Cyclocross

The morning after our pizza competition, we went to watch Brett's Cyclocross race.

Cyclocross is a sport for people who are too old for team sports and too restless for marathons.  The Portland Cyclocross season occurs in the fall, with 8 consecutive weekends of races where fit, outdoorsy men in their 30's-50's ride and carry their light-weight bikes through an obstacle course.   Because of the autumn season and the Northwest's climate, most of these races take place in the rain and the mud adds an extra element of obstacle excitement.  

The race we watched was 1.5 mile loop with a couple of jumps, a stair case-ramp compo, plenty of tight turns that required hopping off the bike, running with it, and hopping back on, and lanes almost too narrow to pass the other competitors.  Spectators consisted of the riders' wives, if they were generous enough to wake up early and stand in the rain to watch the insanity, and in the case of Brett, the rider's mom, dad and cousins.  I'd never heard of the sport before, but maybe that is because it is more popular in the Pacific Northwest than the Atlantic Northeast (there's a shocker).

As the race was starting, details for the upcoming holiday party were announced (Not only do they compete, but they socialize too!), letting riders know that the theme was "Office Party."  Of course it was.  These Portland guys are so cool, their idea of fun is recreating an office party (an running around in mud), because heaven knows they don't work in an office.