A couple of beers into a concert on Friday, I asked my buddy if he thought I had better chance of doing well on Saturday's race when the field would be about half the usual size or Sunday's race when folks might be tired, hung over, over costumed or all of the above. In an effort to postpone pain, I decided to go for Sunday's race. But Saturday morning, twenty minutes before my category was to start, I found myself just outside of Astoria thinking about going for it. I called a fellow pdxcrosser who was already at the race and he signed me in. I think my Big Red Van caught air on that impossibly steep hill in Astoria. I rolled up to the start area just as the official blew the whistle. Game on.

So the morning that started with a lazy drive to the coast, evolved into a great day of racing on a fast, bumpy, twisty course. There were a handful of costumes that attracted attention and a 4-H bird show was going on near the parking lot, but for the most part Saturday was race day. Tents went up, grills came out and the sun set revealing more stars than I'd seen in along time. The evening ended with a naked guy on a BMX bike launching himself over a bonfire to cheers and gasps from the crowd gathered tight in the chilly air (we withheld that photo - you should thank us).

I went back to the Big Red Van in order to catch a few hours of sleep before Sunday. I knew that the following day would bring about some serious cross craziness. I was not disappointed.
-tim

Sorry to all for the delay. Monday was a marathon of a day and i could never get around to building this slideshow.  i am starting the Halloween edition and will have it done as soon as i can - don't give up on us.
-rob