news

Fundraising event for Dean Tracy to attend World Cup Selection Camp

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 10:13:00 -0400

Rubicon-ORBEA; Benefiting LIVESTRONG rider Dean Tracy was one of 12 riders selecting in the US to attend a special 2-week world cup selection camp. The riders with the best potential to sprint against the worlds best will represent the United States in international competition in 2011, with the ultimate goal of earning a spot on the 2012 Olympic team.

SO BRING IT! Rubicon-ORBEA in partnership with Therapeutic Associates PACE and Brian's House of Pain is holding it's first ever STRONGMAN Competition -all proceeds from this event will be donated to Dean, to help cover his expense while at selection camp and the 2010 national championships.

Here's the info:

Date: August 29th
Time: 10am-5pm
Location: PACE 4829 NE MLK Blvd, 97211
Entry: $35 pre-registration $40 day of
Team Entry: $100 for teams/pre-reg, $120 day of
All pre-registrations must be RECEIVED by 8/25/10.

Food and Beer to follow event

Classes:

Lightweight and Open Women
Lightweight and Open Men
Police vs. Fire Division (teams of 3)

Events:

1. Overhead Press
2. Keg load
3. Tire throw
4. Tire ip/sled drag medley
5. Two handed anyhow
6. Deadlift for reps

Coupon for 1/2 price one-hour massage included in entry fee

Massage therapist on site

Awards for top 3 in each category

Contact: nathanfrechen@yahoo.com (607-206-0978) with any questions.

Keogh takes State Road Championships

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 10:18:00 -0400

Original Article written by OregonCyclingAction - http://oregon.cyclingaction.com/2010/keogh-tyrrell-win-tough-battles-for-obra-championships/

TROUT LAKE, Wash. — Rubicon-Orbea’s Quinn Keogh crossed the line for his first-ever OBRA Road Race Championship in the Senior Men’s event Saturday and used the opportunity to remind spectators that he is a cancer survivor.

Keogh finished with teammates Mike Northey and Roman van Uden nearly four minutes ahead of Team Oregon’s Chris Swan, who soloed in for fourth ahead of Idaho’s Gabe Vaelo (SDBC), John Browning (Echelon Gran Fondo/ZteaM) and a disintegrated field. Hot, humid conditions combined with strong winds and a difficult course to turn the championship races into battles of attrition, with 40 percent of the starters abandoning before the finish and many popping off on the short-but-sweet climb just five miles into the course. The men’s Cat 3 race was hit especially hard, with exactly half of the 36 starters dropping out.

Keogh escaped the field about 12 miles into the 92-mile race and was quickly joined by Browning and Swan on the back side of the course. Northey and van Uden then bridged to the leaders amid local auto traffic on the difficult 10-mile rolling climb back to the start/finish for the beginning of the second lap.

“They came from nowhere,” Keogh said of his teammates joining the lead trio. “I just heard them come on and say, ‘Hey’.”
The group grew to seven as they started up the first climb of the second lap after Taylor Kneuven (Adageo Energy) and Vaelo also bridged to the leaders. The chase behind from the decimated field was soon whittled down to about 10 riders as the leaders rolled well together over the mostly flat backside of the course that led to the long, fast descent. Kneuven popped off the lead pace when he suffered a broken spoke, but the group’s advantage grew to more than two minutes as they made the tight right-hand corner to head north back to the finish. Without really attacking, the Rubicon trio then shed Vaelo, Browning and eventually Swan on the difficult headwind ascent back to Trout Lake.

“All the people who dropped were cramping,” said Keogh, who admitted he had been fighting leg cramps as well for most of the final miles. “It didn’t seem that hot, but with the strong crosswinds today people were working harder than they normally would. I was cramping every couple of minutes. I’d have to stand and hope that it wouldn’t totally seize.”

Once the three teammates shed their rivals, they set their sights on putting Keogh on the top step of the podium for his first OBRA championship. Keogh crossed the line just ahead of Nortthey and van Uden, taking the moment for a symbolic victory salute.

“I’m very proud of them,” he said of his teammates. “They really gave it to me, so I’m thankful for that.”

Chaddock leads in Delta

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:00:00 -0400

1st Ben Chaddock (Rubicon-Orbea)
2nd Svein Tuft (Garmin-Transitions)
3rd Ryan Anderson (Kelly Benefit Strategies)

Today the first stage of the Tour de Delta took place in North Delta, British Columbia featuring a short 3km prologue time trial. After traveling up to Canada on Thursday and enjoying the sights and sounds on a team ride on friday morning with one of our generous homestays, Curtis, the team was very excited to get the race underway. After a random start list placed all the Rubicon-Orbea riders within 15 minutes of one another, approximately halfway through the 104 rider field, there was a great level of camaraderie as riders in the start were motivated by other posting fastest provisional times.

The late evening event started at 7.15pm, with 1 rider leaving the start ramp every thirty seconds, completing the 3km loop in approximately 4 minutes. There was a good size crowd and a lot of young riders sporting wrist bands after the team helpled out at the Kids Race. The Livestrong chalk was a big hit too!

Halfway through the event, Taylor Gunman posted the fastest provisional time of 3.53. He said he was happy with his ride and rode the corners well. Just as they announced Taylor's provisional position, Ben Chaddock lined up for the start. Ben did a great ride and came through a few minutes later to post a 3.47. With some of the top riders in Canada still to go, he was hoping to hold on for a top five but was elated when his time remained at the top through the conclusion of the event

"I thought for sure that I would hold onto a top 3 but couldn't believe it when I heard the good news. Just like a lot of the top guys, this is my home race so it was very special to have friends and family out last night to celebrate the victory. My Dad was there to send me off at the start and bring me home at the finish so it was great to share the bumbly with him afterwards. My teammates were also a big part of the performance as we've all trained very hard and pushed one another since I joined them just six weeks ago. My teammates from last year, Scott Laliberte and Julian Base were also there to make the evening a special moment."

"When I was in the start gate, Taylor ripped across the line setting the provisional best time at 3.53 (12th) so when I came through at 3.47, I knew I had done a great time. Taylor now sits in 2nd place in the young riders competition, 1 second out of 2009 2nd place prologue finisher Jesse Reams (Garneau Evolution). That's going to be a battle."

After that the scoreboard got very tight and everyone was split up by hundredths of a second. Roman went 16th @ 3.55; Jason 34th @ 4.00; Mike 36th @ 4.00 and the other times are unknown at this time.

http://tweetphoto.com/31784453

Tomorrow night is another big race so its time to go!

Northey nails it in Waukesha

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:30:00 -0400

June 27th Waukesha Criterium

Mike 2nd, Jason 4th
Mike 3rd Overall

Tonight we pushed through some fatigue to finish up our month long racing trip with the hopes of placing Mike on the podium in the Tour of America’s Dairyland overall omnium. Starting two points shy of 3rd place, we were chopping at the bit on the start line. With six corners and very rough pavement, in addition to narrow roads and a considerable tailwind on the main straight, we knew a break would go. Over the line the first time, it did. Jason and Mike jumped in and the 8man group rolled off with Karl Menzies and Hilton Clarke of United Healthcare as Roman and Ben cruised the front of the pack to mitigate bridge attempts. Taylor was implicated in an early crash when a rider in front went down but he jumped back in after a neutral lap. At the 60 minute mark, the break lapped the field and the preme sprints started. Roman lead out Ben for the first sprint successfully, but to the discomfort of Jason and Mike who were just getting situated. Roman quickly moved back to help the guys move up while Ben covered the front, with Taylor sitting in the wings a few wheels back. A crash at the front of field along a narrow section of road implicated Ben and he was unable to continue. Now with four riders, the boys controlled the front and set it up for an excellent finale. Sparing with the UHC train, Jason railed the final downhill tailwind corner and launched Northey up between Clarke and Menzies. Menzies took it at the line after the bouncy surface made for difficult sprinting conditions, Northey slotting in 2nd. Clarke went 3rd with Jason held out for 4th. Roman pressed to the line after dedicating himself to the early leadout and finished 16th ish. Another solid day of racing today!

The guys were very happy to get Mike up the podium in the overall. He is riding very well, as are all of us and we are looking forward to some recovery time back in Portland before Delta, Boise and Cascade in July.

Thanks again to our amazing homestays this week. Patricia and Jamie Young, Patricia came out to the feed zone on Thursday and both of them came out throughout the week and took all the photos that you have seen of the event. Their hospitality exceeded our wildest expectations and we hope to stay here again next year if Dairyland is on the calendar.

See you all back in Portland, perhaps at PIR on Tuesday. Ride on!

Northey 3rd & Chaddock 4th @ Downer's Grove

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:18:00 -0400

June 26th: IS Corp Downer Avenue Criterium
Mike 3rd, Ben 4th

Last night’s event in Downer Grove featured as the premier event of the Tour of America’s Dairyland. Over 5,000 spectators lined the 3 corner, cement paved course through the upscale strip of Downer’s Avenue north of Milwaukee’s business centre, with multiple beer gardens, a live bands and a set of announcers that kept the crowd well informed of the action. One hundred metres past the first corner, there was a second finish line for the ULTIMATE preme sprint (which race organizers fundraise for for an entire year – this year it was worth $5,000!). This big money brought in United Healthcare sprinters Karl Menzies and Hilton Clarke so it was great to get the chance to race against these guys again (they had a great run recently at Nature Valley and Air Force Cycling Classic).

From the gun, small moves went off the front. Taylor did a great job of holding on as the last rider to make the major break of the day, making the rest of our lives a lot easier. With a BMC rider and two UHC riders including Menzies, Taylor rolled through with the break but saved his energy the best he could. Halfway through the 90 minute event, the breakaway returned to the peloton after a maximum advantage of thirty seconds. At this point the preme sprints started as race officials looked to keep the pace high and the race exciting. With the help of Roman and Jason (as Taylor recovered in the pack), Mike and I were able to snag a large number of large dollar premes while opening our sprinting legs up for the Ultimate and the finale.

At 14 laps to go (approximately 14 minutes), the Ultimate bell was rung and UHC immediately jumped on the front. Roman took me to with them and through the start finish we sat 4-5 behind UHC. However a crafty move by UHC distanced myself from Menzies as he went around corner 1 and I had no chance at an attempt, besides, he is a legend so it was just sweet to be throwing down the watts in his presence.

With 3 laps to go we set up for the finale and UHC let us line up 1-4 while they sat 5-8. Jason Allen, our team leader, threw down huge watts and as we went through the start finish the final time the announcers and the crowd were going insane. If I had yelled any words of encouragement to Roman and Jason, they wouldn’t have heard me it was so loud. Out of corner 2 along the backstraight, UHC came thundering up the inside as anticipated. Mike followed them and I slotted in for sixth wheel. Through the final corner, one UHC rider pulled off with another at 150 metres. The drag to the line was highlighted by a spotlight next to the stage and finish banner as the evening had arrived and it was dark enough to ride without glasses. Mike fanned out left as Menzies went right. I moved in behind Clarke as he charged up the inside. In the end, Clarke took it at the line with Menzies 2nd and Mike 3rd. I rolled across in 4th. A great ride!
We were all super stoked on our efforts and enjoyed the party atmosphere during the podium presentations as many spectators were stoked on the efforts of the boys in Yellow.

Mike moved up the 4th in the Omnium after last night’s result and now sits only 2 points out of third. One more day in Waukesha before the long drive home to Portland. Time to get some!

Northey 7th @ Fond du Lac = Omnium Shift

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:18:00 -0400

June 25th: Fond du Lac Criterium: Photo courtesy of http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-americas-dairyland-ne-1/stage-9/photos/127590
Mike 7th

A bit of a longer drive than the over events, the team headed out to Fond du Lac for Friday’s criterium event. Another four corner circuit, very similar to Tuesday’s race in Sheboygan, Yellow looked to control the race or jump in early moves before setting up for the finale. Between all five of us, we were once again able to score a majority of the evening’s preme sprints and after a strong two man breakaway snuck away with 30 minutes remaining, Yellow lined up on the front with 15 laps (15 minutes) to go. Those fifteen minutes, although the most painful, were by far the most enjoyable. With Mike sitting in for the sprint, Taylor, Roman and I chased hard with the crowd reacting to our yellow train. At 12 laps to go Jason came up to the front to take over my position so that I could rest for the sprint. With 1.5 laps to go, the breakaway’s 22 second advantage had been reduced to 7 seconds but with Kenda breathing down our neck for the 3rd place sprint, I moved Mike up from 8th wheel to Roman and Jason on the back straight. Through corner three I took over the front but Jason was nearly ruined when a bonehead from behind essentially hugged Jason to avoid a lamppost (apparently the guy though there was space between the curb and Jason when J was already on the outside gutter as I came by). That produced a gap in the train and on the final lap Kenda came by our train. Fortunately Mike snuck in for 5th in the kick for 7th on the day.

The race was a bit strange as it never really settled down and we all felt a bit off. We are confident that tomorrow night’s event in Downer’s Grove will go better than tonight. We still walked away with a solid haul of preme dollars and the finale sprint thanks to Mike; although Mike stayed 8th in the Omnium standings, he now moves to within 9 points of 4th!

Northey & Van Uden in Top Five @ Green Bush

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:18:00 -0400

June 24th - Green Bush Road Race
Mike 3rd, Roman 4th

Today’s midday 130km road race event provided a nice change of pace after racing five criteriums in the last eight days. The undulating 16km circuit featured two steep but short climbs at 0.5-1km in length at 10-13% grade coupled with long sections of cross winds as we lapped back to the small town of Green Bush, WI. On lap 1 of 8, Mike slipped away with one other rider for the most significant break of the day. With a greatest advantage of 1 minute and 50 seconds, Taylor, Roman, Jason and I worked to cover bridge attempts off the front. Aerocat, Kenda and Bahati brought squads of 3-6 riders so we were well situated with our 5 man squad. On lap 2, Taylor suffered a shifter mechanical and had to switch to a neutral bike (supplied by Specialized and SRAM). Unfortunately it did not fit him well and he had to drop out on lap 5. Once Taylor moved back for the bike change, I came up to the front to help Roman cover moves. I wanted to do a lot of the work at this time so that Roman and Jason could help Taylor get situated and stay fresh for the counter move if Mike’s break came back. At the end of the third lap, with Roman relieving my work at the front, a massive hole in the road knocked my hands off my bars. With just my forearms on the handle bars, I didn’t have much reaction time at +60km/hr and lost control immediately. Fortunately, I landed in a field of grass and came out unscathed but had to buy a new helmet at local supporters Wheel and Sprocket Bike shop (A big shout out to Mike who helped us all get what we needed to ready us for tomorrow’s criterium – thanks MIKE!)

Down to three Rubicon Orbea riders, the field split on lap 5 in the cross winds with Jason, Roman and Mike all making the twenty rider group. Jason crushed it on the final lap in the hot conditions (without our generous homestay Patricia Young who handed out drinks and Cokes in the feed zone we would have been useless – THANKS PATRICIA! Your banana bread and cookies are very tasty too!) to keep the pace high and set up Mike and Roman for the finale. In the end, a Bahati rider proved too fast in the sprint, with Mike and Roman finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. Another solid day of racing!

Back to criterium racing tomorrow night in Fond du Lac before Satuday’s premiere event in Downer’s Grove.

Two in Top Ten @ Waterloo

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:18:00 -0400

June 23rd - Waterloo Criterium
Photo courtesy of http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-americas-dairyland-ne-1/stage-7/photos/127383

Wednesday night we took off for the Trek bike factory in Waterloo, Wi. The longer 2.6km loop featured a shallow but narrow climb along the back of the circuit with three 90 degree turns leading into the final 220m drag to the line. By the time the field had staged, with Northey on the front row after a call up awarded for his 8th place overall, the mosquitoes were out for blood so everyone was anxious to get moving. The pace was slow to start until Taylor initiated the first move along the climb on the 2nd lap. Following his move, various breakaway attempts formed, the riskiest of which featured twenty riders at the 45minute mark. I quickly bridged up to cover it as it was the only move we had missed. However, the peloton brought it all back together a lap later and we returned to the status quo. Approaching the end, Yellow lined up in front of Mike with big J powering by the green and white Aerocat train at 4.5km from the finish (1.5 laps). With such a large distance to cover, Roman and I would have some serious work to get Mike to 200m. At the base of the climb on the last lap, Roman finished his long pull but we were slightly swarmed by a Bahati rider on the right and a Kenda rider on the left. I took over with Mike tight on my wheel and I drove it up the climb, emerging 1-2. Through the 90 degree corners I drove it hard and out of the final corner Mike slacked off a bit to prepare for the slingshot. At 180metres Mike came by but unfortunately he had some friends. Rahsaan Bahati took the sprint with Mike slipping to 5th as Aerocat posted two on the podium. I made it over the line in 9th. In all, even though the finale didn’t work out perfectly, the leadout train and our teamwork throughout the race (covering moves, winning every cash preme) was excellent. We all used out strengths to cover one another’s weaknesses and again brought home some cash as a reward. Road race tomorrow to change up the rhythm – hopefully it is not too hot.

Yellow brings the thunder at Dairyland

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:05:00 -0400

Tour of America's Dairyland Stage 6th: Sheboygan Criterium

June 23rd - Last night the guys and I jumped into the sixth of eleven stages at the Tour of America’s Dairyland. The criterium course was a straight forward, four corner circuit with some wind and tight final corners to spice up the tension within the pack. There was a good crowd too and we definitely made it a show. Right out of the box, after a long day of travel in the car yesterday and sub-par sensations in the legs during a spin this morning, my legs came to life and I covered the front in the opening laps. I was quickly joined by the rest of the guys after I returned to the peloton after a 2 lap dig off the front. We covered every move and pushed the pace throughout the 90 minutes event until Mike made his way into a four man breakaway. Nearly lapping the field on the 1.2km course, the guys put together a great lead out train with 1 lap to go and although a hectic 3rd corner disrupted our train, boxing me in during the final 180metres to the line from the final corner, a hole opened up at 20metres to go and I jumped out into 7th with a big throw at the line for 3rd in the bunch and 7th overall. Mike grabbed the win and with numerous prim sprints throughout the race, we pulled in quite a bit of coin. Good stuff. Afterwards out generous homestay Pat Young took us out to Subway for dinner.

Criteriums continue throughout the week, with a premiere event in downtown Milwaukee on Saturday night. The only interruption is a road race on Thursday. Today we race in Waterloo around the Trek bike factory. It’ll be cool to travel back after spending a few hours there in May during the Collegiate National Team Time Trial race in which Whitman sealed our 4th national championship. Time to pedal hard!

Tracy @ PIR = Trouble for everyone else

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:01:00 -0400

Rubicon-Orbea’s Tracy takes PIR Tuesday Nighter - Photo courtesy of www.oregon.cyclingaction.com

Story by, Pat, Editor of Oregon Cycling Action

PORTLAND - While the majority of the team has been making waves in the Midwest, Rubicon-Orbea’s track specialist Dean Tracy caused a ripple of his own by taking this week’s PIR Tuesday Nighter.

Tracy finished the evening with 18 points, five better than runner-up Jeff Harwood (Ironclad Performance Wear) and eight better than Cyclepth’s Christian Tresser. Walton Brush (Mash SF) won the Cat 3/4 race ahead of Team Bike Tires Direct riders David Masuda and Ryan McMaster.

Seattle lives strong in 2010

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:05:00 -0400

Seattle LIVESTRONG Challenge -June 19th & 20th Image courtesy of www.livestrong.org

The LIVESTRONG Challenge Series is the signature fundraising event for LIVESTRONG. For the past thirteen years, the Series has raised over $60 million for the fight against cancer. In 2010, the LIVESTRONG Challenge Series will visit four cities across the U.S.: Seattle, WA; San Jose, CA; Philadelphia, PA; and Austin, TX.

In Seattle, on June 19-20, the LIVESTRONG Challenge took place at the foot of the space needle on the grounds of the Seattle Center. We sent : Austin, Lynne and Milo to join Karla and 6-other of their family, bringing the total to 10 McDonald’s walking in support of Karla’s brother who passed away in August of 2009 due to spinal cancer.

Karla says THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this possible and allowing the whole family to walk together in support. I hope to have more information and photos in the next newsletter.

________________________________

Seattle LIVESTRONG Challenge -play back
Story by, Jon Ragsdale; Rubicon-ORBEA's LIVESTRONG Events Manager

I think we need to tell Jon to smile more!

The LIVESTRONG Challenge 2010 this year was again held in Seattle, Washington. The ride started and ended at the Seattle Center in Downtown Seattle (home of the Key Arena, the Space Needle, and the Seattle Experience Music Project (along with a small amusement park). This is the 5th year of the event and the 5th time I have participated.? So far in 5 years I have raised over 5000 dollars for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

The day started off in a rush as I woke up at 7:50 to my alarm going off. It had been going off since 5:50 and the wake up call for 5:45 never came in (I checked with the front desk on that) since the ride started at 7:00. So I had a quick bagel and banana for breakfast and went and checked out of the room. I made double sure it was OK to leave my car in the garage for the day and dashed over to the Seattle Center. I knew I wasn't going to be able to catch up to the riders since parts of the ride were done on the freeways and they were long since opened back up to cars. A sag wagon took me to the mile 25 rest stop and I would start my ride there.

About ten miles into my ride it started raining (this makes 4 out of 5 Challenges that it's rained, but the weather conditions were better than in the past. Besides, cancer doesn't quit when it's raining, we don't quit the fight against cancer when it rains). It was at this point that I was glad I didn't listen to the weather forecasts for the Seattle area (on Friday it said sunny and 70, and then Saturday night it said mostly cloudy with rain starting around 9 PM) and packed my cool weather riding gear and my rain jacket. So I put on my rain jacket and kept going on my way. The weather didn't seem to dampen the spirits of any of the riders, or those that were out on the road to help us along;

I rolled into Seattle Center around 2:00. I did the 75 miles in about 5 -hours including stops. Not a super fast pace, but it was definitely a safe pace with the slick roads.

Now to plan for LIVESTRONG 2011, that is unless I try and figure out how to swing doing LIVESTRONG in Austin in October. Anybody want to go? :)

Nature Valley Grand Prix Recap

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:18:00 -0400

The yellow train rolled in to Minneapolis last week for the pinnacle event of our 2010 calendar. Fresh off solid rides in St. Louis, Missouri at the Tour de Grove, we were all anxious to get started. Wednesday morning’s short 10km individual time trial featured a steep final kilometre after a flat out and back in the most aerodynamic position we could muster as this year’s organizers decided to outlaw time trial bikes for convienence and travel cost purposes. Mike headed out first and posted an impressive time of 13.34, thirty nine seconds back for 15th place. Roman slotted in at 28th, 14seconds back of Mike while Ben and Taylor finished 59th and 61st respectively.

After a short afternoon nap, high temperatures in St. Paul’s downtown core made for a difficult evening criterium when the gun went off at 7.45pm. Seventy five minutes later after an average speed of 48.2 km/hr made for a stressful race packed with incidents along the 7 corner course (featuring 300 metres of cobbles), Roman, Taylor and Ben finished in the lead group while a crash hindered Mike Northey’s chance at the stage sprint. Jason and Mike were both stuck in the second group but Northey drove the pace through to the line, limiting the damage to a 30 seconds. After the event, everyone was so gassed that some of the guys had trouble finding the right parking lot. At the end of the day Roman sat 3rd in the Young Rider’s competition (Taylor 6th), with Ben and Taylor sitting 5th and 6th in the Amateur competition respectively.

Thursday road race in Cannon Falls was a bit of a drive and featured a late start (5pm) with strong winds in the forecast for the 60mile event. The wind acted up as anticipated and placed a few of the peloton’s riders in trouble through the various cross-wind sections; however Yellow was able to stay at the front and mark the few moves that attempted early escapes. But at 15miles, race officials stopped the race as black clouds rolled overhead and tornado warnings blanketed the area. We turned back towards town and with the tailwind, cruised back in Gran Fondo style at 30mph. By the time we got back to Cannon Falls the air was heavy and still, definitely the calm before the storm. We got out of there fast and avoided the multiple tornados that landed just 8km from the start/finish!

With the cancelled road race stage, we all knew that Friday’s criterium in Minneapolis’ Uptown was going to be fast. Known as the biggest spectator event of the tour, the riders were not disappointed. It was a party! The entire 1.2km course was lined with fans, on both sides, sometimes deeper than 1 layer! It was a huge event. The field was spread out in a long line for most of the evening as Kelly Benefit Strategies rode to protect their GC ambitions; but Roman, feeling great and knowing there were many good looking ladies in the crowd, took off in an early breakaway. Sporting the Yellow, he helped the break establish upwards of fifteen seconds. Around the halfway mark however, the break came back to the peloton. Near the end, despite Roman and Ben’s best efforts to move Mike up for the sprint, the high pace at the front and choppy moves by riders in the bunch forced breaks in the line to occur so in the end Yellow would have to be content with pack time today.
Saturday’s Menonomie road race loomed ahead and as a new event in the 2010 tour, we knew it was going to be hard as the GC remained very tight after Friday. Featuring six steep climbs ranging from 1-1.6km topping out at 15%, the 100 mile course wound its way through smooth and scenic county roads which made for a great ride when coupled with the high number of twists, turns and small towns. Mike and Roman jumped in a bunch of early moves but unfortunately none stuck. At mile 50, riders were greeted with an unmarked gravel section that threw a curveball at the race. Some riders flatted which placed the Shimano neutral service off the back of the race when Ben’s brake came loose 5km later. Rubbing against the tire, Ben had to stop and although he chased for the remaining 40miles, his top 5 amateur position was gone. Once in the final circuits around town, Roman and Taylor helped Mike snag 7th in the bunch kick to the line. Going into the final day at Stillwater, Roman and Taylor remained 3rd and 6th in the Young Riders while Taylor moved up to 4th in the Amateur (Roman and Mike could not be classified as Amateur in 2010 because LandRover-Orbea was a licensed pro team in 2009. Amateurs must be unaffiliated with a proteam for three years before they can race in the amateur classification).

Stillwater, the stage of all stages. The 1.2 mile circuit featured the infamous Chilkoot Hill every lap and at 20 laps the 400metre grind at 22% shattered the race. Jason and Ben held on for 8 and 9 laps respectively, getting popped just at teammate Northey launched a vicious solo attack following the 2nd KOM sprint. Northey build up a lead of 25 seconds and held off the pack until 6 to go (totalling 8 laps / 30minutes off the front). In the finale, Taylor Gunman absolutely crushed himself and finished 11th on the day, ahead of the Stage 5 Yellow Jersey Scott Zwizanski (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and just seconds behind the stage winner and tour winner Rory Sutherland (United Healthcare). With his impressive ride, Taylor turned a lot of heads and moved up to 2nd in the Amateur competition and 3rd in the Young Rider’s classification. Mike Northey also snagged the most Aggressive riders jersey for the final stage.

The team’s ride at the 2010 Nature Valley Grand Prix turned out well and we greatly appreciate the assistance of all those who made our appearance at the 2010 event possible. Special thanks goes out to the Owens Family who housed us, cooked for us and went to great lengths just to get us into the event. Thank you John, Pat, Jess, Abra, Joe and Miles. We are all looking forward to seeing you again next year.

Northey gets aggressive @ Nature Valley's Stillwater

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:05:00 -0400

Nature Valley Grand Prix -Mike Northey wins Most Aggressive Rider Jersey
Story by, Lyne, Editor of Podium insight; www.podiuminsight.com

“A good accomplishment.” said Mike Northey of the Rubicon-ORBEA; Benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation team. “We walked away with something and Taylor was up there in the young rider and amateur as well, it’s good.”

Northey was awarded the Most Aggressive jersey and his teammate Taylor Gunman, in his first race in the US, finished third in the Best Young Rider and second in the Best Amateur competitions.

One of the young Kiwis on the team, 23-year old Northey went on the attack at the Stillwater Criterium, the final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. The Stillwater crit is well known for the leg-breaking Chilkoot Hill, with an average grade of 18% - some say 20% - on the 2.2 km (1.4 mi) course.

Northey bridged up to a solo rider at the front to form a 4-rider break with 12 laps to go in the 20-lap race. Two laps later, after the King of the Hill sprint, the other three sat up and pulled the plug on the break. But Northey wasn’t willing to give up and kept on going solo. With the fans cheering him on, he kept on pushing with a gap up to 25 seconds to the field.

“I was out there, so I might as well keep going and hopefully someone will come across but no one really did and I think Jamis ended pulling me back in.” he explained. “Kelly Benefit seemed to be more than happy to let me get away, I was in no contention but oh well I had a go.”

But he was caught with less than 8 laps to go as the Jamis/Sutter Home pushed the pace at the front of the field to? set up an attack for the GC contender.

“I just tried to push my way in and hang in as long as I could.” said Northey after he was reeled in.? He was dropped from the lead group with two laps to go and finished 38th on the stage at 3′05″ down.

“Haven’t had fund memories of this course.” This was his second time racing at Nature Valley Grand Prix. Last year, he had the lead in the Best Young Rider jersey but lost it to one of his teammate at the Stillwater Crit.

“This was better, at least I could do something today. Last year, I just hung on as long as I could,” smiled Northey, “but died trying.”

After a day off, Northey and his team are racing for the next sux days at the Tour of America’s Dairyland.

Great video interview with Mike Northey, by Lyne -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCqfzEi_R4w=player_embedded <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCqfzEi_R4w&feature=player_embedded>;

Children's Hospital Visit

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:33:00 -0400

June 15th

It was a bright and sunny day in uptown, Minneapolis as we traveled to the Children's Hospital to meet our new little fans. Bikes clean, hair combed, LIVESTRONG wristbands, chalk and autograph cards all in hand. We met Kathy Dowd at the front checking office and she gave us the lay of the land sort-of-speak. We broke up into two groups of three; Taylor, Mike and Roman in one, Jason, Ben and I in another. We went from room to room talked a little bit about bicycles, but mostly about New Zealand and Canada and handed out goodies all where received with bight smiles.

Next we arrived at Children's Tree House, a in-house TV stage where as the Children's Hospital broadcast a hour long fun show with special guest two times a week. The kids in the hospital look forward to interacting with the cast and crew as the kids are encouraged to call in and answer trivia questions. We met "Dude" the host of the show, nice guy for a guy named "Dude".

As the show started, we where allotted 10 minutes of air time to interact with the kids and answer questions -but the kids where so intrigued by the team, that they kept the guys on for 25 minutes and closed out the show with the Rubicon boys . . . Even one girl called in just to tell the guys that they were ALL cuter than Justin Bieber -Everyone busted out laughing and we knew at that moment we made a difference -we took the kids away from their daily routines of treatments and had them laughing and enjoying themselves.

Children's will be sending out a DVD of our TV visit, I will post it on our website and facebook as soon as we get it so you can all see.

We want to thank David LaPorte, the Owens Family, Quality Bicycle Parts, and everyone else who pulled together to get us to Minneapolis and the Nature Valley Grand Prix -your act of kindness, helped us bring sunshine to some pretty sick kids in MN. -From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU.

Northey 7th in monsoon @ Tour de Grove NRC

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 11:06:00 -0400

Tour De Grove - NRC
By Rubicon-ORBEA rider, Ben Chaddock

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (June 13, 2010) - The NRC level Tour de Grove professional bicycle- Sunday’s weather was a little more intense. Now racing a 3mile circuit for a total of 80 miles in 91’F, with full squads of both Jelly Belly and Kelly Benefit Strategies, the heat was on. We were very active at the beginning of the race but as the heat sapped our energy, Mike was the only one of us who made the race deciding split. With 6 laps to go, thunder and lightning showed up with a healthy dose of agua to quench everyone’s thirst, which was extreme as many riders fed every lap! In the finale, with the wind hollowing and only a few spectators left, the sky just pouring buckets, Mike brought home a 7th place finish (fifth in the bunch after two Kelly Benefit riders rode away) despite brake problems which compensated his position into the final, double apex 180’ corner. A very impressive ride! Mike’s Garmin computer said the average temperature over the 2 hour 15 minute race was 35 degrees Celsius with a maximum temperature of 39.

* 7th Mike Northey

Chaddock & Gunman podium @ Tour de Grove

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:06:00 -0400

Mid Town Alley Grand Prix -
By Rubicon-ORBEA rider, Ben Chaddock

Week two on the road is well underway. We are currently 30 miles from St. Paul Minneapolis after an early start this morning from St. Louis. Even this morning at six, the temperature was in the 80’s and humidity 90-100%! We all enjoyed our time in St. Louis thanks to many generous people, including most importantly our home stay Craig. He knew all the big hitters in town and showed us around which was great fun. The racing went pretty good too, with the team bringing home the dollars both days despite extremely challenging and unexpected weather conditions. Nature Valley starts on Wednesday with a short 6 mile prologue time trial on road bikes before an evening criterium really lights up the tour (pardon the pun). We are also heading to one of the local hospitals tomorrow so hopefully we get the chance to pass out some LIVESTRONG bands.

June 10th - After Wednesday night in Denver, we took off for Junction City on Thursday morning. After suffering some wind, we were unable to ride in the evening; but the biggest shocker of the day was definitely the temperature. We all knew we were in for an interesting weekend when we jumped out for a gas stop in Kansas only to be slapped across the face with extreme heat and humidity. SOUP!

June 11th - After another early morning drive on Friday, we arrived in St. Louis in the early afternoon and after a delicious sandwich at Mama Tosconos (Bill Clinton ate there once!), we took off for an opener ride along the Riverfront Trail. The route was definitely interesting as it followed some very old power plants with a healthy mix of garbage refuges and scrape metal yards. Despite the interesting scenery, we topped off the ride with a pause at the ARCH. It is HUGE! Made in the 60’s it stands many feet higher than I do!

June 12th - Saturday’s race featured some of St. Louis’ stereotypical summer weather; variable and harsh. It was a battle to just get your bibs on because you just sweat wherever you are, but the venue was great and some topnotch announcers were there to light up the atmosphere. Jelly Belly Pro Cycling also showed up with a full seven man squad and Kelly Benefit Strategies started two riders. Mike, rocking his white New Zealand U23 criterium champion edition of the Rubicon-Orbea kit helped trick other teams into believing that we only had three riders when we actually had four. The course was quite simple, 2.5 minute loop of four corners with 800 meter long main straights. Taylor Gunman jumped in a move with two Jelly Belly riders (which should have been the end of the race) but Jelly Belly kept the pace high to mitigate bridge attempts. The break achieved a maximum advantage of 30 seconds before they came back in the final 5 of 30 laps at which time Jelly Belly set up a massive train of riders on the front for their lead sprinter Brad Huff.

Taylor played it smart in the break and still had good legs when he came back into the peloton, jumping right in behind the Jelly Belly riders for 7th wheel with Roman, I and Mike following. Various riders attempted to steal the Jelly Belly wheels or disrupt the continuity of our train so elbows where up and the guns were out. In the final lap Roman moved me up alongside the Jelly Belly riders , Taylor slotted in behind me as we went by but got pushed off and had to resort to the gutter through corner through to get back up to my wheel. With Taylor tucked up behind, Roman went nuts out of corner three. With only four Jelly Belly riders left in front of Roman, Mike Friedman (12th at Philly last week) took off at 600 meters to go, at 500 meters Roman pulled off and the jets came on. At 200m I passed Friedman but Huff took his place and slotted in half a bike length a head at the line. Taylor threw it down for third and Roman cruised across in 12th. It wasn’t until after the race that we found out that Mike had flatted the last time through the start-finish so most of the sprint I was expecting him to come around. A great result! The majority of the race was held under an extreme rainstorm. The only thing missing was an alligator as it really did feel like that scene out of Jumanji. The rain dissipated the wearing effect of the heat despite the treacherous road conditions it created.

When changing after the race we met a guy named Roger, who turned out to be much more than a curious spectator and helped us through the rest of the weekend. Thanks so much Roger! Roger let us store our trailer in his shop and invited us over for a barbeque on Sunday night, which was very tasty!

* 2nd, Ben Chaddock
* 3rd Taylor Gunman

Keogh Steals Victory @ Cirque du Cycle

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:05:00 -0400

Story by Pat, Editor of Oregon Cycling Action: Full Article Available @ www.oregon.cyclingaction.com

PORTLAND - Quinn Keogh’s never-say-die attitude got put through its paces Saturday night at the Cirque du Cycling criterium in North Portland. But it eventually paid big dividends as the Rubicon-Orbea rider won the race from a small break group.

Nicoletti and Keogh at the line. Finish line photo courtesy of OBRA.

Keogh hopped into the winning breakaway after crashing hard on the unique eight-corner course, then fought for the win all the way to the line even though it looked like Gentle Lovers’ Sam Nicoletti had the race sewn up. Nicoletti’s premature celebration opened the door for Keogh to sneak past by less than a tire width to win in a photo finish.

The pair joined Donald Reeb (HPChiro/Scott’s Bicycles) and Austin Arguello (Team Exergy) off the front during the last half of the race and quickly started building a gap that grew to more than 30 seconds by the finish. Nicoletti appeared to have the advantage as the quartet barreled over the slightly downhill closing straightaway. But when he threw his arms up for a traditional salute about 10 feet from the line, Keogh kept pushing and made up the margin - and just a little bit more - with a bike throw.

Although Nicoletti’s poor timing opened the door for the win, Keogh’s all-day effort probably propelled the lead quartet into position to win in the first place. But before he could do that he had to endure a crowd-induced crash on the northern end of the course.

“There was a spectator who was tossing water,” Keogh said. “We were coming through once and I think she lost the cup or bottle she was tossing from. It went into somebody’s bike and they stopped it up. I was on my front wheel long enough to remember it distinctly, and then I tumbled over somebody’s bike.” …

After taking a free lap and getting pushed back in at the rear of the bunch, Keogh moved back to the front and countered off a move by teammate Aaron Tuckerman, Gentle Lovers’ Steven Beardsley (also taken down later in a crash) and several others.

“I just kept on it for a couple laps really hard,” Keogh said. “Guys kind of fell off and came up, and I just kept sitting up there and holding a high pace until some guys came up who would roll through. We started working together well, got a good gap and held it at about 30 seconds for the last 15 laps.”

Crashes in the field also slowed the chase and added to the leaders’ advantage. Then as the 60-minute event began winding down, Keogh said, riders in the breakaway started thinking about what it would take to win.

“Sam Nicoletti didn’t need to work too hard, so he was pulling a little soft,” Keogh said. “Austin Arguello was pulling a little soft. I think he just wanted to make sure he saved some legs. Reeb and I were both pulling really hard.”

Keogh said the more obvious cat-and-moue games started playing out several corners from the finish before Nicoletti finally jumped before the last corner.

“Sam was the first to go,” Keogh said. “Austin got on his wheel. Sam held it, but I took Sam in the throw at the finish.”

It wasn’t quite that matter-of-fact for those watching, but after a look at the photo finish, officials gave the win to Keogh.

3 Kiwis and 1 Canadian

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:22:00 -0400

Roman, Mike, Taylor and I are currently drinking lots of bottles in preparation for our first race this weekend in St. Louis, Missouri later this afternoon. The forecast is for high temperatures of 95 degrees and humidities that we are far from what we are used to. Tonight's regular criterium event will feature some of the top teams in the county as many riders have arrived one day early in preparation for Sunday's 130km NRC kremese. This evening will conclude with a two-up sprint competition along the main straightaway which should be very exciting as the route travels along the local bar strip; we will see how we go in the criterium before deciding to compete in the sprint competition.

The guys have started to blog the trip for Road Cycling New Zealand while I am have also started my own blog. We will be combining our pictures and thoughts for updates throughout the next two weeks of racing so be sure to check out the Rubicon-Orbea homepage or either of the blogs for information.

http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/TeamTalk/insights-from-the-kiwis-racing-in-american.html

http://cyclinginatoque.blogspot.com/

Our current schedule:

June 12-13: Tour de Grove: St. Louis
June 15-20: Nature Valley Grand Prix: St.Paul / Minneapolis, Minnesota
June 21-27: Tour of America's Dairyland
July 28-July 1: Travel to Portland

Hope you are all having a great time riding your bikes. The team is pretty stoked to get out of the car and rip it up. Time to giver skidoo in the big ring!

Ben Chaddock

LIVESTRONG EBAY Auction to go LIVE Monday, May 24th at 12:01AM

Sun, 23 May 2010 01:52:00 -0400

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-

MAX PAPIS AND LANCE ARMSTRONG DONATE AUTOGRAPH ITEMS FOR RUBICON-ORBEA’S LIVESTRONG AUCTION

EBAY AUCTION LINKS:

Papis Gloves: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200475373696

Papis Driving Shoes: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200475377658&ssPageName=STRK:MESCX:IT

Lance Armstrong Framed Poster: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200475379261&ssPageName=STRK:MESCX:IT

Rubicon-ORBEA Pro Kit: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200475380148&ssPageName=STRK:MESCX:IT

PRESS RELEASE -

PORTLAND, Oregon, May 24, 2010 - Max Papis and Lance Armstrong, through Nike, have donated items that are to be auction off on ebay to raise funds and awareness for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Rubicon-ORBEA; Benefiting LIVESTRONG is raising funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) to send cancer survivors to the Seattle LIVESTRONG Challenge. 100% of all funds raised from the auction will be donated to the LAF. “This is our way of helping others through this sport of cycling and giving back to the community” says cofounder Norrene Godfrey. “We are so grateful to have renowned sports icons as GEICO’S NASCAR driver, Max Papis and Lance Armstrong, through Nike, donate signed items to help raise funds,”

Max Papis, GEICO’s driver, heard about the Rubicon-ORBEA; Benefiting LIVESTRONG cycling team and it’s mission to help cancer survivors attend the Seattle LIVESTRONG challenge and wanted to help, so Max has donated autograph gloves and shoes to the auction.

Widely regarded as one of the most versatile racecar drivers in the world, ‘Mad’ Max Papis, has driven Formula One, CART Champs and is now the driver of the #13 GEICO Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The Max Papis connection. In this day and age, if you can not say you have been touched by cancer in some way, then you are in a minority. Sister, brother, mother, father, friend, or even you, cancer knows no limit, no one is safe, for Max, cancer took his father in 2006.

Papis, displays the LIVESTRONG logo on his helmet in multiple areas, helping to bring about awareness. Papis, whose father died in 2006 of pancreatic cancer, has great passion for finding a cure for the dreaded disease and is committed to help bringing attention to the public.

Nike has also graciously donated a signed and framed poster of Lance Armstrong with the words “HOPE RIDES AGAIN.”

Rubicon-ORBEA will also be auctioning off one medium size racing kit -included in the kit will be team jersey, shorts, hat and gloves.

“We are very honored to have individuals and companies like Max Papis, Lance Armstrong, Nike donate items to the team, to help us raise funds, to help find a cure for cancer, and make a difference in other peoples lives. -LET THE BIDDING BEGIN! -said Norrene.

###

RUBICON-ORBEA, benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation is the result of the dream of the team’s captain, Norrene Godfrey. Norrene is a competitive cyclist who lost her mother to cancer in the fall of 2001. Her mother was inspired by the courage of Lance Armstrong to continue waging her battle with cancer. Lance is obviously an international mega-star athlete, known for his victories against testicular cancer and the world famous Tour de France. Yet, despite his hectic schedule, Lance took the time to personally touch Norrene’s mother’s life, even sending her one of his cycling jerseys autographed with the words “Fight mom, Lance Armstrong” thus encouraging her to persevere.

In order to repay Lance for his kindness and “pay-it-forward,” Norrene dreamed of a cycling team that would ride in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and its fight against cancer. Thus, RUBICON-ORBEA; Benefiting LIVESTRONG was born.

The RUBICON-ORBEA team has two core missions -

Giving back by raising funds and awareness for the Lance Armstrong Foundation through community involvement and charity work.
Giving back by developing young cycling athletes into the next generation of professional athlete

For more information on the team please visit www. Rubicon-ORBEA.com or Rubicon Orbea on Facebook.

Ben Chaddock -new addition to team line-up

Tue, 18 May 2010 12:01:00 -0400

Meet Ben Chaddock, the newest addition to the Rubicon-Orbea Cycling Team.

Here's a few words from Ben -

I am extremely excited to meet up with the team this week to get ready for some big races this coming June and July. Recently I have been working towards a four year Economics-Environmental Studies combined degree at Whitman College in Walla Walla,Wa and with graduation this Sunday, joining Rubicon-Orbea at this time is the really the best possible scenario. I feel extremely honoured to join such a successful and respected program and I greatly look forward to representing the team and the cause that it stands to promotes.

Prior to my time at Whitman College, I grew up Richmond and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. I was pretty busy in my youth, between epic street hockey battles every day after school and weekends in Whistler to ski and train for a chance at the Olympic Dream I figured out pretty earlier that I have quite a bit of energy to burn. As a graduating senior in 2003 from Matthew NcNair Secondary in Richmond, I spent three years as a member and eventual team leader of the British Columbia Men’s alpine ski team. There, six of my good friends and teammates challenged other riders from around Canada for national team spots through competitions on the North American (NorAm) circuit. Always stronger in the faster events (Downhill and SuperG) despite my small weight, I turned heads during my time with multiple top ten finishes, including strong results at the 2006 National Championships in Whistler. However, by the end of my third year I had failed to crack the podium. Fortunately school remained an option and I took an opportunity to attend Whitman College the following September. Of course moving away from high level competition was very difficult to come to grips with and it wasn’t until I raced one last year on the NCAA alpine circuit for Whitman College that I realized it was time to hang up the boards. Fortunately in time, I came to grips with my success and failure on the slopes and have since heavily reflected on my extended pursuit of ski racing. There were a lot of people who made those results possible and although I can say that my time at Whitman has also been very life changing, my ski racing experiences remain a fundamental part of my person; so thank you to all of you out there, you know who you are!

Once at Whitman College I started riding a lot. During my ski racing career I always rode as much as I could and after I found out (not until my freshman spring!) that the team took two national championships in 2005 and 2006, I jumped on board. If anything to keep my sanity at school, I needed an athletic release. That study break quickly became my second athletic pursuit as I quickly found fitness after losing the ski racing weight. I have been fortunate to run the team the last few years with my good friend Colin Gibson and am super excited to see the program continue to grow in the future. The team recently brought home its fourth national championship in six years so it looks like the team is going to be around for a while. The Whitman team is also sponsored by Orbea, which greatly assists in getting new riders into the sport, definitely my primary personal reason for this second athletic pursuit. I greatly enjoy working with enthusiastic, students who strive to get the best out of themselves and I have been fortunate to work with some outstanding individuals during my four years here. This is also why I am extremely excited about joining up with Rubicon-Orbea. I feel like this is an exuberant team whose riders are asked to ride for more than just the colors of the jersey and I am extremely proud to become a part of that cause.

Thanks for reading and see you on the road!

Sincerely,
Ben Chaddock