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Race Across Oregon 2009
New Route—Even Harder?
by John Hughes
Ultracycling Cup Competition for ultra riders of the season
“Riding through the night is an exhilarating experience. In this race it was so black at night that the stars were the only indicator of where earth started.”—Chad Swanson
“People come to Oregon for a wilderness experience,” said Race Director George Thomas in explaining the major changes in the Race Across Oregon (RAO) route. “Traffic had gotten much heavier leaving Portland, in Maupin and Redmond and on the final climb to Timberline.”
People also come to Oregon to race—hard. After winning the women´s race and finishing fifth overall, Karen Armstrong said, “This course is incredibly hard! Don´t you dare change it!” Armstrong, who won the Furnace Creek 508 in 2007, rode a very smart race, gradually moving up through the field of men. She finished in 45:18 just two minutes behind Eric Ahlvin.
The race started in Hood River, OR, on July 11, 2009. Nelson Snyder took the lead a few miles into the climb from his hometown of Hood River. The first leg of the race started with a 35-mile 4,700-foot climb.
At TS #1 in Tygh Valley (73.4 miles) Snyder, 38, an RAO rookie, had just a three-minute lead over Chad Swanson, 32, from The Dalles, OR, also a rookie. Snyder had an eight-minute lead on two RAO veterans, Greg Geser and Ken Philbrick. Geser, 56, from Sisters, OR, had won RAO in 2003. In 2005 Philbrick, then 27 years old, broke Geser´s record by just one minute in his rookie year as an ultracyclist. Philbrick is a graduate student in Corvallis, OR. Snyder kept the lead to TS #2 in Moro (121.4 miles) with Philbrick moving into second followed by Geser and Swanson.
“Philbrick rode a totally smart race,” said Thomas. “It´s been fun watching him develop over four years.” Philbrick kept up a steady hard pace racing through TS #3 in Heppner (207.5 miles) in just over 12 hours. Snyder had faded; he was 1 hour 40 minutes back and dropped out before TS #4. At
TS #3 Philbrick had an hour´s lead over Swanson and almost 1.5 hours over Geser. “He had a great four-person team, Koenig´s Kronies, chasing him. He made them his competition and raced to stay ahead of them,” said Thomas. By TS #4 in Dale (285.6 miles) Philbrick had a 3.5-hour lead over Swanson and Geser had also dropped.
“We eventually caught Philbrick on the 10-mile climb between Service Creek and Fossil, and, though going a lot slower than we were, he looked to be in control and riding smoothly. It took us about 375 miles to catch four hours, that´s one tough solo rider!” reported Mick Walsh of Koenig´s Kronies.
In addition to winning RAO in 2005, that year Philbrick and Ben Larson won the Fireweed 400 two-man race and the next year they smashed the two-man RAO record. Last year he raced on a two-man team that set the course record at the 12-hour Ring of Fire and he won the solo Hoodoo 500 in 30:59, taking six hours off the course record.
Using his combination of racing speed and ultra experience, Philbrick won the 517-mile RAO in 32 hours 46 minutes.
Swanson, an experienced road racer, is from The Dalles, just up the Columbia River from the race start. Riding familiar roads Chad Swanson raced to second, finishing in 38:59.
Christopher O´Keefe, 42, from Mountain View, CA took third in 43:16. On the final climb O´Keefe “I started getting mild hallucinations and saw a monkey or two and a small elephant.” O´Keefe finished fifth in the Hoodoo 500 last year and is racing in the Hoodoo Voyageur (self-supported) division this year.
Swanson wrote of Philbrick passing him, “He looked steady but not flashy or sleek. I watched his white jersey in front of me for many miles, moving away at a slow, calculated pace. Eventually he disappeared into the horizon. The next time I saw him was at the banquet with his winner´s medal on.”
Of his own race, Swanson said, “I was feeling very nauseous and reality was defiantly warping. Then it was all gone. I woke up in the ditch… ‘How can we possibly finish this race with 300 miles to go?’ Answer: By moving forward.” Swanson survived another crash and seemingly endless headwinds, especially on the final climb to the finish. For Swanson earning the RAAM qualified status is sufficient, “I am never interested in racing across the country. Right now, I am just interested in swinging in the hammock.”
Eric Ahlvin, 52, Corvallis, OR and David Rowe, 53, Lake Oswego, OR are two randonneurs and friends. “They rode through the night within sight of each other. It was a great back-and-forth competition that kept them going,” commented Thomas. They were the fourth and fifth men, in 45:16 and 47:07, respectively.
Sandy Earl, 46, from Portland, OR raced in the new recupright division, finishing in 47:43. Recupright racers could choose to use either a conventional or recumbent bike at any point on the course. Earl has raced or crewed RAO 10 times.
Swanson´s finishing time of 38:59 set the cutoff time for earning the status of qualified for solo RAAM. Ken Philbrick, Chad Swanson, Christopher O´Keefe, Eric Ahlvin, David Rowe, Laurence Kluck, Keith Kohan, Karen Armstrong, and Sandy Earl qualified or requalified for RAAM. Kluck, 61, from Eureka, CA had done Paris-Brest-Paris and the Furnace Creek 508 a number of times and said that RAO was harder than all of them.
Keith Kohan was first in men´s solo recumbent category in 44:32. Eric Ahlvin took first in the men´s solo 50+ division in 45:16 and Laurence Kluck finished in 47:36 in the men´s solo 60+ class.
The four-man Team Koenig´s Kronies first place overall in 26:27. The team was a mix of ultra rider Chris Ragsdale (who won the National 24-Hour Challenge for the second year), Irish elite bike racer Mick Walsh, randonneur Brian Ohlemeir and recreational cyclist Ian Luttrell. A crew from the Seattle International Randonneurs supported them.
Walsh wrote, “I hope to one day do this race solo, but when we were passing the first of the solos after about 200 miles, I was thinking that does not look like fun at all, riding 10 mph in 90 degree temperature, with 300 miles to go … amazing some of them, especially Sandy Earl [who] rallied and made the official finish before 5 a.m. Monday.”
The Aardvarks, a team of four high school racers, rode a very successful first relay team event, arriving at the finish in 33:45. Bill Nicolai had raced four-man RAO a number of times and last year earned RAAM qualified status. He encouraged his son, Lito, and his teammates to race. Their coach, Colin Day, had raced on the LA Sheriff´s team. Once Day understood the relay format, he became an enthusiastic supporter and helped Bill Nicolai crew during RAO.
Race Directors Terri Gooch and George Thomas redesigned the course for the 12th edition. “We´ve put together a route that is challenging, scenic and has low traffic volume. The 2009 route feels incredibly remote.”
They changed the start to Hood River, OR and the finish to the Cooper Spur Ski Resort. Gooch said “The finish of an ultra event needs to be special and awe inspiring—and traffic and lots of people are tough to deal with when you´ve been on the bike for 30+ hours. We´ve found an awesome spot to finish this journey.”
Is the course harder? Philbrick averaged 15.78 mph; the record for the old course was 16.38 mph. “In some ways we think the course is now more difficult for a solo racer—there are more rolling hills, steeper grades and a greater sense of isolation throughout the route,” said Gooch.
After winning the race, Ken Philbrick said, “This year the old course, which we all had grown to love, was deemed too wimpy for the 21st century. Out came a vicious new course. The new one took the world-famous RAO hardness factor and just turned it up to eleven!”
Volunteers make a race happen. A super thanks to the wonderful officials and volunteers: Lisa Kienle, Ken Morton, John Henry Maurice, Joann Heilinger, Ken Bartholic, Norm Thomas and David Bradley.
In 2010 the race will be the third weekend in July.