In December, the nation’s best cyclocross racers, along with a huge contingent from the bike industry, will descend on Portland International Raceway (PIR) for the final stop in the six-race US Gran Prix of Cyclocross.
The “Portland Cup”, which is (surprisingly) being partially sponsored by the Portland Office of Transportation, is likely to crown the 2007 USGP ‘cross champion.
Race Director Brad Ross says they’ll use the same course from the 2004 National Championships that were also held at PIR. He adds that,
“We expect having our race in December means that weather is going to play a huge role in the outcome here…the rider who handles the slippery, muddy technical sections the best is the person who will win the race.”
Just how muddy was the ’04 race? Check out these photos:
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To see some more shots from that race, check out my photo gallery.
Judging from the record turnouts at the Cross Crusade, combined with Portland’s growing reputation as a cyclocross mecca, this event is going to be huge. For more information, check out the official event website.
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I better start running…..
Out of curiosity,
With the generation of all that mud, what is the effect on the local water quality. What do the track operators do to minimize the impacts?
This is in the infield of PIR. There\’s no stream nearby. No natural body of water.
I don\’t believe that there would be any effect on water quality. Large portions of the infield are already bare dirt– for the existing motocross track.
Spencer, post 2:
Same thing I wonder about. Anybody?
They dig a channel, line it with beaver pelts, and funnel the muddy water towards the nearest low income housing development.
I heard the Crusaders reseed the areas where grass has been destroied sometime. I know that even where we had multiple races last year the grass has grown back after a few month; after a year you can not really tell we had a race there the year before.
One reason PIR gets so muddy is because it is an old swamp, that they tried to make into a housing development but it flooded.