You could smell just a hint of spring in the air as the group gathered at the base of Linnton Trail in Forest Park, just off Hwy 30. One bike after another carried trail maintenance volunteers to the small parking area, where Forest Park Conservancy folks had a tent set up to greet anyone who showed up to improve the park we all love. At the urging of Erik Tonkin, a whole mess of S&M cyclists, as well as other cyclists, recently joined the Conservancy as a way to help improve the trails and to build a constructive conversation about the ways we can use and conserve Forest Park. In a world that focuses on friction and disagreement, it was nice to spend a day digging in, pulling ivy, chatting with new friends in fresh air, and feeling like we were earning the beer and food at the Lucky Lab at the gathering in the afternoon. Oh, and riding a bike to the trailhead felt great, but that’s a given, isn’t it? Hats off to Erik, to the Conservancy, and to those who came out to put in a little honest work with hands and tools in the Park.

Happy New Year Cross-istas!

Thank you to everyone who visited pdxcross.com this past year and supported us. Like we said in Dirty Pictures, when we started this site, we didn’t know if anyone but our immediate family would see it. We didn’t even know if any of them would care to see it more than once. Thank you, also, you to all of you who raced this year. We love to see what you do, how you do it, and we had a blast riding with you (some of you, that is. We’re not fast enough to ride with all of you).

As 2009 rolls around we plan to figure out what the hell we’re doing. It’ll be something. We hope it’s cool both for us and for you. Beyond that, we’re still scratching our heads a bit. Ahh, clarity!  In the off-season, we have some photography projects to pursue which we will publish here on occasion. We might show up at one of those “other” races with our bikes and cameras in hand — but certainly not as often as we did during cyclocross season — we have other jobs and families and television shows (CHiPs is on DVD now) to tend. So check in every once and awhile…something might be here. And, please keep in touch. If you have thoughts about cyclocross, photography, philosophy, or anything else you need to get off your chest, send ‘em on in. We’ll probably respond.

We wish you all the best for 2009! See you out there on two wheels. Be careful. Have fun.

We knew we liked the tone of the evening as soon as we saw that for several blocks in any direction from Roots Brewery on Wednesday night, finding a parking space for our bikes was going to be harder than finding parking for a car. Every signpost clung to a maximum number of bikes by u-locks, cables, chains, and handcuffs. It was enough to make a bike thief cry and a bondage junkie smile.

In any case, the scene outside was just a preview. Inside Roots Brewery milled a crowd of folks who just love all things bike. Sweet. We had our table off in a corner, next to a bike with a hammered-copper fender. On our table we had a bunch of postcards, one hard-cover and one soft-cover copy of Dirty Pictures, our book from the 2008 Portland cross season. We had beer (Chocolate Habanero Stout!), a great time chatting, and an educational moment or two.

Here’s what we learned: the only thing more fun than making pictures is watching people look at the pictures you’ve made. We enjoyed seeing people point at something and laugh, or smile, or say “Hey, that’s me coming out of the port-a-potty with a six-pack on my head.”  Double sweet. So thanks if you stopped by to say hello. Hope you liked paging through Dirty Pictures. And keep in touch.

For some more photos of folks checking out the book, visit Coco Ink.

All the printing, shipping and payment is handled by Blurb, the printer of the book. If you want to get it by Christmas their website says to order by the 9th for ground shipping or the 15th for FedEx.

We apologize but we did have to raise the price by 5 dollars. The extra money goes to pay for better paper and what’s called a custom workflow to ensure quality. We tested the books without those options and it really made a difference. So, we feel that the money is worth it.

To see photos of the book, visit Cococello design.

Thank you to each and everyone of you who contributed your thoughts and support to us during the season. It was an absolute blast!

We hope you enjoy the book. If you have questions, please feel free to write pdxcross@gmail.com

Dirty Pictures

Volume One

By pdxcross

Book Preview

Thanks to everyone for putting on the prom. good times.

Check back later for USGP photos and an update on Dirty Pictures.

Now, just for kicks, add a baby. Go ahead. Stir that baby, say a one-year-old boy, into the mix and see what happens.

That’s the recipe for Rhonda and Erik and their boy Gus during this year’s cross season. Somehow, they seem to hold it together. That’s not completely true, because it’s just one of those jobs that can’t be done with uninterrupted grace. Anyone who’s raised a kid knows that there are moments where the grace peals away.

But they’re managing to raise a kid who smiles almost all the time. Rhonda holds down a job as a science writer for the Forest Service. Erik owns and manages Sellwood Cycle Repair without always being a jerk. They run a pre-season cyclocross clinic that’s so popular that it takes over Alpenrose three evenings in September. They frequently house aspiring as well as world-class cyclists in their home, and Erik continues to mentor young hopefuls. We don’t think we’re exaggerating when we say that this couple is one of the reasons Portland is a center of cyclocross in the US. On top of all that, these new parents go really, really fast on bikes, riding with the country’s best — they’ve both represented the US in international competition in Europe, too. It doesn’t seem likely, does it?

We just had to see what that looked like, so we tagged along for a day at the races with the young family as they rode the race at PIR and a week later in Hillsboro.

The three arrive at PIR together. Rhonda grabs her two Vanilla bikes and puts one in the pit, then she warms up. Erik juggles Gus on one arm and bags full of clothes, two bikes, and a bunch of food on other appendages. While the rest of his competitors are warming up on trainers and taking practice laps and stretching and focusing on themselves in the thorough way of experienced racers, Erik walks the course with Gus in his arms, interrupted frequently by people who admire his boy, want a little advice on the course or their equipment, or just say hello. Gus and Erik play a game called “Let’s stick our tongues out.”

At the start of the women’s race, Erik brings Gus to the line. The boy wants some time in Mom’s arms, and yelps a bit when it’s time to back off and let the women’s race begin.  Then Erik continues his course wandering, cheering when Rhonda races by, and taking a little time to stretch while Gus climbs over his back.

Rhonda’s race goes fine, but not great. She doesn’t spend much time mulling it over, though. While the other women warm down, Rhonda dashes for the Kona tent, pulls off the muddiest and wettest of her clothes and pulls on a few layers of fleece. Just ten meters away, Erik dresses with Gus at his feet. Gel packets tucked into a short. Chunk of cheese stick in Gus’ mouth. Arms into the skinsuit. Put Gus’ hat back on. Stretch a hamstring. Keep Gus from leaving the relatively dry ground under the tent. Pull on some bike shoes. Put Gus’ hat back on, again. Helmet on. Another cheese stick for the boy, and it’s time to pass him to Rhonda.

Once Erik’s race finishes, he lashes and stashes their bikes on the car while Rhonda feeds Gus. Then Rhonda drives home while Erik extends the workout by riding home. It’s dark by the time Rhonda cleans her bike. Gus is in his Pjs and soup is almost done by the time Erik gets home. Everyone is tired, but the lack of a nap has Gus wired into some yelping and age-appropriate fussiness well past his, and his parent’s, bedtime.

The race at the Washington County Fairgrounds the following weekend is another matter. Erik decides not to race, but instead rides to the course. Friendly neighbors Mindy and Jessica agreed to take care of Gus.

“It was the first race I’ve gone to this year where I didn’t bring Gus,” says Rhonda. “I warmed up on my trainer next to the car, I pre-rode the whole course, I even scouted for the big holes in the thick mud of the rodeo arena. It was really nice to be just me.”

The women’s race has the crowd going nuts. Three women fight their way through the mud and grass.  Neighbors Mindy and Jessica show a knack for perfect timing, bringing Gus to the finish just as his muddy mother crosses the line ahead of her competitors. Sacha White may best capture the mood of the crowd at that moment: “When Rhonda came across that finish line first, well, that was just sweet. Really, really sweet.”

During Saturday of this coming weekend’s US Gran Prix of Cyclcross at PIR, Gus goes for a play date with Mindy and Jessica (where do we order neighbors like these?), while Rhonda and Erik go on a play date with some of the nation’s fastest cyclocrossers. On Sunday, Gus will be at the races, in the care of a babysitter.

“There were several times during the season when I wondered if it’s really worth the effort,” says Rhonda one evening after Gus is asleep and before she heads downstairs to do an interval workout on the trainer. “But we’ve chosen not to do athletics as our sole purpose. We’re just living life and we’re at the stage in our lives when we want to have a child. We still enjoy pushing ourselves in races, though.”

Just another fast family in the city of muddy bike riders.

-torsten

Immediately publishing a book about it is not as fun. The creative process of editing and designing is fantastic, but the details, scheduling and general business-ness of it is not. In fact, it’s why I am writing this post at 3:30 AM…checking my FedEx tracking number like it’s my investment portfolio (if i actually had an investment portfolio).

Some updates about the book:

– It is extremely unlikely that the book will be here in time for Sunday night’s party. The people printing the book just could not get it here it by then. It’s locked up in a FedEx truck out by the airport. I just went to the facility. I could almost smell the book…We will have it for sure on Monday. Then again, we were supposed to have it for sure on Friday.

– Due to circumstances beyond our control there might be an additional cost from the printer. This will cause the book to go up in price by a few bucks. We hope to avoid it, but wanted to give you advance warning that the cost might change slightly. We won’t know until we hold the proof copies in our grubby little hands.

- If the proofs are perfect, you will be able to order copies on Monday at some point in the afternoon. If the reproduction or printing is off it will delay it a few days. This might push it past the date that guarantees pre-Christmas delivery. Again, we really hope to avoid this, but it is out of our control.

We’re not happy about these updates either, trust me. But, we wanted to be transparent about the process and let you know what’s going on.

Thank you for your understanding and patience,

pdxcross

Sauvie Island served up a living Norman Rockwell painting on Sunday – autumn colors, a pumpkin patch, the corn maze, a bonfire, fresh produce and the general frolicking of the young and the young at heart alike.  Slightly off script, there was also a dead rat. As one of the more unique obstacles of the year, the extremely dead rodent provided great entertainment for those cheering as riders repeatedly ran over the carcass. It also got more “ewwww” and “disgusting” comments than even last week’s corral of animal waste stew. What a sport. Try adding a rat carcass to a basketball game or golf or table tennis – the reaction would be drastically different. We are not weak of heart or stomach or nose. 

But, we are tired. 

Nobody from pdxcross raced this weekend, but we felt like we did. Among our small band of photo-makers we had three illnesses, a knee injury and a gaggle of family members irritated at even the mention of cyclocross.

We just completed a two week marathon getting Dirty Pictures ready for print. Thank god for Deb, the pdxcross designer. Her creativity and general willingness not to strangle us are counted among her greatest attributes. Book updates to come next week.

So while the racers made swift laps through the fields and down the gravel roads, Sunday felt a cool down lap for us. A cold, foggy morning gave way to a gorgeous sunny day perfect for for laying in the leaves, eating frites and sipping a cold one. It was a nice little recovery before we slip into a holidaze and then hit the USGP for one last hoorah. 

Have a nice Thanksgiving. 

This must be what the bull feels like during the bull riding event in a rodeo: slipping and sliding through deep mud with an unwelcome weight clinging to your back.

But this was just another day, the final day, of the Cross Crusade series, and we were all there voluntarily, humping our way through the animal-waste-tainted mud without prodding or coersion. We were, we told ourselves over and over, having a good time. In fact, we paid money to do it.

And that’s what it looked like. As the ethereal morning fog gave way to plain old cheery sunshine, it revealed a whole buttload of people smiling like kids in a mud puddle.

There was racing, too. Maybe more than any other event of the season, the gathering at Washington County Fairground served up a heaping bowl of killer racing. It seemed like each group had at least a few people who were trying to end the season with a burst of competitiveness. The men’s Hot Shit racers fought like true heroes to a mud-slinging sprint that we’re still a little breathless about. The women’s Hot Shit race, in which three really, really fast women clawed their way over the course to an exciting finish. When Rhonda crossed the line to give her little boy a muddy hug, there were smiles all around.

We do love this weird sport and the lovely people who do it…even when they are covered in poo.

- torsten