Thy Neighbors Alleycross

Alright lets down to the details of the madness that was Saturday's Alleycross.

Saturday was pretty wet if you do not remember well.

I showed up at the bridge at 6:30. The drizzle started turning to the more real deal type of rain around this time. Two other dudes were there waiting. Both had cool and nice bikes, but they were not geeked out like myself.

Soon though, EC (I don't like putting people's names up) shows up with his waist sized quads. EC is hoss and has a lot of experience doing the alleycross races and Dirt Derby.

2-3 other chillin' racers and another Dirt Derby racer show up also.

Rain is legit now.

Alright, 3 dudes in leotards, and a nice handful in casual.

7pm rolls around and we head out to the course.

Now it was straight up pouring. The ride out there was great.

We stop by D's house to pick up the barriers, which afforded me the opportunity to sneak away to the store and pick up a quick brew.

The location was sweet. The barriers were set up in front of a pavilion that served as a spectator area.

The couse setup could best be described as a oddly shaped figure eight.

In the middle was the barrier section.

One loop featured the crazy contrast of thick mud and dusty dirt. The area with the dirt was dry because it was under a bridge. Tricky stuff riding fast on stuff similar to sand with your tires completely caked.

The other loop started with a curb obstacle. Then, there were two little hills to run up. Before you got back on the main straight, the loop had a section of off camber mud.

We started the fun off with a le mans style start, and the pace was hot from jump street.

The racing was good. R, is a seasoned racer started putting the hurt on me soon after the first lap. I think he got inspired when I beat him over the barriers the first time, haha.

I then figured I'd hang with EC and see if we can pace ourselves to catch him.
It turned out not to be big EC's day.

Soon, a newcomer to alleycross, and a cool guy, "B" was on our tail.

I figured its time to drop EC and see what this guy has going on.

This was fun stuff.

He owned one half of the loop, and I did better on the other and the barriers.

When we would pass one way, he would lead, the other, I would.

This went on for like 20 min.

Man it was awesome.

In the end, he finished ahead, with R finishing first and myself 3rd.

B is a great rider and I hope to see him at more races.

The more casual crew also had a blast. Some had no idea what they were getting themselves into, but everyone seemed to have a smile (of relief?) on their face after.

That's whats cross is about.

Competitive, semi-competitive, quasi-competitive, relatively competitive, alcoholy competitive, or non-competitive.

Whatever, just have fun.