New tandem racing Web site launched

NWTandemRacing.com Reminds You That Tandem Racing is BIG in Oregon

nwtandemracing.com

The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA.org) has more races that cater to tandems than almost any part of the US. But with all of the new tandem races that have been popping up it’s been a real challenge to get the word out in advance.

In January 2009, NWTandemRacing.com was launched to help give a meeting place for all of these tandem opportunities.

Tandem racing opportunities in Oregon, California and Washington include several tandem road races, two tandem stage races, tandem criteriums, tandem time trials, tandem xc mountain bike races, and even a tandem track race at Alpenrose Velodrome in Portland, Oregon.

“Oregon is probably best known for being the home of the Co-Motion Classic Tandem Stage Race that happens every summer in Eugene, Oregon,” says Henry Abel, the site manager for the NWTandemRacing.com. “The new website is an effort to let all of the tandem teams who hear about that race know that Oregon and the surrounding areas have lots and lots of other tandem racing opportunities to take advantage of.”

The website actually started a year ago as a popular blog page maintained by Martha Walsh, a tandem racer from Seattle Washington. As more races were added it became clear that they might be worthy of having their own website. Henry Abel approached his bike shop/employer, WebCyclery.com, about sponsoring an all new website that would act as a hub for tandem racing news in the Northwest – and then volunteered to take over the duties of maintaining the website.

“We added all of the tandem races that we’d been attending over the last few years and were really pleased with the calendar that was starting to form in front of us. All of these races with tandem classes had been around for a few years, but had never been listed in one, easy to find place until now. Once the site was up and people started sharing the link we immediately started hearing from a few tandem races from other areas that were also looking to get the word out. We’ve even had race promoters ask us about adding a tandem class to their existing race and then having their race listed on the website. It’s great! If it brings more tandems out to each of these races it’ll be a huge success!”

Co-Motion Cycles, a tandem builder in Eugene, Oregon, has been very interested in helping the website get the word out. Dwan (Shepard, co-owner of Co-Motion Cyels) works very hard to get teams to come out to Oregon to participate in the stage race. With Willamette Stage Race (http://www.mudslingerevents.com/willamette-stage-race/) working on adding a tandem class for 2009, all of a sudden tandem racing in Oregon was getting pretty big! It also means that since more tandem races are popping up, we have to work harder to bring teams from outside of the area to participate.”

Recreational tandem rides are listed on the site as well, but Abel says that the focus is on tandem races. “The goal is to make sure that road races and criteriums who go out of their way to include tandems at their events have a good turnout. The races are working hard to include tandems. As a big, tandem geek – I really apprecaite that. One thing that motivated me to take on this calendar was meeting a blind stoker and tandem racer who had recently moved to Oregon. She had her own tandem and the urge to ride competitively – but like a lot of tandem teams, she had no idea that there were so many opportunities to race. Since then, I’ve included organizations that work with blind athletes on my list of places that I’d like to get involved with the site.”

In the two short months that NWTandemRacing.com has been live, they’ve already started working to include more features. In the coming weeks they will be including some great tandem race footage from VeloTV.net that was shot at the 2008 Co-Motion Tandem Stage Race. NWTandemRacing also offers an email list that has quickly grown to over 130 tandem teams. Updates and important additions to the race calendar are emailed several times a month.

Tandem teams who are interested in hearing about tandem races and events in the Northwest can email Henry@WebCyclery.com and ask to be added to the NWTandemRacing email list.

Abel is happy to add that “The tandem racers are out there. They just need help finding these events in time to plan their schedule around it. I’ve already had a bike race in Canada contact me with dates for their tandem event in 2010. So the goal of getting the word out in advance is certainly starting to be realized!”

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