Barnyard Cross - Manhattan

8 inches of snow 2 days before raceday helped to create the funnest cross race of the year. The Bad Goats had blazed a 10-15 feet wide swath along the entire course running around the grounds of the Manhattan Area Technical College, but there was still enough of the white stuff on the course that it was the single biggest factor in how it rode. Temps were well below freezing for the SS race at noon, so it was hard and fast but icy around the corners. The singlespeed field of 7 riders started about 30 seconds behind the 4's, including good friend and Crackanooner, Dustan. I was able to grab the win ahead of mostly local riders- I think there was only one SS'er not from Manhattan.

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Then it was time to drink beer. Lots of beer. Barnyard beer... Granite City beer... Mickeys... more Barnyard...

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By the time the 3/4 race started at 3, the temps had climbed into the mid/upper 30s. The snow turned to water in some places, mud in others, and remained solid in others. A section of the course threaded through a wooded area where there was a considerable layer of old leaves, branches, wood chips, and even some abandoned cement blocks! All this debris combined with the snow made for a particular nasty section of trail. You can see Andy, above, navigating through this area. The mountain bikers definitely had the advantage for this one.

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The course looked so wet and nasty by the end of the 3/4s that I decided to have one more go at it and I entered the Open/1/2/3 race. 9 of us started at 4 and the temps had started back down towards the freezing mark again. By mid-race, small ice patches were forming and the whole 1.5 miles was an ever changing menagerie of mud, grass, ice, snow, sand and water- beautiful! I got some beer handups from T. Park and Michaela and was engaged in an ongoing snowball fight with John Waller and company. I rolled across the finish in 5th and nobody came in behind me. I guess the tandem mountain bike didn't work out too well for the Bad Goats. Others were probably more interested in getting back to more Barnyard brew.

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Big THANKS to Apel, Patterson, Stamper, and the rest of the Bad Goats for putting on a super cool race! This one's on the calendar for next year already.