Cross Crusade 2009 #5 Astoria, OR

Can I get sentimental for a second? Just gonna throw it out there. Feel free to just skip down to the pics.

I was born in a sleepy little town called Astoria. We moved to Portland when I was 3 yrs old but my grandpa stayed and my father lived there as well. I have very fond memories of riding my bike in the hood (literally 3 blocks from the Goonies house) and exploring the jagged, rainy, windy,  northwestern edge of North America all day long. I was what you would call a real life "goonie"  Gramps was a WW2 Navy vet and went on to be General Manager for the Port of Astoria. He was what you would call "married to the sea". My father was Assistant DA in Tillamook by day an old folky hippy the second he walked out the door. He is what you would call a "Neil Young song". They both passed away this year so the trip was special to me. I don't have any family left in that town and no reason to visit. I was afraid the nostalgia of it would wear off on me eventually with no physical reason for me to ever really go back. So yeah, the Halloween Cross Crusade is that connection for me now. And a great one it is. Thanks everyone for a really amazing time.  I would really really  like to thank the cutest family ever next to the Veloshop tent for taking care of me after my nasty crash on Saturday then yelling "go alligator!" every lap on sunday. Amazing. And Scott Ramsey for being my partner in crime and changing my tires giving me the best air pressure EVER.

No but really.....Was that a weekend or was that a weekend? Do people outside of our culture think we are completely nuts doing what we do?? And how do you tell people what we do? The closest I have come is "bike racing redneck hybrids" Are we outcasts or are we what should be a mandatory entry under "North West" in the dictionary? Could you imagine getting some Hollywood jaded snob (or anyone, really) and putting them in Tent City at the barrier section and saying "this is what we do on weekends when it rains"?

Enjoy.
Cory

As always, if you uses any pics, all I ask is that you credit and link to this site.