Portland Short Track Series (Race 1, 4 and 5)

Wow, have I been slacking in the Race report department… Therefore, I’m going to do a combo report on the last 3 Short Track Races I have competed in (since the end of June). Technically there have been 5, but I’ve only been able to race 3 of them. So, without further ado…

Portland Short Track Racing
Portland International Raceway (PIR)
June 22, July 13, July 20th (2 more left in the series btw)

PIR is once again hosting the the PDX short track series on Monday nights. This I believe is the 5th year. The race series takes place at Portland International Raceway (PIR) on a track that consisted of the motocross track as well as some single track weaving through the trees in the infield of the racetrack. The course changes on a weekly basis, but the theme remains the same. Coincidentally, the weekly PIR road bike race was happening on the main (paved) raceway at the same time, so there were cyclists & fans everywhere.

The single speed races started @ 6:30 under warm summer skies (It was around 95 this past week) with up to 60+ SS riders on some nights jockeying for position after the starting gun to get a lead up to the first big set of whoop dee doos.The race weaved around the track and as usual I tried to get a good position before a steep 'run up' (which was actually totally rideable as long as there was no one slower in your way). In typical Porter style, I’ve consistently had poor starting positions. 1 week it was nerves, then next was due to a Le Mans start and this final week I just don’t have an excuse… I’m just not the fast off the gun I guess. Something to work on for cross I think.

I am faster than most of the riders out here in the SS class, so I am at least able to pick them off and had fun doing the course - riding the whoopee’s, jumping the berms, riding the log barriers they layout on the course and trying to catch as much air on the big bumps. It was fun and fast.
Each race is similar, but also different. It’s a great way to spend a summer evening. The added benefit, is that there are kids races so I had my brood out there mixing it up as well and both placing quite well in their ‘categories’.

In summary (since this is a summarized race report of 3 races) is as follows:

June 22: 6th Place
July 13: 10th Place
July 20th: 6th place.

My goal is of course to always place in the top ten, but my ‘real goal’ is to break the top 5 or even 3 (I did it once last year). I’ve got 2 more races to try to accomplish this.

Oh, and I should mention, this race series is the first racing I've done on my new 29er SS. A Salsa Selma... A report should be coming on this sweet bike if I ever get off my duff!

Cheers.

Short Track #5

Portland Short Track #5
Portland International Raceway
SS category
July 21, 2008

Again, I'm tardy in publishing this race report as I've had a ton going on with a really busy work schedule, and our upcoming vacation.

I had an almost perfect starting position and a good (not great) start. I made it into the first corner with the top 10 guys and mananged to stick with this group for the rest of the race, working my way up to a finishing placement of 4th (out of 54 folks). The course as usual was different than the previous weeks. The organizers added in a couple of logs and even a stretch of pavement(!). Fun times.

This is my last STXC of the year and probably my last race until 'cross starts so I'll do a quick recap:

#1: 3rd place
#3: 18th place
#4: 6th place
#5: 4th place


As compared to last year...

#1 22nd
#2 10th
#4 8th
#5 8th


Whoah - in a good way. Same as last year 3 top 10s, but in reality the competition was harder this year and I placed higher in each of the races. My best 3 races this year placed higher than my best all around last year.

I am bummed to miss the final race, but I should be having fun regardless :).

Short Track #4

Totally late post, so I am not going to create a lengthy description....

Details:
New Course
SS category
# of Riders: 43 riders
Final placement: 6th place

Cool picture:
http://photos.oregonvelo.com/p/pdxstxc071408r2/pdxstxc07140815940

The guy that took 1st in the race also races for Twin Six. His first race in the series. Nice work Jeff!

I followed up with the Twin Six guys and apparently he is also a good cyclocrosser so I am sure we will see more of him this fall.

Short Track #3

Short Track #3
Portland International Raceway
July 7, 2008

Wow, that was hard. Dusty, sweaty, bumpy, hot and hard. I'm not sure yet how I did, but I know it wasn't particularly well.

I broke the 1st rule of Short Track (no, it is not not talking about Short track). I had a bad start. Not just a bad start, but a horrible start. I was out pre-riding the course and doing a bit of scouting when the rest of the field was lining up. When I finally dragged my sorry butt over to the start line it was already 3 deep. Nice.

Race started and based on my excellent starting position I new I had my work cut out for me. I went as aggressive as possible and muscled my way on up. Unfortunately, as soon as I was gaining ground I lost my chain on the top of a crest and spent what seemed like an eternity getting it back on...guess I should have checked that ahead of time...

By the time I had it back on, the majority of the field had passed me, thus I spent the rest of the race trying to make up time. I'll be lucky if I placed mid pack.

On the bright side, it was still fun, but a hard fun.

Update: Looks like I placed 18th out of 54. Not great, but not as bad as I thought under the circumstances.

Also, looks like my new nemisis at Tabor this year took first. Darn 19 year olds..

Portland Short Track Racing #1

June 23, 2008
Portland International Raceway - infield
Single Speed

I knew it must finally be summer as I rode my mountain bike from downtown in the summer evening sun out to the race track. A beautiful evening with sun shining and the crowds of cyclists all around (roadies on the race track, mtn bikers on the infield). This is my 3rd season racing SS STX and I definitely have something to prove. Last year I did a couple top tens, but for the most part I had a pretty mediocre season. My first race in the series last year resulted in a crash.

If I've learned anything from 'cross, it's that a good crash is critical to a good finish. I took that to heart and got a good starting position on the right side and after the starting bell I took off and took the hole shot. Next thing I knew, I'm with the lead rider - Weaver - the series winner for the past 2 years. Although he was going fast, it didn't fell like I couldn't at least hang on, so I went for it.

A lap later I'm still sitting in 2nd when another guy comes screaming around me. I wasn't sure who it was so I returned the favor on the whoop dees and went around him. We did this a few times until he (ended up being Butler) put the hammer down and him and Weaver started pulling away.

I kept up my pace and ended up the race in 3rd place. My best result in a short track race in 3rd place our of 48 riders. (Big Group!)

Update: Video of Monday's race. All Categories including Kiddies


2008 Short Track Series - RACE 1 from Scott Barker on Vimeo.

On a more somber note, mid way through the race a fellow racer (30 yrs old) collapsed from a cardiac arrest. More info on this at BikePortland.org. Scary stuff, but as it turns out the first responders did all the right things and the fellow is going to be just fine.

Portland Short track #4

July 16, 2007
Portland International Raceway
Portland, OR

I'm tardy in publishing this race report as I've had a ton going on with a really busy work schedule, our kitchen remodel and of course the recent trip we (the Porter clan) just took to Disneyland!!! (tons of fun, but word to the wise - Thunder mountain railroad is not the most appropriate ride for a 3 & 6 year old. I think both kids may have almost had heart attacks and Megan & I had to build up their trust again for the next 2 days!)

The race as usual was great. I completed 7 quick laps along with the rest of the race leaders and managed to hang on for a series best of 8th place. One thing really exciting, is the number of riders from "Team Cyclepath" in the top 10!

Order Plate Name Team
1 90 Andy McKerrow Bike Gallery
2 141 Ryan Weaver (prime) River City Bicycles
3 30 Patrick Wilder Cyclepath
4 114 Martin Baker bicycleattorney.com
5 64 Jacob Furniss Eddy Merkin
6 11 Pete Zlatnik Bike Gallery
7 31 Nelson Snyder Cyclepath
8 13 Daniel Porter Cyclepath
9 353 Michael Gallagher River City Bicycles
10 240 Matt Hall Ira Ryan Cycles/Veloshop

34 single speeders started the race which was a decent sized group. The course was more like a cyclocross race than a mtn bike race, though it did not contain any dismounts.
I missed this past weeks race (July 23) as we were still traveling, but I am anxious for the series final on July 30th. Stay tuned!

Portland Short Track #3

Lucky # 13

I should have published this photo last week, as it was during last weeks race that I crashed, almost lost my front wheel (had to stop and tighten the skewer) and got off course requiring a reride of a section I already completed. I'm not a superstitious person, and this week the #13 worked just fine. I moved up 12 spots from last week to finish in the top 10 (10th place to be exact). The race was course was a little more technical and longer than the week before and although it was a hot night, we had a nice summer breeze that kept the temps in check.

Single speeders finished 6 laps in the 30 minute race. Each lap was about 1 mile long. I'll let you do the math on how fast that is. As mentioned earlier, the course was a bit more technical and quite a bit longer (though strangely we did the same number of laps). I managed to keep the rubber side down this week, however the same could not be said for everyone. Lots of guys were going down on the course. I removed the bar ends (that although I like) caused me problems in the last race. Also, I lowered my wheel pressure down a bit which gave me a tad more traction. Next week I might try making my gear ratio bigger (or is it smaller?) Anyway, easier.... Currently riding 36 x 18 which is a great forest park gear range. Not so great for slow flats where I need to have quick etup & go. I think.... If I have a 20 tooth rear cog I might try that instead.

Totally unrelated to bike racing, but just curious if you know what stress is. Here is a picture of stress:

My Kitchen
(actually, sheetrock was installed today, so it looks a bit better)

Actually, it does have something to do with bikes & bike racing. Kitchen remodels are stressful. They are expensive (this one is costing us 50% of what we paid for our first house!), you have to eat out a lot or devise creative ways to cook with a skillet and a microwave and if you have kids, you have to keep them from playing with/eating/etc. the insulation. The list goes on and on. Anyway, riding my bike and racing my bike seems to melt that stress away. Try it, I promise, you'll like it.

Portland Short Track #2

Portland Short Track Series
Race #2
July 2nd, 2007
Portland International Raceway (PIR)

Picture courtesy of bikeportland.org

Like the Mount Tabor Series, Portland Short Track is another week day (after work) racing series that happens every year here in Portland.

I missed the first one as it happened to land on my wife's birthday, so I was quite anxious at the start of this weeks race.

I rode out to Portland International Raceway (about a 6-7 mile ride from downtown) to revel in the whoops, turns and twists of the popular MTB Short Track course. (200+ racers showed up this week (for all categories).

The gun went off, I tore into the first turn hot, and bam next thing I knew, I was on the ground along with a couple of other guys. I picked myself and my bike out of the dirt and jump back on the saddle. Unfortunately, the damage was done and I lost my chance at a good placing. I played the rest of the race trying to catch up. I had a few more problems over the next 6 laps - my front skewer was loose (due to the crash) and I opted to stop and fix it over the chance of losing teeth in the event of my front wheel coming off. Then, I got lost on the course (how does one get lost on a STX course?).

Not to complain. The race was great fun and well run as always. Plus, you need to have bad races to appreciate the good ones. I ended up in 22nd place out of about 40 single speeders. We all did 6 laps on a beautiful summer evening. How bad can it be?

Mechanicals Suck

I was tired, sore, it was around 97 degrees and I was cranky. BUT

I raced a great fast race and was in 5th place and gaining until my chain fell off midway through the race. I put it back on, and it fell off again. I gave up after my 3rd attempt. My second DNF ever. Both related to mechanicals. I've always prided myself in finishing races and now I have another 'Did Not Finish". Pisses me off and bums me out at the same time.

On a side note, they had sprinklers going on the course today so i ended up looking like I had done a cross race. It was funny that I actually had to hose off & scrub my bike on a 97 degree evening.

Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series #2

Portland International Raceway (PIR) / Motocross course
Portland, OR
July 17, 2006

pre race jitters

Monday night's Portland Short Track single speed race again started under sunny summer evening skies at 6:30. Unbeknownst to me, the course promotor mixes up the course each week so it had a totally different layout than what I expected. (Note to self: Get to venue early enough to preride at least one time...) This week's course consisted of more single track weaving in and out of a grove of trees and less on the moto cross course. I'm fine with the change, however I wished there were more places to pass in the trees as I was often bogged down by inexperienced riders slowly weaving between the tight trees. Most were good about letting you pass, however as you were waiting to do so you watched the race leaders increase their lead.

Coming around the corner onto the moto track

For whatever reason (most likely field size & logistics), the Single Speeders race at the same time as the sport women (vs the sport or expert men). Being that the bulk of the SS riders lapped most of the women's field 2x this resulted in repetitive problems in passing. You could basically win or lose the race based upon whether or not you got in front of a field of slower racers and your competitors did not.

Don't get me wrong, it was a fun night. I did 9 laps & placed 8th (one place better than last week), so at least I am consistent. I know now that my strategy has got to be to get out in front of the group at the start of the race vs. my current 'strategy' of starting slow, picking up speed and spending the race picking off slower riders during the course of the race. I'm one of those racers that take a few laps to get up to 'race speed', and unfortunately, with just 30 minutes of racing you need to be firing on all cylinders from the get go. All in all, I think that Short Track is going to be a great primer for cross this year.

Portland Mountain Bike Short Track Series #1

Monday July 10th, 2006
Portland International Raceway(PIR)
Motocross course

Personalized number plates. Nice Touch Portland Racing!

Mountain Bike Short Track: A mountain bike race similar to a criterium where riders do multiple laps on a short 3-5 min course.

PIR hosted the 1st in the PDX short track series on Monday night. Straying from the fixed gear road scene, but remaining with only one gear, I raced my first mountain bike race in years, and my first single speed race ever. The race series takes place at Portland International Raceway (PIR) on a track that consisted of the motocross track as well as some single track weaving through the trees in the infield of the racetrack. Coincidentally, the weekly PIR road bike race was happening on the main (paved) raceway at the same time, so there were cyclists & fans everywhere.

Single speeders line up

The single speed races started @ 6:30 under warm summer skies with the 25+ SS riders jockeying for position after the starting gun to get a lead up to the first big set of whoop dee doos.

The race weaved around the track and I tried to get a good position before a steep 'run up' (which was actually totally rideable as long as there was no one slower in your way). Because of poor position on my part and the people jamming onto the runup, I was forced to do a cross style dismount and carry. This happened for the next couple of laps until the crowd of riders were spreadout enough to allow me to ride the hill (which I was able to do the last 4 laps).

Out on the moto track

I slowly picked of riders and had fun doing the course - riding the whoopdees, jumping the berms, riding the log barriers they layout on the course and trying to catch as much air on the big bumps. It was fun and fast. Each lap took about 3 minutes to do and I managed to complete 9 of them in the 30 minute race to finish with the leaders in 9th place.

Airborne! Coming in to the finish gate

I'd obviously love to have had a better result, however I am still pretty thrilled to have gotten a top 10 - especially since it was my first SS race. I'll definately be trying to improve my placing next Monday!