Candi Murray
More From The Oregonian
High speed, no brakes; why be intimidated?
Thursday, June 02, 2005
By Wade Nkrumah
The softball diamonds, site of the Little League Softball World Series
each summer, are signature athletic facilities at Alpenrose Dairy in
Southwest Portland.
But it's the oval track beyond those fields that draws the Beardsley
brothers from Southeast to Alpenrose this time of year.
"We're really lucky to have one here in Portland," Steven Beardsley says
of the velodrome. The latest version was built to host the 1967
Nationals. Racing on the track dates to 1962.
Each Wednesday into late summer, classes encourage velodrome cyclists
from rookies to veterans to give their wheels a go and their skills a
test. Candi and Mike Murray, who have coordinated the classes for about
10 years, make it sound easy.
"It's not just bike racers," Mike Murray says. "That's the whole point,
to try and get everybody out there. We get people out there who have no
intention of ever racing. They just want to ride around."
Track racing differs from road racing because it requires a fixed-gear,
no-brakes bike.
Doug Beardsley, 25, discovered the thrills of the track a couple of
years ago. His first ride -- on a surface that rises at a 43-degree
slope at each end of the oval -- still is fresh.
"You're just like, 'There's no way a bike is going to be able to stick
to this thing,' " he says of the track's steep, curved ends.
A little coaxing helps settle the nerves.
"You just say, 'OK,' " Doug Beardsley says. "You hop up onto the
straightaway, you accelerate into the corner, you start your turn, and
you just get this awesome feeling."
Steven, 22, soon followed Doug onto the track. Steven, too, admits it
was intimidating at first.
"That's one of the great things about these Wednesday night classes,"
Steven says. "There's people who have been doing it and know how to
teach it."
Charlie Warner of Vancouver tried the track for the first time a couple
of weeks ago. Warner, 29, has been road racing for about 10 years and
has cycled in a velodrome in Indianapolis.
"But this is a lot different because the banks are steeper than what
they are at most other tracks in the United States," he says.
At Alpenrose Velodrome, the weekly class takes the edge off the learning
curve.
"It's a lot more enjoyable when it's in a relaxed atmosphere like this,"
Warner says. "You get an enclosed space where you don't have to worry
about cars. All you have to worry about is you, your bike and the
track."
Wade Nkrumah: 503-294-7627; wadenk-@news.oregonian.com
Candi Murray