May 22 Series Kick-off Recap
It’s summer again….and that means everyone who owns a mountain bike, in Orange County, is either racing or talking about their summer riding plans. Turns out at least half those people made it to Irvine Lake, Tuesday. (Well maybe not half, but we sure felt like it Tuesday). With lots of H2O Hydrate on hand for each racer, the warm afternoon gave way to a cool night of racing.
It was a sell-out night, like last year’s season opener…only this year it sold out a day and a half before racing began. So what’s the magic number? When we determined the closing number, it was to give racers who made it in a good experience. We did have to turn people away, which bums us out! The good news, from all the people we talked to the flow of the course was good, the people on the course had fun, were courteous and for the total lot on the course everyone came back with all of their parts.
The good news for May 29’s race is that we still have space, and the sell out number is the same @ 550 so make sure you get in early.
Now to the fun stuff.
Demo trucks from Specialized, Trek, and Cannondale. Shaved ice, Burritos, and all the different wares on display from Crankbrothers, RokForm, PowerBar, and lots of others the grass was hopping!
May 22 showed our largest ever Women’s Beginner class, largely in part to the Courageous Women of Dirt clinic that rolled out on Saturday, May 19, at Irvine Lake. CWOD gave the ladies a chance to check out the course and hone their skills. Good job ladies!
We also kicked off the Clydesdale’s class for the first time ever, and a Master’s Super Sport for 45+ racers. All in all it was an exciting night of racing, with the frosting on top – Over the Hump, and our friends on two wheels are back at the lake for the next 16 weeks. This is John’s and my favorite time of the year.
Chip timing, a 4 year dream in the making for us, finally became a reality for us on Tuesday, too. With the finish line actually becoming a “race to the finish” experience that racers had been asking for, along with the ability to capture lap times along with finish order. Exciting as the lap times were, we were stoked to see 425 racers get through registration in an hour and a half without too much duress pre race.
SRAM was on hand as well, and they’ve got a big giveaway each week. This week’s winner got a quick Twitter Shout out From Blaize: ” @bbaehrens: Congrats to Nathan, winner of this week ‘s @SRAM_mtb raffle prize, a RockShox Reverb! C U next week! http://pic.twitter.com/xrb5CD9g “ There will be another winner drawn next week.
And of course adding some giveaways and flair, JAX Bicycle Center made a great show of the evening. Handing out JAX bucks and loading the top 3 finishers in each class pockets with JAX Bucks.
You’ll hear us say thanks to our sponsors throughout the season, and for for good reason! Over the Hump is a cycling festival, not just a race, a community, not just a gathering. We think of you racers as our community of people who are “Riding Through Life Together”, that’s why it’s so much fun for us. Thanks sponsors.
This week we roll out the SPY Leader’s Jersey, for the top finisher in each class. The points leader will wear that jersey from week to week, and eventually will take it home if they when their class for the series.
With the Irvine Lake water level lower this year, it’s going to be a fun year, of varying the course from week to week – as we watch the friendly battles at the Lake work themselves out.
Can’t wait till next week! Thanks for coming out and playing with us again this year.
-Over the Hump