I was up in Oregon this past weekend and took the opportunity to go to the kick-off of the massive Cross Crusade series near Portland to watch a friend race. Describing 'cross as popular in the Pacific Northwest is almost too ridiculous an understatement to even say—Nearly 1,500 racers flocked to the Alpenrose Dairy in Beaverton to start the season on a 2.1-mile course that wound around the property. The wet weather Oregon is known for held off and riders were instead greeted with a beautiful Fall day. The place was buzzin' too. There were food booths, vendor tents, a kiddie race, and of course, hundreds of fans lined along the race tape ringing cowbells.
After an hourlong battle, Kona riders Ryan Trebon, Barry Wicks and Erik Tonkin swept the Men's A Category. For full results, go to www.obra.org.
Thought I'd share a few pictures I snapped on my phone:
Start of the men's category B and singlespeed division, which was a field of a couple hundred riders.
The stair run-up. I saw some good carnage here, but unfortunately no pictures!
Hill scramble. This picture doesn't capture the grade very well.
Riders dukin' it out on lap 3.
