Kris Schamp
Hey everyone,
A couple more updates about Sunday's Kruger's Crossing Cyclocross Classic on Sauvie Island...
- Course Notes:
With the sunny weather and wind of the last days, the course has become increasingly dry (no standing water anywhere on the course and only a handful of puddles), but there is still enough moisture in the soil to keep the surface nice and tacky and smooth out any bumps as races progress throughout the day. To remind racers that this is a cross race and not a farm crit, the course will feature 3 sets of barriers and a couple of technical hairpin turns. We also added an all-new dirt road descent at the north end of the course, which will allow us to skip the dreaded downhill/off-camber 90-degree corner on the paved road. This afternoon, we mowed all grassy sections and we added a start shoot between the south side of the parking lot and the hoop houses, so the start will be located at the same spot as at the Kruger's Kermesse.
For the expert kiddie race and the dog races, we cleared out a short and fun extension through the corn maze. While this extension is perfectly rideable, it could be a bit of a bottleneck for the large race fields we expect on Sunday (we have already 400 racers pre-registered), so we're going to hold off on including it in the regular course... but we'll keep it in the back of our pocket and with some luck, some of you who race in the smaller fields might get to enjoy a bonus extension through rows of rustling corn.
If you like to pre-ride the course on Saturday, we should have most of the course set up by 2pm, but you are free to come ride the unmarked course as early as 11am. We will also have the usual pre-ride breaks in between races on Sunday, though no pre-riding of the serpentine front loop (where the team tents are located) during the kiddie races and doggie dash.
Team Tents:
To maximize the capacity of the main parking lot, we ask that teams put up their tents in the designated team tent area in the open lot at the farm entrance. You can drive in to drop off tents and other heavy equipment (feel free to bring your fire pits and portable grills), but all vehicles must be parked in the main parking lot.
- Sunday's Raffle & Primes:
In good tradition, we will raffle off a ton of prizes among all our racers. Thanks to our generous sponsors, we get to give away over $2,500 in random primes (not including the pro purse for top 3 finishers in the Cat A races). To give everyone a chance to win without having to wait around until the end of the day, we will be drawing random winners in every race heat and mark the lucky winners on the results sheets that will be posted after each race on the info board (look for the West End Bikes tent in the area close to the bonfire).
We will be giving away over 150 individual prizes, so your chances of going home with a prize or a prime have never looked as good!
Here is a sampling of what we'll have up for grabs:
- 20 pairs of Showers Pass CrossPoint 1.0 liner gloves and one very cool Veleau hydration system.
- 5 sets of high-end Specialized tires (choice of cross and road).
- More than 50 beer primes courtesy of Hopworks Urban Brewing (only for racers over 21).
- A full assortment of Portland Design Works bling (incl. two cross toques, a Spaceship/Radbot500 lightset, a Mr. Sparkle Chain Cleaner, a Coated Wrencho, a Big Silver Pump, a Radbot 1000, and one Cosmic Dreadnougt headlight).
- A boatload of 16oz packs of Bob's Red Mill honey oat granola plus three unique Bob's Red Mills gift bags. (Note: due to a staffing issue, the Bob's Red Mill hot oats stand won't be able to make it out to Kruger's Farm this year, so don't skip breakfast on Sunday morning!).
- A variety of Osmo Nutrition Active Hydration canisters and a bunch of caffeinated goodies courtesy of Nossa Familia Coffee (and, yes, Nossa Familia will be on site selling freshly brewed coffee for just $1/cup).
- Finally, we'll have some original Portland Design Works prizes for the winners of our doggie dash races (including a prize for the most original dog race attire) and Lumberyard goodie bags for all our kiddie racers.
This is the last cyclocross race of the season in Portland proper and I hope you all come out with your friends and families (and dogs) to race and cheer and make it another fun one!
See you at the farm,
~Kris
Kris Schamp
Portland Racing
PS: a last-minute heads-up about two special events that are hosted tomorrow (Saturday) by two of our sponsors:
- Showers Pass is inviting all OBRA racers to their 3rd annual Warehouse Sale, 8am-Noon (more info: http://www.showerspass.com/3rd-annual-warehouse-sale)
- Lumberyard Indoor Bike Park is hosting another edition of Hell Track, a novel indoor & outdoor track race for the wild-at-heart, Noon - 6 pm (more info: http://www.lumberyardmtb.com/helltrack)