Yesterday the Cross Crusade Series continued its march toward mayhem with a fantastic race out at Flying M Ranch in Yamhill. It was my first time at this annual party that calls itself a cyclocross race and it more than lived up to its reputation.
The beer flowed and the hilarious costumes showed that Portland’s ‘cross scene is really all about having fun. Brad Ross and the Crusade crew put their courses not just near the spectator area, but directly through them. The result are races that are just as fun to watch as they are to race…especially when there’s a keg in every corner.
Yesterday was no exception. The racers lined up directly adjacent to a Chris King booth full of free, hot and fresh pancakes and coffee. Chris King himself manned the spatula the entire day, serving up hotcakes with maple syrup and apple compote.
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I was amazed at the number of people who dressed up. In most fields it seemed like at least 70% of the racers were adorned in something other than boring old lycra.
Even OBRA‘s leading lady Candi Murray got into the spirit.
I didn’t want to be left out, so I donned some black-and-yellow striped tights (like a bee), a skull jersey and an orange beanie over my helmet (a pumpkin, get it?). Most people would cheer and go “buzzzzzz” as I rode by!
A highlight of the day was a visit from none other than one of the top bike racers in the world, George Hincapie. I wonder what his coach would think of this? And I must say, George is looking a lot thinner these days ;-).
Out on the course I would get periodic whiffs of beer as I pedaled along. Sometimes it was the multitude of kegs in operation, and sometimes it was just the guy in front of me who’d been downing a frothy cup each lap (yes, there were free beer pit stops).
There was even rock-and-roll on the sidelines!
And hey, is that pro road racer Doug Ollerenshaw under that Pac-Man costume? Yep, even serious bike racers like to have fun.
Really though, there was nothing serious about the race on Sunday. The winners were those who had the most fun.
Big thanks to Joshua and Bill at Cyclepath bike shop for setting me up with an awesome Van Dessel cross bike (which I managed to pedal to 4th place!).
I’ll let my photos tell the rest of the story.