Serena Bishop Gordon is not racing in the Cascade Cycling Classic this week like she had planned — but she certainly has a legitimate excuse.
The Bend cyclist is recovering from her victory Saturday in the High Cascades 100, after crashing and riding the last 50 miles of the 100-mile mountain bike race with what later was diagnosed as a concussion.
“In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have continued racing, but you’re in race mode and you have a goal,†says Bishop Gordon, 37. “I was lucid enough to make good decisions, but I knew I shouldn’t push myself really hard. I was just trying to be smooth and steady because I knew I didn’t want to crash again.â€
She held on for her second straight win in the grueling race, the latest in what has been a stellar season for the late-blooming mountain biker who did not begin racing — or even riding, really — until she was 30.
Bishop Gordon has won pretty much every Central Oregon mountain bike race this season — the Cascade Chainbreaker, the Sisters Stampede, and Pickett’s Charge! — and has displayed her moxie on the national level. She finished fourth overall in the Epic Rides series, a four-race series held throughout the West.
“I’ve been able to be competitive at higher levels every year,†Bishop Gordon says. “It’s a huge jump to go from racing in Oregon to racing nationally. It can be really intimidating, but you can gain confidence. So much of it is mental. If you believe you belong somewhere, all of a sudden it changes the whole equation. It’s been a really fun year, and a lot of really good learning and growing … and head injuries.â€
About 50 miles into the High Cascades race, Bishop Gordon believes her front tire washed out on a sandy corner and she crashed and struck her head on a nearby stump — but that is based on eyewitness accounts, as Bishop Gordon says she does not remember crashing.
She says she was cleared by two on-course medics to continue racing, but she did not realize until after the race that her helmet was cracked.
“If I would have seen that I would not have continued,†she says.
She added that it took some “stubborn will†to keep going, switching her focus to simply finish the race. She still won in just over nine hours, nearly an hour ahead of the second-place female.
Early this week, she made the difficult but prudent decision to pull out of the Cascade Cycling Classic. It would have been her second time competing in the race; she also rode in the CCC in 2010. (Local pro mountain bikers often take part in the five-stage road race.)
“Sometimes the right decisions are the hardest decisions,†Bishop Gordon says. “It slows the healing process down and puts you at risk for a second-impact injury, which is really where the damage can be done. My reflexes and judgment will not be 100 percent, and then I’m putting other riders in jeopardy.â€
Bishop Gordon was to ride on the Portland Bicycle Studio team, which includes two other Bend cyclists, Jen Luebke and Nicole Pressprich.
“I think it’s important that I can still play a role on that team even if I’m not racing,†Bishop Gordon says. “I’ll do whatever they need, feed zone or post-race support. Anything I can do that will help them.â€
Bishop Gordon moved to Bend from Portland with her husband, Ben Gordon, after the couple thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in 2006.
After a friend took her to watch a cyclocross race in Bend, Bishop Gordon — who was a competitive distance runner — began competing in cyclocross. But once she tried mountain bike racing in 2009 to improve her technical riding skills, she knew she had found what she loved.
“Every year, my skills and my fitness progressed,†Bishop Gordon says. “My coach, Brig Brandt, he’s amazing. I trust him a hundred percent. I follow his direction and I see results, and it is such a cool relationship to have somebody that you trust that much.â€
Bishop Gordon is sponsored by the Liv-Giant Co-Factory team, and she works part time for the Conservation Alliance, which seeks businesses to partner with organizations to protect wild places. She also coaches other cyclists.
“I am supported through the Liv Cycling and the Giant factory teams, but let’s just say there’s not a lot of money in bike racing,†Bishop Gordon explains. “It’s more like I feel well-supported and I feel very fortunate. They help with bikes and travel. I get to do this thing that I love to do, and it doesn’t COST me any money. And having a supportive husband helps a lot.â€
The Breck Epic — a six-stage mountain bike race in Breckenridge, Colorado, Aug. 14-19 — is the next big race for Bishop Gordon. As she recovers from her last race and looks forward to her next, she is constantly reminded of why she remains so enthralled with mountain biking.
“It’s such an amazing way to open doors, remove boundaries, and just feel free,†she says. “Because you’re in control and you’re moving yourself through this place that is somewhat chaotic, and you’re finding your own peace and quiet.â€
— Reporter: 541-383-0318,
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