I dutifully loaded up the camper and dog Saturday morning in the rain and rolled out fairly early for the Galena Fest happenings. I managed to arrive a little before 9am and nab a decent parking place. The first of the races, the Bloody Rose mountain bike hill climb had already departed and the first running race, the Wicked Thorn was queuing up.
Given the cold, rainy start there was a large range of clothing options displayed at the start...ranging from shorts and no shirt to tights, jackets, gloves, and hats! The cold rainy day also seemed (not surprisingly) to really put a damper on the number of people attending. It didn't however, keep the band from playing most of the day and Ceol from serving up nice cold beer!
Later in the day the cyclocross events took place on a fantastic course with a lot of up and down, winding single track, UCI height (high) barriers, barriers leading into hill climbs, and some fast downhill on slick pavement. Here's a bunch of pics....
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| Here's the run up that starts with a barricade you have to jump...shoulder that bike and climb! |
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| ....and climb... |
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| ....and climb... |
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| ...throw it down and remount! |
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| The key to running the climb 8-9 laps...ignore the guy with a beer and camera yelling at you to go faster! |
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| Final step of the day....get your medal! |
