Crossing, Crashing, Drinking, Grabbing the Money

The State Cyclocross Championships were held today on the west side of Minneapolis. My race was the B2, 45+ event and man was it tough! I don't do too well in the hills and this race had the big stair climb as usual and an off-camber climb with a lot of turns. Things didn't start off too well. Mark Rathbun crashed at the start and took me out. I was dead last after we got up and had to make up a lot of places. I started passing guys and eventually settled into the spot where I likely belonged. After coming up the stairs on one of the laps, a big stick got stuck in my rear derailleur. Although no one passed me, I lost some time when I stopped to get it out. At that point I figured what the hell and grabbed a shot of something from the counter culture crowd right after a set of barriers. A lap or two later, they had some dollar bills on top of the barriers. There was only one left when I got there but I grabbed it. Since no one was too close to me in front or in back, I cruised in to the finish. As usual at all cyclocross races, it was a blast. The beer was good but it ran out fast. Tons of riders showed up for the big event. Besides me, other Loon State peeps included Jim and Jordan Cullen, Tom Manderfeld, John Kortbein, Andy Frye, Shane Kullman, Barry and Ali Tungseth, Bill Kuster, Greg Golbrisch, Dan Meyer, John Stamm, Mike Lyner, Chad Macy, Tom Cowan, John Rotach and the amazing Red Lantern - Dan Cleary. Future Loon Rob Belz had a bike malfunction free race for the first time this year. Among the rest of the field was Doug Swanson, Aric Hareland, Dan Casper, Hollywood Henderson, Adam Bergman, Steve Kapaun, Lee Bengel, Mike Wataja, Hans Eisenbeis, Lori Belz, Linda Sone, Margot Hermann, Theresa Moriarity, Sam Meier, Dave Meyer, John Thompson, Paul McKinney, Peter Lugers, John Friedel, Paul Krafthoffer, Rob Ogren, Dave Peterson and many more. By the way, I'm the one in the Loon State kit on the ground after the start line crash. Thanks to Bruce Adelsman for the picture.