St Malo Report

It was a perfect day for cyclocross. There was snow and mud and sand. The wall was bigger and badder than ever. And the wall of hecklers lining the wall made the scramble up the muddy hill at least tolerable, if not actually a little but of fun. The beer and sambuca hand-up section was a nice touch, even if it was somewhat under-utilized. There was no second guessing the appropriateness of the Sweetest Skinsuit in the World this week. And our legs were all shiny and warm thanks to Mad Alchemy's magic potions.

As for the race, it proved the truth of Richard Fries' description of cyclocross, which can be found in Molly Hurford's great new book on cyclocross in the USA (this should be required reading for all Dark Red Roosters):

Cyclocross is a far more emotional cycling event than anything else. I think it's because you're on the limit right from the beginning. It has more tragedy--mechanical tragedy, crashes, rolled tires--it's a game of mistakes, it's very much like a Shakespearean drama.

Happily, the day featured a comedic ending for the Dark Red Side. Anna once again showed that she is in a class all to herself. The way she's riding right now, she can afford more than a handful of mistakes and still easily take the Womens Cat 1/2/3 race. It is only a matter of time until the beats that little punk, Oliver, to take the B Race outright.

In the Cat 1/2 Mens race, Olli experienced the fewest tragedies to make it two wins in a row for the Dark Red Side. JP led for most of the race before falling off the pace in the last couple of laps. Hot Legs Coughlin was right there as well, until a brake in the spokes derailed his efforts. For a short but very awesome period of time there were three Roosters leading the race, demonstrating that our dream of a Dark Red Podium may yet become a reality some day.

(Photo: Vanessa Peters)

In the end, we placed six Roosters in the top 10. Six and a half if you count Daniel. That is pretty awesome.

There were fewer Roosters populating the Mens Cat 3 race. But the Giant was there in his giant skinsuit. And it helped deliver him to his best finish so far this year. Vanessa and Charlene narrowly missed the podium in their races. And Anita's big smile suggested that she had another great time racing the C Race. Then again, I suppose it is possible that Anita simply has the happiest pain face in the world.

Full results here.

There are plenty of photos swirling around the interwebs in the usual places. And even a brief video of the wall run-up. Here are a few of my favourites:

(Photo: Stefan Isfeld)

(Photo: Stefan Isfeld)

(Photo: Jonathan Millions)

(Photo: Jonathan Millions)

(Photo: Stefan Isfeld)