Kris Schamp
All,
The fifth edition of the Portland Short Track Series has come to an end and I would like to thank everyone who attended, raced, volunteered and helped making it such a fun and successful event.
Across the seven races of this year's edition, we saw a total of 750 unique racers and more than 300 of them raced short track for the very first time! It was great to see so many new faces each week and it was even greater to see so many families with kids enjoying the weekly event. We definitely hope to see you back next year!
The results of last Monday's races, the final series standings, and the "unofficial" team relay results have been posted:
http://www.portlandracing.com/2009-series-standings.html
http://www.portlandracing.com/results-team-relay-2009.html
Also check out the preview of the team relay video clip by Scott Barker (featuring an overview of our podium finishers and some sweet slow-motion action shots): http://vimeo.com/5332811
Big thanks to Shane and Scott for capturing all the fun every week!
I further would like to thank our generous sponsors, most of them local companies with a big heart for local bike racing:
- Our Series title sponsor Hopworks Urban Brewing, who contributed generously with products, prizes and a royal cash purse for our pro podium finishers.
- the fine folks at Chris King, who provided free mechanical support and lemonade to our racers, topping it all off with some much coveted primes and prizes.
- Our two other gold-level series sponsors Cyclepath and Yakima.
- Our special "Queen of the Night" women sponsor Bike N Hike.
- Portland Design Works, Nossa Familia Coffee and Fun Reflector who all contributed with some awesome prizes.
- Larabar, St Honore Bakery, Hammer Nutrition, Açai Roots, and - again! - Chris King, for the great free snacks, PB&J sandwiches and beverages racers and spectators got to enjoy at the races.
Feel free to send them a word of thanks, or even better, support their business with your wallet!
Also a shout to the friendly staff of Portland International Raceway, everyone at OBRA, and our local MTB/trail advocates of Northwest Trail Alliance who hosted the super-fun skills park at the races. BTW: There is strength in numbers. If you enjoy riding your bike off-road, care about MTB access to trails, and like to see more singletrack trails close to Portland, you should seriously consider to join NWTA (http://nw-trail.org/membership).
Finally, a huge THANK YOU to the more than 40 volunteers who helped out this year. From the people at the registration desk, to the lap counters and course marshals, to our first aid providers, to Luciano "the voice of short track", to the organizers of our free kiddie race and clinics, to the folks who helped set up and tear down the course each week, and so many others: you all did an awesome job! Without the help of this amazing group of people, we wouldn't be able to pull it off.
We will back next year with more short track racing. If you have any feedback you like to share or some ideas to make next year's series even better, just shoot me an email. Otherwise, it's time to relax, enjoy the rest of your summer and get all ready for cross season!
Thanks again and hope to see you around at the races!
~Kris
Kris Schamp
Portland Racing
PS 1: talking about the upcoming cyclocross season... as you might have read on BikePortland.org, a recent ruling by Multnomah County has forced us to cancel the upcoming Kruger's Kermesse Farm Crit Series. We are still hopeful we can get something worked out for the Kruger's Crossing Cyclocross Classic at the end of cross season. I will make sure to keep you posted on any further developments.