Since when did cyclocross get so hot? I mean, there was more dust and sweat than mud and rain. This felt like a mid-July mountain bike race, which is okay until you remember that your cyclocross bike doesn’t have any water bottle holders.

But we smelled good.

In true cyclocross form, riders and spectators – we remind ourselves that the riders are usually spectators and the spectators are usually riders –- came out in full form, slathered in sunblock, and ran themselves silly on a course that included a set of stairs built for giants. Each step felt like a leap over a fence.

For the first time this season, some of the pdxcross elves raced. As we predicted, we rode unremarkably, landing just about in the middle of our respective classes. Since we’re riding as Beginners and as Slow Old Men, we’re unlikely to land lucrative contracts with big-name European sponsors (this month). I guess we’ll keep making pictures in a kind of serious way and take the riding as a strangely painful pastime. Huh.

My favorite quote from the day came just as my Master C group was about to take off. One guy looked at me and said: “You know what I like about this group? I like that tomorrow morning, we’re all going to a job. So we can’t crash and burn, can we?” There was some crashing, but no burning in the Master C. In the Master B race, some poor guy left some teeth on the trail, just after draining his body of oxygen on the Steps-for-Giants runup. Ouch. That would be a crash and a burn, I guess.

My favorite exchange for the day happened about lap four during the Master C race:
Slow Old Man #1: “Geez, man, I have a sore back that’s slowing me down.”
Slow Old Man #2: “I’ve got news for you, pal. We’re so old we’ve ALL got sore backs. Just ride and shut up, will ya?”

-torsten