Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series

       

Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Course

So last night I did my first race of the year. The Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series is held in the infield of the Portland International Raceway. I guess the Cyclocross Nationals in 2004 were held there. At the same time as the off road event there was some kind of roadie event going on the outer circle. They were doing crits or something on the racetrack itself. Needless to say there were alot of bikers. I'd say in the Sport wave I had maybe 40 riders. I lined up somewhere in the middle 2nd row. The course was basically a BMX style course with a short section singletrack in that they routed you off the course through some trees for a couple log jumps and in between tight trees. It was a 30 min race. I didn't pre-ride so I thought I would just sit back and check things out. At the gun I got excited and since some weren't taking off too fast in the loose dirt I found myself sitting top 5 or 10 into the first few hills/jumps/whatever. Then into the single track this dude crashed causing me to do some rubbin' against some trees to get by. The first lap was about 4 minutes and I was pretty tired. So I sat back a little and got into my XC pace. Well I started getting caught. And getting tired. I think I was passed by maybe 10 or so in the next 25 minutes. I could make up ground in the single track but in the sections where you had to gas it, I had no gas to give. Even though I ride 20 miles a day I've been eating well and have a few pounds I could lose. I guess all that beer drinking doesn't help either. Results aren't posted yet and I'm not sure where I finished but it was fun to get out during the week and get a little taste of the local racing scene. I signed up for the series so for the next 5 Monday nights I'll be there. Looking to check out more about the Pro/Elite race too.