Portland was the final stop of the USGP series. The weather is usually a big factor in race conditions, with past years featuring hurricane conditions, snow, rain, and everything in between. This year, conditions were near perfect. It was cold and windy, but dry, so everything came down to tactics and strategy. Two days of great racing warmed everyone up for the National Championships next week in Bend.
OBRA Champions were crowned (jersey'ed?) today in Salem on a hilly course that wrapped around West Salem High School. Lots of hills, slick off-camber turns, and sticky mud kept racers on edge of control.
The Cross Crusade 2010 season ended with perfect conditions for racing. A light drizzle throughout the day created a slick layer of mud all throughout the Barton Park gravel pit. The mud coated everything from bikes to racers to spectators, but didn't cause the sorts of problems that peanut-butter mud creates. Great battles in every race let everyone finish out the Cross Crusade season on a high note.
Flat and muddy. Conditions at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro were just about perfect for cross racing. Tons of rain the previous day created plenty of mud, but sun and a few sprinkles were the only weather conditions on race day.
Tons of overnight rain left the ground wet, muddy, and slippery on the second day of racing this weekend. Most everyone wore some sort of costume and many racers didn't take things too seriously. But there was still great racing and great battles in every category.
Two days of racing over Halloween weekend started with the "serious" races. Slightly lower numbers of racers kept lapped traffic to a minimum and made for some fast races. The rain and wind held off until the last lap of the last race, yet there was still plenty of mud for everyone.
The Cross Crusade returned once again to the Sherwood Equestrian Center and its famous bumpy track and hilly terrain. A new run-up through the woods proved to be a real battle ground while the dry conditions made for very fast lap times. The sunny blue skies made for some good pictures as well.
Headed up to the Washougal Motocross Park for a Saturday race. With the roar of motorcycles in the background and bright sunny skies overhead, racers went up and down the bumpy hills and through the giant N. While nowhere near as crowded as a Cross Crusade race, this race was well attended, had a great course and was lots of fun.
Round two of the Cross Crusade series revisited the hilly course at Rainier High School. Several days of rain leading up to the event, plus some heavy showers during the first couple of races made for slick, muddy conditions. A new section in the forest and some creative course changes kept things fun and challenging. You either love this course or hate this course. Hills tend to do that.
1506! That's how many racers showed up at the Cross Crusade series opener at Alpenrose Dairy. And there were almost 300 kids under 10 years old in the Kiddie Cross race. Huge fields and a great course kept things exciting. Early rain left parts of the course pretty slick, as evidenced by all the crash photos in the "early races" album. Conditions dried out later in the day and left the course fast and tacky for the Elite races at the end of the day.
Sloppy mud, occasional rain showers, and swarming bees made this race rather interesting. Famous for its really steep railroad tie staircase run-up, the addition of mud made a challenging course even more difficult. Add in a swarm of bees from a disturbed hive, and this race became really interesting. All in all, quite a fun day of racing.
Yet again, another strange day of weather was on hand for the day's racing. A huge downpour during the elite women's race quickly changed course conditions from just a little greasy to sloppy and slippery. While it didn't rain much during the elite men's race, the slick course left everyone covered in mud and favored those with the best bike handling skills.
This year's race was one of those strangely typical Northwest weather days. Early in the day, it was warm and humid, but by the time the Elite races started later in the evening, the rain was coming down in buckets. From sunny and dry to wet and sloppy, this day had everything, including amazing racing.
The 2010 cyclocross season kicked off in Seattle at the MFG Kick-Off Cross Race. A group of Portland racers headed north for a day of racing fun. We had a good time with some great results in the Elite race. Based on today's fun, it should be a good season.
Not really a cross race, not really a crit, Kruger's Kermesse combines parts of both into a unique race. Held on the dirt and gravel roads around Kruger's Farm, this race left everyone covered in dust and served as a great transition race from pavement to dirt.