Whats the skinny on Over the Hump?

Thinking about getting back into racing for sh!ts and giggles (hell its only been 25+ years) and this over the hump thing is just down the road from me.
Considering signing up for the winter series but not sure what category to go in. I was looking at either single speed or intermediate 49.

I know a few of you fullas have raced there in the past. What's the course typically like? Pretty flat?

I can go down to a 34x21 on the ss, if that isn't going to have me hamster spinning a lot of the lap then I'd probably go single speed as then I have a good excuse when I suck

 

You will get left in the dust if you run 34x21t. The course is flat, thus you gotta run a smaller gear. 34x19/18/17.

It's a lot of racers on course, so it always feels crowded.

The course is short and flat...so it's fast.

HR is pegged for 1 hr.

Great atmosphere.

Great vibes.

No pressure.

I only raced once...on the geared bike. But worked it for a few years.

 

I ain't buying another cog just to do a race, I'll take the geared bike. Thanks @mtnbikej

 

I raced one of the Winter Series races last year. I usually try and race all of Southridge since it's closer.

Flat course, great for hardtail if you have one, ideal course for beginners or someone returning. The bigger the engine, the better you'll do. One guy on the start line described it as 'a dirt crit' - he was not wrong. The challenge though is there are lots of flat, loose corners.

Can't really go wrong. Very, very well run event. Lots of food vendors and stuff to do for family.

 

Also a far better race course. Though the construction is ruining that

 

I'm not up to date with the latest but last I heard the city was talking about getting rid of the park or something ridiculously stupid decision like that. I sent the form email they asked to send out.

Southridge is my all time favorite course, would be a huge shame. Guess you get more taxes from warehouses and $800,000 McMansions though.

 

They lost the whole back side of the race course and the north side by the canal. The course got rerouted to the hillside to the south. Which in a way was an improvement, the trails they built were better. But it made the course massively shorter, and they didn't add a lap to compensate (maybe because the climb is hard?). So for the fast guys, we cover all three laps in an hour rather than a preferred 1:20+. But the climb to the summit is still massively hard, and still great. Still great tech, especially for being right in the middle of town.

I really hope it gets worked out, and I hope people return. I did my first UCI pro race there, and that was amazing.

 

Ah, I'm assuming that's the course they ran last season for the final race that started in the neighborhood? I actually liked that a lot but it was definitely short. I put a big hole in my rear tire and shot all my Co2's in it to hold just enough to finish so I wasn't complaining though. They might have run it a few times but I missed a race or two due to some health issues last winter.

 

Thinking I'm going to give it a go next week! I'm excited, anyone else planning on going?

 

That's awesome! Can't wait to read the ride / race report.

 

We are just getting into my son’s baseball season so not doing any winter series. We will be out come May/Summer series. I’m not racing anymore but my 8yr old will be. I always see several people I know and it’s a good vibe environment.

Here are some pics from one in ‘22. It’s a fun place to just hang and grab some food after the race. Hopefully you like it we can have a burger and beer later this year at one!

 

Ahh it's the great @Cornholio !!!Yes!! I'm definitely looking forward to some good food afterwards. I've never been to the lake, from what I've seen on YT, it's a beautiful park and I can't wait to check it out!

 

I did a season a few years ago. The course wasn’t anything special but it was still a lot of fun.Hopefully Docent Brewing and Wahoo Tacos still have their stands there. The best part was the post race beer and tacos!

 

You seem stoked for it, and that's what matters.

There are occasional races at Limestone Canyon and some other parks. https://www.ocmtb.com
Seems like they had more before the so called pandemic, but maybe they will pick up again. If I am in tip-top riding shape when the next Limestone race rolls around, I might do that one for kicks.

There were also some NonDot races that looked pretty fun, especially the ones at Oaks. I never did them myself, and I don't think they do those anymore. NonDot used to always annoy me because they would sanitize the crap out of the trails a couple of days before each race.

 

Hmmm so-called pandemic. So millions of people didn't die? Must be a media conspiracy!

Oh - that's right, they died of other things. I forgot. Carry on.

 

Self-inflicted stupidity and / or ignorance is a thing. Prevalent during said era. Blaming it on someone else is just another form of . . . something.

 

Did you guys even check out that Kona Ice truck? It comes to our school for fundraisers too, pretty rad. That’s my daughter adding way too much syrup to hers in that pic. Anyways, just moving along here.

 

Yeah I am stoked! I don't care if I come in last, my goal is just to complete the race in one piece. I am a little concerned with my riding shape, followed by my inexperience, but I'm prepared to take it down a notch if I have to. I do care about competing, but for now I'm just looking for a good time. I will look into the other park races, thank you!

 

After you conquer some OTH races you can do Counting Coup or Vision Quest. I’ve only done the former and had a blast, easiest day of my life.

 

Lol, I keep thinking about a front wheel wash out. Then I think about @Cyclotourist . Wasn't he the one who had that happen to him a couple years ago? So I'm going to keep it under 100mph first time out lol

 

They are doing Dual Slalom this year for the winter series, and I keep missing that event at Summit. I've never done DS, and I got back into mtb when 4x was going away, so I'm looking forward to it.

 

Hi Grassblade. You know I saw that on the flyer and never heard of it. I kinda had an idea of what I thought DS racing might be. I guess it didn't appeal to me so I didn't think about it. I think it costs extra if you want to race it in addition to the regular race, so I moved on. I just looked it up and found this video.

This looks soo fun!! It's like a mix of everything I would like to do! Mountain biking, slalom racing, I love the BMX start! With 2 racers it has a drag racing feel to it. You guys know that's my Sh!t right there! Thanks for mentioning this Grassblade!

 

That does look fun.

 

It sure does! I bet this is where the best spectating is going to be too.

 

Don't snag your handlebar on the gates!

 

I managed to get time off work for the Friday afternoon practice and I am glad that I did. Past experience had led me to expect something along the lines of a few sandy ruts posing as berms followed by a few sad slalom flags. Happily, I was very mistaken.



The course was amazing! Smooth and fast with very will built and maintained berms. I wasn't prepared for how fast and tight some of the turns were. The blue lane almost felt like dropping into a halfpipe. It was intimidating at first, but an absolute blast. I got 12 practice runs in and I was gassed.

Showed up Race day and the track was FAST. Don't know if it was maintenance, overnight moisture, my increased confidence, or a mix of all of the above, but my first two runs were the fastest I would do, (by the time I did qualifying runs, I had slowed down some.) Looking at my class (Sport Men 40+) I saw 17 participants and assumed I would have the slowest time.

Surprisingly I qualified 15th, so I raced the 2nd highest qualifier, (Craig Johnson who would go on to win the class.)




I pulled my old hand-me-down Chumba out of semi-retirement, (I think I last rode it NYE 2019 and stashed it in the corner of my living room for the last 4 years,) sans the dropper and with the tires pumped up to about 38r/35f

People were riding Dirt Jumpers, 29er XC bikes, Enduros, and one guy had his Orange 4x that he raced 20 years ago in Melbourne.

During practice, I met a bunch of friendly riders. Among them were Cris and Max from the San Diego area. Cris posted some good POV on his YouTube channel:

 

Looks like a lot of fun - thanks for posting and congrats!

 

That looks rad. I am tempted to get into one of those just for fun.

 

YES!!! Congratulations!! Great stuff here! Dudes munching them tacos right before the race, made me realize I approached this entire day wrong!! What a great time. You guys got skills!! Max!!! Them brakes!?!?!