Cheryl Willson
2011 Cross Crusade
Oct. 2 Alpenrose Dairy
To All,
The Knights of the Crusade have declared the cross season to be officially open. The first race of the Crusade is this Sunday at Alpenrose Dairy. For those of you that have been there before, you know that it's the biggest thing on the planet. Even bigger than Celine Dion.
There are some tidbits I'd like to cover that might make this already awesome day go even better.
1. As all you veteran Crusaders know by now, parking is a challenge at Alpenrose. Carpooling, riding your bike, skateboarding, hitchhiking, and burrowing are all recommended ways of getting to the race. Teams are welcome to show up on Saturday afternoon to set up team tents on the course. Alpenrose has twenty four hour security, but don't leave valuables over night. If you want to be guaranteed of parking by your tent, you should get there pretty early on Sunday.
2. You can register and pick up your race number on Saturday between the hours of 1:00 and 3:00pm. The course will be marked and open for preview anytime after 2:00pm.
3. Shimano will be providing neutral wheels in the pit for all Crusade races this year as well as mechanical support in the expo. Nossa Familia will be serving up hot coffee for a nominal fee each day. Bob's Red Mill will be cooking up Steel Cut Oats for free, Jake the Frites Guy will be making French Fries and Josh will be cooking up Belgian waffles as usual.
4. Awesome day of race prizes include Go Pro Cameras, Bogs Boots, Shimano/Pro bike parts, Pearl Izumi clothes, Keen Footwear, and oh yes, Deschutes Beer. Lots of it.
5. Our schedule has changed from 2010, so go on Crosscrusade.com to confirm what time your race is. Entry is still $25 and OBRA membership is required. If you don't have a membership, we'll handle that at the race for $15. Registration at this first race can be a bit of a chore. We promise to do our best to make it fun and painless, but you might want to show up a bit early anyway. Race numbers are always on the left hip in cyclocross races and for 2011 we have added a left shoulder number.
6. As always, any and all bikes are legal in Cross Crusade Cyclocross races. Just don't bitch to us when Celine Dion beats you because you insisted on riding a 1978 Colnago fixie. Just because the dude in the Performance video won the Crusade Single Speed Category last year, doesn't mean it's smart to ride those goofy things.
7. Start prepping your screenplay and hiring your actors now! The first annual Cross Crusade Film Festival is on. Qualifying entries will be shown in Canne, France. Actually that's not true. Entries will be shown at the right here in beautiful Portland on Nov. 20th. Celine will be there. That's a rumor, not confirmed yet. 80/20.
8. One thing that is confirmed is that the current top ranked U.S. pro cyclocross racer Ryan Trebon will be showing up at Alpenrose to show us his stuff. He'll be available to autograph posters, baby's foreheads, women's breasts, and pretty much anything else you put in front of him. Just last week, Ryan won the opening race in the USGP of Cyclocross in Madison, WI.
Hope to see each and every one of you at Alpenrose this Sunday. We owe a huge debt of Gratitude to the Cadonau Family and all the great people at Alpenrose Dairy for their help with this event and with all bike racing throughout Oregon.
Brad Ross, Director. Cross Crusade Cyclocross Series, bradross51@gmail.com