Spa 'Cross a success!

Oops!
The muddy ditch was not easy to ride
I ran on most laps, and that wasn't much better.

Updated: photos here.

After months or preparation, hours of toil in the pouring rain, and 60 minutes of suffering out on the course today, there is only one work to describe Spa 'Cross: "awesome."

Thanks to the 149 athletes who came out to race through the mire and muck, and spectators who came to cheer, the vendors who kept us fed and entertained, John, and the volunteers who made it all happen, and then stuck around after to help us race, stomp, and rack some more, to try and cover up the damage to the turf left by all those bikes.

The course seemed a lot more fun to me when it was dry, that that's because I'm no mountain biker, and mud is not my specialty. Still, the cheers from the crowd assembled at the mud pit, at the bottom of a tough off-camber turn, made the day, cheering anyone who rode through the muck, and sighing when some one ate it (as pictured above!)

So, even for a roadie like me, who does not particularly like getting dirty, riding a 'cross bike, or working hard after Oct. 1, it was a good time. Thanks everyone who helped to make it that -- and lets do it again in 2010!

There were a whole lot of people taking photos today, and I'm working on uploading the first back of what I have. Check back soon for more photos!

And now, without further adieu, I must collapse. Thanks again to all who raced, helped out and spectated, this race could not have happened without you!