We have some great news! Kia of Des Moines is stepping up to the plate as title sponsor for the IMBCS. This is a huge step forward for us and will go a long way in helping us solidify mountain bike racing in Iowa. I never realized how important sponsors were to mountain bike racing until I got involved in aspects other than just racing. We need to let our sponsors know how much we appreciate what they do for us and the best way to do that is to spread the good word about them and give them our business. So the next time you are out car shopping, please stop by Kia of Des Moines, tell them we sent ya, and consider buying a Kia. They have a lot of vehicles that suit the lifestyle of people like ourselves and would be a great option. A big thanks goes out to Mike Lebeda for his efforts in getting Kia of Des Moines on board.

We also have some associate sponsors that need to be recognized for their efforts. In no particular order:

Kerkove Media (http://kerkovemedia.blogspot.com), Jeff Kerkove, for the many hours of work that he does for mountain biking at little or no charge. He did all of the design work on our IORCA posters, our website (http://iorcahome.blogspot.com) which is still under construction, as well as a number of other projects for other people and organizations. Jeff also has one of the best blogs (http://jeffkerkove.blogspot.com) in existence. Great entertainment at no cost you!

Chippewa Springs Bottled Water provided by Jay Chesterman of the Chesterman Company, Bottlers of Coca-Cola products. Last season Jay brought a couple of cases of Chippewa Bottled Water to every race and plans to do the same for this season.

Bikeiowa.com, the place to go for all cycling news in Iowa. Scott Sumpter puts in countless hours every week to maintain the best website for all things cycling that I’ve ever seen. Stay tuned to Bikeiowa.com for the most current IORCA mountain bike racing news, race schedule, race info for each race and anything else that you might want to know about cycling.

All of the local bike shops, Rasmussen’s, Irwin’s and Bike World and the many other bike shops that support mountain bike racing. Without the help of local bike shops, you wouldn’t have most of the schwag that you win, nor would have a lot of other benefits that local bike shops provide.

The next time you see any of these fine folks listed above, give ‘em a big ole’ bear hug and say thank you!

See you at the races,

Cam Kirkpatrick
V.P. – IORCA
Urbandale, IA