Cyclo-Cross (or Psycho-cross?)

Sunday afternoon was the cyclo-cross, the only 'official' time that I know of that we are allowed to dress-up and be dangerous in Mactown. About 20 people took part and biked a 1.5 mile loop full of hills, loose dirt, and ice. I had a blast, despite having to put my chain back on once and getting a rather large bruise on my calf.

Here is the start of the first heat. We needed to run to the chapel and back and then grab one of the *new* bikes that recreation got this year:

Me and Mark (a volleyball teammate of mine) before the race. Costumes were quite diverse. Some lab coats, great wigs, one-piece track suits, a lemur, ET in a basket, and much more random stuff. I went the random route:

The reason most people come out is to see people go down the stairs. The guy in front of me wiped out on the bridge, so I thought I would get stuck and not have to ride the stairs, but he cleared out just in time and I knew that the crowd was just waiting for someone to bite it, so I figured I'd give it a shot and I'd either make it, or I'd give them all what they were dying to see:

My front wheel was going left and then going right and then left again, but to the surprise of myself and the crowd, I miraculously stayed up:

Nearly equally as fun was the day before when Dan and I ran the cyclo course twice to see what what the conditions were like. Town is so wet and dirty now that we came back covered in mud, but it was a gorgeous day out. Coincidentally, we both came in second for our gender in the race, which means we got a $50 gift certificate to REI. With mine, I am going to order a rash guard for surfing and then wear it around the South Pole Station next September and October.