Kris Schamp
Hello OBRA racers,
Earlier this week, a record 176 racers showed up for the second stage of the Portland MTB Short Track Series. Thanks everyone for coming out and welcome to all new riders!
Here are some updates ahead of next Monday's race # 3.
1) Queen of the Night & other weekly prizes
Renee Pype has won our second Queen of the Night trophy. Her name was drawn among the 33 women who raced the series this week. Renee wins a $75 gift certificate, donated by our Women's Sponsor Bike 'N Hike! Other prizes we are giving away this week to randomly drawn racers include: 6-packs of Pyramid beer, 6-packs of Thomas Kemper root beer, a free one-year subscription to Dirt Rag magazine, and a bunch of Clif Bar & Tazo goodie bags! Go to http://www.portlandracing.com/weekly-prizes.html to find out if you are one of the lucky winners of this week's prizes.
2) Results & Photos
The final results of race # 2 and the series points for the top-15 in each category are posted at http://www.portlandracing.com/results-07-17-06.html. Also check out the great action shots of last Monday's races, taken by Lee Bautista, Tom Hoffman and Shane Young (http://www.portlandracing.com/photos.html).
3) Course changes & pre-riding
Every week, we do our best to come up with a different course. Last week, we opted for a relatively short course with a lot of tight, technical sections in the trees. While the course was fun and challenging, it also caused quite a few pile-ups and traffic jams. With the ever-increasing number of racers, we will make some changes to our course lay-out in order to spread out the racers, reduce the number of laps and lapped riders, and to minimize congestion under the trees. Also, look forward to some other "interesting elements" we plan to throw your way to keep the races fun and exciting.
Next week, we will also schedule one "pre-ride lap" (3-5 min) before each race heat. Please, no more pre-riding during other people's races!
4) Some racing rules
A couple of questions have come up regarding the rules that apply at the short track series:
- mechanical support: we roughly use the same rules as in cyclocross, except that you can't change bikes (or frames) during a race. There is no designated pit area, but if you like to stash spare parts or a toolkit somewhere, we recommend to do it somewhere along the fence in between the start line and the finish area.
- course cutting: We received a few complaints about racers cutting the course to get around slower riders or obstacles on the course. Sorry, but this is not allowed in MTB races.
- final lap: everyone finishes on the same lap as the race leader. This means that if you are riding your second-to-last lap and get lapped by the race leader, you will suddenly find yourself riding your last lap, even if you never got to hear the sound of the bell. Sort of low-tech time travel...
5) Registration & race plates
Another reminder that all racers need to check in at registration at least 15 minutes before their race. This includes kiddie racers and pre-registered riders. Also, don't forget to bring your race plate and if your plate already shows serious signs of wear (like the holes getting ripped), we recommend you get it laminated at a nearby copy center.
6) Series Finals
The series finals will be held on Sunday August 13, starting at 9:00am. Races will run through the morning and will be followed by a picnic, awards and our grand series raffle. We plan to be all done by 2:00pm. A more detailed schedule will be posted next week.
That's all. Stay cool this weekend and hope to see you all on Monday!
~Kris
www.portlandracing.com
PS: a special thanks to Jackson Wilde, who jumped in as our impromptu medic last Monday, sacrificing his own race to ferry an injured racer to the hospital. Give him a pat on the back next time you see him!