Kris Schamp
Hello OBRA racers!
We are less than 3 weeks away from the start of the 13th edition of the Portland Short Track Series (http://www.portlandracing.com). As always, we plan to make it the most fun summer bike race series in the Northwest and we want you - and your friends and/or family - to come and join the fun!
This year, we made some important changes to the weekly race schedule and categories, so make sure to read on...
- NEW race schedule & start times! In order to give racers and volunteers some more time to get to PIR and to better balance racers across the various race heats, we decided to start the races a little later (kids races will start at 5:50pm) and reshuffle the junior and adult categories across 3 race heats (with start times at 6:15pm, 6:55pm and 7:30pm).
- Updated race categories! Also new this year, we decided to align the series categories with the categories used at the Oregon XC MTB Series, resulting in new age brackets for most age groups. So, if you are a master or junior racer, make sure to familiarize yourself with those changes and double-check what category you will be racing in (using your racing age, i.e. the your age on 12-31-2017).
- The updated race flyer with all the details (incl. new categories and race schedule) is posted at http://www.portlandracing.com/info.html
- Like previous years, the series will run for 8 weeks - from June 5 through July 31 - with a mid-series break (no short track on Mon July 3!), when we'll swap our weekly dose of short track action for a fun-filled day of MTB endurance racing (solo or as a 2-person team) at the Six Hours of Mount Hood (Sunday July 2 - http://www.portlandracing.com/6hrs).
- Online registration for both the series and the 6 Hours of Mt Hood is open now, with race entry fees the same as the last two years!
- You can purchase your Short Track Series Pass online at http://www.portlandracing.com/series-pass-2017.html. With a series pass you will not only save time and money on race day (once you have a pass, you can just come out and race, no pre-start check-in required), but you will also enjoy a weekly priority call-up at the start of your category (in the order you have registered). To top it off, every series pass holder will receive a FREE Short Track pint glass and your name will get entered in our weekly raffle of a bunch of cool prizes (even the weeks that you end up not racing).
- Starting next week, you will also be able to register online for individual short track races through OBRA.
Alright, that's it for now. I'll shoot another email next week with some more updates about this year's series. In the meantime, get your bike and legs all dialed, spread the word among your friends, and if you have any questions, just drop me a line!
Cheers,
~Kris
Kris Schamp
Portland Racing
PS: VOLUNTEERS WANTED! As always, we need a bunch of volunteers throughout the series to make it all happen. If you are interested and available to help out - in exchange for a FREE SERIES PASS - just email me at kris@portlandracing.com. Open volunteer slots will get filled on a first-come, first-serve basis, with preference going to folks who are able to volunteer at all or most of the races in the series.