OverTheHump XC Race #1
The O.C. has a new race in town, the OverTheHump XC “series”. The long term goal for this project is to create a weekly wednesday night grass-roots race, and this was the first race for this new organization. But for 2009, we’ll have just 2 events (the next one is September 15). It seems like the concept is going to work – there was a HUGE turn out for a weeknight race with a final count of 315 riders, and plenty of spectators to cheer ‘em on. Vendors, shops, and local bike brands lined up along the parking lot and had stuff to show off. Pretty cool, for a weeknight ride.
Any time you put numbers on riders its going to be fast – even if its promoted as a low key event. This race was no exception. Even local pro riders Manny Prado and Olympian Sid Taberlay came out. The course was fast, with little climbing and some flat out big ring sections. It was a bit tricky in spots with off camber switchbacks and sharp 90 degree turns at the bottom of short downhill sections.
They started the field in full categories – not age brackets. So, each class got off with probably over 100 riders at once. Visibility was down to about 25 meters in some areas due to the dust and setting sun. Mykyta and I were off towards the front, but just seconds after the start someone went down and caused a Tour de France style pile up. Luckily we got around them. Mykyta and I stayed together for a while, but he attacked and pulled away and would go on to take the win! I settled into an endurance pace and came in for 12th out of 43 riders.
Jeff Resnick, our newest rider, rode well in his class with 25th in the 40-49 category. While I wanted full suspension, Jeff wants to run a carbon rigid fork for the next race. Must be a 29er thing….
Michelle and Laura represented Troupe for the girls. Michelle took off and was riding very strong. (Note: they started women with men). She was passing guys on the climbs, and feeling good, but got over confident and crashed… twice. Laura rode well and had no errors and finished up in 5th.
The event was a huge success, and will be a great addition to our training. We’ll be able to use these races to test and try out things before bigger races, and we’ll be looking for ways that we can help this series grow.
