May 31 Race Recap
Tuesday, May 31, the day after Memorial Day, proved to still be a large field. A beautiful day at Irvine Lake. Most classes at least 20 deep, and this week’s class Sport 3 40-49 year olds at 50 deep. The vibe was on, the course lengthened to 4.75 miles, with a whole new section of ¾ of a mile tree trail, newly cut the Friday before the race to route around the mud. Our team worked hard the week before to prep the course, and it proved to create raving fans as racers came in (some happy to be out of the mud, and Johnny O’Mara, happy he didn’t get his bike dirty.
Kicking off the night was the kids race, new and improved. The kids were doubled in length and routed around a two mile course on the East side of Irvine Lake, up through the S-Turn section and back across the lake. You can view the kids race results here: https://raceoc.com/race-results/kids-race-results-05-31-11/
Congratuations to the top 3 Kid’s race finishers: (age 6-10yrs)
Dylan Eaton,Hayden Stein, And Zachary Moody.
Special thanks to Linked Cycling for taking our kids’ race to the next level each week.
Surprise visitor from pro road team Liquigas Cannondale, former Junior World MTB champion and probably the most talented bike racer of his generation Peter Sagan raced last night, along with his fellow Liquigas Peleton pusher and brother Juraj Sagan. Peter won the Pro Class on Tuesday night. Adding to his recent accomplishments (STAGE 5 Winner of the AMGEN Tour of California). On hand after the race Peter and Juraj were signing autographs at the Cannondale truck along with sponsor American Interbanc Cannondale Mtn Bike Team.
The course was fast and allowed all the racers participating on Tuesday, to flow through quickly despite the added length this week. 1-3 place finishers ended up with the famous Over The Hump Pint glass, along with Bike Religion schwag, t-shirts and gift cards. Bike Religion’s presence was huge as they manned up the Course Marshalls and registration volunteers for the night. (You can still get Bike Religion deals on Cannondale bikes and Felt Bikes, 10% off for the month of June).
As the race went on you could feel the extra ¾ of a mile added to this week’s course by the focused look in the eyes of racers, and a few grunts from lap to lap. The downhill section,re-added after the bees left the premises last week, proved a little bit of a slippy corner for several racers, having several crashes headed down the steep section of fire road to the lake. No one was seriously injured.
Series results have been updated following the Tuesday May 31 finish for all classes. View them here. https://raceoc.com/race-info/results/
Next week Verizon Leader’s Jerseys are on the following racers, who picked up their points to push them to the top. Here’s who you’re chasing. (and who will be picking up the Verizon Leader’s Jersey before the race:
Mens’ Pro – Brandon Gritters- Rock N Road
Women’s Expert Pro- Christine Gray- Trek San Diego
Men’s Expert- Johnny O’Mara – Sho Air
Single Speed- Eric Williams- Team Thunderbolt
Men’s Super Sport- Tim Grange- Velo 605
Men’s Sport 1Zane TorresASG/TWOWHEELSONEP
Men’s Sport 2- Thad Jordan Surf City Cyclery
Men’s Sport 3 –Randy Houston WIN-TEAM RACING
Men’s Sport 4- Armando de Arma
Women’s Sport- Wendy Villeges
Men’s Beginner 1- Matt Miller
Men’s Beginner 2-Dan Burdett 2- Mtn Bike Riders
Men’s Beginner 3- Bill West* (previous leader moved to Sport 3)
Men’s Beginner 4 -John Ganahl
Women’s Beginner- Jan Ackerman
Boy’s Open Juniors- James Bustamante
Girl’s Open Juniors- Danielle Emter
And as always, we had a professional photographer out on the course catching the action. Check out HighRev Photos from May 31, at http://www.highrevphoto.com/photos/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=2239 and take advantage of getting your mug published at a 10% discount using code “OTH”
Train hard this weekend and we’ll see you Tuesday. Get ready for a whole new angle on the course, and prizes going out for June 7 STRAVA Event for the King Of the Mountain Stage (Click Link to Join Event), and all 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers receiving a little extra incentive, for next week. Plus, there’s a few other surprises to be announced this week.
Find out how to participate on Over The Hump’s STRAVA Event (click here):