Mud and cyclocross finally returns: A Corn Cross photo gallery

Bike racing fans tightly embraced two old friends at a farm in Boring on Saturday: Mud and cyclocross.

By all accounts the Corn Cross was a huge success. We’re sure the course (designed by local legend Erik Tonkin of Sellwood Cycle Repair) was stellar and the organization (by City of Sandy) was on-point; but the star of the day was the mud and a beloved sport many hadn’t participated in for nearly two years.

Mark Boling was there to take these photographs and cheer on his wife Evelyn, a member of the Fast Fun Nice team. “It kind of felt like a big muddy family reunion,” he shared with us.

City of Sandy Event Coordinator Carol Cohen, who at one point considered cancellation of the event due to Covid concerns, was understandably thrilled that it went off without a hitch. “Looked like everyone had a blast,” she wrote to the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association email list. “Was so fun to see dirty bikes and bodies with smiles on everyone faces.”

And what about someone who actually faced the daunting, dripping, deep, dirty mud? Evelyn Boling put it this way:

“Corn Cross was the type of muddy slop ‘cross legends are made of. Puddles with potholes made lakes a couple feet deep winding through the corn fields. Step on the wrong pathway over the barriers and mud sloshed halfway up your shin. Like many people, I slid out completely in the goopiest section, essentially, bathing in it.”

Sounds like fun right?

Regardless of how you answer that question, it certainly sounds like cyclocross.

And there’s more to come. This Saturday (9/25) is the inaugural Vanport CX, the fourth race in the six-race Harvest Cyclocross Series. Have fun out there!

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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