The Rising

Easter means an off weekend in OBRA country. But they'll be bangin' bars up at Boat Street again. The race has been renamed in honor of Brad Lewis who tragically died of a heart attack during last year's race. The Brad Lewis Memorial Crit will feature the best in the NW slugging it out for $2000 in prizes (that number might be for all categories though, check on that before you drive 6 hours).

I'm sure Kenny(First Rate Mortgage) will be there, Rob Campbell(Bob's Bicycles.com), Russell Stevenson(Benaroya Research Institute), an army of Hagens-Berman guys, maybe Donald and the CMG crew, Rubicon, Axley, Recycled, etc. etc.

Pro's(or ex-pro's) may include David Richter(who is he riding for these days?), Todd Herrriott(now kingpin of Hagens-Berman elite), Tom Peterson(Slipstream/Chipotle) who's been chewing people up with his legs and spitting them out with his wit. Does Doug O.(HealthNet) make the drive for a crit?

So this US Open Tour of Virginia North America World Championship is happening this weekend. It's even on TV (NBC, is it live?). It's getting a ton of hype and is classified UCI 1.1. Sounds cool, weather report calls for rain and snow (budump, pow "thank you folks and make sure to tip your bartenders on your way out, you've been a great crowd.").

Some locals made the start list: Evan Elken(Jittery Joe's), Omer Kem(Prioriy Health/Bissell), Ryan Trebon(Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada), and Johnny Sundt(Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast) are all there.

PIR startd this week, an old guy won the first one. Brad Gebhard outsprinted Evan Elken for the win. He must pack quite a punch.

Jacob Rathe(Beaverton Bicycle Club) tested his mettle in the 1/2/3 field.

Adam Curry(Hagens-Berman) finally washed ashore. No word on his condition, but he's back on the HB elite team.

Rubicon will be at Sea Otter next weekend, I'll be at TST, everyone else will be at King's Valley. There should be plenty of juicy gossip after all that. Send me a note if you see something funny happen (and it doesn't necessarily have to be HAHA funny, if you know what I mean).

I can't make this "penniless, suffering, pirate ride" on Saturday, but think it's as good a way as any to celebrate the arrival of Flanders. Send me a race report and I'll do my part to make the winner as big as Boonen.

Predictions:
Ronde van Vlaanderan: What Bettini wants, Bettini gets. Boonen can be a damn fine teammate.
US Open: Matty Rice(Jelly Belly), because it's no fun to just pick Toyota United all the time. Let's say TU and HealthNet mark each other out of the win.
Boat Street: Rubicon is going fast, Kenny's got the experience.