Will crushes hill of DOOOOOOOM. Jim  stays home. Jesse and Brian do pretty okay-ish. Guy wrestles with inner demons.

We had our first really cold day here, and it stayed overcast for most of the morning.

For some reason the course at Rainier, Oregon is a relative favorite among Cross Crusaders. Maybe because it’s kind of a fast course? Bumpy? There’s certainly plenty of variety- asphalt, rutted field, single track in the trees, off-camber stretches, a nice fast off-camber sweeper and a high-speed section of running trail that allowed use of the big ring.

A favorite with spectators was a long grinding hill that topped out at a paved section leading to the finish. A gauntlet of screaming and bell-ringing guided the way to the top. Will pretty much pwned this on his blingle-speed. (Seriously– that thing has more colored and anodized bits of bling-blong than I’ve seen in a long time. It’s like 1992 all over again and I’m freakin’  in a purple-ano haze.)  The climb began almost immediately after a 90-deg turn so there wasn’t much opportunity to get a good run at it. The loose dirt and gravel did not reward standing on the pedals, as a few in the beginner class found out when they spun out and keeled over still clipped in.

Results:

Will place at 100 out of 120 finishers in the Cat C with 5 not finishing.

Jesse was 148 out of 161 in Cat C Masters, with 6 not finishing.

Brian was 96 out of 100 in Cat B Masters, with 7 not finishing. (I think I need to stop pedaling backwards.)

Will has all the photos. Will– where are the photos??

Meanwhile here’s a few from Shane Young of Oregonvelo.com, (with thanks to Orenco Chiropractic for making the photos available for free!)