Oregon Cycling Magazine

by Dave Campbell, photos by Tony Halford

The steeply-banked, 268-meter Portland track played host to some of the world’s best track racers at the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge.  Held July 18-20th under beautiful weather in Portland’s Southwest hills, the event offered up $13,000 in cash prizes to the brave lycra-clad warriors who came from five nations and ten states to compete on their brakeless, fixed-gear steeds.  Oregon cyclists once again competed strongly on their home turf in one of the nation’s biggest track meets.  This year’s edition saw the largest-ever Women’s contingent and an insurgence of young talent with many teenagers competing strongly, showing the large crowds how bright track racing’s future is.

Individual timed events kicked off the opening day with Seattle’s Kele Murdin (Verducci Racing) winning the Womens 3000 meter Pursuit in 4:11.72, in front of fellow Marymoor rider Jennifer Triplett (Broadmark Capital) who posted a 4:14.67.  Top Oregonian was young Andra Fisk (Velo Bella) in fourth.  The Mens 4000 meter Pursuit was dominated by “The Twin Towers” of Broadmark, the strapping Daniel Harm and his regular Madison partner Adrian Hegyvary.  Harm hovered near Mike Tillman’s 2002 track record (4:54.23) for much of his ride before fading in the end to still win impressively in 4:58.33 to Hegyvary’s 5:03.33.  Oregon Hour Record Holder Seth Hosmer (HPC Chiropractic) was 3rd with 5:09:25.

Last year’s dominant woman at AVC, Cari Higgins (America’s Dairyland) of Colorado pushed the bar quite high in the 500m time trial with a solid 38.79 but was overcome by 19 year old Canadian Monique Sullivan (PCL) who smoothly and efficiently cranked out a 38.10, only .2 of a second off the track record.  Oregon State Champion Jen Featheringill (Bike Central) was third in 39.42.  Early starter Per Bjesse (Bike Central) held the top spot for the much of the Men’s Kilometer competition with a time of 1:10.65 until local favorite and Oregon State Champion Steven Beardsley (Gentle Lovers) laid down a smoking 1:10.38 to claim victory.  Aaron Kacala (Hayes RPM) of Wisconsin was third in 1:12.26.

In the Team events, Washington duo Harm and Hegyvary, who have paired up to race six days in Europe, completely dominated the Madison with 25 points, taking two laps.  The two “rangey roulers” were nearly indistinguishable as they constantly roared off the front.  The Gentle Lovers team of Beardsley and Mark Blackwelder, both Alpenrose stalwarts, was second with one lap and 19 points while perennial Northwest strongman Kenny Williams (First Rate Mortgage) of Seattle paired with Emile Abraham (Team Type One) of Trinidad + Tobago for third.  The Olympic Sprint was won by “young guns” Dean Tracy (Team Rubicon), Kacala, and Californian Keyln Akuna (Hayes/Los Gatos) in 55.56 just in front of 19-year-old local Kevin Mansker, barely a year into track racing, who teamed with two Canadian fast men:  11-time National Champion Travis Smith and Felix Haspel of Calgary for an impressive 55.83.  The Marymoor contingent of Benny Swedberg, Ian Crane, and Grant Boursaw were third in 57.17.  The Women’s Team Sprint was won by Sullivan and Marymoor stalwart Triplett in 41.71, in front of the impressively smooth local duo of Featheringill and Amelia Bjesse-Puffin (Bike Central) who rode 42.01.  Cristin Walker and Shelby Reynolds, two young riders from Houston, Texas were third in 43.09.

Two-time US Olympian Jame Carney (Salamander), now 40 years old and also competing in some Masters events, impressively won both the 10 mile and the Miss & Out.  Playing “the devil” early in the elimination race he moved to the front impressively for the final laps and appeared to give Californian Mike Garrett (Kahala-LaGrange) an insurmountable gap with a half-lap to go while focusing on Abraham, who clung to his rear wheel.  Carney, however, possesses incredible leg speed and exploded into the final turn to not only take the win but have enough time to salute the crowd for much of the homestretch while Abraham also came by Garrett for second.  Beardsley was top Oregonian in 9th.  In the 10 mile, Carney hid in the field the entire race while Indianan Tom Hanley (Indiana Hand Center) racked up the most lap prizes ($49) on the front.  Beardsely, perhaps honoring his teammate Tony Kic (whose frightening crash caused a restart) timed his final attack perfectly as the pack bunched at the bell but was also overcome by the incredible sprint of Carney.  Garrett was again third.

Some of the weekend’s fiercest competition occurred in the Match Sprints with numerous heats requiring photo finishes.  Last year’s third place finished Tracy, now training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, qualified first and advanced through the early rounds convincingly.  Smith, just .08 slower in qualifying did not have such an easy progression and crashed heavily with Californian Giovanni Rey (Montano-Velo Track) in the Semi-Finals, ultimately withdrawing. Tracy bested Akuna (whose tactical errors sent him through the reps) and met Rey in the finals, winning decisively and joyfully.  The womens tournament progressed fairly predictably with top qualifiers Sullivan and Higgins meeting in the finals and the youngster again impressively dominated her more experienced rival.  Local Featheringill fell just short in her bid to come around the strong Triplett in the all Northwest final for third.

The Mens Point Race was an extremely tight and confusing event with six riders taking a lap early on (Peterson, Abraham, Hegyvary, Garrett, Carney, and former Alpenrose standout Taylor Kneuven who is now living in Colorado) and the lead constantly changing amongst them.  As the 110 lap event wore down and these riders eyed each other, past AVC Points and 10 mile winner Williams seized the opportunity to spring clear and nearly steal the race, taking a lap (and 20 points) with just two to go.  Kneuven’s constant presence on the front and placing in the final sprint, however, had netted 49 points to just take the win from Peterson (48) with Williams in third with 46.  The Womens 50 lap points race saw an early flyer by Erica Allar (Aaron’s) rack up points and seize the lead but once she was reeled in, the event became a sprint and then bunch again affair that allowed only a few riders to seize control.  Brazenly attacking out of this stalemate was Anita Dilles (Gentle Lovers) and her lengthy excursion off the front, although neutralized in the final mile, netted her 22 points and a popular third place.  Allar led into the final double points sprint, but Shelley Olds (Proman) claimed the final sprint and the victory 43-37.

Allar, a student at Penn State and the T-Town Female rider of the year in 2006, impressively won the Miss & Out with a blistering jump on the back stretch in front of Triplett and Murdin.  The five-mile Scratch Race was won by Higgins spectacularly coming around the outside of Allar and the ever-present Shelly Olds on the homestretch.

Perhaps the most popular AVC event is the Kierin, where the riders are paced for four laps while jockeying for position behind a motorcycle with the speed building until it pulls off and two laps of flat-out sprinting ensue.  The qualifying heats were fairly straightforward with the strong riders controlling the front and advancing convincingly:  Featheringill, Sullivan, Higgins, and multiple World Masters Champion Annette Williams (Avanti) winning their respective heats.  The scrappy Olds of San Jose, who raced the Madison with the Men won the first rep heat, while Murdin and the surprising Walker came out of the other two to fill out the seven-rider final.  Higgins won this event last year, but all eyes were on Canadian Sullivan in the final and she did not disappoint.  She tore off the line to grab the motor and controlled the race all the way to the line despite a late and impressive challenge by Higgins.  The compact and powerful Olds was third.

On the Mens side, Tracy was an impressive and popular winner of the first Kierin heat, while the entire second heat (six men) crashed in turn one on their final lap.  The sound and carnage was quite scary and thankfully all the riders were OK, although many had quite impressive patches of road (actually track!) rash.  Only Eugene Checherine and Haspel continued on for the re-ride with Haspel advancing.  “Geo” Rey won the third heat but was relegated for dangerous riding, giving Kacala the win while Smith dominated the fourth heat.  Rey was able to come through the reps along with Akuna, Beardsley, and Californian Brian Peterson (Webcor/Alto Velo) for a power-packed final.  Tracy opened an impressive gap on the backstretch in the final, with apparently only Akuna left to challenge, when Beardsley made perhaps the most impressive effort of the weekend to close downfour bike-lengths in the space of about 60 meters to triumph on the line by about two centimeters!

Bringing down the curtain on the AVC is the Flying Lap, always a crowd favorite.  The long weekend had worn on some of the elite women, but not young Sullivan who roared to a new track record of 17.09 and a well-received victory.  Taking the record by .01 second and from none other than US Olympian Jennie Reed of Washington, the talented Canadian has a bright future indeed.  Akuna, looking the picture of not only power but fluidity, smoothly used the 43 degree banks of Alpenrose to post a victorious 16.02, just in front of Tracy’s 16.10.  The Lakeside Bicycles Carl Leusenkamp memorial prize went to young Mansker (16.37) for the local rider coming closest to the track record.

Beardsley’s two victories and one second place were enough to take the Omnium with 19 points, in front of Carney no less.  Higgins repeated her Omnium victory of last year, albeit by a single point in front of the gracious and extremely talented young up-and-comer Sullivan, 22-21.

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