Cross Crusades Halloween Cross

After being stuck at the back of the pack for the start on Saturday, I was anxious to get a better starting position on Sunday thinking they would just reverse the order on Sunday.  My group was the 2nd to last to go but somehow we got placed in third position for the start on Sunday.  So much for my theory of reversing position!  It meant it would be a mid-pack start after all the call ups were done.  It was still a much better position than the prior day so thumbs up!

The vast majority of riders were in costume and it was pretty cool to see the creativity of the field.  Some people wore minimal costumes in order to be able to throw down on the bike.  My costume of choice...Elvis!
Elvis was in da' house...or more accurately in the field.  I can only hope that people did not see me as 'fat Elvis' - doh!

The race went OK.  The course was awesome but there was the usual bottlenecking during the first lap until the pack had a chance to thin out.  There were a couple of minor changes to the course on Saturday with the most interesting one being an alternate route on one of the tight corners where you could dismount and take a slight short cut over a couch....yes, a couch!  The couch was set up on an uphill so it was difficult to get over as it was big and bulky, and soft.  The first few laps over it were OK, but as the legs got tired, it was more difficult to be aggressive while trying to wrestle the couch.

The weather was awesome, the course was great, and the riding was more fun than the prior day mostly because I was in a part of the pack that had spread out a little and was able to push it a little harder.

I am still befuddled by the Cross Crusades starting order and results but considering I was not where close to getting a result, it is all good!  I look forward to more befuddlement next year!