Kris Schamp

Greetings, OBRA racers!

For those of you who didn't receive the email I sent out on Thursday, I like to pass along a couple updates about the upcoming Kruger's Kermesse Encore! CX Farm Crit presented by West End Bikes, which will take place on Sunday, August 24, just a week away!

This year marks the seventh edition of this popular bike race, loved by many for its unique race format and its equally unique (and very family/spectator-friendly) farm setting. The course is ton of fun - for novice racers, seasoned pros, and everyone in between - making it the perfect segway into cyclocross season!

1) Register online by tomorrow (Sunday 8/17) and win a Chris King bottom bracket!
Save time and money on race day by pre-registering for your race. All pre-registered riders will get a start line call-up in the order they've registered. As usual we will have an "express lane" at registration for pre-registered riders, so all you have to do on race day is check in, pick up your custom tyvek bib number and you're all set to race. To sweeten the deal, we'll raffle off a gift certificate for a Chris King bottom bracket of choice among all racers who have pre-registered by end-of-day tomorrow!

2) Race course
The course will be very similar - if not identical - to the course we ran at the spring edition back in May. The clockwise loop is about 2 mile long, features about 80 ft of elevation gain per lap, and has some great flow. The course runs mostly on farm roads with a couple grass sections. There are no paved sections. All along the course, there will be plenty of room to pass riders.
[course map and course preview video: http://www.portlandracing.com/kermesse/course.html]

3) Race either solo or as a 2-person team... or double up on the fun and race both!
Since everyone had so much fun during the relay race at the spring edition, we decided to add it to the schedule of the summer edition as well. If you race a solo race in the morning, it's only $5 extra to race the relay, so hopefully this will make it a no-brainer to sign up for both and double up on the fun!
[more details about the relay race: http://www.portlandracing.com/kermesse/relay.html]

4) Bike/tire choice and mechanical support.
While racers will be allowed to race any type of bike, we recommend to ride a bike that can accommodate knobby tires. Sturdy road tires might work (and we had a couple folks racing on road bikes/tires last year without any problems), but cross tires will give you a little more comfort, grip, and flat protection.If you can't decide, feel free to come pre-ride the course the day before the race. We plan to have the course set up by 2pm on Saturday. And on race day, our title sponsor West End Bikes will be present to provide free mechanical support throughout the races (look for their pop-up tent near the finish area).

5) Free kiddie races and yummy food.
Throughout the day, racers and spectators will be able to kick back on the concert lawn, located behind the farm store, right next to the finish area. Kruger's Farm Market and their food stands will have organic ale on tap and serve fire-roasted corn on the cob and a variety of other gourmet food items. And as usual, we'll organize a FREE, fun kids races - for the little ones and juniors under the age of 12 - which will start at 11:45pm (the older kids will get to race one full lap on the regular course).

6) Belgian primes, custom awards, a Free Raffle, and... Stroopwafels!
In good tradition, we will be giving away a bunch of goodies and prizes. For starters, when you pick up your custom bib number at registration, you will receive a oh-so-tasty Dutch style Rip van Wafels stroopwafel. Then, throughout the solo races, we will be awarding a bunch of random "Belgian Primes": whenever the Belgian tricolore flag gets raised along the course (along the team tent corridor), it's time to get your intermediate sprinter legs on and battle it out with any willing racers around you for some cool primes, generously provided by our sponsors Hopworks Urban Brewery, Dave's Killer Bread and Bob's Red Mill. Finally, after the team relay, we'll wrap up things with awards for the top-3 finishers in all solo categories and a free raffle (for all racers in attendance) of some great prizes, courtesy of our sponsors West End Bikes, Portland Design Works, Showers Pass, Nossa Familia Coffee, and Chris King.

7) Volunteer and race for free!
As always, we are looking for volunteers to help with set-up on Saturday, and course marshaling and tear-down on Sunday. If you are interested in helping out in exchange for a free race entry, just shoot me an email.

That's it for now. I will probably post a final update a couple days before the race.

Cheers,
~Kris

Kris Schamp
Portland Racing