Cool, glad to hear that is a good one. I raced once before in a mx course, and the track was wet and I got a lot of roost. The only place that it bothered me was hitting my hands, that hurts!!!

 

Hey, i have a 24 or 34 oz camel back. I dont know if it would work good for a race, but you said that you were going to get the smallest one. I picked mine up at a local ski shop, so it's good all year round.

 

Any chest protector will do, but none of them protect from the side. The scatershield does look a bit narrow around the collar bone and sides though...go after shock or their new mx one!
Bradracer, handguards are definately sweet...especially when we start running these virgin courses this summer...hope to see you there!