Things weren’t looking good when the normal race promoter announced he wasn’t going to throw state championships this year. So naturally, Mark stepped in for the community and threw the race himself! After countless stressful hours working out a two-day schedule, working on funding, hiring EMTs and officials, everything worked out. 

The Deluxe boys went out to represent and slay at states this year. Mark himself not only threw states, but won the sprint omnium! Day 1 was all sprints. Mark, won the Keirin final, had the fastest Kilo time with an impressive time (for Kissena) of 1:13.46, and took fourth in the match sprints. 

Nick and Jesse raced in the endurance omnium, but didn’t manage to place well after a long successful season. Mark, Nick, Jesse, and Billy from Star Track Elite all competed together as teammates in the team pursuit and managed to snag home the gold by just 0.2 seconds!   

A big thank you to Mark for not only making states a reality, but especially for being one of the best team players we know. This season was long, brutal, and hard, but we all came out of it having met or exceeded goals, having had a lot of fun, and making new friends, and that’s what it’s all about. 

Mark and Jesse made it out to the Kissena Labor Day Track Meet for some good racing! The field was tough and fast. Mark and Jesse shook the races up working together and Mark ended up taking 3rd overall in the omnium after a clutch break in the points race. Congrats to Lester for taking 2nd, and Justin for dominating the field and taking gold! 

Thanks to shop friends Egor and Miki for taking some shots of the boys! And congrats to Egor for winning his first track omnium! 

The Deluxe Cycles Racing track boys just spent the weekend up in Minnesota at the NSC Velodrome for their annual Fixed Gear Classic race event to race against the nations top track racers. 

Minnesota has a very unique track with a lot of character. It’s an outdoor wooden 250m that’s been around for about 30 years. Over time some of the wood has rotted, but the community put the time and elbow grease into replacing any spent boards. The banks reach a peak of 43º and are a total blast to race on. 

Mark and BJ took part in the Sprint events, while Jesse raced in the endurance omnium. Mark took 3rd in the match sprints and BJ snagged 6th overall in the Keirins after winning his qualifier. Jesse didn’t place well in his events, but took second in the backward Longest Lap after nearly crashing out into another rider. The racing was extremely high level, and an honor to be a part of. The Endurance omnium filled up to the tracks max capacity of 24 in nearly every race and had multiple huge breaks, defensive chasing, and lots of high caliber tactics. Here are some fun photos from the racing!

People came from all over to be part of it all including San Fransisco, Indiana, and BC Canada! It was a great time getting to make new friends from all over; it really felt like bike racing sleep away camp. 

We’d like to really thank Bob, Linsey, and everyone else from the NSC Velodrome for everything they did for our riders to help them come and race which including helping financially, picking up and dropping off to and from the airport, and providing dorm rooms just 20 meters from the track! Truly an impressive program you guys run and we couldn’t be more humbled to be a part of it. 

Mark, Evan, and BJ all made it out to Nationals for track racing in LA and had a blast. Evan and BJ got crashed out in some of their races. Check out this video of Evan hitting the wood in his Keirin. 

BJ on the left and Evan on the right after their crashes.

But it’s not all bad news! Evan Took 3rd in the match sprints which landed him with a national medal! Congrats Evan! We’re super proud of you! 

Here are some more racing photos from throughout the week.

And some non-racing photos the boys took from their time in LA! Mark went to Disneyland with his girlfriend, BJ and his wife spent some time with his parents, and Evan got to go surfing and went to the Northwest Porsche Experience to see some sweet cars.