The Radavist

I returned to Austin after a week-long trip in Los Angeles to find two back-to-back days of cross racing on the local schedule. Having just raced my first sanction cross event in LA, I was eager to give the local circuit a try, so Saturday I headed out for some fast, dusty and humid fun. Since I didn’t have any season points, I started in the back of the 4’s, in a field of about 40 racers. Over 3, ten minute laps, I held onto my position, coming in 4th, which was good enough for me. I learned a lot (watch out for sandbaggers on MTBs) and had a blast (most importantly). I even managed to get a bit of air on a nice bump on the course.

Sunday, I decided to rest up and take photos. It was Chris‘ birthday, so I wanted to get some good shots of him racing and of course, we had to douse him with beer… Thanks to Andrew Franciosa for shooting photos on Saturday. It’s not every day I have photos of myself up on the blog, so be kind!

Beginning any race with a LeMans start is sure to cause a ruckus, but add in a real life “cycling salmon” and things get interesting. This year’s SSCXWC began with a bang. Both the men’s and women’s field showed that you can truly have fun and still be somewhat competitive. From the snot rocket cannons, to the cesspool pit and even the crowd-induced bottle necked course, the racers had to endure a lot more than they bargained for. Oh and mud in SoCal? The cross gods smiled upon LA last Sunday. See for yourself in the gallery.

Last weekend, Chrome threw a circuit race in an empty office floor above their PDX store. It looked amazing but unfortunately, I couldn’t make it out to Portland again this month. So when Brenton Salo said he was going to be shooting it, I reached out to him to get some photos. He was stoked on his TL-200 Contax flash for his G2 and fired away all night.

Check out some selects in the Gallery.

Ok, if I asked you what kind of car a Portland-based frame builder would drive to cross races, the last thing you’d guess is an armored truck. You know, the kind that people drop loads of money off to banks with? Yeah, gun openings, plated steel, bullet-proof glass. The whole works. I think it’s awesome that Speedvagen takes this beast to cross races. After I got done shooting Tom’s Speedvagen, he gave me a tour of the Speedvagen tank.

Since I can’t make it out to every rad event that takes place in SF, It’s nice to have Mike Martin of Mash to offer up some choice photos from the The Bicycle Art & Design of Garrett Chow: All Chips on the Table gallery show and Cutty Cross race. This show looked amazing and these photos will serve the purpose of introducing you to Garrett’s work if you’re unfamiliar.

Also, don’t miss out on a few shots of Garrett’s Specialized Concept Venge road bike after the show photos.

I can’t think of a better way to spend my last day in Portland than to watch and photograph Cross Crusade. There aren’t many times that I get to venture into a muddy cross course and everything I’ve heard of Portland cyclocross is indeed true. It was a muddy, fast time with a great turn out. See more in the gallery.