Race Report 8/30 Over The Hump Series Finale

Well like all good things, even the OTH series has to come to an end for the year. What a blast it was riding with a bunch of awesome people, getting cheered on from every angle of the course. Probably the biggest thing that stuck out in my mind tonight was Ted Posch. After not finishing my race due to a flat tire ](*,) I was pretty bummed but got back to the FB tent and saw Ted with a big smile on his face, I asked him how he did on his race and he said "dead last" with a giant smile on his face. He said he was just happy to have finished the race. It put my little pity party into perspective that I was given the chance to come out here and enjoy a great race!!! Hope to hear everyones stories and pictures. \\/

 

super good time.

huge thanks to todd and carrie making up fliers to help promote the take a kid mtb day.

if anyone is interested in joining in with their groms please do so but please make sure you rsvp here

brought my bike but decided just to hang out on the hill with Dino, Tom and the rest of the peeps. funs stuff. got a sh!teload of pics but only posting a few. congrats to everyone who raced today especially the KIDS!!!!!

 

Damn, wish I could have made it out. Had everything ready and was just about to leave and then got stuck at work. Good job everyone who raced this season!

 

The wife and I weren't able to make it out today to cheer on the racers or take a few pics (Bummer!)

But congratulations to all the winners and all those who participated (as racers, event organizers, support staff, cheering section) :clap:

 

Wow!!! What a series! A Huge "thanks" to Matt, John, and staff. Big "thanks" to Dino, Tom, and Mike (FullertonMike), for all the encouragement and cheering. "Thank You" to my friends Paul, Greg, Chris, and Amy for encouraging me to come out.

As some of you know, last year I brought F&M Bank to OTH as a sponsor, and this year we sponsored the SS class. Since I was sponsoring the class, I felt an obligation to race at least a few. Sure I wasn't the fastest out there, but the challenge and completion of riding an SS for 3 laps in of itself is the greatest reward.

Sadly, today I have ended my 7 year tenure with F&M Bank, and have gone on to other endevors as I (and my wife) believe it is God leading us. I'm not sure F&M Bank will sponsor OTH without me, but know where I am heading we will be out to sponsor next season.

Great job everyone! It has been a great pleasure and privilage to get to know quite a few of you through OTH (Thomas, Dino, The Hotchkiss', FullertonMike, and others). Godspeed.

 

THIS is what makes OTH... special! :clap:
Kirt Smith (L)... Manny Manny (R)
Same category. Fierce competitors. Friends.
Note: Kirt finished 3rd Overall. Manny finished 4th Overall. (didn't sop Manny from cheering for Kirt during the Awards presentation)


THIS is what makes OTH... special!
The man on the left took a few pictures of JSD (I believe it was week 4). He stopped by the STR booth asking if we knew how to contact the person in the pictures. I told him to wait 5 minutes... JSD made his way over to the booth.. I introduce JSD to the man... The man informed JSD that he had taken a few pics- Thought John might want to have them! :clap:


THIS is what makes OTH... special!
(My Hero) Todd Blaser---> Fullerton Mike---> Mr. Hot Shoppe Himself<----
Fierce Rivals. Awesome individuals. Longtime friends. :clap:


THIS is what makes OTH... special!
Ted (Left): Expert-level racer. He had major cancer surgery a month ago. Ted decided that he wanted to race today. When asked where he finished, Ted SMILED (as wide as he could) and proceeded to inform the man he was dead last! (happy to be racing.. happy to be alive):clap:

Mr Smith (middle): He's cool. He's humble. He's talented. Enough said!

Fullerton Mike: I have no freakin' clue where to begin!
OTH sponsor. He brought in other sponsors. Paid the entry fees of a handful of STR members. Paid for non-STR members to race. He brought 3 (PERSONAL) bikes to every race... one for him to race.. two for those in need (how many people do you know who let people race their XTR-equipped bikes)? Etc. Etc. Etc.


Dave: The hardest working man in show business!


Big Tex, Dirty Dave and MnmDan having a good time!


Congratulations Dan (3rd Overall... Men's Super Sport)




Rollinstone and his little race buddy (the youngster finished 7th)


Jupiter Award recipient
(the man behind the kids races)


If only you rode as fast as you drank beer! 8-[


Manny (right) is one lucky guy...
His brother is beyond cool (races when he can)
His girlfriend is also beyond cool! So much so that she had someone deliver a $50 gift card this afternoon (she was proud of Manny... thought he deserved it).


Congratulations Amy (1st Overall)


Amy and Chris


THIS is what OTH is all about!
(hint: brotherhood and friendship)


Laurence (aka SkirtCount) took 1st Overall. Just started mountain biking in May!
Mr. Smith (white... 3rd Overall). His future looks VERY bright!


Giddy (3rd Overall.... Left)
A year ago, he was an overweight BMX Champion.
Today he is a lean, mean, award winning machine!
Keep up the good work. Cough... Vision Quest?


John, Matt and Dave
I came "this close" to having someone rip the mic out of Matt's hand on Tuesday (during the awards ceremony)! Would have been nice had we given them a round of applause (for hosting such a wonderful event... for giving us something to do on Tuesday Nights... for making it possible for "us" to make new friends... etc.). What I'm trying to say is: Thanks fellas! :clap:


Matt: With regard to the "ideas" that were thrown around on Tuesday....
.
.
.
To be continued...

 

David. Yes Ted looks at it a little different way these days. It is great to see how he views the every day parts off life after cancer. He knows how blessed he really is.

I think the OTH is one of the best races out there. Matt and John work real hard at the event to make sure everyone has a good time. I was happy to be a part of it.

A BIG thanks to all the fb-BP crew that supported us Every race. Thank you.

A few guys stood tall and proud on the podium

Jeremiah Smith 1st men's super sport
Lawarnce 1st men's b1
Greg Wolf 3 means sport 3
David Holtman 3 men's b3
Manny 4th men's b1
Billy Pointer with the fb hat 1st men's sport 2
Brent Franze 4 jr boys
Dino's favorite fb boy Todd Blaser 4th men's sport 3
And to everyone that came out and raced Thanks

And everyone's favorite cheer leader Dino!

We can't wait till next year!

 

well brother your support at the race was powerful. And valued. I'm sure in your new adventure you will be successful. God would lead you in any other direction. I'm blessed to have become your friend. I feel OTH was the reason. I look forward to hearing more. See you soon

 

Such an awesome series with awesome people! I'm looking forward to the 2012 season already (I hope I'm still in CA).

 

Thanks to Matt, John, Dave, and all the volunteers for this series. You guys put on a well organized and fun series. Big thanks!
Big congratulations to all the winners and everyone who participated. I had a blast racing and meeting everyone, especially Dino, Big Tex, Fullerton Mike, Thomas Wild Child, Brownie, MNM Dan, Lawrence and many others. I'm looking forward to next year, and hope to see you all there!

 

I won't have time to post a real reply until later so hopefully this will tide you over till then!:clap:

 

It's been such a great series, lots of kudos to Matt, John, all the volunteers, and all of the sponsors that made OTH such a success this year!! Many thanks to Dino, his determination to cheer everyone on each week, and his caring attitude that allows everyone who meets him to truly feel a part of this STR family! Many thanks to everyone cheering and snapping photos last night (Thomas, Mike, etc). It felt like there were cameras and encouraging words everywhere! Huge congrats to all who placed overall in their class, and especially to Ted (that last place finish is a HUGE accomplishment!!!!!!).

I've loved being a part of the single speed class this year (thanks to Bryan-zioncoming for sponsoring it). It's been intimidating lining up with these guys each week, but it's pushed me beyond my comfort zone, and that's awesome. I didn't have the best race last night, but I didn't have the worst. Most importantly, I had a blast (although, I could've done without a crash on that last lap).

Thank you all for making me feel at home every Tuesday night. I'll treasure the memories.

 

Thanks you Matt and John for putting on a great event! Matt invited me out to the lake to take pictures for the event. Speaking with a few of the particpants it was nice to hear such positive feed back about the event.

I took several hundred pictures of the event many of which are of indiviual racers. If you'd like to see if I caught you in action, please send me a message and I'll check to see if I have it. I take pictures only as a hobby and expect nothing in return. It may take a few days to get the pictures to you as I gave my SD card to Matt so he can post some pictures on his OTH website. When I get the card back I'll send you the file.

Please include your plate # and email address in your request.

Frank

 

Awesome, awesome series and awesome, awesome people! Enjoyed meeting lots of new folks at the few races I was able to make. Those of you - Dino, TWC and many others - who come out to do nothing more than encourage others are amazing. Thanks in large part to that kind of encouragement, I've made good progress in my fitness, and had a lot of fun along the way. The difference from my first race to last night is amazing. I felt so much better last night than I did the first time, even though I pushed harder (dropped my chain at the bottom of the first hill, was DFL in B3 when I got going again).

A big thanks to all the organizers, volunteers and cheer squad. I'm not sure if I'd have tried this racing thing under different circumstances that I'd have kept at it.

How far away is May?

 

Thank you all for the encouraging comments. Matt and I have had so much fun putting on the race! We've made a ton of new friends too, and you all feel like family to us. We will miss Tuesday nights for sure! For us the reward is reading comments like these and hearing the stories about the race. Seeing a kid try racing for the first time, or families out in the grass enjoying time together, or hearing the stories about overcoming personal challenges and pushing to success. It's really an amazing experience and we are honored to be a part of it. I can tell you one thing for sure... Mountain Biking is alive and well in Orange county! Thank you all for making this event such a special experience.

Cheers!

If not before... we'll see you on May 22, 2012!

 

Now that my broken collarbone is mostly rehabbed, I look forward to preparing for next year! It's been killing me to have to ride past Irvine Lake on Tuesday evenings on my way to Blackstar and not be able to participate in the race...:-({|=

 

This is my first year getting into racing and I’m really glad I decided to participate in this summer race series. To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect when I showed up for the first race, but I had fun and decided to keep coming out. I ended up making it to 10 of the 12 races and raced in the Super Sport cat every time. Everyone in this category is fast!

These weekly races were a great way to push myself and make me ride all out for an hour. Last night was no exception. For a few of the races this year I was doing some long rides over the weekends and wasn’t sure if I was fully recovered by Tuesday night. For the final week/race I tried to work my weekly rides around getting ready for the final race. I pushed hard last night but still really ended in the same spot I had been all season. I will definitely have to give the Super Sport a go again next season to see if I can improve my times (and at least get an OTH pint glass!)

Many thanks to the STR crew for all of the cheering at the top of the hill and to the race crew organizers and volunteers for putting on such a great summer race series.

 

Great job JR, Matt, and crew!
Being as old as I am, I do not take for granted the incredible event you have put together for Southern Cal! I have met some fantastic people throughout the last 2 seasons, and have pushed my body further than I thought it could ever go (by a factor of 2 or 3!).
Probably the best thing that has come out of this for me, is having 2 of my kids (ages 22 and 25) out there racing in the Men's and Women's beginner divisions with me. They had to dig down deep to even show up, but they finished great and can't wait till next year. My 15 year old pre rode the course last night and was almost talked in to entering the race, but that will have to wait till next year also.
My motivation for the race series this year was to raise money for Team Duke, in honor of my 20 year old son Jarrett, who has fought brain cancer for the past 4 and a half years. We raised over $5600 from a fantastic group of Jarrett's friends and Family for this great cause. Jarrett is an incredible inspiration to me, and on many occasions during races, forced me to dig down very deep to get through some of the pain my racing buddies were inflicting!! Great news on Jarrett; he had his latest MRI last week, and he continues to be all clear of cancer!!

Thanks OTH!!
Jorge

 

I just got back into mountian biking and the last 2 OTH races were my first races ever. It is so cool that there is a place like OTH for beginners to try out competition in such a fun and laid back atmosphere. I had a blast and plan on coming back next year, hopefully for most if not all the races. Thanks to the organizers!!!

 

Thanks to the whole OTH series staff and Farmers Merchant for supporting the single speed class. Thanks for all the gifts us podium finishers received. And congratulations to Eric Williams for the 1st place overall in the SS class. See you all next year.