This was the first time I've been to Iowa City's Jingle 'Cross, but it won't be the last! Everything you could ask for in a cyclocross race was here - flats, hills, MUD, barriers, run-ups, MUD, ample parking, indoor registration, MUD, hoses to wash your bikes off, MUD, off camber sections, ample numbers of Super Fans with bells, horns, and a small brass section, top riders going for UCI points, and MUD.

2 inches of new snow with wet flakes falling all day made this race day look and feel just like those pictures you see from Belgium ... everybody and everything coated in liquid dirt. Mount Krumpet dared all 'crossers to ride all the way to the top ...but none made it on Sunday ... the pitch was just too steep and too slippery to keep the rear wheel from spinning. The descent from the summit immediately following, reminded me off a downhill ski race ... a long, barely controlled, plummet over a drop off to a large, noisy crowd cheering your heroic attempts to stay upright.

Brakes squealed in protest (not that they worked anyway), gears refused to shift, wheel bearings sounding like coffee grinders, useless soaked gloves tossed to the side.

You either laughed or cried on how your day was going. Stationed 3/4 of the way up the big climb as the Elite men made their pre-race reconnaissance, I briefly chatted with each rider as they either simply shook their heads at the conditions, or laughed at the comedy they were about to experience.

It was awesome.

Pix and video to follow.

Yesterdays race was the kind of conditions I was looking forward to the past 3 years of doing cross, just a great time. I was in the earlier Cat 4 race so I didn't get the full experience of the later races as the course was mostly rideable early in the day, but it got bad fast. I have some pics and vidoes up on my blog in my signature.

Good to see some pix from Saturday. I have a feeling that a lot of riders chose not to ride on Sunday, and you can't fault them for that! It seemed that the downhills on Sunday were a big factor on who did well.

Have you guys seen results posted anywhere yet?
Looks like it was fun!

No results yet, but should be here https://www.jinglecrossrock.com/home.htm when they go up

That doesnt look fun at all. Maybe thats whats so great about it?

So was there any mud at this event?

Sounds like a good time. Congrats

If there's mud at Montrose, I'm staying in the car.
If there's a lot of snow at Montrose, I'm staying in the car.
If it's cold at Montrose, I'm staying in the car.

But enough about me. Where are the pictures, Wilke?

Amen....of course we could step out of the car and instantly place ourselves in the top 15 cat 4 cross racers in the state.....

....or we could stay warm and be sane.

Pix still uploading to the site. Will put some of the interesting ones here tomorrow.

Long range forecast for here is cold all week (like no melting).



Aside: 9 - 10 inches of snow within 30 mins drive of here. Have XC skis ... will travel.

So yeah, these UCI races are neat because you see so many different teams from outside the midwest.

These team busses were cool. I didn't even notice until after I looked at the pic that
they've got a full party platform on the roof. Great for cheering on your riders as a Super Fan as well:



and this one from Colorado has bunk beds, a work shop ... it's home on wheels!





The Iowa (or Minnesota?) version of Super Girl (he ain't from Wisconsin!) shown here racing through one
of the stables (the course was on some county fair grounds). They wrote his number on his back
like a triathlon. Someone at the start said "Why bother? We know who his is!":



These next two are some of my favorites - this ain't Chicago anymore!!





Do you see the fence up on the hill? That isn't the top, it's just the first switchback.
Something like 100 feet of vertical. The elite men were trying to figure out a line so they
could ride past that fence ... but it couldn't be done ... too steep, too slippery - even
for the best in the country. Popper was just shaking his head during reconaissance.
Troy Wells just laughed and laughed when he walked the course. It was hard just watching
the race because you were always sliding around in the mud.

Here's Brian Matter trying to ride past the dismount point ... he's not really moving much here ...
just spinning his back wheel.



This is the pit area and a lot of the elite riders were switching bikes every other lap.
Nothing like a good hose down at 33F !!



I remember when the 'Cross Nats were in Milwaukee back in '79 or so, the riders were
swapping bikes every lap. That was a funny year. It was 60 - 70 degrees all week before
the race ... until the night before when it snowed 12 inches !! The California riders didn't have
any winter clothes along because it was an unexpected storm. What a mudfest that was too.

Then the long drive home. This is US 80 east of Iowa City:



I counted four accidents in three miles west bound that caused this back up, then
there was road construction in ILLINOIS (what else??) that backed up eastbound traffic.
The snow was blowing pretty badly too. Four hours driving down, five and a half back home.

still, it was well worth it.

Video yet to come.

Great pics as always, man.

I'm pretty sure that the day I show up to a cross race with that sort of elevation and mud, is the day I don't even bother finding the registration table. That's nuts.