Mt. Pleasant Cross Race 2012

 Big thanks to Flannery Allison for some great photos!

I've always been a fan of the Mt. Pleasant Winery cyclocross race in Augusta, Missouri.  It's main feature is the geography:  it's built on a hillside.  That means the course snakes across that hillside, back and forth, until all participants beg for mercy or death.  This year, the course was bone dry...dusty even...with the exception of a drainage ditch that bisected the entire course.  We crossed that little drain 5 times per lap, and the "A" field did 11 laps.  Doing the math, I lifted my front wheel at relatively high speed 55 times.  My biceps confirm that number as I type.

 Another feature at Mt. Pleasant that never disappoints is the steep climb.  On the south end of the course is a gut-busting 20+ percent climb.  Not pictured are the hecklers.  They heckled me.

This is me crossing the finish line.  I noticed as I approached the line for my hard-earned 7th place (out of 22 starters) that the scorers had their heads down, so I flashed them my back to ensure they caught my number instead of continuing to watch YouTube videos of cats playing bongos.  Unbelievable that Flannery caught this incredibly dumb little move.  All in all, another spectacular race put on by the fine Big Shark crew!