New Course Previews

TAI Cycling Director, Bill Warburton, also works with Chad Sperry (Breakaway Promotions) to put on some of the best bike races in the west. This past weekend, a few of us previewed the new courses for Cherry Blossom, Mt. Hood and the 2010 OBRA Road Race Championships.

Pleasant Ridge Gravel Section - Photo Pat Malach, oregon.cyclingaction.com

Cherry Blossom Circuit Race (Stage 2):

Here’s the official course description page.

Pat Malach was there with us when we drove the course. Check out his post for photos and more!

Read those before checking out my notes about how it rides on a bike:

The uphill start is on excellent pavement — this is a scenic climb and is a perfect pitch to get the legs warmed up.
The small circuit turns right and is a rolling course with no real surprises. It should be a very fun, safe course.
The large course drops though a fast descent and immediately hits a steep climb on the other side of a creek.
This climb has a few corners but lines of sight are still pretty good.
It’s fairly steep in a few places so attacks should be happening here. The climb isn’t very long but it’ll hurt for sure.
You then travel along a fast rolling section of road until you make a right turn onto Pleasant Ridge, which is gravel.
The road had been freshly graded, so it was a little loose but very rideable. The pitch is comfortable and sprinting on the dirt was no problem. It’s a very nice, open area with switchbacks for about a mile and a half of gravel.
As soon as you top out, you’re back on pavement to begin a ripping descent.
This descent seems scary in the car but on bikes it’s full on pedaling and nice corners. This should be fine in a large group.
There’s a tight, climbing corner to rejoin the smaller circiut. Just be careful.
A little climb brings you to another sharp right, climbing turn.
Now you’re on the finish approach. It’s fast and really fun.
The lap will go straight and repeat, but the finish will turn left
This left to the finish is off-camber and a little tight. However, you should be able to maintain plenty of momentum even in a group.
It’s about 300m from the intersection to the top of the finish climb and it gets steeper with every meter.
We big-ringed it but wished we hadn’t… it’s a really fun finish that won’t be won before the corner if you’re in a group. It’ll be won at the top of the hill, which seems a lot farther away than you think when you make the turn.
Continue over the top to circle back to the start.

Mt Hood Cycling Classic Mt. Adams RR (Stage 2) = OBRA Championship Road Race Course

Chad Sperry and I rode with another friend on Saturday to preview this fantastic course in Trout Lake, WA. You’re probably wondering why the OBRA Championships will be in WA, right? Well, it’s because this is one of the best courses I’ve ever seen.

Read the official course description here.

Read Pat Malach’s review here.

Starting from the school in Trout Lake, you roll downhill for a few miles at a nice pitch, it’s easy, and you can get warmed up for the big climb.
Turning left in BZ Corner, you begin a 5 mile climb above a wooded creek. Lots of shade and it stays cool, which will be good in August, especially.
The pitch is never really steep here, it’s just a nice long climb up to a flat hidden valley. Now you can see a mile up ahead on the road, so if anyone escaped on the climb you’ll have them back in sight.
On the other side of the valley, the climbing resumes, with a steeper pitch. It’s only a mile, but it’ll hurt.
However, any break that goes here better be well motivated because the course drops, rolls and flattens as it proceeds through tall ponderosas and tree cover for many miles. This will be some awesome racing in here.
Eventually, you open out into some open fields with great views of Mt. Adams.
Turn left in Glenwood and continue over some rollers, nothing big or steep, for a few miles.
Now 75% of the way through the lap, the rollers begin to grow. There’s no clear beginning of a climb, it just continues to get bigger.
After about three hard uphills you top out for a very easy, fast twisting descent.
You hit dead flat pavement on the other side and roll several miles back to the school to either lap or finish. The sprint will be open from 1km so you’ll have a huge amount of space to lead it out.
My overall impression is this is a fairly neutral course in terms of climbs and flats. The climbs will contribute to selections but so could the flats, especially if there’s much wind. The course could almost favor those who prefer to attack on the flats rather than the climbs. We’ll see…. either way, it’s a fantastic course.
The inner course is very well suited to beginners and juniors and is really fun, too.