Well I had a pretty busy past 2 weekends. Hard core cyclocross racing was in full effect in the Pacific NW.
First came the The Stanley Portland Cup US Gran Prix of Cyclocross weekend–2 days at Portland International Raceway.Then, the next week, 4 day here at home in Bend for the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships.
Morning racing in the fog at PIR
First up was the USGP racing in Portland. The conditions and the crowds didn’t disappoint. The first morning saw the course fogged in and the racers battling the chilling wet air and the sticky mud. As the day progressed the sun came out and the racing got even hotter. Here are some highlights from that first day.
An OTB rider takes the opportunity to make a buck from the crowd
Day 2 for the The Stanley Portland Cup saw conditions change again. The temperature was crisp and the morning sky’s were clear, mostly due to the raging wind that was blowing most of morning (so fierce that several of the team tents that were left up overnight were found that morning ripped up and blow out onto the course). As the day went on the winds blew in the clouds and the temperature went down more. As the racing heated, up so did the crowds–mostly from bbqs and propane heaters…and the occasional beer. Some of the less serious racers were actually able to make a couple bucks by pluck dollar bills out of spent beer bottles the spectators were placing on the course. Here are some highlights from that day’s racing.
A racer takes a flyer...not your typical flyer for racing
The second long weekend saw the racing and the crowds migrate South to Bend, OR for the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships. Bend is a hot-bed for cycling and outdoor activity and has been bless to host both the road and the CX National Championships for ’09 (and will again in ’10). CX Nationals consisted of 4 full days of racing for men/woman, Jrs/master’s, amateurs/pros. And in typical fashion, Bend rolled out the red carpet for the visitors and put on what some are saying is one of the best (if not the best) CX Championships ever. Many are already looking forward to coming back for next year’s event.
The crowds enjoying the pros throw it down in the elite men's race
As with the last race in Portland, the temperatures dropped and some of the racers were starting their races in temps hovering around 0 degrees. The ground was frozen and had snow for most of the first couple days and then the temps started to rise and the mud started to come out later in the weekend (ahh Bend has everything to offer a CX racer). With the frozen ground the first couple of days, the less fortunate were hitting the deck all around the course (someone was joking they were averaging 3 broken bones a day…probably not far off). While we had 4 days of racing and thousands of pictures taken by myself and my Cascade Event Photography partner Dina Boswell, I’ve decided not to subject you to all of them unless you want 
Here is a sampling of my favorites from the 4 days of action here in town. If you want to see more, we’ll have all of our race photos up shortly on the Cascade Event Photography website.
So as many of the pros head to Europe, the CX season in the PNW is pretty much in the bag. Hope you enjoy seeing what I’ve enjoyed shooting this year.
T’was the night before Art Walk and all through the store, photos were hung on the wall with care knowing that people soon would be there. Okay just a little holiday spirit to get in the mood.
I just got done hanging the majority of my photos at the Urban Beauty Bar in downtown Bend, for this week’s First Friday Art Walk (Dec 4th) and next week’s show “Cross Culture art + bike love” (Dec 11th).
This month’s theme is in honor of the USACycling Cyclocross National Championships which will be happening here in Bend Dec. 10-13. I’ve hung a selection of photos from different events that I have shot this season, they show the great variety that is cyclocross racing…dust, rain, mud, and snow (yeah and since this is Central Oregon we also have sunshine).
Jenn and Nikki the owners of the Urban Beauty Bar have been great and I am looking forward to the party next week. I’ll be in Portland shooting the US Gran Prix Cyclocross races this weekend, so I’ll miss the Art Walk, but I’ll be there with bells on (probably a cow bell) next Friday night.
If you can’t make it to Bend, you can check out some of my work from this year at the links below:
I hope to see you at the here
Enjoy
