Half-Fast Philosophy...
"Amistades-Victorias-Cervezas" (translation:: "Friendship-Victory-Beer")
Half-Fast Velo was born out of the notion that amateur bike racing in the U.S. has become far too stodgy at times… Far too sponsored… Far too serious. We don't want to play that way. Just what is Half-Fast Velo serious about then? Find out more here
Race Info:
Cook County Crush XC race Saturday July 18th info here
Gresham Criterium Sunday August 9th info here
What's new...
(7/1/09) Crit season got into full swing with the Swan Island Criterium and Salem Fairview Circuit Race this past weekend. HFV had a good turnout in both races mixing it up a bit and missing out on the podiums at Swan Island but all staying upright which is a "win" in itself! Saul Lopez and Wade Goff rode strong at the Salem Fairview Circuit race on Sunday finishing in the points along with great work from the entire HFV Cat 3 team.
The Portland Short Track Series kicked off earlier in the week as David Rosen started the series with a huge result with a 3rd place finish in the Cat 2 Men 35-44 field while Paul Anderson duked it out in the Cat 1 Men 35-44 field. David followed that up this week by leading the first lap and finishing with another top 10 even while riding injured which is a tough feat in the Cat 2 Men 35-44 which is one of the biggest fields out there.
And back at the track it was "Omnium Night" at the Tuesday Masters Track Series. Wade Goff showed he's as strong on the track as he is on the road by taking 4th place on the night in a hotly contested battle for the podium. Saul Lopez and Donovan Grabowski finished right behind Wade in 5th and 6th place respectively.
Dave's dog Kona enjoys her new Ninkasi team beanie even in the dog days
of summer thanks to Nikos and Jamie at Ninkasi Brewing!
Photo courtesy of David Rosen
(6/24/09) Another busy week of racing our bikes around in circles had a big group of HFV trackies headed "down under" competing in the Australian Pursuits at the Tuesday Masters Track Series race where Wade Goff and Aric Rist came away with 2nd and 3rd place on the night respectively.
While the roadies took the weekend off, Tim Plummer took on the challenge that is the Test of Endurance mtb race for the first time. Tim had to be thankful he was able to get his geared bike ready in time in place of his single speed to lessen some of the pain and enabling him to take a strong top 10 in his first Cat 1 race!
Tim Plummer has his game face on at the Test of Endurance 50 mile mtb race
Photo courtesy of Oregon Velo
(6/17/09) With summer only a week away, the racing schedule shifts from the pain endured at a long road race to the pain endured after a few laps of a volcano or doing laps of a velodrome with the Tabor series and track racing hitting high gear. A busy week of racing at the Velodrome started last Tuesday with the Masters Points Race where Wade Goff had enough enough in the tank after finishing 7th in the 2k Pursuit to take a strong 4th place in the 3k Pursuit!
Thursdays weekly Alpenrose series had Mark Magilner blazing his way to a win in the Masters 40+ category with Bob Huff motoring to 6th place. Mark followed carried his form into Saturdays Blue Ribbon Omnium taking a strong 5th place in the Masters 40+ and a 6th place in the Cat 3 race. Wade Goff finished off a long weekend of track racing Sunday at the Alpenrose Heartbreaker race with such a strong 4th place in the Cat 5 race that he upgraded and duplicated the result in the Cat 4 race!
(6/10/09) The promoters of the always fun and fast Pickett's Charge mtb race added some new single track sections making it a season favorite for those that attended. HFV's Tim Plummer made the switch from winning Cat 2 races to stripping his gears and joining the single speed madness and took a strong 7th place in a stacked field. David Rosen finished in the points in the Cat 2 35-44 category along with Dan Larson competing in his first mtb race ever in the Cat 3 35+ category. Needless to say he's hooked!
(6/3/09) One of HFV's favorite races of the year, the OBRA Team Time Trial Championships brought out the internal grudge match with two HFV teams competing for bragging rights in the Cat 3 category. The HFV1 team of Bob Huff, Saul Lopez, Aric Rist and Wade Goff powered their way to the win over the HFV2 team of Craig Austin, Dan Larson, Ian Penner and Kevin Thompson in the dash to the reward of cold beer waiting at the finish line and bragging rights extended for yet another year.
(5/28/09) The late spring road season got into full gear this past weekend with the Rehearsal road race which also acts as part one of the OBRA Road Championships. HFV sent their full Cat 3 crew which led to a very animated race but came up short in the end due to a couple of untimely accidents. All the guys rode strong on the day finishing well.
(5/21/09) Summer like weather greeted the HFV mtb'ers who made the trek south to the Spring Thaw stop on the Oregon XC series. Tim Plummer used his last race as a Cat 2 before upgrading by going out with another win in the Cat 2 19-34 category! Donovan Grabowski took on the NorCal single speeders and thrashed them on the climb to take 8th place on the day.
Sunday found the HFV roadies battling the heat in addition to the tough course at the Silverton road race. While most HFV'ers were forced to re-hydrate with some Ninkasi Spring Reign, Mark Magilner showed his strong early season form hasn't run out by taking 2nd place in the Masters 40+ category! Kudos to all the HFV'ers who finished that killer race.
(5/14/09) To some, Mother's Day is spent at brunch with their loved one's while to others, it's spent with their "loved one's" as well by riding the beloved trails at the annual Chainbreaker mtb race in Bend. Donovan Grabowski shot off the line and motored into the lead SS group only to run into one disaster after another. That didn't keep him from finishing in the points with Steven Basden finishing in the points right behind having battled his own issues. Both refused to give up as it was just too much fun to be racing the first dry race of the year!
Although the road side of racing has been a bit quiet HFV has been active at the weekly PIR races and Dan Larson made the trek south to the Icebreaker Criterium riding an animated race in the Masters 35+ category before finishing the day with a strong 15th place.
(5/6/09) The Oregon XC Series continued this past weekend with the annual Mudslinger which served as the MTB State Championships as well. Even though the skies "cleared" for the race start, the course lived up to it's name as a muddy and slick course challenged the racers yet again this year. Donovan Grabowski met the challenge head on riding a "clean race" to a 12th place finish in a very talent stacked single speed category.
Sunday also found HFV'ers racing the final Estacada Time Trial series as well. Ian Penner made his first race appearance of the year count by taking first place in the Masters 30-39 category while Mark Magilner and Bob Huff hammered out great times in the Masters 40-49 category taking 4th and 5th place respectively.
Donovan, tell us what you really thought about the muddy course?!
Photo courtesy of Oregon Velo
(4/29/09) The Oregon XC Series returned after a few weeks off with one of the best courses of the year at the annual Bear Springs Trap mtb race with the added challenge of snow drifts along the course. Congratulations to Tim Plummer didn't let a little snow stop him from taking his first win in the Cat 2 Men 19-34 group! Kevin Thompson and David Rosen rode strong races to 6th and 16th place respectively in the Cat 2 35-44 group. Steven Basden and Brian Spears made a brutal course well, more brutal by doing the long course with on rigid single speeds finishing in 12th and 13th place respectively and Paul Anderson didn't let a challenging course keep him from upgrading to Cat. 1 35-44 group finishing in the top 25.
(4/22/09) A busy weekend of racing started on Saturday with Oregon's new "classic" the Eugene Roubaix road race. The stormy weather of the French and Belgium classics were no where to be found as overcast and "warm" temperatures greeted the racers. Mark Magilner rode a strong race and took the field sprint for third in the Masters 40+ category.
Sunday brought round two of the Estacada Time Trial series where Mark Magilner had a little left in the tank after Saturday's race to place 5th in the Masters Men 40-49 category while Craig Austin took home 13th in the Cat 3's.
(4/15/09) The easter holiday weekend doesn't mean easter eggs and ham on Sunday to this team, it's the time of year for frites with mayonnaise and Belgian beers (or in our case a Total Domination IPA) to enjoy while watching the Queen of the spring classics, the Paris Roubaix. For others on the team it means racing one of Oregon's "classic" races, the King's Valley Road Race. HFV was well represented with their Masters 40+ squadro of Dan Larson, Dan Silvernail, Mark Magilner and Robert Huff who led the way with a top 15 placing in an always tough field.
(4/8/09) After a month off since the first mtb race of the season, the Oregon XC Series got into high gear with the Horning's Hustle race in North Plains this past weekend. The Portland Racing crew did a spectacular job creating a new course that was brutally fun with lot's of short climbs and fast twisty descents that the weather gods smiled upon by providing warm and sunny weather all weekend!
Tim Plummer came through with the top HFV result stepping onto the podium with a 2nd place in the Cat 2 19-34 group followed by David Rosen in 16th place. The rest of the HFV crew left their gears at home led by Donovan Grabowski riding an uber strong race to 4th place in the Single Speed category followed by Cameron Vander Stoep making his mtb racing debut on a single speed in 7th place and Steven Basden surviving to finish in the points in 13th place.
Steven Basden charges through the creek crossing at the Horning's Hustle XC race
Photo courtesy of Oregon Velo
(3/26/09) HFV used spring break this past weekend as an opportunity to get a few miles on the road in at the annual "training camp" this year hosted by Kevin at his family's home in Prineville. Hoping to get away from the "spring" weather in Portland, the boys were met with cold rain on Saturday, woke up to snow on Sunday but had clear skies for Monday's final ride capping off a great weekend of riding and hanging out.
The HFV posse lines up on their way to riding the beautiful
country roads in Prineville during the annual training camp
Photo courtesy of Robert Huff
Back over on the racing side of things, Dan Larson toed the line to represent HFV in the Masters 1/2/3 field at the final Banana Belt race and came away with a strong 12th place finish on the day. Eric Stouck and Donovan Grabowski rolled to a 12th and 13th place finish respectively in the Masters 4/5 category which helped Donovan to a 6th place finish overall in the series!
(3/18/09) After a week off due to the 2nd Banana Belt race being cancelled due to snow the guys were ancy to start racing again but the weather didn't reward the enthusiasm. Unseasonably cold temperatures, pouring rain and gusty wind greeted the Cat 3 racers who showed up that morning. Saul Lopez tried talking them into going out for breakfast but Kevin Thompson and Wade Goff told him to HTFU and toe the line. Thankfully it worked as Saul rode a strong race finishing 12th with Wade right behind in 13th place.
The Masters racers arrived for their afternoon races and were greeted by a patch of blue sky, momentary until the clouds let loose during the race once again. Bob Huff didn't let a little rain keep him from rolling off the pack in the Masters 1/2/3 race and TT'ing behind the break to finish in 4th place! Dan Larson finished in the points with Paul cruising in with the peloton for a top 20 finish. Over in the Masters 4/5 category, Donovan Grabowski and Eric Stouck animated the race throughout with Donovan coming through in 12th place keeping him in the series hunt.
Donovan Grabowski, Eric Stouck and Steven Basden line up between showers
for the Masters 40+ 4/5 category race at Banana Belt #3
(3/5/09) The month of March signals that spring is just around the corner with the Banana Belt road race series but the weather for BB#1 was quite wintry for this time of year! Cold but dry weather in the am races greeted the Cat 3's with Saul, Aric, Wade and Kevin mixing it up and riding strong. The afternoon races added rain showers to the mix which seemed to be just the right formula for Donovan Grabowski who rode to 2nd place in the Masters 4/5 40+ just missing out on the win and Mark Magilner and Bob Huff rode strong to finish 6th and 7th respectively in the Masters 1/2/3 40+ category.
The HFV Cat 3 crew of David Rosen, Kevin Thompson, Saul Lopez, Aric Rist and Wade Goff
are all smiles (??!) under all that road film after finishing a very wet and cold Banana Belt road race
Photo courtesy of Robert Huff
(2/26/09) Even though it's still February the season got into high gear this past weekend with a full slate of races including the inaugural Sublimity road race where Mark Magilner used great his early season form to tackle the challenging course and come away with a strong 2nd place finish in the Masters Men category.
February is also time to check the early season form against the clock with the annual Jack Frost time trial in Vancouver. HFV had a great showing with all the HFV'ers finishing in the points led once again by Mark Magilner with the best HFV time of the day in the Masters 40-49 category where Dan Larson also scored in the points. Saul Lopez and Cameron Vander Stoep finished in the top 10 of the Masters 30-39 while Aric Rist took a solid 8th place in the Cat 3's.
And not to be outdone with all the racing on the pavement this past weekend, HFV had a crew of 5 racers make the trek to Echo Oregon to take to the trails in the season opener of the Oregon XC Classic mountain bike series with the inaugural Echo Red to Red mtb race. Although the temperatures were just above freezing, the rain let up long enough for the riders to race under good conditions on super fun trails. Paul Anderson finished out his career as a Sport/Cat 2's by taking the win in the Cat 2 35-44 category with Kevin Thompson taking 11th place and David Rosen finishing in 18th in the field as well. Craig Austin and Steven Basden tackled the longer course which proved to be quite challenging but both finished strongly with Craig taking 11th place in the Cat 1 45+ and Steven riding home to 20th place in the Single Speed category.
(2/18/09) The President's Day holiday signals the start of the race season with the annual Cherry Pie road race. A big group of HFV'ers who didn't hibernate through the winter and actually trained made it pay off with great results across the board led by the Masters 40+ racers with Mark Magilner taking 4th and Dan Larson taking 10th place after a hard day working at the front. Aric Rist finished just inside the points in the Cat 3 race after surviving the multiple pileups that took Saul and Kevin out of the race.
Over in the Masters 4/5's, Donovan Grabowski finished strongly in the top 10. Catch his amusing and unique writing style in his race recap here.
Half Fast Velo Announces New Sponsors for 2009-2010 Seasons!
HFV decided to get back to our roots when considering sponsors as part of "HFV 2.0" by emphasizing the "cervezas" part of our philosophy. What better way than with one of the up and coming breweries on the micro brew scene, Ninkasi Brewing out of Eugene! Of course with all the beer flowing we needed some food to go along with it and have partnered with Pizza Fino as well! Thanks to Jamie and Nikos of Ninkasi and Linda of Pizza Fino for coming on board and making sure HFV is well fed and well hydrated properly along with Voler Cycling Apparel for making sure our kits rock the house!
Thanks also go to our returning sponsors as well, Cyclepath bike shop, Designpony Graphic Design, Pacific Pathologist Associates and Clif Bar. We couldn't do it without these long standing core partners!
