Barton Park, the last crusade

Click on the image above to go to the gallery.

Cross Crusade 2009 wound down with a bang and splash and a slurp at Barton Park, the place famous for being hard-core and a bit frightening no matter where they put the course. Over mud and under gray skies, there was a lot of brave racing going all day, most notably among the Hot Shots at the very end. Molly and Sean and Erik treated us to a race that earned its Elite label, ending with an all-out, over-the-top last run-up that left Molly in the mud. You can travel far and wide and still not see such fine athletes live at the edge of their strength and skill -- and we can count them among our friends and neighbors. Cool.  The crowd’s admiration and appreciation raised the temperature over the park several degrees. Whew.

It’s hard to believe the end is almost here, just the Grand Prix and Nationals left, a fast forward season if ever there was one.

We’ll be at Nationals, big time, with a gallery showing our work from the season and slide shows of the weekend’s races at a venue you’ll come to know and love.

Thank you all for making it a great season. - The PDXCROSS crew