Race Recap: Oregon Enduro Series Round 2 - Bend
With enduro racing season in full-swing in the USA we saw the Oregon Enduro Series roll into the little bicycle/beer town of Bend, Oregon. Situated in Central Oregon, at least a 2 1/2 drive over mountain passes to any 'metro' area, Bend offers incredible fishing, cycling, rock climbing, kayaking, cycling and countless other opportunities that are constantly landing Bend on travel "best-of" lists; best place to retire, top place to ride a bike, and National Geographic recently named Bend one of the 'top 25 ski towns in the world'. The area is a magnet for world-class athletes, former and future Olympians and you're likely to run into the likes of Tour de France racer, Chris Horner in the off-season. This old mill town area turned adventure playground has a bike shop and brewery for about every 4,500 residents, so there's plenty to spread around!
Oregon Enduro Web Site
Oregon Enduro Complete Results
Mike Albright Photography Web Site
Visit Bend Web Site
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 Alex Grediagin in front of Mt. Bachelor, less than 20 miles from the town of Bend, Oregon and just a few miles from the race venue. Mt. Bachelor will host the 2015/16 USA Cycling Enduro National Championships on newly-built trails. This year the Bend Enduro featured five stages on Funner, Tiddlywinks and the new Tyler's Traverse trail which meant for some tight racing. With the top ten in pro men separated by 60 seconds small mistakes would easily be magnified. |
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| A few views from the pre-race rider's meeting in the venue. |
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| Race promoter Devon Lyons gets racers psyched with the morning pre-race meeting. "It was a great race here in Bend, Oregon this year. We had five stages today and it worked out really well. The timing was on-point and it seems like everyone had a great time here in Bend for the holiday and for the race." |
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| Curtis Keene was the odds-on favorite to win, as many of the 'factory' riders were in Europe or at other races in the states... |
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| ...but local shredder Alex McGuinnis (Krunk Shox) was able to use his local trail knowledge to help best Keene's time by just 3 seconds. When asked about the race Alex said, "Curtis is pinned. I did my best to stay pinned and pedal. Everything was blown-up and loose so I focused on setting up for corners early and rallying." |
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| The racing was tight in the Pro Women category, but Abby Hippely (23) was a little smoother and faster than the rest, beating Jackie Swider by almost a minute. When asked about the weekend Abby said, "Bend has an amazing cycling community. Tons of trails, gorgeous views and a cool river to dunk your dusty body in after a long day of riding. The crew at the Oregon Enduro series puts on a spectacular, well-run race and Bend was an exceptional representation of this. To top it off it was the Fourth of July weekend which only added to the awesomeness of the whole event." |
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| Jeff Kendall-Weed is stylish, fast and placed 3rd, just 37 seconds back from Alex McGuinnis' winning time. |
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| What a crazy day for local Kirt Voreis. Soon after this shot he bent his chainring over and was unable to finish stage #1. He went back to his truck, pounded the chainring as straight as possible and went on to win the next 3 of 4 stages, but was DNF because he couldn't finish that first stage, wow! |
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| Nathan Riddle wasn't racing at 100% since he's still recovering from a broken hand. 11th place, just over a minute back from Alex McGuinnis. |
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| Naish Ulmer tests the traction of his tires on one of stage #3's many well-built berms, cared for by the Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA) and the Oregon Enduro crew. |
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| Kim Becker, 3rd place Pro Women. She likes to 'enduro' but is more well-known for being an accomplished professional whitewater kayaker. |
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| Cody Phillips (Felt, Kenda, SR Suntour) was just .5 seconds from 3rd place. When asked how he was going to shave that off next time he replied, "By not face-planting on stage #1 and losing 10 seconds." |
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| Tom Doran was in 8th place, but just 60 seconds off the lead time. |
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| The plate chip timing was working great in the Summer heat |
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| Abby Hippely, 1st Place Pro Women on one of Bend's newer trails, Tyler's Traverse |
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| Curtis Keene, always in control and looking smooth |
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| Jackie Swider shaving it close. |
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| Ryan Bowen takes a side jump over a rock during the final stage of day. |
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| Eric Patterson from 2014 Oregon Enduro Sponsor Fly Racing out of Idaho. |
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| After a nice hard day of riding there's nothing better than floating the Deschutes River that takes you from here into town. |
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| This year racers are able to check out their times on a monitor immediately following each stage. |
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| Head timer Justin Fernandes gets to pre-ride each stage to make sure it's clear. Kind of fun and scary at the same time. |
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| Jackie Swider from San Luis Obispo, CA put in a good ride, placing 2nd in Pro Women |
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| Tony Armichardy on Tyler's Traverse |
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| "Enduro Jesus" Marshall Eames |
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| Sage Cattabringa-Alosa is a pretty amazing extreme skier for The North Face and Atomic Skis (among others). He looks pretty comfortable on his bike, too. |
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| Laura Ogden motion blur: 1/80 at f/18, ISO 400, 70mm focal length |
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| Jack Hill on stage #3 |
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| Checking out preliminary results in the venue after the race. |
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| Rory Sullivan. Stage #1 on a trail called 'Funner' |
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| Jeff Kendall-Weed near the bottom of stage #3, placing 3rd, just .5 seconds ahead of Cody Phillips in 4th. |
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| Abby Hippely, Pro Women winner of the 2014 Oregon Enduro in Bend. "I really dig the race courses for the Bend event because you really have to know how to carry speed through loose dusty corners this can be an advantage when racing. Stage one was probably my favourite as it had rocky, techy sections that made the racing all the more interesting and challenging."-AH |
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| Timmy Evens making the best of an uphill section on stage #3. 13th place. |
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| This year's race was held just after the July 4th Independence Day Celebration. Bend's fireworks show is one of the best in Oregon. |
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| Nathan Riddle, pinning it on a recovery ride. Don't let his doc see this! |
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| Cody Kaiser on Funner's rock drop |
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| Bendite Brian Merritt on his way to 14th place |
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| Abby Hippely with 1st place in Pro Women and a little extra style for the photographer |
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| Jeremy Dirk on stage #3's final corner with videographer/filmmaker Tom Teller in tow |
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| Curtis Keene never looks winded. |
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| Roval gave a new set of carbon wheels out for the raffle, sweet! |
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| 2014 Oregon Enduro - Bend Podium Shots |
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| 2014 Oregon Enduro Pro Men Podium: Alex McGuinnis used his local trail knowledge to take down Curtis Keene by just 3 seconds. 3rd and 4th between Jeff Kendall-Weed and Cody Phillips decided just .5 seconds. |
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| Results |
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| Pro Women Podium, 2014 Oregon Enduro, Bend. 1st. Abby Hippely 2nd. Jackie Swider 3rd. Kim Becker |
Oregon Enduro Web Site
Oregon Enduro Complete Results
Mike Albright Photography Web Site
Visit Bend Web Site
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Crazy, is this enduro?
The complaint is that they get hot and sweaty, they chafe, and on top of smelling terrible at the end of the day they just aren't as comfortable as not wearing knee pads.
That race looks rad anyway.