It might be cold and rainy, but that won’t stop ‘cross fanatics from enjoying another good romp in the mud.
Sunday will see the return of Kruger’s Crossing, a cyclocross race out on Sauvie Island. I was there for the inaugural event back in 2006 and I remember lots of broken derailleurs and some very thick and straw-filled mud. But I also remember a raging bonfire, hay rides for the kids, and plenty of good times.
Also on Sunday is what will hopefully become a new Portland tradition — Cranksgiving. The plan is to meet at People’s Co-op in Southeast and ride to several other locally owned grocery stores, load up on food, and then deliver it to a shelter. What a great idea! More details here.
What are your plans for the weekend? Go ahead and share them and your experiences in the comments below…
Thanks for reading.
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Cycle Wild is leading a return trip up the Clackamas River to Alder Flat – a USFS campground set back a mile from the road, and rarely visited by the car-bound. It promises to be a fun (but COLD) weekend up the Clackamas.
If someone is already set to go out the door touring, and reading this REALLY EARLY, we’re leaving from the Cleveland Ave MAX stop at 8am. Team Hardcore is leaving from VooDoo Too at 6:15am.
Have a great weekend everyone, and we’ll see you after our excursion!
BTW, Winter Camping class at the Hawthorne Hostel – Sunday, December 7th at 2pm. Come on out and learn the basics of camping during the wintertime! Free class, 2 hours, late enough that you can still party on Saturday and make it to the hostel on Sunday!
Yes, there will be plenty of mud at Kruger’s Farm this Sunday, but nothing close to the epic 2006 race, when we had 3 weeks of straight rain leading up to the event. Also, this year, we are taking a pass on leading the course through the corn maze, which should help avoid the derailleur carnage we witnessed two years ago.
This race is all about having a good time on and off the course, with your friends and family, celebrating another amazing season of PDX cyclocross.
Hope to see you out there!
I’m organizing the Cranksgiving ride and I wanted to give some background on it. The first Cranksgiving was a messenger race in New York, where riders had to buy specific items and race to the finish. A friend of mine in St. Louis adapted it to be a non-competitive group ride, which is what tomorrow’s ride will be.
Since Portland has three co-op grocery stores and many small locally-owned stores, I wanted this to also be a ride in support of them.
And since we will be delivering the food directly to the people who will be eating it, and touring the shelter (the Clark Center, part of Transitions Projects), I hope this ride will help educate people about homelessness and affordable housing issues in Portland.
Kruger’s was my first cross race ever last year and I had a great time rolling through the farm, meeting other racers, and getting lapped by them 🙂
Seriously, cross brings out your inner 12 year old. Get muddy. Have fun.
I’m riding out there bright and early to make it to the beginner’s heat at 9:00.
See ya’ll there.
We had our Parkrose Kidical Mass ride today — doing Saturday afternoons for the winter months. Still a small group, but lots of fun, and actually near-perfect weather for our ride!
OrRando Wine Country Populaire yesterday, just shy of 70 miles, with good friends, but sadly, missing Cecil.
Then a ride to the Hillsdale Farmers Market today, for apples. And, as it turned out, rye bread, parsley, and a decadent Tangerine Brownie. 15 miles, none of them flat…
Yeah, I missed the Or Rando Populaire in order to spend some quality time with a toothache and some Percocet. By today (Sunday), my tooth had calmed down enough for me to function w/o painkillers, which meant I could ride my bike without impairment – so ride I did – up Broadway to Greenway and Council Crest, then the Fairmount Loop, then via Humphrey to Skyline to Germantown – bombed down Germantown and across the St. John’s Bridge, home through the U District and Alameda. 40 miles, some of them flat, some of them 12% 🙂
I know that I should be upset about the global warming-induced climate change that allows for this type of weather in November in the PNW, but it was hard not to revel in the sunshine . . .
I rode to Pacific City today, 88 miles, today. Pretty cold at takeoff and in the hills, but from Tillamook on it was nice, no clouds at all, a welcome relief! Took 5:37, not bad for an old geezer.
I took my girls down to the eastbank esplanade to meet up win a friend and his kids. It was a gorgeous day and there were tons of bikers out. . We rode over to Tom McCall Park till the sun went down then rode to Burgerville. Good times!
What put the biggest smile on my face at this weekend’s cross race out at Kruger’s: the pumpkin barrier! Bwaaaahahahaha!!!!!
Post-ride summary: Three of us rode up the Clackamas to Alder Flat. The weather was cloudy until we got into the Clackamas river gorge, when the clouds broke a bit and we had sun breaks for the rest of the day. No rain whatsoever. We arrived before sunset, had time to set up camp and build a roaring fire (we hauled our own wood up from Estacada), and enjoyed a little time by the fire before bed.
It got VERY cold Saturday night, but we were prepared for it.
Sunday’s ride back was cloudless and sunny the entire day, downhill with a 10mph tailwind – you couldn’t ask for better.
If you couldn’t join us, we hope you’ll be able to in the future, whether on a winter ride, or during our normal summer schedule! http://www.cyclewild.org
I was clearly at the Krueger’s race at the same time as mike. Why cx rules: some guy spending the better part of his afternoon throwing pumpkin parts into a mock barrier. So awesome.
Brought the family out to Kruger’s for our first cross event ever. With awesomeness like the pumpkin barrier, my six year old in the kiddie cross, and the hundreds of good additudes I know this will become a family tradition for many years to come.
Side-note: Is an “expanded” kiddie-cross like thing happening anywhere? My daughter had so much fun, but definitely was lookin’ for more after she’d finished up two short laps.
I spent Saturday riding with a social bike group from Vancouver out and around Lake Oswego and back. It was a nice 45 mile ride with reasonable weather. Along our ride back to the `Couv we were riding near the Rose Quarter on that double wide green bike lane. Some brain dead driver came right down the green lanes blaring his horn and driving right at us. My less belligerent riders moved into the bike lane to avoid the outlaw. I moved just enough to let him squeeze past me, and pounded his window hard along with an “idiot” to confirm my displeasure. The least I could do to express my anger over his disregard for our lives.
Sunday I rode from McMinnville to Monnmouth and back with a fast group, a nice little 60 mile ride in absolutley gorgeous weather.