The PA was blasting Nirvana and such the Whole Time!

We learned about a new sport today, the sport of CycloCross Racing! Me and 3 out of 4 Team members, who are never going to be a bike team. The closest we got was running quickly under the barrier without disrupting any racers to get a better view of the racers, most especially reader Tash who was racing with her Team Velo Bellas who have the very cute pink cat logo costumes with matching bikes and hats. It is SO MUCH COOLER than dog agility except without dogs! Everyone there was stunning and trim and buffed and drinking beer and little matching sunglasses with their sporty outfits! And young-no gray hair there, because people with gray hair would actually pass out from riding the bikes, jumping off them carrying them up hills-steep hills, jumping back on, riding fast down also steep hills, turning and doing it over and over again for many laps.

This is a different bike race on a track but what a good picture of Tash!

They practice very hard for this sport. This is like dog agility. Except their practicing involves getting up at 5 am and riding bikes up mountains for many, many miles before work. Dog agility, not so much. They have a race circuit with little canopies set up, and people go every weekend to places like the Central Valley for these races. You pay to enter and I do not think you win money. There are sponsors. I think Tash has sponsors. No one sponsors Team Small Dog! Maybe if we got up at 5am to practice. Not so much. But there is beer at the bike races! No one offers us beers at dog agility. And many bike racers seem to cross over and have dogs-many dogs there. But no bike racers ever at dog agility?

It is curious. It is like paralell universes, but better costumes and refreshments and leg muscles and abs. I would not be able to wear the bike shorts, I am afraid. Perhaps the racing jersey and matching sunglasses? I lost my sunglasses a week ago. I do this all the time. I think the matching ones are not from Target? I think dog agility works better for more slow moving people. I never considered myself as slow moving til I watched Tash run full speed up giant hills carrying a bike not just once but for 7 times on all her laps. I may be slow moving. I only ride a bike slowly with dogs in the basket looking for dolphins and such out in the water.

I showed up there in a dog agility costume including green shoes. No one laughed. We had been to a Fun Match right before, which is like a practice dog show. Being sloppy. It was in Hollister. Me and the dogs felt sloppy. Not enough rising at 5am to practice. Sluggish and fat? No one offers beer to us on the weekends, yet still sluggish and fat. We stayed at the Fun Match just long enough to get in some runs, tune up some contacts, de-sloppify. A couple people I knew were there tuning up for the Nationals, and then a lot of people just starting out.

There were people starting out in the Cyclocross race. Tash was lapping them. I felt sort of bad for them. They looked tired and sweaty. I get sweaty at dog agility. But not as sweaty as them.

The dogs liked just walking around and not having to do anything like a dog agility course. There were sticks on the ground that they were chewing. Lots of walking around slowly looking for the best vantage points to watch the Racers. Not locked up in a crate like a boring dog show! I did not have to go work or do runs. We enjoy spectating is what we learned! And we are involved what I never before thought of as a lazy sport, but now I think I do. Cyclocross is possibly the new brown. Now just how to figure out to get them all to bring their dogs to dog agility?