Super Rookie's World

Second week of mountain bike race promotion was last night.

We had 62 racers show up. This was a two rider decline from the week before (we actually had 64 and not 62), but we did see an increase in the Beginner Class. This leads me to believe that a few of the Advanced riders from Week 1 will be back in the future. If we were to break these numbers down further we find that we have had 90 unique racers over the course of the two weeks and 54 of these racers are non-USA Cycling licence holders.

It was mentioned that we could hold this event outside the purview of USA Cycling and save some money. I do not know of any alternative insurance policies that would meet the requirements of our land owners and still give racers the ranking points they seem to desire. Interestingly, we have seen about 10% of racers at the event purchase an annual licence. Purchases that in the long run do not save the rider any money as the racing at our series is a $10 flat-fee without a one-day licence fee we see at road events.

I am surprised that we have gotten 60+ riders both weeks. I was hoping to get about 40 a week when we started this endeavor. I figure if we can get 60 per week there is a great chance that in subsequent events we could eventually break 100 racers. It will be a slow process, but at 90 different racers taking the plunge…we just need to keep some of them coming back and providing value.

Topping it off is that we have had 25 different kids line up for the kids race. This seems to be the meal ticket and encourage families to come out.

Here is the report that I wrote for the race website.

————————————————————–

Gibbs Is Tops At Week Two In Gainesville.

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Tim

The second straight week of mountain bike racing in Gainesville, FL went off without a hitch as sixty-two racers toed the start line in two different categories at the Summer Mountain Bike Series presented by Syzygy Graphics.

(#33 Rodney Reber joined #1 Clint Gibbs, #23 Rick Buning and #19 Ryan Woodall in the front row for the Advanced Race start. Photo: Cathy Bester)

The advanced field consisted of 28 racers and was notably missing week one winner Victor Alber and 18 year-old upstart Chris Borgert. With this void at the top end of the field, there were plenty of opportunities for racers to climb up the ladder. The race started fast and furious with Ryan Woodall (Top Gear Bicycles) taking the highly coveted Alcove Holeshot prize leading into the singletrack on the first lap over Rick Buning (352 Racing). Buning would run into bad luck shortly after and had to drop out of the race with a bent crank arm as Woodall continued to pull away from the field.

Clint Gibbs (Bike Works) took full advantage of his local course knowledge to catch up to Woodall after the first lap and the two ran away from the field. On the final lap, Gibbs outpaced Woodall on the final climb to take the victory with local Gainesville legend, Rodney Reber (Gator Cycle) taking third place in his first week of racing in the series. Steve Mace (First Place Racing) made the podium for the first time and last week’s fifth place finisher, Fred Lintz (Gator Cycle) rounded out the podium on his rigid steel single speed.

(L-R: Lintz, Woodall, Gibbs, Reber, Mace Photo: Robin LaManna)

A field of 34 racers in the beginners class featuring six women was full of great racing. The final lap was a close fought battle between Travis Sink and Matthew Hina. Sink outpaced Hina on the final climb to take the win and both promised to duke it out in the future. Taking the third step on the podium was 15 year old Justin Pfaff (Cycle Logic). Pfaff improved his time by over six and a half minutes from last week. The top female racer of the week was Mary-Kate Wilson who finished 5th overall besting many of the men in the field.

Over the course of two weeks of racing, the Summer Mountain Bike Series has had 90 different racers participate in the Adult races and 25 kid’s have convinced their parents to let them race on the kid friendly 1/4mile loop.

The Summer Mountain Bike Series presented by Syzygy Graphics continues next Wednesday night at the Rock Trails at 6:00pm. The series is promoted by 352 Racing which is based out of the Bikes and More Bicycle Shop at 2133 NW 6th Street in Gainesville, Florida. Local Gainesville business sponsors of the race series are Syzygy Graphics, Alcove Bar, Gator Cycle, The Super Cool Bike Shop and Ryan Saylor Realty.

For more information visit: www.summermountainbikeseries.com

Last night the gang at 352 Racing p/b Bikes and More put on the first night of the Summer Mountain Bike Series p/b Syzygy Graphics. This was our first attempt at putting together a mountain bike event. We were able to use the Rock Trails which is the same venue we use for our cyclocross race, Swamp Cross.

(The advanced race top 5!)

I was a little nervous going into the race, as normal, but with my team of hard working volunteers we were able to pull it off. Every single person from the squad that showed up asked if they could be of help even before they got worried about the actual racing. Making it even better was the exceptional turnout of 63 racers that took to the line. I was hoping to have 30 racers. We even had about 15 little kids racing in our junior event and they all promised me that they were going to come back for more next week!

Of the 63 racers we had 40 that were not USA Cycling licence holders and we ranged in age from 11 to 70 at the start line. I am still blown away. There were zero complaints from anyone and quite a lot of people came up and thanked us for putting the race on. All we need to do in the future is make sure the grass gets mowed and do a better job of getting the podium together!

On a side note, I was totally organized this time at registration:

…

This now means I have had my hand in the following:

• 1 Stupor Bowl (2005)
• 1 Criterium (Campus Criterium 2007)
• 7 Cyclocross Races (3 VeloCX, 2 State Championship Weekends, 2 Swamp Cross Weekends)
• 2 Gold Sprints Series (Cold Sprints)
• 1 Mountain Bike Series (Summer Mountain Bike Series)

Wow. I think the person that needs the most thanks is my wife, Sarah, for putting up with all the hassle.