Jim Anderson

Sports Section - http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/

Rookie racers welcome at PIR
Pedal power replaces horsepower as cyclists at all levels get to compete
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
ABBY HAIGHT
The Oregonian

Kathleen Manseau decided at 3:30 p.m. Monday to enter her first bicycle
race.

Four hours later, Manseau -- still breathing hard, sweat trickling down her
jaw -- had the first-timer's awe of racing at Portland International
Raceway. The other novice riders were so fast, she said. Riding so close to
others was scary at times. Manseau, 33, an emergency room nurse who goes
everywhere on her bike, wasn't sure she'd race again, but she was thrilled
by the experience.

"I love that it exists," she said.

A day after A.J. Allmendinger drove to victory at PIR in the Champ Car Grand
Prix of Portland, averaging 113.989 mph, Manseau joined about 150 other
cyclists to spin around the North Portland track -- at speeds averaging 20
to 35 mph -- in races against the field or against themselves.

Hundreds of Portland and Southwest Washington cyclists start their week
here, either in the Monday night series for masters novices, men's masters
over 30 and elite women or in the Tuesday night series for racers of all
levels up to elite.

The Monday series is about 15 years old. Tuesday night racing has been a
regular for more than 30 years.

The PIR races kick off a week full of racing for any cyclist with strong
lungs and legs and a competitive streak. Road racing moves to Mount Tabor on
Wednesdays. Alpenrose Velodrome has racing Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
nights. Weekends find a calendar full of road and mountain biking
competitions.

But for first-time and novice riders, Monday at PIR is a safe, supportive
entry into a sport that can seem intimidating and overwhelming in its
technical requirements -- let alone the physical demands.

Portlander Laura Cary remembered her first race at PIR this spring.

"Thrilling and scary and really fun," she said.

Novices are tutored by experienced racers who ride with them during the
race. They learn the etiquette of drafting -- don't overlap wheels -- and
how to pay attention to everything around them.

"You have to live outside your comfort zone," said David Hart, a race
mentor. "You can't be bothered by someone brushing your wrist. They have to
be aware of their surroundings. If you pass someone, you have to remember
that they are still there."

The mentors urge riders to relax, which can be challenging in the close
speed of the pack.

"A lot of it is pointing the little things out that make it easier for
someone to follow a wheel, that they can get a little closer," said Peter
Drake, 41, a "late bloomer" who was schooled early in his racing career by
masters-aged cyclists.

"I tell people, 'Attack when it's hard,' " Drake said. "New riders want to
go when it's easy, when there's a tail wind. I tell them to wait until
there's a head wind, then go."

Learning racing technique is easier at PIR because it is flat and riders
don't have to contend with traffic. Cyclists occasionally crash when they
bump wheels or get tangled in the heat of a sprint, but injuries -- beyond
road rash and bruises -- are rare.

Last July, Charles Christensen, 29, of Milwaukie was killed in a freak
accident during the Tuesday night series when he swung to the outside of the
pack in a finishing sprint and collided with a concrete-filled post. It was
the first death in a cycling race in Oregon in decades.

Jim Anderson, who began running the Monday night series 10 years ago as an
18-year-old, said he has seen participation grow.

"The first few years, if we got 60 riders -- 60 would be a lot," he said.
"And that would mean about no women. If we had three women back then, it was
a good deal."

By 2000, Anderson was averaging 100 racers, who pay $12 to race and must be
licensed with the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association. This spring, the number
is up to 150 -- 30 more per night than last year.

Much of the growth is among the novice masters men and women, Anderson said.

In her third race at PIR, Cary, 33, riding with four members of her
Bicycleattorney.com team, finished second.

"I don't consider myself a sprinter, but I just decided to go," she said.
"It was a great race."

Abby Haight: 503-221-8198; abhaight@aol.com

©2006 The Oregonian