Kris Schamp
Greetings OBRA racers,
In case you haven't seen the e-mail I sent out earlier today, here are a couple updates about the Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series, which is less than a week away (more info at www.portlandracing.com).
1) Pre-registration deadline extended through Thursday 6/19
If you haven't sent in your registration yet, you still have two days left to do so and save both our registration volunteers and yourself time on race day. You can opt to pre-register for just a couple races, but if you pre-register for the whole series, we'll let you race all six races for the price of five! Junior riders who pre-register for the whole series get even a better deal: they get to race all 6 races for the price of 3 (only $5 per race!). For more info on how to pre-register go to:
http://www.portlandracing.com/registration.html
2) Race Plates
Like previous years, all racers will receive a special series race plate, which you'll have to pick up at the registration tent on Monday (or at your first race). These are the only race plates that will be honored by our officials. No OBRA MTB XC series race plates! If you forget or lose your race plate, you'll have to request a temporary plate at the registration desk.
3) Day-of-Race registration and check-in
All racers will have to check in at registration (from 5:00pm to 15 minutes prior to their start time). The registration tent will be located on the infield of PIR near the start/finish area. To save time, please bring your filled-out and signed Series Waiver. We will have an express line where pre-registered riders can pick up their race plate.
IMPORTANT: All races will start on time. Please schedule enough time to get to PIR, get all your stuff together, ride your bike from the parking lot to the infield, and get registered. Depending on turn-out, registration wait times can be up to 10 minutes.
4) NEW - Become a BTA member and receive a $10 discount off your race fee!
That's right, Portland Racing is teaming up with the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) to help them grow their membership base. This year, Portland Racing will offer a $10 race fee discount to any racer who signs up as a new BTA member. It's our way to thank you for not just being a bike racer, but also becoming a bike advocate and helping the BTA continue doing the good work. To qualify for the $10 race discount, you have to sign up and pay for your BTA annual membership at the race (forms will be available at registration).
5) NEW - Women and Junior Clinics
To encourage the participation by women and junior riders, we will be featuring FREE clinics each week where novice women and junior riders will be able to hone their riding skills and pick up some race tips from seasoned and pro-level mountain bike racers. The clinics will be held from 5pm to 5:45pm at the race course. You don't have to register in advance, but you do have to be registered as a Beginner Woman or Junior racer (not: kiddie racer) and have signed a series waiver.
6) Sponsors, Goodies and Prizes, Oh My!
We are thrilled to enjoy the continued support of some top-notch sponsors. Clif Bar continues to be our title sponsor and will provide our racers some tasty and healthy energy snacks. The friendly folks at Chris King have volunteered again to provide free mechanical support to our racers... and they'll cater free lemonade to racers and spectators alike! Like in previous years, racers will also enjoy free post-race fruit and PB&J sandwiches, courtesy of New Seasons Market and St Honore Bakery. Perennial short track sponsor Bike N' Hike will continue to be our special women's sponsor, giving away a $75 gift certificate to a random woman racer every week! And our other series sponsors Yakima, Cyclepath, Gary Fisher, Ironclad and Roots Organic Brewing are throwing in more great prizes that will be raffled off throughout the series and at our Grand Series Finale. Like in previous years, we will have cool awards for the overall top-3 finishers in each category and we will have a $7
50 cash purse for the top-3 in the Pro/Semipro Men and Pro/Expert Women categories.
7) Some Safety Tips
On Monday nights between 6pm and 8pm there are ongoing road bike races on the PIR race track. Please use the wooden bridge whenever possible to get to and from the motocross course. If you prefer to cross through the main gate, you should use extreme caution when crossing the track. Always look both ways and don't cross the track when oncoming road racers are in sight. Please respect the course marshals' instructions whenever they are present.
That's it. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to shoot me an e-mail. I am looking forward to seeing you on Monday!
Cheers!
~Kris
www.portlandracing.com
PS: We are still looking for a couple hands to help out with set-up, registration, lap-counting and course marshaling. If you are available and interested in helping out (even for a single 30' shift), please send me an e-mail. Already a big thanks to anyone who has volunteered so far. This series wouldn't be possible without your help!