Of Cyclocross!
The guys at the starting line at this year’s Gran Prix.
On an unusual wet and cold weekend there was some kind of bicycle race not too far from my house. Apparently there is a U.S. Grand Prix of Cyclo-Cross where riders love to take their bikes over mud and grass and hills and other obstacles. The concept is to emulate a style of free-form race that back in the olden days would run between European towns where the riders might have to cut through farmers fields, over fences, across rivers, high grasses and that sort of thing in order to get to the finish line first.
Black Sheep at the Finish Line
“Sorry, I’m not racing today!” but I rode my Black Sheep commuter bike to the track area and got to show it off a little. Not too many people recognize the bike when I ride it in town, but at events like this I usually hear someone say “Hey, cool bike! Wanna trade?”
Not too much mud on the track today
Saturday was really wet, but on Sunday it was not raining so it was a pleasant ride to the cyclocross area to see the racers in action. I thought it might be fun just to take the Black Sheep out for a test run on this track but then I’d have to clean off all the mud off the bike and that wouldn’t be fun.
Mr. Monk’s Bike carrier?
This water resistant cargo carrier should keep your bike clean and fresh for the next cyclo-cross event. I won’t be getting one of these very soon– I don’t have a car to lug it around!
The Woman’s category 2-3 race finishers
Kristin Weber from Boulder Cycle Sport comes in first, with Laurel Rathbun and Sydney Fox following close behind. Fox and Rathbun may have actually tied for second place from what I can tell.
Here’s a short 44 second video of the event. The banjo music in the background comes from the old banjo that was broken last month; It’s amazing what a little bit of Gorilla Glue and a few clamps can do!