On Saturday, Tammy and I went to Gloucester, MA to watch the Great Brewers Gran Prix of Gloucester cyclocross bike race.  The weather was pretty terrible – rainy, wet, raw, cold – but the race was quite fun to watch.  I have never seen a cyclocross race before.  It is a cross between road cycling and mountain biking with a little bit of a steeple-chase thrown in for good measure.  Also there were some weird traditions/antics going on like offering beer, bacon, and dollar bills to the riders as they rounded the course.  I don’t think I am going to go out and buy a cyclocross bike and start racing, but hey you never know.

The Taco Truck was at the expo serving up gourmet tacos for lunch.  What do you think? Is the Taco Man going to hop on that Cannondale and take it for a spin?

This is the winner of the women’s race on her way up the staircase obstacle.  And a look at the chaos at the bottom of the steps at the start of the men’s race.

At the top of the steps the spectators were offering beer, bacon, and money to the racers as they made it up the steps.

The race continued with a bit of single track riding and then navigating down some rather muddy hills.

The final obstacle was a steeple-chase jump of sorts.  The riders had to dismount, hurdle three planks and then ride away.  This guy went on to take second place in the race, and he could jump like a gazelle.

And of course I was not the only photographer in the crowd.  This guy had an old manual Nikon SLR.  Looks like a lot of fun.  I find myself looking at these from time-to-time on eBay and I am sure I will probably own one at some point.

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