Cross-Tastic Report

There is no question that this has been the best season of cx racing we have ever seen. Gary served up another sweet race yesterday--even though the FGBC got shut out of the draw prizes. It was the fastest race of the season by far, but it still hurt just the same. Other than a short singletrack section and a few small hills, it was a hammer fest. The swoopy corners were a highlight.

Thanks to Cousin Thomas for the A race photos. And apologies for the shortage of B race photos. I spent most of that race trying to find Jonah. He was hanging out by the mud. Of course. More photos from Garry Stewart.

Results here.

The highlight of the day took place before the racing even began, when KK rolled up on his bike. It was the first time he ventured out onto the road since that fateful day back in August. Welcome back KK.



After Altona, the kids race seemed non-existent. There were only six of them. But the Wolseley Wheels duo of Jonah and Auckland were back for their weekly U7 battle. They were as enthusiastic as ever, at least after the race. They didn't like the hills so much. But when they discovered, along with Mike's boys, that Tim Hortons coffee cups could be squeezed between their brakes and tires to simulate a motorcycle engine, they were good to go for hours. The dogfest was a big hit too.



Not afraid to risk another navigational disaster, the Impaler took the holeshot in the B race. But it wasn't long before he faded, claiming that this was not his day. Cousin Adam, where were you? This was your big chance to win that Belgian side bet you so boldly initiated before you dropped off the face of the earth.



Or maybe Brad was just tiring out the competition for Artur, who took command after a few laps and won by a big margin. Having upgraded to a full license, he finally got the recognition he deserved. Except that all the prizes were draw prizes. And he got shut out. While Brad won a cowbell. Where's the justice?



In the A race, Jonny and Mike were ready to do their part in the 2009 FGBC-RRR FGD Challenge. Jonny got the better of Mike last week in Altona. But Mike got his revenge yesterday, finishing a couple of places ahead of Jonny.



It didn't take long before six leaders separated themselves from the rest. They stayed together until the end, before Olli thanked his companions for the free ride they gave him by attacking over the final barriers to take the win. The Finnish Fox. Or is it the Foxy Finn? Either way, that guy is so sly.



As we have come to expect, Craig was at the front all day. In the end, he finished 5th.



The dr? He couldn't hang with the leaders. He seems to like riding alone. Somewhere between the leading group and the rest of the field. That's where you can usually find him. 7th place for him.

(via Garry Stewart)

Every time he got to the mud, Jonny G thought about how awesome it is that he's no longer sharing a bike with Charlene. Her old road bike did not take so well to the river bank section. It got caked with mud and left her with a big deficit after the first round when she had to stop to clean it up so that the wheels could turn again. She almost packed it in after the first lap. But after being reminded that points were at stake, and that it was permissible to run through the mud, she decided to continue. Good thing too. Without her 25 points, we would have failed to achieve our goal of surpassing the 2000 point plateau in the Challenge. In any case, Jonny's Redline handled the mud just fine, no doubt in part because Charlene's running packed it all down for us.



The Fraggle rocked.



And Mike continues to be sucked in to the awesomeness of cyclocross.



Paul B took the sartorialist prime.



As for the Challenge, the FGBC brought 8 racers, while RRR showed up with 5. The FGBC wins 136-77. If Gilles hadn't broken his chain on the second last lap, it would have been a little closer.