Just when it looked like it wouldn’t happen this year, the Highbridge Summer Sprints race series has risen like a phoenix from the flames and will be burning bright for 5 weeks in a row starting this Friday, July 23. For those who haven’t come out for a Summer Sprints race before, it’s pretty cool- we mark out a roughly 2 mile course of the Highbridge trails (including a bit of paved path and sidewalk, even), and we race. No advance registration, no entry fee, no prizes, no lights necessary (we’re done before dark), and no pressure- you can ride hard or you can just cruise and take advantage of the marked course… it’s up to you.

We provide a taped-out course, number plates and timing, and you show up at 5 (if you want to help us mark and clean up the course) or 6:45 (if you’re just interested in racing). And we run 6 race classes, so it’s pretty simple- Cat 3 (Beginner) Men, Cat 3 Women, Cat 3 Juniors (18 & under), Pro/1/2 Men, Pro 1/2 Women, and DH open.

DH? Yes, that’s right. This is not just a XC race series- we use the very cool Freelap timing system to time DH runs on the Hellfighter freeride trail. You register, we loan you one of our Freelap timers, and log your time at the end of each run. Bring your own Freelap timer if you want to get more runs in. We pull the plug when it gets dark (just after 8PM, usually), and the fastest logged times make the podium.

We track the finishes for the season and at the end of the year will award series prizes to our top finishers at an end-of-the-year event.

This year’s series is made possible by Sids Bikes, who is actually paying two staff members to set up and run the races. Thanks Sids!

For more information, download the event flyer. Questions or comments? Post on the NYCMTB forum. See you at the races!