August 28 Over the Hump 2012 Finale
Bees and Rainbows. Lots of stories to tell, and Over the Hump is just a mountain bike race, right?
A mountain bike race, but so much more. OTH has become the paramount story telling venue of The Mountain Bike Capital of the World, Orange County, CA. The place where you can ride all year long, and then some. Now Over the Hump has become the gathering “watering hole” of racers, young, old, fast, fun, and all those in between.
We knew the August 28th Finale would be a memorable night, but to see the 1500+ crowd cram into our vendor loaded exhibit area was one of THOSE moments as race promoters; we looked with wide eyes at what you, the racers, friends, and families have made Over the Hump for past four summers. From two races and 300 racers in 2009, to this year’s 550 person opening race, we’ve seen it all! Over the Humpers are a whole new breed of class act people.
In addition to an exciting event, we’d already had our Course Manager David Kittler battling a bee hive (see the action here) to clear the course for the racers, Tuesday AM. And to put the icing on the cake, as we watched the flow of racers roll into the finish and join the exhibitor area, the hub of Over the Hump activity, rain drops began to fall, while the sun fired. I have never seen a more vibrant rainbow against such a crystal blue sky backdrop, in my life. Glorious, doesn’t begin to describe the setting at the close of the last race our 12 race series, presented by H2O Overdrive.
Tuesday night saw some true heros. Some sung, and some unsung. Linked Cycling lead out our last Kids Race of the 2012 season, selflessly serving the kids and families all summer long. All 12 races.
David Browning of Think ASG was acknowledged as the 2012 Over the Hump Ambassador. David has been waiving the flag of fitness, fun, family and fellowship at the helm of Think ASG for several years, and has been involved at Over the Hump since we rolled into our first lap in 2009. As he’s been racing he’s also introduced co-workers and friends to the sport of Mountain Biking. Now with a team that is deeper than 20 racers, David will bring at least 4, sometimes 7 bikes out to the race. He has sponsored the teams entry fees, and this year, together with Kristen from Two Wheels One Planet raised over $4,500 (from raffle ticket sales) in the fight against Pediatric Cancer Research. David’s motto for his OTH involvement is “Pay it Forward”. We’re thrilled to have David be a man that bleeds the spirit of fellowship and fun at Over the Hump, and are proud to welcome him to a very exclusive group of people that ride, race and play for others at Over the Hump.
After the race we had the chance to celebrate the season long battles and heros. Sean Bell, 14 year old (previous Junior Boys racer, this week’s 10th place of 22 racers in the Super Sport under 44 class, even after a mid race 3 racer pile up crash) has proven grit, determination and power don’t always come in giant packages. In addition to being named the Series Champion of the Junior Class for the summer, Sean was also honored as an outstanding young athlete and given the SRAM prize of the night. He received a SRAM XO, Type 2, Rear Derailleur.
The awards ceremony saw teams who received custom engraved ODI Grips for the top places. There were two team categories 3 person teams and 5+ person teams. The competition kicked off as we reconveined after the series break, on July 24, 2012. The winning teams for the 3 person teams were: first Place, South OC Composite, second place, “Kind a Big Thing”, and Third Place, Think ASG. The 5 + person team standings were finalized this morning : first place, RokForm Racing, second place, Fullerton Bikes, and third place, Win-Team Racing.
When it comes to individual racers, and series performance, we sent racers home with over $35,000 in sponsor merchandise. H2O Overdrive , our presenting sponsor was in the house, not just hydrating athletes but kicking off the awards ceremony with loads of cool swag. 1st place winners went home with $150 in gift cards from our featured shops, SPY sunglasses, custom RokForm iPhone cases, and a pair of FOX Head Shoes. Second place went home with pumps and swag from Giant , TREK, Specialized, Crankbrothers, and switchback magazine annual subscriptions, plus $100 in gift cards. Third place cleaned house with a Cannondale wind breaker awarded to the top 3 racers in each class, and loads of other goodies from our sponsors, like PowerBar , plus $75 in gift cards from featured shops.
Congratulations to all the winners:
Pro Men | Beginner 1 Men -29 | |||
1 | Brandon Gritters | 1 | Josh Rodgers | |
2 | Eric Bierman | 2 | Andre Campos | |
3 | David Graf | 3 | Brent Fiege | |
Expert Men | Beginner 2 Men 30-39 | |||
1 | Steve Boniface | 1 | Jeff Belknap | |
2 | Ryan Cox | 2 | Austin Squires | |
3 | Brian Gordon | 3 | Ryan Gagliano | |
Sport 1 Men -29 | Beginner 3 Men 40-49 | |||
1 | Sayer Johanson | 1 | Shawn Voorhees | |
2 | David Skeeters | 2 | Dana Pierce | |
3 | Manny Urias | 3 | Russ Geck | |
Sport 2 Men 30-39 | Beginner 4 Men 50+ | |||
1 | Thad (TJ) Jordan | 1 | Anthony Reguero | |
2 | James Schiefer | 2 | Andrew McNiven | |
3 | Hoffman Cortes | 3 | Derek Weston | |
Sport 3 Men 40-49 | Pro/Expert Women | |||
1 | Mike Morris | 1 | Leslie Williams | |
2 | Wade Arnold | 2 | Laura Knight | |
3 | Bill West | 3 | Kimberly Hotchkiss | |
Sport 4 Men 50+ | Sport Women | |||
1 | Daniel Jordan | 1 | Kimberly Allen | |
2 | Rob Guthrie | 2 | Samantha Adams | |
3 | Bobby Walker | 3 | Amy Travis | |
Super Sport 44- | Beginner Women | |||
1 | Jay Laplante | 1 | Season Everton | |
2 | Kurt Rood | 2 | Maureen Wolfson | |
3 | Doug Farnham | 3 | Lani Christensen | |
Super Sport Masters 45+ | Junior Boys | |||
1 | Ty Swartz | 1 | Sean Bell | |
2 | Kris Mills | 2 | Daniel Johnson | |
3 | Theodore Posch | 3 | Jack Tucker | |
Single Speed | Junior Girls | |||
1 | Andrew Christie | 1 | Danielle Emter | |
2 | Jeff Resnick | 2 | Hannah Binder | |
3 | Heith Masters | 3 | Tara Neuville | |
Clydesdale | ||||
1 | David Martinez | |||
2 | Paul Tata | |||
3 | Mark Olsen |
We applaud our A-list group of sponsors who have joined Over the Hump over the last 4 years, making Over the Hump a place where racers can meet the people behind the products, while the brands and sponsors continue to pour into racers on a grass roots level. Making OTH a place where people love to come and play, whether they are seasoned racers or first time dirt mongers.
And while we could tell story after story, why us? What we saw out there was amazing, but we think you’ll do a better job telling the stories first hand, so log on and leave comments below about your favorite stories, victories, experiences, and sponsors. Because you, my friend are an Over the Hump author. Thanks for helping us write the story.
Just a mountain bike race? We don’t think so. Welcome to the family!
Until 2013, John and I thank you for allowing us to be a part of the best bike race community and family in the world!
Click for photos from August 28
Click to see all the series results from 2012
2 Comments
[…] man team all rode on our colors, was a very good night for the tASG/TWOP team at the podium! https://raceoc.com/2012/08/29/august-28-over-the-hump-2012-finale/ Moreover, when all was done and said w/ corp matching and the like, we raised about $6K for […]
David Whiting’s coverage of the finale http://www.ocregister.com/articles/race-370214-hump-russell.html