I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that LARPD (PDF alert) is the best local series that no one goes to. All the races are at the Robertson Park rodeo grounds and the organizers did an amazing job of cramming an incredible amount of racing into such a small space. This weekend’s course started by going up and down a sloping staging area a few times before winding through the main arena and all of the side paddocks, and also had a few nice run-ups, a short off-camber section and a quad barrier. The whole thing was twisty and technical but super fun. The last lap was rough; the legs were on the verge of cramping up something vicious, but I was able to stick it out for 7th out of 17 finishers in the Bs. I have a feeling that the sparse attendance was due to the NCNCA Cup doubleheader out in Reno and Sacramento, but still . . . even with an extra 10-15 riders, the field would still be relatively small compared to other local series. If you are reading this and you are from the Bay Area and have not made it out to a round of LARPD yet, get out there and have at it before the season is over. It’s fun as hell, they need the support AND they have a long season (9 races this year) that starts EARLY – their first series race was on September 6!

(photo courtesy of liveplayride – more pics here)

- Nick in SF