October 16, 2005 - This week there was no travelling; my own team hosted a race in Santa Cruz. This particular race was the first Surf City Revival Race, a popular race series not held for the last year. As a tribute to Norcal 'cross races past there was also a 30 minute Jungle Cross race. Jungle Cross used portions of the normal course as well as long bushwhacks through poison oak infested underbrush. With homemade pies for prizes, Jungle Cross was a hotly contested race.
Several participants were also getting an early start on Halloween. Not only was there a woodland fairy complete with golden wings but also a dedicated racer in a full gorilla suit. The gorilla suit is all the more impressive due to the fact that the weather was in the mid 80's. Needless to say the gorilla took lots of feeds. The course itself had excessive forced dismounts (5 runups one log), lots of dust, the chicane of despair, some bumpy turf, and more dust. We had over 40 women racing, not bad for a local race. Several of the women were first timers and had attended a 'cross clinic the day before.
