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Bring all the wheels — leave the kitchen sink to us

Hosts families say the more, the merrier

By Katie Brauns / The Bulletin

Published: July 21. 2009 4:00AM PST

When the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic rolls around each year, at least one Central Oregon family opens its doors wide and lets the team march on in.

“I would say we get more out of it than they (the riders) do, because it’s just so much fun,” says Tim Beard, smiling from the shade of an umbrella on the front deck of his family’s home on Bend’s Awbrey Butte. “For me, it’s the highlight week of the year.”

For six years, the Beards have been hosting the Health Net cycling team — USA Cycling National Racing Calendar winners for five consecutive years. Now known as OUCH, the men’s professional cycling team, made up of world-class riders from Australia to Portland, are in Bend again for the annual Cascade Cycling Classic. The CCC is a six-stage road bike race hosted by the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation. The event draws hundreds of professional cyclists to Bend annually. Ever since the event’s inception in 1980, high-caliber athletes have made the trip to Central Oregon to compete.

Nearly 200 athletes will be spread out among 80 different Central Oregon homes this year, according to host housing organizer Taylor Leach.

“The number of athletes that a family hosts varies greatly,” says Leach. “Usually it is around two, but it can be as many as six or seven. There are some families that will take an entire team.”

The Beards began hosting CCC athletes in 2004, when a neighbor introduced them to the idea. That neighbor was talented young Category 1 cyclist Carson Miller, who is now racing professionally for Land Rover Orbea.

”It sounded like fun, so we just started doing it,” says Tim Beard. “And you get to know the guys — the riders change every year, somewhat, but there’s still some that are the same — so you get to know them. Yearly, they’ve come back.”

Little did Tim and his wife, Cindy, along with their children, Cameron, now 11, and Andrea, now 7, realize that the experience would be so satisfying.

As a perk to hosting team OUCH, managers have allowed the Beards to ride along in the team car during races.

Tim Beard calls the opportunity to ride in the team car “super cool, because I don’t think a lot of people realize how much strategy goes into bike racing. They just think it’s whoever’s fastest wins.”

Team managers are constantly in communication with the cyclists during a race via ear radios. They tell team members when to accelerate the pace or when to hold back.

“You are right in the middle of the action,” adds Tim, “and I don’t think I would have that opportunity otherwise.

“The other thing that is super neat is, now that we have been hosting a lot, we know guys that are riding in the Tour de France now … Ryder Hesjedal, Tyler Farrar, people that have stayed at our house. So at night, we sit around with all the riders and watch the Tour together, and they give us the inside of who is doing what. … Every night we do that.”

Floyd Landis, the 2006 Tour de France winner who was later stripped of his title for doping, is racing in this year’s Cascade Classic and is among the guests of the Beard family this week. Australia’s Rory Sutherland, who was the USA Cycling NRC individual winner in 2007, is staying with the Beards this week as well.

The Beards are social cyclists. They travel to Europe each year to tour for a few weeks.

They say that hosting the professional team gives them a new appreciation for cycling and the athletes involved.

“It gives us a great respect for the sport, because we understand the difficultly that they go through,” notes Cindy Beard.

It is accepted in the cycling world that making a career out of racing bikes is not as lucrative as, say, playing in the National Football League — not by any stretch of the imagination. Cindy Beard explains that offering host housing can help alleviate the financial burden of travel expenses, which allows the riders to compete in more races.

“This (host housing) helps them to be able to continue their racing,” Cindy explains. “In order to get contracts with teams, they have to accumulate points. And they accumulate points by going to races. So if they can’t make it to that race, that affects ultimately if they have a job next year.”

But also it makes sense logistically for the team to have a house with a garage in which to maintain all their bikes, as well as having a kitchen were they can cook and eat whenever they need to.

For a week, 10 members of team OUCH — team director, eight cyclists and Landis’ agent — will nest at the Beards’ home. They will sprawl across the house on air mattresses.

“They know us, and they are comfortable,” says Cindy.

“They are not prima donnas at all,” adds Tim.

The team members will rise early to race in the various Cascade Cycling Classic events. Then they will eat a large meal, discuss strategy and tactics, eat some more, and go to bed.

Cindy Beard describes the OUCH team as a fun-loving, relaxed bunch.

“I found the cyclists to be really neat guys,” she says. “You have to be pretty motivated to go into cycling. It’s not a school sport, so you have to seek out a coach and seek out races, find sponsorship, pretty much on your own. For the most part, I would say that these guys are responsible, respectful, cool guys — cool people you want to meet and hang out with and talk with.”

On the last night of races, the Beards recount, the team members all kick back with the family. They sit around the outdoor fire pit and share stories of wild times or woes. And the next morning they say their goodbyes until next year.

“It just makes it really fun to watch the races,” says Cindy of the CCC host experience, “when you know the riders.

Katie Brauns can be reached at 541-383-0393 or at kbrauns@bendbulletin.com.

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