Shelly and i had the opportunity to take a short vacay this past month, so we decided to go to oregon. she's always wanted to go , and with mountains, wine, and bike-friendly culture, how could i say no? it just so happened that, at the end of out trip, i was able to fit in a cross race in portland.
now, for those of you who don't know, portland is waaaay bike-friendly. they're also waaaay weird; they pride themselves on that fact. i even saw a ton of bumper stickers around town proclaiming" Keep Portland Weird". When you combine bike-friendly, forward-thinking culture with weirdos, you get cyclocross... in spades. these folks love cyclocross. they've been breaking attendance records at their races just about every week-end this year. needless to say, oregonians love their 'cross.
we arrived at the washington county fair complex in hillsboro, oregon- aka the old rodeo grounds- early sunday morning, a bit after 8. i had decided to not race in the "beginner" category at 8:50 and instead try my luck in the men's "c" group at 9:40, since i've been racing that in georgia. to think that they have so many folks that they can even have a separate beginner category is really cool.
now keep in mind that we have to catch a plane later on that afternoon around 3, so i have to hurry up and race, clean up, dismantle and pack my bike, turn in the rental car, and get to the airport, all before 2 or so. the schedule wasn't super-tight, but it wasn't loosey-goosey either...
as is the case with any race, the early crowds are sparse- that's a relative term here, with already more peeps in the parking lot than at a jam-packed georgia event. they're about the same as georgia folks, though, just in different team kits. registration and course preview are the same, too- no big woop.
as i had mentioned before, this is a rodeo complex. the course literally winds it's way through a couple barns and animal staging areas. the ground is extremely lumpy from the previous equine traffic, and, of course, it's wet. i think it's a prerequisite for races in oregon to have some kind of water, be it from the sky or already on the ground. nice big mud puddles to ride through and nice, super-slick corners to negotiate were the order of the day. the good news was that it was flat as a strap- no hills, nuthin'. but there were about a million and a half turns and corners, which kept the speed down and the technical aspect up--- bluh.
when it's our time to start, i mosey on over to the starting corral, some caution tape set up in rather long lines. why so long? because there are about 150 of us in this race. i tried to play the unknowing out-of-towner and move to the front of the line, only to find out that the organizers had already arranged us into groups based on out number. the guys doing well in the series got called to the front, and then the rest of us got lined up in random order. i got really lucky , as my group was the second group to be called. only about 30 or 40 back from the leaders! that shouldn't be too bad....
i get a decent start and immediately work my way up. i'm in roadie mentality at this point, muscling my way through the melee, wondering the whole time if this technique is acceptable in cyclocross culture, or if i'm being way too aggressive. the bunch spreads out just as quickly as it does in the georgia races, where you wind up racing pretty much by yourself or kind of near someone for the majority of the race.
i'm kicking tail in the straight sections, but that doesn't last long; as soon as we start into the twists and turns of the course, some of the guys i had just passed come creeping back. apparently they have experience navigating wet, slick corners here in rainy oregon-- wonder where they get their practice...
i get bolder and faster as the 45 minutes wear on-- oh yeah, races in oregon are longer than the georgia races (45 minutes as compared to 30 minutes, in my case). at this point, i'm in the top 20 but can't seem to gain any more ground on the leaders.
i get a bit carried away in one of the corners and completely slide out. so much for keeping my kit clean. no injuries or mechanical problems, so i'm quickly back up and chasing again.
it's a fun course and it surely tests my ability level. i end up finishing in the top 20, but don't really have time to confirm the results due to my date with the portland airport.
the organizers were nice enough to have a bike wash area set up- just a bunch of hoses set up by the cow watering troughs, nothing fancy. it was a very welcome relief, though, because my bike was caked in mud. i was dreading having to wash it off in the hotel shower, as i've done at other races (steve can tell you about that...).
showering and bike pack-up go smoothly and we catch our flight with time to spare. the entire oregon experience was great; the state is so picturesque and oregon is a very cool town. i think the wine is better in california, but that's my personal opinion.
many many many thanks to byron for doing a killer job on keeping my bike running smoothly (as always) and for helping me make packing and unpacking my bike a snap. he's a genius. all of that traveling never affected the shifting quality of the wheel true in the slightest- a testament to his skills.
shelly took all of the pics-- she's the best. period.
oh yeah, and the race had a unicycle division. go figure.
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