There Will Be Mud

[Flur]

That's a lot of mud! It makes me miss my college rugby years...

[IFjane]

Typical muddy cross race. A friend of my son's was supposed to race in a cross race in MD today - must've been this one. I didn't see him in any of the photos though. Two years ago in Charlottesville the conditions were similar except the temps were in the 40's (it was early Nov.). I have never seen so many demolished rear derailleurs & rear wheels as I did that day! I would imagine the results were close to that today. Great photos, Zen.

[Tri Girl]

Great pics, although the OCD in me starts screaming when I see such dirty bikes. Yikes- must... clean...bike...right... away. Must be why I don't mtn bike as much- I just can't stand a dirty bike.

Thanks for sharing the pics. (did you race or just oggle over the muddy participants?)

[Zen]

Ogle, ogle, ogle.
one guy had his shirt off and was pouring water over himself after a race.
That was almost too much for me to handle
Probably best that i was there with Kalidurga to keep me on track.

I had never been to a cross race before and really enjoyed it.

[Kalidurga]

I knew you were taking photos of racer's butts. "No, I was shooting the mud in their brakes" Riiiiiiiiight

Here's the face of someone who's just seen a half-nekkid 'cross racer bathing himself:

[Zen]

Here's the face of someone who's just seen a half-nekkid 'cross racer bathing himself:

No.
not quite wide-eyed and slack-jawed enough

[Zen]

and it was still alive

[Kalidurga]

And Zen rescued it and turned it loose near one of the ponds. Here're a few more shots, including the closest we saw to a crash (first photo, behind the second rider):

[Irulan]

Ogle, ogle, ogle.
one guy had his shirt off and was pouring water over himself after a race.
That was almost too much for me to handle

this thread is useless without more pictures.

[Kalidurga]

this thread is useless without more pictures.

She was too stunned at that moment to get the camera out. And I was taking photos of water lilies, not racer's body parts

They had apparently planned for the mud, as there were a few "bike washes" set up with hoses and buckets of soapy water. We walked past at one point and there were at least a half dozen riders and bikes in line.

[sundial]

Here's how Zen can meet the muddy man of her dreams.