Racer Profile: Mark Ginsberg
June 10, 2008
Mark Ginsberg is a bike lawyer, a dad and a racer who loves it all: "The competition, the speed, pushing myself to develop further as an athlete and mainly I love riding my bicycle. Racing gives me one great opportunity to do that."
In 2007 Mark won the Health Net Portland Twilight Crit for cat 3. So how did it feel to win that prestigious race? "I was very happy to win that race," Mark says. "I love that course. My first ever cat 3 race was on a different version of that course, and in 1994 I won the Mayor's Cup as a cat 3 on yet another version of the same course. I've also crashed coming out of what was last year's final corners, so I have a lot of history on that course.
"I was a cat 2 from 1996-2006," Mark says, "but they let me downgrade because of being a busy dad. Because I won the Twilight Crit, I was sent back up to the big show." Which means that Mark will be racing as a cat 2 at the Cirque du Cycling criterium, a bicycle street fair on North Mississippi, this Saturday. And Mark is ready for the challenge, "I hope to have a good placing. Top 10 would be good. Top 5 would be great!"
Mark says he's confident he'll do well, but admits a little rain wouldn't hurt:
"I race well in wet conditions. But if I were a horse I don't know that I'd be a mudder because I am pretty bad at cyclocross." Mark likes the looks of the course for Cirque and loves any race where there is a big crowd. "As a racer, while you might not hear a particular person cheering for you, you do hear the crowd as a whole, and it adds a lot of excitement.
Through his many years in racing, Mark has seen quite a change in the sport. "The number of races and the number of racers has grown very dramatically through the years, which is great to see. People who are 'weekend warriors' are trying different types of bicycle racing from road bikes to cyclocross to track."
You can catch Mark later this summer at the State Track Championships and the State Master Track Championship.
And be sure to head out to Cirque du Cycling, taking place on North Mississippi Avenue this Saturday, June 14th. The day begins with a free family ride at 4pm, there's a freak bike parade at 5pm and the racing starts at 6:30pm. There is also entertainment by the Sprockettes bicycle dance troupe and the SEI Soul Choir and Drum Corps. The exhibitor area features bike art, custom-made bike apparel like cycling hats from Shaun Deller and much more. Best of all, it's free.
Posted by orbike at June 10, 2008 9:11 PM
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