A day at the races (with some casualties and lots of beer)

Greetings from an exhausted and moderately hungover Bilenky crew.

The 5th annual junkyard cross was huge-- a hundred and twenty racers and at least as many spectators, who banged on cowbells, heckled, or, like me, bit all their nails off whilst watching their favorite people riding through our most technical course yet.

The set up didn't go nearly as smoothly as the race. While moving the framework for the (epic and slippery) over-under obstacle, a big I-beam landed on Simon's foot and broke two toes. Yikes. Despite shattered bones and tons of painkillers Mr. Safety Firth still MC'd,

And threw things at people,

Get well soon, Simon! Check back for info on a toe-related fundraiser. Goldsprints, maybe?

On top of that, our intrepid trail builder had to spend race-day in bed with food poisoning. Waft good karma at Carl, too, without whom these awesome trails wouldn't have happened.

But the race had to go on. Registration was swamped the minute it opened. (And thanks to our brave impromptu volunteers who handled it)

First stop: artisan beer tap.

Next stop: psychedelic taco truck.

Once everyone was sufficiently tanked and fed, it was time to go. CXHairs.com has a great video up already:

http://vimeo.com/18000092 (For the record, I think everyone bailed on that see-saw at least once. Or maybe that's wishful thinking, because I did).

And here is a helmet cam video!

And a few stills:

 The see-saw took some nerve (thanks to Joe P for building and bringing it!)

 No 'cross is complete without a bear.

 Round the Sex Pit and into the snow plough!

The youngest rider tore it up.

So did these ladies.

Keep checking back for more images and films, I'll put them up as we get them.

The best vantage point was definitely off the top of the trailers in the junkyard:

How many races does one watch by climbing up a precarious ladder onto a roof with bumpers all over it? With good beer, great tacos, and the best company in the world? I watched racers zoom by below me, mostly avoiding the temptation to dump beer on them, unless they asked.

Congratulations to our winners, who carried off some sweet prizes from White Industries, Chris King, and others. Miraculously, no one got seriously hurt, though there were plenty of dings and scrapes. I watched one guy slide off the over-under, grab the railing, dangle for a moment, then haul himself back up. Someone on the ground caught his bike, too. (If anyone has any footage/pics of this, PLEASE send them to us? It was probably the most hair-raising moment of the day.) But there were no major pile ups, and no light person got catapulted off the see-saw by a heavier person, as we all secretly hoped feared.

Then we drank more beer and threw a cracked GT at a traffic cone:

Then we rode home in the lovely afternoon. Thanks to everyone who came out, helped with set up and tear down, provided beer (that's you, Dog Fish Head!) and food and appallingly spicy seitan that nearly killed Kasy, but didn't. And of course, thanks to the the racers who braved probably toxic mud, definitely toxic puddles, janky obstacles, rusty metal and freezing cold to make a great race day.

Cheers, and here's hoping for a quick return of Simon and Carl!

Isis

BCW

EDIT: Yay! Here's the video I was looking for. Awesome. Thanks, Wade Boggs!