Lakewood, WA

This year Tim and I decided to go to Cyclocross Nationals. Going to a cross race together had been a dream of ours for a while.

For several years I have watched on NBC the European pros race cyclocross (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclo-cross for the non-cyclists), and so seeing a World Championship event in person would be an amazing experience. Unfortunately none of these were really accessible in the US this year, but USA level nationals was in Seattle, and was only a $90 plane ticket away, so away we went.

Saturday, December 14 2019

We arrived at the race course on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. Located in Lakewood, Washington, an hour’s drive south of Seattle, the course was intimidating to the eye of the onlooker. Massive dirt ramps littered the hillside, with spectators along the available railings. Overall, the course was fairly sparse of people, with concentrations near the ‘action spots’; the dirt ramps. These were our first destination.

Covered in mud, participants bike, run, and slide down the focal descent of the course with degrees of grace, fear, and everything in between.

The next stop was one of the ascents. Too steep to reliably ride up, all participants (that we saw) chose to carry their bikes up this muddy slope. By this point, the race had transitioned from Junior Women’s to Women’s Singlespeed.

And for those of you wondering, yes, that is a man wearing a red jumper and a santa hat, riding an exercise bike, and hitting a cymbal while offering cash to riders. Let’s focus on him a minute more.

The exercise bike, dragged from a lower portion of the course where it was likely placed by race staff, is really only a footnote in this whole spectacle. The santa hat and red jumper were an interesting look, fitting with the winter temperatures. The cymbal bashing was also interesting, garnering cheers and comments from the crowd. The real cherry-on-top here was the holding out of $1 bills for riders to grab. Some riders went for it and some didn’t, but this was clearly something you’re only bound to see at a cross race.

Shortly after came the entrance of the Men’s Singlespeed field. A sea of bodies and bikes flowed up the hill together.

Next, we returned to the center descent to watch the downhill carnage. And carnage there was.

Sunday, December 15 2019

The second day began with chai tea lattes and another striking figure, although this time a bit less involved than the cymbal man.

Sasquatch takes many forms, but “man at a cross race” was not one I had expected. (More on Bigfoot in a later post.)

He stood atop the off-camber, muddy, tree-leaf and branch-filled, rutted-out downhill that was where we decided to set up shop for the majority of the day.

Also comical was watching the spectators try to climb higher up on the slope, as the slope was steep, off-camber, and slick with wet tree leaves. This led to many ‘spectator crashes’.

Different lines were taken by different riders, with the majority taking the outside (left in the image) line. A variety of different crashes occurred on this slope.

And eventually, the sun even appeared for a bit!

This downhill was outright terrifying. Everyone I have talked to about it and I have all agreed we would certainly eat shit at the first hint of a downward pitch. Major props to all riders out there who participated, regardless of how many times they rode through, fell, or ran through. Every one of those is more than I would be willing to do.

I made my way around the, now considerably more populated than Saturday, course to capture other moments of the riders’ experiences.

And soon began the Elite men’s race, likely to be the most high octane, risk taking, and testosterone filled FFA of a race possible, so needless to say we were excited.

After the leaders flew past, the rest of the riders came through in numbers and in force.

At higher speeds came higher risk, and the crashes were harsher and cost more.

And riders came through in all appearances and from all manners of life. Cross does not discriminate in who it takes to the ground.

All in all, it was an incredible event. Seeing the riders struggle through a difficult course was both comical and inspiring. This particular course was a great one to watch, as there were sketchy downhills, steep uphills, bridges to cross, and plenty of great places to spectate. Present in the race were a great sense of adventure and a sense of accomplishment in even showing up; these were some of the things that got me into cycling in the first place.

I can honestly recommend watching a cross race to anyone who has any interest in watching a racing event. It beats any other type of bike racing in amount of time you get to view the riders, the speeds are slower so you get a closer look at what’s going on, the crashes are more visible and less deadly, and the course is brutal. You can see each rider’s individual struggle and race, as well as getting to see the leaders push for the podium. Even if you don’t have an interest in cycling, I think it would be a fun event to watch and would recommend it. All the more reason to accompany a friend or loved one to their next crazed CX race.