Kris Schamp

Hi everyone,



Last week, 130 bike racers of all stripes and colors showed up under a

sweltering sun to contest the second stage of the Portland Mountain Bike

Short Track Series. Seventy people came out for the first time, which

means that after only two races, our racer list is already 170 names

long. So I want to give a BIG THANKS to all of you

short-track-racers-of-the-first-hour for your enthusiastic

participation.



Last Monday's course was challenging - to say the least - and definitely

benefited bike handling skills over raw pedal power. Next Monday we plan

to come up with yet another twist on what everybody seems to agree is an

awesome MTB short track course. I am not going to give away here what

changes we'll make, but I think you'll love it.



Further, there is an important change in the race schedule for the

Singlespeed category. Due to the huge increase in the number of Sport

riders, we decided to have the singlespeeders start with the Pro/Elite

and Expert riders at 7pm. Hopefully that will spread out the riders more

evenly among all three race fields. This also means that singlespeeders

will race for 40' instead of 30'. But we thought that suffer & pain is

what singlespeed is all about anyway.



Another thing I want to remind everybody about is that wearing a bike

helmet is mandatory at PIR (and more in general at all OBRA races) and

not just while you are racing. Last Monday I heard that there were quite

a few riders who crossed the PIR road track on their bikes without

wearing a helmet. Not done.



Finally another "muchos gracias" to all the volunteers who helped out

with setting up the course, staffing the registration desk, and counting

laps. These are the folks that make it all happen, so next time you see

them give them a pat on the back.



Hope to see you all next week!



~Kris

portlandracing.com



PS: check our web site (http://www.portlandracing.com) for the latest

pictures, results and the winners of our weekly prizes.