Predator Keirin Classic 2012

Without boasting, we'd like to officially call last Wednesday's Predator Keirin Classic at the Encino Velodrome a success, thanks to help from so many people, from our incredible generous sponsors, amazing riders, everyone who helped promote, the great support we got that night, and the crowd that just blew us away.

The races

Scratch Race

Despite the 87 degrees at the Scratch race start time, 23 cyclists lined up to ride, Collin Berry impressed everyone easily taking first place in the scratch, having lapped the field. Big congrats Collin.  

Keirin Classic

The Bs and Cs

It was great to see all the new riders out on the track, including lots of juniors and serious female competitors, can't wait to see which Bs take on the As next year.

The As

So many great riders came out to compete for the As, but at the end of the night it was the Williams brothers who swept the Keirin finals, finishing first and second. Corey actually came in first, and Justin took second.  

The riders

We would be amiss not to mention, amongst the several female competitors, we were excited to see you all out there, but it was Missy Erickson who was the most impressive and stole the crowd's heart competing with the fastest guys in the As, she held her own, making it to the finals. She is fun to watch, Check out her race report here. Curious about last year's winner Tim McGee? We were really hoping to see another rivalry between Tim and Justin Williams. But Tim didn't qualify for the finals this year. Meanwhile Justin proved himself the most consistent rider, placing 2nd again, maybe third time's the charm Justin.  

So many people to thank

We''re going to try and thank everyone, here goes.   Special thanks to Kieron Menzies and Ride the Black Line for setting up the Summer Race Series, and allowing us to be a part of it and the opportunity to host one of the best events, the Keirin Race, we are already looking forward to hosting it next year.   A big thanks to Ivan Harms of FSA for showing up, setting up a booth and being so generous with your prizes.   Also thanks to NOW bars, who thanks to our Argentina BBQ guy (who got pulled over and his vehicle repoed, don't ask, it's messy, next year we're thinking we're going to charge someone to have exclusivity on selling food,) everyone, literally everyone had a chance to try a NOW bar.   Roadrunner bags for giving us such a cool bag and for co-branding it.   Bicycle.net for pitching in some Spy sunglasses and cool apparel.   Rocky Castro who invited everyone he knew, was the infield manager, and helped out in registration.   Tim Roach for keeping everyone entertained on the mic all night.   Kevin Mansker who was taking care of the numbers and bells (fastest lap counter in the west), we want you racing next year Kevin.   Megan Dean for taking care of the caps.   Henry for running the motor.   Steve Cohen for running the Keirin games.   Seza Ouzounian and Tamar Varteressian who got everyone registered that night.   Kim Nieto for helping run the Predator Booth, while also rocking the Predator Keirin t-shirt.   So many people that took the time to help us promote the event and all the great race reports we've been seeing online. You guys are awesome.   All the riders that came out, driving through Wednesday night traffic and stared down the heat to be there.   The crowd was great, very special thanks to everyone who came out to support the riders. It's you who make the event a real success. The stands  and turn 1 were full, with the energy and roar of the crowds cheering, the velodrome came alive.  

Scratch Race

1st - Collin Berry - Get Crakin' 2nd - Scott Cohen - LUX 3rd - Justin WIlliams - Cashcall

Keirin Class A

1st - Cory Williams - SC Velo 2nd - Justin Williams - Cashcall 3rd - Jack Lindquist - Ritte Racing

Keirin Class B

1st - Scott Cohen - LUX 2nd - Ryan Barrett _OTR 3rd - Mike Cheetah - Engine 11

Keirin Class C

1st - Bryan Arita 2nd - Ryan Wei - OTR 3rd - Luis Avina - DTLA One last thank you to for the video footage. .