2-8-10

OSU receives $1 million gift for hops breeding and chemistry research

By Dorothy Beaton, 541-737-3228
Source: Russ Karow, 541-737-5857

Corvallis, Ore. – Oregon State University announced the creation of a new aroma hop breeding program within the OSU Department of Crop and Soil Science. The new breeding program was made possible by an $807,000 gift pledge from Indie Hops, an Oregon-based hop merchant, through the Agricultural Research Foundation, a corporate affiliate of Oregon State University. Shaun Townsend, a U.S. Department of Agriculture hop breeding specialist and courtesy professor at OSU, will lead the new program.

This gift comes in addition to $200,000 from Indie Hops to Thomas Shellhammer, holder of the Nor’Wester Professorship in Fermentation Science in OSU’s Department Food Sciences and Technology, to foster research in new techniques for developing aroma hops and to study aroma hop chemistry. The breeding program will work closely with Shellhammer’s lab to study hop essential oil composition and how individual oil components impart the characteristic flavor and aroma to beer.

In total, Indie Hops has committed $1,007,000 through the Agricultural Research Foundation to strengthen existing hop research at OSU, specifically addressing the needs of both the craft beer industry and Oregon aroma hop growers. If initial work suggests that there is a good possibility for development of varieties that are desirable to the craft brewing industry, Indie Hops has reserved the right to enter into a research contract with OSU for additional work, according to Roger Worthington, owner of Indie Hops.

“As the craft beer movement continues to gather speed, the time is right to begin a hop breeding program that is focused on serving the craft brewer’s need for new hops that push the flavor and aroma envelope, ” Worthington said. “Indie Hops believes that Oregon State has the skill, experience and passion to bring home new hop varieties that will take craft beer to new and loftier heights.”

Oregon is one of the premier aroma hop growing regions in the United States and home to a vibrant craft brewing industry.

“When you consider the hop research programs and expertise already in place at OSU and USDA-Agricultural Research Service, and that we are neighbors with both the aroma hop growers and craft beer industry, the potential we have to solve problems affecting this industry is outstanding,” Townsend said.

OSU and USDA already collaborate on hop research programs to address disease and insect problems, hop chemistry and its relation to beer quality, and the genetic basis for quality traits. In facilities near the OSU campus, USDA researchers maintain the nation’s largest collection of hops plants and genetic material.

“Oregon State University has a long and strong history of hops related research,” Shellhammer said.  “An unrestricted gift of this size will allow OSU to help strengthen the U.S. hops industry as we investigate what factors lead to better aroma hop, the type of hops which are a cornerstone of the American craft brewing movement.”

“We are excited that there is now a world-class hops research and breeding program focused on the vibrant craft brewing market, and it’s at a public university in the heart of the USA’s premium aroma hops region,” said Indie Hops CEO Jim Solberg.  “OSU will be able to build on their considerable base of knowledge and share new findings with researchers from many disciplines.”

Serene crash (Everyone walked away)

You can now view complete galleries for Stages 1-4 here . (Prints and digital rights available for purchase there as well.)

Thanks for all the great feedback during the past week – what a phenomenal event!

Veloforma’s Melissa McWhirter rides away with a hilltop victory (and the leader’s jersey) in Stage 1

The racing started in earnest today as the Mt Hood Cycling Classic headed into Stage 1, the Cooper Spur Circuit Race, with the women covering 66 miles and climbing to the top of the Cooper Spur Mountain resort a grueling four times (totaling nearly 6800 feet in elevation gain). Other than an onslaught of attacks and a gutsy half-lap breakaway by Teri Sheasby (Bend Bike n Sport), the pack stayed together for most of the race, setting the climbers up for a true showdown on the final 2.1 mile.

When the smoke cleared, it was Veloforma’s Melissa McWhirter who earned top-honors on the day after unleashing a massive counter-attack with 1k to go. Robina Farina (VAC) and Gillian Moody (Total Restoration) were second and third, powering to the front of a small bunch sprint with Leah Goldstein (VAC) and Alisha Welsh (PCIM) in hot pursuit. Edwige Pitel (Sorella Forte), who wore the yellow jersey today was just seven seconds behind.

How the final 4k unfolded

“Martina [Patella, VAC] launched a massive attack at the bottom of the climb that shattered the field.” Goldstein told Cyclingnews.

“Robin and Leah told me I had to attack,” the always-cheerful Patella remarked, laughing, “I wasn’t exactly going well and had to claw my way onto the back of the group after each climb all day long, but I went anyway. My legs almost fell off.”

Welsh followed as the pack splintered and a small group formed behind them. Patella popped after setting off the fireworks and with 3k to go, Pitel laid down the hammer. Welsh and McWhirter gave chase with the ValueAct duo a few bike-lengths back. “I was on Alisha’s wheel,” McWhirter told Cyclingnews, “but she couldn’t glose the gap. I got about halfway and then Leah and Robin came around me, so I jumped in.”

When the group caught Pitel with 1k left, McWhirter decided to go, “I just took off. I don’t have a great sprint, so I just went for it.”

It paid off.  The stage victory put McWhirter into the leader’s jersey heading into tomorrow’s Scenic Gorge Time Trial with Farina just 2 seconds off the pace and Goldstein 9 seconds back.

McWhirter will have her work cut out for her if she plans to stay in yellow. Goldstein has her sights set on a repeat of last year’s stage win the epic 18.5 mile course. “The time-trial is really the important day for me.”

ValueAct teammate Robin Farina was happy with the way today’s stage played out and feels good about their positioning for the rest of the race. “We definitely wanted to play it safe today and see how people were climbing.” She told Cyclingnews, “We wanted to keep things in control. That was the goal and I think we did it. We’re pretty confident in Leah’s time-trialing ability for tomorrow.”

With former French National Time-Trial Champion Pitel sitting just 12 seconds down on the GC, Goldstein nailed it when she remarked, “Tomorrow I will have to have the time-trial of my life.”

Pitel is also excited about tomorrow’s stage, “When I looked at the race, I could see that the time trial was going to be one of the most important stages. It suits me, because it has long climbs, but then it also suits all of the other girls who are in the top five, so we’ll see.”

Regarding stage one, Pitel admits she did too much work, “I don’t know the girls here, so I wasn’t sure who to watch. I was keeping track of the two ValueAct riders but when the Bend rider got more than a minute gap on the field, I got nervous – and I probably did too much work to bring her back. I also went too early on the final climb, but it’s ok – I will learn from my mistakes.”

Bissell rules the day

The pro men battled it out over 85 miles, covering four-and-a-half laps of the 18.5 mile circuit and climbing almost 8,500 feet, including 5 ascents up to the Cooper Spur Ski Resort area.

Bissell made full use of their firepower today and pulled off a textbook race, putting two riders on the top podium spots, a man in the yellow jersey, and three in the top ten overall. Paul Mach took the stage win after a blistering ascent up the finishing grade, with teammate Morgan Schmitt just a few wheels back. CalGiant’s Justin England rounded out the day’s podium.

“I’ve been getting a lot of second places this year so it’s good to win one. Second places aren’t bad, but they kind of sting a little.” Mach said, smiling.

Schmitt was equally pleased, “We just kept one-two-in’ them [alternately attacking the field] on the final climb. I thought we might have started too early, but Paul pulled it out.”

How it unfolded

The pro men’s field wasted no time getting things started today with an early barrage of attacks that saw a few riders off the front for the majority of the first lap. Things came back together at the base of the Cooper Spur climb, however, and with 4k to go to the first climb up to the summit, Kona’s Ryan Trebon launched an offensive and put a 20 second gap on the field.

Adam Thus (Trek Red Truck) and Allen Krughoff (Rio Grande) bridged up and the trio worked together to put as much as 2:10 into the peloton. Halfway through the second lap Logan Garey (Rio Grande) attempted to bridge while Thus went backward while Safeway/Bicycles Plus rider Dan Martin began to battle his way up to the break, eventually catching and then passing the fading Thus and struggling Garey, who hadn’t managed to make contact and was beginning to go backward.

Eventually, only Martin and Krughoff were left at the front and behind them, Bissell started the chase. Krughoff eventually popped, leaving Martin to ride into the wind alone as the hard-charging peloton closed in.

“We had two guys – Omer Kem and Graham Howard – doing all the work for the last lap and a half.  They weren’t getting much help up there.” explains Schmitt. In the midst of this, Bissell’s GC contender Burke Swindlehurst suffered a mechanical, forcing Kem to give up his wheel and wait for support.  Luckily, he and Swindlehurst were both able to regain contact and Kem set back to work.

Kem and Howard timed the catch perfectly, reeling Martin in just as they reached the final and decisive climb up Cooper Spur Road. Schmitt and Mach attacked relentlessly up the grade until Mach was able to get a gap.

Schmitt caught up and briefly passed Mach, before the final 500m. “Morgan came around me but I looked back and they were still coming hard. At 200m I just had to go – I wanted to make sure I didn’t get caught on the line by a sprinter.”

Justin England (CalGiant) won the sprint in the small chasing group to nab the third-place spot and 4-second time bonus.

The time bonuses for the one-two Bissell victory (10 seconds for first, 6 for second) moved both riders to the top of the GC.  Mach holds an eight second lead over Schmitt and Chris Baldwin is just 18 seconds off the pace, sitting in third for the overall classification.

The overnight race leader, Mike Olheiser (warp9bikes.com/tristar) now sits 5th overall at 25 seconds down with England and Swindlehurst in 7th and 8th place respectively (just 28 seconds off the pace).

Tomorrow’s time-trial will be critical in shaking out the GC for both the mens and womens races. The race of truth will take the riders to their physical limit over18.5 miles and up almost 2000 of climbing feet along the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway from The Dalles all the way into Hood River.

From Chad:

Just did an aerial recon of the Wy’East Road Race Course. All clear of snow except the final 1.5 miles on Road 48 before it intersects with HWY 35. Judging by how fast snow melted off of 44 I would guess Tuesday before you can ride on asphalt all the way through. Could be sooner if someone takes a big rig up and runs through it a couple times. See photo posted below.