$Holla for a Dolla Night Racing$

It appears as though Mobbin' Monday is going to be hosting some low key, mostly just for fun races around the Pomona Valley throughout the long hot summer season. Last night was the first of them, and attracted a bunch of roadies and fixed gear riders, maybe some trackies too, to compete for the handful of dollars along a short criterium course around Lincoln Park in the city of Pomona. There were two races, the first for geared bikes, the second for fixed and single speed bikes. Admittedly though, the first race turned out to be mixed with two of the top three, including the victor, racing with a single gear. The first race got off with a little light left in the sky and raced for approximately thirty minutes. It was dark for the second race though, and whether or not that was a factor, that one was shortened due to a crash. I was on the far side of the course when i noticed fewer racers suddenly passing by, there was some yelling on the other side of the park which sounded angry, and a peacock screamed "watch out, watch out" in that high pitched double talk they do. By the time I made it over there a crowd had fully gathered around one rider lying on the grass holding his shoulder, and blood on his elbow. A car drove away, and someone called out "stop him, don't let him drive off", while others countered that the driver was not involved. After a couple minutes the fallen rider picked himself up, a little worse for wear as we all are when we hit the pavement, but seeming to be mostly okay and, most importantly, being looked after.

I have noted the grassroots nature of the Mobbin' Monday races before, the way they serve to introduce younger kids to racing in an atmosphere that is friendly and welcoming. If you check out Mobbin Monday on Facebook you can keep up on when the next races will be held. Next time I won't forget my good flash; it got a bit dark for any quality. But it is what it is, and so are the photos from the evening - about thirty are in this Flickr album.