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 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.

Kris Schamp

Hi everybody,



We are less than two weeks away from the start of the 1st Portland MTB

Short Track Series and things have come together very well. Here are

some updates that I thought you might be interested in.



1) Web site:

We just did a complete make-over of our web site and posted some more

info on the series, pre-registration and directions to the course. Just

go to at http://www.portlandracing.com. Also make sure to check out our

new race poster and flyer, designed by Team S&M boy Nathan Dills. Thanks

Nathan!



2) Pre-registration:

We want to make our series as convenient for you as midweek races can

be. Therefore, we provide the option to pre-register for one or more

races, so you don't have to deal with all the paperwork before your

race. Just go to http://www.portlandracing.com/registration.html and

pre-register in 3 easy steps.



3) Race Course:

last week Erik Tonkin and John Smith came out to ride the course and

help us with the course design. They loved it, so there is that for a

testimonial. Look forward to a fun and challenging course with a lot of

bumps and turns.



4) Race plates:

We plan to use custom, weather-proof plates for our series. You can pick

them up at the registration tent at your first race. And if you

pre-register before next Wednesday, we'll get you a plate that has your

name printed on it below your race number. No more showing up at the

race with your girlfriend's plate!



5) Volunteers:

We can still use some more volunteers for the course set-up,

registration desk and keeping track of laps during the races. Just drop

me a note (k.sc-@gmail.com) or give me a call (503-466-9007).



6) Kiddie race/ride:

Several parents have pinged me to check if there will be a kiddie race

for the younger ones - after all the series is advertised as an "all

ages, all abilities" event. Great suggestion, so the answer is yes. We

will do a kiddie race/ride 10 minutes before the beginners/juniors race,

which means at 5:50pm.



7) Sponsors: In the past weeks, we have been able to line up some great

sponsors who like all of us are thrilled to make this new grassroots

race series happen.

- Bike N' Hike, our title sponsor, has kindly volunteered to provide

neutral support at the races and they plan to demo some of their latest

bikes (stay tuned for more details on that).

- We are teaming up with Team Estrogen as our official women's sponsor.

Which means that every week, we'll raffle off a real cool Team Estrogen

prize among all women who race that day. Go girls!

- Giant, Webcyclery, Hot, Dirt Rag, Lips Pizza, and Pyramid Brewing will

provide more cool prizes, which we'll distribute each week and at the

final series raffle.

- New Seasons Market, Saint Honore Boulangerie, Izze Sparkling Juice and

Clif Bar will provide us with much needed refreshments and post-race

snacks, so you all can hang around after your race and watch the pros

battle it out at 7pm.

- Finally we have signed up with Clark Ritchie & Melanie of Northwest

Event Photography to be our official photographers. They will also throw

in some free color prints, which we'll raffle off after each race.



That's it for now. We are looking forward to seeing you all at our first

race, which is on Monday July 11th. And don't forget to bring your

friends to watch the spectacle!



Cheers!

~Kris

Kris Schamp

A quick update for all ye folks who are counting down towards the first

edition of the Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series.



First, some great news from our sponsor front. Bike N' Hike has kindly

stepped up to be our series title sponsor. We also signed up some other

great sponsors, who all seem excited to be part of the effort to bring

Short Track MTB racing to Portland.



Second, I have put up a race flyer with all the details at

www.portlandracing.com. This site will be our official series web site,

so you might want to bookmark it. In the coming weeks we will add more

content.



Third, we received some very good response to our first call for

volunteers. Thanks volunteers! However, we can still use more hands.

Experience is not required and you don't need to commit to the full

timeframe of the event. If you just want to volunteer before and/or

after your race, that is also fine with us. Just send me an e-mail at

k.sc-@gmail.com or call me at 503-466-9007.



Looking forward to seeing all you bike-heads at the races!



~Kris