If your not familiar with the track you can check out OBRA's track info here - http://app.obra.org/track anyone can ride it. There are classes on Wednesday evening. You can rent a track bike for $5.00. The best five bucks you'll spend. Info about track classes can be found at the above link too. Classes start at 6pm. You should give your self 30 mins to get signed up and get your track bike. Classes have been an average of about 3 groups of 10 each.

Above photo by Ed Norton - http://web.mac.com/stoppingtime/Site/Welcome.html We are not holding hands here... although it does look like it. We are at the beginning of our exchange. Paul is getting ready to toss me in and go on relief. Above photo by Ed Norton - http://web.mac.com/stoppingtime/Site/Welcome.html

If your not to sure what is going on here. A great way to understand the history of Madison/6 Day racing you should go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-day_racing. Wiki has some excellent info on the history of 6 day racing.

Top and bottom two photos by Laura McGraw - http://www.lauramcgraw.com/

Special thanks to the Murray's for making this event happen for the last 17 years. I know that it takes a lot of people to put on this event!!!! Thank you to all who made it happen. We are lucky to have this event in our back yard. I look forward to many more years of this joyful event!! Go FAST turn left!!

Also thanks to Spencer Williams (http://popmiseryblog.blogspot.com/), Laura McGraw and Ed Norton. All amazing photographers who came out to capture the action.