Over the Hump is the Best Beginner Race in the Country: Why?
How can I get into mountain bike racing, if I’ve never raced before? Which mountain bike race should I try first?
Asking good questions will land you with revealing and useful answers. What’s stopping you from trying: Nerves, the unknown? Or are you an adventurer at heart, and truly wanting to give yourself an epic weekly goal that will change you for the better?
Over the Hump is the help desk for making dreams come true. We enable people who might never have considered mountain bike racing a place to experience this beautiful, dirty group of mountain bikers, in Orange County.
Over the Hump, was built for THE BEGINNER and ENTHUSIAST. At our core is a hope that we give first timers and repeat offenders the time of their life on two wheels, from the moment they arrive to the time you head home. So in an effort to make this simple, the bullet points below should help you find your way through the crowd on the first night…
STEP 1: The FUN Starts with saying “YES”
- Registration is OPEN! Don’t let April go buy without registering your commitment to a fun and epic experience at Over the Hump (Season opener sells out annually, and we do not register anyone on site)
- Print out and bring the Waiver (click here) when you pick up your number plate.
Step 2: Race Day season opener is Tuesday, May 9
Prior to arrival, please read REQUIRED RACE INFO (all racers must read)
- Check-In Begins at 4:00pm on Tuesday; Pre-registration only, there will be no onsite registration opening night.
- Allow arrival 30 minutes prior to your estimated arrival time, for the season opener (don’t worry, we build a little extra time into our plan on opening night)
- Parking is $5/car, pay and park.
- Follow the traffic to the North towards our staging area.
- At this point you can either pick up your number plate, or go through Speed check to make sure your plate is registered
- Get your Right calf marked with your race class at the “Leg Marking Tent” in the middle of the grass area).
Step 3: Getting on the Course:
- At 4:30pm you can get out go out and pre-ride the race.
- Cones: Orange cones mark the Adult Course, stay on the inside corner of all cone markings Blue Cones mark the Kid’s Course (ages 6-11)
- Enjoy the festivities! Our MC will direct traffic from here, wonder around the exhibit area, high five friends, get a quick adjustment from one of our favorite bike shops.
- At 5:30pm the pre-ride course is closed, and we clear the race course for the Kid’s race.
- At the end of the kid’s race, right before 6pm, we’ll begin to place the Race Start Order signs on the course.
- ONLY After the signs are in place, AND the MC announces we racers may stage for the race, are racers allowed to get into their correct starting positions *The signs will also match your leg marking*
- At approximately 6:00pm we begin to send racers out onto the course, in their appropriate classes.
- Not all racers start at the same time
- As race classes are released the next group will be moved forward to the start line.
- Pay attention to the number of laps your class is to do on race night, you’re responsible to track that.
- After you complete your number of laps, and pass under the START/FINISH arch, please pass through the FINISH CHUTE, to verify your finish order, as directed.
After the Race:
- Finishing times are posted after the race, same night, onsite…so make sure you stick around
- Bring some cash for beer, Wahoo’s Tacos, soda, drinks and treats, after the race. This is where we all hang out and grow the community.
- At approximately 7:45pm we post the official results and distribute the winner’s pint glasses.
- The top 30% receive a Winner’s Pint Glass
Your Next Race:
- When you come back to race next week, the leader in each class will be given the “Two Brothers Racing Leader’s Jersey”
- After race two, usually Wednesday Evening, we post the adjustments to series results.
- The BEGINNER RACE CLASS is scored best 4 out of 6 races, dropping up to two races.
- All other classes will be scored 9 of 12 races.
We look forward to seeing you Tuesday nights this summer, and will have volunteers on-hand to help you find your way through the first race. We’re confident that the signage, people, vibe, and race experience will have you experiencing some of the best time you’ve ever had participating in an athletic event.
Our Guarantee- What if I hate my first race? We’ll give you your money back, heck for that matter, tell us how we can improve your experience the next week, and we’ll take a look at how we can make our beginner race experience even better.
Come join us for some dirty fun this summer. You won’t regret it.