gjhsu

Howdy, everyone!

The 2015 National Championships are going on here, near downtown Austin, so naturally I took a few days off work to go there to take some pictures. From talking to competitors and spectators from around the country, they generally seemed very impressed with the speed and elevation changes of the course, including the two monster sets of limestone steps.

Anyway, here are some of my photos from days 1 and 3 of the Championships. It goes through Sunday.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjhsu/...7649764924150/

gjhsu

Andy_K 

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

Three of the juniors from my team are down there racing this week. You got a picture of one of them -- Brian Hart Jr., number 481 in this shot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjhsu/...7649764924150/ I hear he finished 19th in the men's open non-championship race.

gjhsu

Oh, very cool! I'll have to dig through the rest of the pictures (I have 900 or so throughout both days) to see if I can find any more of his. Feel free to send your team the link

Andy_K 

Cool, thanks.

His sister Sussanah got 20th in the women's singlespeed race after starting dead last. This is a pic of her that someone shared on Facebook:



Our team just got new kit with our new sponsors logos, but for some reason neither of them seem to have raced in those. Maybe they're saving them for the juniors championship races this weekend so they don't have to do laundry.

gjhsu

Up to 20th from the back row? Well done!

fietsbob

Wearing a Skirt in the race gets style Points

Andy_K 

Yeah, I can't cleanly remount in baggy shorts. I don't know how she does it.

gjhsu

I found a good one going through them today.

Andy_K 

Sweet. Thanks for taking the trouble.

What's the mood of the local cross community like down there over today's debacle?

gjhsu

There was definitely an initial knee-jerk reaction of anger and disappointment (Katie Compton saying that the city was happy to take their money for hotels and food, then cancel the event), but I think people do understand that the trees in question are a protected thing, and people are making the most of it. The race will still go on today at noon, albeit on a slightly different course. The course had already been modified on Friday to eliminate the uphill barriers because lap times were running into the 11-minute mark vs 9 minutes when it was dry on Wednesday.

Some of the racers went across the street to an adjacent park to have some impromptu fun over there, so it wasn't all for nought. People are definitely making the most of it. I'm a little bummed I won't be able to make it out to watch today since I'm back at work.

HOWSER

Great photos! I was down there racing with my son last week. He was the little fellow in the Non-Champs 10-29 race. You grabbed him in a pic running up the limestone stairs (no.483). At only 9, racing at a 10yo, I thought he did very well. That was a very tough course for such a little man.

The announcer at the finish made a big deal over him being he was so young compared to his competition, even pulled him on stage and interviewed him.

With the exception of Sunday's issues it was really a great venue.

gjhsu

Awesome! We were all definitely rooting him on at the steps

HOWSER

Thank you! He had mentioned that there were lots of folks on those steps cheering for him.