Magic! That’s the only word that I can think of that embodies the OTH Family. And not smoke and mirrors magic, the kind that happens when two people stumble into each other, and realize they’ve met their soulmate, someone who gets it and will be a part of their life forever. Over the Hump visitors get to visit a family that comes around a race to celebrate, much like Thanksgiving, and once they’ve visited…they’re family.
The finale Tuesday was no different. A race that brought us together on a Tuesday afternoon, and as unsuspecting racers and spectators showed up for the last of 12 races, the energy of The Family took over and began to crackle with magic. Smiles, and hugs are only the beginning. Tuesday was another reminder that, while truly “just a bike race” Over the Hump is so much more, to our family. And who would have thought with another landmark year of firsts and challenges to overcome, on and off the track (ours and other family members).
2015’s season kicked off May 19, and kept the momentum of previous years selling out at 600 adults and over 100 kids 6-11 years old. That’s a number that blows many visitors minds if they stop in from other parts of the country. It’s a performance most would be proud of, and actually a USA Cycling official stopped by this year, pulled John and Matt aside and said, “this is mind-boggling: the field size, the vibe, the people, I wish we had this…I’ve never seen anything like this”.
From the bottom up season 7, this year was a year of firsts. Kids 6-11 years old were chip timed, and the 9-11 year old classes saw a podium finish at the end for the top 5 series winners. Elizabeth Harita and Ryan Pinkerton took the Girls and Boys respective victories, in the end. This is the first year we implemented the short Beginner Series, limited to just 6 races (an idea that came from our featured shops sponsor meeting). The practice of supporting and enabling new racers to enjoy Mountain Bike Racing has always been at our core, but this was a non-conventional program that would allow non-experienced racers to get their toes in the racing water without having to buy the boat, wetsuit and waterski.
Racers united in the Beginner Ride A Long Mentor Race: Megan Brown and Junior Girls Lucy Lundell
We saw the first and second ever (that we know of) Beginner Ride-A-Log where elite men and women racers rode alongside beginners and Juniors during a race. During race mentoring gave the beginners and juniors an opportunity to learn from seasoned racers, and build friendships across the classes; another point of distinction within our community of friends…cross-class camaraderie. Then, the new Point of View camera company 360 Fly jumped in hook line and sinker putting the money down for our first ever Elite 360 Fly Cash Dash. The race course 3/4 of mile long, and in view the entire race, cutting over the stage, and through the exhibit electrified the 700 spectators, as 40 of the fastest men and women at OTH blew through the venue for 4 laps.
We always take a break, mid season, to allow for rest, vacations, and celebration of all things Traditional American Summer. This one was a first; we got a call from a friend who said, “Hey I don’t mean to ruin your vacation, but Irvine Lake is on fire”. Yep our first fire, and it roared for 24 hours, from the 241 Toll Road, across Santiago Canyon Road, and down into the OC Parks wilderness park that comprised 1 mile of the OTH race course. The fire scorched the brush, melted the orange fence, and incinerated hay bales and two structures before it was done, a week before we were set to resume racing. While the fire was not devastating to human life, it definitely created a change in landscape for our race course. So with 1 week to begin racing we started to chew on the project of redesigning the course.
Mike Franze, Fullerton Bikes owner, bumps through the new “whoops” section below in the old lake bed.
The low water line, gave us our first crack at the bottom of the lakebed as tapestry to weave the race lines in places we’d never even before seen at Irvine Lake. Five years ago we actually raced over the lake on floating docks, because the water was so high the land bridge that closes the gap between east and west shores of the lake was submerged. And with the help of TLG Paving and a friend with a bobcat we were able to playfully ad-lib some creative flow track creating fun-from-flat.
Then, the unlikely July rainy sky dropped an inch of rain in 48 hours on our little Orange County. The rain chiseled monster ruts in the over-dry dirt roads, paths, trails, and filled the newly created flow track with 6-8 inches of water, just two days before the race was to resume after the break. So with 24 hours to maintain, drain and dry the course, we had our first rain delay in 68 consecutive races and 7 seasons. OTH was postponed to the next week…and yet, our race family was there ready for a new modified, and recently water manicured course, and another 6 summer races to conclude the season.
It’s always bitter-sweet to see the season go. Great memories, and fortified friendships are every person’s take away at the end of every season. We set the victors on top the podium, celebrate the personalities, and remember the pot-holes in the road that made us better racers, or rather better people. The finale was no different than others, with one exception, we were missing our head sergeant Suzanne Martin, who has directed the ins and outs on race day for the past two years. Suzanne, was with us in spirit, but had given the gift of life to a cousin by donating a kidney a week prior and was not able to be with us the final night. The gift she gave was a shining example of the people that make up our community. (Oh, and she is well, quickly recovering and will be back next year…but we sure missed her presence and person at the finale).
Ryan Cox and Bow Lemp on the Linked Cycling Team, led the kids race program throughout the season with team mates Ryan Damato, Sean Smith and 30 other Moms, racers and friends from their club.
Call it a race, a community, friends getting together on Tuesday to ride bikes; we’re convinced the magic that happens at Irvine Lake during the summer is no ordinary bike race.
After the dust settled from Tuesday, it continues to live on in the images and stories shared at school or work and through social media, but most of all in each of our hearts there is a bit of magic that comes alive when we remember Over the Hump. That was especially clear at the awards ceremony Tuesday, with a full house staying till the final award found it’s owner. Vipe Desai of HDX shared his experience, “After the race everyone was hanging out, no one left, no one wanted to go home. It’s almost like they were in denial that OTH was over, and they didn’t want to leave. It was so cool to see that many people there till the end, participating in the awards ceremony.”
So with some sadness, but more amazing memories, we tuck a magic 7th Season away for hibernation this year. 2015 is in the books, and we’ll see you, our OTH family out on the trails, other races, bike shops and around So Cal over the next 8 months. We love you, and love the community that has also embraced us. Thank you for an amazing box of mental memorabilia from our favorite part of the year.
HDX Hydration Mix and Audi: Thank you for Presenting Over the Hump This Season!
The honorees and victors of the 2015 Over the Hump Season are:
Elite Men (44-)
1 |
Alfred Pacheco |
Novatec |
2 |
Brian Gordon |
Blackstar |
3 |
Joel Titius |
Team Baghouse/Rock N Road/Ojio Sport |
4 |
Ryan Cox |
Linked Cycling |
5 |
Chad Gonser |
thinkASG/MVP |
Elite Masters Men (45+)
1 |
Espen Kateraas |
Team Wheels 4 Life/Audi |
2 |
David Marietti |
Hot Shoppe Designs |
3 |
Emilio Cervantes |
949 Racing |
4 |
Rhio Griego |
HSU RACING / LA HABRA CYCLERY |
5 |
Sten Kramer |
Team Wheels 4 Life/Audi |
Elite Women
1 |
Laura Morris |
G2 Bike |
2 |
Meghan Brown |
Kasel Cycling/Jax Bicycles |
3 |
Hannah Binder |
The Path Bike Shop |
4 |
Amy Rambacher |
Fly Racing/The Path Bike Shop |
5 |
Leslie Williams |
The Path Bike Shop |
SuperSport 1 Men (35-)
1 |
Mikael Rodgers |
rockform rock n road Blackstar |
2 |
Kevin Vermaerke |
RokForm |
3 |
Brent Franze |
Giant Co Factory -Fullerton Bikes |
4 |
Bryce Rogalski |
Santiago Cycling |
5 |
Turner Conway |
Fullerton Bicycles/OSO MTB |
SuperSport 2 Men (36-49)
1 |
Steve Horvath |
Long Beach Cyclery |
2 |
Karl Lowry |
RokForm |
3 |
Theodore Posch |
Buena Park / Fullerton Bicycles |
4 |
Kristofer Stewart |
Baghouse/Rock N Road |
5 |
Quyen Tran |
thinkASG/MVP |
SuperSport Masters Men (50+)
1 |
Bob Harpster |
Hsu Racing/La Habra Cyclery |
2 |
Cy Zuidema |
RokForm |
3 |
Kenneth Pinkerton |
Rock N Road |
4 |
Steve Smith |
thinkASG/MVP |
5 |
Josh Wolff |
RokForm/RedMonkey/Wolff Law |
Sport 1 Men (29-)
1 |
Blaise Janssen |
The Path Bike Shop/OSO MTB |
2 |
Ryan Nitzen |
incycle Bic/Ride bicker alliance |
3 |
Calvin Iba |
Jax bicycles – Claremont |
4 |
Doug Druz |
JAX BICYCLES |
5 |
Brian Kennedy |
|
Sport 2 Men (30-39)
1 |
Victor Camero |
Cannondale |
2 |
Timothy Wilson |
Pure Ride Cycles |
3 |
Jacob Miller |
Nondot/Redline Studios |
4 |
Abraham Rodriguez |
RokForm |
5 |
Michael Camp |
Intense Cycles |
Sport 3 Men (40-49)
1 |
Rick Mckee |
Red Monkey/Fullerton Bikes |
2 |
Matt Howard |
thinkASG/MVP |
3 |
Mike Emerson |
Troy Lee Designs |
4 |
Alex Mansfield |
Fullerton Bicycles |
5 |
Craig Hunter |
Rock N Road Cyclery |
Sport 4 Men (50+)
1 |
Mike Franze |
Fullerton Bicycles |
2 |
Ross Bennett |
Foothill High/The Path Bike Shop |
3 |
Jeff Davis |
Fenix Cycling |
4 |
Scott Vrzal |
Linked Cycling |
5 |
Greg Brown |
RokForm |
Junior Boys (12-15)
1 |
204 |
Kurtis Epps |
2 |
1533 |
Nicco Petracca |
3 |
360 |
Blake Wray |
4 |
418 |
Chase Niblack |
5 |
561 |
Cole Smith |
Sport Women
1 |
Gina Flanagan |
CrankBenders |
2 |
Kayla Nelson |
|
3 |
Kelly Tesch |
The Path Bike Shop |
4 |
Carolann Soltz |
NonDot Adventures |
5 |
Shannon Hickman |
thinkASG/MVP |
Clydesdales
1 |
Christopher Nelson |
Adrenaline Sports Group |
2 |
Greg Lasiewski |
thinkASG/Fox/Spy/Cal Coast Bikes |
3 |
John Stalker |
Pure Ride Cycles |
4 |
Rick Rutecki |
OC Los Viejos |
5 |
Graeme Stanners |
Celo Pacific / APX |
Singlespeed
1 |
Chris Heinrich |
The Path Bike Shop |
2 |
Nathan Adams |
Kasel Cycling/Jax Bicycles |
3 |
Eric Williams |
Corridor Recycling/Velo Pacific |
4 |
John Potts |
RokForm/Team Toyota |
5 |
David Allen |
Pure Ride Cycles |
Men 60+
1 |
Michael Mchenry |
RokForm |
2 |
Craig Erion |
RokForm |
3 |
Randy Banales |
RokForm |
4 |
Jim Schmitt |
SWDS |
5 |
Mike Benedict |
thinkASG/MVP |
Beginner Men 24 (24-) 2015 Series 2
1 |
Jacob Still |
Pure Ride Cyclery |
2 |
Joseph Sison |
G2 Bike Shop |
3 |
Ayrton Ward |
|
Beginner Men 29 (25-29) 2015 Series 2
1 |
Justin Keeney |
180Decals |
2 |
Julio Vega |
Don’s Bike Redlands |
3 |
Timothy Peavler |
Rock Sports Racing |
Beginner Men 34 (30-34) 2015 Series 2
1 |
John Levy |
Call my agent. |
2 |
Kevin Heiner |
thinkASG/MVP |
3 |
James Justin Shultz |
BGA-D37-Socal MC |
Beginner Men 39 (35-39) 2015 Series 2
1 |
Jeffrey Sousa |
Pro Bike Supply |
2 |
Ashley Dorna |
|
3 |
Christopher Jones |
Pure Ride Cycles |
Beginner Men 44 (40-44) 2015 Series 2
1 |
Mike Sclimenti |
Linked Cycling |
2 |
Matthew Mccormick |
|
3 |
Robert Cantrell |
CRAZY BEAR |
Beginner Men 49 (45-49) 2015 Series 2
1 |
Orlando Cintron |
|
2 |
Kevin Stiles |
|
3 |
Brent Farrell |
Desert MC |
Beginner Men 50 (50+) 2015 Series 2
1 |
Patrick Rogers |
Perris Pawn |
2 |
Troy Richardson |
nannete Richardson |
3 |
Leigh Heyer |
Pure Ride/RokForm |
Beginner Women 2015 Series 2
1 |
Amber Montero |
Girls Ride 2 (G2) / Fullerton Bikes |
2 |
Karin Lotz |
thinkASG/MVP |
3 |
Patsy Coles |
La Habra Cyclery/Rudy Project |
Junior Girls (12-15)
1 |
150 |
Dixie Owens |
2 |
842 |
Lucy Lundell |
3 |
1525 |
Lauren Lopez |
4 |
175 |
Karly Bundy |
5 |
2515 |
Kortney Maeda |
Kids 9-11 Boys
1 |
Ryan Pinkerton |
|
2 |
Stewart Harris |
BBI-SIC |
3 |
Adam Emter |
Trabuco Hills MTB |
4 |
Luke Fetzer |
Laguna Cyclery |
5 |
Ryan Holmes |
|
Kids 9-11 Girls
Dixie Owens (center) received the 1st Ever Girls Kid’s 9-11 RokForm Series Leader Award
1 |
Elizabeth Harita |
RokForm |
2 |
Ava Fong |
The Path Bike Shop |
3 |
Linsey Gist |
Mom & Dad |
4 |
Hannah Wray |
|
5 |
Sophia Vargas |
Empire Bikes |
1 Comment
Thank God #raceoth is no ordinary bike race http://t.co/zobsgKUYhj