welcome to washington park. don't mind the goose poop

race #5 of the wca 'cross series at washington park in milwaukee, w'scauny. what a cool place to have a cyclo-cross race! the organizers (Velo Trocadero) really made pate de fois gras out of the space that was available.

the camera made it into the gig-bag this time, so HOORRAAYY! HOLIDAY SNAPS!

in honor of halloween, cosumes were in full swing and these tombstones lined the course:

on the pre-ride, i passed the first one, but stopped and paid respects to Tommy Simpson (whose last words grace the title of this blog), Marco Pantani & il Championissimo. well, not stopping at Jacques Anquetil's ended up being a big mistake. the spirit of the bon vivant got back at me later in the warmups, when his ghost bit my chain in half.

in direct violation of shimano rule #105.FD.9, i was able to piece it back together with a cyclo rivoli tool before the start of the cat.4 race and it lasted through those five laps at least.

the founding fathers of cyclo-cross (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller) looked on rather stoically during the day's proceedings.


this is the centerpiece of this wonderful space: the amphitheater.


here's Richard with his costume (it was way better than my costume):


what's the mark of a good photographer? TIMING!


here's one of me on my way to a 34th finish (of 55) , courtesy of Renee Callaway www.madcross.org

ODDS AND SODS:

1). also, just to clear up a washington park start line controversy, according to the little arrows on the side wall of my michelin cyclocross jet tires, my rear tread was facing the right direction.

2). a picture of Jeff Kao (XXXathletico) & i (again, courtesy of Renee Callaway) from the muddy cam-rock (29th of 35)