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Columbia Plateau Stage Race
Heppner, Oregon, May 2-4, 2003
The stages Results Past winners
Event wrap-up
Canadians dominate Columbia Plateau Stage Race
For decades, there has been a friendly but heated rivalry between the U.S. and Canada in bicycle racing, and nowhere has that been more evident than in the Pacific Northwest, where top athletes from both sides of the border have done battle in such storied races as the Cascade Classic, Gastown Grand Prix, Tour of White Rock, and the Tour of Willamette.
Another skirmish between the North American rivals took place this past weekend at the three-day, four-stage Columbia Plateau Stage Race, and the Canucks unquestionably came out on top, winning seven of a possible eight stages and taking all six overall podium placings in the Pro/Elite Men"s and Women"s events.
Canadian National Team member Cory Lange and his British Columbia-based Symmetrics Cycling teammates handily fended off the challenges of fellow B.C. racer Dylan Sebel, former Nutra-Fig professional Ron Schmeer, and elite U.S. MTB racer Carl Decker to take three of the four individual stages and the top two places overall. Meanwhile, Victory Brewing/Amoroso"s pro Nicole Demars had a tougher time of it on the distaff side of the race: though she won all but one stage, she was hard-pressed by the Team BC duo of Sarah Noble and 2002 Columbia Plateau winner Suzanne Macht, who finished second and fourth overall, respectively.
For more information about the Columbia Plateau Stage Race, please contact john@worlddiff.com or visit http://www.obra.org/columbiaplateau/race.htm.
The stages
- Stage 1 - May 2: Heppner - Ione
- Stage 2 - May 3: Rietmann Grade Time Trial
- Stage 3 - May 3: Ione to Fossil
- Stage 4 - May 4: Fossil to Heppner
Stage 1 - May 2: Heppner - Ione
The ninth annual Columbia Plateau Stage Race kicked off on Friday, May 2 with a point-to-point road stage from Heppner (the "Irish Capitol of the Northwest") to the town of Ione, with at least one climb in excess of 3,000 feet (two for the Pro/Elite Men) and a LOT of hard rollers in between. The weather was atypically sunny (with the exception of a five-minute thunderstorm around midrace), but very windy- a factor that would make the stage even tougher than usual.
For the men, it meant that the field of 75+ broke into several smaller groups; two-time Columbia Plateau winner Ron Schmeer (Saturn for Seattle) found himself in the second pack on the road, but a concerted chase effort brought them back to the leaders with just one kilometer to go. At the finish, it was Matt Usborne (Symmetrics Cycling) taking a 29-man sprint, ahead of Larry Zimich (Campione/Cramerati) and McKenzie Cascade"s Alex Rock.
It was a fine result fro the 26-year old Usborne, a former motocross and mountain bike racer who only switched to the road full-time two years ago; it was also a fine result for the Symmetrics Cycling Project, a B.C.-based program devoted to developing the riders and events that will help advance the cause of cycling.
Meanwhile, the Women"s field was shredded to a far greater degree than that of their male counterparts. Everything stayed together until the climb through the feed zone, at which point Team B.C. riders Suzanne Macht and Sarah Noble attacked, drawing out Demars, Kele Hulser (Bike Barn), and Pamela Egger (Escape Velocity).
The quintet split up near the end, with Demars taking a three-up sprint from Hulser and Macht, with Egger and Noble twelve seconds in arrears. Next to arrive was 2002 Tour de "Toona/"The International" winner Heather Albert (Team Basis), who had gone through a bit of a rough patch when the attack went, but still was able to solo away from the chasers to finish in sixth at 2:02. Another small group came in at 3:17, with the rest of the field more than five minutes down.
That Demars was able to win the stage came as no surprise, given a list of credentials that includes fourth place in the Queen of the Mountains at the 2002 HP International Women"s Challenge, one of the world"s toughest women"s races. Whether she would be able to prevail against the superior numbers of Team BC, however, remained to be seen.
Stage 2 - May 3: Rietmann Grade Time Trial
Day Two of the Columbia Plateau Stage Race started with a morning time trial up Rietmann Grade, an elevation gain of nearly 300 feet in just two miles. It was an ideal opportunity for race leaders Usborne and Demars to extend their leads, and both did just that. Usborne covered the distance in a time of five minutes and 29 seconds, with Symmetrics teammate Cory Lange just five ticks of the clock back; the first five finishers all clocked faster times than last year"s stage winner, Rusty Beall, now a professional with Health Net.
Demars had a little more breathing room: though Team BC"s Sarah Noble was just 11 seconds back, third-placed Pamela Egger (Escape Velocity) was nearly a half-minute in arrears, while Macht was at 40 seconds and Albert at 0:55. Needless to say, both Usborne and Demars retained their leaders" jerseys; Lange and Dylan Sebel, who won the time trial a week earlier at the Tour of Walla Walla, moved into second and third at 0:05 and 0:08, respectively, while Noble moved past Hulser and into second overall at 23 seconds, with Hulser six seconds further back.
Stage 3 - May 3: Ione to Fossil
After a few hours of rest following the morning time trial, the Men and Women resumed racing with a point-to-point road stage (83 miles for the men, 63 miles for the women) from Ione to Fossil, the seat of Wheeler County.
In the men"s race, Symmetrics Cycling took advantage of their strength and numbers to launch attack after attack ("This was the day Symmetrics really stuck it to us!", said Schmeer afterwards). Finally, 23-year old Cory Lange broke clear and stayed clear, amassing a lead of 2:02 by the finish; Schmeer punched it on the final descent into town to finish 16 seconds in front of the first group, which was led in by Will Routley (Rocky Mountain Bicycles/Adobe).
Overall, Lange - a highly-experienced international competitor with victories in France"s Tour de l"Indre and a stage of the Tour of Korea to his credit- took over the lead from teammate Usborne, who finished seventh on the day. As for the women, things broke up on the day"s longest climb, but the field regrouped after the descent and stayed that way until the final ascent, just six miles from the finish. At that point, Demars figured that the best defense was a good offense, and attacked, to be joined by Egger, Hulser, and Macht; the quartet were joined by six others on the descent, including Albert and Noble, making a group of ten headed to the finish.
It came down to a sprint into a headwind, with Albert leading it out, only to be pipped at the line by Demars, with Hulser taking third. With the top women all making the lead group, the overall standings went unchanged, although Noble was later assessed a 30-second penalty for a centerline violation (note: racers are prohibited from advancing their position by crossing the center line of the road). Both the men"s and women"s races would come down to the final stage, an 83-mile trek from Fossil to Heppner that included nearly 4,000 feet of vertical gain - much of it in the final ten miles...
Stage 4 - May 4: Fossil to Heppner
After two days of relatively clement weather, the elements would be a major factor today, with wind, cold temperatures, rain, and even a spot of snow at the top of one climb causing a significant number of racers to abandon. Cory Lange and his Symmetrics Racing teammates essentially had the race locked up, but took no chances, riding tempo at the front all the way to the foot of the last climb.
And that"s when things finally caught fire: professional mountain biker Carl Decker (Giant/Pearl Izumi) made an acceleration at the front that whittled the field down to about 15 riders by the top, with Decker, Schmeer, and a few others taking on the bulk of the pacemaking. Following an attack by Schmeer that was brought to heel, Dylan Sebel (CDS/WCS) made a late bid right before the final descent, opening up a gap of nearly 20 seconds.
However, it was Decker"s day: putting his offroad-honed downhill skills to work, he caught Sebel in the last few hundred meters, narrowly out kicking the Canadian to salvage some measure of U.S. success from the event. Overall, Lange won by 2:13 over Symmetrics teammate Usborne, with Sebel"s last-day efforts proving just barely enough to vault him over Schmeer for third place- the two men finished with identical overall times, but Sebel got the nod due to his higher finish in the closing stage.
The women"s finale was somewhat more suspenseful, since, even with her penalty of the previous stage, Sarah Noble was within a minute of Demars overall- and she had the benefit of having teammates in the race, unlike Demars, who was flying solo. Though things remained relatively sedate early on, the cold, rainy weather encouraged Heather Albert to push the pace on an early descent ("to warm up!", said Albert afterwards).
Attrition began to take a toll as the race went on, and by the top of the second climb- during which Alice Pennington (Bike Gallery/Trek/VW) did much of the pacemaking- the front group had shrunken to just eleven women. Working against a nasty head/crosswind, the riders worked together smoothly until the final ascent, where Demars threw down the gauntlet yet again- only to have Noble pick it up. The duo were joined for a time by Pamela Egger, who fell off the pace and was caught with just one kilometer to go by Albert, who soloed in for third, 32 seconds behind stage winner Noble and overall champion Demars. Egger held on for fourth, just 12 seconds up on Pennington; Suzanne Macht led in the remnants of the pack at 1:12.
Overall, Demars finished 53 seconds up on Noble, with Egger moving up one spot over Kelle Hulser, who had a rough day and lost nearly 22 minutes. 2002 Columbia Plateau winner Macht ended up fourth at 1:59, while Albert ended the race in fifth place.
Results
Final general classification Men Pro 1/2 1 Cory Lange (Symmetrics Cycling Team-T) 10.43.12 2 Matt Usborne (Symmetrics Cycling Team-T) 2.13 3 Dylan Sebel (CDS/WCS) 2.14 4 Ron Schmeer (Saturn for Seattle) 5 Carl Decker (Giant / Pearlizumi) 2.18 6 Will Routley (Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe) 3.00 7 Randy Rocchi (Health Net) 3.05 8 Justin England (Team Spine) 5.59 9 Donovan Douglas (Team Compass) 9.41 10 Devon Vigus (Health Net) 10.06 11 Mick Walsh (Saturn for Seattle) 10.54 12 Paul Bourier (Hutch's Race Team) 12.17 13 Barry Wicks (Kona Clarks Factory Team) 12.40 14 Sean Whelan (Team Spine) 14.10 15 Seth Davis (Broadmark) 14.36 16 Alex Rock (McKenzie Cascade) 15.14 17 Rick Minichello (Symmetrics Cycling Team-T) 15.46 18 David Auker (Cliff Bar / TRC / RCB) 15.52 19 Brad Issel (Symmetrics Cycling Team) 15.53 20 Carl Roberts (Team Cliff Bar) 15.56 21 Kenneth Johnson (Escape Velocity) 16.11 22 Scott Willson (GS Camerati) 16.50 23 Greg Canfield (Hutch's of Bend) 16.53 24 Larry Zimich (Campione/Cramerotti Cycling Team) 18.42 25 Skyler Bishop (Health Net) 19.01 26 Michael King (Hutch's of Bend) 19.11 27 Mark Christian (Team Spine) 19.16 28 Micheal Ryan (Campione/Cramerotti Cycling Team) 20.00 29 Derek McMaster (Part One International) 20.40 30 John Tolkamp (Escape Velocity) 21.40 31 Joel Biederman (Share the Roads Racing) 22.06 32 David Robinson (McKenzie Cascade) 23.20 33 Scott Slater (Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe) 24.22 34 Zach Winter (McKenzie Cascade) 25.45 35 Shane Savage (Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe) 28.09 36 Christopher Liby (Boise Cycling Club) 29.27 37 Mark Fewster (TRS Racing) 35.18 38 Steven Williams (Recycled Cycles) 35.18 39 Mark Hanson (Saturn for Seattle) 38.23 40 Carl Hoeffer (RMS Cycling Team) 39.44 41 Michael Hernandez (Reno Wheelmen) 40.45 42 Jared Patchin (Boise Cycling Club) 42.36 43 Greg Harris (Symmetrics Cycling Team-T) 42.48 44 Gary Alexander (TRS Racing) 45.21 45 Loren Hanson (Saturn for Seattle) 45.38 46 Mikkel Bossen (Team Oregon) 48.44 47 Erik Long (McKenzie Cascade) 49.11 48 Matthew Frost (Second Ascent) 51.05 49 Rankin Holmes (Northern Rockies Cycling) 52.52 50 Samuel Richardson (Bike Gallery / Trek VW) 52.59 51 Dave Leahy (TRS Racing) 59.13 52 Robert Campbell (Broadmark) 1.05.21 53 Paul Blanchette (Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe) 1.07.10 54 John-Christian Flack (Recycled Cycles) 1.25.53 55 Seth Wilkie (McKenzie Cascade) 1.30.47 56 Mike Fors (RMS Cycling Team) 1.55.16 57 Ian Tubbs (Seattle Supersquadra / Grande Ciclismo) 2.04.19 58 Anton Jackson (Broadmark) 2.07.28 59 Chris Reid (Opuc/OGC) 2.08.14 60 Timothy Erickson (Recycled Cycles) 2.09.18 DNF Tony Zarsadiasm (Symmetrics Cycling Team-T) DNF Daimeon Shanks (McKenzie Cascade) DNF Luke Pennington (Bike Gallery) DNF Carl Jacobson (Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe) DNF Matt Newbill (Boise Cycling Club) DNF Jon Anderson (Symmetrics Cycling Team) DNF Joel Palanuk (Hutch's of Bend) DNF Craig DeMars (Hutch's) DNF Troy Crichlow (Seattle Supersquadra / Grande Ciclismo) DNF Jason Mohr (Northern Rockies Cycling) DNF Sean Garvin (GS Camerati) DNF Erik Tonkin (Kona - Team S&M) DNF Brian O'Neal (RMS Cycling Team) DNS Peter Brandelius (Team Spine) Women 1 Nicole DeMars (Victory Brewing) 12.47.21 2 Sarah Noble (Team BC) 0.53 3 Pamela Egger (Escape Velocity) 1.28 4 Suzanne Macht (Team BC) 1.59 5 Heather Albert (Basis) 3.29 6 Alice Pennington (Bike Gallery / Trek VW) 6.33 7 Mandy Lozano (River City Bicycles) 7.24 8 Lisa Given (Byrne Spec. Gas) 8.55 9 Karen Fulton (Wenatchee Valley Velo) 10.43 10 Lynda Finegold (Wenatchee Valley Velo) 13.48 11 Martha Walsh (Saturn for Seattle) 18.46 12 Larssyn Staley (Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team) 20.27 13 Kele Hulser (Bike Doctor) 21.42 14 Marni Prazsky (Trek-VW Broadway Station Dental Centre) 23.01 15 Diana Spring (Subway) 23.50 16 Moriah MacGregor (Team BC) 24.15 17 Barb Zimich (Dizzy Cycles Cyling Team) 28.10 18 Julie Lemery (Ti-Cycles) 28.11 19 Marcia Jensen (Byrne Spec. Gas) 28.19 20 Jessica DeMars (Ciclismo Racing) 28.41 21 Janice Sheufelt (Chinook - Yakima) 37.56 22 Aude Beauchamp (Atomic Club) 45.48 23 Kelly Wilcox (Team Soliton) 51.36 DNF Allison Beall (worlddiff.com) DNF Mechele Knable (Sorella Forte - Titan) DNF Alison Howard (Byrne Spec. Gas) DNF Christa Barr (Dizzy Cycles Cyling Team) DNF Debbie Preller (Byrne Spec. Gas) DNF Karen Kraus (Subway) DNF Lisa Sweeney (Team BC) Men 3/4 1 Billy Truelove (EWEB Windpower) 10.14.56 2 Troy Heithecker (Recycled Cycles) 0.04 3 Solomon Woras (River City / Team Oregon) 2.45 4 Wayne Schaub (Devo / Powerbar) 3.56 5 Galen Erickson (Burne Specialty Gasses) 4.06 6 Allan Prazsky (Trek - VW / Broadway) 4.17 7 Kevin Selker (EWEB Windpower) 4.21 8 Scott Whelan (Travelocity / California Road Club) 4.21 9 Tyler West (Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Crystal Decisions) 4.55 10 Brandon Archibald (The Valley) 5.02 11 Chris Cook (Team Oregon / River City) 5.05 12 Michael Murdin (Seattle devo) 5.18 13 Derik Archibald (The Valley) 5.23 14 Tom Robertson (Northern Rockies Cycling) 6.50 15 Jason Werst (O SO KLEEN) 6.52 16 Gregory Tyler 7.17 17 Shaun Crump 11.33 18 Blake Bowell (dEVo / Powerbar) 13.09 19 Jake Brimlow (GS Cameratti) 13.18 20 Logan Onken (Hammer Gel) 13.22 21 Michael Gordon (Five Valley Velo) 14.02 22 Wade Wallace (TRS Racing) 14.10 23 Joel Kinnunen (Air Force Reserve) 14.26 24 Albert Uhl (Lactic Acid) 14.41 25 Carey Squires (Campione/Cramerotti Cycling Team) 15.40 26 Mark Thiel (Tumwate Valley Athletic Club) 15.40 27 Matt Solomon (Team BikeKraft) 16.04 28 Douglas Shanks (Half Fast Velo) 18.14 29 Benjamin West (Collin's Cycle Shop / Specialized) 19.26 30 Rick Michel (Second Ascent Racing) 19.55 31 Kevin Hulick (Unattached) 20.30 32 Dan Vrimoet (EWEB Windpower) 21.03 33 Rob Annen (Corben / Huntair) 21.13 34 Mike Beltz (Northern Rockies Cycling) 25.40 35 George Pinney (On The Way) 25.50 36 Mark Ormesher (Independent) 26.12 37 Ted Chauvin (Second Ascent Racing) 28.17 38 Kevin West (Team Wisconsin) 29.32 39 Mark Cunningham (Symmetrics Cycling) 30.29 40 Gordon Ross (Escape Velocity) 31.09 41 Nicholas Brown (Ti Cycles Racing) 31.37 42 Colin Mullane (Sim's-irishrealtor.net) 31.50 43 Steven Liesch (Escape Velocity) 32.03 44 Brad Ritter (Collin's / Specialized) 32.26 45 Jordan Guenette (Devo / Powerbar) 33.12 46 Eric Kameka (Devo / Powerbar) 33.26 47 Emile Mulholland (Village Peddler) 34.04 48 Mike Pratt (Chinook - Yakima) 35.24 49 Chad Willems 37.10 50 Mike Iavarone (Team Tailwinds) 37.42 51 Todd Kooy (Burne Specialty Gasses) 39.37 52 Jeff McNamee (Compass Commercial) 41.00 53 Shawn Morrison 44.04 54 David Schneider (Escape Velocity) 44.25 55 Matt Gossage (Ti Cycles) 44.44 56 Jeff Agaemoni (Echelon Cycling Club) 45.02 57 David Goosen (DEVO) 45.16 58 Brian Cimmiyotti (O SO KLEEN) 47.26 59 Tom Atkins (Ti Cycles) 53.24 60 Michael Dunn (Half Fast Velo) 54.06 61 Bruce Golla (Northern Rockies Cycling) 56.07 62 Nathan Hobson (Half Fast Velo) 56.52 63 Nikolai Hungr (Team Soliton) 59.49 64 Stephen Pipkey (Escape Velocity) 1.00.01 65 Seth Hansen (Northern Rockies Cycling) 1.01.48 66 Kevin Condron (GS Cameratti) 1.03.15 67 David Diviney (Half Fast Velo) 1.03.58 68 Paul Anderson (Half Fast Velo) 1.07.11 69 Tom Morgan (Bike N' Hike / Giant) 1.11.48 70 Hugh Klinedinst (Team Compass) 1.12.09 71 Tom Letsinger (Unattached) 1.13.49 72 Pierre Hungr (Unattached) 1.15.33 73 Doug Hawes-Davis (Northern Rockies Racing) 1.20.25 74 Jason Brown (O SO KLEEN) 1.22.15 75 Dan Larson (Half Fast Velo) 1.25.23 76 Brian Spears (Half Fast Velo) 1.26.23 77 Scott Grealish 1.27.53 78 Chris Aldridge (Team Oregon) 1.29.41 79 Robert Trombley (Recycled Cycles) 1.29.51 80 Alex Hodge (Team Devo) 1.33.03 81 Clark Ritchie (Half Fast Velo) 1.39.33 82 Jason Edens (Recycled Cycles) 1.46.01 83 Paul Scanlon (Avanti / Ti Cycles) 1.51.11 84 Brian Marcroft (Corben / Huntair) 2.15.21 85 Duncan Steele (dEVo) 2.15.47 DNF Marsh Cooper (dEVo / Ryder / Powerbar) DNF Fred Herlitz (Team Oregon) DNF William Warburton (On The Way) DNF Keith Tolhurst (Campione/Cramerotti Cycling Team) DNF Geoff Ranyak (Half Fast Velo) DNF Doug Jensen (Devo / Powerbar) DNF Glenn Barr (Campione) DNF Scott Wadekamper (O SO KLEEN) DNF James Newman (Team Oregon) DNF Michael Burns (Escape Velocity / DEVO) DNF Tim Jones (Compass Commercial) DNF Derek Darves (University of Oregon) DNF Mark Vegari DNF Marlon Tang (Unattached) DNF Leo Porreco (Half Fast Velo) DNF Eric Szczukowski (Unattached) DNF Jim Tsilemos (Campione/Cramerotti Cycling Team) DNF Jake Norris (Team Compass) DNS Matt Weatherford (Avanti / Ti Cycles) DNS Ian Simpson (Avanti / Ti Cycles) DNS Gregg Miller (Team Compass) Masters 1 Clint Chase (Byrne Specialties Gas) 11.06.37 2 Mark King (Team Compass Commercial) 0.08 3 David Zimbelman (Excel Sports Boulder) 0.11 4 Mark Stadick (Vision Tech 4 Corners) 0.37 5 Steve Cherry (Team Spine) 2.00 6 Randall Smith (Byrne Specialties Gas) 2.26 7 Rich Cramer (Bike N' Hike / Giant) 2.32 8 Dave Magness (Hutch's Bend) 2.38 9 Steve Holland (Corben / Huntair) 3.38 10 Grant Boswell (Hutch's - Bend) 4.45 11 Doug Perrin (Team Compass Commercial) 5.32 12 Brian Green (Trek/Volkswagon) 5.45 13 Burck Marty (Disco Velo - Hood River) 6.30 14 Brian Lewis (Saturn for Seattle) 6.47 15 Jim Pennington (Discovelo) 9.27 16 Shawn McCloud (Half Fast Velo) 14.16 17 Alan Favell (Escape Velocity) 14.34 18 Bryce Given (Byrne Spec. Gas) 15.26 19 James Wellington (Hutch's Bend) 17.13 20 Michael Jones (Disco Velo - Hood River) 17.40 21 Patrick Wallace (Multnomah Athletic Club) 17.42 22 Timothy Becker (Team Maverick) 18.17 23 Thomas Butler (L'Ecole No. 41) 47.10 24 Steve Matson (Spoke and Sprocket Racing) 50.28 25 Stan Hill (Reno Wheelmen) 53.57 26 Paul DeCoursey (Snake River) 1.25.37 27 Paul Bernstein (Ti Cycles) 1.27.13 28 Eric Christenson (River City / TRC ) 1.30.44 29 Jim Clapp (Five Valley Velo) 1.37.52 30 Eric Selker (EWEB Windpower) 1.41.14 31 Dave Saager (Wheatland Wheelers / L'Ecole No. 41) 2.41.41 DNF Kirk Matteson (Half Fast Velo) DNF Michael Haywood (Escape Velocity Cycling Club) DNF Steve Yenne DNS Frank Selker DNS Jim Baker (Unattached)
Past winners (Pro-Elite Men/Women)
2002 - Kelly Williamson/Suzanne Macht 2001 - Sean Doyle/Lisa Magness 2000 - Nathan Dahlberg/Muffy Roy 1999 - Ron Schmeer/Sandy Espeseth 1998 - Paul Willerton/Sandy Espeseth 1997 - Ron Schmeer/Ward Griffiths 1996 - Paul Dahlke/Kathy Gunter 1995 - Vaidia Hungys/none
