Cyclocross weekend...night riding!

Well, this race started out a little differently for me.  I volunteered to help set the course, secretly hoping that the karma would show up in the race results!  Man, everyone should definitely do this at least once, just so you know the effort that goes into the process of putting together a great course.  We were a little on the light side for volunteers, so it was just Nick (coarse designer), Noah (former race director, supplier of all stakes, rakes, flagging, etc.), Ron (rider), and me (also rider) to put together the whole deal (there were others that showed up as the day went on, to be fair).  I could go into a lot of detail here, but let's just say we started at 1pm and we were still pounding stakes and running reflective flagging at 4:45pm.  For anyone paying attention to race times....that would be about 15 minutes before Ron and I had to race!

Anyway, it all worked out.  A great course, fantastic BBQ, fire pits, lighting stations periodically on the course.  The course itself had a great maze section in some absolutely energy sucking grass, some 20+ mph downhills, 1/4 mile pavement sprint section, run up hills, gravel washboard, and sand sections thrown in for good measure!  And it was all done in the dark (as promised)!

So without further ado, here's the course and some bad night time pics!

The starting line.

Men's B ready for action.

And they're off!

Into the first corner.

Around the bend.

The backside of the course, on a hill climb away from the baseball fields.

The sand right before the finish line...with a curb hop thrown in for good measures!

And just to show some karma does come from the course setup....here's the race results and series standings for the Men's 35+ C (my class).  Second place!  I'll take that all day night long!

Almost forgot pictures of the pavilion and the crew!

Jet lites (Team Bacon Strip) was out to provide riders with lights....and folks enjoying BBQ.

Even after setting the course, Noah helped out with registration...and he wasn't feeling good.

More BBQ patrons...can't believe I didn't get a picture of the spread!  It included pulled pork, baked beans, and beer and cheese soup!

Festive fans were out in force!