Here's something interesting I've never thought of before -- in Minnesota when there's several feet of snow on the ground, they race cross indoors on an indoor soccer field:
I'd love to see some Oregon cross races in January and February. Perhaps taking them indoors is the answer.
And don't say true crossers should just suck it up and handle the weather, even Sven Nys races cross indoors.
While definitely not local, I happened to be traveling through Austin, Texas this week on business and brought my cameras along to attend and shoot photos of the Lone Star Cyclocross Texas State Championships.
While the fields and crowds were smaller than a typical Oregon event, the course did not disappoint as it featured multiple water crossings, plenty of mud, off camber sections, and even a sandpit.
Here's a slideshow of my weekend photos and static photos are here. The best are ending up on cxmagazine in a first teaser post and a full wrap-up to come.
I also shot some video clips and threw this together on the plane ride home:
About half of our team ventured out to Bend, Oregon this week for the US National Championships of Cyclocross. Team riders scored the following finishes:
Eric Vickers was doing well in his race until a barrier mishap ended his race with a badly cut ear(!!!).
In the elite races, Katie Compton showed why she's the number one ranked women's rider in the world by stomping the competition, adding 10-15 seconds to her lead each lap. Tim Johnson held off defending champ Ryan Trebon to become the new national champ for his third time. A slideshow of my photos from the weekend is here (static photos here).
Buy Local team rider Sean Kelsey rode this weekend's USGP event in Portland, scoring a 7th on Saturday and I would guess about a 12th Sunday (still awaiting results) in the 35+ Masters class. Sean's also racing next week at the Cyclocross National Championships in Bend, Oregon.
My photos from Day 1 and Day 2 are posted over at Flickr and here's a video I shot of Ryan Trebon flying through barriers.
CROSS II The Hecklers from Paul Michna on Vimeo.
